Vic Fangio ‘Damn Close’ To Decision On Broncos’ Very Average QB Options

When the Denver Broncos selected Drew Lock in the second round of the 2019 NFL Draft, everyone knew his ceiling was high. The Missouri product had the size (6-foot-4, 228 pounds), he had plenty of arm strength, and he had plenty of production in college.

The issue with Lock has been consistency, or lack thereof.

If he wants to beat the newly acquired Teddy Bridgewater for the starting job in 2021, Lock is going to have to make the performance he had this past weekend the new norm. OK, maybe not that level of performance, but close.

Lock finished the team's first preseason game completing 5 of his 7 pass attempts for 151 yards, two touchdowns and zero turnovers. His 21.6-yards per attempt may be completely unsustainable, but his improved decision-making isn't.

The problem is that Bridgewater followed up Lock's performance completing 7 of his 8 attempts for 74 yards and a score of his own. In other words, take away that big 80-yard pop to KJ Hamler, and this is a similar looking stat sheet.

On Saturday night, Bridgewater will get the starting nod against the Seattle Seahawks. Hopefully then, Broncos head coach Vic Fangio will finally be able to make some sort of decision on who starts Week 1 of the regular season.

As of now, Fangio still doesn't know.

"Pretty damn close, but you know we have more information coming, OK?" Fangio responded when asked about naming a starter on Wednesday, via Denver 7 ABC.

Bridgewater deserves a chance to run as the starter in a preseason game before anyone makes any decisions, but the coaching staff will also likely want to see Lock in back-to-back weeks so they can determine whether he can finally show some consistency in his performance.

If he can, the ceiling remains high. Bridgewater is a good -- not great -- option if Lock falters.

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Follow Clint Lamb on Twitter @ClintRLamb.