Shurmur Pumps the Brakes on Anointing Lloyd Cushenberry Starter While Showering Praise
Fans could be forgiven for the tidal wave of enthusiasm that has swept through the entire Denver Broncos organization this offseason. QB Drew Lock has been the focal point of the Broncos' youth revolution and he has made believers of his own teammates, not to mention the wider reaches of the local media (and one or two national).
First-round WR Jerry Jeudy’s recent viral workout video has only added to the hype and has Broncos Country drooling. NFL Twitter personalities like Chad Johnson and Chris Long were all doing the same, waxing over the wideout's razor-sharp cuts and stunning athleticism.
It all combines to beg this question; how explosive can this new Broncos' offense could be under the leadership of new Offensive Coordinator Pat Shurmur?
Shurmur is likewise enthused about the upside of the receiving weapons he has to work with but interestingly, in his Thursday press conference, the OC singled out a rookie third-rounder who is making a case to be an instant starter as the pivot in a rebuilt Denver O-Line.
Former LSU center Lloyd Cushenberry III slid gift-wrapped to the Broncos on the second day of the draft and has since been fully focused on winning a job and using the team's virtual offseason training program to maximum effect. Shurmur noted how Cushenberry's intellect and thirst for knowledge is laying the necessary foundation to lock down the starting center job in by Week 1.
“Number one, he’s been doing an outstanding job. He’s very smart. He’s very intuitive," Shurmur said of Cushenberry. "You can tell talking to a player—you can see why he plays center because obviously they handle a lot mentally upfront."
All the skills Cushenberry accumulated whilst helping LSU win a national championship and QB Joe Burrow to win the Heisman Trophy are now being put to good use. That experience and tool kit puts Cushenberry in the driver's seat to win out in the open competition with incumbent holdover Patrick Morris to snap the ball with the Broncos.
Where Shurmur has been most impressed by the 22-year-old's aptitude for virtual learning. The OC believes it will help Cushenberry massively once the Broncos finally get to training camp.
"That’s the starting point. I can’t tell you how hard it’s going to be for him to start. This is a unique year," Shurmur said. "The only thing I would compare this to obviously was the lockout year where in that year, we didn’t even have the virtual stuff so a lot of us were meeting our players for the very first time if you were a new staff. He’s impressed us. We feel like we’ve got to see him. We’ve got to see him compete. We’ve got to see him work. Once they get out there and start doing it, we’ll see how quickly he can master it.”
The Broncos will be relying heavily on two very young players, in both Cushenberry and Lock, to get the offense on the same page this season. Having them both quickly adapting to how the offense works is a considerable advantage that can only help Shurmur, especially when he finally gets his guys back in the classroom and on the practice fields.
As far as the offensive line rebuild goes, nagging questions still linger over the frailties at both tackle spots, but if Cushenberry steps up as the coaches hope, the interior looks very solid at the very least. It will also come as an added bonus for Shurmur to have prized free-agent acquisition Graham Glasgow next to Cushenberry at right guard, guiding the rookie along the way.
Glasgow has considerable starting experience at center himself, filling the role at times during his four-year stint with the Detroit Lions.
"Graham Glasgow, he is a solid football player and he’s been very, very productive," Shurmur said. "When you can bring a guy that’s done it very well for a very long time and add him to your lineup, I think that’ll be helpful. That experience there will help us, along with the fact that he’s an outstanding pass blocker as well as a run blocker.”
GM John Elway and the Broncos' brass have done well to add vital youth and experience to what was an underperforming unit upfront. While a lot depends on Cushenberry developing as a starter, the real Achilles heel could be the tackle spots and that could end up hurting the offense a whole lot more than their rookie center.
Follow Keith on Twitter @KeithC_NFL and @MileHighHuddle.
