Luke Wattenberg at No. 1 center as Broncos end first camp phase

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — Luke Wattenberg was first up at center Saturday. As he was Friday, Thursday and Wednesday.

On the surface, this was a mild surprise following offseason work, in which Sean Payton opted to rotate his centers as he did quarterbacks. Wattenberg, Alex Forsyth and offseason free-agent pickup Sam Mustipher cycled through the days, just as Bo Nix, Jarrett Stidham and Zach Wilson did at quarterback.

But the No. 1 designation for the third-year center isn’t etched in stone, with Wattenberg and Forsyth still catching eyes.

“There’s no etched in stone right now at that position,” Payton said. “… There’s competition, and we like it. We like the way that both of those guys are playing.”

Still, Wattenberg does bring something that offensive-line coach Zach Strief noted last month: common traits with Lloyd Cushenberry III, who left for the Tennessee Titans in free agency in March, creating the competition in his wake.

“What’s been kind of interesting with Luke is that Luke has some of the attributes that were really good in Lloyd,” Strief said during minicamp. “For a center, he has a lot of length. He can become a very adept pass protector.

“And so, what was great last year is the the real transition for Lloyd was using that length effectively as a player. And while you’re coaching Lloyd, you have Luke standing behind him.

“So, I think what we seen out of Luke so far is a player who has a lot of length and can use it. You know, that’s a position where you can create players that are true shutdown protectors. And Luke has all those attributes.”

Another layer to this is Forsyth working at guard with the offensive line as well as center. Quinn Meinerz and Ben Powers have the starting guard slots on lockdown, but Forsyth adding guard duties to his tool belt could give him a chance to be the primary interior backup at all three spots — if he doesn’t earn the center job.

“We’ve actually been able to get Alex reps at center and also at guard,” Payton said. “That flexibility that Alex is showing a little bit at guard has been encouraging.”

• Tight end Greg Dulcich capped a solid day with a touchdown reception from Nix in the back left corner of the end zone during the team period that closed practice.
• Running back Jaleel McLaughlin drew some oohs with a spin move as he found the path blocked to the left flank, cutting back inside for several extra yards before losing his balance.
• Defensive end Zach Allen and linebacker Cody Barton collaborated on pressure of Stidham during a red-zone sequence that would have likely been a sack under game conditions.
• The Broncos worked on kickoffs during one of the special-teams periods.
• Kicker Wil Lutz missed a pair of longer field-goal attempts during the placecking period, but hit all of his other attempts.
• Wide receiver Tim Patrick had one of his best plays of camp, catching the defense off-guard and finding a wide-open spot down the left flank to easily grab a pass from Stidham for a gain of more than 20 yards.
• Cornerback Reese Taylor closed the practice by breaking up a Wilson attempt for Phillip Dorsett at the goal line.
• For a second-straight day, country-music star Kenny Chesney attended practice. Payton stopped the session to have Chesney speak to the team midway through the session. Chesney performed at Empower Field at Mile High on Saturday night, with Payton briefly joining him on stage.
• Hall of Fame-bound Randy Gradishar attended practice, one week before his official induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Gradishar said that his speech is already written. His fellow Orange Crush linebacker, Tom Jackson, will formally introduce him at the Aug. 3 ceremony in Canton, Ohio.

Nix began the recovery from the errant throw that Levi Wallace intercepted by delivering perhaps his best practice of training camp to date, dropping a well-placed ball to Javonte Williams in the end zone. The fourth-year running back ran under it, lunged and caught the pass down the left flank for a score.

“Well, I don’t know if I have a choice on that one — if I accept it or not. If I want to stick around, I better accept it. But I also don’t necessarily want to become complacent and say, ‘You know what? It’s my rookie year. I’m okay with sitting back and hanging out and learning.'”
— Nix, after being asked whether he’d be OK accepting being the No. 2 QB

• Safety Brandon Jones sat out practice due to a hamstring injury suffered Friday. Payton said that a two-week recovery time was “realistic.”
• Safety Caden Sterns passed his physical and made his practice debut for 2024 after starting camp on the physically-unable-to-perform list. Sterns missed the final 16 games of last season due to a torn patellar tendon. Sterns is expected to take his time getting fully up to speed. “Now, we have to be really smart,” Payton said. “It’ll be a process.”

Monday, July 29 at 10 a.m. MDT.