Why Graham Glasgow should be benched

As someone who played offensive line in college, I am keenly aware of how much of a role familiarity with the guys next to you on the line plays in unit effectiveness both for run blocking and pass protection. That being said, there comes a time when a change needs to be made.

As of right now the Denver Broncos have the third most runs behind right guard in the NFL (27), but those runs are gaining 1.30 yards per carry which is dead last in the NFL by far. I didn’t notice this being a problem until Quinn Meinerz got hurt, so maybe the coaches are just praying for Quinn to get healthy so they can go ahead and put Glasgow back on the bench. But those sickening numbers have to make you wonder why Netane Muti has not been tried yet as a replacement for Glasgow.

Muti is a much better run blocker than Glasgow and Graham appears to have gotten worse as a run blocker year-over-year. The only reason that I can see for sticking with Glasgow so far is that he must be THAT much better in pass pro than Muti. According to SISdatahub.com, Glasgow has blown three blocks on 185 pass blocking snaps so far this year, allowed one sack and been called for holding once. For comparison he allowed 4 sacks and blew 8 blocks on his 240 pass blocking snaps in 2021.

Meinerz was only on the field so far for seven run plays and the Broncos gained 49 yards on those seven runs - 7.00 ypc. The shortest of those runs gained three yards. The others gained 13, 10, 8, 8, 5, 5 and 5 yards. That means that when Glasgow is in the game the Broncos have gained 513 yards on 125 carries - 4.10 ypc. It also means that every run for no gain or negative yards has happened with Glasgow on the field (not to imply that they are all his fault). The Broncos have had 23 runs this season gain zero yards or lose yards. That’s 17.4 percent of our rushing attempts.

Honestly, if Tom Compton were healthy, I’m certain he would have been put in at guard to replace Glasgow at this point.