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 now through August, we'll break down every player on the Denver Broncos roster.
James Ferentz started out his NFL career in Houston when we was signed as an undrafted free agent in May 2014. He spent the 2014 season on the Texans practice squad. Before signing with the Texans, Ferentz had success in Iowa where he earned all-Big Ten Conference second team honors his senior year. Ferentz's dad is interestingly enough Iowa football coach Kirk Ferentz.
Name: James Ferentz
Position: C
Height: 6'2" Weight: 285
Age: 27 Experience: 2
College: Iowa
Ferentz played in 14 regular season games and one post season game for the Broncos last season. One of the biggest things Ferentz has going for him is that he is familiar with the coaching staff and presumptive starting center Matt Paradis. The Broncos' offensive line is undergoing a major re-shift. Ferentz may benefit from being a small bit of consistent depth.
The good: Ferentz is thought to be a natural for a zone blocking offense and (not surprisingly for the son of a football coach) reportedly has a high football intelligence. He occasionally played the role of goaline fullback last season for the Broncos and looking at his history he seems like a guy willing to contribute wherever he can. Last season Ferentz had 10 snaps on offense and 55 snaps on special teams.
One consistent thing said about Ferentz is that he is a hard worker even when things aren't going his way. After graduating in 2012 Ferentz didn't get signed by an NFL team. Rather than throwing in the towel Ferentz spent a year working for a carpet warehouse and continued to train until he was signed by the Houston Texans in 2014.
The bad: Ferentz is a bit undersized and therefore has issues stopping larger players. Because of this size limitation he has usually been described a backup with not much room for growth.
Quotable: Ferentz's dad Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz speaking about his son's NFL journey right before the Super Bowl to HawkCentral.
"It’s a good story and we’re really proud of him. I think everybody here is proud of him. ... It's a good story, he’s sticking with it, chasing your dream a little bit. I was teasing him, I said he’s gone from a day-to-day contract to a week-to-week contract, so he’s improved his lot in life. But that’s the reality of the NFL."
Roster Status: No one is expecting Ferentz to be a starter, so he is competing solely for the backup center job against Dillon Day and Sam Brenner.