LINEMAN MEETING
Alabama’s Robinson to visit
The Broncos are scheduled to fly in offensive lineman Cam Robinson for a pre-draft visit in the coming weeks, according to two NFL sources.
Robinson, a projected first-round pick out of Alabama, has been grouped with Utah’s Garett Bolles and Wisconsin’s Ryan Ramczyk as potential fits for the Broncos, should any still be available at No. 20 and should Denver look to continue to bolster its offensive line in the draft.
The Broncos signed tackle Menelik Watson and guard Ronald Leary in free agency, but they are still in the hunt for a starting left tackle in the wake of Russell Okung‘s exit. Denver declined to engage Okung’s contract option for another four years and $48 million, and he signed with the Chargers in free agency.
Although Denver has veterans Donald Stephenson, Michael Schofield and Ty Sambrailo who could foreseeably compete for the job, no true and clear starter is currently on the roster.
The free-agent tackle market was relatively weak to begin with and is now picked over following the first wave of signings, but general manager John Elway insisted last week the team isn’t done searching for help.”
“It’s still open. We’re not done,” he said. “Watson has played some left tackle. We’re going to take a peek at Stephenson there. We feel like we’ve got some different options. We’re not done yet. Last time I heard, we don’t go to camp until July. We don’t have that fixed just yet. But we’ll figure out how to get that done.”
Robinson (6-foot-6, 322 pounds) started every game of his three-year college career at left tackle, where he earned two first-team allSEC selections as well as a consensus All-America nod his junior season. But he’s been projected by multiple draft analysts as a guard at the pro level, in part because of his inconsistent pass protection on the edge.
In his latest positional rankings, NFL analyst Mike Mayock listed Robinson as the second-best interior lineman in the draft, behind Western Kentucky’s Forrest Lamp. Like the open market, the class of 2017 lacks elite tackle talent.
“It’s one of the few groups that isn’t really strong this year,” Mayock said in a conference call with reporters before the NFL combine. “I’ve got Ramczyk and Bolles (No.) 1 and 2. After those two kids — and when I say that, I’ve got Cam Robinson as a guard. He could also play tackle, obviously. But I think there is a dropoff after Ramczyk and Bolles. In a typical year, 10 tackles go in the first three rounds, and I can’t find 10 guys that I would give grades to their rounds 1-3.”