Can be a Dud No. 1 – Michael Schofield
Right tackle Michael Schofield has been such a liability this season that it’s necessary to dust off the very dated early-2000s game show reference and tell him he is “the weakest link.” But we’ve seen that up until the Week 17 win over San Diego, with a first-round bye and Peyton Manning’s fragile body on the line, Gary Kubiak was not only unwilling to say “goodbye,” to Schofield, he was also unwilling to give him any help.
In fact, Schofield is such a glaring weakness that he might even be working in the Broncos favor as defenses try to stack the box against him. Manning is a master of checking into plays once he sees a defensive formation, as we saw on display again in the win over San Diego. Whether it’s Schofield or Tyler Polumbus, Manning knows that his biggest risk comes on the right edge. Unlike Brock Osweiler, Manning has the experience to read the defenses pre-snap and the smarts to unload the ball if his tackle gets beat.
Fortunately, a light appears to have gone off for Kubiak and there’s a chance that Polumbus will start at right tackle in place of Schofield. Hopefully, a much bigger light has gone off and Kubiak realizes that whomever is on Manning’s right edge is going to need some help (see Owen Daniels and Virgil Green).
Given what we know about Schofield, there’s no reason he should be the reason the Broncos get beat in the playoffs. Any failure to replace him or augment his play will be on Kubiak at this point.
