Five players who stood out in the Denver Broncos season finale

Cyrus Kouandjio, Offensive Tackle

Why was Cyrus Kouandjio a street free agent in the middle of an NFL season?

Chalk this up as my hot take of the season, but Kouandjio looked like a player that could start permanently for the Denver Broncos at right tackle moving forward.

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I made it a point to spend an entire film session watching just Kouandjio when the offense had the ball, and there was only one play where I felt like he ‘lost’ a rep, and it was a miscommunication by both he and Connor McGovern.

Kouandjio looks the part, a massive man standing at 6-foot-7 and over 320 pounds. The Broncos have failed miserably at the right tackle position for years now, and Kouandjio — as you can see by the graphic above — has at least played decently well when given the opportunity.

Injuries have kept him from realizing his massive potential, but perhaps Denver has found a diamond in the rough here. Kouandjio was dominant both in pass protection and in the running game, showing excellent movement skills when asked and doing a good job of staying in front of pass rushers.

I have to say, I was very impressed by him.

Kouandjio is just 24 years old, and the Broncos have him under contract for 2018. It will be interesting to see how they proceed with his development, because he looks like he can be a really good one.