Broncos Offensive Line Young and Lacking Depth

If you would have told me 12 months ago the Broncos starting offensive line would consist of Montrae Holland, Chris Myers, Chris Kuper, Erik Pears, and Matt Lepsis, I would have told you our team was in trouble. With season ending injuries to LG Ben Hamilton and C Tom Nalen, the Broncos find themselves with only one player across the offensive line with a season’s worth of starts in the Denver system.

To really hit this home, the depth across the offensive line has really become an issue that warrants discussing. The fact that Nalen stayed for the entire San Diego game despite tearing his biceps should tell you something: first, he’s one tough S.O.B., second, we didn’t have a game day depth chart ready that made Shanahan feel comfortable letting Nalen sit it out.

Our backups now consist of brand new signees P.J. Alexander and Isaac Snell, both guards who joined the squad last week (Alexander, of course, returning to the Broncos after he was waived by the club in August of last year). Oh, and rookie Ryan Harris at tackle, who has struggled with injuries thus far this year as well. That’s all folks.

I wouldn’t be surprised to see Greg Eslinger get elevated from the practice squad to the active roster. I can’t imagine another plan if Myers were to go down in the middle. (On that note, if these severe injuries along the interior are not enough to get him on the active roster, it’s time to cut the young pup and move on).

I’m confident in our starters to get the job done. Holland has really bounced back after a few touchy weeks there (best performance in San Diego, for sure), and Kuper’s name has been called by fans for weeks now. Lepsis and Pears are holding their own. The real concern is Myer’s switch to center, and how Jay Cutler will adjust to a new exchange and also having a bigger role in calling the line changes and formations.

That being said, I’m concerned about the depth of this team. Either one of our tackles goes down and we’re asking a rookie to fill their shoes (one who, so far, has been little more than a china doll). Anyone along the interior goes down and we’re plugging in someone who wasn’t with the team a week ago. And that’s a scary thought.

I’d feel a lot more comfortable with this depth chart if the team would resign Adam Meadows as backup Tackle and promote Eslinger from the practice squad. Otherwise we’re looking at extremely tough situations if, God forbid, one of our boys were to go down.