What grade does the Broncos offense get at the bye week?

The Broncos are 7-2, and a lot of people still feel their offense is a mess. The numbers say something less dramatic, and a little more worrying: it is average.

That was the conclusion on a recent episode of “Orange and Blue Today,” when Cecil Lammey and Andrew Mason handed out bye-week grades for each offensive position group. The marks ran from C to D-plus, and both settled on a C for the unit as a whole.

Average, not broken

Mason backed the overall grade with efficiency numbers. The offense ranks 25th in success rate and 14th in EPA per play, low in one and slightly above average in the other.

“For a lot of people, this offense feels worse than that, but it’s an average offense right now,” Mason said.

Lammey said he was fighting to make it anything more than a C over nine games, though he knows it is better now. Mason pointed out that an average offense can still win it all, and the Broncos did it 11 seasons ago, in Super Bowl 50. His caveat is that it isn’t easy.

Grades that depend on the window

The position grades shift depending on how much of the season you count. Quarterback Bo Nix got a C from Lammey and a C-plus from Mason. Lammey framed the season as an F under play caller Davis Webb for four weeks and an A-plus under Sean Payton for five, which averages to a C.

Mason noted that Nix is 28th in success rate over both the full season and the last five games. The running backs split the same way. Lammey gave them a D-plus, but Mason said the last three games, with Jonah Coleman carrying the load, deserve a B. J.K. Dobbins, meanwhile, is averaging 3.3 yards per carry after entering the year as a career five-yard back.

The receivers drew the harshest agreement. Both said no higher than a C, because the group is not producing.

“I gotta, like, throw a party if it’s a C,” Lammey said.

The line is where grades become decisions

The offensive line is where the discussion moved from grading to personnel. Lammey gave Garett Bolles an A-plus and Mike McGlinchey roughly a C-minus, and Quinn Meinerz carried the interior grade. Mason noted the Broncos have fallen from eighth to 21st in pass block win rate.

He also said Payton’s comments about pass protection and depth, made on Colin Cowherd’s show, put at least three of the five line spots on notice.

Lammey wasn’t hedging about what he wants to see.

“They need a new starting five, they just do,” he said.

A record that outruns the box score

The sharpest evidence for the “average” label is the yardage. The Broncos have been outgained in seven of nine games. Mason credited red-zone and goal-line stands, and ball security: six turnovers in the first five games, one in the last four.

“It’s basically the reverse of the record,” Mason said.

That is the argument underneath the grades. An average offense that protects the ball can win, but average efficiency shrinks the margin for error, as Mason said.

Whether the offense keeps winning depends on whether its recent improvement continues, and whether a shake-up on the line gives it more room to work.

Disclosure: This article was transcribed from our original audio content and edited for readability with the assistance of generative AI. The article has been reviewed by our editorial team prior to publication. Please watch or listen to the clip above for the full segment.

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