Broncos depth chart: Graham Glasgow not safe from Netane Muti
The Denver Broncos depth chart along the offensive line is anything but “settled” heading into 2021 training camp. After injuries caused a number of players to rotate into Mike Munchak’s unit in the 2020 season, what will the Denver Broncos’ starting five look like this year?
I recently took a look through what could be an “ideal” starting five on the offensive line, though that was a much tougher exercise than I expected.
Although you never want to see big-money free agents work out the way Ja’Wuan James did in Denver, it’s never a bad thing when players you drafted — regardless of what round they were drafted in — emerge as starting options.
The Broncos brought in Graham Glasgow from the Detroit Lions as one of their big-money free agent pickups in the 2020 offseason. Glasgow was the team’s answer to the failed free agent investment in Ron Leary, who struggled with injuries throughout his entire tenure in Denver.
Glasgow played in 13 games in his first year in Denver and he proved to be an average to above-average player at the position when healthy.
In 2021 training camp, he’s going to have to fend off the talented Netane Muti, a second-year player out of Fresno State who will be nipping at his heels for playing time.
Netane Muti coming for a top spot on Broncos depth chart
The Denver Broncos are under no obligation to play Netane Muti as a starter as soon as possible, or anything, but after showing some significant promise in his limited action as a rookie, you can’t help but wonder how curious they might be about him as a full-time starter beginning in 2021.
Glasgow could be traded at any point prior to the 2021 regular season and save the Denver Broncos almost $9 million in cap space. They don’t exactly need that cap space at the moment and would incur a pretty hefty dead cap hit of $9 million between the 2021 and 2022 seasons, but there are reasons to believe they could be motivated to play Muti.
The Broncos are clearly going to emphasize running the football with the addition of Javonte Williams in the second round of the 2021 NFL Draft. That move to go and get Williams along with the team planning on incorporating Mike Boone into the mix leads me to believe the running game will be heavily emphasized, and that’s an area where Muti excels.
The big question is whether or not Muti can hold up for a 17-game NFL schedule and how well he holds up consistently as a pass protector.
He undoubtedly has the physical strength and athleticism to do it, but preseason play will be crucial for gauging exactly where Muti is at in his development as a player.
The likelihood of Glasgow being traded is slim. The option is definitely there for the Denver Broncos should Muti prove himself worthy of such a bold move, but he would have to really show out.
The Broncos are pretty committed, at least for this season, to Glasgow. Although it’s possible that Muti could come out at training camp and in preseason play and make himself irreplaceable, it’s more likely that we see him get one more year of spot duty and training before really emerging as a full-time starter on the Broncos depth chart by 2022.