Can Mike Munchak fix the broken Broncos offensive line?

That’s the hope from fans as Munchak was hired away from the Pittsburgh Steelers, where he coached the offensive line from 2014-2018, to be Denver’s O-line coach.

Munchak was master of coaching up his group with the Steelers, turning them around in a huge way in terms of disallowing sacks. As first reported by Andrew Mason, in the 10 years before Munchak, Pittsburgh was the second-worst in the league in allowing sacks. During his five-year tenure, though, they improved to second-best.

All of those years came with Ben Roethlisberger — who’s difficult to sack — in the backfield, pointing to Munchak’s coaching being the main catalyst for change with the black and gold.

Roethlisberger was sacked an average of 38.6 times per year from 2004-2013, that dropped dramatically to 23 per season with Munchak in the Steel City. When looking at sack percentage — the number of times sacked when attempting to pass — “Big Ben” was sacked a shocking 10.4 percent of the time in 2007 and that number was never better than 6.3 percent pre-Munchak. With the star O-line coach, those numbers fell to an average of only 3.88 percent of the time.

What else helped contribute to the Steelers’ improvement over the last five seasons? They enjoyed consistency in terms of starters on the offensive line. Maurkice Pouncey would’ve started all five years at center, but he was injured and missed the 2015 season. Next to him at the guard spots, Ramon Foster and David DeCastro started all five years, too.

At left tackle, Kelvin Beachum started in 2014, but he was replaced by Alejandro Villanueva who went from shaky starter to Pro Bowler the last two years. Villanueva was originally recruited by Army to play tight end, was converted to defensive end and eventually to left tackle, where he started his final two years in college. The left tackle may be the shining example of what Munchak can do for a so-so player, turning him into one of the best in the league.

Can the new O-line coach do the same for Denver’s so-so left tackle Garett Bolles? That’s certainly the hope.

Finally, the most variation during the last five years on the Steelers offensive line was at right tackle where three different men started. That means 271 games started out of 400 — 67.8 percent — included that core group of four. Take out right tackle, and that number increases to 84.7 percent of the time those four players played together.

Conversely, the Broncos have gone through 19 different offensive linemen over that same time frame, many of them forced to play multiple positions. Matt Paradis had been the pillar of consistency on an otherwise mix-matched line, starting the first 57 games of his career before being placed on Injured Reserve last year.

Munchak will have Paradis back — as long as the Broncos can re-sign him — as well as Ronald Leary (achilles) at left guard and Bolles at left tackle. Exactly who will be playing at right guard (Connor McGovern?) and right tackle remains to be seen. Jared Veldheer is a free agent and his up-and-down 2018 season doesn’t make it likely he’ll be re-signed.

If the Broncos want to go the free agency route, Bobbie Massie, formerly of the Bears, could be a solution. He was ranked No. 29 among all tackles by Pro Football Focus last year. Former Dolphins tackles Ja’Wuan James will be available (ranked No. 33), as is Joe Barksdale (No. 57) who was with Arizona last year.

Or, Denver could look to fill that spot through the draft. Jawaan Taylor out of Florida could be the choice at No. 10 overall (or possibly by trading down) if Denver doesn’t want to use that first-round pick on a quarterback. Or, the Broncos could choose to find a right tackle in Day 2.

Simply, there are multiple holes to fill on that offensive line, but, the Broncos made the right hire in Munchak. Once they get him the personnel needed, look for Denver to start winning in the trenches once again.