Two surprise players are “in the hunt” to start on Denver’s offensive line

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — Entering Broncos’ training camp, there was uncertainty along Denver’s offensive line. One practice in, there’s even more up in the air.

Among the five starting spots, only Dalton Risner and Graham Glasgow have their starting jobs locked in. Outside of the two guard spots being taken care of, both tackles and center remain up for grabs, although some more than others.

While Vic Fangio stated before camp left tackle is Garett Bolles’ “job to lose,” center and right tackle have significantly more uncertainty.

With Elijah Wilkinson moving back to right tackle after Ja’Wuan James opted out of the season, it was expected that he would be the man to beat for the job. But then Denver signed long-time starting right tackle Demar Dotson just days before camp started.

On Friday, during the Broncos’ first full-squad training camp practice, another name entered the mix at right tackle. Sharing the first-team reps with Elijah Wilkinson was 28-year-old Jake Rodgers.

Rodgers started one game for the Broncos at tackle last year. In that one start, he earned a game ball. However, despite being in the NFL since 2015, that was Rodgers’ lone start of his career. In fact, the Broncos are the 28-year old’s eighth NFL team.

Wilkinson, on the other hand, started 12 games at right tackle for Denver last season and has been with the Broncos since he joined the NFL as an undrafted rookie in 2017. However, Wilkinson had a procedure on his foot this offseason causing him to be placed on the Physically Unable to Perform (PUP) list before camp. He has since been activated from the PUP allowing him to take part in Friday’s practice.

At center, it wasn’t third-round rookie Lloyd Cushenberry snapping to Drew Lock. Instead, it was third-year offensive lineman Austin Schlottman. The 6-foot-6 lineman started the final four games for Denver last season at guard but has the versatility to play center as well.

“Both [Rodgers and Schlottman] got playing time at the end of the season last year—Austin more than Jake, but Jake did get his chance to play in the last two games,” Vic Fangio said after Friday’s practice, elaborating on the two players getting significant snaps with the starters. “Both did well. I think they both have had good offseasons as much as you can under the circumstances. I see improvement in both of them. They’re in the hunt both for starting jobs and making the team.”

As Fangio mentioned, neither Schlottman nor Rodgers are locks to make the team, yet they’re both in the hunt to grab starting jobs.

With it being just the first true day of training camp, Cushenberry — who snapped to Jeff Driskel with the second team — still has an excellent shot to move up the depth chart. But it’s Schlottman, not center Patrick Morris, getting the first shot with Lock.

As for Dotson, the most experienced lineman on Denver’s roster, there’s a long way to go before knowing if he’ll be the Broncos’ starting right tackle.

“Right now, we just have to get familiar with him,” Fangio said about the veteran who signed with Denver on Tuesday. “He’s obviously behind as far as learning our offense. He had none of the offseason virtual meetings. Today was his first day here with us. Actually, yesterday was. We’ve got to get him caught up so he’s knowing what to do so we can see how good he is and where he might fit.”

However, with 106 starts under his belt over the past decade, Dotson has the credentials to make a late push for the job.

“Certainly, he has the license and the permit to win a starting job if he can, but that remains to be seen,” Fangio stated. “We have to find out—it’s going to take us a little while here to find out exactly where he’s at.”

As many new names enter the mix, the only certainty regarding the Broncos’ offensive line in the coming days and weeks is the uncertainty of who the starting five will be.