Wilkinson or Dotson? Broncos’ starting right tackle job becoming more clear as the season approaches

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — There was a significant change to the Broncos’ offensive line during a portion of Friday’s practice.

Elijah Wilkinson wasn’t Denver’s first-team right tackle.

Instead, for the first time as a Denver Bronco, Demar Dotson took his spot as the Broncos’ right tackle. Although Dotson’s stint with the first-team unit only lasted one series, it was the first time the long-time starting right tackle got a shot to protect Drew Lock.

After 10 practices of seeing Wilkinson line up next to Graham Glasgow on the right side of the offensive line, the Broncos wanted to see Dotson in the lineup with the rest of Denver’s starters.

But don’t think this means Dotson’s moving his way up to take Wilkinson’s starting job.

Denver, in fact, does not have a new starting right tackle, according to Vic Fangio. Asked after practice, the head coach confirmed the 34-year-old tackle still has a chance at becoming the Broncos’ starter, but he’s not yet. And it won’t be based on Dotson’s play.

“It’s up to Elijah to lose it too,” Fangio added. “As long as Elijah’s playing the way we think he’s capable of playing, he’ll be the right tackle. If he’s struggling, then we have Demar there to replace him with.”

Through the first two weeks of camp, Wilkinson has struggled going up against Von Miller and Denver’s lethal pass rush. Yet despite that, the job is still the fourth-year veteran’s to lose.

Last year, Wilkinson started 12 games for the Broncos at right tackle after Ja’Wuan James got hurt. On Aug. 3, James opted out for the 2020 season due to COVID-19. In response, Wilkinson was again called on to replace James instead of competing with Garett Bolles for the left tackle job.

Yet eight days later, on Aug. 11, John Elway signed Dotson. The 6-foot-9 tackle not only became the tallest Bronco ever, but he also brought 106 starts at right tackle along with him — nearly 100 more than Wilkinson.

When that move was made, it appeared it was only a matter of time until Dotson leaped over Wilkinson on the depth chart and grabbed the job by Week 1. However, two weeks into camp, Wilkinson has significantly more first-team snaps than Dotson and the job is still Elijah’s to lose, according to the head coach.

Additionally, there isn’t much more time for Wilkinson to lose the job before the start of the season. On Friday, Fangio stated he hopes to have his starters in place by the week of practices leading up to Week 1. That means there is just over one week until the Broncos hope to have their starting lineup figured out.

“We’ll look for it to happen before then, but if it’s not, we’ll keep letting it play out,” Fangio added.

For a brief moment on Friday, it appeared a major change was happening on the Broncos’ offensive line. While there’s still a chance of Dotson overtaking Wilkinson before Week 1, there’s still a clear frontrunner for the starting job. And as long as Wilkinson doesn’t lose the job, it’ll be his.