Drew Lock’s secret to success at NFL scouting combine was showing up a year ago, too | The Kansas City Star

A year ago, Drew Lock sat in the stands of Lucas Oil Stadium, site of the NFL’s scouting combine, and thought about what was to come. He was a spectator in a group of NFL prospects who’d elected to return to school and attend a league symposium for highly regarded players with almost certain NFL futures.

With mixed emotions, he watched UCLA’s Josh Rosen and longtime friend Sam Darnold of USC make pass after pass in front of numerous NFL executives. He thought about holding his own against those top 2018 NFL Draft prospects. At one point, he turned to Mizzou analyst Austyn Carta-Samuels, who made the trip with him, and shared a thought he couldn’t shake.

“I’m better than these guys,” Lock told Carta-Samuels.

On Saturday, Lock finally got the chance to prove himself at the combine. And he seemed to make the most of it, appearing poised throughout the day. After running the 40-yard dash in 4.70 seconds, which ranked fourth at his position, the Lee’s Summit native nailed his on-field drills, leading analysts to say he outperformed Ohio State’s Dwayne Haskins and Duke’s Daniel Jones.

Scouts have questioned Lock’s accuracy throughout his career, but on Saturday he had no problem finding his wideouts on short passes and via his trademark deep ball. He might have outperformed this draft class’ top star, too, but 5-foot-10 Oklahoma quarterback Kyler Murray didn’t participate in field drills.

“It was huge,” Lock told The Star of his trip to the combine in 2018. “To be able to see it, realize you got to be relaxed, confident going into it. No special sauce, just throw routes on air.”

While at last year’s combine, Lock took note of how quiet the stadium became during drills, with no music or commentary blaring from the speakers. He also saw how much down time players had before and between drills.

He came to Indianapolis this week fully prepared for the experience and said he didn’t feel thrown off once. While MU teammate Emanuel Hall was surprised when an NFL team asked about his history of parking tickets in college, Lock was prepared for the questions that came his way. One team asked him a question about the Vietnam War, implying it took place in the 1940s. He correctly responded that the question was off by about 20 years.

After last year’s combine, Andy Lock, Lock’s father, said his son felt he could physically compete with anyone in the draft but didn’t know where he stood mentally.

Lock returned to MU for his senior season partly because he needed to learn more NFL vernacular. Former offensive coordinator Josh Heupel’s air raid-hybrid spread offense allowed MU’s receivers to choose their own routes, which could’ve make it difficult for Lock to confidently discuss plays with NFL executives.

Dooley’s offense made Lock the ringleader and put him in charge of every player in the offense. When discussing plays this week, Lock said, he went over every MU player’s responsibility on each play, fully showing off what returning for his senior season did for that aspect of his draft profile.

“When they ask you about your plays, they just want to ask you how well you know everything. If you go up and explain something, and you have your one little answer or one go-to, they’re going to dig into you,” Lock said. “They kept digging and digging and kept waiting for me to mess up. I got to all the right answers.”

On the field Saturday, Lock showed off his super-charged arm, including a fundamental tweak after spending the past few months in California with quarterback guru Jordan Palmer. Palmer teamed up with Lock’s longtime personal coach, Justin Hoover, and the duo realized their client’s release was like a slingshot, as opposed to a push off his back foot where the foot stayed planted through the throw.

Lock was able to get away with the motion in college in part because of the offense that MU ran — especially under Heupel, in which Lock got rid of the ball quickly using his arm talent.

“In a perfect world, why would he get away with bad habits?” Hoover said.

Lock came to Indianapolis as a projected top 20 pick. Most analysts seemed convinced his ceiling was being the third quarterback taken, behind Haskins and Murray. The 6-foot-3 quarterback met with eight teams this week but declined to name them.

Lock appears to have done himself some favors at the combine, but he said it doesn’t matter where he’s taken as long as he ends up in the proper situation. As a native of the Kansas City area, he watched the MVP season enjoyed by Patrick Mahomes in 2018, after Mahomes had spent his rookie year as the Chiefs’ backup to Alex Smith.

Lock is content with sitting a year behind a starter, too, if it’s the best scenario for him.

“The No. 1 thing you could take from him is making the most of your opportunity,” Lock said of Mahomes. “He wasn’t playing last year. I’m sure every day he was busting his butt to thinking about this year ahead.”

In spite of his strong performance Saturday, Lock said he still plans to throw at MU’s pro day on March 21. While some top prospects elected to skip their bowl games and have been picky about which drills in which they participate, Lock said it’s not in his nature to sit out a game or drill.

Hoover, Lock’s longtime coach, likes what he sees from the quarterback. Saturday morning, before Lock’s time on the field, Hoover was inside the Starbucks at the JW Marriott hotel as agents, NFL coaches and scouts passed by.

While Lock had a strong week, Hoover said some people still come up to him calling him “Drew Luck” — apparently somehow confusing him or mashing him up with Andrew Luck of the Indianapolis Colts.

“He’s not a household name yet,” Hoover said. “He’s about to become a household name.”

Lock said he walked off the field Saturday feeling like he made the most of his week.

“I’m perfectly fine being the guy that you get my name wrong,” he said. “Dog of the Midwest. That’s me. Whatever. I’m going to keep proving people wrong.”