Deiter to IR, Smith in: Denver's center position is now a camp casualty

The Broncos placed Michael Deiter on season-ending injured reserve Wednesday and signed veteran center Lecitus Smith to fill the void, per Mike Klis of 9NEWS Denver. It is the kind of move that gets filed under "depth transaction" in a normal August. For this offensive line, it is not a normal August.

Garett Bolles remains the one reliable anchor up front, and Ben Powers' restructured contract at least keeps the guard room intact. But the center position has now been patched mid-camp with a player who was not in the building a week ago. Gavin Ortega sits atop the depth chart there, and the Broncos' interior is being assembled in real time around a quarterback — Bo Nix — who is himself coming off a second shoulder procedure and cannot afford to absorb punishment while the line sorts itself out.

This is the fourth significant personnel disruption Denver has absorbed since camp opened: Henningsen's Achilles, the receiver signings to compensate for a thin WR room, the linebacker shuffling around Cooper's August 31 hearing, and now this. Each move has been a reasonable response to an immediate problem. Taken together, they describe a roster that is being held together with tape at multiple seams simultaneously. Smith may be fine. The situation around him is not.