Denver Broncos: Training camp standouts from day five

The Offensive Line

Through two days of fully padded practice, it’s clear to see the progress the offense has made in general but the offensive line, in particular, is looking good.

The move of guard Ron Leary over to the left side with Garett Bolles has paid major dividends for both guys and the addition of Jared Veldheer at right tackle has been excellent in the early goings as well.

Offensive coordinator Bill Musgrave talked after day five of practice about the importance of cohesion up front, and that’s something we’ve been hoping to see all offseason. One of the things we wanted to see going into OTAs even was just the five starting offensive linemen next to each other, even if they weren’t really blocking anybody.

It’s only been five days of practices, but this group is a night and day difference between last year’s crew.

The Broncos are also doing some interesting work cross-training players who are maybe ‘fringe’ roster candidates.

Rookies Sam Jones (sixth-round pick) and Austin Schlottmann (undrafted free agent) are taking reps at both center and guard, and Jones, in particular, had a nice day of practice on Wednesday.

Working in both one-on-one and two-on-two situations against the Broncos’ tough defensive line, Jones held his own and stood his ground, winning three consecutive reps and stone-walling the defensive linemen he faced.

Former big-money free agent pickup Menelik Watson has been working almost exclusively as the backup right guard, while Billy Turner has been the team’s backup at right tackle.

Cyrus Kouandjio has been the primary backup at right tackle and is doing a good job there, too.