A No Bull look at the Denver Broncos offensive line roster, its strengths, weaknesses, and what we can expect George Paton and Sean Payton to target this offseason
With the Denver Broncos offseason kicking off, it is a great time to step back, take a look at the roster, and play a little armchair GM leading up to all of the excitement of possible free-agent signings, trades, and of course the NFL Draft.
Let me give a tip of the hat to www.footballguys.com for their information on snap percentages and www.overthecap.com for their information on current contracts for all players.
All of this is my personal opinion based on my tried-and-true eye test of what I’ve seen from these players on the field this season. For the sake of brevity, I’ll be leaving out guys who didn’t see the field in any significant way in 2024 and most Unrestricted Free Agents.
I think it is important here to say that judging offensive line quality is probably one of the hardest things to do when it comes to analyzing the game of football. There’s no stat tracking that definitely speaks to a specific player’s quality as most useful stats are group-oriented. I also do not for one second acknowledge any ratings from the more popular player rating websites out there. They do not pass the sniff test nor seem to be consistent with what we see from game to game.
That being said, enjoy the discussion, join the subjective debate, and share your thoughts (good or bad) in the comments.
Next up, we’ll examine the offensive line and determine what holes the Broncos should look to fill in the 2025 NFL offseason.
Player Rating Key
- Project / developmental – lacking necessary skills to contribute as it stands today
- Backup quality – Can play, but isn’t a guy you want out there every snap
- Average starter – Doesn’t bring anything special to the table, but can do the job
- Good starter – An above-average talent
- Blue chip player – Top 10 talent in the NFL at what he does
Unit Rating Key
- Critical Need – lack of talent at starter and depth
- Lacking at least one starter
- Mediocre need
- Solid talent and depth
- Elite talent level
Interior Linemen
Luke Wattenburg – 2
Luke Wattenburg was our starting center for most of the season (~75% of the snaps). He seemed to do better in pass protection than run blocking from what I saw. The big problem that I noticed repeat through the season was him getting moved too easily on run plays. The line overall didn’t have huge problems opening holes for the backs, but when it did, most of them seemed to be around Wattenburg.
He’s a 3rd year player who did show that he was able to do the job up front. I’m not sure if he’s hit his ceiling or not, but if any change happens up front, it will likely be at the center position.
Quinn Meinerz – 5
There’s nothing to say about Quinn Meinerz that isn’t praise. I’m not saying he’s perfect, because he isn’t, but the guy is an absolute terminator at guard. He can not be reasoned with and cannot be stopped. Meinerz has power in spades and the technique to back it up. He’s a first-team All-Pro and it is well deserved. The guy is phenomenal both in the run game and in pass protection.
Ben Powers – 4
Ben Powers came to us in free agency two seasons ago from the Ravens and honestly didn’t have the greatest season. This year was a different story. Powers wasn’t All-Pro level like the guy across the way from him, but he was a stout guard for the Broncos. I think his game honestly improved this year. He was much more consistent at pass blocking and was still a solid blocker when running the ball.
Unit Rating – 3
The Broncos had the best offensive line in football last season. The quality of play at guard easily made up for any lack we saw at center. They can just run it back this year and will still play very well. That being said, I think Sean Payton will be looking to make an upgrade at center this year or bring a guy to develop from the draft.
Tackles
Garett Bolles – 5
Garett Bolles was honestly a phenomenal tackle this year. He still had holding penalties called against him, but many of those were going to be huge hits on Bo Nix if he didn’t. The big thing to me is that he’s consistently winning outside on an island in pass protection. That’s worth the dozen or so holding penalties he brought on the season. He’s also an absolute monster in the running game. He’s powerful, athletic, and surprisingly fast. I honestly get delighted when I see him lead blocking in the open (as rare as that is given the lack of talent at running back for the team).
Mike McGlinchey – 4
Mike McGlinchey was another free agent we brought in two years ago that I was pretty down on in his first year with the team. He also shook off the rust and presented a better product in 2024 on the field. McGlinchey really stood out run blocking. He was able to work with Meinerz to create gaps for our backs on the right side pretty often (though they didn’t always do much with them). His pass protection also was excellent and didn’t seem to be nearly as big of a problem as it was last season (likely because our QB this year doesn’t suck at avoiding sacks).
Unit Rating – 5
This unit is fantastic. We have solid starters on both sides that are absolutely killing it. They both have long-term contracts and will be with the Broncos for the foreseeable future. Behind them, we have veteran Matt Peart and developing tackle Alex Palczewski who didn’t impress in preseason but gets another shot this offseason to take a step forward.
Defensive roster status overall
Special Teams roster status overall
Offensive roster status overall
- Interior Linemen – 3
- Offensive Tackles – 5