The Seattle Seahawks never stopped believing in Drew Lock. The last time he played in Seattle, Pete Carroll was still the head coach, but the organization knew the person that Lock was. Clearly, new head coach Mike Macdonald got the word on that, too.
Lock was brought back this offseason after spending last year with the New York Giants. At the time, the move seemed odd as the Seahawks still had backup Sam Howell, and the team had also signed Sam Darnold. But the team was remaking the locker room culture a bit, and Lock fit what the team wanted.
He is also not a bad quarterback, and he is a safe player to have as QB2. Macdonald wants to make sure Lock is prepared to play in Klint Kubiak's offense, too, should something happen to Darnold. This included Lock playing into the second half in preseason Week 2's victory against the Kansas City Chiefs.
Drew Lock is back with the Seattle Seahawks due to more than just how he plays
Many expected rookie Jalen Milroe to start the second half, but nope. The team wanted Lock to get more time, and he proved why. After somewhat of a mixed performance in preseason Week 2, Lock was mostly terrific versus KC.
He completed 10 of 12 passes for 129 yards and two touchdowns. His passer rating was a near-perfect 151.0. He also ran twice for 34 yards. Yes, this is still only the preseason, but it was great to see the quarterback more comfortable in Kubiak's system just one week later.
Drew Lock might mean more to the Seahawks than just how he plays in a relatively meaningless preseason game, however. The team shed itself of quarterback Geno Smith and wide receiver DK Metcalf this offseason, two players who, while productive, could also be temperamental.
General manager John Schneider and Mike Macdonald obviously wanted the locker room to feel different moving forward. Darnold is a relatively calm presence. So is veteran receiver Cooper Kupp. Seattle has a young roster, and having voices of reason such as Kupp and Darnold might be better than the moody ones of Smith and Metcalf.
Lock belongs in the Kupp and Darnold group, too.
In Macdonald's post-Chiefs game comments, he made clear that Lock is more than a football player. He told the media, "I felt his footwork and timing, which is something we wanted to work obviously on coming off the first game. Got to ask him how he slowed down on that scramble. That was pretty cool. Yeah, Drew is doing a great job. Really great quarterback. We love him. I love having him around. Really great guy and so great for our football team."
The last part is as important as the first. The Seattle Seahawks believe Drew Lock is a leader even when he isn't the starting quarterback. His presence might show a young player how to handle himself as a professional. Culture matters to a team, and that is a big reason Lock is back in Seattle.
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