The big Broncos investment in the offensive line is paying off

The Broncos have continuity where they need it most.

One could be talking about quarterback with that phrase, of course. Indeed, with Bo Nix poised to build off of a promising season in which he rewrote the club rookie record book for passing standards, they have precisely that.

But it also refers to Denver’s offensive line, where the Broncos have every first-teamer under contract for the 2025 season. And of their five starters, only center Luke Wattenberg has a contract that expires before the end of 2026.

The Broncos are poised to run it back with a group that is arguably the NFL’s best.

“Well, I will say that’s one of the rarest things I’ve ever been a part of,” right tackle Mike McGlinchey said. “That’s a pretty cool deal.”

Four of the Broncos’ eight highest average per-year cap figures belong to offensive linemen — including three of the top four. The average-annual-value figures of left tackle Garett Bolles ($20.5 million), All-Pro right guard Quinn Meinerz ($18 million) and McGlinchey ($17.5 million) each fall at spots 2, 3 and 4, only trailing the contract issued to Defensive Player of the Year Pat Surtain II.

The Broncos pay a premium price for their offensive line. But they wouldn’t be a playoff team two years into the Sean Payton era if they weren’t getting what they paid for.

That well-paid and highly-prioritized unit led the NFL in pass-block win rate and run-block win rate, per ESPN Analytics.

And to prove that it wasn’t about the quarterback, it marked the second-straight year in which the Broncos led the NFL in pass-block win rate. So, yes, the Denver offensive line led the league in that metric despite having Russell Wilson spinning into sacks.

McGlinchey and Bolles ranked sixth and seventh among NFL offensive tackles, respectively, in pass-block win rate. Bolles improved from 13th the previous season; in that campaign, McGlinchey didn’t even rank in the NFL’s top 20.

And all three of the Broncos’ interior offensive linemen were in the NFL’s top 5 in pass-block win rate, with Luke Wattenberg, Meinerz and Ben Powers ranking second, third and fifth among all NFL interior offensive linemen in that category. Powers led the NFL in run-block win rate, too.

Continuity and cohesion has paid dividends, turning a unit that was often a flashpoint of frustration into a bedrock.

“I think it’s the most important position group on your roster,” Payton said last July. “I think it permeates your building, and I believe that. And it’s served us well everywhere I’ve been.”

That prominence is clear to the players.

“We understand the responsibility of our group to be at the forefront of this football team and the standard that we’ve set for our ability, and it’s our job next year to go exceed it,” McGlinchey said.

“And, we have — not just the starting five, but the whole room is a bunch of guys that are committed to getting better and committed to holding, upholding the standard that we’ve now set for what we’re capable of. And now the standard set, and we got to beat the standard, and that’s what we’re going to try and do.”

 

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WHERE THE BRONCOS OFFENSIVE LINE STANDS

STARTERS:

• LT Garett Bolles
• LG Ben Powers
• C Luke Wattenberg
• RG Quinn Meinerz
• RT Mike McGlinchey

Bolles is the senior member of the group, but plays much younger, which helped lead to the Broncos’ decision to give him a contract extension in December. Powers’ work has largely been sturdy in his two seasons with the team; although he lacks the prominence of the All-Pro Meinerz on the opposite side, he has played up to his contract. Wattenberg learned well from last year’s free-agent departure Lloyd Cushenberry, and although he had some rough moments, it was a promising campaign for someone who had just one start to his name prior to last year. Meinerz and McGlinchey are one of the NFL’s best right-hand flanks.

RESERVES:

• C/G Alex Forsyth
• OT Alex Palczewski
• OT Matt Peart
• OT Frank Crum (ended season on injured reserve)

Unlike in 2023, the depth proved necessary, as Forsyth made four starts and Palczewski three. Forsyth’s strength was in run blocking, where he proved dominant during long stretches of his four starts. At right tackle for McGlinchey, “Palcho” permitted one sack and just three pressures in his three starts and looked quite comfortable as a solid backup. The Broncos had questions about their line depth heading into the season; they emerged from the campaign with those queries answered. Will Sherman, Calvin Throckmorton and Nick Gargiulo all remain with the team after signing reserve-future contracts.

EXPIRING CONTRACTS:

• G Quinn Bailey
• OT Matt Peart

Both Bailey and Peart are unrestricted free agents. Bailey spent the entire season in injury rehabilitation after fracturing his ankle during training camp. Peart made two starts — one as a sixth offensive lineman and another as an injury replacement when both McGlinchey and Palczewski were injured. Both starting assignments came against the Los Angeles Chargers.

Peart played 191 snaps in all last year and is a candidate to return as the No. 2 swing tackle. But the Broncos may want to bump Crum up to that role.

THE OFFSEASON OUTLOOK UP FRONT

This is the strongest position group on the roster, not just in terms of its starters, but its depth, with two trustworthy reserves with two more years of team control in Palczewski and Forsyth.

The Broncos could add a late draft-pick or a second-or third-wave free agent to the room for depth competition, but this is probably the lowest offseason priority.

This line is the Broncos’ best since the salad days of the Mike Shanahan years. And they wouldn’t have improved their win total from 5 in 2022 to 10 last season without the profound progress of the unit.

The offensive line — where the Broncos have doled out three huge contracts in Sean Payton’s 17+ months as head coach — is the most important position group on the team, he says.

“I think it permeates your building, & I believe that. And it’s served us well everywhere I’ve been.” pic.twitter.com/NiRVZXgMyI

— Andrew Mason (@MaseDenver) July 23, 2024