Come Monday, Drew Lock will enter the most the critical postseason of his young career, hoping to answer one question:

Is he the guy?

The Broncos second-year quarterback has been inconsistent in his 17 career starts, showing bits and pieces of his potential while simultaneously making plays that have left many wondering if he’s capable of being a franchise quarterback. As the Broncos enter their final game of the 2020-21 season, Lock remains the team’s biggest question mark heading into a demanding offseason.

Five months ago, when the season started, Broncos Country was hoping to have that question answered by now.

“You look at the roster, there’s a lot of good, young football players we believe in, and Drew showed some flashes,” General Manager and President of Football Operations John Elway said this week on the team website. “Obviously, he’s been very inconsistent but showed some flashes. And we still have high hopes for Drew that with a good offseason, a lot of hard work this offseason, a lot of film study, that he can come back and be a very good quarterback in this league.”

Elway is being questioned just as much as Lock, as the Hall of Famer has missed on quarterbacks in the draft such as Trevor Siemian in 2015, Paxton Lynch in 2016 and Chad Kelly in 2017. He’s also missed on a couple of quarterback free agency signings in Brock Osweiler in 2017 and Joe Flacco in 2019.

But Lock has shown a bit more promise than those five quarterbacks. And he certainly believes he can be the Broncos’ guy moving forward.

“I’ll always be confident in my ability,” Lock said. “There’s confidence when you step out on the field as well. That’s been growing every single game for me. It’s coming with reps, and it’s coming with more plays that I get to run in the game. I step out there every single week and feel better under center every game.”

Through his first 17 starts in his career, he’s posted a 8-9 record, with 3,614 passing yards, 24 total touchdowns, 18 interceptions and four fumbles.

Those compare closely to Jay Cutler, the Broncos’ quarterback from 2006-08, who had a 7-10 record, with 3,599 passing yards, 23 total touchdowns, 17 interceptions and five fumbles. And how about Peyton Manning, the last consistently good Broncos quarterback from 2012-15? In Indianapolis, Manning had a 4-13 record to start, with 4,023 passing yards, 28 total touchdowns, 30 interceptions and one fumble.

That’s not to say Lock is going to be Cutler — who he has eerily similar numbers to — or that he’ll be better than Manning, who went onto to win two Super Bowls and will likely be a first-ballot Hall of Famer this summer despite a rough start to his career. But it does prove the point that 17 games likely isn’t a big enough sample size for the Broncos to fully evaluate Lock.

“He still has a lot to learn. I think throwing the football football-wise, just going out there and being a playmaker, I think he definitely has what it takes,” running back Melvin Gordon said. “I think he just has to believe more in himself that he can do it and that he belongs here. I feel he feels that way, but he’s just got to walk and talk it. It’s got to be that swagger that’s on him, like, ‘I belong to be here.’ I think once he gets that little swagger to him, I think the sky’s the limit for the kid. He’s going to be a good player. I see him every day throwing the football. I think he got what it takes. I know he’s got what it takes.”

Lock has shown he has the arm talent and can be versatile, like Gordon said. His most glaring issue is giving the ball away.

He leads the NFL in interceptions with 15. He’s also one of four starting quarterbacks to have thrown for more interceptions than touchdowns this season — he’s thrown only 14 touchdowns.

“I think he’s continued to show his talent. He’s capable of making very good throws, he’s done that throughout the season,” coach Vic Fangio said. “Obviously, we have to cut down on the interceptions. We’ve thrown too many of them as a team. Those are always not totally on the quarterback, but it is on the team and it does follow his stat line and that’s an area that we really need to improve on.”

Someone on the team who’s faced as much or more criticism as Lock is offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur.

Shurmur will more than likely be back with the Broncos next season and will be a key component in Lock’s success. He’s helped the young quarterback at times this season, like the Panthers game in Week 14 in which he allowed Lock to make smart, easy plays as he threw four touchdowns. But at other times this season, like the Raiders game in Week 10, Shurmur put Lock in some difficult situations, as he threw four interceptions.

The two have seemed to have found a groove as of late, with Shurmur saying Lock’s “lack of anxiety” has helped him settle in. This reduction in anxiety, of course, comes with more reps.

“If you’re an anxious person you make more mistakes than if you’re trained and you go out and you have confidence in your role,” said Shurmur, who’s in his first season in Denver. “It’s just a fine line and I think the important thing is to play with confidence, they play with moxie, but then not be anxious, because then you can’t do the easy things. That’s the fine line and I think that’s what experience brings to the table.

“There are some things behind the scenes that I’m very excited about from Drew’s perspective in all areas. I think those are the things we’ll be able to talk about in detail here at the end of the season.”

One area Lock’s maybe made the biggest leap behind the scenes this season is as a leader. Gordon said this week that Lock has started to really earn the respect of his teammates, taking control of the offensive huddle and being more confident in the locker room and on the sidelines.

“You can see him trying to take that leadership role on, which I like because everyone needs to see it,” Gordon said. “You can tell from the start it’s not really what he was comfortable with, but he knows for him to be where he wants to be he has to take that leadership role — breaking down the huddle more when we break as team and as a unit. You see him taking on that, and it’s not easy. It’s not easy for someone who’s just not used to it or it’s just not their personality. It comes easy for some guys. Some guys just have to grow into that role. He’s definitely grown to say the least.”

And that may be the most important step Lock needed to make this season. Sure, he needs to throw less interceptions and be smarter in his decision making. But with only 17 starts, the Broncos have to trust those sort of things will come with time and patience.

But right now, as he enters his final game of the 2020-21 season, it does count for something that his teammates have full belief in him. Because when that stops, that’s when he’ll no longer be the missing piece.

“I don’t care how many mistakes he makes, when he’s out there I believe that he can make every throw that’s needed, every call, every check,” Gordon said. “I believe that he can do it. You’re out there for a reason — I just got that confidence in him. You’re going to make mistakes, it’s part of the game. He’s only played so many amount of games. He’s going to get it, it’s going to click for him, and we need it to click for him.

“I feel like we have a window with this team and he is the piece that’s going to make or break us.”