New York Giants quarterback Drew Lock is like every other athlete on the planet in that he wants to compete and excel in whatever he does.
So why would he pack up his family and move cross-country from Seattle to New Jersey on a one-year contract that, beyond the year, has absolutely no guarantees for his future or a chance for the starting Giants quarterback job so long as Daniel Jones is healthy?
The answer: head coach Brian Daboll.
Despite what Seattle general manager John Schneider said in a radio interview about Lock having been sold about the chance to compete for a starting job with the Giants--and it seems more and more like that might have been Schneider's opinion based on the details of the conversation Lock said he had with Schneider--Lock, according to Jeff Howe of The Athletic, was more sold on having the chance to work with Daboll, a known developer of quarterbacks, who happens to run a quarterback friendly system.
Lock, indeed, was not offered a chance to compete for the starting job, according to a league source. The Giants did sell him on the idea of working with head coach Brian Daboll, who has a quarterback-friendly system that led to Jones’ best season in 2022.
Lock, who at one point was thought to be the next franchise quarterback of the Denver Broncos only to instead hit the journeyman status, spoke about his growth since his earliest days with the Broncos during a video introductory call with the Giants media.
"Yeah, I'd say I'm more confident than I ever have been. That comes with each rep that you add to your tool belt. There's a lot that I needed to learn when I came into the league. We caught fire and played really well when I first started playing. Then you get into that second year, the ups and downs, the roller coaster began," he said.
"I felt like I've learned an enormous number of things since then. I know I'm a different quarterback. I know I'm a different guy than I was two or three years ago. During my first year in Seattle, I was a different guy, and my second year there,
"It's a product of being around really good coaches and quarterbacks. Geno was amazing to me. That was one of the harder relationships to leave. I appreciate everything that G has done for me. Confidence, teaching me the game. The ceiling is high, in my opinion. I'm excited to get here and show this place what I'm made of."
Lock also spoke about how he plans to remain competitive even if he's not in the running for the starting quarterback job.
"I think you can let it out in other ways. I probably won't go too easy on the first-team defense during scout team reps. There are a thousand different ways," he said. "But I've had great quarterback rooms in my career that have helped me be the best starter I could be. I just feel like when I am the backup, it's my job to return that. People were great to me when I was a starter, when I was a starter in Denver and the two weeks I started last year in Seattle. It's just time for me to give that back."
Lock, Howe pointed out, also hopes to follow in the footsteps of other backup quarterbacks with whom Daboll has worked, such as Tyrod Taylor of the Giants and Mitchell Trubisky, who, after a stint with the Pittsburgh Steelers, is back with the Buffalo Bills.
Both quarterbacks ended up earning raises in their next gigs after working with "quarterback whisperer" Daboll.
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