4 Broncos Make PFF's Top 101 Players of 2020 Including All-Pro Garett Bolles & Pro Bowler Justin Simmons
The 2020 season was a tough one overall for the Denver Broncos, but a handful of key Orange and Blue players stood out in a big way in terms of statistics and advanced grading metrics, according to Pro Football Focus’s grading metrics.
In PFF’s top 101 players from the 2020 season released Monday morning, the Broncos saw four players land on the list, just one player shy of matching the team’s number of wins in another lost season.
According to PFF’s metrics, left tackle Garett Bolles, cornerback Bryce Callahan, and safeties Kareem Jackson and Justin Simmons were honored by the advanced analytics site Monday.
Based on play on the field in 2020, none of the four players on PFF’s top 101 list should be a surprise. Bolles blossomed into one of the top tackles in football and landed a monster contract, while Simmons and Jackson stood out as stout, consistent defensive backs. Callahan cracks the list despite missing the final five weeks of the season with injury.
Bolles led the Broncos on the list, cracking the top 20 at No. 19 overall on the top 101 list. It’s worth noting that Bolles was not ranked on PFF's top 101 list of 2019.
Here’s what PFF’s Sam Monson had to say about Bolles:
“Another massive leap in terms of play came from Garett Bolles, whose efforts were no doubt aided by the league hugely dialing back the number of offensive holding penalties they threw in 2020. Bolles didn’t allow a sack all season, surrendering just 13 total pressures and accumulating 10 fewer penalties than he did this time a year ago. Bolles became a franchise left tackle this season and did so pass blocking for a quarterback who wasn’t among the best in the league at making his life any easier.”
I’m not a fan of Monson throwing shade at Bolles for the league adjusting its insane level of holding calls, but the rest is spot on. Coming into the 2020 season, the Broncos declined Bolles' fifth-year option and he was in a make-or-break year. It’s safe to say it was a 'make' year for the former first-round pick.
Here’s hoping he can build off of a strong 2020 season and continue to look like the franchise left tackle the Broncos have paid him to be into the future.
PFF’s top 101 list was light on Broncos for a stretch after Bolles as Denver had to wait until No. 61 overall to see Callahan crack the list. Much like Bolles, Callahan was not ranked in the 2019 top 101 list for PFF.
Here’s what Monson had to say about Callahan:
“Bryce Callahan was one of the best players in the league this season, but injury cost him a chance to really cement that status when he was shut down after Week 12. Callahan is an elite slot corner, but due to Denver’s injury issues in the secondary — which he later fell victim to — he was asked to moonlight on the perimeter on multiple occasions. He still held up extremely well despite being just 5-foot-8 and under 190 pounds. For the season, Callahan allowed a 46.9 passer rating when targeted and wasn’t beaten for a pass longer than 19 yards.”
Quietly, Callahan was terrific every week leading up to his injury. In the slot, Callahan shut opposing receivers down, and even when he was shifted outside — as Monson states — he was terrific out there as well.
He’s been injury-prone throughout his career, but when he’s on the field in Vic Fangio’s scheme, he’s well worth the money and the playing time.
Jackson was next up on the list for the Broncos, coming in at No. 87 overall in PFF’s top 101.
One of the hardest-hitting safeties in the league, Jackson was strong in pass coverage yet again, pairing with Simmons to be one of the better safety tandems in the league.
Monson wrote the following about Jackson:
“Another impressive season is in the books for Kareem Jackson in Denver's secondary, despite a disaster of injuries to the cornerback position affecting that unit all season. He was targeted 45 times and allowed a passer rating of 89.1, surrendering just one touchdown all season.”
As cornerbacks dropped like flies for Denver, Jackson stood tall in the back half of the secondary, helping keep a lid on things through the air, allowing a young Denver team to stay in a number of games down the stretch.
Wrapping things up for Denver, Simmons came in at No. 99 overall, which was way too low for my liking.
Simmons, for my money, was one of the top safeties in the league all year from the tape I watched, serving as a terrific centerfield-type safety, while also providing some impressive run support for Denver from the back half.
Monson wrote the following about Simmons:
“Justin Simmons has been one of the game’s best safeties since the start of 2019, and while he couldn’t quite match his performance from last year, Simmons still made a lot of plays for Denver despite the secondary falling apart around him. Simmons had five picks and three pass breakups, but also matched the 28 defensive stops he tallied a season ago — a huge figure for someone who plays primarily as a deep-lying free safety.”
Surprisingly, just five safeties total were in PFF’s top 101, two of which were Broncos. That’s pretty darn impressive, considering the struggles the secondary had overall in 2020.
I probably would have flipped Simmons with Jackson on my list, but it’s nice to see the tandem getting some national love.
Assuming new GM George Paton does what it takes to retain Simmons in free agency, the Broncos have quite the building blocks on both sides of the ball on this list.
Follow Josh on Twitter @ByJoshCarney and @MileHighHuddle.
