Jerry Seinfeld would like this guy.
What’s with Cedrick Lang? Is he a basketball player or a football player? Is he a tight end or tackle?
What is he?
Cedrick Lang is one of the most intriguing players on the Denver Broncos’ roster. He took the Julius Thomas route to the NFL in that Lang played four years as a college basketball power forward before taking advantage of his fifth year of athletic eligibility to play football.
Also like Thomas, Lang had not played football since his freshman year in high school. Also like Thomas, Lang's conversion was to tight end.
Lang veered off from Thomas’ path, though, when he got to the Broncos. After getting a few offseason practices last year with the New York Giants as an undrafted tight end, Lang signed a futures contract with the Broncos this year and was given No. 70.
That’s not a tight end number. Lang has been getting backup reps at left tackle so far this offseason.
It brings up Gary Zimmerman’s line during his Hall of Fame induction speech in 2008. Zimmerman, a career-long left tackle, talked about how out of high school he decided to play for Oregon because it was the only school that signed him as a middle linebacker, his preferred position.
“While dressing down for the first practice, I thought how strange it was that I was No. 75,’’ Zimmerman said to laughter. “The point I’m trying to make here is nobody starts out wanting to play the offensive line position; it’s just where we wind up.’’
Lang is listed as 6-foot-9, 255 pounds on the Broncos’ website. The Giants listed him as 6-foot-7, 269. His UTEP football biography had him at 6-foot-9, 290 while his college basketball bio had him at 6-10, 255.
What’s with Cedrick Lang? Is he 6-10 or 6-7? Is he 255 or 290?
Lang was a tough, rugged, athletic basketball player. In his first senior season for the UTEP Miners, he had back-to-game games with 13 points and 10 rebounds against Princeton and Xavier. His four-year field goal percentage of .581 is the best in school history.
In his second senior season, Lang was used mostly as a blocking tight end, but he also had 11 catches for 72 yards and a touchdown.
What he is now is No. 70 on the Broncos’ roster.
