The Denver Broncos had their most successful season in 10 years, and who do you think deserves a ton of credit for that? The offensive line, of course.
Albeit with the help of Bo Nix and a running back like JK Dobbins, this was one of the best offensive lines I’ve ever witnessed as a Broncos fan. They hardly gave up sacks, the running backs were hardly tackled behind the line of scrimmage, and they were hands-down the best pin-and-pull team in the league. There was little that this offensive line couldn’t do.
And one of their best qualities was how well they continued to play even with backups. There was little drop off. That’s credit to the players who had to step up, but this coaching staff, particularly Zach Strief, have been doing great stuff with this roster. They need to keep that man with this franchise forever.
This year I’ll be reviewing every offensive lineman that played meaningful snaps up front. This includes any player that started or had the role as the extra lineman. We’ll be taking a look at them in general, their grade for the year, and their outlook.
We are all thinking the same thing: how the heck did Bolles not win Protector of the Year? That’s got to be one of the biggest end-of-year award robberies I’ve ever seen. He wasn’t credited with a single sack this year (according to PFF) and was incredibly consistent in the run game and only had seven penalties all year, and only two of them were holds. There was not much else Bolles could have done this year to win that award.
And that really sums up his season. This was easily the best year of his career. Nix barley had to worry about any sort of pressure from the left edge when he was in the pocket. There was consistently a nice crease on his side for the backs to hit. And when the pulled him around the edge, there was little that the defense could do to stop him from running them over. There was just very little to critique this season.
The only knock on him is that his two worst games of the year were in the playoffs, but Denver was facing some strong pressure packages from especially the Bills, and he still managed to have a relatively above-average game.
Bolles likely has another two to three good years left in him, shown by his ability to get better each year he has been in the league. He’ll be 34 at the start of next season so it would be wise to begin to take a look at finding his replacement. At least they should have some time to draft a raw and athletic tackle in a latter round and develop him if they want to go that route.
I think Ben Powers had a very similar year as he did last year. And that could be both a compliment and an insult.
When he was healthy, he was a predominantly reliable player that helped open up some more of the gap-scheme plays in the run game and helped provide a more varied look. He was solid in his run protection and worked well in tandem with Bolles and Luke Wattenberg.
When he wasn’t working in tandem though, he struggled managing to get vertical displacement on defensive tackles and that hindered Denver’s rushing attack. He played more positionally, similar to how an offensive tackle plays on Inside Zone schemes, and that just doesn’t lead to much success at the interior offensive line position. It was frustrating at times.
And then there were his occasional struggles in pass protection that still hindered him. He was susceptible to getting beat inside due to a bad habit of lunging and the point of attack. And this wasn’t necessarily something that happened often, but it was the usual mistake when he did get beat.
There’s not a lot that Powers does poorly, but the two things he struggles with can be detrimental at times.
If you guys are familiar with my other pieces on Powers then you’d know that I’ve been a fan of his work ever since he got to Denver. And I honestly wasn’t expecting to say this, but I’ve developed a new opinion over the last few weeks:
I think Denver should move on.
Not necessarily because of Powers being a bad player, but because it could save them a little over $8 million. And the only reason they can even think about this move is because of Alex Palczewski. We’ll get to him a little later. Powers has been good for the Broncos, and if they keep him then I’ll be happy, but this might be a better move to make.
The center position has been a revolving door for the Broncos for nearly a decade, and when they moved on from Lloyd Cushenberry III (rightfully so) it seemed like this trend was going to continue.
Wattenberg was unimpressive last season and even at the beginning of the year he was a liability at times. It was lack of moving ability, particularly against head-up techniques, that tanked his run game prowess. But, funnily enough, after he signed his extension, he got better, and that was a trend that lasted through the season.
It was their second game against the Raiders that he would really shine though. He was flat-out dominant. He was incredibly physical at the point of attack and even managed four pancakes in the highest-graded game of his career. I’ve never been more pleasantly surprised by him than I was while watching that game live and the film afterwards.
While I still don’t think he is a great player, he is well-above good and is paid reasonably, he is a good piece to have locked down for a while and will fill an important part of this team.
I’d be shocked if Wattenberg is not in Denver playing meaningful snaps for the length of his contract extension. I also have hope for the continuation of his development. He was a better player this year than he was previously, and he looked like a different player at times near the end of the year. If he can continue to improve, then who knows what he can look like by the end of his contract.
I don’t think there’s too much that we don’t know about this guy, and that was again evident in his play this season. Meinerz is just a mauler whose shortcomings are few and far between. He gets after the defense every rep, is dependable in one-on-one blocks in run protection, and he doesn’t get beat that often in pass protection.
That being said though, I think you can make the argument that there was a slight regression in his pass protection abilities. It just felt like he was getting beat a little more often this year than he did previously. And it was almost always a secondary pass rush to the inside that was the culprit. It seemed like he was too heavy on the balls of his feet and that contributed to a slower reaction time to the move.
But with that being said, he scored the highest grade ever in RGS history, managing a 97.1% against the Cowboys this season. That was easily my favorite game of his to watch. Nearly every play was a highlight especially when he pancaked three guys on the same Crack Toss play that led to a long RJ Harvey touchdown.
He absolutely deserved to be nominated for Protector of the Year.
The future is simple for Meinerz. The Broncos have him locked down for years and he’ll continue to dominate the league longer than his current contract is. A true cornerstone piece.
There might be a bit of humor regarding both Mike McGlinchey and Ben Powers. They were signed during the same offseason, both were given contracts that they might not have deserved at the time, both have not played to the level of their pay, but both have been reliable and better than average, and there’s not really a realistic upgrade for Denver at their positions (outside of Palczewski for Powers, at least).
For the third year in a row, McGlinchey had a good season of play. There was nothing that noteworthy or remarkable, but he also didn’t make big mistakes often. He would give up a sack here or there, maybe a pressure or two, but was rarely assessed a penalty and didn’t give up many TFLs. The flip-side of this coin is that when there was a pressure, sack, or TFL given up, there was a good chance you could point the finger at McGlinchey, and his performances don’t elevate this offense much, but he is solidly in the category of “good to pretty good”.
But one thing that I think often goes under the radar is his presence in the locker room and the huddle. I get the feeling that he is well-respected and has strong leadership qualities on this offensive line. That’s a plus for him.
In the three games I graded him he averaged an 84.9% and I think that number perfectly encapsulates what I just said about him.
Like I said, there is not an obvious upgrade currently for Mike McGlinchey. But I don’t think he has been worth his contract. If he and the Broncos can restructure some things, then that would be huge for their impending free agent push.
This year was a massive success for Palczewski as he took a huge step forward in his career, and with his lucky break of being able to start in place of Powers, he might have earned a starting spot and a pay bump heading into next season.
The undrafted free agent from Illinois has been proving himself useful over the last few seasons now, and he’s gone from backup and a preseason guy to watch, to their sixth lineman, to their starting left guard, and maybe that’s where he’ll stay. Since college he has carried a large and athletic build and he handled the transition into the interior offensive line well, maybe better than I thought he would.
Clearly his best game of the season was against the New York Giants when he made his second start in replacement of Powers. He dominated the New York defensive front in pass protection, and while his run game wasn’t great, he did a good enough job there to keep the offense moving. The Giants have a pretty formidable front four, and for Palcho to not give up a single TFL, pressure, QB hit, or sack was awesome.
There is still plenty of improvement that I want to see out of him though. He needs to do better at winning his one-on-one run blocks and turn himself into a bruiser that an offensive guard needs to be, but considering he’s typically playing on the edge and is still pretty fresh, there’s a lot to be optimistic about.
He will be their sixth lineman at the least. At best he is getting a new contract and will be the starting left guard.
No matter what though, I’d be shocked if he does not look like a better player next season. He’s taking big steps each offseason.
There is a reason that, even after a handful of opportunities over the last couple of seasons, Alex Forsyth is still the backup center behind Wattenberg. Wattenberg provides a little more predictability and consistency in both pass protection, and Forsyth, even with this not being a strength of Wattenberg, is not as good in the one-on-one run protection blocks. But with that being said, he is a great back up and proved incredibly important over his stretch of starts at the end of the season and beginning of playoffs with Wattenberg injured.
In what is likely the best game of his NFL career, Forsyth kept dishing out presents to Bronco fans everywhere when he dominated the Kansas City Chiefs on Christmas day. He scored 37 out of a possible 38 points in pass protection, and in the run game he was driving guys off of the ball, resetting the line of scrimmage, and managed a pancake as well. This game, similar to what the Raider game for Wattenberg was, showcased everything that Forsyth can be.
Forsyth works well with his guards with their combo blocks in the Duo/Inside Zone scheme, makes correct calls when setting the pass protection, and shows good instincts in most situations. He is a solid player that should continue to improve as his career progresses.
The Broncos have shown that the best offensive lines all have really dependable back ups and Forsyth was huge for this team down the stretch and is an important piece of this position room. I’d like for him to be a Bronco for the foreseeable future. And while the starting center spot is locked up, he serves as a back up that is ready to play at any time. The value of that cannot be overstated.
Frank Crum is a very serviceable back up and did a good job in the role that the Broncos gave him this year. He did a good job as the extra lineman when Palczewski was filling in at left guard. He made solid blocks on the edge in run protection and didn’t give up many negative plays. A good sign as an extra lineman is if you go unnoticed, which he often did. He was a guy who, when called upon, lined up, did what he was supposed to do, and did that consistently.
The crazy thing is two of his biggest plays this season didn’t even come from when he was blocking. One was when he blocked a PAT in their first matchup against the Chiefs(so, technically you can say that he was blocking on that play) and the other was when he scored the first home-playoff-game for Denver in a decade.
Final grade: B- (A+ as a pass catcher)
The Broncos should keep him around on two-year contracts. He is another reliable back up and Denver would be wise to keep him around.
As some of you know, not everyone gets an even amount of grades over the course of a season. Besides the last game of the year where I graded all five starters, usually I would select one lineman to focus on and they would be the only player I’d grade that week. I just wanted to make that point before listing all of the 2025-26 grades each of the linemen received.
But with that being said, here are all of the grades that the Denver line received this year, according to the Ross Grading System (RGS).
Vs. Los Angeles (game two): 86.2%
Vs. Los Angeles (game one): 79.3%
Vs. Las Vegas (game two): 94.4%
Vs. Dallas: 97.1% – season high for any lineman
Vs. New York Giants: 89.5%
Vs. Kansas City (game one): 83.1%
Vs. Kansas City (game two): 95.4%
I figured you guys would be interested in how I actually compile these grades for the offensive line, so here’s my grading system. It’s not perfect, but I feel like the scores I got for each linemen were indicative of how it felt their games went just from the eye test, most of the time.
Alright blocks: 0.75 points
Great blocks: 1.25 points
Perfect blocks: 1.5 points
Personal foul: -1.5 points
