Packers hosting Missouri QB Drew Lock on pre-draft visit this week, per reports

In 2005, the Green Bay Packers had a 35-year-old Brett Favre. They drafted a quarterback in the first round, selecting Aaron Rodgers 24th overall.

In 2019...Rodgers is 35 years old, and the team is bringing in a likely first-round quarterback for an official pre-draft visit. That quarterback is Missouri’s Drew Lock, and depending on the source, the visit is taking either place on either Monday or Tuesday. Either way, the visit has been reported and confirmed, with Yahoo’s Charles Robinson calling it a “legit visit,” presumably intending to indicate that the team is actually interested in the player rather than using this as a smokescreen to other quarterback-needy teams.

Lock is generally viewed as one of the top quarterbacks in the 2019 NFL Draft class, typically coming off the board third at the position after Oklahoma’s Kyler Murray and Ohio State’s Dwayne Haskins.

In each of his three full seasons as a starter, Lock threw for over 3,300 yards. His best season from a yardage and touchdown perspective came as a junior in 2017, when he completed 58% of his passes for 3,964 yards, 44 touchdowns, and 13 interceptions. However, in 2018, he improved his completion percentage to 63% and cut back on his interceptions to just eight, though he did see his yards per attempt and touchdowns dip.

Although he is not an active scrambler, Lock tested out as one of the more mobile quarterbacks in this year’s draft class, posting very good speed and agility numbers for the position. At the 2019 NFL Combine, Lock ran a 4.69-second 40-yard dash and nearly cracked seven seconds in the cone drill, posting a time of 7.03 seconds.

There remains a real possibility that the Packers are playing games with this visit, hoping to entice another team to draft Lock ahead of them. That could then lead to a more desirable player at a more critical position falling to the Packers with the 12th overall pick. After all, the team traded starting defensive back Damarious Randall to acquire backup quarterback DeShone Kizer last offseason, and Rodgers just signed the richest contract in NFL history last August to keep him in Green Bay through 2023.

Still, this could be a sign of real interest and that the team is serious about finding a solid backup to Rodgers and a possible quarterback of the future. Packers fans will find out more during the first round of the draft next week.