MOBILE, Ala. — If Missouri quarterback Drew Lock is as comfortable on the Senior Bowl practice fields as he was Monday talking with the media, he should walk away from the experience as a big winner this week.
Helping kick off the Senior Bowl week, Lock was one of two players who spoke at the event’s opening press conference, along with Auburn linebacker Deshaun Davis, as well as the game’s new executive director, Jim Nagy.
Lock stole the show on Monday when asked what he knew about the man coaching him this week — Oakland Raiders head coach Jon Gruden, formerly of ESPN’s “Gruden QB Camp” fame — and whether they had spent any time talking about the week ahead.
At breakfast on Monday, Lock saw Gruden, who will be coaching the game’s North Team this week, and introduced himself. It turns out Gruden knew all about Lock already. After getting the chitchat out of the way quickly, Gruden got down to brass tacks.
“He was like, ‘Hey, sit down a second,’” Lock said, actually doing a solid Gruden impression in the process. “And I was like, ‘Awesome, here we go.’”
But Gruden didn’t want to talk about any of Lock’s boffo passing numbers at Mizzou, nor any of his highlight-reel passes thrown with an arm that’s already considered NFL-level elite. No, Gruden started with the bad stuff.
“Kind of mid-conversation, he said, ‘Hey, Lock, let’s talk about that pick you threw at Alabama,’” Lock said, and the room erupted. Yes, we’re in Bama country here, but it was a funny story regardless.
“He said, ‘What were you doing there?’ So I went through and explained everything to him, and he said, ‘Ok, that makes a little more sense,’” Lock said.
As the conversation went on, with Lock and Gruden talking X’s and O’s for a bit, it served as a reminder to Lock that going back to school — and spending a year in an NFL-steeped offense led by coordinator Derek Dooley — proved to be the best move possible.
“We went into a play we ran a quite a bit at Mizzou — we called it Ernie, he called it something else — and he went through how he reads it,” Lock said. “It’s just another example of why I should have stayed my last year. I would have come in there and had eyes like this [wide open] talking to him. I would have had no idea what he was talking about. I would have been overwhelmed.
“And here I was, just sitting there talking to Jon Gruden, like this: Shoot your shot at me. I’m ready.”
Lock looked ready. But he won’t be the only own down here who feels that way.
The Senior Bowl is an annual proving ground for more than 100 senior NFL draft prospects (as well as a few select juniors who have completed their degrees) and one of scouts’ most important stops on the road to draft weekend in April. Scouts, coaches and even team executives from all 32 teams will be represented down here to watch the top senior prospects perform in the week’s worth of practices, which begin Tuesday, up through the Senior Bowl game on Saturday.
Lock is among the highest-profile players in this year’s game. After starting for most of his four seasons at Mizzou, setting some school marks and flashing elite arm talent along the way, he has built up a solid reputations in draft circles, although the doubters remain. Some mock drafts have him as a top-10 pick; others have him out of the first round entirely. How Lock performs this week, especially against what appears to be a solid crop of talent at the position, could help go a long way toward deciding which mock drafts will be prophetic and which ones will be inaccurate.
There is no Baker Mayfield here this year, and there might not even be a Josh Allen. Both players came to the Senior Bowl last season undaunted despite each roundly being projected into Round 1 — Mayfield more solidly than Allen, but both took risks attending the game. It’s fair to say those gambles paid off and then some.
The Cleveland Browns picked Mayfield No. 1, and Nagy believes Mayfield’s terrific week of practice helped solidify that selection. The Buffalo Bills traded up to draft Allen with the seventh overall pick, as he started slowly but got better each day of practice before having a big performance in the game at week’s end.
The game, which happens on Saturday, does matter. But scouts tend to put a little more focus on player’s work in practices, especially the Tuesday and Wednesday sessions, before they mostly catch planes out of town.
Lock will be joined on the North Team roster by three other quarterbacks: Duke’s Daniel Jones, Penn State’s Trace McSorley and North Carolina State’s Ryan Finley. The four QBs on the South Team, coached by the staff of the San Francisco 49ers, are: West Virginia’s Will Grier, Washington State’s Gardner Minshew, Auburn’s Jarrett Stidham and Buffalo’s Tyree Jackson.
Lock said he’s rooming with Stidham and Jackson this week. There had actually been nine quarterbacks at the game before Northwestern's Clayton Thorson bowed out because of an injury.
Asked if he thinks he’s the best quarterback not just of the group, but of the entire draft class — including highly touted underclassmen Dwayne Haskins (Ohio State) and Kyler Murray (Oklahoma), among others — Lock wasn’t about to hold back.
“As far as from a competitor’s standpoint, I have to say I do believe I am the best quarterback in this class,” he said.
But if Lock is going to help prove that at the Senior Bowl, he’ll have to do it in unfamiliar surroundings with a brand new playbook and zero Mizzou teammates here with him. That’s because wide receiver Emanuel Hall, we learned Monday, was a surprise no-show.
Mizzou fans certainly got used to the idea of Hall being unavailable this season, as he battled through injuries and was unable to start some games and finish others. Hall was expected to attend the Senior Bowl this week, but Nagy said he was informed by Hall’s agent on Thursday that he wasn’t making it to the game.
It’s common for some top prospects to bow out of the game when their draft stock is soaring, such as that of Kentucky pass rusher Josh Allen, who roundly is viewed as a top-10 cinch. Other players, such as Thorson, will opt out for injury-related reasons. It’s not known exactly why Hall decided against coming.
Asked if he had spoken to Hall or if he knew why he stayed away, Lock said: “No, not yet. I actually found out about that this morning. I haven’t been able to contact him. I am sure it was him somehow feeling he can get better while being not here.
“I don’t know. I’ll definitely talk to him about it. If it’s a private thing with him, I’ll keep it private.”
Lock wasn’t about to go the private route this week. He had the media laughing with his Gruden stories and how he considers himself “sneaky athletic,” which has become something of coded language for white quarterback who runs occasionally. But he also wasn’t afraid to get serious — and be bold — about what he wants to show as an NFL prospect.
“I’ve been trying to become a pure pocket passer who can run a little if he has to,” Lock said. “Show them my drops, show how fluid I can be in the pocket. That will be big for me this week.”
He added, “I definitely feel I can make all the throws on the field if you need me to. … I think through the time I had at Missouri with three different coordinators, two different head coaches, the adversity I faced my freshman year — you throw me in a locker room full of guys, and I am going to be able to adapt to any scenario you throw me in.
“It wasn’t always sunshine and roses at the university, but when you get into a situation like that with a program you can [count on me] to be the same guy every day that’s going to come into the building, and that’s a big positive I am going to try to [show] these teams.”
Eric Edholm is an NFL writer for Pro Football Weekly. He will be providing PowerMizzou.com with daily updates on Drew Lock throughout Senior Bowl week. You can follow Eric on Twitter @Eric_Edholm
