Russell Wilson’s o-line upgrade could ignite the Broncos offense
Mar 31, 2022, 6:30 AM
Russell Wilson has been extraordinary durable over the course of his 10-year career, especially considering that he’s suffered the most sacks — 222 — of any NFL quarterback over the past five seasons. Wilson will turn 34 during the upcoming 2022 season, and if the Broncos can’t dramatically reduce Wilson’s hits, his injury risk will increase with age. The Broncos, who surrendered a king’s ransom to acquire the multiple-time Pro Bowler, intend on having Wilson take their snaps for years to come.
Something has to give. Fortunately for Wilson, coming to Denver gave him a markedly better offensive line than he’s had in Seattle over the last few seasons.
The Broncos have had consistency in the last few years along their line as it’s been slowly rebuilt over the team’s long stretch of losing seasons. Left tackle Garett Bolles, left guard Dalton Risner and center Lloyd Cushenberry III have now played together for two seasons, allowing them to build the kind of chemistry that every good offensive line possesses. Right guard Graham Glasgow has been in and out of the lineup due to a litany of illnesses and injuries, but the Broncos expect the versatile veteran to pick up where he left off. Guard Quinn Meinerz impressed as a rookie filling in for Glasgow, and if Meinerz’s play continues to improve, he may even spark a competition at the center spot between Cushenberry and Glasgow.
It is right tackle that’s been the biggest problem for the Broncos. It’s been a revolving door that’s seen a multitude of players in that position, none good enough to last with the team. While the Broncos return developing tackle Calvin Anderson and adding swing lineman Tom Compton from the 49ers, it is free agent Billy Turner that’s expected to take the role.
Turner, who was with the Broncos from 2016-18, starting all 16 games at left guard in his final season, expanded his game in Green Bay. There, he eventually moved to right tackle and thrived while protecting Aaron Rodgers — and playing under then-offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett. Hackett’s hiring as the Broncos’ head coach made Denver Turner’s preferred destination.
“There was obviously a couple of teams that me and my agent communicated with, but to be completely honest with you, at the end of the day, what it boiled down to was (that Denver is) where I wanted to be, and (I wanted) to play for Coach Hackett,” Turner said earlier this week when he met the media. “I like the Denver area. I liked this organization, and I had a great time while I was here for those two and a half or three years prior in my career. I personally chose to come back here because of those reasons. I would love to end my career here if that’s an option for me, and I would love to end my career playing for Coach Hackett.”
Turner, at the end of March at least, completes the starting lineup for Denver’s offensive line; one that’s tasked with protecting Wilson, now the crown jewel of the Broncos’ organization.
“Russell is one of those dudes that’s going to win you a handful of games by himself,” Turner said. “That’s the type of caliber player that he is.”
While it’s likely that general manager George Paton will add to the offensive line in next month’s draft, the Broncos have a starting five and respectable depth. The timing couldn’t be better. Advanced statistics had last year’s Seahawks line as one of the league’s very worst. That tracks with the eye test, as well as Wilson’s 33 sacks in 14 games. Last year’s Broncos surrendered 40 sacks in 17 games with significantly less-talented quarterbacks in the pocket; the mobile Wilson is one of the league’s most talented scramblers, buying time for his receivers to come open. Adding Turner — who has protected a similar player in Rodgers — will almost certainly pay dividends when Wilson scrambles to his right, as he does the vast majority of the time.
If one were assume a starting offensive line of Bolles, Risner, Cushenberry, Glasgow and Turner, analysis by The Athletic’s Ben Baldwin projects the Broncos as the league’s sixth-best in pass protection, given year-over-year data of each player from Pro Football Focus. As for Seattle? Dead last at 32.
The job won’t be easy, of course. Wilson’s penchant for the deep ball means that the Broncos’ line will have to hold fast for longer, and understand that a certain amount of sacks are unavoidable. But over the last four years, no quarterback combines throws further down the field with a higher completion rate than Wilson. In 2020, his last full season, Wilson hurled 40 touchdown passes among his 4,212 yards with a whopping 68.8 percent of those tosses completed.
Wilson’s working out with his receivers and linemen are happening as we speak; his YouTube channel is documenting his team-building exercises and informal practices. When the Broncos take their first snap this fall, they’ll be ready to let Russ cook. After five straight years of rudderless, losing football, Broncos fans everywhere can’t wait to taste it.
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