Ryan Clady Out, Broncos Season Could Be Ty Sambrailo’s To Lose
By Joe Wedra
News broke on Thursday afternoon the Denver Broncos will be without left tackle Ryan Clady for the entire 2015 season. ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported that Clady tore his ACL and will be unable to play at all for the Denver Broncos this season … leaving it up to rookie Ty Sambrailo to, presumably, take over the job on the left side and do his best to protect quarterback Peyton Manning.
Broncos Pro Bowl LT Ryan Clady tore his left ACL during practice Wednesday and is likely to miss the 2015 season, a league source told ESPN.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) May 28, 2015
Both Mannings, Peyton and Eli, now have lost their starting LTs for into, if not for, the season. Ryan Clady torn ACL, Will Beatty torn pec.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) May 28, 2015
Certainly not the news Denver wanted to see heading into “the year” for Peyton Manning. With question marks already surrounding the overall makeup of the team, this new should shake things up around the message boards of Denver.
For a quick take, here’s NFLMocks’s scouting report of Sambrailo, coming out of Colorado State, including a blurb below of what our Bo Martin feels should be worked on for the youngster moving forward:
"As far as weaknesses go, Sambrailo has very few. Most notable, however, is his lack of strength, which often causes him to be bullied by stronger defensive lineman. There are also times when Sambrailo seems disengaged in the game, during these times you see a lack of will to finish plays and slow reactions towards the point of attack."
It’s very clear that moving forward, this kid is going to have to develop at a rapid pace if he wants a chance at coming close to doing what Clady did on left side.
Replacing Pro Bowl talent is no joke, and the Broncos know it.
There’s something to be said about how quickly rookies have picked up on things lately however, something Denver can potentially hang on to. Prospects coming out of college have grown and picked up much quicker than years past.
At the end of the day unfortunately, the offensive line spot has to be the most challenging. A name to watch in the interim: Michael Schofield. Even with the high pick of Sambrailo, the Broncos should give the former Michigan product a chance at the starting job.
Sambrailo vs. Schofield for the blind-side. Nice.
It should be interesting to see how this situation is handled moving forward.
Denver must commit to one of the two, but how confident can they really be?