Sports

Broncos' run game revival in 2026 depends on one unexpected player

Predominantly Orange · Jul 21, 2026 14:00 · 3 min read

Broncos' run game revival in 2026 depends on one unexpected player — Denver Broncos guard Ben Powers | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The Denver Broncos run game was below-average in 2025, and its potential revival in 2026 hinges on a very underrated player.

The Denver Broncos sport one of the most talented offenses in the NFL, featuring household names like Garett Bolles, Quinn Meinerz, Bo Nix, and Jaylen Waddle. The group is also filled with other very competent players like Courtland Sutton, Luke Wattenberg, Mike McGlinchey, and Evan Engram.

It's also a unit that was smartly built through free agency, the NFL Draft, and trades. Pound for pound, there might not be many units across the NFL more solidly built and more talented thancwhat the Broncos have ahead of the 2026 season.

With that said, there was a lot of meat left on the bone last year in the run game, and while it might seem obvious what the solution is, there is more that meets the eye here and proves that the run game does depend on a very underrated player for 2026.

Denver Broncos left guard Ben Powers is flying under the radar...

I kept this exercise rather simple, and while it could be more complex than this, yards are a pretty telling statistic. The Broncos have simply not gained enough rushing yards in recent years. While things like success rate and yards per carry are meaningful, the below stats do indicate just how important left guard Ben Powers was to the run game success:

With Powers and J.K. Dobbins, Weeks 1-5: 140.6 YPG

No Powers but with Dobbins, Weeks 6-10: 116.6 YPG

No Powers and no Dobbins, Weeks 11-15: 96.8 YPG

With Powers and no Dobbins: Weeks 16-18: 115 YPG

So, here is what I did - I took the four separate chunks of games for the Broncos in 2025 with a variation of Powers and Dobbins being in and out of the lineup, as both players missed significant time last year. As you can see, the Broncos averaged the most yards per game across Weeks 1-5 when both Powers and Dobbins were in the lineup. They were at nearly 141 yards per game.

But as you can see in the next five games without Powers but with Dobbins, the Broncos gained 24 fewer yards on the ground, and the run game then proceeded to crater without both Powers and Dobbins, which came in Weeks 11-15.

But over the last few games of the season when Powers returned, the Broncos' run game did tick up a notch and got back over 100 yards per game. It's important to note, though, that in Weeks 16 and 17, Powers was still being ramped up from his injury, as he played 34.8 percent of the snaps in Week 16 and 56.9 percent of the snaps in Week 17, finishing the year in Week 18 playing 100 percent of the snaps.

Of those final three games, the Broncos gained the fewest rushing yards in Week 16, which was the lowest snap count that Powers played in that stretch. Powers is in the final year of a four-year deal he signed with the Broncos back in the 2023 offseason, the first of the Sean Payton era. He joined McGlinchey as the two new faces along the offensive line in 2023.

Powers had also not missed a start in the three previous seasons before his biceps injury in 2025, so he was the epitome of reliable. Along the Broncos offensive line, he does fly under the radar a bit, as both Bolles and Meinerz are top-3 at their positions, McGlinchey has been able to solve the Broncos previous years-long right tackle issue, and Wattenberg recently got a large extension and also touches the ball every play, so he's always in the middle of something.

However, Powers is the only starting offensive lineman not under contract beyond 2026, so it does seem like the Broncos are preparing to go in a different direction after this year, as the team not only re-signed Alex Palczewski, but also took Kage Casey in the 2026 NFL Draft.

And while the Broncos will need to get a bit cheaper along the offensive line at some point, Powers' value to the offensive line is obvious when you look at the above stats, even if it's not obvious on the surface.