Denver Broncos: Is Garett Bolles team’s biggest liability?

Bleacher Report has labeled Denver Broncos tackle Garett Bolles as the team’s biggest liability.

Garett Bolles has taken a lot of heat for his penalty count since being a first-round pick by the Denver Broncos back in 2017. Somebody else has jumped on that ship.

Kristopher Knox of Bleacher Report has labeled Bolles as the team’s biggest liability heading into the 2020 season.

It is not a huge surprise. Bolles has been the culprit of drive-killing penalties far too often. In 2019 alone, per Pro Football Focus, Bolles was called for 17 penalties.

However, with Drew Lock at quarterback, Bolles appeared to play quite a bit better. That may be the key for the former first-round pick’s success in the upcoming season.

The Broncos declined Bolles’ fifth-year option, allowing him to hit the free agent market following the 2020 season. If he impresses the team enough, it is still a possibility that they re-sign him to a minimal deal to keep the continuity. But drafting an offensive tackle in the 2021 NFL Draft feels like a given.

If not Bolles, who would be the biggest liability?

At right tackle, there is expected to be a battle due to Ja’Wuan James opting out of the 2020 season. It will likely come down to Elijah Wilkinson vs newly-acquired Demar Dotson, formerly of the Buccaneers. If Dotson emerges as the starter, is he going to be effective right off the bat? That remains to be seen.

Covering tight ends is going to be an interesting thing to see in 2020. The Broncos are not great at this phase of the game. That will just have to be a wait-and-see game. Todd Davis racked up 134 tackles last season but the team could make a change there at some point.

The defense is pretty solid on paper especially with the additions of A.J. Bouye and Jurrell Casey.

So, really, Bolles may be the team’s biggest liability, but the team is not without holes. It is up to them to prove the doubters wrong. It will be interesting to see them try to do so without preseason.