Drew Lock, Justin Herbert have chance to become new faces of Broncos-Chargers rivalry

[Miles]

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — Just a week removed from facing Patrick Mahomes, Drew Lock and the Broncos find themselves approaching a game against another potential long-term foe.


Chargers rookie quarterback Justin Herbert has found early success after being taken with the sixth-overall pick in April's NFL Draft, and he earned the NFL's Offensive Rookie of the Month honors for his play in October.


Herbert, an Oregon product, has thrown for 1,542 yards, 12 touchdowns and just three interceptions during his five starts, and he threw 10 touchdowns and one pick during his three starts in October.


His 108.1 quarterback rating ranks seventh in the NFL among qualifying quarterbacks, and he's already distinguished himself to Head Coach Vic Fangio as a player that the Broncos will have to match wits with for a long time.


"Ultimately, this guy is just very talented," Fangio said Thursday. "It looks to me like he's made up of the right stuff to be a quarterback in the NFL. Fortunately for them and unfortunately for us, I think they found their quarterback for the next 10 to 15 years."


Lock and Herbert were similarly ranked prospects coming out of college. NFL Network's Daniel Jeremiah told DenverBroncos.com in April that he assigned Lock and Herbert the same grade, though he said he likely would've ranked Lock slightly higher.


"[Lock] would've been in that conversation with Herbert, but I would've probably had him over Herbert," Jeremiah said. "I gave them the exact same grade, but I think Lock's a little bit more of a playmaker. Herbert's a little bit more conservative. You can kind of split those hairs either way."


Lock showed his playmaking nature against both the Patriots and Chiefs, as he's looked for big plays down the field since his return from a shoulder injury. He wasn't able to connect on many of those passes, and Offensive Coordinator Pat Shurmur said Thursday there are times when it would be best to simply take a completion.


"He's still a very young quarterback, and he will be through this full season," Shurmur said. "He's only played in [eight complete] games. People forget that. All those things are things that you work on through the length of a long career. It's certainly what we do with him. You want to be aggressive, and you want to take advantage of what the defense presents down the field. It's also important that you get completions."


Lock and the Broncos will particularly focus on third down, an area in which they rank 29th in the NFL. The Chargers' offense, by contrast, ranks seventh in the NFL in third-down conversion rate.


The Broncos were 5-of-14 on third down against the Chiefs, but Lock said he saw several plays that were easily correctable.


"I missed a couple of baby throws, those that I made in Pop Warner, and that's unacceptable by me," Lock said Wednesday. "Again, like I said, I'm working on that not happening again and just sharpening the focus a little bit there on those third downs."