Lammey: Greenidge serves pancakes on Day 3 of Shrine Game practices

My favorite time of year is here. That’s right, once again I’m on the road for what I call the “All-Star Road Trip.”

For the 14th year in a row, I’m attending the East-West Shrine Game with an eye on some of the talent entering the 2019 NFL draft.

The third day of practice featured strong performances on both sides of the ball, and there are many players the Broncos should be interested in.

Here’s my report:

Pancakes for breakfast

The first practice of the day is usually around 9 a.m. Villanova offensive tackle Ethan Greenidge had his breakfast on the field in the form of pancakes.

Greenidge dominated on Wednesday, and I saw him twice pancake his opponent in one-on-one drills.

You can see players dominate in the drill, but it’s not often you see 300-pound linemen thrown to the ground with little effort. Greenidge didn’t gloat about his conquests but instead went to the back of the line to wait his turn … only to do it again and again.

I didn’t have a lot of notes on Greenidge from Monday and Tuesday, but he captured my (and everyone’s) attention on Wednesday.

Into the pit

One player kept getting me to check back to my notes from the previous practices, and that was Temple defensive lineman Michael Dogbe.

During one-on-one drills (affectionately known as the pit), Dogbe beat his opponent regularly. Not only did he beat his man, Dogbe usually made the blocker attempting to stop him look foolish.

When the team drills started, Dogbe continued to make plays.

Even though there’s no live tackling during practice, Dogbe kept stuffing opposing running backs in the backfield. He was able to knife through and disrupt more than a few plays that were whistled dead on the spot.

In addition to his run-stuffing skills, Dogbe showed that he could also make quarterbacks uncomfortable in the pocket.

Broncos buzz

There are top evaluators around the NFL that think Broncos general manager John Elway is doing things the right way in 2019.

As previously reported, everyone I’ve talked to in the NFL has nothing but great things to say about new head coach Vic Fangio. But it’s what one player personnel man told me today that was eye-opening.

“Elway can rebuild and compete at the same time. In that division they are built to go up against high-powered teams like the (Kansas City) Chiefs and (Los Angeles) Chargers,” one top executive told me.

With the moves the Broncos have made, specifically Fangio and the hiring of new offensive line coach Mike Munchak, it’s clear Denver has no intention of rebuilding in 2019.

Instead, the team is going to try to compete in the division and get back to the playoffs after a 6-10 season in 2018. It’s a bold strategy by Elway, but some around the league think it can work.

I’m back in Denver on Thursday but back on the road this Sunday as I’m traveling to Alabama for the 2019 Reese’s Senior Bowl.

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