The No. 1 offensive line in the AFC doesn’t just finish each other’s sentences. Heck, no. They finish each other’s plates.
“Shoot, I’ve had the whole line over to my house,” Broncos center Luke Wattenberg told me with a grin.
“And we all kind of hang out with each other throughout the offseason. We have O-line dinners every week during the season.”
They’ll huddle up and watch Thursday Night Football, usually. If Wattenberg isn’t playing in the game and breaking spirits, he’s sitting down with his linemates and watching it while breaking bread.
“It’s (sometimes) at some people’s house,” the 27-year-old blocker continued. “(Or at) Ocean Prime, at some steakhouses every once in a while. So it’s fun.”
“Who gets to pick the spot?” I asked.
“We usually go through (a rotation),” Wattenberg replied. “One of us pays each week.
“And we bond a lot. I mean, all we do is sit there and talk.”
Oh, it showed, brother. It showed.
The Broncos’ full squad reports for training camp 2025 on Tuesday, marking the unofficial end of a Front Range summer and the official start of hopes anew.
Denver’s postseason drought is dead. Bo Nix has the cool of a franchise quarterback and the swagger of a star. There’s a proven weapon at tight end. There’s depth in the running back room.
One of the league’s top defenses somehow got faster, stronger and deeper in the spring. On paper, the 2025 Broncos have all the ingredients to make a serious Super Bowl run. And the best collection of NFL hog molies west of Philadelphia is hellbent on cooking up something special.
“Yeah, we talk about it all the time,” said Wattenberg, who eventually won Lloyd Cushenberry’s old gig and made 13 regular-season starts at center last fall. “You know, the whole team goes through the O-line. And if we’re not on, then the team’s not on. So that’s a point (run game coordinator) Zach Strief makes all the time.”
The Broncos gave up one sack or fewer eight times last fall. No shock: They went 8-0 in those games
And talk about a flipped script. During the Russell Wilson Era in ’22 and ’23, the Broncos posted only five games in which they surrendered a sack or fewer. Denver was 3-2 in those tilts.
ESPN.com’s analytics last fall rated the Broncos’ offensive line tops among NFL units in rush-block win rate and No. 1 in pass-block win rate.
“Hopefully we can just build on last year,” offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi reflected last month, “and continue to be a dominant (offensive) line.”
Pro Football Focus handed Wattenberg an 82.0 pass-blocking grade last fall, good for second among all NFL centers. If that’s the “weak link,” so to speak, you’re running out of chain.
“(Luke) did a really good job coming in in Year 1,” Broncos head coach Sean Payton said recently. “I think you’re going to see an ascension. He’s exceptionally smart. I like his frame. He loves football. So I think that first year (of) full-time starting is going to benefit him greatly.”
Even in a QB-coach league, some eternal verities never change. The best rosters are still built inside-out.
Without Wattenberg, Quinn Meinerz, Ben Powers, Mike McGlinchey and Garett Bolles, Nix would’ve spent last fall running a mile — and running for his life — in Caleb Williams’ shoes.
“I think the most important thing to being comfortable is game experience,” Wattenberg reflected. “Which I (didn’t have) a lot of (before 2024) …
“I’m super grateful for every single game rep that I get. And that’s been a huge, huge help.”
Actually, Wattenberg is something of an expert when it comes to this whole ingredients thing, too. Turns out the Broncos’ first-team center is a wanna-be chef on the side. A baby “The Bear.”
The offensive line’s Thursday night dinner rotation last fall included a stop at Chez Luke.
“I was able to cook for everybody when they came over to my house,” Wattenberg said.
“What’d you make?” I wondered.
“Tacos. I did carne asada, carnitas. I did a bunch of Mexican food …”
For Wattenberg, the chef thing’s always been a snap.
“I just kind of picked it up when I was younger,” he said, “and I haven’t stopped. So that’s one thing I really do enjoy, is cooking.”
His QB1 took note.
Last Christmas, as a gift, Nix bought each of his linemen, including Wattenberg, a Traeger smoker grill. Once you’ve tasted playoff football, the second bite is even sweeter.
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