Specifically, the Broncos lost left guard Ben Powers to a biceps tear early in the season. Then Powers’ backup, Matt Peart, went out with the same injury, which hurt a lot of the cohesion up front that helps determine Wattenberg’s grade. The Broncos went through a stretch of games where they were playing two more backup lineman, so it isn’t surprising that it took a while for everything to come together. By the end of the season, though, the Broncos had a full complement up front, including All-Pros Quinn Meinerz at guard and Garrett Bolles at tackle.
