George Foster’s season was not exactly one he’d want to put on the mantle.

While the right tackle began and ended the regular season as the starter at his position, he found himself in backup duty just past the midway point of the campaign, with training-camp signee Adam Meadows starting the November games against the Oakland Raiders, San Diego Chargers and Kansas City Chiefs.

In the Raiders and Chargers games, Foster played only on special teams. A hamstring injury on Thanksgiving put Foster back at his old slot, and he remained there for the remainder of the season, even after Meadows returned to the active roster for Weeks 16 and 17.

When Head Coach Mike Shanahan was asked to assess the team’s situation at right tackle earlier this month, he spoke not specifically of Foster, but of the scrum for playing time that awaits.

“We’ve got some depth there. We’ve got some competition,” Shanahan said. “Who is going to play what position, you never know. With Erik (Pears) playing some this year (at left tackle), Adam Meadows playing. With Matt (Lepsis) going down and (Chris) Kuper coming on and playing (he played against Arizona), we’ve got more depth than we have had. We’ll have some great competition there.

“If the guy starts the year before, he’s going to start this year or we’re going to give him every opportunity to win that job back, but there’s competition and that’s what makes this world go around.”

FINAL ANALYSIS: The three games in which he came off the bench represented his only non-starts since 2003, when he played in just one game as a rookie.

NEXT: Cornerback Domonique Foxworth.