Broncos news: Rookie center Lloyd Cushenberry got some work with the starters, finally.
The Denver Broncos have been slowly easing their rookies into action, even having first-round pick Jerry Jeudy spend some time with the backups before rotating in with the first-team offense.
Third-round center Lloyd Cushenberry III was anticipated to be this year’s version of Dalton Risner — an experienced college player with clear day one starter qualities.
Without a normal offseason, that hasn’t happened.
The Broncos opened training camp with Austin Schlottmann in the top center position, followed by Patrick Morris. Even though on day two of camp it was Morris in the top center spot, on days when Schlottmann was with the starters it was Cushenberry with the second offense.
Finally, five days into training camp, the Broncos started rotating Cushenberry in with the top offense.
With practice still ongoing at the time of this writing, it’s unclear as to exactly how many reps Cushenberry will take with the starters or if it was just for the initial portion of camp, but this is a natural progression toward Cushenberry earning the starting center job for the 2020 season.
Schlottmann, who has been the top center for the majority of camp thus far, is not to be discounted, though. He apparently has some favor with the coaching staff and his experience last season at right guard bodes well for his roster chances overall.
Even as much as the Broncos like Patrick Morris, it’s going to be hard for him to earn a roster spot ultimately with the fact that Graham Glasgow can also play the center position.
If Schlottmann is higher on the pecking order at this point with Cushenberry the favorite to ultimately win the job and Glasgow available in a pinch, Morris could be looking at potential practice squad duty.
Another lineman like Calvin Anderson could be working his way up to a more prominent role, certainly an active roster spot.
It’s great to see Cushenberry and the other rookies getting increased reps with the starting unit. We all knew this year’s rookie class would play a major role offensively for the Broncos and Cushenberry was such incredible value in the third round, it’s still a bit hard to believe the Broncos were able to get him when they did.