Redesign, Rebuild, Reclaim: the Denver Broncos Offensive Line

After shipping out Manny Ramirez (I still crack up every time I type that name for football) to move up in the draft to select Shane Ray, many assumed that the Broncos would bring in a veteran center like Peyton’s good buddy Jeff Saturday to hold down the fort. Instead, some random dude from Boise State named Paradis was taking all the reps at OTAs, and both Broncos coaches and Peyton Manning were sold from the start on the former practice squad grinder.

He was steady for the past two years, but Matt Paradis jumped a level this season, emerging as one of the best centers in the league; PFF named him week 2’s best center for his domination over Indianapolis’ defensive line. He was rated one of the Broncos’ top performers in week 3, and completely took over the game once Gerald McCoy exited with an injury this past Sunday. The Broncos have been wandering the center wilderness for the past several years, and now they have that position locked in for the coming decade.