HC Nathaniel Hackett Addresses Broncos' Horrendous O-Line Play in Buffalo

Since Nathaniel Hackett arrived as head coach of the Denver Broncos, much has been made of his wide-zone rushing attack. Broncos Country was thrilled to learn that the fabled zone-blocking scheme of yore was returning to the Mile High grid-iron.

Two preseason games in, nothing the Broncos have done rushing the football has even remotely resembled the vaunted Mike Shanahan zone scheme that Hackett's run game is purportedly based off of. In each of Denver's two preseason games, the rushing offense has failed to even eclipse two yards per attempt.

The hope is that Denver's ground game comes alive and looks entirely different when the first-team offensive line takes the field, along with starting quarterback Russell Wilson, whom opposing defenses will be wary of stacking the box, and running back tandem Javonte Williams and Melvin Gordon. But until then, the only subject matter with which to sink our teeth into is what we've seen from the Broncos' second and third-team offenses through two preseason games.

Following Denver's humiliating 42-15 road loss to the Buffalo Bills in preseason Game 2, Coach Hackett took to the podium and did his best to explain how the Broncos can find any utility in the horrendous game tape the O-line put up on Saturday night.

“Alignment assignment is always the most important thing," Hackett said post-game from Buffalo. "We want to make sure that they know what they're doing. Then you go to their technique, how they're doing their technique, and then just simply if they're getting physically outmatched. So it's a step-by-step process to see how all those guys are doing, and that's why this is a great time. It doesn't count. But in the end, you get to evaluate all your guys.”

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Hopefully, the Broncos will find some use for the game tape as a tool to evaluate the depth players on the O-line (as in, what not to do) and the backup tailbacks. And Coach Hackett is right: the preseason doesn't count, but it does matter.

Hackett made a somewhat controversial decision to jettison Denver's well-respected O-line coach of the preceding three years — Mike Munchak — in favor of his hand-selected guy from San Francisco — Butch Barry. Barry's task is a daunting one, as the wide zone scheme is much more cerebral than Munchak's power/gap philosophy.

But Barry's twos and threes can't do better than 1.8 yards per tote in Game 1 and 1.9 per carry in Game 2? Something is off, and the fear is that it stretches beyond the mere fact that second and third-teamers are the only O-linemen we've seen try to execute the Broncos' new zone scheme.

Several O-linemen played on Saturday who are currently listed atop their respective positional depth charts. But all the king's horses and all the king's men, along with Quinn Meinerz, Calvin Anderson, and veterans like Graham Glasgow and Cam Fleming, could not put Hackett's rushing attack together again.

The Broncos activated offensive tackle Billy Turner from the physically unable to perform (PUP) list last Monday — then he promptly disappeared from UCHealth Training Center due to some "personal" matters. Broncos fans hoping to see Turner in this preseason can quash that wish, though, as Hackett confirmed that the goal is to have him available in Week 1.

“Yeah, we expect him back this week," Hackett said of Turner. "Hopefully, he's going be right there in practice. We're still aiming for that Week 1. We want to do everything we can to get him out there.”

It's anyone's guess whether Turner, or any of the Broncos' first-teamers, will be ready for NFL game speed and intensity.

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