Locked On Broncos - Daily Podcast On The Denver Broncos - BRONCOS SQUAD SHOW: Predicting the Denver Broncos’ 2026 Stat Leaders

Episode Date: May 21, 2026

The 2026 NFL season is around the corner, and today the squad is predicting who will lead the Denver Broncos in every major statistical category. From rushing yards and touchdowns to sacks and interceptions, we break down which Broncos players could dominate this season and emerge as the team’s biggest stars. Join Aniello Piro, Cody Roark, Sayre Bedinger and Nick Ferguson as the forecast where the Broncos will rank in 2026 on today's Locked On Broncos Squad Show. Everydayer Club If you never miss an episode, it’s time to make it official. Join the Locked On Everydayer Club and get ad-free audio, access to our members-only Discord, and more — all built for our most loyal fans. Click here to learn more and join your team’s community: https://lockedonpodcasts.com/everydayerclub Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors! Square If you’re starting a business, or running one that deserves better tools, Square helps you sell, manage, and grow without slowing down. Right now, you can get up to $200 off Square hardware at https://square.com/go/LockedOnNFL. FanDuel Today's episode is brought to you by FanDuel. Right now new customers can bet just five dollars and get one-hundred and fifty dollars in bonus bets if your first bet wins. Visit https://FANDUEL.COM to get started — Play Your Game. 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. Gametime Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDON for $20 off your first purchase. 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 Anilo Piro, and while the Broncos wide receiver room is crowded, there's one that will stand out among the rest. What Anilopiro said. Cody, work here in my sports, and he just stole my thunder here. Even though the room is loaded, Troy Franklin is going to have his best year yet. Speaking of the thunder, there's nobody who is flopping more than ESPN in their quarterback rankings besides Shea Gilges Alexander. I'm Nick Ferguson, and as always, defense reigns supreme. Let's talk about it all on today's Lockdown Broncos Squad show. 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 Lockdown Podcast Network can. Gear up and Squad up, the Broncos Squad Show starts. now. Welcome on into your Loxon Broncos squad show right here on your Lockdown Broncos YouTube channel and audio feed. We got the full squad here today. Anilo Piro, Cody Rourke, Sarah Bedinger, and Nick Ferguson. I'm going to talk a little Denver Broncos forecast with respect to who will be the team leaders in receiving yards, rushing yards, touchdowns, interceptions, sacks, all that good stuff. So we'll break that down for you

guys here on today's squad show. Chat on YouTube, feel free to get involved in the conversation. as always as we move on throughout the program. And I will get on into it today. Real quick, though, Sarah, I just want to say you triggered me because the first thing I saw when I woke up this morning, I was covering the Avalanche last night, bad game for them, was an SGA flopping compilation. I just saw the same thing against the San Antonio Spurs.

So you triggered me a little bit. I hate the theater. What up. You want to talk about just a garbage NBA franchise that they have players that are just So like when the spurs were being more physical in game one, they were crying. They're pushing the camera out of the huddle.

Whoa is me. A bunch of losers. I can't stand. I hate Oklahoma City. There's nothing good about Oklahoma. It's a dump. Ridiculous. And their Thunder team is literally the worst part about it.

We got a comment here from Gary. First comment in the chat. Riley Moss leading the penalty yards. Gary. Gary. Gary from the top rope. From the top rope. Oh.

We're going through like, you know, positive predictions. Positive stats. At least penalty yards. Where did Riley rank? Was he number one last year? It was in the top 10. Yeah, I don't think he was number one. I think he was in the top 10, though.

Well, Gary has a point because here's what we do know. How many teams are going to realistically throw at PS2, right? I mean, they're not. So if you're playing opposite him, you're going to get a lot of passes throwing your way. And I mean, let's be totally honest, Riley has poor technique on deep routes, right? He starts to panic. And the officials know it. And I said this. I said

last year even before they played the Green Bay Packers, if I am the opposing wide receiver coach or the offensive coordinator, I'm going to the referee. And I'm like, hey, watch 21. He likes to grab down the field. And all you have to do is plant the seed. You just put the plate the seed on here. Hey. I know. but that's also like

Don't you think Don't you think the number one goal for Riley Moss this off season outside of getting into shape is working on down the field coverage and not grabbing and holding like isn't that priority number What else is Riley Moss going to significantly put above that? Right. Like you have to think that's top of mind for him. You know, I think here's the issue with that, right?

Like play a corner often at times like and here's the thing with Riley. And Nick, I don't know if you've seen this with him. Riley's got really good speed. But when he's going up and press coverage, he's mirroring. He's not necessarily punching. He's not jamming. He's mirror-tecking guys, like opening up and running with them. I think that's part of the problem because when you're doing that,

and then you're in a position where you're going downfield, and you're just mirroring the guy step for step, but you're not getting your hand on the hip, you're not getting in phase. Well, all of a sudden, now when that receiver starts to throttle down or brace, that's when you start. start initiating contact the wrong way, right? If you get in the hip pocket and you squeeze to the sideline, use that 12th, man, you're not going to get those calls against you, right?

I think if he establishes that earlier, he'll be better. It's contact starts to happen, even though he's got equal right to the football as the offensive player, they're going to call. He's like, ah, I think he got there a little early, even at times when he hadn't gotten there necessarily early. There are times 100% where he has gotten there early. But then I think you mentioned you developed that reputation. That's where I think things are rough.

And I agree with what a mile high diplomat said in the chat. Riley had a few bogus calls against him last season, too. I would say half of those were right calls. Half were not. I would say if we're being fair and objective on that. But you were right. It's a technique thing. He's got to continue to sharpen.

Yeah, I'll say this, Cody. Well, when it comes to Riley Moss and his issues, the problem is, you know, he leans on his speed entirely too much. And instead of focusing on his technique, You're right. He gets in trail mold and then there's a panic. And, you know, both you and I have been there before. When you get in that panic, you hear the crowd start to kind of elevate.

That's when you start to reach, right? And for him, don't reach, man. Just running to get back in the hip pocket. And then turn your head to make a play on the ball. Because as long as your head is turned around, you have somewhat of a defense. You can say, hey, listen, you know, hey, I was going for the ball. and this is because every player has the right to fall, but if you reach out with your hand,

you're dead to rights. I don't care what any of them would say because I was sitting in the stands in that Green Bay Packers game. And I was back to all the Broncos fans who were saying, hey, listen, that wasn't pass interference. I was like, yeah, anytime you extend your hand to grab players anywhere on his body to pull yourself back in face,

they're going to get you. And that is something he's got to get out of. But I tell you what, having Jalen Waddle in the building will help him because he's going to get beat in practice a lot. And I would rather him get beat in practice and learn how to properly position himself instead of doing any games. Guys, there's so much pressure on Jalen Waddle. Now that you bring that up, like we've talked about how much like Jalen Waddle is going to elevate the running game because of his presence on the field. We talk about how much he can elevate Cortland Sutton's game with his presence on the field or how much better he can help these receivers in terms of creating separation.

Now how much he can help the defensive backs in their techniques. Like he's the guy who Jalen Wattle needs to stay healthy. Like he needs to be good this year. And there's no question about that. But to the question that was asked to make PI 15 yards only at college they do that or they did. They used to do that anyway. But to the question that was asked earlier about Riley Moss's penalty yards, yes, he led the NFL with 203 penalty yards.

I was on 10 penalties. Two of them were declined, 12 total flags. So Riley was averaging 20 yards per flag. I mean, that's crazy. That's brutal. That's rough. Yeah, the Broncos also led the NFL in penalty yards last year, 1149, to be exact, on 124 penalties.

50% of them coming, I believe, on fourth down. Geez. And they won 14 games. Yeah, they did. Like, you're telling me that stat, Cody, and I think, you know, you could still be a competitive team, but that's the definition of self-relivenile.

Clean that up, and who knows what we're talking about with this team, right? That's crazy. Yeah. But, you know, the question becomes, how do you do that? And I'm glad we're talking about leaders or whatever, and I'm just going to jump out here prematurely. But the way that you have Raleigh Moss out is with pressure.

Last year, the team had 63 sacks up from the year before. So you want to help rally, get more pressure, right? And that goes back to the officer side of the ball. If the office is scoring a lot of points, the opposing team, they can't run the ball. That balance attack goes away. Now they have to throw the ball to keep pace with the Broncos offensively, and now John Vincor, Nick Benito, those Zach Allen, guys like that,

they get a chance to eat. So, I mean, defensive leaders, I'm already choosing my leaders as far as sack totals for the Denver Broncos. I already know. I'll write it here very shortly. Also, can we vent about pass interference? I don't think that there should ever be a spot-out, like 45-yard. pass interference call.

Like, you know, at the high school level, here's what I loved about playing corner in high school. I could be as physical as I wanted with the receiver until the ball was thrown. College, it's a little different. You get an adjustment. What is it? Five yards, 10 yards, something like that.

NFL, it is. You can't be physical past five yards with them. In my opinion, no, I just think I like them have as much because they're at a disadvantage. We're backpedaling. We're reacting. They already know what routes they're going to. run. We're sitting here backpedaling going backwards against the fastest athletes in the game,

trying to figure out what the heck it is that they're going to be doing and how we can stay on top of the route. And then they have crossers. You talk about just, you know, all this stuff here. And it's like, and when you do run into this subjective, like, ah, that was not past interference, but the offense gets rewarded 45 yards on it. To me, it's make it 15 yards. Make it an automatic, make it a 15 yard penalty. It's an automatic first down. I don't know. That's just my thought. Yeah. Come on, Furr, you're a defensive guy.

You tell me, what if, man, what if you got suckered on a place, 50 yards down the field where you played it perfectly? And the ref decided he just thought that was a little too early flag. And now you get penalized. Your butt's getting chewed out in the meeting room regardless, because even if you did the right thing and the guy was wrong, guess what? Negative result on you.

Come on, man. Cody, listen, I agree with you. But I've been exactly where you're describing. I've been there before. I mean, in a Monday night game against Kansas City, I had 60 yards of penalties by myself, right? I tried to avoid Mike Shanahan on the sideline. I couldn't do that, right?

I was hoping that he didn't see me, right? I threw my Harry Potter invisible cloak on, but he still saw me anyway, right? So I get it. The reason why I was shaking my head because this is an offensive-driven lead. We talk more about quarterbacks than anything else, so the league is not going to change

that because it's like baseball. Everyone loves the home run. Everyone loves the long long ball, right? No one loves kind of getting a grounder and now you get like you get to second base. No one cares about that. That's not fancy. It's not fantastic. It's not exciting. So to see it's supposed to play. Everyone wants it. But as a as a former defensive back, I agree with you that it should be more of the college rules, but they'll never do anything stupid like that. Can I just say, can I just say if it went both. ways, like even to a certain degree, that would be okay with me. Like, I'd be, I'd be willing to accept like this, okay, yeah, he's getting called for,

you know, all these penalties if it was going both ways. But the Broncos did not benefit from calls like that at all last season, maybe a time or two. I can't even think of one off the top of my head, though, but it's just like they did not get the benefit of any sort of, hey, back and forth here. Like, yes, we're calling it both ways. No, it was very much a one-sided thing. And even, I mean, even Riley's teammates were calling it out, like Pat calling it out on his podcast.

I think it was the co-host of the show. I can't remember who that the corner. Terry on Arnold. Terry on Arnold was like, man, I'm watching the tape and I'm seeing like, what, what is he doing wrong on some of these plays? And so he's become this kind of like public enemy amongst Broncos country. And it's not not really his fault. Like he's, yes, he can be better in ways, obviously. But man, yeah, he's getting screwed a little bit.

And it's not even going both ways to help the Broncos on the other side of it. Can we talk about two instances last year, Sunday night football, Terry McLaurin, he got freed open for a touchdown that ultimately helped them tie the game on an illegal pick play where Pats or Tan got decleaded by a guy. No flat. Like, and it's like what like offensive players can do that to defensive guys. but if a defensive guy sneezes or farts on a guy, it's a flag. Like, you've got to be kidding me.

Like, that's the thing that drives me nuts. I'll even go to another example early on in the season, week three against the Chargers. Keenan Allen and Ladd McConkey ran an illegal pick concept where they pretty much carried J-Quan Macmill in a field, hit him where J-Quan's at like seven, eight yards depth. They impede his ability to fight underneath it, and all of a sudden is still not called,

and it picks up a fourth-down conversion for them in that game. to me it's like these things benefit the offense so much that they can get away with certain things like that. And then Troy Franklin, the week prior gets called for a terrible pick play against the Colts where it's like he didn't actually do anything wrong and he gets flagged negatively for it. Like to me, I agree. Sarah, I don't think the Broncos benefited as much as other teams did. Okay, you know what? Before we started a show, we were talking a little bit about SGA and OKC and I guess this flopping video, which I haven't seen. I'll send you. But I'm going to throw a little of that into this. See, you have to be an actor, right, whether you are the offensive guy setting the

pick or you're the defensive guy being picked. And going back to that game you're talking about with the commanders, I actually put a video up right after that particular game because I think it was, was it Debo Samuys who set the pick, right? And there's a rule inside within the NFL. And this is why teams only do it, like maybe on four down and inside the Red zone, you are allowed to pick a guy within one yard. But the problem with that particular play that we're talking about, he went top

shoulder. He actually created contact. You can't initiate contact. And the play you're talking about with Troy Franklin, Troy, Franklin, Troy needs to be a better actor, right? You need to be a better actor in those situations because if a DB makes contact with you, hey, man, you got to fail. You got you, man, you got to do the SGA, right?

So while we criticize SGA for, you know, not liking it saying that he's flopping, here's a guy that knows the rules and he's bending the rules to his will. So the Broncos players offensively and defensively, they need to bring in some acting coaches so they can be better on those pick plays. They just need to show the tape. They need to show this. I just sent the video to our group chat. Just send, show this in the team meeting room.

Screen Actors Guild Awards. That's essentially what the sag is there. SGA's got the acronyms just in different orders. Call it whatever you want to call it. Dislike it if you're not a fan, but that's part of the rules, and he is acting, and he gets an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. We need to bring back just the enforcer. You're going to bring a guy in the game to get a flagrant foul.

It's going to get him ejected just to set the tone. Do you need that against these flopping, just terrible basketball? He's a good basketball player. don't give you wrong, but his flopping overshadows just how great of a player I think he actually is. Cody, when did you become so angry, man? Bro, because he shouldn't have won MVP. Wembe should have won it this year. Yokic should have won it last year.

Yokic had a great argument to win it this year, but, you know, maybe we're just a salty Denver Nuggets fan. That might be it. I don't know. I don't recognize this, Cody. Yokish led the league in points and rebounds and didn't win the MVP award. And he average a triple double. And he averaged a triple double. He led the league in points and rebounds.

Like how is that not the definition of value? What was he? Top one and assists. Wasn't he top five in assists? Top five in assists? Yeah. Top five in steals? Yeah.

Like crazy. It's ridiculous. You guys are overlooking this, man. You have to become an actor. I'm telling you. I'm going to shoot 25 free throws a game. Oh. I'm just telling you.

Well, look, Matt Moore, Ryan Blackburn, his swipe. I have you cover with some Yokin' Nuggets coverage over on. Locked on Nuggets, so make sure to check them out. But why do we hit our first break? When we come back, we'll open up the whiteboard segment here a little bit. Let's stick with defense. We'll do sack leaders and interception leaders for the Denver Broncos. Who do we think will lead the team in those categories?

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Be sure to check out that everyday air club. Okay, let's start with interceptions. Team leaders, not a lot of interceptions last year for the Denver Broncos, only 10. Dandrea Tillman, believe it or not alone with Jekylln-McMillan, tied for first place. They each had two apiece. And then there's a handful of guys, Riley Moss, Justin Sernod, Jadetab, and Brandon Jones, Dre Greenlaw, and Pat Sartan that had an interception of peace. So no one on the Broncos last year with more than two intersternos.

Receptions. Fellas, obviously, I think that was one of the major points of emphasis, right, that I think some of the fan base, as good as the defense was playing last year, they wanted to see more turnovers, wanted to see more interceptions. So as I write this out on my whiteboard, who do we think will lead the Broncos in interceptions in 2026? Yeah, I'm going to start things off by saying Brandon Jones with five interceptions. I'm going a little bold here, right? up. I see last year, the Broncos, they had opportunities.

They had some drop picks. I don't know. Talano, who Fonga probably had about six dropped interceptions himself. But I think Brandon Jones, especially in a contract year, I feel like he's going to go out there and he's going to make it hard for the Broncos to be like, hey, if they were even thinking about trying to go in another direction after this season, I think he's going to make it very difficult for them. He's going to play himself into that. I got him leading with five interceptions this season.

Five. It's a big number. It is. I think he's going to do it. Okay. Cody's going, Brandon Jones. Sarah, where are you going? I've got Hufanga. I think Fonga's going to do it just for the reason Cody just mentioned is that he dropped.

If I had a quarter for every time he dropped an interception last year, I'd have at least like $1.50 or something like that, right? I mean, I think that Hufanga is the guy who's always around the ball. Like, he has so many different ways and opportunities that he can make plays on the ball. And we saw it last season. We just didn't see him actually finish the ball. plays. And so I think that's going to be a huge emphasis for him this off season. I feel like

who Fonga is going to come back. He, he knows like he was that close last year to probably being a first team all pro at the safety position and being arguably considered the best in the league at safety last year. If he would have caught a couple of passes, right? So I think we're going to see him do that this year. As far as a specific number, though, I like number five. I think that's kind of where I feel it's, it's going to be. So I'm taking five interceptions for Hufong. this year. Okay. Okay. Brandon Jones and Talo Hufunga, Nick Ferguson, where are you going? I'm going to go with Jay Mack and cheese.

Yes. That was done. The reason I'm going to go with Jay Mac and Cheese is because, like you said, I mean, he was tied for first place with the Broncos with two interceptions. And here's the biggest part. We know a lot of teams are playing in 11 personnel and they're going to attack the guy who playing the toughest position, the nickel position because in the slot you have so many places that you can run.

Just think about, you know, playing against the charges and Lamb-McConkey. They're going to put him in a slot for a particular reason. And they're throwing for a particular reason, running everyone off, trying to isolate J-Mack. And because of that, and knowing as though the pass rush will be better this year, and even though now you got Justice Trinard, he's going to be a starter, not a backup guy, I'm thinking a lot of deflections. I'm thinking a lot of hands in the air.

Wave them like you just don't care because J-Mack is the number one Bronco and he's going to come down with those interceptions. Yeah. Yeah. Well, you know, they say great minds think alike. I'm also going with J-Mack. I swear whenever we do these whiteboard segments, I feel like Nick and I are always on the same way. I also just think he's an Uber aggressive player, like the dude's a dog. And he's going to be just in position to make plays.

I like Hufanga. I like Brandon Jones as well. I just think J-Mack, like he's probably outside of Pat Sertan, the player that I have, at least in the secondary, the most fun watching. I know who Fonka makes the big plays and the big hits, but there's just something about the way that J-Mac plays the game and just his story and all that that's just a joy to watch and cover here locally. And I just think he's really coming into his own.

I think you saw that last year, obviously, against the Buffalo Bills and some other things that he did throughout the course of the regular season. So I'm going to go J-Mack. But honestly, I'd be surprised, fellas, if it's not one of the three names that we listed. We do have some love here for Riley Moss in the comments section. Riley Moss is not joking, says, I think he'll be. be much improved and take advantage of teams avoiding PS2. It should be Riley

Moss because he's going to see more targets than anybody else, right? So, I mean, it makes he should be the one to lead the team in interceptions. I mean, that's- We would love for PS2 to lead. But here's the thing. Like people are going to be like, oh, he doesn't have that many interceptions. It's like, how many catches

is he allowed on how many targets? What's the pass rating when throwing his way? Nobody like quarterbacks are, you have a better chance of like when Pastor 10, when defensive player the year, you had a better opportunity to have a better pass rating by throwing the ball in the dirt than you did throw in it past or Tansway. Like that was an actual reality, which is crazy to think about. Yeah. No, you're right. I mean, you know, another name that's interesting is Jaday Barron.

Like if he gets the playing time, right? I mean, just first round pick, you know, was considered that. That'd be huge. Best quarterback in college football the year that Travis Hunter won the Heisman trophy. What a Jim Thorpe Award, I want to say? I forget the exact name of the award, but he won that award at NCAA a lot of times is my creative. guy and rode to glory my man so we're you know I love it so yeah we'll see I think all of our answers are a good one but I think Riley and Jaday could be some outside names to certainly keep an eye on here really quickly for you guys move on I think it's going to be boom of us for Riley Moss either is going to be an interception or it's going to be a pass interference for an explosive penalty

can he have more interceptions this year than pass interference penalties can he do it I mean that'd be a good prop bet that's the redemption art Very interesting. That's the redemption art. All right, let's go over to Sacks here. Nick Benito led the team in Sacks last year with 14 and led by a wide margin. Jonathan Cooper had eight. JFM had seven and a half.

Zach Allen had seven. And then it kind of drops off there with Sternod with four and a half. Malcolm Roach with four and Dandreya Tillman with four, a couple other guys on that list. But when it comes to who do we think will be the Broncos SAC leader, I'm curious if we're all unanimous here. I'll start with you, Cody. We'll probably go. I got Nick Bonito, 17 sacks.

17. And here's the reason why. Nick Benito was on pace to break the sack record last year. Had a couple of stretches of the games where he didn't get it. Obviously, in that week two game against the Colts, that's where he suffered that wrist injury. Dude played banged up all season long. And even Jonathan Cooper, I don't think a lot of people realize Coop played hurt for a large portion of the season as well. Nick Bonito, I have a feeling, like, just having gotten up with him recently.

he prepares like a madman in the off season. His nickname's the Bloodhound. I think Benito is going to have his best year yet. He has been a player where early on in his career, people were wondering if he's even going to make the team after his rookie season to where he just rose exponentially, 14 plus sacks for him last year. And there were like multiple stretches of games

where he went two games in a row without registering his sack, right? I think that's going to change. I think he's going to dominate this year. I think he's going to have 17 this season. That's my prediction. I know it's a little bold, I think is that bold. I think that's where he's going to be.

Let me frame it this way. Does anyone not have Nick Benito as their sack leader for the Broncos? No. Interesting. Oh, Oh, here comes Bob Miller. Let's skip over it.

Skip over me and let's go to Nick first. And then I'll, I have something I'm looking up right now. So Nick, I think you should go next. Well, you know what, guys. I think I feel the same that you guys feel. But I just want to call him.

something different. I want to call him Nicolodeon. There you go. So it was definitely Nick Benito, but just calling him something different. And like Cody, I don't have him at 17, but I think he is due for 16 sacks. And the reason I say that, because it's something I said earlier. If the expectation is that this offense is going to be more potent as far as explosive plays, that means that other offense is going to be chasing points. So with them chasing points, that means there's a lot of dropbacks, not on the center, shotgun and dropbacks. So that benefits Nick Benito a lot. And I'm also kind of tossing out there. I don't know how many sacks that John DeCuper had last year, but his sacked total is going to go up because everyone's going to eat because of that idea. And everything

goes back to Jalen Wado, as crazy as the sound. It's like Jalen Wado is going to be the reason why so many aspects of this team got better. I'm with it. I like it. I like it a lot. Coup had eight sacks last season for Denver, which wasn't there enough. It was pretty dang good. He gets 10. He gets 10. He gets 10. He gets that bonus. He gets the bonus. Got to. Got to. I've got I've got Bonito as well. I've spelled it out, you know, like a phonetics. Bonito. Yeah, I've got Benito as well. And here's one of the reasons why. I looked up, Last year, the quarterbacks that were sacked the most in the NFL, number one was Drake May.

He's on the schedule. He was sacked 68 times last year, which is crazy because the Broncos set a franchise record with 68 sacks last season. Justin Herbert, number two, he was sacked 60 times. He's on the schedule twice. Gino Smith, 55 sacks taken last year. He's number three from last year. He's on the schedule as well.

Josh Allen, fifth most sacks in the NFL last season. He's on the schedule on Christmas. Jacoby Brissette, sixth most sacks. in the NFL last year. He's on the schedule. Trevor Lawrence, he's on the schedule. I mean, Patrick Mahomes, Aaron Rogers, all these guys are in the top half of the NFL when it comes to being sacked the most last season. And the Broncos get to play them all. And some of them they get to play twice. And that doesn't include Kurt Cousins or whoever it, we assume Malik Willis will be the quarterback of the dolphins at that point. And so it's just all these different factors are leading up

to what I believe, obviously the individual sack leader of the team we expect to be Nick Benito. But man, if the Broncos don't get 70 this year, I will be shocked. I'll be even without John Franklin Myers, they're going to set another franchise record in Sacks. And it's going to be an absolute bloodbath every time they take on one of these teams because they just, they know how to get to the quarterback. Now, they need to finish when they get to the quarterback.

They need to take the ball away when they get there. They've, they had two last season out of 68. That's insane. Like, so that I'll continue to say that until it's, you know, not a thing anymore because I think they will figure out a way to make that happen this year. But I'll once again say, I need to see Von Miller on my team. I want Von Miller because you guys just mentioned they were down at the end of last season. They were down.

Oh, where were these guys disappearing for stretches? That'd be a great time to have a legendary NFL pass rusher in the best defensive player. in team history out on the field. I will say not to sound like a hater. I love Vaughn Miller a lot. You would have never known that Vaughn Miller was playing against the Broncos this past season and that Sunday night game against the commanders.

Yeah, but that commander's team was the disaster last year. It doesn't matter though. It was like, but you almost wouldn't have thought Vaughn was on the team. I don't ever remember Vaughn making one play against Denver. Where was Vaughn right before Washington? Buffalo. And he didn't even do anything in the playoff game against Bow Nix and the Broncos then. So love Vaughn, love him to death.

Yes. Valid point, Cody. Arguably the best defensive player in franchise history. You can have an argument for that. But it's like, that's just not where Denver is at right now. And I know Sarah Wossett. Like, trust me, if it made sense, if there was an injury, yes, I'm off for it. It does.

It does make sense. I mean, the only reason he didn't make plays against the Broncos is because Bo Nix is the best quarterback in the NFL out avoiding sacks right now. That's the reality. I mean, it's true. So, yeah, I think I just, yeah, all I'm, I'm saying is that if we start to have a conversation at some point this season about the Broncos pass rushers disappearing for stretches or not getting to the quarterback enough

or not punching the ball out, I'm going to bring these conversations up and talk about Von Miller. And I will die on this hill. He's planted his flag there. I respect it. I do. I do. I'm into it as well. All right. Let's hit a quick break. When we come back, we'll switch over to offense. We'll do rushing leader and receiving leader. We'll save the touchdown leader for the end of the show. So rushing leader and receiving leader when we come back right here on your locked on Broncos squad show. All right, you guys, real quick, let me tell you about our friends over at Fanduel because the NBA playoffs are here and every possession matters. If you're looking to get even closer to the action, Fandual has a great offer to get you started. Right now, new customers can bet just $5 and get $150 and bonus bet.

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It's really an easy app to navigate, and it makes playoff basketball even more engaging from start to finish. You've also got playoff hockey. The avalanche are still in it, of course, although they're down 1-0-0-0 to Vegas. So if you like to about the hockey, FanDuel's got you covered there. You've got Knicks and Cavs coming up tonight.

And of course, the San Antonio Spurs battling out with the Oklahoma City Thunder. So head of FanDuel.com to get started. FanDuel, play your game. Be sure to check out our friends over at FanDuel guys and let them know that Lockedon Broncos sent you. All right, welcome on back into the program. And Elopiro, Cuddy, Rookiore, and Nick Ferguson.

we are your Lacked on Broncos squad show. Good conversation there on interception leader as well as SAC leader. Let's keep it rolling here. Let's go rushing leader first. So who do we think will lead the Denver Broncos in rushing yards? Last year it was J.K. Dobbins with 772 rushing yards, followed by R.J. Harvey. And believe it or not, Bo Nix was their third leading rusher with 356 rushing yards. Obviously, they bring in Jonah Coleman.

We'll see what his role will be in his role will be in his. rookie year. But RJ's back, JK's back, and Cody, what's your answer here? What's your forecast for rushing leader for the Broncos? I've got J.K. Dobbins being the leading rusher, 1,200 yards this season. Granted, he stays healthy, even 15 games. I'll say 15 games. He was averaging 5 yards per carry before he went down. I mean, really, he was kind of the, he would get something going. Like, even if the Broncos run game started off rough, he would just be the guy to open things up. And I remember Denver was struggling early on in week three against the, uh, the And then the second half, he broke things open and actually gave them the best chance to kind of win that game.

And then there were some drop passes from guys, unfortunately, some overthrows by Bo, unfortunately, in that game early on. But then really, the Broncos, week two came out against the Colts. They struggled the week prior running the football. They wanted to come out and establish the run early on. John said, we're going to run at the first three plays to get a first down. JK gets 15 on carry number one right there and just chugged along. So for me, J.K. Healthy chip on his shoulder. I see him hitting 1,200 yards.

He was on pace for about 1,300 plus last season. I think he's going to hit 1,200. He stays healthy for 15 games. It's a bold prediction. I love that prediction. I love the optimism over J.K. Dobbins needs to continue to be manifested amongst Broncos country. I think that he's going to be the featured back in this offense.

I think the only thing that. prevents me from saying this is a no-brainer is the fact that I just wonder how much his carries and touches are going to get managed. Like you want to feed J.K. Dobbins, obviously, he's not, he's, he's, he suffered a lot of freak injuries. So do the Broncos manage his workload in such a way that they're like, no, no, we're not going to, we're not going to go past, you know, a certain pitch count every single week. I don't know that that's how they'll approach him, but that's the only thing that makes me wonder, is he going to lead the team in rushing or is it going to be somebody else that ends up doing that if the scheme is better and if you know if there's more

opportunities for somebody like rj harvey or even jonah coleman this year i'm going to go with dobbins but i think that there's opportunities for it to be somebody else well sarah i'm glad you said somebody else because i have a somebody else got j cole you're killing me man wow i got j cole and this is why i have jay co because think about about what Cody just said. He said, what, 1,200 yards for J.K. Dobbins. If he's healthy, and what have we seen over the past couple of years, Cody? He hasn't been healthy. And when that happens, you have to go to running back number two. Last year, we saw R.J. Harvey kind of come on the scene just a little, I mean, a lot of receiving, not receiving yards, but receiving

touchdowns. And Sean Payton had no other choice, but to rely on him because I mean, you had McLaughlin and you had Alibade, who the team didn't really have a lot of confidence in. So we know if the lead back goes down, he's going to go to RB2. And I expect Jonah Coleman to be RB2. And what that means is ending this season, not only healthy fellas, but having more yards than J.K. Dobbin. So I'm going to go with Jay Cole. Yeah, I'll say this. It would not surprise me at all if this, John of Coleman.

It really would not. And just to put it in perspective, I also have J.K. Dobbins is my pick, just because I think he's going to get the workload assuming that he could stay healthy, right? But with the 1,200 rushing yards, right? J.K. Dobbins, for his career is barely over 3,000. So if you're saying he's going to rush for 1,000 yards in one year,

that's essentially almost half of his career rushing yards, the guy that's never played a fully healthy season. He played 15 games in his rookie season in Baltimore, 10 last year, 13 with the Chargers. Like I love J.K. Dobbins. I think if there's a guarantee, which is obviously not the case, that J.K. Dobbins is healthy. There's no question he's going to be the Broncos leading rusher.

But at this point, I think you have to expect J.K. to hopefully get your 10 or 11 games, but he ain't playing 17. You know, he's not going to play 17 games. I think 13, 14 would be good all things considered. I would say never say never, right? Like I understand history has shown us with JK that. Doesn't mean he can't rewrite it. Right.

And also it's not like it was like a comedy, like, oh, you know, hamstring injury this week. Like his injuries have been serious freak injuries. Like, you know, he broke his leg. What was it in, I think in high school or college? He, Achilles, ACL. He's suffered major injuries versus them just being like lingering hamstring, lingering calf issues, like stuff like that that we see other players deal with.

Soft tissue stuff. Like JK takes great care of his body. It's been unfortunate. But how many yards did he have last year through 10 games? Do you know that at top of your head? Not a fat, but it was quite a bit. 700 plus. He was the third leading rusher in the NFL at that point.

Yeah, but Cody, but you're proving the point and what you said. I'm just saying. You went back in a way back machine and you talked about his injuries dating back to high school. Right. He's come back. He's come back every time, almost stronger. I would say that. Hey, listen.

Some of those injuries would be career like de-throttlers for so many guys. Sometimes the sequel is not better than the original, right? and we know that. So we're talking about a player who's been historically injured. We know this. And we got to cross our fingers. We got to put a four-leaf clover in our back pocket and hope that he's able to make it through the entire season. So since we know he's not, then you have to defer to someone else.

And you're not deferring to Dahlia Badae. You're not deferring to Gillette McLaughlin, right? You're not. Jonah Coleman, he wasn't the first round pick, but guess what? we've seen guys who were not first-round picks on the Sean Payton's offense really excel. And Jonah Colt is in a perfect position. That, I mean, Sean even said that. That's why they drafted him.

They drafted him as insurance. And he said, like, Sean said that perfectly. Like, he's very similar to JK. But Sarah, sorry, I interrupted you. No, you're good. I was just going to say, do you guys think that, like, if, let's just say, let's say we get into like week six, week seven territory. All right. And JK, let's knock on what this doesn't happen.

but let's say he has an injury that's like two to three weeks or something like that. A short, you know, he's going to come back. He's going to be ready to go. And during those two to three weeks, Jonah Coleman just starts going off or R.J. Harvey just starts going off. Like, do the Broncos then hand JK his job back or do they then fixate on the future at the position and say, hey, we're going to like, we're going to keep riding the hot hand. At what point do they pivot to somebody else full time? time. He's not a one year deal. He's not a one year deal.

Technically one, but two, technically one. Right, but point being is like there's not a long term future where JK Dobbins. No, but also I think the price tag of 10 million is interesting. That's like. They paid up. Yeah.

They pay. I mean, that's a good. I mean, I'll look up the ranking, but that's probably one of the top 10 salaries at running back, I would say. Let me look it up right now. It's crazy. I feel bad for, you know, Jeremy, I love got paid bank, bank, bank, but imagine paying a rookie that and he hadn't even played an NFL down yet. Yeah, I was still one of the more puzzling picks for me in the NFL trash.

Oh, sorry, it's definitely not top 10. No, not top 10. No. Who's not in running back? So he's his salary, according to over the cap, is average annual value of 8 million, which would put him well outside the top 10, more like top 20. So it's right above Tony Pollard, Kenneth Gainwell, Tyler Algear. So it was in the top of this year's kind of free agent market,

but it's in the middle of the pack in terms of veteran guys. And then obviously you have rookie first round picks kind of skewing the data a little bit. But, yeah, man, that's surprising to me. I thought the NFL would consider it the $10 million average annual value, which would be closer to the top 10. Interesting. It's crazy how a couple spots work, decibel points. you know, in the tens to the eights and everything like that.

Also, I just want to point out here just our age gap and how noticeable it is here. You know, we're using whiteboards. And Nilo is using Snapchat. Like, I don't have a whiteboard, bro. I mean, I do, but it's like mounted to my wall. No, I'm just saying, like, your first instinct was to go to Snapchat, which, I mean, generational gap here. And here's the funny thing. People think Nilo and I don't like each other.

We bust each other's, like, we, we, we, we. We just give each other crap almost every single day, which is normal. Like, this is like the office. I call him up, and my first thing is I'm insulting him with a vulgar word. Like, that's the number one thing. He says the same thing to be. But it's true. Mr. Snapchat, though, I just, I can't help but shake my head at the Snapchat, friend.

What am I supposed to do, bro? It's my Gen Z blood, you know? That's how it goes. But, all right, let's shift over to you receiving here. Cortland Sutton led the team last year with just over 1,000 receiving yards, followed by Troy Franklin, who had 709, and then a pretty significant drop-off. Evan Ingram, believe it or not,

the third leading receiver for the Denver Broncos last year. He had 4-61. Big addition, Jalen Waddle. Everyone thinks he's going to make a tremendous impact. I do. I know all of you guys as well, and those in the chat do as well. Where are we going for Broncos leading receiver in the big two-six?

Okay, Cody. Jalen Waddle, 1175. I'm going to predict 1100 yards from him. I don't have him lead. leading in touchdowns, though. I've got, I've got Troy Franklin leading with eight touchdowns this season for Denver. I think he's going to be a touchdown guy for the Broncos this season. But I think Jailen Waddle is going to have the overall massive yards. I think he's going to hit 1175. I still think Cortland's going to hit over a thousand. But Jalen's going to be the leading receiver. Okay. Okay. Sarah.

I got you right here. When was the last time the Broncos had a good draw? Look at that. That's a good drawing. It took me seconds to get this. I'm going with Jay. Jaylen Waddle. Absolutely. You trade a first and a third round pick to get Jailen Waddle. He's got to lead your team in receiving. I mean, he's got to lead the team in targets. He's got to lead the team in just anything.

Like we said, the pressure is really on Jalen Waddle right now. I mean, he's coming in with obviously high expectations for what he's accomplished and the pedigree and the skill set. But now with what the Broncos need, man, he is everything. Like all those categories that they. they've struggled in that they've stunk in. He is the guy that he's got to fix it all. Like, and he's got to make everything better. And yes, everybody else has to improve that nobody should just stay the same. And, you know, Jalen Waddle is the guy who's going to be the only

one who adds improvement to the team. The in-house players have to help improve the rest of the team. But Jalen Waddle, to me, has to lead the team in receiving yards, all of it. Very curious to see where Nick goes here. I mean, I'm right there with you guys. Wawa. Yeah, have to go with Jalen Wado for the obvious reason. The team wanted Jalen Waddle for a while. And they were not able to get him last year, but he was still out there.

The Miami Dolphins were going through some changes with the GM head coach, agency value in him. And Sean Payton said, if not us, who? If not now, when? So with adding Jailen Wado, that said a lot about how the Broncos really felt about their wide receiving court, even though they said, no, man, we good. We like our guys.

But you wanted to get better at the wide receiver position. And here's a guy, and we've been talking about him all show, about how he is going to make everyone better. And when you really think about that, it's like the Broncos have had another player who changed everything for him. And it was Peyton Manning. And that led to a Super Bowl. So if they take that same frame of mind and Jay,

and Wilder comes in and he makes a massive impact, as though we are projecting that he will. I mean, that's where I perceive the Broncos to be at the end of the season, regardless of how tough the first six games of the season are. That's a guy that's an impact player. And I've often said, as a Cody, I think I mentioned this to you,

like three years ago when we were standing on the sideline training camp, I think it was a time when we could use our cell phones at practice. I said, I said to you, I said, look around this roster, right? Who are the impact players? And if you had to compare this roster to another roster, what other players can go to another team and start right away?

And the Broncos didn't have that many. Now they have that guy in Jalen Wado, and he's going to have a lot of explosive plays. And Bogai criticized a lot from not taking a lot of deep shots or missing those deep shots. He doesn't have to worry about that now. Well, you just said Nick reminded me, like, I think it was roughly around the same time. Remember when the Broncos rolled out their new uniforms?

And there was like nobody to really model the new uniforms. It was like there was no quarterback at the time. It was Garrett Bowles and Quinn Miners. And, you know, there was to your point, really nobody on the team that was like, man, this guy's a household name or this is somebody that is going to sell a lot of jerseys even for that matter. other than Cortland Sutton, who at the time, I think, was going through a contract dispute with the team. So it was kind of funny, like, or it's funny now in hindsight to see that, man, the Broncos have kind of a lot of those types of guys that if they were to debut New Jersey's now, there'd be a lot of players that you could say, man, they've developed some guys and they've added players who could be worth being in that type of, you know, jersey reveal stars as it were. I like it. I like it. All right. Let's, I agree with you guys, by the way. I think it's going to be

J. Lin Waddle. So I could see it just real quick. I could see it being Cortland's son, to be honest with you, just because of the pressure that's going to now be focused on Jalen Waddle. I could see Cortland kind of eating a little bit more. I mean, this is a guy who's been a steady eddy consistent 1,000 plus receiving your guy each and every season. So what a steady Eddie? Oh, steady Eddie. Okay, there you go. Yeah. Is that like a Gen Z slang term now? You know, I actually don't even know where that one's from. I've been saying that one. Yeah, that's a new one. Okay.

Put that in the bag pocket. There you go. But, no, I can see it being Quarland Sun, but I do think it'll be Jalen Waddle as well. Okay, let's hit our final break. We'll save the best for last. Who will score the most touchdowns for the Denver Broncos? We'll talk about that when we come back. Right here on your lockdown Broncos squatchez.

All right. Cody kind of spoiled his answer. Troy Franklin, I believe, is what he said. Well, that was only for receiver. Only for receiving. Okay, okay. All right, fair, fair. Well, look in here real quick.

Let's see, RJ Harvey had seven in the backfield last season. I believe 12 total. Yeah, and Cortland Sutton led the receivers with seven. So where are we going here? I mean, I would have an easy one, but it would almost be too easy. I'd say bone nicks. But I mean, you know, because the dude is an all-around weapon. What was it?

Back-to-back years, 30 plus touchdowns for him collectively, 7,500 passing yards, 24 wins. That would be the easy thing. I'd continue that trend right there. But for me, R.J. Harvey, I think he's going to lead the team and total overall touchdowns this season. I'm going to go with him. And the reason I say RJ is because I think now more so that he's going to be comfortable.

And his role really is kind of establishes what Alvin Camero was in New Orleans. And Alvin never ran for 1,000 yards. But he's this dynamic weapon, the matchup piece. Once again, we're bringing up Jalen Waddle's name. Imagine what Jane Laudele is going to do when defense is up to focus on him in Cortland. And now all of a sudden you don't have that extra safety that's going to account for maybe RJ out of the backfield. You get a matchup against a linebacker that's a little bit slower. Sean Payton loves to motion him out all the way, bring him back just to see what the coverage is.

And then he's got those guys. I think RJ this year, I think he's going to have 16 total touchdowns on the season. He's going to lead the team across the board. Sounds a little bold, man. And some people would be like, I'm crazy. 16 total touchdowns for him collectively. I like that. Don't give me that look.

Don't give me that look. What he's talking about? What look? That's the look of like, hmm, I'm disappointed in you. He's disappointed. I've got Cortland Sutton leading the team with 12 touchdowns this year. I think we're going to see the wealth get spread to a lot of different guys,

obviously. We hope that the Broncos have, I hope we see more than one touchdown for Evan Ingram, right? I hope we see the Jalen Waddle. I hope all the targets he's going to get results in a number of touchdowns. But I just think Cortland Sutton is the red zone weapon. He is the biggest receiver on the team, obviously. He's got the most touchdowns, I think, of anyone on the team over the last four or five years.

And so I think that he's a machine and he's going to get opportunities in those one-on-one situations, much more frequently now than he did before. And so with Sutton getting less attention with Waddle on the field, once again, the pressure on Waddle, I just think that we're going to see that's Bo Nix's favorite guy. Right. That's his favorite target in the passing game still. He's trustworthy on the money downs and he's going to be trustworthy. I think we're going to see Cortland Sutton. I'll say Cortland will set his career high in touchdowns.

I don't know what that is off the top of my head, but I think he'll set a career high this season. At least 11 then. Okay. He had 10 of Russell Wilson year. He did. Cody, I threw you off with my look because I'm right there with you with. Okay. And the reason I say, RJ, is because Davis Webb is now going to be calling plays for the team.

And I like to think that he's going to do a little, some things different inside the red zone. Now, we know the red zone shrinks, the closer you get to it. So by me projecting that RJ Harvey, I'm projecting that the Broncos are going to be in the red zone a lot. And I'm talking about the low red zone. Like, I'm saying, for your point, being on the 20 going in, that's more room to throw the ball. If the Broncos are in that situation, I can see an opportunity for a guy like Cortland Sutton winning a 50-50 ball. But I'm saying that the Broncos are going to be even closer. And being that close, we've seen RJ Harvey excel in that area.

And he's a threat to hand it off to him or throw it to him. And we never really describe unless I miss something because you, guys said touchdowns, right? You can get rushing touchdowns and you can get receiving touchdowns. And with RJ leading the team last year and those red zone receptions, how can you not duplicate that? That's a problem for any defense inside the red zone because you can hand it to them or you can throw it to them. So I'm going to go with RJ. It's hard to debate that, right? Because I think the two most obvious, I mean, I think you throw a waddle into that mix as well. But I think you you think about those down and distant situations and just being in the red zone.

RJ Harvey's versatility just stands out among the rest because you can use him as a runner. You can use him as a receiver. And Cody thinks you could even use him as a passer. He just had the hot take on the whiteboard. They don't have one passing touchdown this season. I think, you know, RJ Harvey just checks all of your boxes in the red zone. I think Troy Franklin, you know, you talked about him earlier as well. Cody's an interesting name to keep an eye on.

I mean, if we're going to, we were just talking up J.K. Dobbins, and I'm going to kind of put my foot in my mouth because I think RJ probably takes a lot of those snaps away from JK in the red zone just because of his versatility. But I think the good thing is you could make a case for a lot of different guys. Like I feel confident it could be R.J. Harvey. I could see it being Cortland Sun. I could see it being Troy Franklin. I could see it being Jalen Waddle, right? And I think that's the biggest thing is there's a lot of different weapons and toys that Bo Nix is going to have to play with in the red zone this year when it comes to finding different openings and scoring touchdowns and put up points.

Yeah. I mean, the more the merrier, too, and I'd say more impactful depth, playmakers, guys that can create. I mean, the thing with Jalen about him is he can create from anything. His own man, it doesn't matter. He knows where to go. He knows exactly where he's got to be. And that's where I think that's going to benefit so much in Denver. I mean, even factoring into, like when Denver gets into scramble drill situations, who's going to benefit the most of that? I think guys like Jalen Waddle because of his ability to change in pivot direction. He's a hard cover. I mean, he's the type of guy when, you're covering him an issue like, man, it's going to be hell. But then all of a sudden, now the quarterback's scrambling. It's, damn, I got to, now I got to chase back an additional 20-something yards against this guy who's just so shifting, he can stop on a dime. I mean, I don't know if anyone who hasn't seen his training videos, but he's going to be a problem. And that's why the Bronco was went all in on getting a player like him. And everyone's wondering, how is it going to translate?

We don't know yet, but on paper theoretically, man, the offense should be a top 10 offense this season. And they don't have a lot of excuses for all they shouldn't be. Yeah, no, I'm with you. It's a very compelling kind of lead up to this season, right? Because you're coming off the 14 wins. You're coming off the A.C. championship game. You feel like they've gotten better at a number of different positions, right?

Like, well, Jaylen Waddle fully unlock this offense like we all think he might, right? So at the end of the day, man, it's going to be fascinating to see just how this Denver Broncos team kind of takes shape. And, you know, Sarah and Nick and I talked about it, like the first six weeks of the season. season are going to be very interesting as well. And even at the Broncos are, say, 500, a game above, a game below, like that won't dictate and tell the whole story of what this team could be. But I think with just expectations as high as they are, like Broncos country is just waiting to see this team come out, you know, guns ablaze and firing all on all cylinders. So it's going to be fascinating, fellas, it's going to be absolutely fascinating. But I like all the names we've thrown out there for interceptions, sacks, receiving rushing yards and touchdowns. I mean, these are all good conversations to have. And going back to the conversation that you brought up there about like, you know, who's modeling jerseys and who's selling tickets and all that kind of stuff. Like there's a number of different guys now that I feel like you can hang your hat on. Especially the quarterback, which is the most important, right? I mean, that's the thing is at that time, the jerseys coming out. I mean, there was no quarterback. Russell Wilson had just been cut

earlier that offseason and we didn't know who the Broncos were going to take in the NFL draft. And frankly, we didn't have any idea how it was going to go with Bo Nix. And that's where I think, you know, I started off the show by kind of, you know, taking a. shot at ESPN's quarterback rankings or their three-year quarterback draft or whatever it is where they had Kyler Murray and Fernando Mendoza and CJ Stroud even ahead of Bo Nix. Like if the NFL is about what have you done for me lately? Like Bo Nix is that guy. Like he is the funny thing about analytics people is that they don't seem to care about or like winning.

Like we've spent the last five to 10 years or more with all these people saying, quarterback wins is not a stat. And I'm like, yes, it is because the quarterback is the most directly responsible for a team winning most often. So yes, it is a stat because it does matter the fact that he's able to come through in

clutch moments. Yes, it does matter that he can throw four touchdowns in a single quarter against an NFL defense, even if he's not a perfect finished product in every possible way at this point, which is ridiculous for people to say anyway. I just like, I don't,

I mean, I don't really care. Like people, people can say, Josh Allen's better, or Lamar Jackson's better, or Patrick Mahomes is still better, even though the last two years he hasn't been.

I mean, I think that it's just, it's so tiring to have to, like, feel like we're taking crazy pills, thinking that Bo Nix is a good quarterback when these people at major news networks are telling us that,

that he's not. And they're trying to make up reasons why we should believe that he's not good, or he's not going to be good, or he's not going to be a long term. Like the next three years, I don't, I'm not buying Bo Nix as one of the top 15 QBs. That's crazy. He just led a team to the AFC championship game with the biggest dead cap hit up to that point.

Against Josh Allen. Against Josh Allen. Like, he's gone toe to toe with the best quarterbacks. Even in defeat, he went toe to toe with Joe Burrell for nearly five full quarters. I mean, so I just think like it's so stupid that we have to talk about this stuff. Don't even. At the same time, it gives us a great platform. opportunity to hype up the guy.

Don't even get me started on Ben Solac. I mean, that guy couldn't throw, that guy couldn't throw football. Here we go, Nick. I don't want to hear it, but you're right. It's the analytics nerds, the EPOA, ADOT, like shut up. Golly, these guys cling on a little weird little formulas in their spreadsheets and they don't actually watch. Like, you can tell they don't watch.

Is Bo a finished product as a quarterback? Absolutely not. Bo's got so much room he can grow to get better. But for people to come out there and deny that Bo is not a good quarterback, the Bo hasn't proven he can win. It's laughable to me. And the fact that they got Fernando Mendoz over him, they got Bo at 20. It's like the, I don't know, I can't even say it because I'm going to get kicked off air if I say what I think.

I hate it. I hate what these big networks have become where you got these just analytic nerd dwebs that don't know anything about sports. And they read a spreadsheet and like, oh, wow, based on this calculation. here this quarterback isn't good enough shut up like it drives me freaking crazy uh we got to get i can't say anymore because i'll get kicked off air man i just it drives me nuts the discourse and i see it see it on twitter it's mouth breather stuff and it drives me nuts you know usually people have safe words in certain situations but i think uh from what just happened cody you have a trigger

word and it's ben so like no it's analytic nerd dweaves that's what i have That's what it is. That's my trigger. Hey, Anilo, we're going to be in the stadium this year watching the game. I'm just going to walk by and I'm just going to say Ben Solac. That's all I'm saying is walk away. I'm telling you, man, sit next to Cody during the games is more fun than watching the actual game itself. See, that's what we should put up on the everydayer club, just like a full transcript to me, you know, my commentary.

I think I make people laugh in the press box, which is good. I love that. Like, I keep the spirits high. No, B, I cannot get kicked off here. Oh, my God. All right. Good stuff today, as always, gentlemen. It's a fun show, kind of forecasting what we think the Broncos will look like,

who is going to lead in specific categories. We'll do that again probably once we get closer towards the regular season, up to the preseason as well, see if training camp has influenced some of our decisions. But all right, that is going to do it for us on today's program. Hit that like button and subscribe button on your way out the door. We'll be back at it again next week. Enjoy your weekend, folks. Memorial Day weekend, that is.

So go outside and enjoy the sunshine. And then we'll talk to you guys later. For Cody Works, Sarah Bedinger, Nick Ferguson. I'm Anilo Piro. Peace out, y'all. Ben Solak throws a football like Brucey in the longest yard.