Denver Broncos: 4 projected starters who could be on the bench in Week 1

Lloyd Cushenberry

The Broncos were thrilled to be able to grab LSU’s Lloyd Cushenberry in the third round of last year’s draft and as a rookie, he performed fairly well, starting all 16 games at center.

But in this year’s draft, the Broncos snagged another offensive lineman in the third round, Quinn Meinerz out of Wisconsin-Whitewater. Though Cushenberry has a year in Denver’s system under his belt, Meinerz may end up being the better overall football player.

Though Cushenberry started all 16 games at center for the Broncos, he did have his struggles and it seemed clear he would need to get stronger to hold up against the interior defensive linemen at the pro level.

That is an area that the mammoth Meinerz may already have an advantage in over Cushenberry. If you haven’t seen the unorthodox workout Meinerz put out there, it’s a must-watch.

Though Meinerz was a guard coming into the draft, he can play center and the Broncos have indicated that is the position where they see him as, presenting him as direct competition to the second-year Cushenberry.

Though it’s easy to say that Cushenberry has the inside track to be the team’s starting center as of right now, Meinerz is not a guy Paton drafted to sit on the bench and he could be in the starting lineup sooner rather than later.

This will be an interesting position battle to keep tabs on.