Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning met with some of the team’s draft picks Thursday. (John Leyba, The Denver Post)
The biggest highlight of the many offensive linemen Ty Sambrailo and Max Garcia experienced this past week was, of course, hearing their name called in the 2015 draft.
But meeting Peyton Manning was high on the list.
Sambrailo, a standout tackle at Colorado State and the Broncos’ second-round pick, said he met with Manning briefly in the team’s cafeteria Thursday and is “extremely ready” to block for the quarterback.
“He came up and said hi and said he’s excited to get to work,” Sambrailo said Friday, after Day 1 of rookie mini camp. “That’s a future Hall of Famer, and it’s exciting to be in the same building as him. I’ve heard he really appreciates offensive linemen. Not a bad guy to block for.”
Where he will block for Manning isn’t certain, Sambrailo said. Coach Gary Kubiak said last Friday that he would start Sambrailo at right tackle, but for now, Sambrailo said he’s playing “wherever” in mini camp to spread out reps for players trying to earn roster spots.
The Broncos’ fourth-round pick Garcia, however, said the plan is for him to learn the guard position and then transition to center “as I learn the offense and get more comfortable.”
But like Sambrailo, hearing from Manning after he was drafted and then meeting him Thursday left Garcia a bit starstruck.
“He actually shot me a text after I got drafted, so that was pretty cool,” Garcia said. “I just looked at my phone for like 10 minutes. I was like, ‘Wow, I just got a text message from Peyton.’ But I met him and he’s a really down-to-earth guy. We just talked a little bit about football and that was it. But yeah, I enjoyed it.”
