Stop me if you have heard this before: the Denver Broncos failed at addressing a position/unit of need in the NFL Draft. I hate to be a broken record. I would love nothing more than for the Broncos to fill their needs, however way they can. That’s just not something they chose to do in one specific area.
The Broncos finished the 2023 NFL Draft by selecting one offensive lineman in Oregon center Alex Forsyth with pick 257. That’s literally the only position along the offensive line they drafted this weekend. Many people have suggested that current starter Lloyd Cushenberry should be removed from the starting position. It feels like a huge mistake given the lack of depth in other places.
Looking at the projected starters, you have left tackle Garett Bolles, left guard Ben Powers, center Lloyd Cushenberry/Alex Forsyth, right guard Quinn Meinerz, and right tackle Mike McGlinchey. It’s a decent starting group but with room for improvement. Bolles missed a lot of the year with a broken leg and will be 31. Meinerz is still young and developing; so is Cushenberry. I’m excited about the free agent additions in Powers and McGlinchey.
As for backups on the line, you have Christian DiLauro and Casey Tucker backing up Bolles; Quinn Bailey the backup to Powers; second-year center Luke Wattenberg and Kyle Fuller backing up Cushenberry (Forsyth listed as fourth-string right now but that was to be expected); no backup at right guard; Isaiah Prince backing up McGlinchey at right tackle.
There’s not really much to say here except who are any of these guys? I mean, they’ve been around the league for a little bit. I’m not expecting starting-caliber players being our backup offensive linemen. That just doesn’t make sense. I just think that since we did not add any quality backups (maybe outside of Fuller), they should have done a lot more in the NFL Draft this year than just drafting a seventh-round center who may not even make the team.
That being said, the roster shuffling is far from over. It’s still possible we re-sign someone like Dalton Risner, who did not see the type of money he expected. He’s still a free agent. Many thought he would be a high-priority signing for a new team. At this point I would not hate if the Broncos re-signed him. I thought that since they let him walk that they would address the area in the draft.
I will finish this by saying that I feel like the Broncos still have a lot of work to do here. Will the addition of Zach Strief as offensive line coach be the difference maker? Will Garett Bolles come back well and healthy and play better? How will the new additions turn out? Will Cushenberry take a step forward?
Many questions need to be answered this season or else the Broncos are going to look like fools for not addressing the offensive line in the 2023 NFL Draft.