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The Denver Broncos not addressing their offensive line during the 2023 NFL draft was something worthy of condemnation according to Predominantly Orange’s Graham Tiedtke.
“Stop me if you have heard this before: the Denver Broncos failed at addressing a position/unit of need in the NFL Draft,” Tiedtke wrote. “I hate to be a broken record. I would love nothing more than for the Broncos to fill their needs, however way they can. That’s just not something they chose to do in one specific area. The Broncos finished the 2023 NFL Draft by selecting one offensive lineman in Oregon center Alex Forsyth with pick 257. That’s literally the only position along the offensive line they drafted this weekend. Many people have suggested that current starter Lloyd Cushenberry should be removed from the starting position. It feels like a huge mistake given the lack of depth in other places.”
Tiedtke called the Broncos’ offensive line depth “decent but with room for improvement.”
“Looking at the projected starters, you have left tackle Garett Bolles, left guard Ben Powers, center Lloyd Cushenberry/Alex Forsyth, right guard Quinn Meinerz, and right tackle Mike McGlinchey,” Tiedtke wrote. “It’s a decent starting group but with room for improvement. Bolles missed a lot of the year with a broken leg and will be 31. Meinerz is still young and developing; so is Cushenberry. I’m excited about the free agent additions in Powers and McGlinchey.”
Analyst Sends Strong Message on Denver Broncos Backup OL
Tiedtke was somewhat dismissive of the current Denver Broncos offensive line depth, insinuating that the group is filled with unheralded unknowns and questioning whether their seventh-round pick Forsyth.
“As for backups on the line, you have Christian DiLauro and Casey Tucker backing up Bolles; Quinn Bailey the backup to Powers; second-year center Luke Wattenberg and Kyle Fuller backing up Cushenberry (Forsyth listed as fourth-string right now but that was to be expected); no backup at right guard; Isaiah Prince backing up McGlinchey at right tackle,” Tiedtke prefaced before saying, “There’s not really much to say here except who are any of these guys? I mean, they’ve been around the league for a little bit. I’m not expecting starting-caliber players being our backup offensive linemen. That just doesn’t make sense. I just think that since we did not add any quality backups (maybe outside of Fuller), they should have done a lot more in the NFL Draft this year than just drafting a seventh-round center who may not even make the team.”
With Cushenberry and Wattenberg ahead of him, Forsyth faces a long road to making the Broncos roster. Of course, the free-wheeling nature of both post-training camp, and post-preseason cuts means there will be more chances to address the offensive trenches in free agency.
‘Still Possible’ Denver Broncos Draft Dalton Risner
As Tiedtke pointed out, the Denver Broncos could still re-sign one of their free-agent offensive linemen, Dalton Risner.
“The roster shuffling is far from over,” Risner wrote. “It’s still possible we re-sign someone like Dalton Risner, who did not see the type of money he expected. He’s still a free agent. Many thought he would be a high-priority signing for a new team. At this point I would not hate if the Broncos re-signed him. I thought that since they let him walk that they would address the area in the draft.”
Denver added Alex Palczweski out of Illinois and Henry Byrd out of Princeton thus far from the undrafted free agent crop thus far. More signings between now and the September 10/11 opening kickoff.
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