Vance Joseph gives a hint toward who may be his starting left tackle

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. – Another day closer to the season, another step towards the nearly inevitable.

Since the Broncos selected left tackle Garett Bolles in the first round of the 2017 draft, it appeared to be a foregone conclusion that he would be the starter come September.

Of course, you can’t just crown a rookie the second he walks in the building, so Bolles started the offseason third on the depth chart behind Donald Stephenson and Ty Sambrailo. By the end of the OTAs, the rookie had made his way to the top of the depth chart, splitting first-team reps with Sambrailo.

Yesterday, Bolles said he only needed to do one thing to become the starting left tackle, on On Wednesday, though, Vance Joseph mentioned two things. Whether it’s one thing or two seems arbitrary, but Joseph’s response to what exactly Bolles needs to do to secure the position seems quite positive for No. 72.

“He has to know what to do on every play and block his guy, simple as that,” he said. “He’s going to be on the first team along with Ty Sambrailo tomorrow.”

“Is it hard for a rookie to know what to do on every play?” He was asked as a follow up.

“It’s not,” the head coach responded. “We do football for a living. He’s been here now for four or five months, he’s a first-round pick. We have great coaches, he will know what to do and, obviously, he’s a first round pick for a reason, so he will block his guy.”

In case you didn’t catch it: Vance Joseph first said for Bolles to be the starter, he just has to know what to do and block his guy. He then followed it up by saying he’s going to know what to do and he’s going to block his guy.

If A+B=C, it sure sounds like the Broncos head coach is feeling confident that the first offensive lineman taken in the entire draft will eventually seize control of the starting left tackle position during camp.