Who will be the starting quarterback for the Denver Broncos in week one?

By Noah Hickman

Photo by John Bazemore, The Associated Press

In a much anticipated offseason, the Denver Broncos made the decision to forego drafting a quarterback in the 2021 NFL Draft after much speculation that they would take one in the first round.

Broncos head coach Vic Fangio said competition for the starting job is wide open.

"We haven’t sat down and figured that out," Fangio said. "But it will be something that at the end of the day, maybe not at the end of every day, but over the course of OTAs and training camp, it’ll be 50/50."

Bridgewater was traded to the Broncos on April 28 in exchange for a 2021 sixth-round pick.

This comes as a low risk move since the Panthers will pay Bridgewater $7 million as opposed to the Broncos only paying him $3 million.

There is a possibility of the Denver Broncos trading for Aaron Rodgers but lets just assume it is just Teddy Bridgewater and Drew Lock competing for the starting job.

Bridgewater is going into his seventh season as an NFL quarterback and will be on his fourth team as he has previously played for the Carolina Panthers, the New Orleans Saints and the team that drafted him.

Bridgewater was drafted with the 32nd overall pick in the first round by the Minnesota Vikings. More than likely, he would have gone higher in the first round if not for a subpar pro day.

Bridgewater has provided a steady hand for each team as he has a career completion percentage of 66.5% on 1038 of 1562 passing. He has thrown 53 touchdowns to 36 interceptions with a career passer rating of 89.5, respectively.

Lock, on the other hand, is going into his third season as an NFL quarterback.

Deemed as a potential franchise quarterback, Lock got off to a good start in his rookie season going 4-1 as a starter and completing 64.1% of his passes while throwing for 1,020 yards, seven touchdowns and three interceptions.

Despite the promising rookie season, Lock would end up having a sophomore slump.

His completion percentage dipped to 57.3% and he wound up throwing for 2,933 yards, 16 touchdowns and 15 interceptions in 13 starts.

Now withstanding quarterback competition, Lock has one notable backer. Former Broncos quarterback Jake Plummer said that the Broncos and its fans need to be patient with the third year quarterback.

"I still believe Drew Lock has it," Plummer said. "I still believe that if you really want to be a true Bronco fan, you buy into the guys that here right now and you try to send them the love they that need and deserve as your guy."

Some of the knocks on Drew Lock before he got drafted by the Broncos had to do with him trusting himself too much which led/leads to him making poor decisions.

He also has below average footwork which -- of course -- leads to him throwing balls quarterbacks in the NFL should never attempt to throw.

On the other hand, he has a big arm and a gunslinger mentality which has led to him winning some games in the NFL and occasionally coming through in the clutch.

With the presumable return of pro bowl receiver Courtland Sutton, Lock can afford to sling the ball a little more which would make for some exciting football if he is the starter.

Even though Lock has a high ceiling and a swag factor that his teammates seem to like, I think Bridgewater should be named the week one starter because of his ability to lend a steady hand when needed.

Bridgewater makes better decisions, is less turnover prone and is more accurate on his throws.

Even though he is not electric like Patrick Mahomes and others, his team is almost always in the game when he is the starter.