Offensive Tackle
The Broncos drafted Garett Bolles in the first round of the 2017 NFL Draft to be their ‘franchise’ left tackle. Bolles’ combination of athleticism and toughness are rare for the position, but he struggled some in 2017 with penalties.
That wasn’t entirely unexpected, as Bolles’ dominance at Utah overshadowed some of his flaws and consistency problems.
But I fully expect Bolles to be one of the most improved Broncos in 2018, and a mainstay at left tackle for the foreseeable future.
Bolles has a new bookend at right tackle in Jared Veldheer, a former draft pick of rival Oakland and most recently of the Arizona Cardinals. The Broncos picked up Veldheer for a sixth round pick, which is a steal considering how well he played after a slow start to last season.
If Veldheer can stay healthy, he could prove to be one of the most important offseason acquisitions the Broncos made.
The team also decided to keep (for now) Menelik Watson, who looked like a completely failed experiment last year. Watson was also a former draft pick of the Raiders, who couldn’t stay healthy and never realized the potential he showed as a second round draft pick.
There has been talk of Watson moving inside.
One wild card for the Broncos at tackle is Cyrus Kouandjio, another former second round pick who is still in his mid-20s and looked like a potential starting option in last year’s finale against the Chiefs.
Kouandjio’s improvement could end up being an underrated storyline to follow this offseason.
Other players the Broncos have at tackle:
Andreas Knappe: Massive tackle prospect who signed a reserve/futures contract this offseason. The Broncos will try and extract his potential as a right tackle.
Elijah Wilkinson: The Broncos obviously liked Wilkinson quite a bit, as they rostered him almost all of last season when injuries crept up at the tackle position. We still haven’t seen him play enough snaps to make any judgments.
Leon Johnson: Undrafted free agent out of Temple, regarded as a high character player and leader who can play right tackle.