Garett Bolles – Page 10 – Syndication Server

PFF says Garett Bolles is Broncos’ most underrated player

Garett Bolles is the Broncos’ most underrated player, according to Pro Football Focus.

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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Ryan Clady says Garett Bolles has shown ‘a lot of improvement’

Broncos all-time great left tackle Ryan Clady says he has seen some improvement from current left tackle Garett Bolles.

Ryan Clady was one of the best (perhaps the best) left tackles in Broncos history. He earned four Pro Bowl nods and two first-team All-Pro selections during his time with Denver and he received a Super Bowl ring in 2015 (though he was injured for that season).

Earlier this week, Clady went on 104.3 The Fan and spoke with Nick Ferguson and Cecil Lammey about Garett Bolles, the Broncos’ current left tackle.

“I think he’s definitely had a well-documented slow start to his career,” Clady said. “I’ve seen a lot of improvement — he’s definitely put some work in. Later on in this past season, the 2019 season, he was playing at a much higher level.”

That’s the good news. The bad news? There’s still a lot to improve.

“One of the main things is hands with him,” Clady said. “He’s got some pretty good feet, which is what you need as a left tackle. But I think his hands and his awareness, too — a lot of those holding problems can somewhat be avoided with just learning the game more and having awareness of positions you’re in.”

Bolles has averaged nearly one penalty per game in his career. After earning $1,969,351 this season, Bolles will become an unrestricted free agent in 2021 after Denver opted to decline his fifth-year option for next season.

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Broncos decline Garett Bolles’ 5th-year option for 2021

The Broncos have opted not to pick up Garett Bolles’ fifth-year option for the 2021 season.

The Denver Broncos have declined left tackle Garett Bolles’ fifth-year option for the 2021 season, the team announced Friday.

If the option had been picked up, Bolles would have been owed a little more than $11 million next season. Instead, Bolles is now set to become a free agent next spring.

Bolles (6-5, 300 pounds) was selected by the Broncos in the first round of the 2017 NFL Draft (20th overall). Bolles has done a great job staying healthy, starting 48-straight games, but his performances have been inconsistent.

Bolles has allowed 15.5 sacks in his career, an average of 0.323 sacks per game, which isn’t a terrible average. He has averaged nearly one penalty per game, though, and that’s a big problem. Opposing teams have accepted 10-plus penalties called against Bolles in each of the last three seasons.

This offseason, Bolles will compete with Elijah Wilkinson for the starting left tackle job.

Bolles is set to have a base salary of $1,969,351 in 2020, according to Spotrac.com. By the time his four-year rookie contract expires, Bolles will have earned a total of $11,243,509.

Bolles will have a salary cap hit of $3,510,154 this season (that’s his base salary plus $1,540,803 from a prorated signing bonus cap hit).

Entering his fourth season, Bolles will turn 28 years old on May 27.

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3 questions facing Broncos entering the summer

Here are three questions facing the Broncos as the team enters the summer.

After a successful NFL draft, the Denver Broncos have started their virtual offseason program. The Broncos are hopeful that they will be able to start training camp in late July. Here are three questions Denver will face as they approach training camp later this summer.

1. Will Garett Bolles hold back the offensive line?

From right to left, the Broncos’ projected offensive line is Ja’Wuan James, Graham Glasglow, Lloyd Cushenberry, Dalton Risner and the wildly unpopular Garett Bolles. Ask any fan in Denver if there’s a weak link on offense and they’ll answer Bolles. He has averaged almost one penalty per game in his career and hasn’t lived up to his 2017 first-round draft status. The Broncos didn’t add any tackles in the draft despite GM John Elway describing the position as an area where the team has “to get better.” This offseason, Bolles will compete with Elijah Wilkinson, a backup swing guard/tackle, for the starting left tackle job. Wilkinson spent time at right tackle last year as an injury fill-in for James, but he’s probably best-suited to play as a guard so Bolles might have an advantage. Elway is optimistic that a satisfactory starter will emerge from the competition. “We still feel like we can be very competitive with the tackle situation that we have and the open competition,” Elway said. “The best player is going to play.”

2. Who will replace Chris Harris at cornerback?

After starting his career with four Pro Bowl nods, 20 interceptions and a Super Bowl win in Denver, Chris Harris left the Broncos to sign a two-year, $17 million contract with the Chargers during free agency. It won’t be easy to replace Harris, who had been one of the team’s best cornerbacks for nine seasons. Denver traded a fourth-round pick to the Jaguars in exchange for A.J. Bouye in March but there aren’t many proven options behind him on the depth chart. Bryce Callahan signed with the Broncos last spring and missed all of the 2019 season with a foot injury. Callahan was an excellent cornerback with the Bears but there’s no guarantee that he will return to his old form once he returns from injury. Denver used a third-round pick on Michael Ojemudia but Vic Fangio probably wouldn’t prefer to start a rookie. De’Vante Bausby and Duke Dawson had stretches of strong play last year but neither of them will command respect from an offense like Harris did. Despite uncertainty at the position, Fangio said he felt good about the team’s depth at cornerback after the draft: “We’ll have a good group to play with.” If Callahan stays healthy, he will be the favorite to start across from Bouye.

3. Will Drew Lock take advantage of being set up for success?

After going 4-1 as a starter last season, Lock earned the trust of the Broncos’ brass. To help the young QB succeed in his first full season as a starter, Elway set out this offseason to surround Lock with talent. On paper, it sure looks like he accomplished that goal. Denver signed Glasgow, one of the top guards in free agency, and drafted Cushenberry in the third round to shore up the offensive line. The Broncos also added Melvin Gordon, pairing him with fellow Pro Bowl RB Phillip Lindsay to give the offense a formidable rushing attack. Perhaps most notably, Elway selected WRs Jerry Jeudy (4.53 40-yard dash) and KJ Hamler (4.3) in the first two rounds of the draft. Then, as if all that wasn’t enough, Elway added one of Lock’s favorite targets in college — TE Albert Okwuegbunam (4.49) — in the fourth round. Adding those speedy receivers to an offense that already includes Pro Bowl WR Courtland Sutton and TE Noah Fant gives Lock no excuses. “I felt that offensively, for us to be able to compete and give Drew a chance to be successful … we had to get some speed and we had to get some talent on that offensive side and some explosiveness,” Elway said. Lock needs to prove that Denver made the right decision to fully commit to him, opting to pass on Cam Newton and Jameis Winston during free agency. If Lock struggles in Year 2, it won’t be because his supporting cast let him down.

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Deadline approaches for Broncos to make a decision on Garett Bolles 5th-year option

The Broncos have less than a week to decide if they are going to pick up Garett Bolles’ fifth-year contract option.

Teams that selected a player in the first round of the 2017 NFL Draft have the option to add a fifth year to that player’s contract for the 2021 season. The deadline to exercise fifth-year options is May 3.

So far, five players from 2017 have had their fifth-year options picked up: CB Marshon Lattimore, CB TreDavious White, OT Ryan Ramczyk, DE Myles Garrett and TE David Njoku.

In Denver, the Broncos will have to make a decision on left tackle Garett Bolles. Right now, it appears that Bolles is poised to start again in 2020 but it’s unclear if the team wants to commit to him beyond that.

“We have to get better [at tackle], there’s no question about it,” GM John Elway said after the draft. “That’s a position we have to get better at.”

Elway said Bolles will compete with Elijah Wilkinson for the starting job this offseason (assuming there will be an offseason with training camps).

“We still feel like we can be very competitive with the tackle situation that we have and the open competition. The best player is going to play.”

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Should the Broncos sign a veteran offensive tackle?

Jason Peters and Kelvin Beachum are available. Should the Broncos sign one of them?

The Broncos did not engage in trade talks with the Redskins about left tackle Trent Williams because Washington’s asking price was too high. Denver also opted to not select any offensive tackles in this year’s draft.

So, as of now, the Broncos are poised to have Garett Bolles and Elijah Wilkinson compete for the starting left tackle job this offseason.

That’s not exactly an ideal scenario given that Bolles has struggled with penalties throughout his career and Wilkinson is a swing guard/tackle.

Are there any other options?

On Sunday, The Gazette‘s Woody Paige tweeted that he believes Denver will bring in a free agent veteran offensive tackle. Paige pointed out that Kelvin Beachum (31) played under offensive line coach Mike Munchak with the Steelers and Jason Peters (38) is also available. Cordy Glenn (31) remains a free agent as well.

Would any of those players be a better option than Bolles? Last year, Bolles was penalized 10 times and allowed four sacks. Beachum was penalized seven times and allowed four sacks in three fewer games.

Peters was penalized nine times and allowed three sacks in the same amount of games as Beachum. Glenn only started five games last year and he wasn’t penalized at all but he did allow three sacks.

Simply judging from the numbers, it doesn’t appear that any of those free agents would be much of an upgrade.

Should the Broncos take a shot on one of those veteran tackles? Voice your opinion by voting in the poll below:

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Broncos say Elijah Wilkinson and Garett Bolles will compete at left tackle

Elijah Wilkinson and Garett Bolles will compete for the Broncos’ starting left tackle job this offseason.

The Denver Broncos selected two offensive linemen in the draft but neither of them were an offensive tackle. During a post-draft Zoom conference call with reporters on Saturday evening, Broncos general manager John Elway said Elijah Wilkinson and Garett Bolles will compete for the left tackle job this offseason.

“It’ll be an open competition at the left tackle with Eli and Garett Bolles,” Elway said. “We just didn’t feel like we were in a situation to where we could add to that. I think with where we were and what our game plan was, the tackle never fell for us as far as something we thought that there was a player there that could help us at that position.

“We still feel like we can be very competitive with the tackle situation that we have and the open competition. The best player is going to play.”

Wilkinson has been Denver’s top backup swing tackle/guard over the last two seasons. He filled in for an injured Ja’Wuan James at right tackle last year and allowed eight sacks in 15 games (12 starts), according to STATS LLC.

Bolles has been the Broncos’ left tackle since 2017 and he has struggled with holding penalties and inconsistent performances. If he doesn’t beat out Wilkinson for the left tackle job this offseason, Bolles will probably be nearing the end of his tenure in Denver.

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3 players Broncos should try to trade during the NFL draft

Broncos should try to trade these three players during the 2020 NFL Draft.

The Denver Broncos are scheduled to have 10 picks in the draft this year, including five picks in the first three rounds. With so much draft capital, the Broncos will probably trade several picks to move up the board several times during the draft.

As they attempt to make trades, the Broncos should consider including these three players in negotiations. (In addition to adding value to trades, Denver will also need to create some roster spots for undrafted free agents.)

1. LT Garett Bolles

Bolles has done a great job staying healthy but he hasn’t done a great job playing mistake-free football. If the Broncos add an offensive tackle early in the draft, getting a late-round pick in a trade for Bolles would make sense.

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Projecting Broncos’ OL depth chart before the NFL draft

Here’s a look at the Broncos’ offensive line depth chart going into the NFL draft.

With the NFL draft a little more than one week away, here’s a look at the Broncos’ projected offensive line depth chart as it stands right now:

Left Tackle	Left Guard	Center	Right Guard	Right Tackle
Garett Bolles	Dalton Risner	Patrick Morris	Graham Glasgow	Ja’Wuan James
Calvin Anderson	Tyler Jones	Austin Schlottmann	Elijah Wilkinson	Jake Rodgers
Ka’John Armstrong		Nico Falah		Quinn Bailey

Many fans will point out that Bolles is a weak link but he has done a good job staying healthy and he still has a year left on his team-friendly contract. Denver will probably draft a tackle but the team could select a mid-round prospect to groom behind Bolles instead of drafting an early-round prospect.

The Broncos also need a longterm answer at center (or a right guard, if Glasgow ends up playing center). It wouldn’t be surprising to see Denver select another center/guard, a player similar to Glasgow.

To recap: the Broncos need help at center and left tackle on the o-line.

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Broncos not rushing to make decision on Garett Bolles’ 5th-year option

The Broncos still have plenty of time to make a decision on Garett Bolles’ fifth-year option.

The Broncos still have two months until they need to decide on Garett Bolles’ contract status for the 2021 season.

Because Bolles was selected by Denver in the first round of the 2017 NFL draft, his contract includes a fifth-year option. The Broncos appear to be in no rush to make a decision on that option.

Denver general manager John Elway said at the NFL combine last week that the team has not yet made a decision on Bolles’ option, according to The Athletic‘s Nicki Jhabvala. Bolles has had some poor performances with the Broncos but the team’s staff has praised his ability to stay healthy.

“One thing about Garett, he was available,” Elway said during his end-of-season press conference on Dec. 30. “He was there every play. I don’t think he missed a play this year. We talked about availability — he was there. He got off to a slow start, but I think that he continued to get better and better and better as the year went on.”

Given how Elway appreciates Bolles’ ability to stay on the field, it wouldn’t be surprising to see the tackle have his fifth-year option picked up.

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