When it comes to offensive productivity, the quarterback takes most of the praise and blame, followed closely by the skill-position players around him, but that’s only surface-level analysis. In reality, the offense starts and stops with the offensive line, and when you have a poor one, it’s noticeable.
Last season, the Denver Broncos’ offensive line was a mess, and that’s putting it kindly.
All you have to know is that they had a guy starting at left tackle (Ryan Harris) that was cut by the franchise half a decade earlier, but nobody noticed because the guy starting opposite him (Michael Schofield) may very well have been the worst lineman in the NFL last season. Oh, and they also attempted to institute a three-man rotation at guard which left everyone confused.
We all look at Peyton Manning and Brock Osweiler‘s performances in 2015 and scoff, but a large portion of the blame has to be placed on the offensive line that left defenders wishing there was a fifth quarter.
Will they be improved this year? That’s the hope. And rookie guard/center Connor McGovern is hoping he can help.
Here’s what he had to say at Monday’s press conference:
On where he sees himself playing:
“Right now definitely on the inside. Whether it be right guard, left guard or center. I definitely think I can play all three. Definitely on the inside rather than the outside.”
On if he’ll learn how to play center:
“I think so. Not right away because in any NFL offense the center has such a big responsibility, so I think they want to work me in at guard to make sure I can play, and then once the mental side is really there, move me back to center.”
On how the veterans have helped his transition:
“On the o-line we have a lot of good veterans. [C] Matt Paradis is definitely a good guy to talk to. He’ll always answer your questions—a super nice guy. [T] Ty [Sambrailo] is always a guy that I’ll ask questions to. The offensive line has a lot of good guys. It being an offensive line, you always have those role models there for you. It’s one of the nice things about being an offensive lineman.”
On young guys taking leadership roles:
“Matt Paradis got more snaps than anyone in the NFL last year. That’s a huge thing. Matt’s been on the team for two years. A lot of the older vets weren’t on the team, so they’ve been around the most. Another guy that I could list is [G] Max [Garcia]. Those are the three guys that I’ve talked to the most. They’re not six, eight, ten year vets, but if you’ve been around for a year or two years and play that many snaps—Max played a ton of snaps. Ty unfortunately got hurt, but he still started three or four games. That’s a lot more experience than I have, so they are guys that I can turn to that have been through it. They’ve done it, so they are good guys to talk to.”
On how he benefitted from OTAs:
“Just all of the technique stuff. You really have to refine your technique in the NFL. The technique that [Offensive Line] Coach Clancy [Barone] is teaching us is nice because I got to practice that in the offseason. He gave us a lot of drills that we can just do on air on our own. It was good to get that done. You’ve practiced it and you know what it feels like. You’ve seen it on film. Once you seen it and done it, you can critic yourself after every step, so it was good to get a head start on that.”
On getting back to football:
“Football has been a big thing missing. Before OTAs and stuff it was all working out and speculation. I’m ready to play football and prove my spot on this team. I’m excited to just get after it.”
