Denver Broncos 2013 Pre-Draft Position Breakdown: Offensive Line

I will present information on each player as it relates to their:

1) Contract
2) 2012 Production
3) Likely place on 2013 Depth Chart/Roles

The goal will be to determine what potential holes the Broncos need to fill on the current roster and whether or not that position group has a low, moderate, or high need heading into the 2013 NFL Draft. Next up is the offensive line.

If you've missed previous breakdowns, check them out:

Quarterback

Running Back

The Broncos currently have 13 players under contract along the offensive line. I would classify Justin Boren (G), Paul Cornick (T), Quentin Saulsberry (C), C.J. Davis (C/G) as camp bodies, Phillip Blake (G/C), Chris Clark (T), Manny Ramirez (G), and Chris Kuper (G) backups at this point. The starters as of right now would be Clady (LT), Beadles (LG), Walton (C), Vasquez (RG), and Franklin (RT).

Contracts

Player	Pos	Draft Position	Duration	Max Amount	Terms	UFA	2013 Cap Hit	2013 Dead $	2014 Cap Hit	2014 Dead $
Zane Beadles	G	45th overall 2010	4 yrs	4.321 million	2.7 million guaranteed, 1.72 million signing bonus	2014	1.06 million	430 K	N/A	N/A
Philip Blake	G/C	108th overall 2012	4 yrs	2.478 million	453 K signing bonus	2016	518 K	340 K	683 K	None
Justin Boren	G	UDFA	1 yr	405 K	None	2014	405 K	None	N/A	N/A
Ryan Clady	T	12th overall 2008	1 yr	9.828 million	Franchise Tag (fully guaranteed	2014	9.828 Million	9.828 Million	N/A	N/A
Chris Clark	T	UDFA	1 yr	1.323 million	None	2014	1.323 million	None	N/A	N/A
Paul Cornick	T	UDFA	1 yr	405 K	None	? ERFA in 2014	405 K	None	N/A	N/A
C.J. Davis	C/G	UDFA	2 yrs	1.02 million	None	? RFA in 2014	555 K	None	N/A	N/A
Orlando Franklin	T	46th overall 2011	4 yrs	4.356 million	1.68 million signing bonus	2015	1.18 million	834 K	N/A	N/A
Chris Kuper	G	161st overall 2006	6 yrs	28.01 million	13.021 guaranteed, 3 million salary advance 2011, 2 million option bonus 2012	2016	5.415 million	2.745 million	5.915 million	None
Manny Ramirez	G	117th overall 2007	2 years	1.415 million	None	2014	815 K	None	N/A	N/A
Q. Saulsberry	C	UDFA	1 year	405 K	None	? ERFA in 2014	405 K	None	N/A	N/A
Louis Vasquez	G	78th overall 2009	4 years	23.5 million	10 million guaranteed (signing bonus plus 1013-14 base), 3 million roster bonus 2014	2017	3.25 million	10 million	7.25 million	6.75 million
J.D. Walton	C	80th overall (2010)	4 years	3.431 million	798 K signing bonus	2014	1.522 million	199 K	N/A	N/A

- Amongst the camp bodies, Both Boren, and Saulsberry will be UFA after this year. Davis will a RFA while Cornick will be an EFRA.

- Amongst backups, Blake and Kuper are signed through 2016, while both Clark and Ramirez are UFA after this year.

- Amongst starters, Clady will be an UFA next year (still has one year of Franchise Tag eligibility), Beadles and Walton will be UFA, Franklin is signed through 2015 and Vasquez is signed through 2017.

- 6/13 players under contract currently will be UFA in 2014 (includes 3 starters and 3 backups).

Production

The grades are via pro football focus

Player	Pos	Snaps	PFF Grade	Rank (pos)	Pass Block	Screen Block	Run Block	Pen	# of Pen	Sacks	Hits/ Hurries
Walton	C	256	5.1	21st	3.2	0.5	1.6	-0.2	1	0	1
Koppen	C	908	5.0	22nd	5.2	0.0	-2.0	1.8	1	1	6
Davis	C	7	-0.4	41st	0.0	0.0	-0.4	0.0	0	0	0
Beadles	LG	1171	10.1	18th	3.6	1.0	5.2	0.3	5	1	20
Kuper	RG	316	3.1	29th	4.1	0.0	-1.4	0.4	1	0	5
Ramirez	RG	852	3.0	30th	8.5	0.5	-3.9	-2.1	6	6	7
Clady	LT	1141	26.9	4th	23.0	1.0	2.2	0.7	7	1	21
Franklin	RT	1159	20.0	18th	19.6	0.5	0.7	-0.8	10	4	22

- solid across the board in pass protection. It was surprising to see the amount of hurries given up by both starting tackles though.

- Franklin's run blocking suffered a bit due to having Manny Ramirez next to him most of the season. Also didn't help that Kuper was ineffective when he came back.

- Koppen, Kuper, and Ramirez both graded out negative in run blocking which would explain some of the inconsistencies we had in short yardage situations.

- Nit picking Franklin's gargantuan pass blocking grade, not sure how the hell you can give up 22 pressures/hits along with 4 sacks and grade that high.

- Manny Ramirez did his best to sabotage Peyton Manning's neck recovery.

- 17 penalties combined from our bookends is appalling especially since new signee Vasquez has caused one penalty since he was in Pop Warner.

Roles for 2013

Broncos kept a total of 8 linemen on the active roster last season. With that in mind, here are my selections:

Starters:

LT Ryan Clady

LG Zane Beadles

C J.D. Walton

RG Louis Vasquez

RT Orlando Franklin

Backups:

Chris Clark/drafted rookie (T)

Manny Ramirez (G)

Phillip Blake (C/G)

Chris Kuper (G)*

Depending on prognosis and recovery, Kuper should edge out Manny if he's healthy. If not Manny makes the team and Kuper is stashed on the pup. It really, really makes me nervous that after next year three of our starters will be UFA. With Walton and Beadles, their production shouldn't put their contract in a position to break the bank. Even if you lose Beadles, we still have options at G. A lot is going to depend on the recovery of Chris Kuper. If he comes back to full capacity, he can swing over to LG as a starter and replace that potential loss. I think we have enough G/C swing players on the off chance Walton doesn't recover, regresses, or signs somewhere else.

Given that no Bronco lineman has been drafted as high as Clady at 12th (and the majority of them have been drafted at the back end of the 2nd round and beyond) leads me to believe that the Broncos will draft someone in that area. If I had to put money on it, they guy they draft would be capable of being the swing tackle depth our roster sorely lacks at this moment.

2013 Draft Need: Moderate

In the final installment, I will look at the Wide Receivers and Tight Ends.

GO BRONCOS!!!