2019 NFL Draft Scouting Report: QB Drew Lock
Weakness 1: Decision Making:
As great as Drew Lock is he has a tendency sometimes to make poor decisions. He threw at least eight interceptions in each of his four seasons at Mizzou. When under pressure Lock rather than throwing the ball away tends to throw it to the other team.
Here’s an example against South Carolina in 2018.
A lesson that many coaches teach their quarterbacks is when there’s no one open throw it away. It appears Lock hasn’t learned that lesson which is problematic.
The throwing windows in the NFL will be much smaller and tighter, and Lock will have to develop a better sense of anticipation and understanding he runs the risk of becoming a turnover machine.
Weakness 2: Pocket Awareness
As Chris Trapasso pointed out Lock often leaves clean pockets when he does not need to.
When leaving clean pockets prematurely a quarterback will miss reads, make more mistakes, take too many sacks and throw more interceptions. None of these are things you want to see from your franchise signal caller.
When watching the film Lock sometimes struggles to pick up defenses and when he needs to roll out of the pocket or sometimes stay in the pocket rather than escape it. For a prospect with so many other fundamental strengths to his game, it is baffling at times to watch his decisions under pressure.
Flip to the 9.25 mark of this video.
Though there is pressure from the defense there also clear spaces outside the pocket for Lock to roll out to, instead, Lock stays in the pocket too long and has the ball stripped from him. This was a common trend from Lock throughout his career and is something that needs improving.
Weakness 3: in the ability to win big games
No, not all quality NFL quarterbacks were winners in college. Mahomes, who many compare Lock to, wasn’t a winner in college playing for losing teams at most of his time at Texas Tech. Many of the better quarterbacks, however, were winners in college such as Cam Newton who led Auburn to a national championship.
Drew Lock did not pick up his first win against a ranked opponent until the final month of his college career. (November 3, 2018 @ No. 13 Florida). The week before that Lock had his chance but blew it in brutal fashion.
Lock’s Tigers led No. 12 Kentucky at home 14-3 at halftime. They held that lead for more than half of the fourth quarter but, Lock could not put Kentucky away. He failed to pick up a first down the entire second half allowing Kentucky to get back in the game and steal a 15-14 win.
The signal caller also posted an unimpressive 1-2 mark in bowl games including two losses to Big 12 defenses (Texas & Oklahoma State).
Lock wasn’t a winner in college and will need to prove he can bring a winning attitude to the NFL.