Pro Football Focus ranked the Broncos’ 2021 offensive line 19th, and while the team will have a different Week 1 right tackle starter for a 10th straight season, Denver made only midlevel moves up front this offseason. That said, the 2022 Broncos should have more depth here.
It is possible four positions are up for grabs, with Garett Bolles entrenched at left tackle. The team’s right tackle competition — which features veteran additions Billy Turner and Tom Compton, along with holdover Calvin Anderson — may produce the only newcomer to block for Russell Wilson, but four starters are vying for three spots inside. Dalton Risner has started at left guard for three seasons, while Lloyd Cushenberry has played every snap at center for the past two. These ex-Day 2 picks might not have total job security, but those spots appear more solidified than Denver’s right guard position.
New OC Justin Outten pointed to a Graham Glasgow–Quinn Meinerz competition for the right guard spot, with the loser potentially representing a high-end swingman. Though, Glasgow said (via Ryan O’Halloran of the Denver Post) he is uncertain if guard or center will be his 2022 position. A two-year starter in Denver after signing a four-year deal in 2020, Glasgow has not yet fully recovered from the broken ankle and ligament tears he suffered last November. Meinerz, a 2021 third-rounder, started nine games as a rookie, most of them coming after Glasgow’s injury.
“We want to see where they can fit and their ability to play center and snap the ball as a crucial backup,” Outten said of Glasgow and Meinerz, via the Denver Post’s Kyle Newman. “You want to have that in your back pocket. Those guys will kind of bounce around as you’ll see [in OTAs]. It’s just to see them fit in different spots and direct traffic in playing guard and helping the tackles out as far as the interior [calls].”
Meinerz, who has dropped 10 pounds to better fit Nathaniel Hackett‘s zone-blocking scheme, may have the edge, with 9News’ Mike Klis noting it is possible the Division III product has a route to the starting lineup even if Glasgow reclaims his right guard job. This scenario would put Cushenberry or Risner on notice. Hackett, however, previously gave Meinerz a strong endorsement at right guard. The Broncos also reworked Glasgow’s contract in January, reducing his 2022 base salary from $8.4MM to $3.1MM. That salary is fully guaranteed, with $1.4MM in playing-time incentives available. That incentive package tops $1MM if Glasgow reaches the 70% snap threshold, O’Halloran notes, adding that Glasgow is targeting a return by training camp.
19th seems about right. Broncos’ QBs had enough time to throw last year – especially when you consider those teams that clearly did NOT have enough time to throw – e.g., Washington, Chicago, Jacksonville, NYJ, …
There’s never enough time for Russell Wilson to throw.
That seems to be the general opinion. Is Wilson now gun-shy or is it something else?
He just tends to hold the ball for a long time. This is part of what made him difficult to defend, because his holding and scrambling around often made defenders lose track of their coverage, but it’s also what makes him extremely difficult to block for.
Wilson is addicted to making big plays, so he holds the ball too long. Would prefer a quarterback who can gain yards small amounts at a time, but at least consistently (someone like Brady), so the team doesn’t need a great offensive line. Also, his scrambling ability has diminished drastically, which is understandable with age, but it appears his opponents have figured out his scrambling methods as well.
The plan is that they are going to suck,…..again..
It seems like the best lineup would be Glasgow at center (if he could play center at a high level, of course), Risner and Meinerz at guard, and Bolles at LT. I don’t think that Denver has a quality RT on the roster right now, at least not as a starter. They have an alright backup in Compton (who played this scheme well in San Francisco), but not a future starter. We’ll see how this line blocks for one of the more difficult-to-block-for quarterbacks in the league.