Quinn Meinerz has gone from a third-round pick to one of the league’s most decorated interior linemen in a hurry, and Pro Football Focus just put a sharper point on it.
The Broncos guard checked in at No. 2 in Dalton Wasserman’s 2026 guard rankings, trailing only Joe Thuney. That alone says plenty. But the more striking detail is that PFF’s own grading had Meinerz as the highest-graded guard in football last season.
“Now a two-time first-team All-Pro, Meinerz has become a dominant force on Denver's offensive line. He finished the 2025 season as the NFL's highest-graded guard, driven in large part by an elite 91.0 PFF run-blocking grade.
Meinerz is also a respectable pass protector on the league's best pass-blocking unit, allowing just three sacks on 797 pass-blocking snaps last season. Only one of those sacks came after Week 7.”
That kind of résumé is why Meinerz’s rise feels so fast and so complete. Denver drafted him in the third round in 2021, and it didn’t take long for him to force his way into the lineup. By his second season, he was a full-time starter, and he hasn’t missed a start in three straight years.
He’s built like a road grader and plays like one, too. Meinerz has been a force in the run game and has held up well in pass protection, which is a big reason his name now belongs in the same conversation as the NFL’s elite guards.
The ranking behind him only underscores how high PFF is on his trajectory. Thuney, who finished first, and Quenton Nelson, who landed just behind Meinerz, have combined for 12 Pro Bowls, six All-Pros, and four Super Bowl titles.
Both are on a Hall of Fame path. Meinerz is younger and earlier in his career, but the gap in résumé is what makes the comparison so eye-catching, not discouraging.
Over the past two seasons, Meinerz has already picked up a first-team All-Pro honor and a Pro Bowl nod, which came in 2025. He’s now a two-time first-team All-Pro, and the question hanging over his ascent is simple: if he’s already doing this at this level, how long before he’s mentioned with the all-time greats at the position?
His emergence also gives the Broncos’ 2021 draft class even more shine. That group remains the best of the George Paton era, with Patrick Surtain II and Jonathon Cooper also becoming defensive starters. Javonte Williams was part of that class as well before departing to the Dallas Cowboys.
For now, Meinerz is still building the case. But with the production, the durability and the accolades piling up, PFF’s latest ranking makes one thing hard to ignore: this is starting to look like the early stretch of a Hall of Fame career.
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