Garett Bolles, Broncos offensive tackle
The skinny: Bolles surprised many when he returned to the field only five days after suffering a lower-leg bruise in Denver’s Week 2 win. Then again, the rookie has surprised many with his play. The Broncos remade their offensive line to get bigger and meaner up front to better protect quarterback Trevor Siemian and jump-start their run game. The latter has improved more than the pass protection, but Bolles has held his own against some of the NFL’S elite pass rushers. Next up: reigning defensive player of the year Khalil Mack.
The background: The Broncos drafted Bolles in the first round to be their present and future at left tackle, a position left vacant when Russell Okung departed in free agency. Bolles played only one year of Division I college football and was a part of a relatively weak offensive line class in the 2017 draft. But through three weeks this season, Pro Football Focus has graded Bolles as the 31st-best tackle in the NFL overall and the 13th-best tackle in run blocking.
His take: “You have a new task every single week,” Bolles said. “You have a speed guy, you have a power guy or you have a guy that’s overall just an athlete. You just have to be prepared for everything every single day and just watch film to just continue to improve. I feel very comfortable. I feel like I’m in the right direction going into my first year, learning things and just being the best player I can be. I have a lot of great people around here that believe in me and that makes football fun, too.”
Their take: “They’ve competed against the speed rushers,” coach Vance Joseph said of the Broncos’ tackles. “That’s a huge issue in this league — blocking speed rushers every week. Obviously, Mack is a special player. With that being said, we have a game plan to block Mack. It won’t just be on those guys to block him one-on-one all the time. … It’s twofold. Schematically, we have to help those guys from time to time and the player has to play against that guy one-on-one from time to time.”