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Broncos roster 2016: Offensive tackle Lars Hanson

Breaking down the Denver Broncos 2016 90-man roster, one player, one post, one day at a time. Today we keep the football rolling looking at undrafted rookie offensive tackle, Lars Hanson.

By Scotty Payne
Sacramento State/Jessica Vernone

It's that time of the year again. Mile High Report begins our annual 90 players in 90 days roster breakdown. Last year went fairly well, but starting today and through August 27th, we'll break down every player on the Denver Broncos roster.

Name: Lars Hanson
Position: Offensive Tackle
Height: 6'8"   Weight: 308
Age: 23   Experience: R
College: Sacramento State

The 2016 NFL Draft came and went and Sacremento State offensive Tackle Lars Hanson was not selected. This wasn't a huge surprise, but now he was eligible to sign with whatever team he wants.

Well, one team that came calling was the team he grew up rooting for as a child. That team being the defending Super Bowl Champion Denver Broncos.

Lars was among the 23 undrafted free agents the Denver Broncos signed the day after the 2016 NFL Draft concluded.

Hanson started in 39 consecutive games at left tackle for Sacramento State. He was a team leader and earned honorable mention all-Big Sky honors as a tackle for his 2015 season.


As I said earlier, Hanson grew up a Denver Broncos fan. His favorite player growing up was wide receiver Ed McCaffrey. The reason Eddie Mac was Hanson's favorite player was because of the hard-nosed style of play Ed showed on the field.

Now Hanson will join the Denver Broncos fighting for a roster spot or a spot on the Broncos 10-man Practice Squad.

Denver Broncos General Manager John Elway spent money on free agent offensive tackles Russell Okung and Donald Stephenson this winter.

Okung is expected to be the team's starting left tackle and Stephenson will compete for the right tackle job this summer. After that, there's a battle to be the Broncos swing tackle this season. Michael Schofield started last season but really struggled and Darrion Weems and Kyle Roberts will be competing with Hanson and Schofield for that job.

One has to expect Schofield to be the favorite for the job, but if Hanson plays well he could steal the job. It would be a longshot, but there's also a chance he could land on the Broncos Practice Squad if he plays well this summer.

The good:

According to 9NEWS Denver's Mike Klis, the Denver Broncos had a draftable grade on Hanson, so he is a strong Practice Squad candidate going forward.

He has the skill set you look for in a zone-blocking offensive lineman. He put 28 reps on the bench press and ran a 5.2 40-yard dash time during his Pro Day. Hanson also was able to show off his skills at the NFLPA bowl earlier this year.

Also, as i stated above, Hanson has a shot at pushing Michael Schofield for a roster spot this summer.

Schofield really struggles last year, and Darrion Weems and Kyle Roberts aren't the most talented tackles, so if Hanson has a good summer he could make some noise.

Hanson growing up a Broncos fan and getting the opportunity to play for your favorite team is pretty damn cool if you ask me. This has little effect on Hanson making the team, but I will be rooting for him this summer.

The bad:

There are some recent injury concerns for Hanson.

According to multiple onlookers, Hanson went down during last week's practices and was grabbing his knee/lower leg area. He also needed help from the trainers, but no cart.

No update was given since, but if serious it would really hurt his chances of making the team or the Broncos Practice Squad.

One option that could happen is the Broncos placing Hanson on the season-ending Injured Reserve and basically giving him a "redshirt" year and come back in 2017 and fight for a roster spot then.

Hopefully, the injury wasn't serious and he'll be out there for Training Camp next month.

Quotable:

Lars Hanson on being a Denver Bronco

"I’ve been a Denver fan ever since I could understand the game of football. I’m eating lunch across the table from John Elway, which is unreal. I got Todd Davis and I played with him at Sac State and he’s on the team here too so that’s good," Hanson said. "My offensive line coach Clancy Barone is a Sacramento State graduate. The quarterbacks coach Greg Knap] played ball at Sac State so there’s a lot of Sac State guys over here on the Denver Broncos now."

Roster Status:

Probably a longshot to make the roster, but seems like a strong Practice Squad candidate if he can stay healthy. That injury does worry me, and if serious I think the redshirt scenario could happen.

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