Sean Payton has interesting take on Broncos most important position group

Everyone knows that if you don't have a good quarterback, you're going to be mostly irrelevant in today's NFL (or just about any era, really). But beyond just having a good quarterback, if you get whooped in the trenches week after week, even a great quarterback may not be able to overcome it.

And we've seen that in recent years on some of the biggest stages. Heck, the Broncos have even been part of some examples of that. Remember the performance in the 2015 AFC Championship Game against New England which got the Patriots' offensive line coach fired? Remember how badly the Broncos embarrassed the Carolina offensive line in Super Bowl 50?

We saw the Kansas City Chiefs and Cincinnati Bengals both recently overhaul their offensive lines as well when it became apparent those units were holding their superstar quarterbacks back.

Sean Payton knows the trenches are crucial for the Broncos

When you look historically at how much Sean Payton emphasized building up the trenches in New Orleans, it's clearly a philosophy he has always held tightly to. The Saints always had either big-money players on the offensive line or they were investing picks in the top two rounds in the trenches.

The same has been true for Payton in the early goings of his time in Denver.

The Broncos didn't have a top-50 draft pick in 2023, but Payton utilized his top free agency assets on right tackle Mike McGlinchey and left guard Ben Powers. We recently saw the team re-sign right guard Quinn Meinerz to a contract worth $20 million annually. The Broncos also made a bunch of tough roster cuts this offseason, but they prioritized keeping left tackle Garett Bolles despite his hefty $20 million cap number.

Payton noted at his pre-training camp media session that he feels the offensive line sets the tone for the entire team.

"I think it is the most important position group on your roster. I think it permeates your building. I believe that and it has served us well everywhere I have been."

- Sean Payton (via Broncos PR)

The Broncos' offensive line has been a problem area for the team since Super Bowl 50, and folks who were paying close attention back then will remember just how big of an issue it was even during the Suepr Bowl 50 run. Remember when the Broncos almost pulled off a blockbuster trade for Browns tackle Joe Thomas? That wasn't just to make headlines...

The Broncos have struggled badly to find long-term solutions on the offensive line but the unit took a major step forward last year under offensive line coach Zach Streif and obviously with the guidance of Payton. The Broncos ranked in the top 10 of both run block win rate and pass block win rate according to ESPN's advanced metrics. In fact, ESPN had the Broncos as 8th-best in the NFL in pass block win rate and all the way up at 3rd-best in run block win rate.

And four of the five starters return for 2024.