Denver Broncos center Alex Forsyth was inactive for all 17 of the team’s games last season while Lloyd Cushenberry anchored the offensive line.
After losing Cushenberry during free agency this spring, Forsyth will now get a chance to compete for the starting job this summer. His competition will include Sam Mustipher and Luke Wattenberg.
Last week, Broncos coach Sean Payton praised Alex Forsyth’s smarts, and he advised media members against reading into the order of first-team reps at center.
“We knew when we drafted him he was extremely intelligent,” Payton said when asked about Alex Forsyth on May 30. “We knew we were drafting a highly intelligent player, and you could see that in his film. I think it’s a trait certainly that helps at center. Both he and Luke. I’ve told the coaches, and I think it’s important for you all to know: don’t read into any type of rotation now. I’m trying to get combinations of players.
“The quarterbacks are rotating ones, twos and threes. It’s just so happened that we’ve gone every third day, and you guys have seen [Bo] Nix running with the ones. So that’s a little bit of a coincidence. The centers are doing the same thing. … I think that [intelligence is] one of his strong suits. It’s one of the reasons why I sat down with him a little bit to discuss Nix. I knew that I’d get a pretty intelligent answer, a responsible answer, a thoughtful answer. He has high, high football IQ.”
Forsyth, of course, played with Nix at Oregon in 2022. If Nix ends up winning the quarterback competition, one would assume Forsyth would be a perfect center given his past experience with the QB. Payton will let both competitions play out on the field this summer, though, with the QBs and centers rotating first-team snaps at practice.
