Broncos Player Grades from Ugly Win Over Jets

Patrick Surtain II | CB | Grade: 79.4

Surtain had a tough assignment with Garrett Wilson, but he took him out of the game and at one point seemed to make the Jets' receiver quit on his offense. When Surtain plays at this level, everything clicks with the Broncos' defense. 

Ja’Quan McMillian | CB | Grade: 77.2

There has not been a better corner for the Broncos this season than McMillian. Every single week, he has been a model of consistency with his play and has put in the work to improve in areas where he needed it. 

Brandon Jones | S | Grade: 76.7

There is a correlation between the Broncos using Jones and Hufanga in ways that best fit them and the defense clicking and approaching its potential. Jones can fly all over the defense, but when he works as a high safety, his quick reads give him even more range to make an impact. 

Riley Moss | CB | Grade: 75.8

Moss put together a great game, and although there were some lapses in coverage, he was able to bounce back and prevent it from turning into a big play for the Jets. He also showed why he remains the starter with how well he worked downhill, especially against the run. 

Justin Strnad | LB | Grade: 75.1

There have been issues with Strnad throughout the season, but he has significantly improved his play since 2024. His level of play is commensurate with that of a starting linebacker. 

Garett Bolles | LT | Grade: 74.9

Bolles has been the Broncos' best offensive lineman and one of the best tackles in the NFL to start the season. There are some lapses, especially as a run blocker, but he is finding more snap-to-snap consistency than he has ever before in his career. 

The Negative

Matt Peart | LG | Grade: 41.5

The first half from Peart was awful, earning him a grade of 17.5, but he bounced back in the second half. While there were still issues, Denver can live with Peart starting for Ben Powers if he can play the way he did in the second half. 

Quinn Meinerz | RG | Grade: 43.1

Meinerz and Peart are almost complete opposites, with Meinerz having a first-half grade of 64.3, but was under 21.9 for the second half. This has been the tale of Meinerz for the season, where he has yet to put together a complete game. 

J.K. Dobbins | RB | Grade: 43.9

The upfront blocking didn’t help Dobbins, but he wasn't playing as fast as he had in previous weeks, and his vision wasn’t the same, either. Maybe it was jet lag for Dobbins, but something was off for this game. 

Troy Franklin | WR | Grade: 44.7

Franklin has struggled to give the Broncos multiple good games in a row, resulting in a roller-coaster of a season so far. The biggest issue has been his struggles against man coverage. Franklin has eight catches for under 40 yards on the season against man coverage, with four catches and 19 yards coming against the Jets' man coverage. 

Marvin Mims Jr. | WR | Grade: 51.1

Mims has been a fine weapon for the offense, but the Broncos have struggled to get consistency out of him. He is a gadget player and has yet to demonstrate improvements as a receiver beyond that, despite the preseason hype. 

Mike McGlinchey | RT | Grade: 53.2

While McGlinchey wasn’t as drastically different from the first half to the second half like Peart and Meinerz, he also had a tale of two halves. The first half was good play from the right tackle for the most part, but he struggled a lot more in the second half. His strength is typically his run-blocking, but that has been rough this season. 

Other Noteworthy Grades

Alex Singleton | LB | Grade: 52.1

Singleton had a great game against the Jets. His play in coverage was clean and consistent. Even if the Jets had better quarterback play, Singleton wasn’t giving his coverage matchups much space to breathe. 

Malcolm Roach | DL | Grade: 73.6

The first game back from Roach was a great one, and he was a force up front, which the Jets' offensive line struggled to handle. While he was more of an interior pass rusher last year, this was his best game as a run defender since coming to Denver. 

Nate Adkins | TE | Grade: 73.2

Adkins has his issues, but he has quickly cemented himself as the Broncos' best blocking tight end in the room and can make some plays as a receiver. One of the best play calls for the Broncos was the touchdown to Adkins, which was perfectly timed and well executed. 

Luke Wattenberg | C | Grade: 63.4

There have been issues this season with Wattenberg's level of play, but he delivered a good performance against the Jets. His biggest problem remains his run-blocking, where most of the issues for this game originated.

In fact, if we split this grade for run/pass, Wattenberg's run-blocking grade is below 20, with his pass-blocking grade in the 80s.