The Broncos offensive line wants to set the standard around the league
Aug 16, 2021, 4:28 PM
While everyone has been focusing on the battle for the starting quarterback job, many have ignored the group that will ultimately make whoever wins the gig successful or unsuccessful. In the end, the guys in the trenches are going to go a long way toward determining if Drew Lock and/or Teddy Bridgewater have a good year.
This was readily apparent on Saturday. In the Broncos victory over the Vikings, a 33-6 beatdown that got the preseason off to a great start, the offensive line set the tone in two ways.
One, they protected the quarterback. In the game, Denver didn’t allow a single sack.
Two, and perhaps more importantly, they opened holes in the ground game. When the Broncos can run the ball, it opens up their play-action passes. And when that occurs, the offense becomes explosive.
The proof was in the numbers. The stat sheet told the story.
Against Minnesota, Lock and Bridgewater combined to 12-of-15 for 225 yards and three touchdowns. The Broncos also saw Javonte Williams and Royce Freeman combine for 62 yards on 10 carries, which put Denver in good down-and-distance situations throughout the first half.
None of this is by accident. It’s all part of the plan.
The Broncos know they have to be better up front if they’re going to succeed on offense. It’s why they’ve invested so heavily in that area in recent years.
Denver has spent a first- (Garett Bolles), second- (Dalton Risner) and third-round pick (Lloyd Cushenberry) to land three starters. They also spent big in free agency to bring in Graham Glasgow, while signing two veterans (Bobby Massie and Cameron Fleming) to fill the void left when Ja’Wuan James suffered a season-ending injury during the offseason.
It’s paying off. On Saturday, the Broncos o-line was dominant. That’s something they want to happen week after week after week.
“We want our identity to be guys (around the league) saying, ‘Let’s be like the Broncos,” Bolles said on Monday after practice. “Those guys in there with me are extremely physical players. We have to do whatever we can to put guys in the dirt, push them to the bottom and make room for our running backs to hit the holes like they did this past Saturday.”
For those who love old-school, smash-mouth football, that’s music to their ears. Denver wants to dominant in the trenches, a tactic that will allow the offense as a whole to click.
Lock and Bridgewater get all of the attention. Soon, Jerry Jeudy, Courtland Sutton, K.J. Hamler, Noah Fant and the other playmakers on offense will get all of the cheers. But it’s the guys doing the dirty work that make it all possible.
On Saturday, that was evident in Minnesota. It’s the tone Bolles and his linemates want to set every game.
