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INDIANAPOLIS — Missouri quarterback Drew Lock is excited to show naysayers he’s a first-round pick.
“I think I’ll be a little more athletic than people think in some of these drills,” said Lock, who is transitioning from 22-year-old senior and preparing to live outside of the Columbia, Mo., area for the first time.
Lock stood out at the Senior Bowl in Mobile, Ala., but in the 2019 draft class he’s not viewed on the same plateau as Ohio State’s Dwayne Haskins and Oklahoma Heisman Trophy winner Kyler Murray.
In the conversation as a potential first-round pick in 2018, Lock came back to Missouri after throwing 44 touchdown passes. He had 28 touchdowns and eight interceptions last season.

Growing reputation

Lock already has the endorsement of some NFL teams.
“I can kind of call him my neighbor because I live in Lee’s Summit,” Chiefs general manager Brett Veach said. “But no, he is an extremely talented player. Great family. I know his dad, [and] I got to know the son a little bit. I think he has very intriguing arm talent. I think he has great ad-lib ability, which you certainly need in this league. Arm strength and ad-lib ability is a good place to start. He has both those qualities and I’m sure it won’t be long for him to hear his name to be called on draft night.”
Lock compared his game to a Pro Bowl passer whose initial wait on draft night in 2005 is viewed as a major blunder in retrospect.
“Obviously I have a lot to prove, a lot to do to be even compared to this guy, but if there’s anybody I’d pattern a lot of my game after it’s Aaron Rodgers,” Lock said. “Just the stuff that he does off-platform. If you watch my game, I throw a lot off weird platforms, my feet aren’t necessarily perfect, I throw from weird arm angles. I get critiqued about it, he gets critiqued about it a little bit. That’s just our game.”
For now, Lock is focused on convincing he belongs. That doesn’t mean he’s not star struck on occasion, like the time Broncos vice president John Elway showed up at one of the Tigers’ games.
“I actually didn’t know he was there at the time, which probably helped a little bit,” Lock said. “He’s one of the greatest of all-time, to be able to be looked at, in his eyes, as someone who might be able to take over the franchise, that means a lot to me.”
Elway described Lock as accurate, and Raiders coach Jon Gruden gave a sparkling assessment Thursday of Lock’s quick release.
On a scale of 1-10, Lock said he would give himself a 10 rating for accuracy.
“I give myself a 10. Why wouldn’t I give myself a 10? I think every quarterback would give themselves a 10,” he said.
Even if teams don’t give Lock a 10, and media interest is higher in Haskins and Murray, the Mizzou quarterback has no intention of losing his motivation.
“I’m a QB from Missouri, I played in the middle of the country, not California. Regardless if I’m the first QB taken or last I’ll keep that chip my entire career,” he said.
–By Jeff Reynolds (@ReynoldsJD), Field Level Media