Locked On Broncos - Daily Podcast On The Denver Broncos - BRONCOS SQUAD SHOW: BIGGEST Takeaways from Broncos Preseason Finale

Episode Date: August 29, 2026

The Denver Broncos handled business in their final preseason game, beating up on the Minnesota Vikings 34-6. It was a complete reversal of last weeks matchup with the Broncos on the winning end. The preseason is now officially over so Sean Payton and the coaching staff will now behind the process of preparing for roster cuts ahead of Sundays deadline. Join Aniello Piro, Cody Roark, Sayre Bedinger and Nick Ferguson as they break down the biggest takeaways from the Broncos preseason finale. Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors! Gusto Try Gusto today at gusto.com/LOCKEDONNFL, and get three months free when you run your first payroll. FanDuel Today's episode is brought to you by FanDuel. Join all the action at https://FANDUEL.COM to play Daily Dingers and make your free pick on who’s hitting a homer this MLB season. KALSHI For a limited time,Download the Kalshi app and use code [LOCKEDON] to get $10 when you trade $10. Square Get up to $200 off Square hardware when you sign up at https://square.com/go/lockedonnfl! #squarepod Gametime Today's episode is brought to you by Gametime. Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDON for $20 off your first purchase. Indeed Listeners of this show get a $75 Sponsored Job Credit to help give your job the premium placement it deserves at http://Indeed.com/podcast. Odoo Great organizations win because operations matter. And that’s why you should get Odoo. Try for free today at https://Odoo.com/lockedon. 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.

I'm Mnilo Piro and the Denver Broncos bounce back in a big way to finish the preseason with a bang. I'm Sarah Beninger, ding dong, the witch is dead. The preseason is over. Bye bye. See you later. And I'm Nick Ferguson. And I'm spinning my chair because some guys made this roster and some guys didn't. All right.

We're going to talk about our biggest takeaways from the Broncos preseason finale. Let's get into a gentleman. From the South stands, it's the Broncos squad, everything Denver Broncos every week. Covering all the big hits and game-changing plays from the Mile High City, the way only the locked on podcast network can. Gear up and squad up. The Broncos squad show starts now. It is your locked on Broncos squad show on this now Saturday morning, reacting to the Denver

Broncos 34 to 6th. thumping of the Minnesota Vikings in their preseason finale. We got the three amigos here today, Anilo Piro, Sarah Vettinger, and Nick Ferguson. Look, I really want to give Cody some flack for not being here right now because I was sitting next to him with the game. You saw him as well, Nick. But he's still at the stadium. He's still working.

He's still grinding. So I can't complain all that much. If he was at home and like, I'm tired, then I'd give him a lot of flack, but that is not the case. So he'll join his grind as week. Yeah, yeah. I can't hit on that. But what's up, fella? Oh, oh!

I was just talking about it. Oh, look at that. Wow. What a cremio. I was just giving you some flak. What you give me some flak for? Because I was, well, I was going to say, like, you know, if you were home and you were tired and that's why you didn't want to join, I'd give you, like, a lot of smack for it,

but you're actually grinding. So I guess I got to respect that. Yeah, I was still at the stadium, man. I just, I had to jump on here. I don't know if you guys got to talk about it yet. Bro, the new thunder, that horse, that horse gallops, man. like players are out of the stadium. Ferg, you know what I'm talking about, bro.

You've seen it. Hey, listen, that's what you do with a young stud. I mean, he's out there running. He's out there running. He's out there running. Did you see, the players are running out. He's 35 yards past him. He was excited to be out there, bro.

I was like, that horse, that was my number one note. Let me see if I can. Yeah, I heard about it for two and a half hours. You know what? I'm so glad I could help you get through the experience. experience today. Me? Top,

no right here. Thunder 5. Absolutely gallops. Absolutely. Now, when I saw you guys in the press box and I came over to you, at first I thought, I was like, I'm confused. Is Cody talking about the horse or he's talking about Cody Schreter? I wasn't sure at first.

I wasn't sure. I mean, you know, I was going to say no one seen them in the same room together, but they were actually seen on the same field together. But point taken. Anyways, jents, I will let you get to your show. Have fun. Yeah, I got to drive home now. You should hop on when you get home, bro.

If you guys are still going. Oh, we're going to be on, bro. He had to make sure he talked about the horse. Yeah, exactly. He can't be open. I do my best Sean Payton impression. Yeah. Oh, you should have seen Nick on the open.

Nick did the exact same thing. I was going to do the buck and Bronco. I ain't doing that. in the press box. I love it. All right, y'all. Get home safe. Hop on.

I'm so serious. I'm going to be pissed if you get home and you don't hop on up. I'm going to try. You know how long it tastes it? You're going to try and you're going to do. You don't have any track. I had to drive to Bruyfield.

Yes. Oh, you do, I'm to Bracco's win. All right. There you go. Hey, I want Broncos win. Welcome to the squat show.

All right. Good night. Good morning, Cody. You're the man. Wow. Okay. I did not expect a little Cody Roar cameo there. But that was a fun one.

So see if he wants to hop in later. But yeah, I mean, look, it was a big time bounce back performance, 34 to 6. You know, I just, I can't go crazy. Like, I think it's nice to see the Broncos end the preseason on the high note. And obviously, I think there was a couple of different guys that certainly, you know, kind of jumped out with their performances tonight that will kind of cycle in throughout the course of the program. But Sarah, just kind of your initial thoughts here on this preseason finale and the thumping that it was. Well, it was nice to see the team bounce back. You know, they get called out by the coaching staff throughout the week and dating back to the game where Sean was really upset.

We talked about that on the last squad show, right? And so I think obviously seeing them respond, fewer penalties, cleaner operation, you know, fewer mistakes, obviously kind of running up the score a little bit in this game. And I like that. I like that type of stuff in the preseason where you get to see your guys do the best of what they do, right? And so I want to see the 88 yards. Justin Jolie touchdowns. I want to see the wide open Cody Schrader touchdowns. I want to see guys

making plays. I want to see Colby Katzis go off for a 49 yard return. I liked it. I think you can always evaluate individual players in the preseason no matter if it's week one, week three, what have you. One through 90, you're evaluating all these guys, whether it's for a 53 man spot, a

practice squad spot. We know the practice squad guys, they play for this team. So it's not like it's an unimportant thing to make this practice squad, but also some, you know, theatrics of like, you know, who would get the turnaround if this was the voice, right? Which players would get that, that chair turn around at the end of the song, so to speak. I think it's fascinating. I think a couple of guys, namely Cody Schrader, Colby Katz has made some serious cases in this game. Yeah, I like you talking about Kobe

Katz as a guy who cut my teeth in the league playing special teams, not at the return position. But Kobe Cassis, man, he's opened up a lot of eyes. And even if he doesn't make this Broncos roster, it's safe to say that there are other teams that are out there that are needed, someone at a punt return, kick return, you know, position that, you know, he's going to have a job. He's going to have opportunities. That's two times as turns over $40. That definitely speaks a lot, especially if you a special teams coach and you want to flip things around for your team, but also talk about, you know, Q Robinson. Now, we know, we know something's going to happen with Jonathan Cooper.

We don't know if he's going to end up on a commission exemplar. But I do know that Q Robinson was making a name for himself. The Broncos had no sacks on a stat sheet. But if there was a stat for pressures, Q. Robinson would have led the team. I love his get-off. He's not quite Von Miller yet. but when you watch him get off and you watch him push off that outside foot and he goes speed

the power man there's something unique about this kid and if john the cooper man he misses a couple of games he may come back and he can't get his spot i think they call that the wally pip they call that the wally pip you know what i'm saying like yeah i feel i've been feeling like jonathan cooper could get wally pipped by at least one guy i mean obviously q robinson is one but Jonah Ellis from the first snap of the game. That guy was firing off the ball, setting the edge, making plays as well. So there's two guys that are liable to get more playing time now with Jonathan Cooper. According to Mike Cliss, he's going on the exempt list.

The commissioner is exempt list. The Broncos are preparing for that and could miss two to six games. So it's going to be the Jonah Ellis and Q Robinson show here at the beginning of the season, the opposite Nick Benito. and honestly, guys, like, I don't want them to not have Jonathan Cooper. He's a good player. But I think, like we've mentioned earlier in the offseason, I think that it's a great chance to get to see two young players

who were otherwise kind of just limited to how much they could actually play by the guys in front of them. Now you get a chance to see some potential breakout stars unleashed. Yeah, no, I think that that's absolutely spot on, Sarah. And ultimately, like, look, I think Jonathan Cooper, I agree with you. I think he's a good player, but I don't think. I think he's kind of like that core, core. He's not Zach Allen or Nick Benito, right?

Like, you lose one of Zach Gallner or Nick Benito. It feels like their pass rush looks a little bit differently. I don't mean that as a bad thing necessarily with Jonathan Cooper. Again, I think he's a good player. But I think Benito and Allen are a bit more integral to the just integrity. Not to use that again, even though I just did of the Broncos defensive lines. So, yeah, I mean, it'll be interesting. And I think like Q Robinson's a guy that I feel like it's got a lot of shine.

I feel like Jonah Ellis was probably among the most talked about guys throughout the off season. And then once training camp started, I feel like Q Robbins is a guy that really kind rose to the occasion and made some interesting plays throughout the course of training camp and, of course, in the preseason as well. So, you know, that that's definitely something to keep an eye on here. And I think, you know, it's hard to, like we saw Troy Franklin. We'll talk about Marvin Mims here in the upcoming segment as well, kind of a bummer for him today too. But like you saw some, you know, starting caliber players and some rotational players out there tonight. But for the most part, like this was that kind of voice audition that Sean Payte was talking about.

I got the quote pulled up here from Parker Gabriel. When asked about, you know, his message for young players trying to make the roster in the second half, Sean Payne said, quote, it's kind of like the voice. We watched that TV show, make us spin the chair, make us have to keep you. And I think a couple of those guys certainly do that tonight that you highlighted Sarah. Yeah, I think so. I think like Cody Schrader, Colby Katzis, they made a case. I think you could make a case for a number of other guys.

but maybe not to that quite that degree, right? I mean, you look at somebody like Red Murdoch. It's not like he was necessarily needing the last preseason game, but you know, you force a fumble on the way out. That helps your case, certainly when you know that that's what he did all throughout his collegiate career. He's one of those guys. I would say more so than the chair spinning around,

you know, Cody and I just got done recording our post game that'll go up tomorrow morning on YouTube and is out now for anybody that's listening to the show as well. I liked what we saw from Adam Prentice and Nate Adkins in this game. I think obviously Adam has kind of proven what he can do, the short yard stuff, but Nate with the 26-yard, you know, catch and run and then another 10-yard play and kind of proving as a blocker a little bit as well, sealing off a defensive end on a run by Cody Schrader.

I thought he did a really good job. So guys stepping up, guys doing the details well. Troy Franklin had a block down field in this game. really good stuff, I think just overall. So if you're looking at guys, maybe turning the chair in terms of playing time and roles as much as roster spots or practice squad spots, I think those guys also fit that category. You know what's interesting about the whole situation with Prentice and Atkins?

For me, they're kind of the same guy, but Atkins gives you a little more wiggle because I know he wants to be titled a tight end. tight ends get paid a little more money than fullbacks, but they use Nate Atkins as a blocker. Now, there were two blocks tonight that he didn't really seal the edge. One, on the Michael Bandue touchdown. If he gets his guy, I think Bandi gets into the end zone. But for me, if you were to choose between these two guys,

Adam Prentice and Nate Atkins, I'll ask you guys, which one of those guys would you actually keep? Now, you can only keep one. So give me which one guy, one of those guys, you're a key? I think it's kind of like splitting hairs because you're kind of right. Like they do kind of feel like the same player to be honest with you. Well, one of them is a traditional fullback and one of them is playing tight end.

I mean, I think they're, I think they're very different personally. Like, I know that Nate can float, you know, all over the formation, but Prentice,

you never see Prentice play tight end. So true. I don't think they're the same at all. I think Prentice gives you that short yardage guy. If I had to pick one, I would probably pick Prentice because, I don't think the fullback is going anywhere in this offense. And I think what we saw last year was when you still had Nate Adkins and

Mike Burton goes down with an injury, you bring in Prentice to be that traditional fullback, even though Adkins can do some of that lead block stuff. He's more of an H-back tight end than he is a true fullback. So to me, like I would take Prentice, the ability to hand it off to that guy and be automatic, as I called him during the game on my Twitter account. Adamatic prentice out there, the one yard merchant, he can do it all when it's one yard to go.

So I would take him honestly. But you know what? Okay, I look at it different for me because you want that move guy. And I know, you know, Sean likes the prehistoric throwback, throwback back there. You kind of try to hold up. But I go back to my time in San Francisco with Kyle's juice. Now, Jush, he's got a title as being. a fullback, but he's basically kind of a tight end that has a little wiggle to him.

And what we've seen from Nate Atkins is that inside the red zone, if you utilize him in the backfield in the eye formation where he slips out to the backfield, he scored a lot of touchdowns. And Adam Prince's is more of a bigger guy. And it's harder for him to even have that wiggle and just kind of be somewhat of a disruptor in the past game to a linebacker. I feel as though you can cover him a lot easier. And I guess I'm thinking with the frame of mind that how can we make this offense more dynamic? How can we make it more powerful from a passing game? But also think about it.

If you're a linebacker, you see Nate Akers in the back field, you think it's a run play. It's somewhat of a lead play. And then he scoops underneath you and he runs in the end zone. For me, Prince doesn't give this offense this. So I'm hoping that the Broncos decide if they're going to choose between these two guys. guys keep Nate Atkins over Prince's. Interesting. That is, yeah, I honestly hear both of your guys' sides here.

And it's one of those, I think I would lean towards Sayre a little bit, but I can, I can understand the argument for both. I mean, I think both of these guys, like, what's the, not the ceiling, but like just how much of an impact or either one of those guys going to make on a day-to-day basis, right? Or a game-by-game basis, right? Like, maybe in a pinch here or there, but, like, I don't think either one of those are true game changers. Unless you guys disagree.

Do the Broncos need somewhat of a lead blocker for either of the running backs? Because I believe that you can go 21 pony, put two running backs in the backfield, and you can still get the same level of production and be an offensive threat with, you know, maybe R.J. Harvey, J.K. Dobbins, a Jonah Coleman. And you still can get a block at the point of attack because you don't need a powerful blocker, but being able to get out into pass routes. That for me, if Prentice had that part of his game, then I'll go, okay, well, sign me up for Prentice,

but Prentice is not a threat in the passing game, unless I'm missing something, and I could be. Well, I think he's one of those guys that's like the old school, like you said, prehistoric rumbling, bumblin, and he gets the ball. Somebody needs to clip that one. And they will too. But yeah, he's like the rumbling, bumble and stumbling when he gets the ball in the open field.

He's not going to like make you miss. But the thing about the Broncos is I feel like, I mean, it's probably going to be the power of and, as I like to say, right? Both. Like both. They're probably going to keep both. Although Sean Payton did have some interesting comments. I'm sure you guys heard him after the game about the tight end position. I don't know what he means by what he.

said like he he sounded like somebody unlocked something when he was asked about the tight end i'll have to look up because i just got the quotes in my email but somebody asked him i think it was Troy rank asked him about the tight end position and he was like good question good question like when he got asked about the tight ends he was like oh okay like don't make me on open up the book right now so i don't know what he means by that but i know i went back to in my mind i went back to our discussion about Evan Ingram and you know that whole thing like does he have something up his sleeve is there something going on with Nate Adkins is it something with somebody else like what does he mean by that what does he mean by that's going to be at the top of their roster discussion

list on well today now so but I'm I'm talking about it right now it's talking about it back in the facility yeah yeah no that's a good point let's hit a break we can pick up on that conversation as well I I also want to circle back to Red Murdoch for a second, just because we've had some really good discussions about the linebacker room and just want to get your guys's opinion on kind of where he stands with this roster construction in that room as a whole. As we kind of look forward here towards Cutdown, they obviously come Sunday. We'll see what this 53-man roster looks like for the Denver Broncos. All that more, we come back right here on your lockdown Broncos Squacho. Today's episode of your lockdown Broncos Squacho is brought to you by our friends over at five-hour energy. There are certain flavors that instantly feel like summer.

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gosh, I'm banged, though. It's late. It's late. Yeah, it is real late. Final preseason game, preseason finale, big win over the Minnesota Vikings. What do we, let's get back to the tight end conversation for just a moment. You kind of tease it a little bit there, say. Like, how are you interpreting what Sean and Peyton had to say about the upside and just the maneuverability of that room? Well, I don't know.

Here, let me read the quote and let's, we can discuss it here. He said, he was asked about the tight end position. He said it's a great question. great question he didn't use any relative twos in this one but he said i i would say we're still working through it it's a deep room if you just count the numbers which you guys are able to it's a deep room what's the role what's the vision i think that's still something we're working through and trying to look closely at it's one of the topics that'll be high on the list tomorrow which is today so that's what he said and uh you know i don't know how to interpret it that's what i'm

about that's why I said like in my mind I went back to our Evan ingram discussion I thought about Nate Adkins I thought about Justin Jolie because Justin has had a tough camp and preseason up until that 88 yard touchdown catch and run which he needed confidence booster regardless of how just an unfathomably wide open he was crazy but yeah I don't know what he means by that just because were they planning on Justin being part of the equation this year? Or were they planning on redshirting him? Were they planning on more from Dallin Bentley?

I mean, they drafted two guys. So they clearly felt this depth needed to be upgraded. I don't know what to make of it. I think it's a fascinating like, well, he was like ready to, he's ready to talk to somebody about it. Maybe not to the media fully, but he was ready to talk about it to somebody. Well, when you hear a coach say that we're still working,

through it. To me, that establish there's a problem. They're not really happy with the tight-in position. And there's a little frustration because if you ask the question and you get a natural, spontaneous, instant response, oh, yeah, let me tell you about the tight end. It's, oh, good question. Oh, good question. That means you're pausing your waiting for your mind and think of something in a way to answer that question. And listening to him answer that is just like they are still frustrated. There were guys who they thought would take that next step that haven't really taken that next step. Now, who those guys are, I can't really tell you. But just listening to that, they're not sure. They're not really sure about this room. And that could also mean that they're

not sure that the guy that they need to lead that tight-in room is actually on the roster, right? And that's a great thing about this time in a year. There are 31 other teams with other tight-ins. And the Broncos have a laundry list of guys that just say, you know what, if push came to shove and we were able to get that guy and we didn't get him before, just like Jane and Waddle, we'll bring him in. So it's going to be interesting to see what they do with this time room, but we've been talking about this all offseason. They have so many tight ends. I'm like, why do you need so many guys?

Because you are unsure about what it is that you have. So it's going to be interesting to see what guys actually make this team from a tie-in standpoint. Well, and to that point, do we think both Bentley and Joe Lee are making this team or is it one of the other? I tend to think it's one of the other personally just because you have some other positions that I feel like you need to carry, whether it's offensive line, defensive line running back, right? Do we think they're going to have four on the roster? Are they going to float one of the practice squad? Like, I think it's going to probably be a choice between Jolie and Bentley. I think Jolie is probably the more raw product and maybe that touchdown works some wonders for him. But that's that's another way to look at this tonight. Yeah, I think he's got to be the red shirt guy. I mean, you traded up to get him. I know it was just in the fifth round. But at the same time, you know, that was the draft capital. The Broncos had left after the Waddle deal that Nick just writes.

I mean, so you traded up to get a guy and felt like maybe he fell around further than he should have. And so I think you have to continue to invest in that player's development. Not everybody, remember how I referenced this a few times, but remember how bad Frank Crum's rookie preseason was. I mean, it was rough. It was really rough. And the Broncos kept him on the 53 because they believe in long-term development. They've done that with other guys as well.

And there's certain guys that you just don't feel like we'll get through waivers. You might feel like Allen Bentley can get through waivers because he's an older, Mickey, appetite, and position. That's somebody that I'm wondering, did they hide this guy during the preseason? Because we saw nothing from Gallin Bentley. And Sean Page talked about the fact that. that, you know, they, they do think about that stuff because he had some players stolen from him by Bill Parcells when Parcells was with the dolphins. And he's like, you better be careful, essentially, if you let the fox into the, the whatever it was.

So that's exactly where I'm wondering, like, what is, what are they doing? I mean, and like I said, it brought me back to our Evan Ingram conversation, because if they're not pleased with Evan Ingram, he's the one guy. because you just resigned Trotman to a three-year deal. I mean, you could obviously move on from Nate Adkins. I think he's just got a one-year deal, but do they want to move on from Nate?

He plays special teams. So I don't know. I mean, what would be in the works? What would be an acceptable move at this point to add a dynamic player to you guys' point earlier about Nate not being necessarily that dynamic? I mean, who could they possibly look to add

right now. I mean, you're not taking somebody off of waivers to be your starting tight end. So I don't know. I'm interested to find out. No, okay. Here's a couple things they could do because I know the team, they like Adam Trondman. They're a little disappointed with Evan Ingram, how he's come along because they thought he would be more productive than he is right now. But you bring up a very valuable point as the team starts to put this roster together and they've already had these conversations. I mean, Darren Riz has got to sit in that room. two. After what we saw last week against the Greenway Packers, he's got to say, okay, well, what guys are you leaving me? Because the guys that are going to be on the second and third team guys,

those are going to be your typical special teams guys. So if we go back to Nate Atkins and Adam Prentice, who's a better special teams player? Right. And when you look at the tight end room, you say, well, who's a better special teams player? And looking at this tight end room, And thinking about what Coach Payton said, when they start to finalize this roster, the last position group that I think they're going to come to to figure things out is the tight ends group. They're going to start at the top and work their way down. And whatever they do from the running back standpoint, that is going to dictate which of these tight ends actually make this team. Because when you look at tonight's game, Cody Shreder, I mean, listen, he had a good job. He did a good job tonight.

I think he would rush for 90 yards. Yeah, he was a beast. Right? He was a beast tonight. So when you looking for some tough, grind him out, short yardish, third down running, he can possibly provide that for you. You throw him in the mix. Also, you know, you look at Jalil.

Jalil has some moments himself tonight. So I look at Bandy and like, you know, oh, man, I don't know about you. I don't know what you're making this team dog. But this is what you think about when you started to put this roster together. Yeah. I mean, like Cody. Schrader, you know, six for 90 receiving tonight, along with 13 carries for 42 yards. Of course, he had a touchdown there in the red zone.

Like, I mean, do we just chalk that up to, you know, third game of the preseason, second half, Vikings trying to get the, you know, get out of here and all that kind of stuff. Like, I don't know. But one thing I know for sure is Cody Schrader was, you know, if you were watching the game in real time, like he jumped off the screen a little bit. Like, I don't know if he did enough to make this team necessarily, but it makes you think about it. And I think that brings us, you know, to a good conversation about just running back wide receiver as well.

Because like Jalil McLaughren, as you mentioned, I thought had some bright spots too. Like he figures out a way to hang around, right? And ultimately, whether they carry four running backs or not, like someone's going to get through the practice squad, right? And so that's something else to consider where you look at this roster too, Sarah. Yeah. And I wonder, like, is Cody Schrader one of those guys that all 32 teams have a version of Cody Schrader, right? who just goes off in the third preseason game. I mean,

like you can't diminish it because it happened, but also you have to ask the question, like, okay, when you're weighing the pros and cons of putting a guy on waivers, and you're saying, this guy was cut by three legitimate, like contenders last year.

He's cut by the Rams. It's cut by the Jaguars. He's cut by the Texans. Then the Broncos cut him and nobody picked him up. So, I mean, there's guys, that that float around all the time.

But now you have to weigh that versus what is everybody else's need around the league, who's got running backs getting injured. Is he one of those guys that you wait until the very last moment to let go of? Because then teams maybe, you know, I don't know if they make moves tomorrow. Teams need running backs. They claim early. I don't know. I don't know what happens there.

But you got to feel good about bringing back any one of, I found it interesting about running back specifically that Mike Cliss said on the broadcast that Tyler Badegh is the fourth running back, not Jaliel or Cody Schrader, but that it's Tyler Badee. And so because of his punt protection and past protection, that was what he said. So yeah, that's what he said. And Clis is as plugged, like the most plugged in guy. You know what, man, listen, I don't mean to throw shade on anyone.

But what you're going to? When we're saying, yes, I am. But Sarah said that, man, I got a bad taste in my mouth like I was a baby and someone was trying to force feed me split peas. Right? I'm just like, no, no, no, I don't want it. Because think about it, what have we seen from Talibur Day all preseason? Can't say we've seen a lot. Now, last season, we've seen him playing a handful of games.

And what he was supposed to do as a third down special is he didn't really excel at that. because he dropped a lot of passes. So if he makes this team, then that means someone higher up really, really loves him, right? Just call him the Sally Fields of the Denver Broncos. They really, really love me. Yes, so. Yeah.

Before we hit a break, I just want to get back to Red Murdoch just for a quick second. I know I teased it before the last break. Do we think he's a lock for this team? I tend to think there's a pretty good chance he makes the roster. I know he's Mr. Relevant and everything that kind of comes with that. They've played him a lot, and it seems like maybe there's a willingness to develop him. I also just think, like I said, like he's a raw player,

but there's a lot of upside there on a massive position of need, because eventually singletons are not going to go their separate ways at the linebacker position. Like, do you guys think Red Murdoch has done enough this preseason to warrant a roster spot? I think there's a much better chance that Jordan Turner, clears waivers than Red Murdoch. So to me, you utilize those opportunities to your advantage, right? You can't just say, well, Jordan Turner made this team over Red Murdoch. Well, we didn't really see Jordan practice a whole lot.

He was the first guy up in the game against the Vikings, along with Karen A. Reed. So I think Red is one of those guys that you say, we're not getting him through waivers. And so we have to, just like Justin Jolie, we have to. keep him, right? We have to figure out a way to make it work with the numbers game, which affects quarterback, which to our point, you know, a bit ago affects tight end, you know? So that's where I would say I'm at with Red Murdoch as he's got to be on the team as a developmental prospect. But here's the other question that I know we all can answer. Who else do you have? Right. That's the thing. Who else do you have?

That's the thing. Come on, man. I mean, Red Murdoch, he didn't coming to the league the way that maybe he wanted to. But he's making the most out of his opportunities. But the thing for him is that he happens to be on a Broncos team that really doesn't have a lot of depth. So absolutely he makes this team, even if he wants to say he makes it by default. Yeah. No, I agree. Just wanted to get your guys's opinion on that one for sure. He's probably the he's just a prospect that I get really excited about, man. Like if they can figure out a way to mold this guy and develop him. And I had the opportunity to see. sit down on his post game scrum tonight and just, you know, saying all the right things and

humble kid and, you know, just one of those guys that you root for, right? And I think obviously when you pray that with the intangible, we'll ultimately see what he becomes, assuming that he does stay with the Denver Broncos. When we come back, though, let's talk a little bit about Marvin Mims, a guy that I think we all obviously expect to make the roster. But, I mean, from where his training camp started to where his preseason ended, I mean, it is, it is a complete duality. Marvin tonight getting knocked out of the game without apparent injury. Do a little Marvin memes, a little wide receiver room, amongst one other things when we come back right here on your locked on Rocco Squacho.

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Free dessert for life. from our friends over at home show. Hey, serve for life. I think I ate like five cookies tonight in the press box. I can't lie, bro. I can't go back.

Dude, we ordered, uh, we ordered nothing bun cakes and crumbed. Like, wait, that's a hell of a night, bro.

That's a hell of a night. I know. I have, I have like one of these tiny little forks. Like, it's a tiny, like it's not a kid's fork, but it's a tiny little fork.

And I just, I get that tiny little fork and I just get little bites. You know, and then I take, I do a little. sampling and I'm I'm good like my kids can have a little bit my wife can have a little bit got some leftover for the next day but let me tell you this right now the cookie butter nothing but cakes you know creation whatever you want to call it will change your life and this week's crumble

menu which I think if you're listening to this you can only get it today it's like the after school snacks crumble lineup legendary stuff with the dunkeroo's the brownie the cinnamon sugar pop tart. It's a legendary lineup. So I'm just saying. I'm just highly recommend. All I want to know is after you ate that, did you test your blood sugar? I check my, no, I don't test my blood sugar. I check and I lift up my shirt and see, okay, can I still see one, two, three? No, I can't. I start counting. And I'm like, all right, I don't have to punish myself right now. I can do it tomorrow. Oh, wow.

Yeah, I'm going to go on a little, probably fast thing off tomorrow. or maybe walk in the treadmill and have some fun with that. But all right, let's talk about Marvin Mims here. Again, lockdown Bronco squad show. Appreciate everyone.

Tune it in here. Look, man, like I kind of said before the break, like Marvin, I felt like for the first, you know, week or two before he ended up getting banged up with the groin injury

was one of the stars of training camp. Like obviously there's bow. Obviously there's Waddle, but like Marvin, I think was really turning some heads. And it was a level of passion for Marvin that I don't want to say that I haven't seen before, but like there was just like a level of intensity with Marvin entering into

this training camp, right? Like throwing the helmet even. Like, and I know that's not like the tail-tale sign of intensity, but like just like the way he ran his routes, the body language, the emotional kind of arc that we saw with Marvin. And he missed some time, doesn't really, you know, get many opportunities late in training camp and early preseason and returns to the line of tonight. And in the blink of an eye finds himself, you know, limping off the field here once again with, I believe, a bruise. I'll look that up here in just a moment. I believe he's to the foot. just a training camp and a preseason kind of gone sideways here from our members fellows.

Yeah, really unfortunate. I think this is the third example of pretty, I wouldn't say extreme emotions, but like, you know, pretty demonstrative emotions from them. I remember Nick told a story about he threw a ball, I think. Wasn't that you, Nick, who told the story about he threw a ball at one point after making a big play? He was visibly upset from what I remember reading when he suffered the injury during training camp. and now he's thrown the helmet on the sideline after this injury in a preseason game that I think he did need to play.

I mean, honestly, I mean, you could say in hindsight, well, he didn't need to be out there at all. And it's like, well, no, it's a new play caller. He's probably going to have a bigger role. Like, we want to see him out there at least build up a little bit of the callus. And honestly, I thought it was Jarrett Stidham's fault, but he got hurt. I don't think Jared should have tried to put that ball in play for Marvin at all. I think you should have thrown it away, but, you know, just another, another notch on Stidham's belt from the preseason, I suppose. This is not good from Jared, but it's about Marvin right now and we'll talk about him.

So I think, yes, sideways, it has gone. However, I still think that Marvin is going to have a big role in this offense. I think that the Broncos are probably relieved that he's okay, at least from what we're being told, right? So maybe it's not that big of a deal, but ultimately, if he's ready for week one, I think we're going to see Marvin playing a lot, both offense and special teams. Yeah, you're going to see Marvin playing a lot. And that's the expectations. But with Marvin being injured for a couple of practices and, you know, training camp

and then this injury, you know, watching Kobe Cassis, you may want to keep him on a roster. You may try to do it. And I'm not saying Kobe Cassis, is here to replace Marvin Mims, but watching Cass is doing what he did. And Marvin Mims having these injuries, you need to have someone back there on punt return and kick up return that can actually get you to the 30-yard line and have the possibility of making some things happen. But as far as Mims, yes, he's been a different player, and I totally understand.

Just think about this offseason. What has happened with Marvin Mims? First, Marvin Mims gets a new agent, athlete first. about athletes first. They represent some of the top dogs in the league from quarterback to wide receivers. Citi Lamb, Drake London, those are big-time wide receivers on their respective team.

And Marvin and Phil is, though, he was getting as much love and respect from the Denver Broncos, so that's part of why he made the switch. And then when he would catch the explosive passes in training camp, he would take that ball and fire it right at the building. And he would take it and throw it up in the air.

That's a certain level of, I guess, emotions that we traditionally don't see from Marvin Mims, but he is frustrated. And then the icing on the cake, they bring in Jalen Wado. And Jalen Wado becomes the talk of the town. Like if you were at practice there, every time Waddle caught a pass, every time.

And it wasn't really explosive, just catching the ball. The Fingers just erupted. And I'm sure for Marble, it's like, well, hell, like miss meat or whatever and then knowing is he hasn't played this entire time and then when he finally gets in the game he's in the game with damn stid him and he gets injured again in his foot so he threw his helmet out of frustration like man I oh my god if it wasn't for bad like I would have

not probably what he was saying if it wasn't for bad like I would have none I'm thinking Marvin maims wants to heal up you get a healthy Marvin I mean I mean And it takes this team to a whole other level. But just think about that, guys. Being in Marvin's situation with all of that happening. And you have to listen to people not just talking about Jane and Wado, but they're talking about Troy Franklin's having a great camp. Pat Bryan is having a great camp.

And oh, by the way, Jordan Humphrey is having a back a good camp. And you have to observe and watch, man, you would be pissed off to. Yeah. I would say we wrote about him predominantly orange. I'm not taking any blame for a lack of hype for Marvin at training camp. I took notice of all the reports and the big plays that he was said to have been making and the progress that he was said to have been making the role that was very apparently increasing at the beginning of training camp.

Like that was that's what I remember hearing. Is that like, man, it looks like Marvin's going to have a big role in this offense. And so I'm still believing that. right? I mean, he was back at practice for the last couple of weeks, right? I mean, I don't know if it was two weeks or one full week or what it was, but for him to play in a preseason game after missing significant time, he had to have been back for a while. So hopefully, man, like, yeah, I feel for him for all the reasons that you just said, Nick.

I mean, I feel bad that he's like maybe feeling a little bit less than by comparison at the same time. Like, shoot, I mean, Jalen Waddle is Jailen Waddle. You want to be considered on Jalen Waddle's level. You got to produce at Jalen Waddle's level. And then Marvin's like, well, you got to target me at Jalen Waddle's level. And how many touchdowns has Jalen caught in the postseason? I don't know.

So I mean, Marvin's done a lot for this team. And I think he does deserve that respect. I don't know if it's going to come financially from the team. But hopefully with a bigger role and then a bigger check at some point. I guess I'd say that Marvin is a little pissed off at Jerv. I would say it's fair. I think that's fair. The quote from Sean Payton says,

quote with Mims, he's going to be fine. It's a bruise, end quote, an apparent foot injury there. I don't, can you get a bruise? Like,

does a bruise develop that quickly? Like, I feel like usually it's like the bruise is kind of like a next day thing. Oh, no. Oh, no, it's not.

Oh, like that quick? It's instantaneous. I spray my ankle. When Tim DeWite was playing for the New England Patriots and he was their punt return. And my foot got caught underneath and everyone fell on it. Man, that buddy, hey, that thing slowed up pretty quick.

Okay, I believe it. That's the name right there, by the way, Tim Dwight. Shout out Tim Dwight for making plays in a Super Bowl lost once upon a time. Love it, love it. All right, yeah, we'll see what happens here with Marvin Mims. Again, the Broncos win 34 to 6 in this preseason finale. finale over the Minnesota Vikings. When we come back, let's talk about the position battle, but everyone wants to know about that, of course, the backup quarterback room. Sam Ellenger looked

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Rates may vary. All right. Well, come on back into lockdown Broncos squad show, El Lepiro, Sarvite, and Jerry, Nick Ferguson, hanging out with you guys here, recapping and breaking down the biggest takeaway from the Denver Broncos, 34 to 6 victory over the Minnesota Vikings in their preseason finale. Okay.

this now brings us to the quarterback competition where Jared Stidham found himself in the power chair as the starter, but didn't play all that much. Six for nine was steady, 78 passing yards, no touchdowns, no interceptions for a quarterback rating of 93. 8 on the flip side, Sam Ellinger gets a majority of the reps here tonight. He goes 15 for 20, 233 passing yards, three touchdowns and an interception for a quarterback rating of 131.9. I'll start here, fellows, because I was filling it on the radio on Thursday, and I was doing a show with Philip Lindsay, and one of the questions that I asked him and that we kind of went back and forth is, like, we've also had this discussion, too, where it's like we feel like the mind has been made up about Jared Stidim as the backup quarterback and Sam Ellengrub potentially his quarterback three. What would Sam Ellengrath had to have done tonight to force the hand of this Broncos coaching staff? And I had said, you know, have a damn near perfect game, right? And Sam Ellinger was pretty darn good tonight in his opportunities.

15 of 20, like I mentioned, over 200 passing yards. That awesome pass of Jolie and a couple other touchdowns. Did throw a pick, though. I still don't know if it's enough to even warrant anything. And I understand Jerry said it has been, you know, pretty mid to last couple of games in the back of quarterback position. But it was nice to see Sam kind of get like a first real look at a real crack at this and excelled to a certain extent, fellas. Yeah, it was his first real opportunity to play extensive snaps to get in the flow of a game. And he played pretty well.

I mean, obviously you would like to have that interception back. That's a, you know, a bit ugly, probably just as if not worse than, you know, Jared Sidham's interception against the Green Bay Packers last week. However, what I will say is that I think there's, I feel like with Sam, there's more of like this gamer mentality that I don't know if it's like the team. effect that's still got a hold of me 15 years later where it's like the thing that a lot of people just can't quantify the it factor that somebody has that you can feel but you can't necessarily put numbers to or you can't say well he he measured in this category and the it factor

at the scouting combine i feel like sam ellinger just has that he has that it factor where it's like I kind of just trust that he's at least going to do everything it takes to make a play. And even if he fails, he's going to keep a play alive or he's going to run for it. Or he's going to be able to, he just has a bit more moxie, is a bit more, you know, whatever, whatever word you want to put to it. I feel like he has more of it. And so I think with these two guys, if you have to pick one, to me, it comes down to a gut feeling. and based on what your gut would tell you after what Stidham showed in the a FC championship game and early in this game hanging out Marvin Mims to dry

and then they don't throw a single other pass downfield when Stidham was in the game I mean that speaks volumes in my opinion speaking of trusting my gut sometimes I don't trust my gut especially when I've eaten too much carbs so I'm just going to trust my eyes in this case as it pertains to this so-called quarterback battle that was said to not be a quarterback battle. I think Sam got the best of this battle. When you look at Stedham and what he was able to do against the Atlanta Falcons, it looked great, right?

It looked great. But then it was against the Falcons. So I still want to give him his credit, but then you fast forward to the Packers game. Didn't really see a lot that jumped off the screen that said, oh, yeah. I mean, he solidified himself as the number two got. And my whole thing was, well, you're not giving Sam an equal.

opportunity. You gave him those reps in practice, but she didn't really give it to him in the game. And it seemed like someone was trying to really push the envelope and really force feed Jared Stedham down our throat. Because in that Packers game, I mean, we should have seen Sam earlier. Way earlier. Right. And we didn't. And then when you think about the guys that Stidham play with, when he, when they gave him the ball, opposed to the guys that Sam Ellinger was playing with, those are two totally different. things. And when I watched Sam, especially tonight, I saw a lot of what we see from both. As far as moving in the pocket, avoiding pass rushers, being able to improvise. Think about it. I think it was a parrot on the left side was beaten and he's beaten badly.

What does Sam do? When he was falling down, he has a left pocket awareness. Well, here's Gillette McLaughlin right there. Let me shovel it to him. Yeah. a lot of homes, right? And then think about the shot when, I think, two timeouts, a minute and 30 remaining, I mean, the Minnesota bike is a playing cover two. It's a laser in cover two right there in a honeyhole. Great ball placement.

So we've seen a lot from Sam, and you want to see that. Okay, well, what does he look like in a two-minute offense? What he looks like under stress? And let's be totally honest, that offensive line didn't do him a great job tonight. They did not do him a great job tonight. Also, think about Sam rolling out to his right, guy just chasing him, and then he has a presence of mind

to throw the ball down in the end zone. And who does he find? You know, Shrader. They found Shrader in the end zone. So he and Sam do a lot of things that you want to see when you're evaluating quarterbacks. But with Stidham, Stidham didn't really do enough for me to say,

well, he was solid. He earned that spot. Now, they may want to give it to him, and they might in fact this well give it to him. But Sam said something really interesting afterwards when he was asked about his time with the Broncos

and possibly staying. And he's like, hey, me paraphrasing, he's been through this before, but he's going to make the decision that he can for himself. And listen, I like the kid. I think the kid is done enough to be the number two.

But if they still want Stidham, then I'm telling them, man, kick rocks, man. I'm going to go somewhere else. At what point does it become a, financial discussion. If the play of those two guys is remotely similar, how do you justify not just keeping both, like if you were to keep three quarterbacks, but how do you justify keeping Stidham at an $8 million cap hit versus Sam Ellinger at a $1.4 million cap hit, right?

I mean, that's that if the play on the field is comparable, I just don't understand how you justify that, especially when you're already, you know, asking. Ben Powers to take a pay cut. You're already asking, you know, these other guys on the roster to go to the practice squad, right? You're talking about like Jol D McLaughlin. You're talking about little Jordan Humphrey, potentially somebody like Taylor Rath at some point.

So you're asking a lot of guys to do a lot of things. Even Sam Ellinger fits into that category. So to me, if there's an opportunity for that type of financial savings, when you have, you know, Marvin, Riley Moss, Brandon Jones, all these other players, J-Quan-McMillan, who are coming up on needing contracts. And that potential four million could be the difference, you know. And so I'm not saying it's that big of a deal, but kind of, right? I mean, when you're talking about the difference of what it costs to keep those guys

versus, I mean, having a guy that eight million that's not playing as well as the guy that's making 1.4 million. So, and he's older, by the way, like, Sam Ellinger is three years younger, I think, than Stidim. And he's playing better. I mean, to me, like, he was considered to be the most consistent QB in camp. Like, I don't know. I just think maybe you consider the alternatives and the savings.

And do you break up that QB room, though? How much is the vibes playing a role in this whole discussion? I don't care about no damn vibes. I care about having a winning culture. And right now, we already know what Stidim is. Let's be totally honest. He is a career backup. That is it.

I mean, he can have aspirations of being a starter as though he should, but we already know what he is. So think about it this way. This is what I think about it. I look at what Sam was able to do with the less. And then if you were to give him more, for me, I would trust him to go out and be able to make plays. Maybe not on the same level of both,

but a whole lot better than what Stidham has actually presented. And if someone in the building is saying, well, we know that there's a difference in amount of money that each quarterback commands and you still want to keep Stidim, then that tells me someone who is a marquee decision maker is not really looking at this game the way that they should. And they're allowing their bias and their favoritism to play a role because there's no way that you can tell me that Stidham in this preseason has outplayed Sam. And we know we got Sam in this final game, albeit against Minnesota,

what did we really see from Jared Stidham to say that, you know what? You took that job. You earned that job. No, no, no. They gave you that job. You know what else is fascinating about this conversation, fellas? Is I feel like there's this notion around Jared Stidtum as being like this more experienced quarterback, right?

Like been around the block, this and that. Jared Stidham started one more game in the NFL and Sam Allen grass. Jared has four starts in his NFL career, Sam Ellen Graves three. And so that was something that when I heard that staff for the first time, like I was like, really? Like in my head, I felt like Stennav had started, you know, six, seven, eight, you know, different types of games and scenarios

just throughout the course of his NFL career with the Raiders, the Patriots, and obviously now with the Denver Broncos. And so that's, it's just a misconceived notion. Maybe I was the one who felt that way. But it's like when you break it down that way, too. And I love the point that you bring up as well, Sarah, about the financial aspect of it. But, like, Jared Sidem has done absolutely nothing to separate himself from Sam Ellinger, right?

And Sam finally got an opportunity tonight to kind of show his value and show his worth. And ultimately, I think, you know, he's put himself in a position of potentially to be the quarterback, too, if the Broncos feel that way. And, you know, I was in his scrump tonight as well. And he's going to evaluate all of his options. I mean, the question is, like, do the Broncos carry three quarterbacks? Ultimately, then we'll find that out on Sunday. But here's the one thing that I will say, too, is like, why didn't Sam go play for the Colts at the end of last year?

Like what promises was Sam made to come back and, you know, stick on the Broncos roster? You could have started down the stretch, Nick. Yes, but they probably told him and say, look, you can go to the Colts and you're only going in that situation, being put in that situation because Danny Dimes was injured. The likelihood of you being a starter, they're probably not looking at you in that way. You can stay here. You know our offense. You're starting to get better as a quarterback.

And oh, by the way, we're not really so that Jared. is going to be our number two, and you're going to have the ability to compete with him, right? So you get that, your wife is loving Denver. You're thinking that, okay, the team is going to make a run. You want to be a part of that. So you come back. But listening to him tonight,

that don't sound like he gives two nickels about that anymore. He feels as though he's done enough to be the number two, not be the number three, because if the Broncos keep three quarterbacks on their roster, gentlemen, guess what that means, that some position group is going to be shorthanded because now you got a quarterback on the roster who is not really contributing to anything but practice. And where on the roster can realistically you afford that right now?

I mean, you're already planning on a couple of red shirts like we talked about. I mean, Jolie is undoubtedly a red shirt, red Murdoch, probably a red shirt. Then you look at the offensive line where, you know, Clis in his roster projection said the the team loves like Gavin Ortega and Tyler Miller. So they try to redshirt those guys. And so you only have so many red shirts in the NFL. It's unofficial, obviously. But I mean, you have to consider and weigh those things.

And it's like if you love Ellinger that much, just make him the QB2, honestly. Like, right? Because if you say we would keep three quarterbacks, who's the guy who is cheaper and is playing better? Sam Ellinger. Who's the guy who's stylistically, to Anilos point? earlier resembles bow nicks a lot more than the other well it's sam ellinger who's the younger guy sam ellinger i mean so i mean you you could put it all on a list and weigh the pros and cons and

yes i get that that's a tight-knit room i get that it's absolutely just like you know oh these guys are friends it's it matters in the grand scheme of things it's part of the culture i can i can get on board for that but for eight million and for the guys playing better And Jarrett has gotten opportunities. Like he got the AFC championship as a tough spot to be put in. Absolutely. It's precisely the spot where your backup quarterback needs to step up. Like your starter is injured.

The backup has to come in and play well. No, there's no doubt. I know he didn't have a running game. I know there was a blizzard in the second half. Not trying to hold it against him that they lost that game. But in the first half, when there was no blizzard, when the Broncos had a 7-0 lead, he made a unforgivable mistake and the biggest stage possible, right? So you have to,

you have to understand and weigh that. Like if you have a break glass in case of emergency situation happening and you've tried to break that glass before and it didn't work, well, shoot. I mean, I'm not going to go back to that because it didn't work. So you got to change plans sometimes. And as hard as that may be, right? I mean, this may be the right time for it. We'll see. We'll see if Sam Mellinger did enough tonight or yesterday, I guess now, technically, to solidify himself with this Broncos team. And I mean, I think it makes a lot of sense, man. I just don't think Jared Stimuth. And I can even take the AFC game, AFC championship game out of the equation to a certain extent. I think if we're just, I'm taking what I've seen in training camp and the preseason at face value. Like I don't think the distance is all that wide between these two quarterbacks. So we shall see, obviously, we'll get some news over the next 24, 48 hours or so.

so about how this Broncos roster will shape up. But Denver ends the preseason on the high note with a 34-6 thumping of the Minnesota Vikings. We have about two and a half, three weeks now before the first regular season game of the year against the Kansas City Chiefs. So we'll have plenty to unpack. And, of course, we're active some roster decisions here over the coming days. But all right, that is going to do it for us on tonight's long time Bronco squad show.

Broncos country. You guys are the absolute best. Thank you guys so, so much for rocking with us here during the preseason. Looking forward to an awesome regular season with the whole. crew and away we go. That's it for us tonight or this morning for Nick Ferguson, Sarah Bedoubino-Lapiro. Thank you guys so, so much for tuning in. We'll talk to you guys late this week. Peace out, y'all.