The 20th pick in the NFL draft is rarely prime real estate for selecting the most highly regarded offensive linemen. In 2016, for example, five of them had already gone off the board by that point. Yet, last year, an unusually thin group of so-called elite prospects among the position group gave the Broncos an opportunity to select tackle Garett Bolles as the draft’s first lineman at that spot.
Fast forward to the pre-draft portion of the NFL calendar this year, and it appears the run of offensive linemen — at all three positions — will come much earlier and more frequently.