Atlas
03-31-2006, 02:08 PM
NFL: BRONCOS: 2006 Draft Preview: Offensive Line
By Andrew Mason
DenverBroncos.com
The Broncos' recent history has seen them find plenty of offensive linemen in the draft; four of their five full-time starters last year came from the draft, with the other -- offensive tackle Matt Lepsis -- arriving as an undrafted free agent in 1998.
Yet all but one came from the lower rounds of the draft, from the fourth round or later.
In the Mike Shanahan era, the Broncos have only selected two offensive linemen in the draft's first three rounds -- tackle George Foster in 2003 and guard Lennie Friedman in 1999. Foster is the only offensive lineman taken in the first round by the Broncos used the No. 4 overall pick in 1983 on Chris Hinton, who was subsequently shipped to the Baltimore Colts as part of the John Elway trade.
Recent history says the Broncos will use at least one pick on an offensive lineman; the team has taken at least one guard, center or tackle in 11 of the last 12 drafts. The team has picked 14 offensive linemen over that span, beginning in 1994 when Tom Nalen's name was called in the seventh round.
Fourteen offensive linemen, with just two taken on the draft's first day. All the while, the Broncos' homegrown offensive line has helped the team gain more rushing yards than any other since 1995.
"We don't care (about draft status)," General Manager Ted Sundquist said. "It's more of getting them in and getting them to do what we want them to do."
"We don't look at offensive line like the rest of the league does. We cultivate them."
Cultivation means taking time to develop these linemen, as well. The Broncos' current first-string offensive line had a combined one start in their rookie seasons -- a solitary assignment for Nalen in 1994. Guard Ben Hamilton didn't play at all in his 2001 rookie season. Foster didn't make it into action as a rookie until the Broncos' playoff seeding was locked heading into a Week 17 game at Green Bay.
Last year, it was rookie Chris Myers who watched and learned. After joining as a sixth-round pick and spending the first four weeks of the year on the practice squad, he played in nine regular-season games and both playoff contests, but did so on special teams only, never getting onto the field with the offense.
It is the recent way of life as a Broncos rookie offensive lineman. You watch, you practice, you learn.
Who among the rising class of rookie prospects might be next in line? The last weekend of April will provide that answer; for now, here's a brief look at some of this year's rising rookies along the offensive front.
TACKLES: A MATTER OF SIZE
Former Virginia offensive tackle D'Brickashaw Ferguson has found his name near the top of many mock drafts, including the one that Broncos fans have chosen the past two weeks. But the 6-foot-6 lineman's rise up the draft charts might not have been possible without a rise in his weight, from around 255 pounds to 312 over the last two years.
"I was 250ish, 260ish," Ferguson said at the Scouting Combine. "Being a 260-pound tackle, you're not given the opportunity to exert yourself on other defenders as you can at 290 pounds. I felt I would have an advantage with the additional weight and size and I didn't think it would hurt my movement."
It didn't, as it turned out, although his increase in size didn't stop with the end of his college career. He told reporters that he added 14 pounds between January's Senior Bowl and February's Scouting Combine, though he said the decision to get bigger in the first place was not made with the NFL in mind.
"I wanted to be the best and most polished player I could be and that's what my focus was at that time," he said.
There were no such size changes for Auburn offensive tackle Marcus McNeill; he measured at 6-foot-7 and 336 pounds, or "right around where I've been my whole playing career," he said at the Combine. What did change was his position, as he shifted from guard to tackle during his years at Auburn.
"The last time I gave up a sack I was a freshman, playing actually offensive guard," McNeill said. "They wanted to just throw me in the fire as a young pup back then at guard and I gave up a sack on a slide protection and I'm real disappointed about that."
Maybe that was a disappointment, but his career was anything but, as he finished it as a consensus first-team All-American. He went through the entire 2005 regular season without allowing a sack.
For USC offensive tackle Winston Justice, the changes involved dealing with a one-year absence from the Trojans after starting for two seasons. He returned to hold down a starting tackle slot once again in 2005.
"I was suspended for pulling a toy gun on a student, so I was suspended by the school for the 2004 season, for two semesters," Justice said. "Me and some friends were playing a game. We thought we knew the person in the car that we pulled the toy gun on. That wasn't them (laughter). That's the story.
"It's in the past. It's something that I'm always going to regret doing. I'm always going to be sorry about it. And I'm always going to be kicking myself for it. But it's in the past. And I'm trying to live day by day to show people that I am a good character guy."
Less difficult -- but still tough -- was standing out as an offensive lineman at USC, given its overflow of talented offensive skill position players.
"Offensive linemen don't usually stick out, especially if you have Matt Leinart and Reggie Bush. It's kind of hard to," he said. "But you can run downfield after them or something. I think the people that watch football know about the offensive line (at USC) and who the standouts are."
MORE TACKLES:
Kevin Boothe, Cornell
Brad Butler, Virginia
Rashad Butler, Miami (Fla.)
Daryn Colledge, Boise State
Ryan Cook, Northwestern
Jhari Evans, Bloomsburg
Paul McQuistan, Weber State
Derek Morris, North Carolina State
Ryan O'Callaghan, California
Jonathan Scott, Texas
Joe Toledo, Washington
Jeremy Trueblood, Boston College
Guy Whimper, East Carolina
Andrew Whitworth, LSU
Eric Winston, Miami (Fla.)
ON THE INSIDE:
The Big 10 was the epicenter of centers in 2005, producing draft prospects Donovan Raiola of Wisconsin, Nick Mangold of Ohio State and Greg Eslinger of Minnesota.
It made it difficult for Raiola to find recognition among that crowd.
"It was tough," Raiola said at the Combine. "Those are two great players. That's a good football conference obviously with good centers like Mangold and Eslinger. You try to go out there and do your best. You kind of like look at film and compare how you did against those guys."
Mangold became such a standout center that he pushed the previous starter, Alex Stepanovich, over to guard. All Stepanovich did upon arriving in the NFL was to become the first rookie in Cardinals history to start every game -- at center, the position Mangold claimed from him.
"I expected him to go back to center," Mangold said at the Combine. "Just because you know if you get injured at a position you don't lose it. There could have been some animosity to begin with, but he was real great about it. He could have been a lot worse. We talked about it. We're all happy, and things worked out for the best."
He went to Indianapolis with simple goals.
"They want to make sure I'm not a big ol' fat slob and can move a little bit," Mangold said. "I think they're looking for some speed out of me. Hopefully I can show that to them."
Georgia's Max Jean-Gilles was a consensus All-America selection at right guard last fall, completing a four-year career that saw him only allow three sacks. He became a starter in 2003 and worked his way up the ladder of fame in the college ranks, going from second-team All-Southeastern Conference in 2003 to first-team in 2004 and up to first-team All-American last year.
Jean-Gilles was part of a program that found stability -- and success -- in recent years. Florida center Mike Degory didn't have that benefit, playing under three head coaches from the time he arrived on campus, which proved to have its benefits in terms of personal growth.
"I understand how this is a dog-eat-dog business now," Degory said at the Scouting Combine. "I kind of learned that first hand through my college experiences. Three (coaches) in five years was nothing what I expected as an 18-year-old senior in high school.
"I understand change. I'm accustomed to change and I've grown up through that process."
MORE CENTERS:
Chris Chester, Oklahoma
Nick Mihlhauser, Washington State
Will Montgomery, Virginia Tech
Marvin Philip, California
Pat Ross, Boston College
MORE GUARDS:
Will Allen, Texas
Cody Douglas, Tennessee
Davin Joseph, Oklahoma
Chris Kuper, North Dakota
Matt Lentz, Michigan
"Deuce" Lutui, USC
Fred Matua, USC
Rob Meadow, Washington
Troy Reddic, Auburn
Mark Setterstrom, Minnesota
Rob Sims, Ohio State
Charles Spencer, Pittsburgh
Jason Spitz, Louisville
Adam Stenavich, Michigan
Dan Stevenson, Notre Dame
Tony Tella, Miami (Fla.)
By Andrew Mason
DenverBroncos.com
The Broncos' recent history has seen them find plenty of offensive linemen in the draft; four of their five full-time starters last year came from the draft, with the other -- offensive tackle Matt Lepsis -- arriving as an undrafted free agent in 1998.
Yet all but one came from the lower rounds of the draft, from the fourth round or later.
In the Mike Shanahan era, the Broncos have only selected two offensive linemen in the draft's first three rounds -- tackle George Foster in 2003 and guard Lennie Friedman in 1999. Foster is the only offensive lineman taken in the first round by the Broncos used the No. 4 overall pick in 1983 on Chris Hinton, who was subsequently shipped to the Baltimore Colts as part of the John Elway trade.
Recent history says the Broncos will use at least one pick on an offensive lineman; the team has taken at least one guard, center or tackle in 11 of the last 12 drafts. The team has picked 14 offensive linemen over that span, beginning in 1994 when Tom Nalen's name was called in the seventh round.
Fourteen offensive linemen, with just two taken on the draft's first day. All the while, the Broncos' homegrown offensive line has helped the team gain more rushing yards than any other since 1995.
"We don't care (about draft status)," General Manager Ted Sundquist said. "It's more of getting them in and getting them to do what we want them to do."
"We don't look at offensive line like the rest of the league does. We cultivate them."
Cultivation means taking time to develop these linemen, as well. The Broncos' current first-string offensive line had a combined one start in their rookie seasons -- a solitary assignment for Nalen in 1994. Guard Ben Hamilton didn't play at all in his 2001 rookie season. Foster didn't make it into action as a rookie until the Broncos' playoff seeding was locked heading into a Week 17 game at Green Bay.
Last year, it was rookie Chris Myers who watched and learned. After joining as a sixth-round pick and spending the first four weeks of the year on the practice squad, he played in nine regular-season games and both playoff contests, but did so on special teams only, never getting onto the field with the offense.
It is the recent way of life as a Broncos rookie offensive lineman. You watch, you practice, you learn.
Who among the rising class of rookie prospects might be next in line? The last weekend of April will provide that answer; for now, here's a brief look at some of this year's rising rookies along the offensive front.
TACKLES: A MATTER OF SIZE
Former Virginia offensive tackle D'Brickashaw Ferguson has found his name near the top of many mock drafts, including the one that Broncos fans have chosen the past two weeks. But the 6-foot-6 lineman's rise up the draft charts might not have been possible without a rise in his weight, from around 255 pounds to 312 over the last two years.
"I was 250ish, 260ish," Ferguson said at the Scouting Combine. "Being a 260-pound tackle, you're not given the opportunity to exert yourself on other defenders as you can at 290 pounds. I felt I would have an advantage with the additional weight and size and I didn't think it would hurt my movement."
It didn't, as it turned out, although his increase in size didn't stop with the end of his college career. He told reporters that he added 14 pounds between January's Senior Bowl and February's Scouting Combine, though he said the decision to get bigger in the first place was not made with the NFL in mind.
"I wanted to be the best and most polished player I could be and that's what my focus was at that time," he said.
There were no such size changes for Auburn offensive tackle Marcus McNeill; he measured at 6-foot-7 and 336 pounds, or "right around where I've been my whole playing career," he said at the Combine. What did change was his position, as he shifted from guard to tackle during his years at Auburn.
"The last time I gave up a sack I was a freshman, playing actually offensive guard," McNeill said. "They wanted to just throw me in the fire as a young pup back then at guard and I gave up a sack on a slide protection and I'm real disappointed about that."
Maybe that was a disappointment, but his career was anything but, as he finished it as a consensus first-team All-American. He went through the entire 2005 regular season without allowing a sack.
For USC offensive tackle Winston Justice, the changes involved dealing with a one-year absence from the Trojans after starting for two seasons. He returned to hold down a starting tackle slot once again in 2005.
"I was suspended for pulling a toy gun on a student, so I was suspended by the school for the 2004 season, for two semesters," Justice said. "Me and some friends were playing a game. We thought we knew the person in the car that we pulled the toy gun on. That wasn't them (laughter). That's the story.
"It's in the past. It's something that I'm always going to regret doing. I'm always going to be sorry about it. And I'm always going to be kicking myself for it. But it's in the past. And I'm trying to live day by day to show people that I am a good character guy."
Less difficult -- but still tough -- was standing out as an offensive lineman at USC, given its overflow of talented offensive skill position players.
"Offensive linemen don't usually stick out, especially if you have Matt Leinart and Reggie Bush. It's kind of hard to," he said. "But you can run downfield after them or something. I think the people that watch football know about the offensive line (at USC) and who the standouts are."
MORE TACKLES:
Kevin Boothe, Cornell
Brad Butler, Virginia
Rashad Butler, Miami (Fla.)
Daryn Colledge, Boise State
Ryan Cook, Northwestern
Jhari Evans, Bloomsburg
Paul McQuistan, Weber State
Derek Morris, North Carolina State
Ryan O'Callaghan, California
Jonathan Scott, Texas
Joe Toledo, Washington
Jeremy Trueblood, Boston College
Guy Whimper, East Carolina
Andrew Whitworth, LSU
Eric Winston, Miami (Fla.)
ON THE INSIDE:
The Big 10 was the epicenter of centers in 2005, producing draft prospects Donovan Raiola of Wisconsin, Nick Mangold of Ohio State and Greg Eslinger of Minnesota.
It made it difficult for Raiola to find recognition among that crowd.
"It was tough," Raiola said at the Combine. "Those are two great players. That's a good football conference obviously with good centers like Mangold and Eslinger. You try to go out there and do your best. You kind of like look at film and compare how you did against those guys."
Mangold became such a standout center that he pushed the previous starter, Alex Stepanovich, over to guard. All Stepanovich did upon arriving in the NFL was to become the first rookie in Cardinals history to start every game -- at center, the position Mangold claimed from him.
"I expected him to go back to center," Mangold said at the Combine. "Just because you know if you get injured at a position you don't lose it. There could have been some animosity to begin with, but he was real great about it. He could have been a lot worse. We talked about it. We're all happy, and things worked out for the best."
He went to Indianapolis with simple goals.
"They want to make sure I'm not a big ol' fat slob and can move a little bit," Mangold said. "I think they're looking for some speed out of me. Hopefully I can show that to them."
Georgia's Max Jean-Gilles was a consensus All-America selection at right guard last fall, completing a four-year career that saw him only allow three sacks. He became a starter in 2003 and worked his way up the ladder of fame in the college ranks, going from second-team All-Southeastern Conference in 2003 to first-team in 2004 and up to first-team All-American last year.
Jean-Gilles was part of a program that found stability -- and success -- in recent years. Florida center Mike Degory didn't have that benefit, playing under three head coaches from the time he arrived on campus, which proved to have its benefits in terms of personal growth.
"I understand how this is a dog-eat-dog business now," Degory said at the Scouting Combine. "I kind of learned that first hand through my college experiences. Three (coaches) in five years was nothing what I expected as an 18-year-old senior in high school.
"I understand change. I'm accustomed to change and I've grown up through that process."
MORE CENTERS:
Chris Chester, Oklahoma
Nick Mihlhauser, Washington State
Will Montgomery, Virginia Tech
Marvin Philip, California
Pat Ross, Boston College
MORE GUARDS:
Will Allen, Texas
Cody Douglas, Tennessee
Davin Joseph, Oklahoma
Chris Kuper, North Dakota
Matt Lentz, Michigan
"Deuce" Lutui, USC
Fred Matua, USC
Rob Meadow, Washington
Troy Reddic, Auburn
Mark Setterstrom, Minnesota
Rob Sims, Ohio State
Charles Spencer, Pittsburgh
Jason Spitz, Louisville
Adam Stenavich, Michigan
Dan Stevenson, Notre Dame
Tony Tella, Miami (Fla.)