Garett Bolles concluded the 2025 season with his first-ever Pro Bowl and First-Team All-Pro selection after a brilliant season with Denver.

The 34-year-old posted a 94% pass block win rate, which ranks ninth among tackles on 630 pass-blocking reps as per ESPN. But the discrepancy in the sacks allowed stat is real.

“Pro Football Focus notably did not charge Bolles with any sacks allowed in 2025,” as per Josh Buckhalter of Heavy.com.

There’s an argument to be made for Garett Bolles to be, in fact, put higher on ESPN’s list as well.

As Lou Scataglia of Predominantly Orange noted, Bolles was criticized for having a 77.7%  run block win rate, the same as eighth-placed LT Andrew Thomas of the New York Giants, who was credited for his well-roundedness using the same metric.

Also, Sharp Football Analysis’s ranking of the best offensive lines in the NFL ranked Denver’s OL first. They gave a special mention to Garett Bolles, who played a “key role, leading all left tackles in pressure rate allowed (2.9%)”.

The differing evaluations of Bolles’ season also raise a broader question about how much of an offensive lineman’s success depends on the quarterback playing behind him.

Sean Payton’s explanation points towards the Bo Nix – Garett Bolles connection

Head coach Sean Payton explained last year that sacks are driven by both the offensive line and the quarterback. He noted that some QBs are just tough to protect because they hold the ball too long, according to Josh Buckhalter of Heavy.com.

He gave an example of QB Drew Brees, who avoided sacks by throwing out the ball fast, and this made everyone around him better, Payton noted.

This exact trait is what attracted the Broncos to Bo Nix during the pre-draft process, drawing comparisons to Brees.

“Perhaps, then, it is no surprise that Bolles had his best season in Nix’s second year,” Buckhalter concluded. “It also puts his ranking in ESPN’s poll in a different context, where the Broncos may not have penalized Bolles like other metrics, but his value is the same nonetheless.”

Whether Bolles allowed zero sacks or five, the consensus remains that 2025 was the finest season of his career. With Bo Nix entering another year under center, Denver will hope that partnership continues to anchor one of the NFL’s best offensive lines in 2026.