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When the Denver Broncos signed Ja’Wuan James to a four-year, $51 million contract last March, they expected him to shore up the right tackle position.
Unfortunately, James battled knee injuries throughout the 2019 season and ended up playing in three games (Elijah Wilkinson served as a fill-in starter).
Going into the 2020 season, Broncos general manager John Elway hopes to see James live up to his big contract.
“[We had] great expectations of him last year,” Elway said during a post-draft Zoom conference call with reporters on April 25. “He was hurt so he couldn’t play very much last year. We have great expectations with him coming back and being the right tackle for us and playing like he’s capable of playing.”
James played in all 16 games with the Miami Dolphins in 2014, missed nine games in 2015, played all 16 games in 2016, missed eight games in 2017 and then played in 15 games in 2018. He seemingly goes injury-free every other season. If that trend continues, he should be healthy in 2020.
Beyond this season, James might not be a reliable option at right tackle. James hasn’t proven that he can stay healthy for more than one year so Denver should consider drafting a potential replacement in 2021.
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