Lock's path toward jogging out in the huddle against the Raiders was a bit circuitous.

He was still on the board when the Broncos were on the clock with the 10th-overall pick in April's draft. They passed on him.

And again at pick No. 20. And again at pick No. 41.

The Broncos snagged him with the 42nd-overall pick, as the value was too good to pass up.

Lock, who was the highest-rated quarterback on the Broncos' draft board, competed for the backup role through OTAs and training camp. The rookie took steps forward each week in the preseason and appeared poised to capture the backup job. He suffered a thumb injury on Aug. 19 against the 49ers, though, and the Broncos placed him on injured reserve when the season began.

But Flacco, who started the first eight games for Denver, suffered a neck injury that landed him on IR just ahead of the Broncos' bye week.

That's when the calls for Lock to start intensified. Fans clamored for Head Coach Vic Fangio to start the rookie as soon as he was eligible to return from IR.

The Broncos, though, turned to Brandon Allen for three games as Lock returned to practice.

In Week 13, Lock made his long-anticipated debut and led the Broncos to a pair of go-ahead scores in the fourth quarter against the Chargers. As Brandon McManus knocked in a game-winning field goal, Lock sprinted onto the field as a winner in his first start.

"I think it was a good start for him," Fangio said after the win. 'Did we light up the scoreboard? No. Did we get a ton of first downs? No. I think we only had 11 first downs or something like that. We got some short fields which helped us get some points, but I think there's promise there. I really do. I'm just not ready to put him in Canton yet. I think it was a great start for him, something that he can build upon because obviously we didn't light up the scoreboard or have a ton of yards and first downs, but I think in many ways it's probably a good way for him to start in lieu of the fact that we got the win, but there's still a lot of room for improvement."

A week later, Lock earned Rookie of the Week honors after he threw for 300 yards and three touchdowns in a double-digit win over the Texans.

"I think we played it just right," Fangio said after the Broncos' win in Houston. "If we had played him too early, it wouldn't have been this good. He needed the time."

Even the Broncos' clunker in Kansas City, where Lock completed fewer than 50 percent of his passes in the snow, could not stem the hype around the young quarterback.

And perhaps it's for good reason. The second-round pick has impressed fans, coaches and teammates alike.

"He's met our expectations in every way," Offensive Coordinator Rich Scangarello said in mid-December. "Just his work ethic has been very, very strong. It matters to him. I think that there are things you learn about a guy when you're in the room with him like this that you didn't really know, and I think he really has the makeup of what it takes to be successful."

Von Miller put it more simply after the Broncos' win in Houston.