The offensive line
The Denver Broncos’ offensive line looks so much better than it has over the past three years.
The starting unit from left to right is Garett Bolles, Ron Leary, Matt Paradis, Connor McGovern, and Jared Veldheer.
This game against the Bears marked the first time we’ve seen those five in live game action as Leary did not play in the Broncos’ first preseason game.
The starting unit did a very good job protecting Case Keenum and creating running lanes, but the major shock in this one was how the play did not drop off between the first and second unit.
Typically in preseason play, the Broncos are unable to get any legitimate evaluations in games from their backups because the reserves on the offensive line are just that bad.
That wasn’t the case in this game.
After the starting five offensive linemen got the reps they needed (Billy Turner worked in at right tackle with the top unit, and played well), the Broncos moved to a group (from left to right) of Garett Bolles, Max Garcia, Connor McGovern, Elijah Wilkinson, and Turner.
That unit protected Chad Kelly for the first portion of his work on the night, followed by this group (from left to right):
Cyrus Kouandjio, Jeremiah Poutasi, Max Garcia, Elijah Wilkinson, Billy Turner.
After watching the game again, these three groups all played extremely well for the Broncos, even though there were some hiccups along the way. For the most part, everyone was in the right place at the right time and shut down the Bears’ pass rush.