One of these three interior offensive line prospects could be the immediate starter the Broncos need

INDIANAPOLIS — On the interior of the offensive line, the Broncos have one clear answer right now.

The problem is that they have three positions to handle.

The answer they know about is Dalton Risner at left guard. In the wake of a strong rookie season, he is the constant of the group.

But center Connor McGovern is poised to become a free agent. Right guard Ron Leary will depart after John Elway announced that the team would not exercise his option after three seasons in which some decent stretches — particularly in 2017 and 2018 — were derailed by injuries.

Players like Patrick Morris, Elijah Wilkinson and Austin Schlottmann could be part of the solution, but Broncos coach Vic Fangio said Tuesday that the trio could represent options as backups or starters.

The tackle crop dominates offensive-line discussions heading into the draft, and the Broncos have met with some at the Combine. ‘

Yet it is possible that the immediate starter the Broncos find from the draft could be on the interior — just like last year, when the team placed Risner into the starting lineup at left guard immediately upon his arrival.

Three centers jump to the head of the class. All possess high football I.Q., with the ability to provide assistance to the quarterback in identifying defensive looks and making pre-snap adjustments — a near-mandatory skill these days.

All have the versatility to play guard.

And all look like they could be long-term starters who anchor their offensive lines for the next decade.

TYLER BIADASZ, WISCONSIN

In terms of individual accomplishment, Biadasz is the most accomplished interior lineman of this year’s class, earning first-team All-America honors this year. He also won the Rimington Trophy, given to the nation’s top center.

But he also has a pressing injury concern: a surgically-repaired AC joint in his right shoulder. He will not work out at the Combine and won’t be back to full speed until mid-April, just days before the draft. He expects to be full speed to take part in OTAs, but without a Combine or Pro Day workout, the evaluation will be all about the film and teams’ medical checkups on him.

Despite the injury, one factor stands in his favor: He played at an exceptional level with the injury last year.

“I never was limited. It was just a lingering issue,” he said. “Not really an issue, but just a little pain here and there. I went in after the season, just saw a specialist from L.A. and tell me that we just don’t want anything lingering on to OTAs or rookie camp.”

Biadasz played his entire Wisconsin career at center, but said that he took guard repetitions at practice. A position switch wouldn’t be ideal, but he wanted teams to know that he was willing to move to left or right guard if asked.

“I know guard as much as I know center,” he said.

But if there are lingering concerns about his surgery, the best center in college football last year could be the third one off the draft board, which means he could be available as late as Round 3.

LLOYD CUSHENBERRY, LSU

One of the standouts at the Senior Bowl last month, Cushenberry was the only South team offensive lineman to hold his own against South Carolina defensive lineman Javon Kinlaw.

Cushenberry said that teams at the Combine have talked with about playing both center and guard. But at the same time, center has been the focus of his efforts. He learned the position so well that he was given the honorary No. 18 jersey, an honor bestowed upon a player that, according to LSU’s athletic website, “best represents what it means to be an LSU player on and off the field.”

An SEC Academic honor-roll selection as a freshman in 2016, Cushenberry was a team captain and graduated with a degree in sports administration last December. Meanwhile, he honed his craft as a center.

“Maybe I was born to be a center,” he said. “I didn’t play it in high school, so I had to teach myself how to snap and get comfortable being a vocal guy. I’m not really that vocal off the field, but on the field I’m completely different.

“I make a lot of the calls, I’m the main communicator, and I’ve gotten used to that. Now I love it. I take pride in that.”

He’s come a long way from before he arrived at LSU, when he saw he watched videos on YouTube and taught himself how to snap.

“Then once I got to campus I actually stole one of the balls from the equipment room,” Cushenberry said. “Me and my roommate — he was a quarterback my freshman year — we would just snap. I got the rhythm and we found it.”

Three and a half years after teaching himself to play center, he’s poised to become an immediate NFL starter at the position.

CESAR RUIZ, MICHIGAN

Ruiz had a formal interview with the Broncos, one of six teams to meet with him at the Combine prior to Wednesday. The Rams, Packers, Panthers, Titans and Giants are the others.

He, too, expressed a willingness to play guard if asked. But Ruiz also admits that he wants to be the man in the middle.

“Like I said a couple of years back,” he said. “I was born to play center.”

He played some guard as a freshman, but the cerebral demands of center are a perfect fit for him.

“At Michigan, I was always in my playbook I was always studying the offense, I was always doing a lot of things like that,” he said. “I just have a thing for football. That’s where I think I stand out with these interviews, these formal interviews because I just know so much about football and I love football. So I’m learning new things. I’m actually locked in and engaged.”

Ruiz is also the youngest of this trio. He doesn’t turn 21 until June 14. But he had to grow up fast; Ruiz’s father, Cesar Edwin Ruiz, died when his son was just eight years of age, a victim of an automobile accident in which a car slammed into him while he was helping change a tire on the shoulder of the road.

With his father gone, he grew up in difficult circumstances in Camden, N.J. Ruiz had to mature fast. He found a home in football — and at center in particular, a position no one else wanted when he began playing the sport.

“None of the kids wanted to play center. I didn’t know about football, so I was like, ‘OK, I’ll do it,'” he said. “That was my first day there and I was playing center.”

It was the wisest football choice he ever made.