Locked On Broncos - Daily Podcast On The Denver Broncos - Bo Nix, Denver Broncos Offense Must Be CRISPER In Week 2 NFL Preseason

Episode Date: August 13, 2025

Bo Nix and the Denver Broncos offense must be crisper in Week 2 of the NFL Preseason after some up and downs throughout training camp as they progress into another year in Sean Payton's system. What d...o we want to see from the Broncos offense vs. the Cardinals? Plus, can Devaughn Vele have a bounce back performance after working his way back from an injury and will any of the running backs behind RJ Harvey and J.K. Dobbins separate themselves. Cody Roark and Sayre Bedinger break down all the action. Cody Roark is a credentialed beat reporter for Mile High Sports and covers the Broncos daily in person. Sayre Bedinger is the site expert for Predominantly Orange. Both bring Broncos Country the most in-depth and objective coverage of the Denver Broncos. WANT MORE DAILY DENVER BRONCOS CONTENT?For all of the latest Denver Broncos news today -- Follow & Subscribe on all Podcast platforms…🎧 https://link.chtbl.com/LOBroncos?sid=YouTube Locked On NFL League-Wide: Every Team, Fantasy, Draft & More🎧 https://linktr.ee/LockedOnNFL Follow on Twitter: @CodyRoarkNFL and @SayreBedingerFollow the show on Twitter: @LockedOnBroncos Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!5-Hour ENERGYGo to 5hourenergy.com today and use promo code LOCKEDONGOLF to receive 20% off your order. This offer is only valid until September 30th on one order and cannot be used with other promotions. The code is not good on subscription orders. Yahoo FantasyPresented by YahooFantasy #YahooPartner. Play Now at https://yahoofantasy.com/lockedonnfl. GametimeDownload the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNFL for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Download Gametime today. What time is it? Gametime. FanDuelRight now, new customers can get $150 in BONUS BETS when your first $5 BET WINS! Download the app or head to FANDUEL.COM to get started. Monarch MoneyTake control of your finances with Monarch Money. Use code LOCKEDONNFL at monarchmoney.com/lockedonnfl for 50% off your first year. FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN) Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

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Starting point is 00:00:00 After week one of the NFL preseason, Bo Nix and the Denver Broncos offense must look crisper going into week two of preseason action against the Arizona Cardinals. We'll highlight how they could do that and more here on today's episode, Lockdown Broncos. You are Locked on Broncos, your daily Denver Broncos podcast, part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. What's up, Broncos country? Welcome into another episode, Lockdown Broncos, your daily Denver Broncos podcast, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team. Every day. Thank you so much to all the every dayers in Broncos country. Thank you for tuning in and making us your first listen every day. However, you choose to do something if you're not yet in every day. What are you waiting for? Get in on the action. Make sure you never miss out on everything that's going on with your favorite team every single day all year long. Becoming every day or hit that subscribe to that follow button wherever you get your podcast. I'm Cody Rourke. Broncos reporter from Mile High Sports. Join as always by Sarah Bedinger's site expert of their predominantly orange.com. And we're going to go through three players or three aspects of the this team that need to look better going into week two of the NFL preseason. We'll tell you about Bo Nix in the starting offense and why they need to look
Starting point is 00:01:12 crisper against the Arizona Cardinals, even if they get the same amount of snaps they got initially in week one of the preseason. Plus, we'll tell you why Devon Veil needs to work his way back, even though he's working his way back from an injury that he sustained earlier in the offseason program and where he's at in his pitch count. Plus, we'll tell you why the running back battle needs to find a true separator amongst those final four names ahead of Saturday's preseason game here against the Cardinals. You get all that here on today's episode of show, which is brought to our friends over there at Fanduil.
Starting point is 00:01:43 Football season is around the corner. Visit Fanduil app today and start planning your futures bets now. Sir, look, we're just a day away here from joint practices with the Arizona Cardinals and the story coming into this week. Week two of the preseason has a lot to do with the Broncos offense, which has had some up and down moments this offseason. Obviously, didn't have their best display. play in week one of the preseason last week.
Starting point is 00:02:07 Put it no. I mean, I don't feel like we could put it any clearer here. They need to look crisper going into this game against the Cardinals. They absolutely do. And the evidence of that is the fact that they were left on the field longer than they were supposed to be in that first game because Sean Payton wanted them to end on a high note instead of a low no, right?
Starting point is 00:02:24 I mean, he said after the game, it was average to below average. And I think that was pretty generous for the moment, Cody. It was rather disappointing, honestly. And I'm not trying to overreact. to a preseason game because we know they're running vanilla concepts. We know they're trying to deliberately get players involved, but I want to see you work with those, you know,
Starting point is 00:02:44 those vanilla concepts. I want to see them executed properly. I want to see you convert on third downs. I don't want to see you giving up a safety, you know, early in a preseason game against a backup defense. Like, I don't think that's unreasonable to say it was disappointing by any means. And so I know that there's the doom and gloom out there,
Starting point is 00:03:01 the people who are crazy enough, Cody, I've heard and read some stuff of people are calling for Jared Stidham, which is just bonkers to me. But let's not go, let's not go too deep down that rabbit hole. It's just ridiculous. It is the preseason. You can fail forward in the preseason. It's of no consequence at this point. So, but we do want to see this offense go out against the Cardinals. Like, I want to see a touchdown drive. Like on the opening drive, let's go down. Let's put together a script. Let's score the dang ball instead of having another situation where, hey, fans are going to have to justify after the game. Well, it's just preseason.
Starting point is 00:03:36 Well, it's just, you know, practice. Oh, it's just this. Well, it's just that. Like, I don't want to be justifying this anymore. I want to be saying, all right, yeah, just because it's preseason doesn't mean we can't celebrate how well they did. That's where I want to be instead of having to say, well, it's only preseason. Don't worry about it right now.
Starting point is 00:03:52 Here's where I fall on all of it, just because if I'm going to be consistent with things that I've said on this show historically, even going back to last preseason, remember when Beau had success last year in the preseason and people were like, well, it was against this team's second string players, the third string defense, blah, you know, blah, blah, in my opinion, it's not necessarily in who they go against. I thought Sean Payton after that first preseason game, I thought he had a great quote that kind of puts things into perspective. He says in the regular season, you are going on a week to week basis.
Starting point is 00:04:23 You are going to face a lot of nameless players, you know, guys that exactly weren't penciled into play or to start initially for a team, you're going to play those guys. And the thing is, is you have to come out and execute. To me, I'm not necessarily concerned about who the Broncos starters play or how they necessarily play in a sense, whether they have a nice drive, but it ends in a field goal. I'm more concerned about the operation of the offense looking crisper, right? Looking more efficient, not going backwards because you got a penalty on one thing,
Starting point is 00:04:54 or you missed a block off the edge, or you didn't pick up a nickel defender, or you miscommunicated on that. I want to see the operation of the offense look like it's a well-oiled machine, right? And if it happens to end in three points or a touchdown, I'm a happy guy. But you want to see that unit have something that makes them look competent in a sense. Not to say that they're not competent, but I'm saying anytime we get into the conversation and a little vacuum that is preseason, if you don't look great against a certain unit, if your offense or your defense, for example, look sluggish, a lot of times people
Starting point is 00:05:30 say, oh, I'm really concerned about that. I'm more so concerned about the operation of it versus the actual outcome and results. I think those will eventually take care of themselves, but you can't get there until you build some of that operational efficiency. Are you running your foundational stuff of this offense, the vanilla concepts? Are you running those to perfection? That has to be the key. You can't be making these same mistakes that you're making right now come week one
Starting point is 00:05:57 against the Tennessee Titans who, surprisingly enough, look, they obviously had the number one overall pick last year. They got some dudes on that defense that can play and that are going to bring the heat after Bow Nix and the offense. So you have to be ready for that. Never look too far ahead, but can you look like you're running the system and the operation cleanly? That's what I really want to see from this offense this week against Arizona.
Starting point is 00:06:20 Well, and you mentioned it too before about the offensive line having some communication errors and not looking overly sharp out there. about how Bo Nix had a couple of underthrown passes, Cortland Sutton dropping a pass. I mean, so when we talk about the operation being crisper and cleaner, those are the kinds of things that we're talking about. Like, don't let a free runner be coming in on third down and blowing up a play. Don't be dropping a pass that's perfectly placed to your outside shoulder after you get a $92 million contract. Don't be underthrowing the ball when you have all these expectations heaped upon you. I mean, like, I'm not saying these guys have to be
Starting point is 00:06:56 perfect out there all the time because we, know they won't be. But again, it's these simple things that they have to do better that we can't be struggling with at the beginning of the season. So it's correcting those things that are unacceptable in the preseason when you're supposed to be already at that point, right? You should not be underthrowing these passes. You should not be dropping these passes. You should not be having these communication problems because, yes, the Titans, believe it or not, even if they get the number one pick overall next year, they're probably still going to win two, three, four games. And and they still get paid to play.
Starting point is 00:07:29 And those guys are going to be out for blood early in the season because they've got the most optimism still at that point. So you have to be the aggressor in every way. And it starts with getting these simple things down right and building that confidence towards the regular season. And I'm curious to see what it's going to look like exactly against Arizona because tomorrow is the joint practice. And Sean has publicly stated that he loves what they can evaluate out of those joint practices.
Starting point is 00:07:53 And there's going to obviously be a ton of snaps and a ton of reps to be had there. he did say that he felt like the San Francisco joint practice went on a lot longer than maybe he would have liked there. So there was a lot of work, a large body of work in terms of reps and what you can study on film, you're going to get value out of that in this game. But he said because of that, because you have the joint practice back-to-back weeks and also because you just came off of a game as well, you want to be smart with the reps you give guys. And normally, Sean said, if we were having one joint practice, you know, if this was our only joint practice this week, He said, I'd probably play the starters going into that second quarter a little bit.
Starting point is 00:08:29 He said, I don't know if I'm going to do that this week against Arizona. So the Broncos, they may only get, I mean, it was anticipated to be 12 to 13 plays. They ended up playing 18 because you didn't want to end on such a low note. And they obviously finished a lot better than they started against the 49ers. But, yeah, there's no guarantee that the Broncos starters are going to get extensive snaps, maybe outside of 12 or 13 again this week. So with that, clean operation, you want to see forward. progress. You don't want to see the same mistakes that you made last week being the same
Starting point is 00:08:59 storyline that we're talking about next week in preparation for that third and final preseason game against New Orleans where the starters aren't even going to play in that game. So a lot that we would like to see here from this Broncos offense. In Broncos country, we want to hear from you. What would you like to see from Bo Nix and the offense in terms of operation against the Cardinals in week two of the NFL preseason? Make sure you let us know here. We're also going to be talking about a player in Devon Vele, who we want to see a little bit more from going into week two of the preseason after he's been working his way back from an injury
Starting point is 00:09:27 and after the emergence of Trent Sherfield and how that might throw wrench in the plans and how the Broncos plan to formulate this roster. We'll go into all of that and more here on today's episode, Locked on Broncos. Broncos Country, today's episode, the show is brought to you by our friends over there at Fandul, America's number one sportsbook, and the NFL season is here.
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Starting point is 00:10:12 And it's time to take a flyer on whoever you think is going to win that MVP race or crown your Super Bowl champion here in August. Call your shot now. Like, I mean, if you want to pick Bo Nix for MVP, If you want to pick the Denver Broncos, if you want to take that hunch that you have, that maybe Sean Payton believes, like he said, this can be a Super Bowl winning team.
Starting point is 00:10:30 Now is the time to do that. So visit the Fandual app today and start planning your futures bets now because Futures Day is one day and one day only. Fandual, play your game. The wide receiver position competition has been heating up. And Devon Vele feels like he's been getting left in the dust a little bit since OTAs.
Starting point is 00:10:50 He's got a chance, though, to bounce back in a big way against the Arizona Cardinals this week at joint practices and obviously the preseason game. So we want to see more from Devon Valle. We're going to tell you what we want to see from him specifically here in a week. Two of the preseason Broncos country. Thank you so much for making us part of your day every single day. You know your boys, Cody and Sarah got you covered throughout the course of the preseason and then leading into what should be a very exciting regular season.
Starting point is 00:11:16 So get us at the top of your feed. Get us at the top of your algorithm, right? Subscribe wherever you listen to podcast as well. as on YouTube. Devon Vele, Cody, a very interesting subject of discussion, kind of has become a bit of a polarizing player in Broncos country, which is really interesting to me. A lot of folks are down on him because of his age. He's 27, going to be 28 later this year. Of course, that's abnormal for a second year NFL player, but it doesn't mean that he can't contribute to this team or that he shouldn't play because of his age. I mean, the Broncos knew
Starting point is 00:11:48 he was older when they drafted him. So if he's going to play, though, he's got to play a big role. I feel like he had a lot of steam building in the offseason program before the injury and mandatory or that kept him out of mandatory minicamp. What do you, what did you see from him in that first preseason game that's kind of given us a reason to say, all right, we're going to talk about Devon as being one of those guys that needs to bounce back against Arizona. Yeah, I just think in his work that he got against the 49ers, and granted, I didn't get a C joint practices against San Francisco. So maybe there was a different evaluation. We know he had that beautiful catch on a scramble from Bow Nix and joint practices.
Starting point is 00:12:25 Everyone was talking about that are on third down. You know, for for Velae, I mean, this is a guy who missed some time during the offseason program. And I would say even going back to OTAs before he had the injury, Velae looked like the clear cut guy that's going to play a lot next to or opposite of Cortland Sutton. And we're like, okay, hey, we didn't think anything differently. We thought that that was going to be part of the equation anyways. You know, so he comes into trending camp. He's ready to rock and roll at the start.
Starting point is 00:12:51 camp and then he misses, you know, some days. I just think that there's this management going on with whatever injury he had. And we don't know what it is. You know, it has to do maybe with his leg, with his knee. I know he's got a sleeve on his leg there. But Sean did mention one thing. And after Tuesday's press conference after practice, did mention with Velae, what you get from him.
Starting point is 00:13:11 But more importantly, that he's kind of on a pitch count right now. So I say with that, I'm going to give him some grace because, look, we saw the emergence of Trent Sherfield a little bit more as the white. wide receiver in the preseason game on Saturday against San Francisco. And we loved what we saw from Sherfield to the point. We're like, all right, we already know Sherfield's going to be on the 53 because of special teams. Well, now he's making the strong case for that wide receiver position.
Starting point is 00:13:34 Sean, after the 49ers game said the initial vision for Sherfield was fifth receiver. So in my head, I was thinking, okay, does that mean Sean's going to actually stick with just keeping five wide receivers? That's something that he has done in the last couple of years. And then you work other guys back on the practice squad. Valet's game against San Francisco, it wasn't the best overall right. He did have a catch,
Starting point is 00:13:55 but I also felt like there were some times in that game when the Broncos tried to run to the perimeter. He took a bad angle or he didn't maybe necessarily take the right angle to seal a guy or a guy made a play, and then it forced that, you know, a negative or very short run there. But that's just me nitpicking at this point there. And I'm going to give him grace because he's still coming back from the injury.
Starting point is 00:14:15 And Sean said he's on this pitch count. But I don't think that that's an excuse to say, okay, hey, you know, he's working his way back from an injury. You know, even if he struggles here when he plays, it's excused. You want him to obviously play better. I think that's the point there, especially as we've seen some of these other wide receivers like Sherfield emerge and some of these undrafted guys make plays. You can never just go into a season.
Starting point is 00:14:36 I feel like saying, okay, hey, this is it. Like, you know, Valet, we saw what we liked what we saw last year. We're going to roll with the same thing this year. Veilet can help this offense in a lot of ways, but he's also got to work his way back from, you know, the injury that's obviously affecting him. And I think as a former seventh round draft pick, he's got to earn all those snaps again this year. I mean,
Starting point is 00:14:56 you brought in a third round receiver in Pat Bryant. You have Troy Franklin, who's really been emerging. I mean, Trent Sherfield has played quite a bit. So you've got all these other guys that are playing well. You want to give a bigger role to Marvin Mims, who we know played on the outside,
Starting point is 00:15:10 almost exclusively during this game against the 49ers as well, which is another interesting note that I'm sure you and I will chat about if he repeats that again. Arizona. But Devon Valet, I mean, he had 41 catches last year, 26 first down place, three touchdowns, like the efficiency when he was being targeted was pretty high. And so, yes, he's proven that he can do a lot for you offensively. And I think as a former seventh rounder, you've got to go out there and do that again, at least in the eyes of the fan base, right? Because nobody's, nobody's treating you like you were a first round draft pick or a day
Starting point is 00:15:43 two draft pick. Everybody's treating Devon Valet, for the most part. I don't, I say everybody, I mean, like a lot of the people that I hear Cody are saying like this guy as a seventh round pick and somebody who's 27 going on 28, like, you better be out there making big plays or it's not worth it, right? And so that's kind of the attitude that I've seen taken towards him. I'm excited to see how he bounces back because he did have a number of practices where people are saying, man, he looks good out here. Man, he looks like he's progressed really well.
Starting point is 00:16:13 Man, he looks such like he's taking that next step in his game before the injury, right? And so get this guy out there, get him a chance to sort of build some more steam again because him playing confident is only going to help your offense in the long run. You want all of these young playmakers because Sean is going to use the different varieties of personnel groupings. You want these guys all playing at a high level and making plays when their number is called because their number is going to get called eventually. Yeah, and that's the nature of the game. And not to say that this puts any extra pressure on VALA, I think VALA, I think VALA, very much as a competitor and as a football player, human being, understands the pressure of just being in the position he's in. I mean, he loved what he did last year, but I think Valey will be the first to tell you, he wants to do more.
Starting point is 00:17:00 He wants to have a bigger impact. And I know that the conversation is, I know the team's perspective of Valey hasn't changed. They're excited about what Vela can bring to the table. But as you go around and Sean Payton, even in Aja, he says, you know, I read all your guys's articles. And he says, you guys are talking about tough decisions at receiver, tough decisions at corn. or tough decisions at running back. He says, that's a testament to the depth that we currently have on this team. And it's a very valid point because this team is deeper than they were last year at a handful of positions,
Starting point is 00:17:29 which overall contributes to, I think an overall deeper perspective on the team's depth. And you've got guys who have, you know, I think a demonstrated confidence in being able to step up if their numbers called upon. Vele is one of those guys. But when you factor in the numbers game and other positions, it definitely makes those conversations a team will have. have after that third preseason game against New Orleans a lot more difficult. Now, I think a bigger key here, Sarah, we're not going to know this this week, but I think next week as the team prepares for New Orleans, we know the starters aren't going to play.
Starting point is 00:18:01 If there are a handful of guys who are inactive, if Velae is one of those inactive guys, those guys, we already know we're going to make the 53-man roster. Whoever is inactive for the most part on that third and final preseason game, those are guys that you can pencil in as being on this roster. So we'll see if Valey is in that conversation, that category. But for him, I think as he works his way back from this injury, you want to see him, maybe just have a couple, not even that. Like in the reps that he had, I just think better angles in the blocking game,
Starting point is 00:18:28 keeping his feet churning a little bit. Those were a couple of whiffs that he had from what I did on my film breakdown from that first game here against San Francisco. And we'll see where he's at this week. But he's a guy that I think can and will help the Broncos offense this season if he is healthy. And that's the ultimate thing that matters here. But Broncos country, want to know your thoughts here on Devon Valey, as he works his way back from injury, what would you like to see from the second year wide receiver?
Starting point is 00:18:52 We're also going to go through another element. Not that this position struggled at all in week one of the NFL precincts, but we really want to see this week. Somebody at this running back battle between four guys, we want to see somebody separate this week. How can they do that? We'll go through that and much more here on today's episode of the show. This episode is presented by Yahoo! Fantasy, and it's the best time of the year, folks, because NFL kickoff is almost here. And that means the fantasy football season is back in full swing.
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Starting point is 00:20:41 Dobbins and R.J. Harvey. That is a question that we have coming into this week before joint practices and obviously ahead of week two of the NFL preseason. I want to say thank you once again to everyone in Broncos country. All the every day is out there. Thanks for making us your first listen. Sarah, not to say that I felt like we came out of week one of the preseason. I came away pleased with what we saw production wise from the run game versus where we were at last year. We were constantly asking ourselves like, man, when is this run game going to take off? Is anyone going to make a big play? Now, granted, in the. preseason. It doesn't matter here. You don't have a 100 yard of rush here. Ideally, it would be
Starting point is 00:21:16 nice. But what we saw from the overall crop of backs here for the Broncos, it was promising because almost every back had some sort of big play one way or the other, which I think only increases the excitement for how this position battle is going to play out. But week two of the preseason, I feel like, because this is the last week, more than likely the starters are going to get run in the preseason. And this is where I feel like someone really has to create separation behind Dobbins and Harvey this week. I think so, too. There's a great tension right now between everybody wanting to know what the running back room is going to look like, but also everybody wanting these guys to all play well.
Starting point is 00:21:53 Because if these guys all play well, it creates a difficult roster decision. Yes, but it can also potentially give your team some value in a trade. And we'll see where the Broncos go with that. It is tough, though, because they need to now make the right decisions. if everybody, assuming everybody plays well, right? You don't necessarily want any of these backs to go out there and just make it super easy for Sean Payton and George Payton to say, all right, let's get rid of this guy, right? You want them to make it easy in terms of, hey, this guy's playing so good, like we can't get
Starting point is 00:22:23 rid of him. And it's going to cost us a good player because we've got six of them. They've got six backs that I think will be on NFL rosters this year, Cody, not practice squads. And I think they've just, they've got to really drill down and figure out what is it that they're looking for because all of these guys have such a variety of skill sets, don't they? I mean, Audrick Estimate, big body out there. He's got the ability to create yardage after contact. And we saw a little bit more of what he can do in the passing game. You know,
Starting point is 00:22:50 there's just a couple of plays there, but still something. Blake Watson, we know that he's dynamic in the open field. Can he be that, you know, every down guy if the Broncos need him to be. Tyler Bade. I thought he could have potentially been the number one running back on the team last year, if not for injury. And now he's kind of starting from scratch, but he still looks like that guy. So really fascinating overall. And Jalil McLaughlin is obviously one of Sean Payton's guys. He was talking to him up again, his work habits, the way that he comes in every single
Starting point is 00:23:19 day, takes care of his body, all those sorts of things. These guys are, they're not separating, but it's for good reasons, right? They're not separating because they've all played well or are playing well. And they're doing that in practice as well. And I even think what factors into this, Sean made a very interesting comment following Tuesday's practice. Even just talking about J.K. Dobbins, maybe getting some more run, right? Because in that first preseason game, the role for Dobbins was you're in on third down. And he had one catch for four yards. Harvey got the primary touches.
Starting point is 00:23:50 But he also made a very interesting point. You know, he's acknowledged publicly that Badegh offers value and physicality in the blocking game. But even Sean said, you don't want to play around with these guys a little bit to see if If JK's not that third down guy, who is. It's about being able to identify and establish that. So to me, it's these roles at how this running back debt chart is going to pan out, Sarah, I think you made a great point just the other day on one of the episodes. It's not going to be, okay, we have our two guys in Dobbins and Harvey, but in case one
Starting point is 00:24:21 of those guys gets banged up, we have this guy who can play that role. It's no, we think that if we carry four backs on this roster, it's going to be guys that we feel like can contribute whether there's an injury or not. And ideally, if they're healthy, there might be a specified role or a specific matchup that the Broncos like going into a game that they say, hey, we like this. He's going to get a little bit more run this week, maybe more so than this guy. That is where I think Sean's mind is at when you talk about this roster construction. But, you know, in your opinion, who showcases that? I think right now, to your point, I agree.
Starting point is 00:24:54 I think Bade has shown that the most right now. I think Jalil obviously has a lot of favor and trust from Sean. How much does that really factor into this? equation when you know, you look at the stats like Jalilil's first preason game numbers wise, it doesn't tell the story. I mean, he had a very nice run, great vision, great cut inside, got tackled at the one yard line, but it got called back due to a penalty by Pat Bryant, right? Things that, you know, you want to go back and fix. That's not Jolilil's fault.
Starting point is 00:25:22 Jalil still produced. So so many people look at box scores and stats and say, okay, well, but they and Watson, certainly I think that out of all the backs in this game, past preseason game. I felt like those were the two standout guys overall from the complete body work. And then I'll throw an honorable mention there to Audrake Estime, who I didn't think had the best blocking for him in the run game when he was in late in the game.
Starting point is 00:25:44 But man, he did make something out of nothing on a catch and run for 20 yards. This is going to be one of the harder decisions that the team makes this year, which Sarah, if we go back to last year our conversations about this position room, we were just begging for something. Now it's to the point where it's like, okay, I actually am excited to see how this is going to play out. And I wonder how much last year plays into the discussion too, Cody,
Starting point is 00:26:08 because there's a few guys on this team now, obviously, who were part of that not being the solution last year, right? Obviously, Jalil got the most work out of any of these guys. Estimate was benched for the playoff game, which he would offer no comment on just the other day. And then Bade, who was activated just kind of out of nowhere. I know you and I didn't expect to see him at all after that Jets game.
Starting point is 00:26:31 And then he was activated out of nowhere for the Buffalo game. And, you know, that's just, I think that's how much this team likes him. Blake Watson. You and I were kind of like, how are the Broncos going to keep him around? And then all of a sudden he pops up for that Chargers game and makes a couple of plays. So it's clear that there's attention with this team to where they like these guys a lot, but they want to see more from them. And we're just, we have such an unfinished sample on too many of these guys.
Starting point is 00:26:57 It's unfinished on bidet, unfinished on Watson, Unfinished on Estime, the biggest body of work so far is Jalil, which gives you the opportunity to make the most educated guess of what's going to happen next with a guy like him to say, we have two years of what we've seen he can do in this offense. Why did we overhaul the position in the first place? Is he a reason why we did that? And do we believe in the potential, that dangerous P-word of guys like Bade and Watson and Estimate over somebody who's proven he can play in our offense like Jalil?
Starting point is 00:27:27 I think that's the real tension right now is that, It's just, it's the devil you know versus the devil you don't and a few guys who were potentially part of the solution last year who ultimately could not seize that opportunity. Let me ask you a question here then, right? Let's, I'm going to put you on the spot. Week two of the preseason is here. We've got a joint practice coming up against AZ. And then you got the preseason game on Saturday night, 7.30 p.m. Mountain Time kickoff. Who is the separator?
Starting point is 00:27:54 And does that question? Does a separator emerge this week? Does that happen this week? What is your answer? And if so, who, or is this going to draw out another week in your opinion? I'm still riding the Tyler Badegh, hype train. I am, Cody. I'm believing in this guy, the speed, the ability as a receiver and runner after the
Starting point is 00:28:13 catch, the ability, like you mentioned before, as a pass protector. And somebody that the Broncos have stuck with through multiple coaching staffs, multiple, you know, lots of changes in the scouting department, quite frankly. They've stuck with Badee through the injury, right? and the overhaul of the position. How easy would it have been? He's a former sixth round pick that they picked up off the, you know, somebody's practice squad or off of waivers, right?
Starting point is 00:28:36 It's not like he's that big of a deal in terms of, wow, man, he was this huge high draft pick for another team. I think the Broncos really believe what this guy can do when he gets out there. They elevated him early last season off the practice squad. He's been looking that good on the practice field. I'm riding that wave. I'm riding the Tyler Badee hype train as of right now. Well, I am referencing I'm pulling up our graphics from last week where we looked at players to watch offensively.
Starting point is 00:29:02 You had RJ Harvey. You had Tyler Biday. And both those guys, I think, came to fruition in that game against the 49ers in the preseason. And also, you know what? I would give you a tip of the cab. Credit where credits do, I think your players to watch defensively last week were huge. Savion Jones. You had Chris Abrams Drain and Jonah Ellis. All guys made plays. I mean, realistically, Jonah Ellis had that strip sack.
Starting point is 00:29:25 Savian Jones had the fumble recovery. Abrams Drain had the interception that unfortunately got called back. It had nothing to do with him. You did pretty good on there, whereas I had Pat Bryant, who I thought did well. And Blake Watson, I had two. Jirwan Newton didn't do much for me last week in terms of that. Jada Baron had a good showing. PJ Locke played quite a bit.
Starting point is 00:29:44 And then Lavelle Bailey, just kind of had a quiet game. So Sarah, I'd say, out of all our players to watch from last week, you kind of, you almost batting a thousand there. And we can't wait to get back to it here once again. Obviously, that episode will come later on in the week on Friday, where we give our players to watch, our keys to victory for Saturday's preseason action against the Arizona Cardinals here. But Broncos Country, want to know, in your opinion, who you're looking at to emerge as that running back separator behind Dobbins and Harvey. Make sure you less know here on
Starting point is 00:30:11 today's episode of show. With that said, that'll wrap up today's episode, Lockdown Broncos. Broncos Country, we are back at it tomorrow following joint practices. We're going to go through beforehand who we want to have stand out during these practices. The biggest things we're looking forward to seeing against the Arizona Cardinals and joint practices. And then you're going to get a bonus reactionary episode to all the action as well a lot over here at lockdown Broncos. We appreciate you so much for rock with us. We'll see you tomorrow for a brand new episode of the show.

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