4. Right Tackle
The Denver Broncos’ right tackle position has been a revolving door for who knows how long at this point?
John Elway obviously hoped signing free agent Ja’Wuan James in the 2019 offseason to a four-year, $51 million deal would fix things, but James played a whopping 63 snaps in Denver in 2019 before opting out in 2020 and suffering a season-ending injury in 2021 prior to his release.
With James out of the picture completely, the Denver Broncos signed veteran free agents Bobby Massie and Cameron Fleming to modest one-year contracts with incentives.
Massie is the most proven player on the roster competing for the starting right tackle job, but he’s also missed 14 games over the last two seasons due to injury. Availability is going to be crucial for whoever the Denver Broncos go with at the position, which is why neither Cameron Fleming nor Calvin Anderson can be counted out.
Anderson got his first shot to start in the NFL last year with the Broncos against the Raiders in a road game, and he didn’t play as well as anyone had hoped in a debut at right tackle. Later in the season he got a shot at left tackle and played much better, giving the Denver Broncos confidence to move forward with him as the presumptive swing tackle for 2021.
Watching some tape from 2020, Cameron Fleming clearly gets a bad rep despite having some pretty solid work out there. When Fleming was with the Patriots and all-time great offensive line coach Dante Scarnecchia, he played exceptionally well.
I think between these three guys, the Denver Broncos have some really nice depth and it would be wise to keep all three of them in 2021 with their low salary cap impact, experience, and a 17-game schedule on tap.
The favorite to win the job as of today has to be Bobby Massie, but the offseason battle will tell the tale.