Rookies outside of Jeudy and Hamler beginning to step up in training camp

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — In terms of Broncos’ rookies, the first week of training camp has been dominated by Jerry Jeudy with a side of K.J. Hamler. That comes as no surprise as the two receivers were John Elway’s first two picks in April’s draft.

On Wednesday, other rookies from Elway’s draft class began to make noise, earn praise and make their way up the depth chart.

It started in the center. Literally.

For the first time in training camp, Denver’s third-round pick Lloyd Cushenberry got reps working with the first-team unit as Drew Lock’s center. Up until Wednesday, Cushenberry had mainly been working with the second-team unit as Austin Schlottman had spent the majority of camp with the first team and Patrick Morris had a day with Lock as well.

“I think Cushenberry is doing fine,” Fangio stated after Wednesday’s practice.

Sharing first-team reps with Schlottman on Wednesday, Cushenberry held his own against Denver’s stout defensive line. But what’s stuck out to Fangio about the rookie center is his grasp for the mental side of the game.

“One thing that he’s got going for him that a lot of rookies don’t have going for them is that he is smart. He’s picking things up very well. He’s calm at the line of scrimmage, as you know the center has to make a lot of calls. He excels at that,” Fangio said, dishing out significant praise to the third-round pick. “He’s not a totally honed up machine on it right now, but we expect that he will be. He’s got that going for him. He’s also got going for him that he played a lot of big games at LSU especially last year where they won it all on the big stage. I think that helped him too. We’re encouraged by him.”

Fangio added, “it’s a good battle” between Cushenberry, Schlottman and Morris. However, it’s hard to ignore the praise the rookie received from Fangio and, more importantly, his reps with the first-teamers on Wednesday.

A few spots down the line from center, Cushenberry was joined by fellow rookie tight end Albert Okwuegbunam for a few plays of practice. With Noah Fant (illness) and Nick Vannett (concussion protocol) not practicing on Wednesday, that paved the way for other tight ends, including Albert O., to work with Lock and Company.

“‘Big Al,’ I think he’s gone out there and showed what kind of a physical freak he is running down the field,” fellow tight end Jake Butt said after practice. “Of course, there are going to be some mistakes and a little bit of growing pains, especially just understanding the concepts and the details of tight end. It’s a hard position to transition to. I think Al has stepped up and he’s picked it up well. He’s worked at it and that’s a credit to him.”

Coming out of Mizzou, Albert O. was the fastest tight end at the combine, running a blistering 4.49 40-yard dash. Additionally, he had developed an incredible connection with Drew Lock in college as the two racked up 17 touchdowns in a two-year span before the quarterback entered the NFL.

“Albert’s done well. Obviously, he’s got some good receiving abilities,” Fangio stated, before saying the team needs to find out how good of a blocker he is. “A big part of being a competent blocker is a mentality to want to block. As a tight end, a lot of times when you do block you’re having to block good players. A good bit of that is want to and toughness. We’re trying to figure that out with him to see if he has that part of his game.”

Cushenberry and Okwuegbunam’s respective roles their rookie year could very well come down to their blocking abilities. On the other hand, one rookie whose job won’t come down to blocking is linebacker Justin Strnad.

“I’ve liked Justin so far. He’s shown some ability both in the pass defense area—the run game, we haven’t had a lot of shots of it yet,” Fangio said about the 5th-round pick. “Overall, I think he’s doing well. I like what I see. A lot of that is based upon just what I see which enables me to predict. You might not be seeing it on tape or you guys watching in practice live, but I like certain things that indicate to me that he’ll be able to do it eventually.”

Denver hopes the 6-foot-3, 238-pound linebacker can help them in the passing game, specifically lined up against tight ends and running backs out of the backfield.

“He’s looking clean,” starting linebacker Alexander Johnson said on Wednesday. “Obviously, he’s running with the receivers, getting good drops, picking up the defense really fast. He’s looking really good. Obviously, it’s just three practices in so nobody’s going to be perfect. I’m not perfect. He’s not perfect, but so far he’s doing really well and looking really good. I’m glad we got him as a linebacker.”

It’s highly unlikely Strnad will jump Todd Davis or Johnson on the depth chart at any point during his rookie season, but it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him as the Broncos’ coverage linebacker early in the season.

It’s often difficult for players to transition from college to the NFL and have their impact felt their rookie season in a normal year. But on top of that, this year has been especially challenging with a virtual offseason program replacing the typical in-person program, training camp beginning later than usual and no preseason games eliminating additional prep, especially for the younger players.

So the fact the Broncos are beginning to see an impact from a handful of rookies less than a week into camp is a pleasant surprise. Despite being “impressed” with where the rookies are at this point, Fangio is going to make each and every rookie earn their spot on the team.

“They have to show it. They have to earn it,” Fangio said bluntly when asked about how he manages working rookies into the rotations without just handing them jobs. “With the shortened training camp, obviously we have to get out the Ouija board out and do some predicting. It’s a little it of everything there, but definitely never want to give anybody a job.”

Five practices into training camp, half of Elway’s rookie draft class is already beginning to step up, despite adverse conditions.