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Q: The Broncos’ offensive linemen haven’t looked good this year. They didn’t get less talented. When new head coach Josh McDaniels arrived here, he talked about playing a different blocking scheme some of the time. Have the Broncos abandoned their zone-blocking scheme?
— David Greenwalt, Parker
A: David, in the upheaval of the offseason, as McDaniels and general manager Brian Xanders disassembled the Broncos’ roster to build the one they’re entering the season with, the offensive line was the only piece that included the same starters from Mike Shanahan’s last season as Denver’s head coach.
Also carried over was the unit’s position coach, Rick Dennison, who interviewed for the head coaching job that went to McDaniels.
So that position had more continuity from personnel to coaching to experience than any other place on the roster, yet it didn’t always looked like it during the preseason. The offensive line has had some breakdowns, including some uncharacteristic penalties.
The transition to a new offense involves some new responsibilities and new ways of doing things.
But overall the Broncos have not stopped using zone blocking entirely. Zone blocking — with all of the linemen firing out in the same direction, limiting gaps and washing defensive players out of the play — was still used during the preseason, just not as much as in the past.
It stands to reason that the Broncos will use it at times. With Dennison and running backs coach Bobby Turner two holdovers from Shanahan’s staff, it makes sense for McDaniels — even as he uses his own offense — to keep some elements Dennison, Turner and the team used with so much success in the past.
But the coaching staff also will ask the linemen to play some more traditional looks as well. To pull guards out in front of a play, pull a tackle, do more 1-on-1 matchup blocking where the lineman locks on a specific defensive player and has to win the battle.
A traditional zone-blocking scheme often asks the linemen to simply pick out the “most dangerous” defensive player in a certain area on a given play. It takes a savvy lineman to consistently make the right pick, and the premium there is on movement and quick thinking.
In a more traditional look, movement is still vital — a lineman has to be a good athlete to survive at his position — but the premium is on power and leverage, a sort of beat-your-guy approach.
So it’s different. It’s also why the Broncos’ offensive line will gradually get bigger as McDaniels works through a couple of draft and free-agency cycles. The Broncos often were light on the offensive line during the Shanahan years, with plenty of 280- and 290-pounders across the front, but they will grow as McDaniels moves forward.
For example, rookie guard Seth Olsen, who has filled in for Ben Hamilton on the left side because of Hamilton’s back injury, is bigger than Hamilton. That’s the kind of transition that will take place over time.
The Broncos will have to walk the line, however, because as often as McDaniels opens the formation in the passing game with the quarterback in the shotgun in an empty backfield, the offensive linemen will be asked to block 5-on-4 or 5-on-5 in pass protection and they will have to be quick enough to move in the open spaces.
Jeff Legwold: 303-954-2359 or jlegwold@denverpost.com
