Denver Broncos Guard Competition

In the offseason, the Broncos signed Louis Vasquez. This came as a surprise for most people because the Broncos already had Zane Beadles and Chris Kuper, but Kuper was hurt for the better part of last year. This exposed the teams glaring lack of guard depth which is why Vasquez was brought in. He will battle with Kuper for the starting job and whoever loses will be on backup duty. Either of these guys would be a top notch backup and the offense should not lose a step if either goes down. The competition should improve both players which is never a bad thing. Vasquez was only called for 1 penalty in his last 1000+ snaps. In case you didn't know, that is very very good. In the Baltimore game alone, Kuper was called for three penalties and one of them was a holding on a key third down play which would have given the Broncos a new set of downs.

Zane Beadles will likely keep his starting spot and should be left out of the competition. He improved greatly last season. He was already a very adept run blocker, but he greatly improved as a pass blocker. He protected the QB great and it looked like he did a complete 180 from seasons previous. He now looks like he could be the guy for a very long time.

With either Kuper or Vasquez becoming the backup there is only room for one more player. Last season CJ Davis and Manny Ramirez were the two backups. Ramirez took over when Kuper went down last season and he was absolutely terrible. He could not pass block to save his life and his run blocking was equally as terrible. During the pre season, I though Davis looked much better than Ramirez. He is a decent pass blocker and a well-rounded run blocker.

I think Vasquez will win the position battle with Kuper. He does not make mistakes and he is equally as talented. Beadles should start on the left side of the line of scrimmage. I hope that CJ Davis wins his battle with Ramirez. Ramirez has had his shot and he blew it. It is Davis' turn now. Vasquez and Beadles should make an excellent guard duo next to Clady and Franklin. They round out a very solid offensive line with the only questions coming from the center position.