Denver Broncos: Three reasons why Denver will beat the Seahawks

Is Denver’s line good?

One of the most frustrating things to watch the last few years is how bad the Denver Broncos’ offensive line has been and watching John Elway attempt to plug in below average players like Donald Stephenson and Menelik Watson to fix the issue.

Fortunately for the Denver Bronco fan base, this year’s bandages appear to have stopped the bleeding.

Denver returns three familiar faces to the offensive line in All-Pro caliber players Ronald Leary and Matt Paradis along with last year’s first-round draft pick Garrett Bolles. Despite what people might say, Bolles played well for a raw rookie left tackle in a tough division.

I expect big improvements from him with Leary switching to the left side and a year of experience under his belt.

The two biggest changes come on the right side of the line. Gone (from the starting lineup) is former fourth-rounder Max Garcia whose career arc has been quite interesting and is his place is former fifth-rounder Connor McGovern who played quite well down the stretch last year and in this preseason this year.

The biggest change, however, is with the revolving door of right tackles. Elway made the bold move to ship a sixth-round draft choice to the Cardinals for Jared Veldheer. Veldheer is a risk, but a calculated risk.

After a down year where he struggled with injuries and the transition to right tackle from left, Veldheer is ready to put that past him. Historically speaking, this bodes well for him.

Veldheer, 31, played left tackle at an elite level from 2010-2016. With how terrible Denver’s line has been in the past, if he can reach even 75 percent of this level, we will see a huge jump in offensive line play.

This is huge for Case Keenum, huge for the running game, and bad for the Seahawks. Similar to the secondary, the defensive line that made quarterback’s lives terrible is no longer there.

Denver’s offensive line should be able to consistently get a good push in the running game and create a pocket for Keenum to throw in.

Behind the revamped offensive line is rookie running back Royce Freeman who showed he has a knack for reaching the end zone during the preseason.

Like I said earlier, the Denver Broncos and Seattle Seahawks are not the same teams they used to be. Now, Denver’s strengths align perfectly with the Seahawks’ weaknesses which could mean a long day for Pete Carroll and company as they travel 1,350 miles to Denver to play in Denver Broncos Field at Mile High.

I don’t know about you, but I am excited to see Denver take the field in this new year and get our first full look at how good this team can be this season.