Thoughts on Denver Broncos Signing Menelik Watson

I always thought that Denver Broncos GM John Elway was doing a good job. But his latest move, signing OT Menelik Watson, is a major head-scratcher.

The Oakland Raiders drafted OT Menelik Watson in the second round of the 2013 NFL Draft knowing he’s a project. He’s a former soccer player and amature boxer so he’s a great athlete. But he only played a couple of years of football before entering the NFL.

And in four years with a Raiders, he hasn’t come close to resembling a legitimate starting NFL OT. When he’s been healthy, he’s been terrible but he hasn’t been healthy all that much. The Raiders did all they could to give Watson the a chance to succeed.

Austin Howard outplayed Watson in the 2015 season but Watson was still given the job. However, he tore his Achilles in the preseason so he was unable to play that year. Then in 2016, Howard was coming off an ACL tear at the end of 2015 so he wasn’t at full strength.

He had a bad ankle too but he was still better than Watson, the human turnstile. They give him the job again and he gets hurt again, forcing Howard to play with a bad ankle. Then the Raiders finally pulled the plug on Howard and Watson was worse.

Yet this offseason, Broncos GM John Elway paid a project that wasn’t going well $18 million over three years. The Raiders wanted to bring him back to finish the project but not for that money. I know the Broncos need tackles bad but the worst starter in the NFL is a bad move.

Good luck, Broncos,