Are the Broncos really having a competition at center?
The company line is Austin Schlottmann, Patrick Morris and rookie Lloyd Cushenberry are vying to see who snaps to quarterback Drew Lock when the regular season starts at Tennessee on Sept. 14.
“It’s way too early to say one guy’s in the lead or not, but all three guys have the license to go get that job,” coach Vic Fangio. “We like all three of them so we feel good about it.”
But through four training camp practices, Schlottmann should feel really good about it because he’s taken every first-team rep in three of the workouts (Morris did on Sunday).
It’s one thing to be old school and make Cushenberry earn the position by showing his mental and physical credentials, but in this truncated ramp-up to the season, does that really make sense? It does if the Broncos want to bring him along slowly. Remember, Matt Paradis spent a year on the practice squad before starting in 2015 and Connor McGovern didn’t play a snap as a rookie in 2016 before starting at guard and center over the next three years.
That could be Cushenberry’s fate to start his NFL career, which could also be fine if Schlottmann practices with consistency.
“I knew I’d have a chance to compete for the starting role,” Schlottmann said. “We’ll all have to duke it out. I knew this offseason that this was coming so I tried to prepare as well as I could and learn the offense as well as I could and hope everything runs smoothly.”
Said right guard Graham Glasgow: “He’s a really, really smart kid. It comes down to the mental part of the game. When you’re a center, you’re not getting a whole bunch of 1-on-1s like you would if you were at guard or tackle, but you end up just as exhausted because mentally, it takes a toll on you because you have to make sure you’re on top of your game, you spend a lot more time studying because if a center is messed up, everybody is messed up.”
Schlottmann, 24, was a high school teammate of Broncos receiver Courtland Sutton in Brenham, Texas. Sutton went to SMU in Dallas and Schlottmann to TCU in Forth Worth, where he was a teammate of Morris.
Out of necessity, Schlottmann learned to be versatile for the Horned Frogs. He made 29 starts, including 14 as a senior (eight at center and six at right guard).
“I started out playing a lot of center and then I got hurt my junior year and (Morris) took over at center that offseason so with a new offensive line coach, he liked me at guard,” Schlottmann said. “I played there, but then Pat got hurt and I went back to center until he came back and then I was back at guard.
“It was a carousel, but it was good experience to be ready to play two positions in the same game. I take pride in learning both spots like it was my job to go and play either of them in a game. Everybody says, ‘The more you can do.’”
Undrafted, Schlottmann spent all of 2018 on the Broncos’ practice squad and made last year’s Week 1 roster.
When Ron Leary sustained a season-ending concussion in the Week 13 win over the Los Angeles Chargers, Schlottmann was next up at right guard. In four starts, Schlottmann played 251 snaps and The Post’s game charting booked him for 3 1/2 quarterback hits, a 1/2 sack and 1 1/2 bad run plays. He was called for one penalty and the Broncos went 3-1.
“Oh yeah, definitely (there was improvement), just my physicality and being confident in knowing what I’m supposed to do,” he said. “It was reassuring that I can get put in there and play well and have success. It was definitely a boost of confidence.”
McGovern was off to the New York Jets in free agency and the Broncos allocated their offensive line money to Glasgow. They addressed center with Cushenberry, a two-year starter at LSU, making Schlottmann a semi-afterthought, totally understandable considering he hasn’t played a regular-season snap at center.
But the message coming from the Broncos’ facility earlier this summer was clear: Don’t count out Schlottmann. So far, that has turned out to be sound advice and Schlottmann has leaned on the advice he received from Paradis and McGovern the last two years to aid him in his pursuit of a starting assignment.
“They were both very willing to help the young guys, which was awesome and definitely beneficial for me,” Schlottmann said. “And getting to play those last four games (of 2019) and seeing how Connor did it and how the huddle is supposed to be run, it was a plus in seeing how it’s supposed to go.”
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August 19, 2020 at 05:08AM
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In Broncos’ three-person center competition, Austin Schlottmann may have edge, make most sense - The Denver Post
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