Mile High Report
How did Garett Bolles do in the year he earned a big-time contract extension?
If anyone on the Denver Broncos roster deserved to be in the NFL Playoffs this year, Garett Bolles is probably at the top of that list (no disrespect to Courtland Sutton). What Bolles has been through ever since he was drafted by the Broncos and the player that he has become is one of the better success stories currently in the league.
His early years in Denver were marred by inconsistency in play and a hefty amount of holding penalties. He was booed at and marked as a bust. And while those weren’t necessarily baseless claims, they were harsh.
Now what you have in Bolles in nearly a completely different player. He’s a true leader that fights for his teammates constantly. He’s a competitor. He is was one of the best left tackles in the league this year and a huge thing is that his penalty count is not so much an issue anymore. And I would argue that this season was only a cumulation of the tremendous progress he has shown over the last three to four years in particular.
Garett Bolles played and started in every game this year, the fifth time he’s done that in his career. His snaps totaled 1,068 (15th-most among offensive tackles), 97% of all Broncos offensive snaps.
He gave up 20 QB pressures, two QB hits, and two sacks on the year.
His accepted penalty numbers tied a career high at 12, but only six of those were holding calls, unlike in his rookie year were 10 of his 12 accepted penalties were holds. And you can take a look at my short breakdown of this year’s holding calls here:
I thought Garett Bolles did more than enough this year to earn him a spot on the Pro Bowl roster (whatever that means nowadays) and to earn that contract extension that he was hoping for. And I’m also sure that this year had just one of at least three NFL Playoff games that he’ll be playing in. Bolles looked as good as he ever has, at least according to the eye test.
The small technique issues that’s been holding him back seemed to be fixed. That’s a testament to both him and the work that offensive line coach Zach Strief have put in. The issues I’ve been most concerned about mainly came from his pass protection. He had a knack, and still does occasionally, of turning his hips out to the defender too early, giving up the edge and a path to the QB. He also would strike with his hands in more of a looping motion rather than straight out, which caused him to get a hold of the shoulder pads and resulting in the bulk of his holding calls.
Those rarely happened this season.
The discipline Bolles had on Bo Nix’s blind side was impressive and one of the...
