Broncos have near consensus top offensive line in NFL

It is not often that 10 outlets covering sports agree on much of anything — on the Denver Broncos’ offensive line, they nearly all say the same thing.

A consensus ranking compiled by Football Insights and published Aug. 12 shows the Broncos at No. 1 in preseason offensive line rankings with an average score of 1.1 across 10 major evaluators — the smallest standard deviation (0.3) of any team in the survey. Nine of the 10 outlets, including Pro Football Focus, Sharp Football, 4for4, FTN Fantasy and FantasyPros, slotted Denver’s front five at No. 1. The lone outlier, USA Today ranked them second.

No other team was close. The Philadelphia Eagles came in at No. 2 with a 2.4 average and a 1.2 standard deviation, followed by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at No. 3 (4.9 average, 2.6 standard deviation).

Offensive Line consensus rankings pic.twitter.com/SpidnX2Md5

— Football Insights 📊 (@fball_insights) August 12, 2026

The near-unanimous recognition stems from a dominant 2025 campaign in which the Broncos’ offensive line finished as PFF’s top-ranked unit, a distinction that carries over into the new season with all five starters returning.

Left tackle Garett Bolles earned a 91.0 PFF pass-blocking grade last season, the highest among all offensive tackles, and did not allow a single sack across 802 pass-blocking snaps during the regular season. Right guard Quinn Meinerz was the highest-graded guard in football, posting a 91.0 PFF run-blocking grade that trailed only Atlanta’s Chris Lindstrom among all guards. Both Bolles and Meinerz were finalists for the NFL’s Protector of the Year award in 2025 — the only pair of teammates nominated for the honor.

The interior is anchored by center Luke Wattenberg, with left guard Ben Powers and right tackle Mike McGlinchey rounding out the starting five. As a group, the Broncos’ top six linemen by snaps played allowed just five sacks and 129 pressures on 717 pass-protection snaps last season, according to FTN’s stats and charting. Denver also ranked sixth among offensive lines in adjusted line yards (4.55) and yards before contact (2.5).

The continuity is the secret ingredient. Four of Denver’s five starters logged at least 1,000 snaps in 2025, and the unit’s chemistry was a driving force behind the Broncos’ 14-3 regular-season record and playoff run

Depth has been reinforced a bit, too. Fourth-round pick Kage Casey out of the 2026 draft class is viewed as a developmental interior prospect, while divisional-round playoff hero Frank Crum and veteran Alex Palczewski provide insurance.

The one caveat analysts have flagged: age. ESPN’s Aaron Schatz noted that Denver’s starters range from Meinerz at 28 to Bolles at 34, and Casey is the only offensive lineman the Broncos have selected in the last two drafts.

For now, however, the consensus is clear. In a league where offensive line play increasingly separates contenders from pretenders, Denver’s front five enters the 2026 season as the gold standard — and almost everyone agrees.

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