The Denver Broncos will see an old friend across the line tonight against the Washington Commanders, and the Broncos offensive line will be tasked with controlling him. Linebacker Von Miller has reviewed the tape of this year’s offensive line, and he gave that unit a thumbs up, saying it’s actually better than the 2015 line that helped win a Super Bowl in Denver.
“This offensive line that they have with the Denver Broncos is better than our Super Bowl team was,” Miller said in an article written by Nick Kosmider of The Athletic. “No disrespect to my guys, Ryan Harris and all those guys. No disrespect for those guys, but this Denver Broncos offensive line is better than our Super Bowl offensive line.”
That’s a startling statement given the injuries that have hit this year’s offensive line, but the numbers Kosmider cited back it up. The Broncos offensive line ranks in the top ten of ESPN’s pass-block and run-block win rates at fourth and ninth, respectively, and Denver has allowed the third-lowest opponent pressure rate at 29.7 percent to go with the lowest sack rate at 3.2 percent.
The Broncos are also sixth in in rushing yards before contact attempt at 1.86, and this advanced metric is a rough estimate of the size of the holes being created in the run game.
It wasn’t always like this, though. Kosmider traced the improvement back to a 2023 film session shortly after Sean Payton took over as head coach, and he called the offense “hard to watch.”
“The offensive line,” Payton said, “can permeate the building.”
The guys who permeate the building now are a tough, focused group. They include center Luke Wattenberg, a fifth-round draft pick in 2022 who just signed a four-year extension, and the Broncos hit the top of the free agent market to sign tackle Mike McGlinchey and left guard Ben Powers, although Powers is currently out with a torn bicep.
Another add was Alex Palczewski, an undrafted free agent who’s gone from swing tackle to current starting guard, and linemen Garrett Bolles and Quinn Meinerz developed well enough to earn extensions last year, too.
These are the guys Miller will be battling tonight, but he’s well aware of the other comps between this year’s Broncos and the team that helped Miller get a ring.
“There are a lot of comparisons,” Miller told reporters this week at the Commanders’ Ashburn, Va., practice facility. “You got Nik Bonitto and Jonathan Cooper, (compared to) myself and DeMarcus (Ware). You got Aqib Talib and Chris Harris, and Riley Moss and Patrick Surtain. You got (Talanoa) Hufanga, one of the best safeties in the league. We had T.J. (Ward) and Darian Stewart. In the middle, we had Malik Jackson and Derek Wolfe. They got Zach Allen and John Franklin-Myers. So they got a really good defense.”