All eyes will be on the offensive line Friday when the Broncos travel to Seattle to face the Seahawks in their opening preseason game.
The Broncos revealed their initial depth chart on Monday and the only somewhat surprising note was the fact that three of the five projected starters haven’t played a snap in the NFL yet.
So what’s their identity? Where will this line shine and where will they struggle.
“We’re fixing to find out,” coach Gary Kubiak said. “I’m excited about what they can be. There’s going to be a lot of bumps in the road along the way, but I know they’re going to play hard.”
The left side of the line — rookie tackle Ty Sambrailo, rookie guard Max Garcia and second-year center Matt Paradis, who spent all last season on the practice squad, will face off against the vaunted Seahawks defensive line on Friday.
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“It’s something I’ve dreamed of doing since I was a little kid and now it’s being realized,” said Garcia, a 2015 fourth-round pick. “Definitely going to have some butterflies but after the first snap, those go away.”
Kubiak was noncommittal on whether quarterback Peyton Manning and other veterans would play in Seattle. He said that decision would be made in meetings after practice.
Manning said he wanted to play in the preseason as much as possible, but would defer to the coaches’ decision.
Pick-six party
Wednesday’s practice was undoubtedly won by the defense, two pick-sixes highlighted a stellar performance.
The first occurred when Danny Trevathan jumped a Zac Dysert pass deep in the offense’s territory and took it to the house. Trevathan was met by a clan of excited fans, who he rewarded with several low-fives.
The second came when Peyton Manning was driving in for a touchdown when he found safety Darian Stewart instead. Stewart took the ball the entire 95 yards to the other end zone, sporting a laugh once he arrived at the opposite goal line.
Linebackers Danny Trevathan (knee) and Brandon Marshall (foot) spent most of practice running on the first-team defense together. It’s a good sign for the duo to be closing in on full-strength with the regular season a month away.
Receiver Emmanuel Sanders took punt-return snaps for the first time since the opening day of training camp a week and a half ago. He likely got the reps because safety Omar Bolden, who is listed on the depth chart as the starting returner, left practice early and headed back to the locker room.
Welcome back
The Broncos welcomed more than 50 former players to practice on Wednesday, including general manager and Hall of Fame quarterback John Elway and five-time All-Pro receiver Rick Upchurch.
Upchurch called the gathering “a country club” experience for a lot of players who rarely get together in a setting like that.
The orange-and-blue faithful returned the life to Dove Valley on Day 13 of Broncos training camp. After being rained out Tuesday, fans arrived early to watch their team on one of its last practices before heading to Seattle for its opening preseason game Friday.
In preparation for the Seahawks’ 12th man crowd, the Broncos have been blasting upbeat music throughout practice ranging from Future’s “March Madness” to AC/DC’s “Back to Black.”
Injury update
Cornerback Chris Harris Jr. (hamstring) was out of practice again Wednesday. On Tuesday, Kubiak said they held him out as a precaution and didn’t consider it a big deal.
Nose tackle Marvin Austin and linebacker Lerentee McCray also sat out with groin injuries. Cornerback Kayvon Webster (ribs) was a limited participant.
Cameron Wolfe: 303-954-1891, cwolfe@denverpost.com or
