The Broncos’ center situation didn’t just get messy this week - it got real.
Sean Payton tried to keep the temperature down after Michael Deiter was carted off the practice field on Tuesday, insisting the team would be able to handle it. Two days later, Denver answered with a move that said plenty on its own: the Broncos signed veteran center Lecitus Smith, according to 9NEWS’ Mike Klis.
“We’ll work through it," Payton said. "We have guys that are flexible. We’ll be fine.”
The signing gives Denver some short-term insurance while Luke Wattenberg and Alex Forsyth remain sidelined with injuries, but Smith is unlikely to be ready for Friday’s preseason opener against the Atlanta Falcons. The timing makes that part pretty clear.
Deiter’s season-ending quad injury forced the issue. He had been working with the first-team offense because Wattenberg and Forsyth were already out, and once he went down, the Broncos had to reshuffle on the fly.
That pushed backup left guard Calvin Throckmorton into the first-team center role, and that’s the setup fans are likely to see against Atlanta with the ones and twos. Undrafted rookie Gavin Ortega should handle the threes.
For Smith, the opportunity is obvious. A sixth-round pick by the Arizona Cardinals in 2022, he arrives in Denver with 19 NFL games and four career starts on his résumé.
He’s 28, and he spent much of this offseason without a team. Last season, he bounced between the Green Bay Packers’ practice squad and active roster, then wasn’t brought back after the year ended.
His path through the league has been a grind. Since entering the NFL in 2022, Smith has also spent time with the Houston Texans, Philadelphia Eagles, New England Patriots, and Pittsburgh Steelers. He’s been a roster bubble player in the offseason and a practice squad body during the season for most of the last three years.
At 6-foot-3 and 314 pounds, Smith entered the league with good measurables, but questions about whether he could develop into a starter-level center. NFL Media’s Lance Zierlein summed up the concerns this way:
"An athletic, three-year starter at guard with a decent frame, Smith lacks the desired measurables for the position. He is capable of working as a move blocker and out in space. However, he really struggles with hand placement and staying under control at the point of attack and on work-up blocks," NFL Media's Lance Zierlein wrote.
"His lack of consistency as a run blocker is balanced by surprising technique and success in pass protection. Some of Smith's issues are correctable through coaching and discipline, but he might not rise above the level of average backup with the ability to step in and start from time to time."
Smith has gotten starts for the Cardinals, Patriots, and Packers, but he hasn’t held onto a permanent role. In Denver, the immediate goal is simply to make the roster conversation. If the injuries keep piling up, though, there may be more on the table.
That’s the uncomfortable part for the Broncos. They’re heading into their first preseason game without a healthy member of the three centers they opened camp with. They’ll survive this week, but if Bo Nix is going to play in Game 2, the Broncos need the center room in much better shape.
Nix will not play in Atlanta, and Payton said that decision was made a month ago. Still, with the center spot in this kind of shape, it’s hard not to wonder whether the situation helped reinforce that call. Either way, keeping him out looks like the right move.
Wattenberg went down on Day 3 of camp, the first padded practice, and Forsyth followed later that same week. It has been more than a week since either one practiced.
There is at least one silver lining here: Ortega has been thrown into a much bigger role than expected for an undrafted rookie. If he handles it well in preseason, he could put himself in position for a job, either on the 53-man roster or the practice squad.
The Broncos are expected to get a clearer read on that Monday. If the injuries linger, Smith could be in line for a quick rise from unsigned veteran to emergency center - maybe even to the player snapping to Nix before long.
Throckmorton’s fill-in work is useful, but center isn’t his natural spot. And with Nix returning from a serious ankle injury, Denver can’t afford to keep improvising there for long.
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