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Broncos schedule: Toughest matchups for the offensive line
Every year there are certain games that teams circle on the schedule. These can be rivalry games, meaningful out-of-conference games, or revenge games. While we might say otherwise, offensive linemen also pay attention to the specific defensive lines that they’ll be facing off against over the course of a season. Certain games will take more time and intensity to prepare for. Certain players are cause for a heightened concern. Certain schemes are harder to play against.
If I was on the Denver Broncos offensive line, these are the games I would be most focused on heading into camp. And I’ll be listing these units in order of when Denver is playing them.
Most of this article in concerned with the defense’s ability in the passing game, but I do touch on some aspects of the run game as well.
Seattle Seahawks – Week 1
Right off the bat the Broncos will have to handle a formidable front unit. It is a completely different group compared to when Denver played Seattle in 2022; not just the players but the defensive scheme has been tweaked as well with former Ravens defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald taking over.
The Seahawks’ will likely run a 3-4 defense as that is what Macdonald ran in Baltimore. Macdonald’s scheme consists of tons of simulated pressures, pre snap motions, and formations that change pre and post-snap. And it’s not just the simulated pressure Denver’s offensive line will have to worry about because Macdonald loves to send an extra rusher most of the time.
This will put a heavy mental strain one Denver’s line, but luckily they’ll have an entire offseason to prep for it and, for the most part, they won’t have to deal with the issue of getting accustomed to playing with each other like they did last year. There will be a new center, but they won’t have to deal with replacing a guard and right tackle. The center will be responsible for making proper protection calls, so whoever ends up the starter will have a meaningful amount of pressure right from the start.
Personnel wise, EDGE Derick Hall and DT Leonard Williams will likely be the focus points. Hall is coming off of a quality rookie season that featured 18 tackles and five QB hits. and he’s a promising young talent playing as both an off and on-ball linebacker. Williams totaled 5.5 sacks last year with four of those coming as a Seahawk after he was traded to Seattle seven games into the season. He is a dangerous and quick player on the inside.
And while I don’t think the Seahawks will be one of the top-5 hardest defenses Denver will face, I have them on this list due to the defense they run and their position on the schedule.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers – Week 3
The Bucs are an interesting team. They finished near the bottom last year in total defense, but they ranked top-5 in rushing yards and top-10 in points. Many people may overlook them, but Tampa Bay has a solid defense that is lead by one of the better defensive coordinators in the game with Todd Bowles.
Last year Bowles’ defense mostly consisted of a four man front with a linebacker playing on or close to the line of scrimmage on the strong side. He really liked to send pressure with a handful of looks to it. Two of his most common blitzes featured an outside rusher or a defensive end dropping into coverage with a backer filling his spot. The best example of Bowles’ pressure packages was in Tampa Bay’s Wild Card game against the Eagles.
Compared to the Seahawks, Tampa’s pressure scheme is mentally easier to handle as there is less going on, but Tampa has, in my opinion, the better pass rushers so this will be a more difficult matchup in terms of one-on-one blocks across the board.
Baltimore Ravens – Week 9
Now, given the first entry, we know that the Ravens will be attempting to fill a Mike MacDonald-sized hole, but they are already on the right track. Their new defensive coordinator is Zach Orr, who has essentially spent his entire career with Baltimore. He played for them from 2014-16, was a defensive analyst from 2017-20, spent a year in Jacksonville, and them came back as a linebacker coach from 2022-23, and is now the new DC. He has spent years under MacDonald, and plans on carrying on with the same defensive scheme. One that attempts to create and control chaos.
Baltimore was able to keep together a large majority of their roster, and their defensive leaders are among those that stayed. They did lose Patrick Queen to the Steelers and Jadeveon Clowney to the Panthers, but they still have eight of their top-10 sack leaders from last season. And the defensive scheme that they run is, in my opinion, one of the easier ones to plug new guys into. I don’t think it is as talent-needy as other schemes are.
The main problem that Denver will face against the Ravens will be on the edge of the Baltimore defensive line. Justin Madibuike was an absolute game wrecker last year. He finished the season with 13 sacks, 33 QB hits, 12 TFL’s, and one forced fumble. He’s an incredible mix between size, strength and speed, and is an offensive tackle’s worst nightmare.
Kanas City Chiefs – Weeks 10, 18
At this point, the Broncos should know exactly what to expect out of the Chiefs. But last year the offensive line struggled in both matchups, giving up a total of 10 sacks and 17 QB hits between their two matchups. Even in Denver’s 24-9 beatdown they gave up six sacks and 10 QB hits. Those are numbers that you can’t make up any excuses for.
We all know that Chris Jones is a game breaker on that defensive line, but 2022 1st round pick George Karlaftis is turning into a real problem for his opposition when it comes to rushing the passer. In his sophomore year last season he finished with 10.5 sacks, 17 QB hits, seven TFL’s, and a forced fumble. Last year both Jones and Karlaftis combined for 21 sacks with four of them coming against the Broncos.
Steve Spagnuolo (credit where credit is due) has done a great job with the Chiefs, turning them into one of the league’s best defenses. Last year they were 2nd in total yards, scoring, and sacks, which is a big reason why they managed to hold the 49ers to just 22 points in the Super Bowl when they were averaging nearly 29 points per game.
Spagnuolo’s pressure packages are a nightmare to plan and block against. His whole defensive scheme really centers around creating blitzes out of every look imaginable. Spagnuolo can design a blitz for any player, out of any personnel package, against any formation, and any play. He masterfully uses simulated pressures and unconventional schemes to through off opposing offenses. And besides Jones, he doesn’t have the “ideal” type of manpower that other teams do. This is the reason why a large amount of his front seven players can play the defensive end spot, and also why his defensive backs managed to rack up nine sacks over last season.
He also loves to blitz on third down as last year they blitzed on third down 39.3% of the time and created pressure 64.3% of the time. This was one of the reasons why the Chiefs had 73 unblocked pressures last year.
Essentially, to stop the Chiefs your offensive line likely has to be perfect, your quarterback has to have excellent discipline, and your center has to watch an unbelievable amount of film to know what’s coming.
Cleveland Browns – Week 13
The Browns are, personnel-wise, likely the best front seven that Denver will face off against this season. Now, the good news is that they’ve already been able to handle this defensive front. The Broncos offensive line heavily limited what the Browns were able to do against their passing game. Denver managed to hold Cleveland to just one sack, six TFL’s, and four QB hits. Garret Bolles and Mike McGlinchey managed to hold Myles Garrett to just two tackles, one TFL, one pass defended, and zero sacks. Can they repeat this success?
One of the reasons, I believe, that the Broncos were able to handle a defense that averaged nearly three sacks a game last year was due to their ability to pound the rock. Going into their game last year, the Browns were only giving up 99 yards per game. And then the Broncos put up 169 yards on them. This allowed for Denver to play a more balanced game and forced the Browns to respect that aspect and to not rush the passer as hard as they usually would be able to.
Jim Schwartz’s defense fits the theme of the other ones that have been featured on this list. He heavily prioritizes blitzing and blitzing often. Last year the Browns blitzed nearly 30% of the time (which was up by two percent compared to their defense in 2022 that was lead by Joe Woods) and brought six rushers eight percent of the time. This allowed for Myles Garrett to shine more than he did in 2022. That season Garrett was double-teamed 31% of the time, whereas in 2023 he was double-teamed just 27% of the time.
Schwartz also likes to play with three pass rushers at a given time, and consistently brings his backers. This leaves opposing offensive lines guessing often times, which is a recipe for disaster.
Opposing defensive front-sevens ranked from hardest to easiest:
- Cleveland Browns
- Kansas City Chiefs
- Baltimore Ravens
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- Pittsburgh Steelers
- Seattle Seahawks
- Las Vegas Raiders
- Los Angeles Chargers
- New York Jets
- Cincinnati Bengals
- Indianapolis Colts
- Carolina Panthers
- New Orleans Saints
- Atlanta Falcons
Poll
Who will be the biggest challenge for the offensive line this year?
Factors such as declining birth rates and families moving out of the city are contributing to declining enrollment at Denver Public Schools. In turn, it’s reshaping the district’s future.
“I think we’re in a good position, but it’s responsible for us to always be looking in the future and knowing we have to make some adjustments,” said Chuck Carpenter, the district’s CFO.
In a two-year span between this past school year and next, DPS expects a decline in enrollment of around 1,700 students.
“We haven’t really seen anything like this,” said Carpenter in response to the consistent decline.
Because of this trend, the district is facing a $28 million structural deficit over the next five years.
“We have a balanced budget now, and we’re not predicting that we’ll have an unbalanced budget in three years,” said Carpenter. “We’re saying we need to make adjustments over the next three, four years, so that our budgets are balanced.”
DPS’s Director of Campus Planning, Andrew Huber, told CBS Colorado in an interview last month that those adjustments will likely include closing down more schools.
“Additional school closures will be necessary in the upcoming years. When exactly that would be is hard to forecast right now,” said Huber.
The district’s CFO says his biggest takeaway from a recent round of closures is to make sure to give families options for what’s next.
“No one wants their school closed, but the second-best option isn’t going to be the same for every family,” said Carpenter.
This issue could be one Denver faces for years to come.
“We sort of say, how many kids are born here? Because in five years, those kids will be kindergartners,” Carpenter added.
The city’s birth rate peaked in 2005, meaning those babies have already graduated high school. And, according to the Colorado Department of Local Affairs, more young families move out of Denver and into surrounding counties than move into the city.
“I think school consolidation is very — I understand why people want to talk about it, but I think it’s more about, like, how do we make sure that the programs that are offered are rich programs,” said Carpenter.
Carpenter also says the district is closely monitoring some potential cuts to federal grants for students of poverty and language learners. He says those decisions will be made by October for the start of the new fiscal year, and cuts would have a “terrible” impact.
The Denver Broncos hosted eight tryout players at mandatory minicamp this week, including quarterback Sawyer Robertson. It sounds like the team has made decisions on those tryout players, and Robertson won’t be signed (at least not right now).
Instead, the Broncos are signing offensive lineman Reid Holskey (according to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler) and cornerback Blake Cotton (according to the Denver Post‘s Parker Gabriel). Holskey (6-6, 306 pounds) spent time on the Houston Texans’ practice squad in 2025 before joining the New York Giants in January. He was cut by New York last month. Cotton (6-2, 195 pounds) is a rookie who spent last fall at Utah, totaling 30 tackles and seven pass breakups in 13 games.
The two moves came one day after Denver wrapped up minicamp. The 91-man offseason roster was already full, so the Broncos will need to make corresponding moves to make room for Holskey and Cotton on the roster.
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Sean Payton has seen enough. The Denver Broncos’ third practice of mandatory minicamp, which was set to happen on Thursday, has been canceled.
“Just schedule-wise, today will be our last day,” Payton said after Wednesday’s practice. “I just finished telling them that. It’s unusual because there’s a lot of packing, a little bit more than normal when you’re moving into another facility. So when we’re back here, we’ll be in the new building.”
The Broncos are moving into their new state-of-the-art facility, but the decision to cancel the final practice of the offseason was motivated primarily by what Payton has seen thus far and how the team is shaping up.
Thus concludes the Broncos’ offseason training program, which featured eight total practices as a team, four of which were open to the media. There was more on-field activity than that, including walkthrough practices unseen by the press, but in essence, we’re talking about eight sessions.
Some players have already begun to separate themselves in their respective competitions. Others have really popped, while some have failed to really stand out in any meaningful way.
By way of a Broncos stock report, let’s get to the biggest winners and losers of mandatory minicamp.
Winner: Bo Nix | QB
Nix finally returned to the practice field on Tuesday, the first day of minicamp. He was limited to individual drills only, but it was still great to see him out there.
On Day 2, though, Nix took another big step forward, participating in a 7-on-7 drill that included a highlight-reel touchdown pass to RJ Harvey. Just getting Nix back on the field was a big win for the Broncos, but seeing him progress over two days and look overall very sharp was more than a little encouraging.
Winner: Jaylen Waddle | WR
Waddle has been a lightning rod since the practices were opened to the media. He just looks different. That speed and explosiveness really add an element to the Broncos’ offense that has been lacking.
It’s been palpable. But arguably just as exciting is what Waddle’s teammates and coaches have been saying about him. Payton has called him a “force multiplier,” which is another way of saying that he makes everyone around him better.
Not that we really had reason to doubt it, but Waddle has been as advertised thus far, and then some.
Loser: Marvin Mims Jr. | WR
Mims is not listed as a loser because of any specific negative plays, like a dropped pass or a mental miscue. It’s just that, with other receivers, including Waddle, shining, generating buzz, and earning plaudits from Payton, Mims didn’t really.
Mims is a similar receiver type as Waddle, but the newcomer made it clear how much separation exists between them in practice. Now, Mims is still important to the Broncos, especially as a returner, and Payton did compliment his clutch gene and contributions in big games, but you have to wonder how he fits into the game plan on offense. That question still hasn’t been answered.
Winner: J.K. Dobbins | RB
Dobbins was his usually talkative self at minicamp, but the fact that he was healthy and out there doing his thing is a major win for the Broncos. It’s good to have him part of the daily process at Broncos HQ again because he’s one of those veterans that takes players under his wing, and elevates them.
Winner: Que Robinson | OLB
With the recent off-the-field drama the Broncos have dealt with, some extra attention was paid to the Broncos’ outside linebackers. Robinson, in particular, separated himself during minicamp.
His get-off is something else, and he was dispruptive during the Broncos’ team periods. Vance Joseph has said he views Robinson as a “future starter.” Pending Cooper’s situation, the future could be now, though Elliss will also have something to say about that.
Robinson had one heck of an offseason. I’m really looking forward to his second year.
Loser: Jonathon Cooper | OLB
After being arrested twice in the span of a week, the Broncos excused Cooper from mandatory minicamp. It would seem the Broncos want to create some distance from Cooper until his legal troubles are resolved, one way or another.
It’s a shame, in more ways than one. Beyond what legal ramifications might await Cooper, he’s very likely to be suspended by the NFL, and the Broncos releasing him at some point is not outside the bounds of the plausible. It’s a good thing that rush linebacker room is stacked.
Winner: Matt Henningsen | DL
None of these winners has been quite as surprising as Henningsen. He made a huge play on Day 1 of minicamp, tipping a Sam Ehlinger pass and returning it to the house.
Henningsen followed that up with another disruptive Day 2. He’s gone from being an after thought in the Broncos’ defensive line conversation to establishing himself as a bona fide threat for the roster.
Loser: Jahdae Barron | CB
Like Mims, Barron wasn’t bad during the offseason; he just didn’t pop, really, in any way. He broke up one pass on Day 2 of minicamp, but beyond that, there wasn’t much to see.
It will be interesting to see how Barron performs in training camp. We know the Broncos have high expectations for him, and a role on defense, even if as a depth piece, will be created for him, but I was hoping to see more signs of a Year-2 leap by now.
Winner: Jonah Coleman | RB
Another as-advertised player. Coleman has proven he’s ready for the NFL, which was partly what attracted the Broncos to him in the draft.
Coleman stood out in a major way at minicamp and made it clear that the Broncos have more than just a J.K. Dobbins insurance policy on their hands. Coleman is a force to be reckoned with.
Winner: Tyler Onyedim | DL
Like Coleman the Broncos’ first pick in the 2026 draft has looked NFL-ready. The Broncos still haven’t signed Onyedim, but that didn’t stop him from participating in the offseason program, which is a good harbinger.
Rocking the No. 98 jersey, it’s easy to mistake Onyedim for the guy he was drafted to replace: John Franklin-Myers. That’s especially true when the rookie is out there making plays like JFM. Onyedim has earned praise from his teammates, including the All-Pro Zach Allen.
Winner: Evan Engram | TE
Engram looked very good in minicamp this week. He looked like a big, athletic, smooth, explosive receiver, which is what he’s been in the NFL.
Engram wasn’t really all those things in his first year with the Broncos, but I’m hopeful that Year 2 will be different for the two-time Pro Bowler. He’s had a good summer.
Winner: Troy Franklin | WR
Franklin seems like the obvious No. 3 receiver in the pecking order. That doesn’t mean he’ll get the No. 3 snaps on an exclusive basis, though.
As the Broncos’ No. 2 last year, Franklin wasn’t able to fully live up to that, although he took some big steps forward in his second year. As the No. 3, it’s more his natural spot and that should allow him to continue to thrive in the offense, especially with the connection he has with Bo Nix dating back to Oregon.
Winner: Sam Ehlinger | QB
Ehlinger had a great offseason. He looked way more comfortable and far sharper in the offense in what is his second go-around in Payton’s offense.
Ehlinger was sharp this summer, and if he can continue to build on the foundation he’s created, it could create some uncomfortable conversations at Broncos HQ.
Loser: Jarrett Stidham | QB
Stidham has been less noteworthy this summer, but that doesn’t mean he’s been bad. In comparison to Ehlinger, though, Stidham wasn’t as good, which is curious, considering his standing as the team’s primary backup since 2023.
If Ehlinger ends up leapfrogging Stidham, what do the Broncos do? They’re holding a competition for QB2, and they have to be prepared for the possibility of Ehlinger winning it, especially after his strong summer.
If Ehlinger forces this issue, Stidham could become expendable. Stidham is very unlikely to be a cut candidate because of his contract, but as a trade piece? There’s a reason the rumor mill has been active on the Stidham topic this offseason. It’s something to watch.
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