After practice on Tuesday, Denver Broncos head coach Sean Payton was asked a slew of questions regarding their offensive line. During the course of the conversation I felt happy that this group has enjoyed such great continuity over the last several seasons. I think we’ve seen that play out with the rise of Bo Nix under center.
We all thought that guard Ben Powers would be on the chopping block to save cap, but instead, Payton stayed the course and retained one of the strongest depth charts in the NFL
at these positions. As for Powers, he’s on schedule and Alex Palczewski is right there to keep things rolling for that offense.
“Well first: Ben’s doing well,” Payton said on Tuesday. “With ‘Palcho’ the thing that we saw, and the thing that we’ve seen for a couple years now, is flexibility, his football I.Q., his intelligence. You feel a very experienced player. Ben’s right on schedule to where we thought he’d be at this point. We’re really pleased with the depth and experience in that room.”
That experience in the room is also top tier. It’s a minor problem that Denver will face wholesale turnover soon on the outside with both tackles entering the sunset of their careers, but so far their level of play has decidedly not begun to sunset.
“I don’t think it’s uncommon,” Payton said of Garett Bolles and Mike McGlinchey getting better as they age. “I think those guys, as a group, are playing really well. Within the framework of what we’re doing offensively, you can also see a curve or level up with the protections. It used to be you always drew that best rusher on the left side and anymore in our league, they can appear on either side. I really think what we’re doing and his role in our offense and the significance of having that experience in the room… that position group, really, from ’23 on, has changed a lot in the better.”
Looking back on Payton’s start in Denver, he really did focus hard on stabilizing the offensive line. He understands that all success is powered by that stability. If you have a weak link there or perpetual injury, then you won’t likely see long-term, sustained success in the NFL.
“I think even in my interview process, one of the first things was to… That room had to improve,” Payton noted of the offensive line”. It’s a position group that permeates the building. There aren’t many really good teams where that room isn’t playing well. So that was one of our first goals, and he was a big part of that.”
And it really goes beyond talent, because it has been a wholesale change in culture too that helped Denver rise from the ashes of the post-Peyton Manning era. The team has a winning attitude now and a determined spirit. Both qualities that will help, with the final edge being talent and this team has that too. I think its good that the national media sees Denver has a fringe mediocre team. Keep doubting them.
