Garett Bolles lays out Broncos’ offseason mission: ‘We just need a couple more playmakers’

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — Broncos left tackle Garett Bolles ached Monday. And he’ll hurt for a while, long after the soreness that accumulated over a six-month battering from training camp through the AFC Championship Game fades.

“I’m pretty angry and frustrated. There’s a lot of tears that came down my face yesterday,” he said. “I’ve been here for a long time. And to get that close hurt really bad.”

But through the pain, the longest-tenured player on the roster looked ahead.

“I know exactly where this team is going. I know the future that we have,” Bolles said.

“People want to come to Denver. I mean, I’ll be shocked to see how many free agents want to come here. We got a young team, we got a quarterback. We got the best O-line in football. I don’t care what anyone says; we do. That’s just reality. Numbers don’t lie. Stats don’t lie. You guys can look that up. That’s just reality.”

Those numbers placed the Broncos in the NFL’s top 10 — again — in pass-block win rate and run-block win rate, per ESPN Analytics. Maybe not the absolute best, but they were one of just six teams in the top 10 in both metrics.

“We have everything we need,” Bolles added a moment later.

Except …

“Obviously, we need some key players to come in and do what they need to do by getting points on the scoreboard,” he said.

A moment later, he added:

“We just need a couple more playmakers.”

INJURIES DIDN’T HELP

By the time the Broncos offense attempted a last-gasp drive in the final moments of regulation Sunday, they were not only without their quarterback,  but their No. 2 and No. 4 wide receivers — Troy Franklin and Pat Bryant — and had long since lost their leading rusher, J.K. Dobbins, to a Lisfranc injury.

Dobbins said Monday he would have been able to play in Super Bowl LX had the Broncos made it there, but that was too little, too late.

Dobbins averaged 5.0 yards per carry. His replacement as the primary ballcarrier, RJ Harvey, burrowed his way to 3.7 yards per attempt. He improved his success rate on rushing attempts by becoming a short-yardage threat, but generally lacked the consistent intermediate-length gains necessary to keep the offense on schedule for most of the back half of the season, although he flourished as a pass-catcher and as a red-zone threat.

Those who do play need to become more reliable, or they might find themselves replaced by the “couple more playmakers” Bolles suggests adding.

DROPS WERE A PROBLEM FOR BRONCOS

Tight end Evan Engram lamented a role that was more limited than he — and perhaps many others — expected, saying that “a lot” of it was beyond his control.

But at the same time, Engram was also a key part of a significant problem for the Broncos: drops.

“Felt like that was a problem all year,” Broncos coach Sean Payton said Sunday after Courtland Sutton, RJ Harvey and Jaleel McLaughlin each dropped a pass in the 10-7 AFC Championship Game defeat.

Those drops brought the Broncos’ season tally to 48. Per SportRadar, that will give the Broncos the second-worst drop rate on catchable passes in the NFL, at one every 9.98 catchable passes; only Jacksonville is worse.

Engram’s drop rate of one every 7.6 catchable passes was the second-worst among 56 NFL tight ends with at least 25 targets, per data collected by SportRadar; only Jets rookie Mason Taylor had a worse drop rate.

The league-wide average during the 2025 season is one drop every 16.1 catchable passes, coming out to 6.2 percent.

Among nine Broncos with at least 25 targets, three — Franklin (one drop every 17.3 catchable passes) tight end Adam Trautman (one drop in 25 catchable passes) and wide receiver Marvin Mims Jr. (one drop in 50 catchable passes) were better than the league average. Everyone else was below average:

• Bryant: one drop every 12.7 catchable passes
• Dobbins: one drop every 12 catchable passes
• Sutton: one drop every 9.1 catchable passes
• Lil’Jordan Humphrey: one drop every 9 catchable passes (including his time with the Giants)
• Harvey: one drop every 8 catchable passes
• Engram: one drop every 7.6 catchable passes
• Badie: one drop every 6 catchable passes

As Bolles said, Broncos need more playmakers.

A good start would be feeding Mims more often on offense; he had 12 catches for 155 yards in the Broncos’ two playoff games out of necessity, but he gets separation on a consistent basis and can take the top off of a defense. In the regular season, he was targeted 51 times and caught 37 passes in 15 games. Those numbers need to rise.

But among the “playmakers” Bolles suggests they add, the Broncos will need greater reliability — a trait they must demand from the ones they retain after a drop-flooded season.

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