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Denver Broncos | News

Burning questions for top OLs Garett Bolles, Forrest Lamp, Ryan Ramczyk and Cam Robinson

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INDIANAPOLIS --Four potential first-round offensive linemen. Four big questions.

This year's line class not only lacks the depth of recent years, but doesn't come with anyone who clearly belongs atop the draft. This year could see the top 10 picks pass without an offensive lineman taken, which hasn't happened in 12 years.

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GARETT BOLLES: IS ONE YEAR STARTING AT THE FBS LEVEL ENOUGH, GIVEN HIS ADVANCED AGE?**

No player among the 330 at the Combine took a more circuitous path to Indianapolis than Bolles, who had drug issues, an arrest and was eventually on the street before he got his life back on track. p> In the process of finding his way to football, Bolles went on a one-year Church of Latter-Day Saints mission, which he served in Colorado Springs, and played at junior college before heading to Utah, where he became a starter at tackle in 2016.

Bolles will be 25 before he takes his first professional snap. If a team brought him along by using him at another position, such as right tackle, he might not be playing on the left side until he's 27 or 28.

But age doesn't translate to hits. Because he wasn't playing football in his lost years, he's accumulated the physical wear of a 21- or 22-year-old -- and in Bolles' eyes, that's what matters, not the birthdate on his driver's license.

"I think that's a positive thing for me, because that's just less wear and tear on my body," he said. "I've never been cut open, I've never had a surgery, I've never had a major injury. You've got to knock on wood because football is rough game."

And he also doesn't want to wait to play left tackle.

"They're not drafting me to sit on the bench," Bolles said "They're drafting me to come in and make a big impact."

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FORREST LAMP: WHAT'S THE RIGHT POSITION?**

Although he worked at left tackle at Western Kentucky -- and had his best work there -- a shorter-than-expected arm measurement at the Senior Bowl helped lead to continued speculation that Lamp would have to move to guard or even center as a professional.

Lamp is willing to accept any spot -- "I'll play wherever I can to help a team," he said. But the game that opened eyes was against Alabama, which boasted the best defensive line in college football last year, led by potential top-three pick Jonathan Allen.

"I think I can play tackle," Lamp said. "Everybody says the Alabama front, all three of those guys, will probably get drafted in the first round. So if I can block those guys, why wouldn't I be able to block anybody?"

But in his quest for playing time, not only does the position not matter -- the side doesn't, either.

"Sides don't affect me. I played left and right guard at the Senior Bowl. I think I even played right tackle. I've played left tackle," Lamp said. "The biggest difference is going from guard to tackle."

As NFL Draft prospects near their first test of the process, the Scouting Combine in Indianapolis, many NFL experts still predict Wisconsin's Ryan Ramczyk to be the Broncos' first pick off the board. (AP Images)

RYAN RAMCZYK: HOW'S THE HIP?

"Really good," the Wisconsin offensive tackle said, believing that the medical checkups conducted by teams should squelch the concerns about his January hip procedure.

"The surgeon was actually there for medical check-ups and he said it looks really clean, really good," Ramczyk said.

A full recovery is still over three months away, so he will have some catch-up work in the weight room to do. He said that he can still do upper-body and cardio work, but has to avoid squats and agility drills.

Ramczyk also must answer questions about how he only started one season at the FBS level, having transferred from Wisconsin-Stevens Point. He also gave up the game for a year at age 18, backing out on a commitment to play at Division II Winona (Minn.) State before landing at Stevens Point.

"It's been a big question in interviews," he said. "I took a year off and realized what I had given up and ever since then I've been competing and just playing football and loving it."

CAM ROBINSON: GUARD OR TACKLE?

In the wake of NFL Network's Mike Mayock saying Monday that he saw the Alabama product as more of a guard prospect, Robinson's response about the potential of being guard was simple -- and illustrated the risk of moving a tackle to the inside.

"I don't know," he said of being a guard. "I never played it."

So not only does he see himself as a tackle -- but the best tackle in the class.

"It's what I believe," Robinson said. "I believe in what I've put on film for the past three years. I think I've put it on film and I don't have to talk much more about it."

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