Sometimes statistics don’t make sense. The Denver Broncos offered up a prime example of this during their 2025 season, as they ended up with the best-rated offensive line in the NFL but no discernible running game by the end of the season.
The assessment comes from Zoltan Buday of Pro Football Focus, who recently rated every offensive line in the league and came to the conclusion that the Broncos were the best in the league. He also listed their best lineup, which is a good jumping off point to see exactly how he drew this conclusion and what criteria he used:
LT Garrett Bolles
LG Ben Powers
C Luke Wattenberg
RG Quinn Meinerz
RT Mike McGlinchey
The names explain part of what happened here. All the lineman listed have great reputations, and several have appeared in the Pro Bowl with All-Pro awards aspart of the package.
Injuries were an obvious part of the lack of a running game, of course. Specifically, Powers went out fairly early in the season with a torn bicep, although he did return for the AFC Championship game against New England. And as Buday notes, backups Alex Palczewski and Alex Forsyth turned in solid performances at left guard and center, respectively.
The stats Buday used were about pressures and stats. Denver’s offensive line gave up 137 pressures but just six sacks, which was the lowest number in the league. The result was an 89.5 pass blocking efficiency rating in PFF’s grading system, and the Broncos were the only team to allow less than 13 sacks.
But this stat is a little misleading. Coaching is a big part of the numbers, as head coach Sean Payton focused relentlessly on having quarterback Bo Nix avoid sacks. Nix left the pocket early and often, which was part of the reason the offense was so inconsistent.
As for the running game, there’s a fairly direct conclusion to be drawn here. The Broncos running game was very effective before running back J.K. Dobbins went down with a Lisfranc foot injury, and the ground game wasn’t close to the same after that.
Size was a big issue. Specifically, the Broncos didn’t have any experienced big backs who could pick up the slack. Dobbins isn’t huge, but he has enough size to run effectively between the tackles. Running backs RJ Harvey and Jaleel McLaughlin are both too small to go up the middle, and it showed.
Figuring out this puzzle will be at the top of Payton’s to-do list this season. He’s already fired two offensive coaches, but he kept his line coach, Zach Strief, which indicates that he’s happy with the line play. Payton wants the offense to become more divers, but the solution here may be as simple as signing a bigger back with the chops and experience to run inside.