The replacements: Broncos have Alex Forsyth, Matt Peart ready to go
Oct 12, 2024, 2:03 PM | Updated: 2:06 pm
ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — The Denver Broncos 2024 season isn’t even six games old, and one thing is already certain: Their offensive line won’t have the injury fortune that it had last year.
The unit emerged as one of the NFL’s best last year, finishing in the NFL’s top 10 in run-block and pass-block win rate last year. Good health helped; the Broncos had the same starting quintet all the way through the season until Mike McGlinchey missed the regular-season finale.
One man-game missed by a starter in 17 contests was remarkable given the injury woes of the previous season. And it was also an aberration in the positive extreme to the same extent as having 10 different starting offensive-line combinations in 2022 was in the negative.
By Sunday, the number of man-games missed by the starting offensive line will be 6 — and that tally doesn’t include Quinn Bailey, a swing backup who suffered a season-ending ankle fracture during training camp. And in Week 6, the Broncos will have their third different starting combination with center Luke Wattenberg and right tackle Alex Palczweski both out with ankle injuries.
Enter Alex Forsyth and Matt Peart. Forsyth has never started before; Peart made seven starts working at both tackle spots and saw offensive snaps in 34 games over four seasons with the New York Giants to open his career.
They arrive in their opportunities from different spots, but the Broncos have high hopes for both.
FORSYTH LOST HIS BATTLE AT BRONCOS OTAs AND TRAINING CAMP, BUT IT GOT HIM READY
Alex Forsyth was part of a three-way split of playing time at center throughout offseason work that lingered into the start of training camp. And while he came up No. 2 in the scrum with Wattenberg and Sam Mustipher, it gave him repetitions with guards Ben Powers and Quinn Meinerz that are invaluable now.
Forsyth didn’t start from zero when he entered for Wattenberg last week.
“I thought it went OK,” Forsyth said. “I just tried to stay locked in the whole time and be ready for when my number is called. But, yeah, I think it went OK. Stuff to clean up on every play, but every person is not gonna play perfect.”
But there is the expectation of improvement from Forsyth as he settles in following a rookie season spent entirely as a game-day inactive. And one area in which he expects to continue improving is in combination blocks — a crucial aspect of the job given the collaborative nature of working up front.
“It’s tough when you’re during camp to rotating and stuff, working with different guys because different guys fit combinations different ways,” Forysth said. “I think just continue working on that. Every single week has been something that I’ve tried to get better at, and I feel like I’ve seen some improvement.”
Alex Forsyth, set to start for the Broncos at center in place of the injured Luke Wattenberg, says that the area he’s improved the most in this year is in working on combination blocks.
“It’s tough when you’re during camp to rotating and stuff, working with different guys… pic.twitter.com/ykRyIoN2yv
— Andrew Mason (@MaseDenver) October 12, 2024
THERE’S A VISION FOR PEART
Peart’s four seasons with the New York Giants didn’t go as hoped. He made seven starts in those years, but served as a reserve for most of that time, and the promise of his strength and length on a 6-foot-7, 318-pound didn’t materialize into becoming a consistent starter.
The Broncos — and offensive line coach Zach Strief — offered him a chance to start over.
“Honestly, he kind of just broke down everything and kind of rebuilt me back from the basics,” Peart said. “He says, ‘I hear you have really good tangible skills,’ and he just kind of took that and just kind of molded them into how he wants it to fit his technique and scheme.”
Strief made the vision clear in the phone call he had with Peart during the process of trying to sign him.
“He as kind of going over his philosophy and his plan and everything,” Peart said. “And honestly, I don’t even know how long the phone call [was], I just felt like it was like 20-30 minutes. Kind of like one of those things where I was like, ‘Yeah, I really believe in what this guy’s philosophy is.”
That’s not to say Peart views his time with the Giants as a lost four years en route to NFL success.
“My time at the Giants, I wouldn’t trade for anything,” Peart said. “It’s just going through the highs and lows of everything there, it’s my testament to them because, I mean, they’re the people that took a chance on me.
“And coming here, it was just trying to take what I’ve learned from there, and just grow from it … When I came here and I was talking to Strief, it was just understanding [that] how he approaches the game, it’s just a different approach. And honestly, it’s just awesome to be able to have that different approach when you come to a game that we all love.
“… Having that being in Year Five and still having the ability to learn so much more of the game that we all love to play, it’s awesome.”
All that from one phone call.
“It was just kind of crazy. ‘Cause it was just a phone call,” Peart said. “I didn’t even hit the field, and it’s like I truly, truly just wanted to get my feet on the ground to work.”
Over six months of breaking down and building later, Peart is ready for his second chance.
Broncos OT Matt Peart, who filled in for Alex Palczewski last week, says that OL coach Zach Strief “broke me down and built me back up” in recent months after Peart joined Denver following 5 years with the Giants.
“Honestly, [Strief] kind of just broke down everything and kind… pic.twitter.com/xfNvmX2OWC
— Andrew Mason (@MaseDenver) October 12, 2024