Film Room: Breaking Down OG Netane Muti in Broncos' 33-6 Preseason Win Over Vikings

When the Denver Broncos drafted Netane Muti in the sixth round last year, there were a lot of happy people. He was a powerful, mauling offensive guard who only played 19 games in college due to injuries.

There was insane potential with Muti, but he was a multi-year project because he had many technical issues. Due to the injury concerns, the Broncos were able to land him in the sixth round of the draft.

As a result, Muti only got to see the field twice on offense as a rookie, starting against the Carolina Panthers and closing out the season vs. the Las Vegas Raiders a few weeks later. While he flashed potential in those games, all the technical concerns showed up detrimentally.

It was clear Muti needed more time, just as he did when he was drafted. He wasn’t a player that would be ready early on in his career because of how little he was experienced.

For him to work into a starting role in Year 2 was a longshot, and it seems sure that he will be a backup barring injuries. That's fine because he will get a serious chance a year from now to start, and he should be far more ready.

Muti displayed those flashes of growth and development in the Broncos' first preseason game vs. the Minnesota Vikings that he needed to show. However, he also made it clear that he isn’t quite finished incubating.

After digging for plays to highlight how much time is needed, I found five that are quite revealing. Muti had multiple plays besides these five throughout the game that were also worth highlighting as it was a rough performance overall. Muti is the left guard in these clips, sporting jersey No. 52.

Play 1: First Quarter

Situation: 1st-&-10

On this play, it isn’t a significant issue but it's something that hurt the positioning of a teammate. Muti comes down and clips the defender center Lloyd Cushenberry III has a handle on. The chip was enough for the defender to strain the engaged block and eventually get Cushenberry on the ground.

This is typical for offensive linemen to clip defenders, but you want to help the primary blocker. If Cushenberry was struggling in the rep from the start, that's when Muti should’ve done what he did. However, that wasn’t the case and was a dangerous move to make on his part.

Fortunately, this play wasn’t as damaging as it could’ve been, with the result being a sack. Instead, it allowed another defender to capitalize on some pressure up the middle by chasing the quarterback out of the pocket.

This is a lack of experience on Muti's part to not correctly read what’s going on, and it goes beyond the initial aspect. After Muti's clip, he focuses on the one-on-one at the top when his head should remain on a swivel. If he kept his head on a swivel, he probably would have caught the rusher coming inside and could have given the quarterback more time.

Play 2: First Quarter

Situation: 1st-&-10

Here we see something that Muti needs to fix before he is a full-time starter for the Broncos. His balance in pass protection is often horrible, and the opposing defensive lineman takes advantage of it. With Muti leaning forward, shoulders in front of his feet, he gets pulled off balance as the rusher cuts the inside shoulder.

Another problem with this play is Muti's happy feet. This doesn’t help the balance issues as he should’ve set his feet not long after the snap. Instead, he keeps them chopping to the outside, even after the rusher makes clear the outside isn’t his plan.

Setting his feet probably helps him balance enough to avoid getting get and shucked for the interior pressure. However, it shouldn’t be written off because the quarterback took a shot down the sideline. The result doesn’t excuse the rep for an offensive lineman with technical issues, which will be highlighted in the next few plays.

Play 3: Second Quarter

Situation: 1st-&-10

The Broncos are pulling Muti on this play, which is an element to his game he flashed quite well as a rookie. One issue with his pulling technique going back to last year is the depth of the first step. In addition, he lacks consistency which can keep him too close to the line and cause him to trip, or it keeps him too far back and he misses a block.

Pulls can be tough to perfect, especially with Muti playing just 21 games over five years. But, to get a feel for proper depth and to do it consistently, a player needs repetition. Muti isn’t quite there yet and it showed this time around.

When Muti gets to the top of the formation, the edge is in a holding pattern, and he lunges to make contact. Alas, he lunges in the wrong way, and the edge easily sidesteps his block, leading to a complete whiff on the play. This forces the ball-carrier to take it inside, where the Vikings are waiting.

This ended up being a great play by Royce Freeman and rookie fullback Adam Prentice. Freeman is able to break some tackles to get a significant gain for the Broncos. To help with that, Prentice pulls off two blocks to spring him.

After Muti whiffs, he turns around, away from the play. Now, this isn’t a major deal, but not playing to the whistle is a pet peeve of mine. When he whiffs his block, he needs to get up, turn toward the direction the play is headed, and get back into it faster. By the time he catches what is going on, it doesn’t matter what Muti does.

Play 4: Second Quarter

Situation: 1st-&-10

The biggest marker proving why Muti isn’t ready to start is what he does in pass protection and this play is another prime example. Once again, his balance is off from the start because he doesn’t work with the proper bend. His pad level is too high and open, allowing the defender to get into the chest.

From there, the defender puts him on skates and walks him back into the lap of the quarterback. It's another play that, thankfully, didn't finish with the worst result because the defender had Muti in position to affect the throw. It more commonly would have led to an errant throw if Muti allows himself to be shoved back into the QB as he's winding up.

The result of the play doesn’t cover the technical lapses for an offensive lineman. This is something Muti has to improve on if he wants to be a starter. He has balance down in his run blocking, so he needs to grow, adapt, and learn for pass protection.

Play 5: Second Quarter

Situation: 2nd-&-17

This final play is another bad rep in run blocking. Muti comes off the snap too high with his pad level, which gives the defender complete control. The defender drives Muti four yards into the backfield, right in front of the hand-off.

As a result, the running back has to make an early read and decide where to take the ball. There is no letting the run blocking develop because Muti’s assignment has already been blown up. Whatever decision the back made, the defender had control and quickly moved into position to clog the lane.

Once the back confirms his decision, the defender shucks Muti and is in a position to make a play. However, the defender doesn’t make the play because another Broncos blocker failed his block and took out Muti’s assignment. While the blocker did that, his original assignment made the play.

The Takeaway

There is plenty of potential with Muti to be an excellent offensive guard in the NFL. But, unfortunately, it's not something that will come quick, and throwing him out there before he is ready can damage the hopes of developing him.

In addition, throwing Muti out there before cleaning up these technical issues will lead to him setting to bad habits, hurting his chances of being as good as possible. Sitting a promising young player for another year is acceptable and it needs to happen here.

For all of his strength and considerable talent, Muti is not quite ready to be a full-time starter, but he should be prepared to step in if injuries occur. A year from now, he should be ready to compete and win a starting job on the line.

Follow Erick on Twitter @ErickTrickel.

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