The Denver Broncos will soon have to make a tough decision at center.
After spending the last four weeks on injured reserve with an ankle injury, center Luke Wattenberg returned to practice on Wednesday. He now has a 21-day window to return to the active roster.
Wattenberg started the team’s first five games of the season. Pro Football Focus gave him a 71.3 pass-blocking grade, a 53.1 run-blocking grade and a 58.0 overall grade in those five games. Wattenberg was penalized once and was not credited with allowing any sacks from Weeks 1-5.
After Wattenberg went down, the Broncos turned to second-year center Alex Forsyth, who played with quarterback Bo Nix at Oregon. Forsyth started the last four games while Wattenberg was on IR.
“You never like for your guys to get hurt,” offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi said on Oct. 10. “We have a lot of confidence in the guys that are filling in. Alex was right there with the center battle during training camp, and obviously he and Bo have a good relationship. That’s always important with centers and quarterbacks.”
By PFF’s estimation, Forysth has played better than Wattenberg. Forysth has a 58.7 pass-blocking grade, a 68.9 run-blocking grade and an overall grade of 67.5 this season. Forysth has not been penalized, but PFF credits him with allowing two sacks.
So, what will Denver do when Wattenberg returns to the active roster, perhaps as early as this weekend? Do they go back to their Week 1 starter, or stick with the center who now has four starts under his belt and previous experience with Nix?
It will be a tough decision for coach Sean Payton and Co. to make. Payton rarely reveals lineup decisions, so we probably won’t get an answer until the first snap on Sunday.
