How do Sam Mustipher, Matt Peart and Calvin Throckmorton fit with the Denver Broncos?

The Broncos added a trio of offensive linemen in the past week.

Tackle Matt Peart, 26, signed a one-year, $1.293 million contract that includes $367,500 in guaranteed money.

Guard Calvin Throckmorton, 27, signed a one-year, $1.055 million contract with $150,000 in guaranteed money.

Center Sam Mustipher, 27, signed a one-year, $1.125 million contract. His guarantees haven’t been reported.

With three new offensive linemen signed up for 2024, the Broncos have a solid two-deep up front. It looks something like this, pending the results of the starting center competition:

LT: Garett Bolles, Matt Peart

LG: Ben Powers, Luke Wattenberg

C: Sam Mustipher, Alex Forsyth

RG: Quinn Meinerz, Calvin Throckmorton

RT: Mike McGlinchey, Quinn Bailey

Here’s what the Broncos got from their new linemen…

Sam Mustipher

Sam Mustipher, 27, brings experience to the center position.

A former undrafted free agent out of Notre Dame—where he played four seasons with Broncos tackle Mike McGlinchey—Mustipher took over as the starting center for the Bears halfway through the 2020 season. He held onto that job through the 2022 campaign before signing with the Ravens after the season. He started the 2023 season on the Ravens’ practice squad but was active for every game and started two of them.

Mustipher is a big boy.

The Broncos list Mustipher at 6-foot-2 and 306 pounds, his NFL Combine measurements, but he appears to be much larger. Last year, the Ravens listed him at 332 pounds, and that number appears to be more accurate.

Mustipher’s size showed up here when he took a safety out of the play.

Mustipher’s arms are a little short, which can make recovering against speedy defenders difficult, but he’s stout enough to hold his ground against just about anybody he lines up against.

Watch him one-on-one with DJ Reader, one of the league’s better nose tackles:

While Mustipher excels at holding his ground, he doesn’t have the mobility to consistently move defensive linemen backward. But he’s capable of gaining ground in the running game when he’s helped out with a double-team.

Mustipher joins Alex Frosyth and Luke Wattenberg in a competition for the Broncos’ starting center job. The winner will replace Lloyd Cushenberry III, who signed a four-year $50 million contract his offseason.

Cushenberry’s biggest strength is his athleticism. He excelled on screens and when he was asked to get to the second level. Those are not Mustiphers strengths.

He doesn’t move as smoothly in space as Cushenberry does.

Mustipher is a capable starting center. He can hold his ground to create the center of a pocket, and that’s a trait that Sean Payton emphasizes.

Mustipher doesn’t provide much blocking ability in space, but with Quinn Meinerz, Mike McGlinchey and Garett Bolles lined up around him, the Broncos shouldn’t lack athleticism up front if Mustipher wins the job.

Calvin Throckmorton

Calvin Throckmorton, 27, could be a sneaky option in the center competition, but that’s a longshot.

The 27-year-old was a versatile prospect comign out of Oregon, and three of his 52 starts came at center. The bulk of his work came at tackle, but he figured to play more guard in the NFL thanks to questions about whether he had the athletic ability to keep up with NFL edge rushers in space.

Throckmorton spent his first NFL season (2020) on the Saints’ practice squad, but he started 14 games at left guard for Sean Payton in 2021. He started six games the next year, before signing with the Panthers last offseason. He started seven games in Carolina.

So far, Throckmorton has only played guard in the NFL. (Unless you count his 32 snaps as a sixth offensive lineman, a position Payton uses often.)

Here’s Throckmorton (the right gurad No. 76) battling with the Raiders’ new $110 million interior rusher, Christian Wilkins:

Throckmorton loses a step or two, but that’s a solid performance against one of the league’s best bull rushers.

Here’s another battle:

While Throckmorton didn’t necessarily win the battle with Wilkins, he played him to a draw in this game. Wilkins didn’t make any big plays.

Unfortunately, the struggles with speed continued when Alex Van Ginkel blitzed…

Throckmorton hasn’t been a world-beater, but he’s a solid backup lineman. He doesn’t have elite athleticism or strength, but he’s smart enough to hold his own. He’s worked with Sean Payton before. He’s worked with offensive line coach Zach Strief, too.

Throckmorton figures to compete with Luke Wattenberg (if he doesn’t win the starting center job) and Quinn Bailey to be the Broncos’ top backup guard. But there’s a chance he could earn a look at center, too.

Matt Peart

Matt Peart, 26, was a freak prospect in the 2020 draft.

He measured in at 6-6 5/8 and 318 pounds with nearly 37 inch arms and 9.5-inch hands. The three most similar tackles by Relative Athletic Score were Jonathan Ogden, Joe Thomas and Andrew Whitworth.

But Peart, who was born in Jamaica and moved to The Bronx, was raw. He was a basketball player for most of his life. He started playing football in high school and earned a scholarship to UConn. The Giants picked him in the third round.

Peart never held down a full-time starting job. He picked up five starts in 2021, his second season, but those account for nearly all of his starting work.

Peart caught some tough breaks—the Giants drafted tackles Evan Neal and Andrew Thomas with top-10 picks—but he never made a strong case to become a starter, either. This year, Josh Ezeudu, a third-round pick in 2022, was the swing tackle in front of Peart.

Peart started the Giants’ season finale against the Eagles at right tackle, though. He held up well against Hasson Reddick, one of the league’s most consistent pass rushers.

Here he is locking up Reddick in space. (He’s No. 74.)

This time, Reddick tries a spin move…

Peart has a tendency to give room around the outside to rushers. Occasionally ,this causes problems, but not very often.

In the next clip, Peart is beaten by a swim move.

While Peart isn’t a bully in the running game, he’s solid. His size shows up against smaller defenders.

He isn’t overly quick though, which is why the swim move beat him a couple of clips above, and why linebacker Zach Cunnningham beat him in the clip below.

Peart has the tools to be a very good tackle, but he hasn’t quite put them all together. He also hasn’t had many opportunities to develop his skills, despite spending four years in the league.

Peart is a solid backup tackle who could still have the potential to be a starter someday. He’s the heavy favorite to be the Broncos’ swing tackle, and if he gets an opportunity and takes advantage of it, he could compete for a starting job in Denver as soon as next year.