Why Garett Bolles' Penalty Reputation No Longer Tells the Full Story

Garett Bolles may still rank high among the NFL's most penalized players of the past few years, but he's turned over a new leaf and is playing the best ball of his career.

October 26, 2025: Denver Broncos offensive tackle Garett Bolles (72) looks to make a block in the second half of the football game between the Denver Broncos and Dallas Cowboys. | Derek Regensburger / IMAGO / ZUMA Press Wire

Garett Bolles has come a long way.

There was a time when the Denver Broncos' left tackle was known as "Garett Holds," due to his high volume of penalties. For years, it seemed Bolles couldn't get out of the officials' gameday crosshairs.

However, Bolles is coming off his best season yet in 2025, earning Pro Bowl and first-team All-Pro honors for the first time in his career. He has become one of the NFL's top blind-side protectors.

Due to his up-and-down past, though, Bolles still checks in at No. 5 (tied) on Pro Football Focus' list of the most penalized players over the past five years.

"Bolles joins the list of decorated tackles on this list, which suggests that even the game’s best offensive linemen may not be able to avoid committing fouls. Bolles’ 45 penalties tie [Ikem] Ekwonu, with 33 of them being via either false start or hold. Bolles has also been responsible for seven illegal formation calls," PFF's Bradley Locker wrote.

Nobody's Perfect

Denver Broncos quarterback Bo Nix (10) runs for a touchdown as offensive tackle Garett Bolles (72) defends against New York Giants cornerback Deonte Banks (2). | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Even the best players are going to occasionally get caught slipping. In a left tackle's case, that may come in the form of a pass rusher getting the best of him on a given snap, or perhaps the officials throwing the yellow laundry.

It's hard to be perfect at any NFL position, but especially left tackle, cornerback, and quarterback. The pressure is sometimes just too intense from down to down. These positions don't get to take many snaps off, so to speak.

For most blind-side protectors, though, they'd much rather draw a penalty flag than allow a lost rep to result in their quarterback getting splattered to the turf. Bolles is no exception there; he takes great pride in protecting Bo Nix.

The 2024 Problem

"Looking under the hood a layer deeper paints a rosier picture for Bolles. The 2025 All-Pro has been flagged eight or fewer times in four of the last five seasons. However, his 2024 campaign secured his spot on this list with 16 penalties. Ultimately, Bolles and other linemen reflect that not surrendering pressure is far more important than being whistled, which seems like a near-inevitability while playing a high volume of snaps," Locker wrote.

It's easy to forget that Bolles's penalty problem reared its ugly head again in 2024, but the presence of a competent quarterback, combined with the Broncos' winning double-digit games for the first time since 2015, minimized the sting.

Still, it wasn't enough to preclude the Broncos from signing Bolles to a four-year, $82 million extension in December of that season. The Broncos are all-in on him as their franchise left tackle.

A Success Story of Perseverance

Denver Broncos offensive line coach Mike Munchak goes over a play with offensive tackle Garett Bolles (72) in the fourth quarter against the Cleveland Browns. | USA TODAY Sports

Bolles was the Broncos' first-round pick in 2017. He arrived in Denver as an uber-talented but highly raw and inexperienced player.

After serving an LDS mission in Colorado Springs, Bolles only played one year of Division I college football at the University of Utah before being drafted by the Broncos. From day one, he was installed as Denver's starting left tackle, but he had to go through the refiner's fire.

It was a painful and downright ugly development, at times. Bolles's first three years in the league is when he earned the "Garett Holds" moniker, but it's worth noting that the Broncos did him no favors in lining up a who's who of forgettable quarterbacks over his first six seasons.

However, in 2020, everything changed.

Under the guiding hand of former offensive line coach Mike Munchak, and with help from his wife at home in the family kitchen, Bolles took advantage of the 2020 offseason that was extended due to the pandemic, honing in on his technique to identify and eliminate the reasons why he kept getting flagged at such a high rate.

By the time cleats hit the grass in September, Bolles was not only doing a great job in pass protection and as a run blocker, but the incessant penalties were gone. It felt like a miracle at the time.

Some cynics argued that it was because the NFL, behind closed doors, asked the officiating crews to be much more lenient and forgiving, since the pandemic erased teams' offseason programs and all those reps that help players hone their craft. There may be some truth to that, but I would disagree that it was the reason for Bolles's turnaround.

Bolles had three years of experience under his belt. He heard the boos, and he felt the pain of how his penalties would kill Broncos drives. He learned from his experience, as any good pro does.

Bolles put in the work that offseason to clean up his game. It paid dividends, as he earned second-team All-Pro honors in 2020.

Besides landing a spot on the PFWA's All-Rookie Team, that second-team All-Pro nod was the only accolade to Bolles's name — until last season. He turned in a clean, dominant performance in 2025, putting him in position to win the NFL's first-ever Protector of the Year award.

Bolles was a finalist, but the award went to Chicago Bears guard Joe Thuney. The result was a bit of a surprise, as the expectation was that the Protector of the Year would favor tackles, who play much more on an island when it comes to blocking for the quarterback.

That expectation was especially true when PFF named Bolles its Pass Blocker of the Year. Maybe he'll nab the real NFL award this year.

The Takeaway

Bolles may still rank high on the list of the most penalized NFL players, but he turned over a new leaf years ago, and at 34 years old, is now playing the best football of his career.

Because he started his football career so late, Bolles has remarkably low mileage on his tires for a 10th-year pro. He's getting up there age-wise, but it wouldn't be a surprise to see him play deep into his 30s, especially if he can stay healthy.

Bolles is under contract through the 2028 season, so the Broncos will have plenty of opportunity to see how Father Time influences his play as he approaches his mid-30s.

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