How Zach Strief, Broncos built offensive line development machine and why it might decide their AFC West fortunes

Zach Strief heard the play call and jumped on the radio The Broncos offensive line coach figured Sean Payton knew but he required to be sure The fourth quarter had already delivered chaos after all and it just kept coming Justin Strnad had just logged the biggest defensive play of the event last Sunday against the New York Giants Denver s offense took over at New York s -yard line with remaining and trailing by On first-and- quarterback Bo Nix and running back RJ Harvey couldn t link up down the sideline Behind the play though right tackle Mike McGlinchey had his right ankle rolled up on by Giants defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence and had to be attended to by trainers Payton called his next play in to Nix It featured the quarterback in the gun empty formation No help for the offensive line Strief buzzed the line coaches use to communicate throughout the championship Hey Coach you ve got Frank Crum in at right tackle His first play Strief explained What Payton responded You ve got Frank in Strief reiterated With the stoppage Payton had a beat to consider his next move Right he commented Payton doubled down Crum the second-year undrafted free agent out of Wyoming jumped out of his stance at the snap threw his hands at Kayvon Thibodeaux and then anchored down when the No overall pick tried to bull rush him one-on-one Didn t get anywhere near the quarterback McGlinchey declared proudly Nix calmly stepped up in the pocket and hit Troy Franklin for yards Then Crum held his water as Nix hard-counted and Tibodeaux jumped offside First and goal One more quality pass set followed and then Nix threw a -yard touchdown to Harvey McGlinchey returned the next series and finished the battle through pain The Broncos of program came back and beat New York - I texted Frank after the tournament and just revealed Hey we don t win the championship without that drive McGlinchey explained Impressive impressive stuff Denver Broncos wide receiver Troy Franklin is congratulated by guard Quinn Meinerz after scoring on a two point conversion during the second half of an NFL football event against the New York Giants in Denver Sunday Oct AP Photo Jack Dempsey You re fresh off the bench with nothing right guard Quinn Meinerz marveled at Crum who had been inactive the first six games of the year and had played a total of three garbage-time snaps at right tackle in his pro career It was phenomenal announced Alex Palczewski who would normally be the next man in at right tackle except he s now the Broncos starting left guard after Ben Powers tore his bicep in Week and Matt Peart tore his MCL in Week It was more than that Crum s brief appearance combined with Palczewski s stout debut at left guard against a terrific Giants front provided a stress test for one of the majority vital elements of Payton s building project in Denver An offensive line maturation operation that s hummed often in the background for greater part of the last two-plus seasons and now looks like it will play a vital role in whether the Broncos can make a run at an AFC West title It s reliably been valued in Sean s programs Strief who played for Payton for years and is now in his fourth season coaching for him recounted The Post Ongoing skill progress The great thing and the fortunate thing for us is we have a room full of guys who really care and they work their tails off and it s significant to them Continuity tested The Broncos top offensive linemen have forged a deep bond over the past two-plus seasons They ve played together A lot Denver s only seen one starter depart the roster since Payton took over center Lloyd Cushenberry after the season That fall the same quintet started the first games of the year and played of the season s snaps together before McGlinchey broke ribs in a friendly fire happening and missed the finale Last year wasn t so fortunate on the injury front McGlinchey and center Luke Wattenberg each did a stint on short-term injured reserve But the starting five played of the company s snaps together and because of the way the injuries lined up they usually had four preferred starters available They got off to a hot start this year too as the top five played all but a handful of late-game garbage-time snaps against Cincinnati and two reps against Philadelphia together through five weeks Over Payton s first games here the Broncos played of their snaps with all five preferred starters on the field and all but snaps not counting end-of-game sequences in blowouts with at least four preferred starters according to analysis done by The Post The only exceptions came in snaps in Week and all of Week Until Sunday Related Articles Von Miller applauds Broncos for honoring late Demaryius Thomas I thought it was perfect How Broncos fiery Malcolm Roach helped rally troops in Giants win Roach dependably talking Broncos DC Vance Joseph on late Riley Moss PI penalty vs Giants I wouldn t coach it any differently How Bo Nix tweaked Broncos practice-week review to get offense on the same page Sean Payton says he in no way shape or form was trying to diss Russell Wilson in Sunday comments McGlinchey has practiced this week and is in line to be back in the lineup against Dallas but with Powers and Peart out for extended periods and Palczewski now playing full-time this will be the longest stretch so far under Payton in which any injury means dipping down the depth chart That naturally means having to rely on less-proven and less-heralded players The Broncos planned to lean heavily on their veteran expensive offensive line to get where they want to go this fall They have a still-young quarterback and a set of skill position players who are good but not overwhelming This is a organization built to control the line of scrimmage and win from there All of Bolles Powers Meinerz and McGlinchey are among the top- paid at their position Only Wattenberg is on his rookie deal Behind them are a pair of undrafted tackles in Palcho and Crum seventh-rounder Alex Forsyth and journeyman Calvin Throckmorton That the returns on depth so far are good Meinerz says is a testament to Payton and the front office but perhaps Strief more than anybody Signing my contract signing Ben s contract and Mike and GB there s not going to be a ton of draft picks that are going to be given to the o-line coach to pick guys Meinerz narrated The Post So he s done an incredible job of evaluating talent in the undrafted space and particular of the late-round picks Not only evaluating talent but also building a beliefs and a foundation that allows for those types of players to build and become technical Palcho power After Powers got hurt in Philadelphia Peart was a natural replacement He d played the left side throughout camp while Palczewski manned the right side Once the Broncos got home from London and realized the severity of Peart s knee injury though the conversation turned to Palcho The simple goal given Powers is looking at missing somewhere in the neighborhood of - more games is to get the five best players on the field So Strief came to him and petitioned him to switch sides Mind you it s not like Palczewski s been playing right since training camp He s been almost exclusively on the right side in the NFL and through six years and collegiate starts at Illinois I don t know that there s a harder thing to ask a lineman to do than go from he s a right tackle OK to go play left guard Strief noted It s about as hard as it gets The conversation about him and making that call to have him play was we knew he s mentally as tough as can be He s physically tough and he s going to go fight Smart tough physical is a really good combination for offensive linemen Alex Palczewski and Frank Crum of the Denver Broncos work through drills during practice at the SAP Performance Facility in Santa Clara California on Thursday Aug Photo by AAron Ontiveroz The Denver Post Meinerz flipped back and forth chosen his rookie year and understands the challenge During Wednesday s practice last week he checked on Palczewski a couple of times just to make sure he wasn t getting bogged down I knew what he was going through mentally Meinerz announced Imagine trying to drive a car on the other side of the road Or going through your day seeing only via a mirror Or the offensive line room s preferred analogy It s like trying to wipe with the other hand Meinerz noted You can get the job done but it feels weird Might need to wash your hands a couple times Palczewski chuckled The Broncos tapped him for the job though because they know he can handle particular mess It just shows the trust that they have in me Palczewski stated Another big thing for me that I just kept writing in my notebook was Be you Like there s going to be a lot of stuff I ve only played this spot for a week So just play with aggression Play hard Play with high effort Play to the echo of the whistle A lot of stuff will work itself out Under the radar The Broncos landed Palczewski and Crum in post-draft free agency consecutive years in and respectively Both made the -man roster as rookies but each had inauspicious first seasons Palczewski spent most of of his first year on injured reserve Crum had such a rough go his first training camp that after he made the band general manager George Paton acknowledged He s still raw but added you don t get a large number of - guys or whatever he is that can bend like he does and has the power that he does There was a natural explanation for the struggle He hardly had to pass-protect at Wyoming The drop-back passing competition was somewhat foreign to me he reported The Post this week Crum had all the physical attributes a club could want but his senior year tape at left tackle was dotted with him getting pushed backward Strief though liked what he saw earlier in Crum s Laramie tenure when he played right tackle He could brace get himself squared up with his rusher and he could anchor down So you start saying OK he s got that natural ability Strief revealed Palcho has that natural ability Now we just refine it teach them how to move and get to it None of it s magic It s basic body mechanics and fundamentals But it s just processing it so that they can understand it Frank Crum of the Denver Broncos blocks Jonathan Garvin of the San Francisco ers during the third quarter at Levi s Stadium in Santa Clara California on Saturday Aug Photo by AAron Ontiveroz The Denver Post Both players came to Denver for pre-draft visits Strief Payton and the Broncos put the hard sell on Here s what you do well Here s what you don t If you don t get drafted you re going to have options But sign here and you ll get coached hard and put on a plan we believe in What s fascinating to me with both of those guys being available is they re both good athletes above the line athletes Strief commented Frank s an exceptional athlete They re both gritty as can be So I don t know how a guy like that slides I just know that our job in the building is to make everyone feel the desire We had high grades on both of those guys way higher than undrafted free agents It s taken time but both are starting to show that progress present value and future upside So much so in fact that Payton communicated reporters after the cutdown to players in August that three teams called to inquire about trading for Crum That ceiling is high he stated then A growing situation There is a simple truth to life on the line of scrimmage Strief says If the man across from you can power through you he s going to That s why it came as no surprise Thibodeaux bull-rushed Crum on the first snap Sunday A smart opening test but also a basic law of the trenches We love guys that can anchor Strief explained If you don t get bull-rushed in this league you re of the way there That is the physical bedrock for playing offensive line in Payton s system In fact when linemen assessment for offseason workouts each spring they start in the same spot On the grass without their shoes We want them to understand where weight should sit in their feet where they can create power Strief stated It starts literally that elementary Every season I tell the vets all the time I know you wish you could come back and just be where you were at last season but it doesn t work like that McGlinchey arrived here in with five years under his belt as a first-round pick and a new million contract Bolles had already made multiple Pro Bowls Meinerz was an ascending participant heading into his third year They speedily bought what Strief a first-time leader of an offensive line room was selling He s helped everybody see a clear picture of what he s looking for what works in this league and then not only ferociously coaching the technique and the body positions and all that stuff but he coaches the mind McGlinchey commented You don t really get that a ton at the NFL level because there s so much stuff going on that you have to cover in a day Bo Nix of the Denver Broncos operates during the fourth quarter of the Broncos - win over the Tennessee Titans at Empower Field at Mile High on Sunday Sept Photo by AAron Ontiveroz The Denver Post Strief knows the time crunch too So he decided early on he needed to prioritize It might sound strange but with smart players he figured there was a simple part of the process he could slim down considerably Snap-to-snap assignments I don t want to spend all my time telling you who to block he reported I can tell my mom I could teach my mom who to point to and who she s supposed to block I can t teach her how to do it So we spend a lot of time on technique We assume they know who to block And so we spend a lot of time learning the fundamentals and mastering the fundamentals Fundamentals and mentals You realize that all the work you do and the positions you put yourself in your body is ready for it McGlinchey noted Your body is dependably ready for it And your technique is dependably there The only thing that gets in the way of that is if your mind gets in the way of that It doesn t matter if you re McGlinchey in your eighth year with games under your belt or Crum getting thrown into a hot spot for the first time There s a pretty detailed process of evolving those guys Strief announced I think if they commit to it it s all technically sound and fundamentally sound If they commit to it and invest in it it creates a guy who can withstand the NFL It s helped create depth that the Broncos think can withstand the attrition of an NFL season Perhaps they ll still survey the sector as the commerce deadline approaches in a couple of weeks They certainly hope Crum can wait in the wings as a swing tackle without definitely being forced into extensive action At the very least Denver looks like it has short-term depth and intriguing long-term options in a pair of undrafted tackles who have taken teaching learned from veterans and now might have a big say in the club s fortunes this fall At the end of the day how you get into this league is irrelevant Strief commented It s what you do once you re here Both of those guys I know there was interest in Frank coming out of the preseason People perhaps didn t even bother with Palcho because they know we re not going to let a participant like that out of the building Both of those guys I think when we look back at their careers they re each going to have really productive careers Continuity up front The Broncos offensive line has operated with relative stability during the Sean Payton era with their five preferred starters playing a majority of the snaps together That will change now with Ben Powers out for an extended period Here s a look at the percentage of snaps the Broncos have had their preferred starters play together since Totals Five starters Four starters Three starters Minus end-of-game subs in blowouts Want more Broncos news Sign up for the Broncos Insider to get all our NFL analysis