Next Bronco Up: Offensive Line

I had to go and say something, didn’t I? Another hiccup in life, another delay in posts. Apologies, again, for the unexpected break.

Admittedly, the offensive line is, for whatever reason, the position I understand the least about. I mean I know what they do, but I don’t generally know what constitutes a good guard versus a good tackle. I’ll get there, maybe, someday...

Graduated/Left

Mason Hampton - 6’3 295lbs

Archie Lewis - 6’3 299lbs

Andrew Tercek - 6’1 278lbs

Current

Andres Preciado - RS Senior - 6’6 293lbs

Zach Troughton- Senior - 6’6 313lbs

Isiah Moore - RS Junior - 6’4 282lbs

John Molchon - RS Junior - 6’5 314lbs

Eric Quevedo - RS Junior - 6’4 292lbs

Garrett Larson - RS Junior - 6’4 296lbs

Kole Bailey - RS Sophomore - 6’4 297lbs

Nick Crabtree - RS Sophomore - 6’7 289lbs

Ezra Cleveland - RS Sophomore - 6’6 310lbs

Austin Dixon - RS Sophomore - 6’6 295lbs

Ben Vering - RS Sophomore - 6’4 259lbs - Walk-on

Donte Harrington - RS Sophomore - 6’2 302lbs

Jake Stetz - RS Freshman - 6’2 296lbs - Walk-on

John Ojukwu - RS Freshman - 6’6 299lbs

Incoming

Garrett Curran - 6’5 265lbs

Kekaniokoa Gonzalez - 6’2 286lbs

Braydin Shipp - 6’5.5 313lbs - Will technically be a part of the 2020 class after he gets back from a church mission.

As I stated earlier, OL is not my strong suit, but I’ll do my best in providing what I think will be the lineup. Sometimes the coaches can shift a bit during the season, but they ironed it out in the last half.

I expect the starters to be Cleveland, Molchon, Larson, Quevedo and Preciado. Whether Cleveland is on the left or right, I don’t totally know, but most likely Preciado will be on the other side. I think Cleveland has the skill to play on either side though, so depending on Preciado’s ability, we will see. Larson backed up Hampton quite a bit, so I would anticipate him being starting center. I know we recruited Harrington as C as well, so he will get his snaps. Molchon and Quevedo will round out the line as guards.

Troughton and Moore could both push for starting roles based on the chatter surrounding them last season. I was surprised to hear Moore got red shirted, but it made sense based on some of the depth we had. We can certainly use his experience with Hampton, Lewis and Tercek’s departures. Troughton played last season, so he will be a true senior this year. I anticipate Troughton to play guard and Moore to play tackle. I don’t think Moore will supplant Cleveland, but maybe Preciado? And if either of the guard positions are up for grabs, I would guess it’s Quevedo.

Bailey, Dixon and Harrington will get reps as back-ups, but with how often we rotate lineman, they will get plenty of snaps. We may see John Ojukwu this season, despite freshman generally seeing limited to no playing time. I could see Crabtree seeing the field as well with how huge he is, but he’s worn a few different hats for the Broncos so I’m not totally sure how his transition from TE to OL is going (I’m aware he spent last season with the OL as well).

I do not anticipate Gonzalez or Curran to play as true freshman. That rarely happens with offensive lineman as they generally need some time to learn the playbook and gain weight. That being said, Curran and Gonzalez are both big enough they could play physically, but whether they could make the transition to the college level is the question.

That should do it for the Offensive side of the ball. Next week, we will get into the defense. GO BRONCOS!