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Broncos sign G/C Ryan Lilja

By Scotty Payne
Kim Klement-US PRESSWIRE

The Broncos have successfully lured Ryan Lilja out of retirement to join the Denver Broncos. The Broncos started talking to Lilja after they lost center Dan Koppen for the year.

Lilja underwent toe and knee surgeries this offseason, making his health a fairly big question mark. However the Broncos are better off then they were this time yesterday. The big question for me is if Lilja is even close to football shape? I'm sure the Broncos have looked into this, and had their medical staff check him out prior to signing him.

Lilja will now compete with Manny Ramirez for starting reps at center. It will be interesting to see how long it takes for Lilja to get on the practice field. Lilja started 59 games for Peyton Manning in Indianapolis from 2004-2009, and played the last three seasons for the Kansas City Chiefs

According to pro football focus, Lilja was the 14th rated center in the league with an overall grade of 7.8. He scored a -3.1 in the pass blocking department and a 9.5 in the run blocking department. In 375 pass blocking snaps, Lilja allowed one sack and 13 total pressures for an overall 97.3# pass blocking efficiency. Koppen allowed 1 sack and 7 pressures and Manny Ramirez allowed 6 sacks and 13 total pressures.

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