Broncos left tackle Garett Bolles is largely disliked by fans in Denver but Pro Football Focus — a website that tracks advanced NFL stats and grades players — says the offensive lineman is actually underrated.
Ben Linsey published a list of the most underrated players on every NFL team last week and Bolles was PFF’s choice for the Broncos.
“Looking at qualifying left tackles since 2017, Bolles’ overall grade of 77.1 puts him at 15th out of 37 total players,” Linsey wrote. “Sure, that’s not the high-end player Denver was hoping for when it took him in the first round, but Bolles is still at least an average starter — not the bottom-of-the-barrel option he is sometimes portrayed to be.”
Linsey’s logic seems reasonable but it’s fair to wonder if Bolles wasn’t the best choice as Denver’s underrated player. Alexander Johnson, entering his second year as a starting inside linebacker, isn’t well known outside of Colorado. Johnson could be on the verge of a Pro Bowl-caliber season, which makes him a truly underrated player, at least in terms of publicity.
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