OAKLAND — At 6-foot-5, 335 pounds, Louis Vasquez doesn’t look like a guy who gets intimidation.
Still, he made a rather frightening move Sunday when he shifted from right guard, where he was so comfortable he was named All Pro last season, to right tackle, a position on the edge where it’s just him against the opponents’ best pass rushers.
“You can’t play this game being scared,” Vasquez said. “I learned that at an early age. You play scared you’re going to get hurt or not play very well.”
The Broncos mixed up their dance partners along their offensive line for their AFC West game Sunday against the Oakland Raiders. Will Montgomery, a starter the previous 3 ½ seasons for Mike Shanahan in Washington, became Peyton Manning’s new snapper.
Was Montgomery rusty?
“No, I’m kind of like a bottle of wine,” Montgomery said, smiling. “I get better with time.”
As Montgomery went into center, Manny Ramirez moved from center to right guard and Vasquez went from right guard to right tackle.
Paul Cornick, who started at right tackle the previous three games, did not play against the Raiders because of a shoulder injury that occurred during the Broncos’ practice Wednesday. The re-alignment up front had taken place during the week of practice before Cornick suffered his injury.
“Have to do what’s best for the team,” Vasquez said. “Not even thinking about it. The coaches made the move that they felt was best for the team and you got to ride with it.”
The Broncos made the move because they had been dissatisfied with their running game as a whole and right tackle in particular. They entered this game ranked 26th in the league with 3.7 yards per carry. They were much more efficient Sunday as backup running back C.J. Anderson ran for 90 yards on 13 carries, a 6.9-yard average.
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“Any time you mix it up it’s going to take a while to come together,” Vasquez said. “What’s good is that Manny and I are still next to each other. We still play well together and we added a guy in the middle with experience. We’ll get better the more reps we get.”
MikeKlis: mklis@denverpost.com; Twitter: @mikeklis
