The opportunity Drew Lock has as Seahawks starting QB

The Seattle Seahawks will be trying to repeat what is a difficult task for most when they take the field this weekend attempting to win a second straight game with their backup quarterback.

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Drew Lock, who came in to relive injured starter Sam Darnold after one drive during the team’s season-opening win, is set to start on Sunday against the Arizona Cardinals. It will be Lock’s first start since the 2024 season with the New York Giants and his first start as a Seahawk since he made two in 2023, which included his memorable win on Monday Night Football over the Philadelphia Eagles.

The 29-year-old Lock has started 28 games during his NFL career, and it’s fair to say the defending Super Bowl champion Seahawks squad he will start for Sunday is the best he’s had the opportunity to do so with. So, how big of an opportunity is this for Lock to change the trajectory of his career arc? NFL analyst and host of ESPN’s “Big Day with Peter Schrager” Peter Schrager weighed in during his weekly appearance with Brock and Salk on Wednesday.

Schrager could see how some may compare Lock’s situation to Darnold since both went from starter to backup early in their career, but he said what Lock is going through right is more similar to one of his former Seahawks teammates: Geno Smith.

“Darnold’s not a good comparison because Darnold was one of the top prospects ever coming out of college in the last 20 years,” Schrager said. “Geno Smith makes a lot more sense to me in that Geno was a second-round pick, and Geno had the wow-or-what moments and Geno batted around forever until he got a shot. And Geno almost inexplicably and unbelievably has had this second chapter in his career where he’s now a starting quarterback in the league for multiple teams, including the Seahawks for those years. I think that would be the more appropriate (comparison).”

There are a handful of similarities between Lock and Smith. Both were second-round picks who got the chance to start early on poor teams. Both were relegated to backup roles by their third seasons. And both eventually landed in Seattle to be a backup, including Lock as Smith’s backup when was traded to Seattle in the Russell Wilson deal in 2022.

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Smith eventually got his chance to show what he could do when Wilson was hurt and missed three games in 2021. He played well in those games, parlayed it into a starting role in Seattle the next season and is now in his fifth consecutive year of being a starter on an NFL team. Could Lock, who is a free agent after this year, turn his opportunity with the Seahawks into a big deal with another team in the offseason?

Schrager believes it’s possible, but he also isn’t counting on it.

“All this is possible. It’s not like he’s a 45-year-old player,” Schrager said. “I’m thinking more in the short-term of Drew Lock (go) win us games and don’t worry about becoming the next $100 million man. Because if you keep on winning games, you solidify yourself for 10 more years in the league for a place with a team. And his goals might be to be the No. 1 somewhere, but it’s been a while since he was the No. 1. And all those years back, he could have that opportunity in Seattle and didn’t win the job then. I don’t know if suddenly a team is going to throw him a ton of money to be their No. 1 based on a couple of games this year.”

Hear the full conversation at this link or in the audio player in this story. Listen to Brock and Salk weekdays form 6-10 a.m. or find the podcast on the Seattle Sports app. 

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