INDIANAPOLIS — A year ago, the Broncos used a second-round draft pick on Dalton Risner, a 50-game college starter who was second-team All-America as a senior and thrived in the NFL following a position switch.

Shane Lemieux could be an ideal follow-up selection. The 6-foot-4, 316-pound Lemieux started all 52 games of his Oregon career at left guard and was named second-team All-American this past fall.

Led by offensive line coach Mike Munchak, Risner made the move from right tackle at Kansas State to Broncos left guard look seamless. Lemieux could take over right guard, which is open after oft-injured veteran Ron Leary’s contract option was declined.

The Broncos would like to re-sign center Connor McGovern, who would make the transition for Lemieux easier. They also need right tackle Ja’Wuan James to stay healthy (plagued by knee injuries in 2019) and hope left tackle Garett Bolles can build off several solid games in last year’s second half.

“It was OK, you know?” was coach Vic Fangio’s assessment of the offensive line when asked this week. “That’s about what it was. … I do think we’re capable of better.”

Adding Lemieux could be an immediate upgrade.

“That’s one of the great assets of my game — durability,” he said. “I never missed a game, never missed a play, never missed a practice. I come from a blue-collar family. My dad is an electrician and my mom’s a nurse and I was taught, day in and day out, that (showing up every day) was how the Lemieuxs work.”

Lemieux had to work for his spot at Oregon because he wasn’t the most-heralded recruit — a three-star high school player in Yakima, Wash., and not ranked among the top 450 players nationally.

But after redshirting for the Ducks in 2015, he won a starting spot in 2016 and never left the lineup.

“Incredibly powerful interior linemen,” said Ducks teammate Calvin Throckmorton, who played primarily right tackle. “He takes a tremendous amount of pride in his preparation and learning about the players he’ll be facing. And when he gets on the field, he wants to finish guys into the ground on every single play.”

Lemieux said there were no nearly-missed games, no instances when he was iffy on Thursday, but managed to be in uniform on Saturday.

“He would come into the trainer’s room banged up, but would say, ‘I don’t feel good now, but I’ll feel good by game day,’” said Ducks tight end Jacob Breeland. “Through the practices, he would say that’s how he would get the kinks out.”

Breeland said Lemieux’s “want-to level” was equal parts motivating and inspirational to his teammates.

“People ask me who the toughest player on our team was and I say Shane Lemieux,” Breeland said. “He played so many snaps and practiced every day. Seeing that showed me how much he loves the game, how much he loves competing, how much he wants to win and how tough he is. I saw that and thought, ‘I’m going to try and be like that.’”

Although he won’t be a top-10 draft pick, Lemieux hopes to have the kind of instant impact that Washington’s Brandon Scherff (fifth overall in 2015) and Indianapolis’ Quenton Nelson (sixth in 2018) had for their teams.

“Brandon Scherff is one of the best short-set, jump-set guys in the game and I want to model my passing game off of that,” Lemieux said. “Quenton Nelson brings a good attitude to the game and plays football the right way and plays how an offensive lineman should play — physical. I want to emulate that.”