ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — Quinn Meinerz had already held one block long enough for wide receiver Troy Franklin to squeeze through the wall, but he wanted to leave an exclamation mark. So the Broncos’ right guard pivoted to his right and, in one swift movement, launched Atlanta Falcons safety Jessie Bates through the air. Franklin probably would have skirted into the end zone without Meinerz’s punishing block, but what fun would that have been?
Earlier in the Week 11 game, Meinerz had pancaked linebacker Nate Landman at the end of a 15-yard screen to running back Javonte Williams. He was among the horde of Broncos teammates who finished the drive by literally lifting Williams into the end zone after pushing him for 5 yards. On a screen-pass touchdown to receiver Marvin Mims Jr. in the second quarter, he sprinted toward the goal line and once again blasted Landman, the former University of Colorado linebacker, to help Mims finish his burst across the goal line.
Mims for 6 🙌 @Broncos are racking up points in the 1st half!
📺: #ATLvsDEN on FOX
📱: https://t.co/waVpO8ZBqG pic.twitter.com/BjfOmx7twm— NFL (@NFL) November 17, 2024
“I don’t like to be in space a lot. I am a guard,” Meinerz said. “I like being in a little box. But we detail those plays really well, which is a credit to (offensive line) coach Zach Strief, knowing our landmarks and our aiming points and our strategy regarding those plays.”
It seemed that whenever the Broncos had an explosive play against the Falcons, Meinerz was down the field, starring in the highlight, throwing large humans around as if they were patio furniture. It was more of the same in Sunday’s victory against the Las Vegas Raiders. Take a play late in the third quarter, which began with quarterback Bo Nix pitching the ball to Mims on a sweep to the left. Meinerz slowed defensive tackle Jonah Laulu with a quick stab of his right arm and then moved downfield. He quickly reached linebacker Robert Spillane and launched the 230-pound linebacker skyward.
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When the Broncos gather as an offensive line group to watch plays like those the day after games, center Luke Wattenberg said, “We’re all laughing.”
“It’s a great time,” Wattenberg said. “Quinn’s such an explosive player and it’s super fun to watch.”
Meinerz has been the highest-graded offensive guard in the NFL the past two weeks, according to Pro Football Focus. Though those evaluations can be subjective, the punishing tape backs up the case for Denver’s fourth-year guard. After signing a four-year, $72 million contract just before the start of the season, which came with $45 million in guarantees, Meinerz is playing the best football of his career — no small feat after his impressive 2023 campaign — and could be in line to make his first Pro Bowl.
“He’s got such extraordinary strength and he plays hard,” Broncos offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi said. “There’s a reason why he got that contract. We feel like he’s one of the best guards in the NFL and we count on him a lot to win his battles. I love his aggressiveness and the way he finishes plays. He’s just a big part of any success we have.”
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As Meinerz has moved down the field with a dancer’s grace and a bulldozer’s force, he has looked like a player no longer carrying the burden of self-criticism. That wasn’t the case early this season. Meinerz shouldered the blame when the Broncos began 0-2 with one-possession losses to the Seattle Seahawks and Pittsburgh Steelers. He was named a team captain for the first time before the season, a role that stretched a player who acknowledges he isn’t always the most vocal. Meinerz said two weeks into the season he was “putting a lot of pressure on myself,” and it led to his losing track of his technique at times early in the season.
“His expectations are extremely high expectations, and they should be, because his ability is so high,” Broncos offensive line coach Zach Strief recently told The Athletic. “What he’s capable of is more than most people, and so he puts that on himself.”
The key for Strief and assistant offensive line coach Austin King was to help Meinerz quiet his mind. The drive to be great and the willingness to be accountable when he’s not are traits the Broncos love in Meinerz. But a quest for perfection in an imperfect game can also be a hindrance when it’s not channeled the right way.
“So with Quinn, who wants to be great and will put in that work, it’s just, ‘Hey, man. Go back to technique and go back to fundamentals,’” Strief told Meinerz. “‘Stop thinking about results. The results will work when you do that stuff well.’ … I think it’s very natural for players to feel like, ‘It’s game day and now I have to do more.’ Certainly, next year, that will be a big focus for me and Austin coming out of camp, saying like, ‘Hey, it’s no different.’”
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Strief also wanted to set the record straight. Meinerz wasn’t playing poorly at the start of the season. The Broncos had a rookie quarterback making his first two starts against tough defenses. They had young skill players still figuring out their way. Meinerz and left guard Ben Powers were playing alongside a new center, Wattenberg. Meinerz was still playing solid football. That he was so self-critical, at times to his detriment, was an illustration of the standard he has set.
“Quinn’s played outstanding for five weeks now,” Strief said even before the past two-week stretch in which Meinerz has been arguably the best guard in the NFL, “and he still comes to me every other week, saying, ‘I just feel like I’m not there.’ As a coach, you love that because it gives you the ability to keep growing that player. He’s not settling. That’s just in his nature. So you calm him down and you just say, ‘Just worry about being technically sound. When you are, no one beats you.’”
The linebackers, safeties and defensive linemen Meinerz has left in his wake during his latest period of punishment have been evidence of that.
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(Photo: AAron Ontiveroz / Getty Images)
