{"id":1313052,"date":"2019-07-31T16:04:00","date_gmt":"2019-07-31T22:04:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.postindependent.com\/looking-for-starters-at-hall-of-fame-game-try-the-o-lines\/"},"modified":"2019-07-31T16:04:00","modified_gmt":"2019-07-31T22:04:00","slug":"looking-for-starters-at-hall-of-fame-game-try-the-o-lines","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/local-news\/looking-for-starters-at-hall-of-fame-game-try-the-o-lines\/","title":{"rendered":"Looking for starters at Hall of Fame Game? Try the O-lines"},"content":{"rendered":"
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FILE – In this June 5, 2019, file photo, Denver Broncos offensive tackle Garett Bolles (72) takes part in drills at the team’s NFL football training facility in Englewood, Colo. Denver\u2019s new coach, Vic Fangio, will start three O-linemen in the Hall of Fame game who could be in the opening-day lineup: left tackle Garett Bolles, rookie left guard Dalton Risner and center Connor McGovern. (AP Photo\/David Zalubowski, File)<\/strong>
AP | AP<\/em><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

CANTON, Ohio \u2014 It\u2019s the first preseason NFL game, which means most starters get to visit the Pro Football Hall of Fame, then watch the youngsters go at it.<\/p>\n

So if you\u2019re looking for any likely regulars on the field Thursday night for the Falcons and Broncos, focus on the offensive lines.<\/p>\n

Denver\u2019s new coach, Vic Fangio, will start three O-linemen who could be in the opening day lineup: left tackle Garett Bolles, rookie left guard Dalton Risner and center Connor McGovern. All need work on cohesion, a must for any blocking unit, but particularly when the quarterback is more stationary than most. That\u2019s what the Broncos have in veteran Joe Flacco, acquired from Baltimore.<\/p>\n

Flacco won\u2019t play against Atlanta.<\/p>\n

McGovern\u2019s low snaps out of the shotgun have been a problem this summer, just as they were last season when he took over for an injured Matt Paradis, who left in free agency in the offseason.<\/p>\n

Offensive coordinator Rich Scangarello hopes the blockers get tested.<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, let\u2019s see who can block a good pass rusher without chipping them,\u201d Fangio said. \u201cEven though they\u2019ve got the box loaded, let\u2019s see if we can run the ball up the middle.\u201d<\/p>\n

Atlanta\u2019s front line battles have first-round picks Chris Lindstrom and Kaleb McGary competing for starting jobs at right guard and right tackle, respectively. Lindstrom was listed as the starter on the team\u2019s first depth chart, while McCary is behind veteran Ty Sambrailo.<\/p>\n

The Falcons have the weapons to be dynamic on offense, but not if Matt Ryan (who also will sit Thursday night) doesn\u2019t get protection and Devonta Freeman doesn\u2019t have room to run.<\/p>\n

One of the all-time greats among offensive linemen will be on hand: Mike Munchak. Fangio said one thing he was looking forward to was seeing the OL coach\u2019s bronze bust in the Hall of Fame.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m sure Munch will be there charging a fee to take a picture with the guys with his bust,\u201d Fangio said. \u201cI\u2019m going to try to get a picture with Mike standing next to his bust. That will be cool.\u201d<\/p>\n

Here are some other noteworthy themes for the game two days before former Falcons tight end Tony Gonzalez, former Broncos defensive back Champ Bailey and the team\u2019s late owner, Pat Bowlen, are inducted into the hall. Also entering are Ed Reed, Kevin Mawae, Ty Law, Gil Brandt and Johnny Robinson.<\/p>\n

NO JULIO<\/p>\n

Falcons wide receiver Julio Jones already has said he won\u2019t play in any preseason games. He skipped all preseason games last season before leading the NFL with 1,688 yards receiving. Jones said he\u2019ll be coaching young receivers and is especially interested in seeing Christian Blake, who he said has been \u201cphenomenal catching the ball down the field.\u201d<\/p>\n

Blake spent last season learning from the likes of Jones and Mohamed Sanu while on the practice squad, and he is having a strong camp.<\/p>\n

FANGIO\u2019S PHILOSOPHY<\/p>\n

The veteran defensive coordinator now in his first job as a head coach doesn\u2019t want to use a lot of stuff in the preseason, preferring to test his young players and see what they\u2019ve got. He said he wants to puts his players in difficult situations \u201cjust to see who can handle it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cFor instance, if I\u2019m pretty confident they might be throwing it, instead of giving a corner some help, we\u2019ll see if he can cover his guy. Play a light box even though we think they might be running it, things like that,\u201d Fangio said.<\/p>\n

RB COMPETITION<\/p>\n

Falcons coach Dan Quinn said there has been no separation in the competition for carries behind starter Freeman, who comes off an injury-ravaged season. There is a void after Tevin Coleman, who had shared time with Freeman, signed with San Francisco. Ito Smith could be the favorite to earn a bigger role. The competition also includes Brian Hill, Kenjon Barner, rookie Qadree Ollison and Tony Brooks-James.<\/p>\n

via:: Post Independent<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

FILE – In this June 5, 2019, file photo, Denver Broncos offensive tackle Garett Bolles (72) takes part in drills at the team’s NFL football training facility in Englewood, Colo. Denver\u2019s new coach, Vic Fangio, will start three O-linemen in the Hall of Fame game who could be in the opening-day lineup: left tackle Garett […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[160],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-1313052","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-local-news"},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-21 14:57:35","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSKE Ski Country","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1313052","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1313052"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1313052\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1313052"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1313052"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1313052"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}