Deiter went down during practice earlier in the week and was carted off the field. Unfortunately for Deiter, he suffered a season-ending injury, according to Head Coach Sean Payton, and today the team placed the reserve center on the season-ending injured reserve.

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Lecitus Smith played his college ball at Virginia Tech and was a 6th-round pick in the 2022 NFL Draft by the Arizona Cardinals. From there, he had stints with the Houston Texans, Philadelphia Eagles, Green Bay Packers, New England Patriots, Pittsburgh Steelers, and, most recently, with the Green Bay Packers again. Throughout his career, Smith has appeared in 19 games and has 4 career starts, including a start last season with the Packers.

Now, he joins a Broncos roster that is currently banged up at the center position. Starter Luke Wattenberg has missed most of training camp thus far and has just returned to practice, but will likely not play in Friday’s preseason opener. Backup Alex Forsyth has been sidelined all this week and seems unlikely to play in the game, and as we know, third-string center Michael Deiter suffered a season-ending injury. So, they simply need some depth and bodies at the center position.

Veteran offensive lineman Calvin Throckmorton and undrafted free agent Gavin Ortega have been taking snaps at center, but neither has much experience playing center. So, Smith could see a good amount of snaps and playing time during Friday’s game vs. the Falcons.

Smith is a long shot to make the 53-man roster, but a good performance during the preseason could earn him a spot on the Broncos’ practice squad as their third-string center. He has experience, some starting experience and gives the Broncos some much-needed depth at the center position.