Broncos' Pricey OL Deserves Being Under the Microscope After Arizona
With the Denver Broncos falling to the Arizona Cardinals, 18-17, in the team’s preseason opener, overreactions have already run amok among the fan base.
Undoubtedly, the Broncos did not look sharp in their first relatively meaningful game against an outside foe of 2023, but losing a preseason game at the hands of many third and fourths-stringers surrendering a last-minute touchdown and two-point conversion is not something fans should be overly concerned about translating to the regular season.
With Sean Payton putting the Broncos' first-team offense on the field for four drives in the first preseason game, there are a few viable takeaways from Friday night's matchup.
Don't Blame the QB This Time
All eyes are on quarterback Russell Wilson following an unfathomably poor 2022 season, but the signal-caller had a relatively solid outing versus the lowly Cardinals defense.
Finishing 7-of-13 for 93 yards and a touchdown, Wilson looked solid overall. His touch was off on a few throws, but given the pressure he was under for nearly every one of his dropbacks, perhaps he deserves some slack.
However, when under center and running the offense off of play-action, Wilson looked about as good as he did at any point last season. Granted, it was an extremely small sample size against a Cardinals team that many expect to be the worst in the NFL this season.
Overall, Wilson played well, considering the onslaught of pressure he was under against the Cardinals’ pass rush. According to Pro Football Focus’ charting of the game, Wilson was pressured on nine of his 14 total dropbacks (64.3%) and completed just two of those attempts for 40 yards.
When kept clean, Wilson went 5-for-5 for 53 yards. His lone touchdown pass came under pressure with a Cover 0 look, but overall, the Cardinals' defensive front consistently won its matchups versus the Broncos’ offensive line on passing plays.
Worry About This O-Line
Considering the Broncos were without just one O-line starter when the first team was on the field in right tackle Mike McGlinchey, there's little reason for the expensive unit to be losing as consistently as it did against the likes of L.J. Collier, Jonathan Ledbetter, Dennis Gardeck, and Carlos Watkins. While it was atypical to see Arizona blitz as often as it did in a preseason game, the Broncos' offensive line losing its' one-on-one matchups so frequently should raise some concern and put the unit under the spotlight going forward.
Perhaps even more concerning for the Broncos’ offensive line was that the players believed to be the best on the unit struggled on Friday night. Garett Bolles’ 2022 season was cut short by injury, but even before that point, he appeared to have regressed from his peak performance in the 2020 season. Bolles started off fine on the first drive in Arizona, but his play fell off from there.
Highly-paid left guard Ben Powers, whose best attribute is supposed to be pass protection, lost multiple matchups and surrendered two pressures in just 14 pass-blocking snaps. Right guard Quinn Meinerz is a great athlete and blocker in the run game, but a few poor pass protection snaps will not ease anyone’s concerns about his ability to stay patient and balanced when engaging against pass rushers.
Ironically, it might have been Denver's least-lauded offensive linemen that turned in the best performances in Game 1. Isaiah Prince started with the first and second-team offenses and looked like a serviceable fourth-string tackle. Center Lloyd Cushenberry III, whom many called to be replaced this offseason, was quiet (in a good way) in his reps on the field.
READ: Broncos Fall to Cardinals: 3 Hard Takeaways From Sean Payton's Debut
Don't Panic
It's not time to hit the panic button yet in Denver due to 20 reps from the first-team offensive line and its relative struggles against a Cardinals defense receiving little respect entering the season. With it being the preseason and the Broncos' O-line pass-blocking 14 times compared to just six run-blocking snaps, what the unit will look like and how the offense will be called will differ compared to when the games actually count.
This is a Broncos team that made moves to emphasize the run game this offseason, so passing twice as much as running is not a likely trend that the first-team offense will continue beyond August. However, if this Broncos offense is to climb out of the hole that made them a league-wide laughing stock last season, and Payton is to fix Wilson, Denver’s offensive line is going to have to improve dramatically from Friday night's performance.
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