Denver Bronco roster review: center Alex Forsyth

Can the second-year center do what Matt Paradis did and excel as a starter with no NFL experience?

In 2014 the Broncos used the 207th pick in the NFL draft on a center from Boise State named Matt Paradis. Paradis did not play at all during his rookie season, but he used that year to build his “NFL body” and then stepped into the starting role for the 2015 season. If you have forgotten that season you should probably stop reading now since you cannot be a Broncos fan.

Paradis anchored the Broncos OL that got the Broncos their third Lombardi trophy. That also happened to be the last time the Broncos made the playoffs.

With the departure of Lloyd Cushenberry to free agency, the Broncos are in a similar situation that they were in for the 2015 season with no incumbent starting center. The key difference is that the starting OL is intact outside of that. There was a lot more turnover on the 2015 O-line relative to the 2014 O-line with only Louis Vasquez returning as a starter.

2014 Broncos Primary Starting OL

LT Ryan Clady

LG Orlando Franklin

C Will Montgomery

RG Manuel Ramirez

RT Louis Vasquez

2015 Broncos Primary Starting OL

LT Ryan Harris

LG Evan Matthis

C Matt Paradis

RG Louis Vasquez

RT Michael Schofield

So Paradis had a bigger task insofar as he was not working with a group of four offensive linemen who started next to each other the season before.

Alex Forsyth has a bigger task in that he is working with a rookie QB; albeit one who started more games in college than any other previous BCS QB and one with whom he is familiar having played with and snapped to him in his final season at Oregon.

With the second to last pick in the 2023 draft, the Broncos selected Forsyth who had strained his hamstring at the NFL combine doing the vertical jump. So his combine and Pro-Day data was nerfed.

Alex Forsyth – C – #76

6-4, 312 lbs

Experience: 2 years

Did not play in 2023 but was on the active roster.

How Forsyth fits into the 2024 Broncos’ offense

The Broncos have not had an above-average starting center since Paradis in 2016.

Paradis graded out at 74.1 as rookie. Whoever wins the starting center role in 2024, I would be elated to see that kind of performance which is comparable to what LC3 did in 2023.

The three players who could be competing for the starting center spot are Forsyth, Luke Wattenberg and Sam Mustipher. Only Mustipher has any experience as the starting center, but he does not have the experience with Bo Nix that Forsyth does.

And Forsyth has the confidence of the HC and GM.

I expect Forsyth to earn the starting center position similar to the way Paradis did in 2015. The fact that the Broncos did not want to risk losing Forsyth last season by placing him on the practice squad speaks to the potential that the coaches see in him.

And it should help having a verteran line-up around him — Garett Bolles, Ben Powers, Quinn Meinerz and Mike McGlinchey. And his “red-shirt” year last season should also give him the best shot at being the starting center for the next three years for the Broncos. He’s a better athlete than Wattenberg or Mustipher and he already has the confidence of Bo Nix and () Sean Payton.