The Denver Broncos made two big additions to the offensive line this spring, signing guard Ben Powers and right tackle Mike McGlinchey.
McGlinchey is expected to start across from Garett Bolles at tackle with Powers across from Quinn Meinerz at guard, giving the Broncos four locked-in starters on the offensive line going into spring workouts.
The one position on Denver’s line with a less certain status is center. The Broncos did sign Kyle Fuller during free agency, but he has spent most of his career as a backup.
Fuller will likely be given an opportunity to compete for the starting job, but at the moment, incumbent Lloyd Cushenberry is penciled in on the depth chart as the team’s starting center.
“We felt like it was an area we need to address,” coach Sean Payton said of the team’s signings on the offensive line. “We feel like [Cushenberry is] certainly going to benefit from these additions. We haven’t met any of these guys yet, but we see him as our starting center.”
Denver holds back-to-back picks in the third round of the NFL draft later this month (Nos. 67 and 68 overall). The Broncos might be able to land a Day 1 starting center at that point in the draft, but Cushenberry competing with Fuller could be a more likely scenario this summer.
If Cushenberry does not take a step forward this year, Denver will have Fuller available as a fallback option, and the Broncos will have a more-normal set of draft picks in 2024 (they only hold five picks this year).
For now, the center job is Cushenberry’s to lose.
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