Every successful Gary Kubiak offense has featured a fullback. Last year, fullbacks James Casey and Joe Don Duncan did not last with the Broncos—it’s likely no coincidence that Denver’s offense struggled without them down the stretch.

This year, the fullback position will return.

In the offseason, the Broncos selected Nebraska bruiser Andy Janovich in the sixth round of the draft. They also converted third-year running back Juwan Thompson to fullback. The pair of 220-plus pounders will compete to win the job in preseason.

“We ask our fullback to do a lot of things,” coach Gary Kubiak said after a training camp practice session last week. “The more you can do for a team, the better chance you have to make a team.”

Neither Janovich nor Thompson are one-dimensional. In addition to playing fullback, they also play on special teams (Janovich was a superb special teams player in college). Perhaps the most important task they’ll be asked to do is lead block for Denver’s running backs.

Janovich has already proved that he’s capable of being an effective lead blocker, drawing praise from Denver’s coaching staff during the second week of camp for knocking a defender backward on a run play.

“On one of our outside zone scheme plays, it was a safety—so I just moved him outside—it worked out well,” Janovich told Broncos Wire after a practice session last week. “He met me in the hole and I just drove him out, so it was a good play.”

Janovich has no qualms about blocking—his favorite job is going after inside linebackers on inside zone runs, an assignment that he described as “pretty fun.”

But Denver’s fullback, whether it’s Janovich or Thompson, will be asked to do more than just run block on offense—he’ll also be asked to pass protect and occasionally go out for a pass or carry the rock himself. Janovich has experience both as a receiver out of the backfield and as a runner, but he admitted that pass protection is a challenging part of his job.

“Kicking out d-ends—Von Miller or somebody like that—he’s not the easiest guy to block in the world,” Janovich said. “I’d say that’s probably one of the hardest things right now.”

Few fullbacks are going to win a one-on-one battle with an elite edge rusher like Miller, but Janovich is willing to take on the job, along with everything else the Broncos have asked him to do.

“I’m just coming out every day with the scripts that they have,” he said. “I’m involved quite a bit so I mean that makes you feel pretty good about what’s going to happen.”

On the Broncos’ first depth chart, Janovich is listed as the starting fullback. He can hold on to—and win—the job with a good preseason. His first opportunity will come this week when the team travels to Chicago to face the Bears in their preseason opener.

Watch for Janovich, No. 32, when the Broncos play Thursday. There’s a good chance that Broncos fans will be seeing a lot of him during the regular season, bringing the fullback position back to Denver.