{"id":110971,"date":"2025-06-07T10:41:15","date_gmt":"2025-06-07T10:41:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/110971\/"},"modified":"2025-06-07T10:41:15","modified_gmt":"2025-06-07T10:41:15","slug":"broncos-quinn-meinerz-designated-as-a-top-three-guard-in-the-nfl","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/110971\/","title":{"rendered":"Broncos’ Quinn Meinerz designated as a top-three guard in the NFL"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Denver Broncos had one of the best offensive lines in the NFL in 2024 as they helped keep Bo Nix as clean as possible throughout his rookie campaign. The group of Quinn Meinerz, Garett Bolles, Mike McGlinchey, Ben Powers and Luke Wattenberg took the league by storm with their performance, and let everyone know that they\u2019re here to stay.<\/p>\n

Denver allowed just 1.4 sacks per game in 2024, the fourth-best mark in the league<\/a>. Part of that is thanks to Nix\u2019s athleticism and craftiness to escape the pocket, but a lot of the credit is to the line.<\/p>\n

Side note, the offensive line looks a lot better when the quarterback isn\u2019t running around like a chicken with its head cut off when he sees that his first read isn\u2019t open.<\/p>\n

Meinerz was the top dog on the offensive line a season ago, as he was nominated to the All-Pro First-team. The Broncos took a big swing on the young guard out of the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater by signing him to a 4-year, $80 million contract before the season, and the bet paid off instantly. Heading into 2025, he\u2019s getting his respect as one of the best guards in the league.<\/p>\n

Pro Football Focus (PFF) recently dropped its top-32 guards across the NFL<\/a> heading into the season, and Meinerz slotted in at No. 3 overall, right behind Atlanta\u2019s Chris Lindstrom and Chicago\u2019s (formerly Kansas City\u2019s) Joe Thuney.<\/p>\n

Ranking the Top 10 guards in the league today \ud83d\udee1\ufe0f pic.twitter.com\/blqh6BslLe<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 PFF (@PFF) June 6, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n

Meinerz had an overall PFF grade of 88.2 in 2024 (third overall), with an 87.2 run blocking grade (third) and an 80.3 pass blocking grade (sixth). He was the only guard in the entire league to have at least an 80 in both run blocking and pass blocking grade, and only allowed one sack in his 1,089 snaps at right guard (he didn\u2019t play a single snap at any of the other four spots on the line).<\/p>\n

For the rest of the AFC West, the next-highest ranked guard was Kansas City\u2019s Trey Smith, who came in at No. 7 overall on the list. Las Vegas\u2019s Dylan Parham slotted in at No. 26 and Los Angeles\u2019s Mekhi Becton rounded out the division rankings at No. 27.<\/p>\n

Meinerz has quickly turned into one of the highest-value draft picks made by George Paton and the Broncos organization recently, as he came out of nowhere from his DIII college to become one of the NFL\u2019s top lineman. When he was selected with the 98th overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft, not a lot of fans knew his name. Now, everyone knows who\u2019s sporting the belly and keeping his quarterback clean.<\/p>\n

PFF recently ranked the Broncos\u2019 roster as a top-10 unit<\/a> in the entire league, but also gave Nix a ranking that\u2019s a little lower<\/a> than some fans like to see.<\/p>\n

Follow @trent_finnegan2<\/a><\/p>\n

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