Locked On Broncos - Daily Podcast On The Denver Broncos - BRONCOS SQUAD SHOW: Who should the Broncos prioritize on offense?

Episode Date: February 16, 2026

The Denver Broncos are gearing up for the start of NFL free agency. There are handful of holes Denver will try to fill via free agency or the NFL Draft. What position is most important for the Broncos to address? Who are some external candidates the Broncos could bring in? Join Aniello Piro, Cody Roark, Sayre Bedinger and Nick Ferguson as they break down the latest news and notes in the world of Broncos football. Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors! TurboTax For a limited time, you can have your taxes done by a local TurboTax expert for just $150 — all in, if a TurboTax expert didn’t file for you last year. Just file by February 28. Visit http://TurboTax.com/local to book your appointment today. FanDuel Use your Profit Boost on an NBA future and get entered for your chance to win a trip to the NBA Finals. Play your game with FanDuel, the official sports betting partner of the NBA. Visit https://FANDUEL.COM to get started. 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. Zocdoc Stop putting off your doctor’s appointments and get the care you need. Go to http://Zocdoc.com/lockedonnfl to find and instantly book a top-rated doctor today. 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 an Ilob hero, and there's a somewhat familiar name for Broncos country that I think they should take a look at making a trade for. The Dibber Broncos may gallop, but this odd season, they could waddle. I can't do better than I'm scared about it. I'm Nick Ferguson, and it's time to eat because free agency is right around the corner, and I'm hungry. Let's bring it down on today's Lacton Broncos Squat show. 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. Yes, it is your Locked-on Broncos Squad show right here on the Lockdown Broncos' YouTube channel as well as the audio feed. Monday to everybody in Broncos country. I know it's also President's Day, so if you're working, that's unfortunate. But if you're at home and enjoying the day, congratulations.

It's a much-deserved day off here on this Monday, February the 16th, guys. And today's episode of your lockdown Broncos Squad Show is brought to you by our friends over at Fanduel. Use your profit boost on any NBA future and get entered for your chance to win a trip to the NBA finals. Play your game with Fandul, the official sports betting partner of the NBA. I'm not going to lie as soon as I'm done with this show. I'm going to take a look at some Nuggets Odds after I heard about that promotion. But we've got the full squad here today. AP, Cody Rourke, Sarah Bedinger, Nick Ferguson.

What's up, boys? How we doing? What's good, guys? Fantastic. I got a thought going after Cody in the show intro because he's always got some pun and some play on words. That's going to make me break character. So I don't know. We might have to switch that up.

That was a good one. You know, I just, you know, sometimes random thought, like, if you were to ask me to market anything for players, I certainly could. You give me a player name. You give me a team title. Oh, I could certainly do it. That's my world, man. But Sarah, I think that's honestly like the first time I've seen you, like, actually break character, like with that. So.

Yeah. Yeah. Those are 10. It found to happen. Yeah, no, you're 100% right. Cody's, you know, locked in today. Or should I say locked on? Usually he's in a goofy mood.

Like, look at them. Oh, brother. We still have time. We still have time. This is true. We usually like we start the show and it's like, you know, you're laughing. Let me hear your first ad read there, buddy. And we'll see how you do it.

Of course. It's like clockwork. It's like clockwork. So we'll have some fun. Yeah, man. Everyone take care of business on Valentine's Day. It was a good weekend, I think. Yeah.

My wife is out of town. So no, I just hung out and I cleaned the house. So happy Valentine's Day to me. Though I did say, though, I took a day. I took up Sarah's offer. He told me about the C's candy. Make your own custom box. I did it.

So there we go. Oh, look at that. Like at this. Did your, did your girlfriend get you that? No, my mom did, believe it or not. I walked in because I had to go to an eye doctor appointment and I was up north of the house. And my mom's like, here, I got you these.

And I was like, look at that. She listens to the show. I love it. Good stuff. Good for you guys. Yeah, no, it was fun. You know, probably not really good for my stomach. And, you know, I did go.

to the gym this morning, so I'll probably give away that progress with those chocolate bars later today. But I'm moderation, brother. Yes, this is true. It is dark chocolate, which I know is better than milk chocolate where to go to that stuff. Okay, let's have some fun on the program today. I personally really enjoyed our last episode, kind of taking a look at in-house free agents and kind of debating who should they retain, who can they afford to cut loose. And that will kind of apply the same sort of script and template to guys that are outside of the organization. And we're not going to just look at just free agents.

We can also talk about trade partners. I think Cody and I are on a similar wavelength with one of the trades. And then maybe should take a look at making here this off season. So we'll have some fun with that. And we kind of get to play GM here a little bit and put ourselves inside the mind of George Payton. And like if we were George, what we do? What we prioritize?

And we'll kind of break that down throughout the courts of the show. So as always, you know, the live audience last week was awesome with just kind of some engagement, some ideas, some proposals. So if you are watching live on YouTube, feel free to let us know your thoughts as we go through these conversations of players that you'd like to see the Broncos maybe add via free agency or potentially trade for with another team.

But we'll do the whiteboard dynamic here again. Why don't we start with to kind of set the table? What position is the biggest position of need for this Denver Broncos team? You know, you could go group, you know, if you want to go specifics with like different, you know, skill positions, wide receiver one, wide receiver two, however you want to phrase it.

You can feel free and kind of go with it that way, fellas. And of course, you're in the chat. Let's know your thoughts. But we'll start there. The position group of most importance for the Denver Broncos. I'm very curious to see what you guys come up with. I have a feeling we might get a good mix of opinions on this one. We shall see.

You know what drove me nuts about you guys last week is you guys didn't tell me my camera was mirror. So every time I was holding up the dang whiteboard, It was reading backwards. I thought it looked fine. Oh, I mean, on my end, really? On my end, I had to just make sure my setting was toggled, but not going to make that same mistake today.

All right. Well, yeah, you look good so far. So we'll figure it down. I see you got some comments here, running back tight end, linebacker number three from Darien running back as well. Let's go ahead and you want to flip these bad boys? Ready? Three, two, one.

Boom. Oh, okay. Very interesting. Hold on, hold on, hold on. Nick's putting the finish and touch. Come on now, Fur. Okay. So a good mix there.

So I'm going straight up linebacker. Cody's going running back. Sarah's a combination of running back and linebacker and Nick taking a look at the wide receiver position. I mean, why don't we start with you again, my man? You're the one kind of outlier with this conversation.

And I think wide receiver is obviously a very important position for Denver to prioritize. But why do you think that is the most? most important. Well, because the wide receivers don't just run routes. Guess what else they do, guys? They block. And we're talking about running backs. How do you kind of get your running back's extra yards? You have to have guys outside on the perimeter who can't freaking block. When Jordan Humphrey came back, the whole idea was that, well, he was here before. He's been with Sean Payton. He knows how to block. He's a big guy. But what did we see? I mean, when he was here with the Denver Broncos before he didn't block well.

You bring him back and he still doesn't block well. And when you look at the Broncos and trying to move the ball down the field, they need their wide receivers to do that. And just think, what did the Broncos do this off season? Right after they lost to the New England Patriots, they started cutting bait. They cut their wide receiver coach. Kerry Colbert was the fall guy for what the wide receivers were incapable of doing.

And not to mention, and this is not me just going out after that, but it's just using my football eyes. So you need guys who can separate. You need guys who once they run that routes down the field and you got a 12-yard dig, guess what? If the ball hasn't come to you, you look back at the quarterback.

Oh, by the way, you got a quarterback who scrambles, right? So guess what you have to do? You have to now run that second route because the dig route is now taken away. Now try to get open. And if you have guys who can now separate and beat man coverage, but also separating.

down the field, you make life easier because now what the defense has to do, because now you're a threat. Now you create spacing. And you know what you do by creating that space and fellas? Open up the running lanes for the running backs that both you and I are hoping that the Bronco is acquired. Yeah. And let's say some names in particular for wide receiver in these other position groups for a little bit later on in the program. Let's talk about the positions as a whole. Sare, any rebuttal, thoughts, opinions? I like what he is. I like what he. saying. I think my question to follow up is, are you saying, are you thinking the Broncos, based on your assessment there, do they need to overhaul the wide receiver position or do they need like a dude at the top?

Because kind of what I'm picking up from what you're putting down is, it sounds like the receivers as a whole aren't doing their jobs. And so I don't know. I'm not trying to put words in your mouth, Nick, but I'm asking the question, do you think they need to overhaul that group? Like, do you think they need to add a different top dog? like what's your thought based on what you just said? Yeah, you need to overhaul the wide receiver room. I know that sounds absurd. But the way you overhaul the wide receiver room is it's really simple. You bring in competition, right?

That's what you did. I'm not saying go get rid of the Broncos wide receivers. That's not what I'm saying. You need to bring someone in that's going to elevate that room and make everyone take their game to a whole other level. Because Cortland Sutton was the top dog in that room. And Cortland Sutton wasn't used as well. well as I figured that he should because as a big body wide receiver, those back show the

fades, whatever, that's the world that he lives in, those 50-50 balls. I mean, that's the world that he lives in. And we didn't really see a lot of it, but we know, I mean, a couple years ago, Cortland Sutton had a knee injury. So he's not the fastest guy on the roster. The fastest guy on a roster, you may say is Troy Franklin. And then Troy Franklin still has his issues as far as catching the ball and confidence. But the one guy who you know can catch the ball and deep ball didn't really get that many targets, not into late in the season. And that was Martin freaking Mims. So you need to bring someone else in there that's going to challenge every single guy in the room. And Cody, you know this as an ex-player, that that's the one way that a coach can

make everyone look around the room and go, man, they brought that dude in? Wow. We really got to pep it up. And that's how you make the competition in the room that much better. You got to bring someone in who's a dog and I got two guys and we'll talk about it later who I think would definitely do that yeah no and I agree I mean I think anytime you add competition to the room it's going to it's going to raise the level of play you know from everybody else the challenge here that I you know I think you run into here is you know obviously they're not going to cut a player like Troy Franklin they're not going to cut a player like Pat Brian they're not going to cut Marvin nims here but you know what I believe is that the Broncos have a usage

issue for so many guys, not just wide receiver, tight end as well. I mean, Denver, according to true media, they were in 11 personnel, 50% of the time last season offensively. And for those that don't know what 11 personnel is, it's one running back, one tight in, three wide receivers. Well, their next personnel usage was 12 personnel, which was 15.1%, right? So once again, is when we're talking about, and this was an issue all year long, the mass substitutions by Sean Payton, you know, certain guys like Sean wants his wide receivers,

not to like you know cordon's not just going to be an ex he's going to be you know a big a big slot he's going to have to play z from time to time the issue with that is when you're rotating all these different guys in almost every other play i also feel like it's hard to establish rhythm in that regard too i mean you mentioned it like we hardly saw anything from marvin mims and i think we can all argue to say outside of cordon marvin is the best receiver on this team in terms of clutch factor he catches on pretty much everything whereas you know courtland his large with targets. He had eight drops that led the team. Tied with Evan Ingram with eight drops. RJ Harvey had seven. Denver had, I think what they led the league in 30 plus drops overall. Sean said one of the biggest issues. And I'm sure the run blocking thing was one of it as well for the perimeter stuff. But the biggest issue is guys catching like this, not catching like this, you know, with the noose, with the, you know, we call it the tight rope here. That obviously has obviously had an emphasis that Sean Payton, you know, has obviously made that change for. obviously moving on from Kiri Colbert. But you and I, I mean, Nick, we saw these guys working on everything in practice, right?

You know, you can see him do it in practice, but they got to do it in the games. I think the injuries that we saw pop up, you know, late in the season at wide receiver, some soft tissue stuff. We talk about, obviously, the injuries that, you know, you get there with Pat Brian and the concussions. Those are things that are a little worrisome, I think, going forward. So for me, it's, I think you add to this room without necessarily taking someone away, but it puts everybody on notice.

It may lead to more reduced snaps for some people. players. I do think you had another guy here, a dog opposite of Cortland Sutton, I think this offseason. I can agree with that logic. I think that's huge. But I have my biggest positional need right now, not necessarily need, but like my priority should be running back here for Denver. Because look, you're bringing RJ Harvey back 100%. Okay. Jalulam McLaughlin, I believe, is an exclusive rights for agent or a restricted for agent one or the other. Tyler Badey is also set to become a free agent as well. You have a couple of guys on your practice squad.

You got Cody Schrader and then you got Deuce Vaughn. I don't envision those guys really playing a role in the regular season, but really got RJ Harvey, right? RJ, I'm excited about RJ. I think a lot of people were down on, you know, well, he's just not an effective runner. Part of that, in my opinion, scheme is the run game scheme there. RJ is a guy that I think would benefit from just hitting the hole

and getting north-south quickly, right? But you have to boost this room around RJ. You know he's got a unique skill set. You need a guy that could come in and be a primary ball carrier going forward. If you don't have that, then I do worry about that. I think RJ is not necessarily, you know, and we got it in the comment section. People were saying he's not an RB1. I don't think he was drafted to be an RB1.

I don't think that was the case. I think he was drafted to be a weapon, just to be an all-around weapon. But you do need an RB1. And I think that's what the Broncos have to go out and they have to get that this off season. Yeah, I think running back is probably. offensively, at least the thinnest position where the Broncos are kind of at right now. Like they've got a lot of bodies in the wide receiver room. It's just how quality are those guys, right?

Whereas to your point, Cody, like you've got RJ Harvey and then what else essentially, right? I mean, we'll see if they bring back a J.K. Dobbins. So I was personally between two guys. You just need two guys. You don't need three guys getting different touches on the field. That was the problem. Sarah and I went into length on this. That's the problem I had is you're getting J.K. in the game.

Okay. And then now you're going in with RJ, but now you're bringing in Tyler Badee. Like, stop that. Like, these guys can't get hot if you just keep rotating them out every other player. It's like, RJ would have a big run or J.K. would have a big run. And then the next point, bang, they're off the field, new guys in. And it's just like, no, keep the dang train rolling.

That was my frustration. J.K. said as much, I believe at some point during the regular season that he feels like he's a running back that gets better as the game goes along, right? You get a little bit more callous. You build a little bit of momentum as a runner and away you go. So, yeah, we'll see. I think running back will have a pretty good discussion there about some options for Denver. Sarah, I believe you and I both had linebacker to a certain extent as well.

I'll give my thoughts here real quick and that I'll dish it to you. I think part of the reason I went linebacker is it's obviously the thinnest position they're at on defense as a whole. And knowing that we have questions about wide receiver running back and tight end offensively for Denver, if the Broncos are able to sew up that linebacking position, you're going to be able to win games 13 to 10 consistently. And so I think there's just a lot more tonnage and over. overhaul that needs to happen on the offense to get the offense to get close to the level of at which the defense is playing.

Whereas I'm looking at one position group on defense that if you take care of that, you're going to have one of if not the best defense in the NFL again, which should help you lead your team to wins again. And I think that's what you have to focus on if you're the front office, right? Is, okay, we have a top two, top three defense in the NFL. How do we maintain that going forward? Well, you've got to have dogs at the linebacker position, especially in Vance Joseph's defense.

and we've talked about this previously, but those linebackers are going to be expected to do a lot of different things, attacking the line of scrimmage, dropping back in coverage, disguising blitzes, knowing the defense like the back of your hand. So that's where the catch-22 of free agency comes into play is, well, do you bring in two new guys to upgrade the talent at this position and weigh that against the idea of having two new guys operating the defense? Somebody knew with the green dot on his helmet,

really just kind of pushing all the buttons. at the control center of everything, or do you give that to a safety, you know, or whatever the case may be. So I think there's going to be options, but I think that it's non-negotiable. The talent has to be upgraded. I think that when you look at the needs of this team,

there's two positions right now that are the low-hanging fruit because you don't have starters. It's running back and linebacker, right? Your starters are projected free agents, and I think your top-end talent is lacking at those positions more than any other spot on the roster. So that's where I, came up with that is just the fact that they don't have, I mean, they have Drey Greenlaw.

They have Drew Sanders. Are those guys going to be your starters going into the season? I don't think so. I don't even know if Drey Greenlaw is going to be on the team in three weeks. So I'm interested to find out what their strategy is. I want to hear from, you know, see if we can pick up any of the breadcrumbs or the tea leaves from Sean and George at the combine of, you know, how they would evaluate last year's roster and how they would evaluate their, the newest signings.

and what did they make of Dre Greenlaw's comments about the defense being like learning Spanish. And like I want to hear all those types of things. I think we'll be able to pick up on what is their strategy. And there are so many, as we're going to discuss on today's show, there's so many names out there in free agency at the Broncos positions of need, like other than wide receiver, that I think they would be, it's roster malpractice if you just run it back with the group that they had last year.

Yeah. Let me jump in here for a second because here. is the reason why I didn't put linebacker as one of my top priority. Is it a priority? Yes. And it's for everything you just said because you have three guys potentially between Stranard, Singleton, and Greenlaw, right, that can either be on this roster or off this roster.

If you were to go out and just revamp that whole linebacker room, you put yourself in a hole. Just like you said, you got a guy who has a green dot on your helmet, right? And you know what each one of those guys bring. ring to the party. So having that consistency and continuity is vital and really important. Drew Sanders, we don't know what the hell he is at this point, right? We know he had a lot of athleticism coming out of college and you can put him at the Mike linebacker. You can put him on the edge as an edge rusher. But we haven't seen it on this particular level. So I'm thinking

the smart thing to do is to say, okay, well, of the three linebackers we have, which of the two we want to bring back? Because it's by consistency, continuity. and you pay for production. For me, you bring back Alex Singleton and Justin Strannard. You look to find another guy in free agency to bring in because just like Dre Greenlaw said, when he came here to learn a defense, it was speaking Spanish to him. That's how it's how it would translate it. So whatever guy you bring in veteran or rookie is going to be the same thing.

So for me, it's the whole Beyonce philosophy. You got to upgrade me, dog. and you have to bring someone in the room to kind of make that room a lot better, but try to retain some of your vital pieces. And then those other guys, if you beat them out in camp, they beat them out. But you just can't scrap the whole linebacker group, start over from scratch. And that's going to be a problem for the Broncos on the second level, if that's their philosophy.

I think it's a pretty good thought just because of the level of complexities that kind of comes with this defense as a whole, that you're going to want some familiarity at that position group one way or the other. So we'll obviously see what Denver decides to do here at the line backing position. But why don't we hit a break? And when we come back, let's take a look at some of the offensive targets here for the Denver Broncos. It could be trade candidates. It could be free agents.

So get those whiteboards ready and get those comments ready as well on the YouTube chat. We'll start with wide receiver because I think that was a pretty good conversation there with Nick and company here. What wide receivers do we think make the most sense for the Denver Broncos? We'll hit on running back. We hit on tight end as well and maybe some other positions. 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 Zock doc. Finding a doctor you actually like and feel like discovering a diamond in the rough.

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All right. Well, come on back into the program. Enelopiro, Cody, Rourke, Sarah Beniger, and Nick Ferguson. We are your locked on Broncos squad show. Let's dive right on into it, fellas. We'll start with wide receiver. Again, trades are on the table. Free agents are on the table.

Let's see if we get a mix of names here or if we all kind of come up with the same name. We'll start with wide receiver. Who is a player or players? You'd like to see the Denver Broncos target this off season. Are we focused on just offense, defense? Wide receiver. Oh, wide receiver.

Yeah, yeah. We'll go position by position. I'll start. Have a list. Oh, my goodness. That's a big list, buddy. Yeah. He does have a list.

Okay, yeah, we got, I got a list here. Okay, run your list down. You just made the list. Let's run it down. I put some, I put a little key at the bottom of my list here, where we've got the happy face, we've got the me face, and then we've got the angry face. The happy face is the players like we're talking about Jalen Waddle, T. Higgins,

A.J. Brown, Drake London, Chris Olave, George Pickens, true difference makers at the position. Like, guys who, could come in and I've said it this way to Cody, but you're like, you just tell this guy, get open on hut and this guy is going to go dominate a football game, a guy that could have been added to the roster for the AFC championship and caught 10 passes because he's just a freaking top tier wide receiver. Now, in the middle of this list, I have Alec Pierce. The reason for that is because, well, I could see the vision with that, right? You want to get the most out of a guy

who's maybe been in a crowded room. He's got the deep ball ability. Maybe he could be even better on a second contract, like an Emmanuel Sanders type of situation. But you're taking a big leap of faith there. There's no guarantee with a guy like that. And then on my sad face list, I have Michael Pittman Jr.

No offense to him. He's just redundant with Cortland Sutton. And you've got Mike Evans, who's an older version of Cortland Sutton and redundant. And then you've got Jordan Addison, who's an absolute nut case. So I think if you're trying, trying to make that type of move.

That's not what I want to hear. So that's my list, guys. I think that it has to be a top tier wide receiver type of pickup. A guy, like I said, get open on hut, and you feel like that guy's going to come in and bring it every single week. That's the standard. That should be the standard for them. I like the way you categorized these guys, too, is the eh, the meh, and the no way, Jose.

I'm with you on now. I mean, on mine, I wrote Jalen Waddle. And the reason I say that now is because the fact that the Miami Dolphins are having a dumpster fire cell right now. They're cutting everybody. They cut Bradley Chubb. They release Tyree Kill. We'll see what they do with Tuotong of Iloa. But why not at this point?

They're going to have to scrape everything. Rebuild unless they plan on keeping Jalen Waddle there. I don't know how he would certainly feel about that, considering where they're at with this change. he probably wants to go win somewhere. So you know what? The best place is Denver. But also, Sarah, you and I have had several episodes of Lockdown Broncos where I'm happy. I'm happy with the idea of trading for a guy like A.J. Brown or trading for a guy like George Pickens or now J. Linwato.

Like if Denver had to trade for three players, it'd be either of those three. Nick, I see you shaking your head. What's up with that? Come on, man. Well, I took my head to George Pickens. Why? Because Pickett is a sometime player. For me, I'm going, I need a guy that plays all the time.

And Pickens doesn't play all the time. We saw that last season with the Dallas Cowboys, right? So that's why I'm not going to go there. Because it's Dallas, though, you know. Just remember Pittsburgh, too. Yes, Pittsburgh, too, as well, right? He gets upset just like those premadonna receivers. I'm not going to run my route.

I can't remember what was the game that they were playing. and he wasn't even trying to help deck press got out. Eagles. I think it was the Eagles. What the hell are you doing? You're going to get a contract and that's what you're doing? Nah, we can't have that. Remember, it's the Beyonce philosophy this offseason. You got to upgrade me.

That's where we are. So here's what I'm looking at, fellas. Bam, right here, you got Debo's... Oh, no. Let me tell you why. Let me tell you why. Because the head coach is a Gidget, gadget guy. How many times have you,

last season, well, I mean, since he's been here, trying to move Marvin Mims around and make him a running back and get him the ball because that's what the Broncos did to substitute for their run game. We're going to throw swing routes, right? Let's be totally honest. That's what it was. So why not give it to the guy who has a PhD in those types of players and a guy like Debo Samuos? And you can use him as a wide receiver and a de facto running back, right? So you get the best of both worlds and you only pay them one check. And oh, by the way, all you have to do is just say, you know what, we're going to bring you in, sign you on a two-year,

two-year deal. If it doesn't work out in the first year, you skate and you move past it, right? But now you get explosion, right? Now you get a threat. Now you get Bo Nix on the edge running the ball. And oh, by the way, he can throw it back to Debo. D-Bo can actually run it or D-Bo can actually catch it, right? So those are two things.

And Alex Pears, guess what? He's going to help your offense out because now he's going to give you another vertical threat. And, oh, by the way, his speed is going to help Riley Mawson coverage in practice. So once again, we're doubling down. We get a two for it. Right? We get a twofer. You get a wide receiver who can stress the field.

You can add to Troy Franklin and Marvin Mims. And also, he makes your defense that much better. Yeah, I just, Debo is just not a guy that I'm sold on at this point of his career, you know. And he's also a guy that historically has struggled with drops himself. He's been a drop guy. I don't think Debo is. There he is pointing out in the comments. I don't think Debo is the same player he was three years ago with San Fran.

You don't need him to be. We already have problems with wide receiver usage as well with Sean. Come on. He does fit the scheme that I think Sean wants to run. They weren't interested in him last year. Yeah, why didn't they want him last year? He wanted to come to Denver last year. They are asking him at the Super Bowl like, hey, who do you see?

as the up and coming team in the NFL right now, and he's like the Broncos. And like there was reports that behind the scenes, like he's campaigning to get to Denver. And they've been all over these former 49ers, you know, I just, that's what I wonder is like,

why not last year when he was available? Was it the finances? Was it, I mean, it wasn't like it costs a lot draft compensation to get him. So I don't know. Yeah, I don't,

the Tyreek, he fits into the Jordan Addison category. Eric, PsychoCas to, you know, off the field. Yeah, not a chance. No way. He'll go back to Kansas City. They're trying to get into the DeLorean.

All the Kansas City Chiefs are missing right now is Doc and a DeLorean. And maybe Michael J. Fox's appearance at some point. And they're going to try to go back in time to win another championship. Let me ask you guys, would you rather have Debo here with the Denver Broncos? Because we all know sometimes we kind of go back on decisions. that we made because they didn't they didn't look right at the time but would you rather have Debo with the Denver Broncos or would you rather have Debo with the Kansas City Chiefs which one wouldn't wouldn't bother me if he was with Kansas City honestly well trust me it should bother

you because you know and between Andy Reid and Eric B. Enemy they're going to find a way to get that dude some catches and I know you talked about him not having some drops we don't need you we can hand the ball off to you dog we can hand it off to you. you now now just like certain corners when they start losing their speed they move to safety so for him so now he's okay well we don't want to put you in that situation we can come up with a dynamic scheme to put you in the backfield to use you just like Kyle shenhanan he hated that though if I recall do you still want to play where's his bread butter yeah yeah but still I don't I just I just don't see him being a great fit here but I think it is debate I think it's a good debate I think it's a great

topic. I don't know. I just, to me, it's not a needle mover. It's not, like, in my opinion, it's not doing anything to take the pressure off of court. It's not adding a true number one opposite of court. I think they need to add a number one next to court. You still can do that, Cody. That's what you have to draft for because remember, we're just trying to plug and play and build the team, right? And then just kind of expand the offense within itself. Because if you look at the offense and you look at all the other 31 teams, right? Do this exercise. You look at, you say, well, who is my playmakers, right? And what guy on this team that you say, well, they'll be able to start somewhere else.

Start by doing that. And how to tell you who your playmakers are? You need playmakers, guys who are threats. That's all I'm saying. Yeah. I mean, do you see them? Like, if they were to sign, if they sign a wide receiver, I don't see them drafting one. Why not?

Because they already have a wide receiver room. They're not going to carry more on the 53. Competition, Cody. I get it. Who are they cutting them? Who's getting? cut. No one's cutting Marvin Mims. Wait, wait, wait. Hold on.

Whoa, whoa. For Troy? Listen, that's how this thing works. No one has a job that's written in Penn. No. That's why you have drafts and free agency because you're trying to acquire your talent. So that means that once we get the training camp, if you don't put your best game forward, guess what?

You get the pink slip. I get it. I just have such a hard time seeing Debra moving on from any of the guys that they have now. Come on. We didn't think they would cut Tim Patrick. I thought he was supposed to be GM. I get it, man. We have a difference of opinion, though, on this one at least.

Yeah. That's okay. You're thinking too emotionally. Oh, not at all. I just think, I don't think they, I don't think the issue is the room. I think it's just the fact that they need another guy while these other younger guys are developing. That's the thing is these younger guys are developing. But is it not fair to say that this is like a make or break year for Troy Franklin?

Yes. I don't think it's a maker break. I mean, we're going into what, your three now? He rose substantially in his second year. And I don't think I saw him in the last six or seven games of the season. Like he had a pretty good little run there in the middle of the year. Like point being is there, because I agree with both of you. I don't see any cut casualties in the wide receiver room,

at least without forcing them. But I also think it's like you need to see more out of Troy. Marvin, I think is safe. And we all believe that Marvin can be more effective than he is. Like if you don't get more juice out of that, right, you start having these conversations of like, Sean's got to use him. I agree.

but I don't know. I think it's interesting. Again, no one thought they were going to cut Tim Patrick when they did. Yeah. I mean, yeah. You know, it could have. It's got a preference, though. Nobody thought they were going to trade valet.

I think that. Right, right. Exactly. There's merit to the idea to expecting the unexpected for sure. But I think the situation here is, it's like, okay, we need to see what is the big move this off season because that will dictate who stays and who goes. goes because we haven't even talked about the idea that if they add a premier wide receiver, that could mean that Cortland Sutton gets traded.

You know what I'm saying? Like that's a possibility and all this is like they may not, they may say we, we have faith that Troy is going to take that jump and we're going to move on from Cortland. And push off your quarterback in the process. Yeah, which that's the thing too is,

is like, okay, you're playing this roster gymnastics. You're playing musical chairs. You're, you're thinking about. okay, the similar situation. The Bradley Chub thing is a really good example of what we're talking about right now,

because how many players in that locker room made decisions like Draymont Jones made a long-term decision based on that trade? Like that was the final straw that broke the camel's back. He's like, I'm out of here. You know, so you have these emotional attachments to your teammates and you want roster continuity until these guys all have to collectively see like, man, it wasn't working in this way. So the pitch either has to be from your coaching staff and Davis Webb and whoever is coaching the receivers to say, this offense has to include Cortland Sutton or this offense has to include Troy Franklin to work. And Bo Nix just got to go out there and throw passes and earn himself a $300 plus million contract.

That's his job. It's not to worry about his friends, I guess. But it is cut throat at this point in time with Super Bowl in, I mean, Eric Decker, he didn't stick around for Super Bowl. Super Bowl 50. They let him go, you know, and that was, that was vibes. Like, Eric Decker was vibes. Like him, Demarius, Welker, all these guys. And they weren't all around. It was Emmanuel Sanders. So I just think the alternatives are tough to see now because we don't know exactly what move they're going to make. But yeah. And that locker room, it is, I don't think it's as fragile as it seems to a lot of the fan base. But I think there's ways that you can upgrade the talent and get everybody on board with

the vision. Sarah, put up your list again, Sarah. Put up your list of Y-R-R-R-R-R-R-R-R-R-E. I erased it. I'm sorry. Okay. My whole point was that you put up a good, bad, and the ugly version of Y-Receivers, and you did that for a reason, because you yourself was not really confident in the Y-Receiver

group that we have. And that's what teams need to do. When you don't make it to the playoffs, or you get to where the Broncos made it to, and you don't cross the finish line, you have to make it. you have to make some tough decisions. My former coach, Mike Shanahan once told me, man, to be in those positions as a head coach or a GM position, you have to eliminate emotions because when you have to let go of a Nick Ferguson or Rod Smith or Ed McCaffrey, you have to be able to make that decision because

it is the business of football, not football business, the business of football and your job is to make the team better. So all the guys who won this roster last year in that wide receiver room, they don't get a gift certificate saying, okay, well, you get a golden ticket and you go from the start to the finish in 2026. This is not how it works. When we think about Pat Brian and Pat Brian came in here, this whole thing was when I asked him when he was drafted about blocking on a perimeter, he said no block, no block, no rock.

And he was a young wide receiver who was showing a lot of promise, even more promise than Troy Franklin. and to the concussions. And this is what you got to think about. Well, we like him as a route runner. He was great catching passes. What's his availability going to be? So you've got to bring other guys in the room.

If you don't, you're going to fall short. And I'm telling you right now, this Y receiver group and there's no disrespect to any of the guys in the room, they know what this is. You've got to bring in competition to compete with those guys and say, well, you've been here for three years. You've been here for nine years.

That's not good enough anymore. And that's got to be the mindset. No, it's good thoughts. It's good thoughts. And it's interesting to see. I think wide receiver, right? It's a big position. It's a game-changing position.

It'll be interesting to see how Denver tries to address that throughout the course of the off season, whether it's be the draft, free agency, or trade. Okay, let's hit a quick break. When we come back, let's continue along with the offensive conversation. Let's go running back and then tight end. We'll kind of jump those two things up. So some running back targets, some tight end targets. What do we want to see the Broncos do there?

And then we'll break it down here when we come back on your locked on Broncos squad show. All right, you guys, real quick. Let me tell you about our friends over at Fanduel. Ever wanted to experience the NBA finals live and in person? Van Duel is giving you the chance to turn that dream into a reality with their NBA sweepstakes. Here's how it works. Use your profit boost on any NBA future. And you'll automatically be entered in for a shot to win an NBA finals.

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If you're on YouTube, hit that like button, smash that subscribe button, really helps us out here on the channel. Okay, gentlemen, great conversation there on the wide receiver. room. Let's shift over to running back. And it's interesting, right? Because J.K. Dobbins, I don't think he'll be on any of our list personally. I think I'm okay if they bring back J.K. Dobbins. But if you got them ready here, curious to see who you guys come up with for the names at running back.

Yeah. Ready? To reveal, yeah. Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. Ooh, so far, I'm on the only, I'm the only one with this name. I'll finish this list. There we go. Okay, so all three of you guys have Brees Hall.

I got Tyler Algear, and I'll save those thoughts. for a little bit. Why don't we start with Breesholm? Cody, talk to me about him. Yeah, I mean, he's a big dynamic back. He is a true RB1 in the sense, you know, what the Broncos have been missing, right? And I think you pair him, you know, really well alongside an R.J. Harvey,

especially as Sean Payton has expressed, maybe looking at some more two-back stuff this year. You know, it was interesting enough that we talked about personnel earlier. True media had them at 50%, 11, 15.1%, and 12th personnel. but he also had them, I think, at like 4.5% in 22 personnel, which is two running backs, two tight ends. And I think you pair of Brice with his explosive ability. He's got great vision. I did a film breakdown on it for all the everydayers out there in the everydayer club.

He's patient. He knows how to make something out of nothing quite a bit. And the fact that he thrived behind such a disgustingly awful New York Jets offense, to me it's like, all right, what can this guy do with a better system around him, so to speak? And not to mention, he's a reliable path. catcher out of the backfield. He only had one drop on 48 total targets last season, 36 catches out of the backfield, but his average consistency across the board, even though in his rookie year he suffered a major injury, he's bounced back from that to still maintain a

4.5 yard per carry average per season. He is an instant game changer to what the Broncos need, and he's built of a similar statute of a Kenneth Walker, 511, 215, 15 pounds. Inside, Outside run game is there for him. That's why I got Breece Hall on my list. anything different from you, Nick and Sarah? Is it kind of more of the same when it comes to Breece Hall? No, I mean, I like the explosion from Breece Hall. Just unfortunate for him, he was playing with the New York Jets. And they don't have a tight end.

They don't have wide receivers. So you can stack the box eight or nine men and kind of take him away. But you put him in this offense, there's a multitude of different things that you can do. I'll still go back to this, gentleman. No matter what you do or who you bring in at the running back position, Like Cody said earlier, if you don't have guns that you stick to and you stay committed to one particular guy on a particular possession and you continue to switch guys out, you make it really difficult for that guy. But you still need to have your wide receivers who can block on the perimeter because if they can't sustain those blocks, I don't care if you had Roger Craig who's who he was, his lead blocker was Tom Rathman.

It's not going to change anything. But I still like Breece Hall and what he can actually do. the other guy is what is Cody showing? This is, this is Bruce Hall. He was a Lamborghini in a trailer park. That's a Bugatti, brother. Bugatti had no Bugatti.

Yes, but yes, you're absolutely right. So if you take Breece Hall, you put him in this offense, it changes. Remember a couple, I think it was about three, four years ago, even when Justin Simmons was here, remember how much trouble they had with Breece Hall? 65-yard touchdown. That's right.

So he is a hell of a running. back. But he would be a great addition to the running back room. And in 2023, remember, I mean, the Broncos, when they faced the Jets, and this was the Hackett game ball game, what a joke. Makes me want to cute anyways. They do a good job in the first half of containing Breece Hall. What is he doing in the second half? First place, 70-yard touchdown. One. Yep. Sean Peyton has seen what Breeze Hall can do. And they sold out last year in overseas in London

to try to stop him. They did a really good job of that. But, man, Sean knows exactly what that guy could bring to the table, I would be shocked if they don't have strong interest in him. Can I toss out another name that I don't think has really been on anyone's radar, but might be, because of some of the recent news? Is Devon A. Chan attainable for Miami right now? No. We were talking about Jalen Waddle. But if they go full fire sale mode, I mean, ACHAN could be another interesting prospect.

Now, I know you can just sign Breeze Hall with no draft compensation attached to it. Obviously, you have to trade for A.C.m. But I believe he's going into the. the final year of his deal, his rookie deal as well. A. Chan would be a pretty nice fit, I think. They just signed Joe Barry as their run game coordinator. There's no way they're going to let A. Chan go. Yeah, at least this year.

But isn't it the same argument of like, why would you keep Jalen Waddle if you're tearing it down? Yeah, but you don't want to tear every. I mean, you could tear down a lot and they certainly have to tear a lot. They have a huge obstacle in front of them now with obviously Tuatunga Vilo, but, you know, for them, I think it's like, hey, we have to scrap this, but what do we? need in order to get by in the meantime. You have to have a good running back. You get rid of A. Chan.

Man, A. Chan's going to go off somewhere else. Like, watch him get paired up in Buffalo alongside James Cook and watch that just be something that we have to see. I don't want that to happen. But he's a guy that if he leaves, wherever he goes, he's going to be explosive. Though, I hate the fact that he changed name because we used to call him A. And now it's A Chan. So, no, just a thought.

To that point, though, I mean, he is a free agent next off season. So he has only one year left on his deal. same situation with B. John Robinson, same situation with Jonathan Taylor, Jemir Gibbs, a lot of free agents in 2027 that you would look at and you would say, well, I don't really want to trade for a running back. And I would say that I personally wouldn't want to trade for a running back unless you're getting like, you know, if you can get somebody who's top tier for a reasonable price, like if you're not talking about giving up a first round pick and then some for a really good

running back, then I might be open to that idea. but here's the list that I came up with right here. You got to read my, I'm really exposing myself with my handwriting here. Bro, you got good handwriting. I don't know what you're talking about. I don't know about that. That's right.

I like that. I like that. I can read it. Yeah, I have Rico dialed on mine too as well. So I like that list. Yeah, yeah. I think there's names out there. And I think what I did here is I attached some of these names.

Like, if you sign Al Jir in free agency, played what, 20% of the snaps last year for the Falcons. I think that has to come with the caveat that, hey, we're drafting somebody to supplement the depth. Like we're putting our faith in some of these guys to say, you're going to be running back one. RJ Harvey Harvey is going to be running back two. You guys are splitting duties.

We're going to keep you guys both fresh. And the third guy is going to be somebody who is the secret weapon for whenever one of those two guys gets injured. Because you can't, I don't think you can, go into this off season. You could go, I could get on board with the strategy that says, hey, we're going to bring back J.K. Dobbins, but it's going to come along with a top 100 pick. Or we're going to give Rashad White a chance to do what he couldn't do before Bucky Irving took his job, but he's not just going to get handed our job in Denver without competition like Nick

was talking about earlier from a top 100 pick. The trade for Montgomery, as some of us suggested, an option. Rico Dowdell, I mean, are you going to give him the opportunity to do what in Denver what he wasn't really doing in Carolina either. I mean, they have two or three backs there as well. So you got to pair a lot of these signing options with a pick. But if either Brees Hall or Travis E.TN actually hits free agency and the franchise tag number is not really going to prevent the Jets or Jaguars from keeping those guys around at 14.2 million, if one of those guys actually hits free agency, it needs to be an all-out

blitz from the Denver Broncos. come check out our training facility. We'll send you virtual renderings of the work environment you're going to be looking out. We're going to talk to your agent, blah, blah, blah. Yes, and Nick said it right there. I mean, upgrade big time. I think the question is, do they go kind of full court press on a pursuit of a breezehall type beat? You know, if they assume they do hit free agency, it's good that you bring up the franchise tag number

because that could definitely play a role into this. But I also think going back to your list, Sarah, there is a bevy. of running backs out there. Like even if they go with like an Aaljeer or Rashad White, like you can sign those guys to a two-year deal. And then to your point, re-evaluate your running back room when you get to next season with a Jamir Gibbs with the world.

I mean, I think he'd get franchising back nowhere. You know, there's going to be more and more coming. Talking to Von Ancheid, you know, some of these other guys as well. So maybe it is in a way if you lose out or you don't get a Travis E.T.N. Or a Breezeal, you kind of slap a bandaid on an open wound for lack of better phrase and get an Aljier and get a Rashad White.

and then kind of reevaluate and reassess as we get towards the conclusion of the next season as well. I think they draft the guy regardless. I think so too. Here's the question I would ask. For an offense that we're sitting here saying, hey, we got a new OC, Davis Webb, he may call plays. We don't know for sure. We're going to throw a running back out there who hasn't been a starter for three years in Tyler Al's year. Like that's a leap of faith that you're taking.

that's part of what makes free agency fun, right? Is, hey, you sign Emmanuel Sanders away from the Steelers. He didn't really do much there. He signed for pennies on the dollar in Denver and he becomes an instant pro bowler. I think those stories, though, are much less frequent than the ones that you're like, hey, we shouldn't have paid Jerich McKinnon as much money as we probably did, you know, back in free agency or we shouldn't have paid this running back such an exorbitant amount because he wasn't a good fit here.

We just were trying to fill a need. if you're talking about slapping a Band-Aid, then I think you start to circle back around to the idea that J.K. Dobbins makes the most sense, plus a high draft pick. And I know you back yourself into a corner, but if you are talking about let's just put a Band-Aid on it, we like next year's outlook better, bring back Dobbins, draft somebody you like again,

and then roll the dice. Interesting. I'm not opposed to that. I think running back is the most interesting room of the bunch this off-season. Julea McLaughlin's also restricted free agent this year as well. I don't feel like, I didn't feel like he got a great opportunity, though I understand like, you know, people view like some of the limitations. He was on a practice squad. Or he was not elevated for game day, excuse me.

Yeah, he was, he was just inactive for a while. And it's like, why was he inactive when the reality? Like, I, no disrespect to Tyler Badee. I do not see whatever Sean Payton and them saw in Badee in terms of his role. Well, they saw him as just being kind of a Dave Megget throwback Bill Barsett's third down back. But they didn't really use him that well in that way. And when they did bring him in, he didn't really catch the ball too well. I mean, I just.

Yeah. My last, my lasting memory was the Jarrett Stedham turnover in the Patriot's game, where you have Talibade going from the right side to the left side. The crease is right up inside of Garrett Bowes. He runs right into Garrett Bowles. And Jared Stedim is trying to throw the ball away and ends up being a turnover for the Patriots. And that play, amongst other things, help catapult them to the Super Bowl. So it comes back to decision making.

And a lot of these guys, we've already seen them in action. You already know what they can and can't do. So it's time to upgrade the roster once again. And that means that you're going to have to part ways with guys, man, to make an omit, man. You've got to crack some damn eggs. That's a good one. That's how you make an almond? It's by cracking an omelet.

Oh, he said an almond. What are you talking? Everyone heard it with you. I don't know. Almond. Amelette and almond sound very similar, but yeah, I get it. There's eggs.

There's eggs and almonds? I mean, people, I mean, how do you get almond milk? Do you go in milk and almond somewhere, too? My goodness. How do you make olive oil, bro? Yeah, right. You got some olives? Yeah, you got a smash.

You have to smash them. You know what? There you go. All right. Let's hit our final break. When we come back, let's do tight end to kind of round out the offseason show. I thought we were going to be able to do both offense and defense in this show.

Let's just say defense for its own Friday. Yeah, we'll do Friday. Linebacker, cornerback, right? We can have some fun conversations with that. So I'll hit a quick break.

Come back. We'll do wishless tight ends for the Devin Broncos. It's right here on your last on. a Bronco squad show. If I have... Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. TurboTax. All right, you guys.

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The chat has been incredible today. Appreciate each and every one of you out there. And if you are watching on YouTube, make sure to hit that like button and subscribe button. It really helps us out here as we're building it up. And okay, let's end with tight end. No pun intended there. Good conversation on receiver and running back.

This is where I'm curious, because there's a couple of interesting names in the tight end market that I think Denver can go towards. We can flash them if we've got. here, fellows. Let's see where we're going at here for tight end. Okay. See Nick is a ball knower. T.J. Hawkinson. Okay. Cody's got a joke. I'm not a ball, no, right? All the ones that Nick had.

Yeah, well, you know, he agreed with me more than, you know, he had got her number one. That's why I'm saying that. Let's hold, hold yourself one more time, Cody. I think all four of those are really solid options. I think in Joku, obviously kind of bidding his farewell to the Cleveland Browns last week on social media is a good one. Anybody should bid farewell to that place. Yeah, KDott is another interesting name.

I wonder where they go here. Could you trade for a Bills tight end? Good. A Dawson, maybe. Wow, no trades, Cody. No. No trades. There are a couple trade names we'll talk about, though,

but let's get into the conversation here. Yeah, so why don't we start with Injoku, Cody, talk to me. Look, I don't think you'd be bringing in David Nizoku to be a tight-in one, so to speak. I mean, really could. I mean, let's take a look at the, I mean, the numbers last year for the Broncos tight-in room, it makes me sick, makes me want to puke in terms of snap percentage earlier. Once again, going back to personnel, 50% of the time, Denver was an 11 personnel. You know who had the most snaps at the tight-end position over everybody else. It was Adam Troutman at 57%.

He played 650-something snaps last year. Evan Ingram, 480-something. He played 42%, which was a career low. You're telling me 11 personnel primarily. Oh, you're going to lie in Adam Troutman a lot? more he was a checkdown option like that to me it is a Sean Peyton scheme play calling problem more so than it is a talent problem you know when your tight end one has the most snaps but only has 20 catches on the season I have a

problem with that that is a coaching issue there but like for David Nizoku look he's he's an older guy by standard he's been in the NFL quite you know quite a bit of time he is instantly in my opinion a great red zone threat a great third down threat for you to throw to you don't need to bring him in to be this guy who's going to catch a hundred something passes, that's not a realistic expectation. But man, I think you can make every catch he has worthwhile, efficient,

and you pair him up alongside Evan Ingram. I like that. But the coaches have to change their approach with this position, though. Alongside Evan Ingram. You think there's a world where they have a Joku and an Ingram on the same roster? I think so. Absolutely. Two different skill sets. No, Joku's not going to be an elite route.

And so what? You move on from Trouton, that in that sense. Yeah. It's a free agent. Yeah. Yes. Thank you so much, Troutman, for your time here. You're awesome in the time that we had you. But you know, it's time to, as Nick would say, upgrade me.

Yeah. I like that. In Joku would be second on my list personally. Nick, let's talk a little Dallas Goddard here. I just think he's maybe the most robust option on the market right now. Yeah. When I look at Dallas Goddard's game, man, and this time with Philadelphia Eagles, he is very versatile. When you look at him, you don't think he's a burner.

He may not have like that top end speed. But the one thing you know about him, man, you can put him in positions and he's going to pay dividends. Well, the Broncos have seen it themselves to a point almost where, you know, Jalen Hurst almost found Dallas Goddard for a touchdown to help the Philadelphia Eagles when the game against the Denver Broncos didn't happen. But I think about versatility. Evan Ingram was brought here to be the guy. Everyone talked about the Joker because that's what Sean Payton tossed out there.

right and we saw you know once uh evan ingu was signed we saw the the gifts or jiffs whatever the hell the kids call it uh he put up there as far as right we we saw that but we didn't really see it on the field Dallas godder gives you a guy that you can put in the core he can be an inline guy he can be a guy that you open up because now what we're talking about is versatility and if like Cody said, one of the second-rated personnel groups that the Broncos were in on a high percentage was, in fact, 12 personnel. Could you imagine putting Goddard in that hip wing formation flexing out Ingram? Now a defense got to figure, okay, but what are we going to do? Are we going to be in our base package or are we going into our sub-package? Either way, now you can both

run and pass out of those formations. And now, let's just call Evan Engen what he is. It's not a tight end. He's a big wide receiver and we just talked about wide receiver. That would mean that you're going to have Evan Ingram on the field more than maybe some of the wide receivers. My thing is, can you create spacing for the run game and can you stretch the field? That's what I look at it. Sarah, let me ask you a question. Who is the tight end from Iowa that's coming out this year? Because anytime you can draft from Iowa, the tight end position, you're going to get a good player. Is there anybody that is coming out this year? Yeah, I mean, there's always guys coming out from Iowa, but I think their tight ends are all future draft players.

Honestly, I don't watch as much Hawkeyes now as I previously have. So if it's not a draft eligible guy this year, I don't 100% know, but I know that they have guys that are in, you know, progress that made plays in the bowl game and stuff. So why not trade for a former hot guy? Yeah, give me the hot guys, man. Give me the Hawkeyes. Here's the thing, too. Like the tight end coach for the Broncos, Austin King, was the OC at Dayton when Adam Troutman was an All-American in college.

And so he's had him forever, like forever. He's been with Adam Troutman. So like once again, we get into this discussion with linebackers, you know, and I know it's a different role. You're communicating different things. But there's there's that element of like the. trust factor, the familiarity, can you actually move on from that familiarity? I know Austin King, the tight end coach also has connection to Cole Commet, who's had, he's been added to my list.

Cole Commet, he was coached by, not directly by Austin King, but he was with the Chicago Bears staff back in 2020. Cole Commet was in his third season in the NFL. So the ties that bind are often very, very much in play. And I think for the point of this list right here, this is an expansive This is a long list of guys. This is a viable options list of trades and free agent signings. The point is, is like, if the Broncos fail, it's only because they didn't play the game. That's the only way to fail in this situation is to not get in the fray. That was the same situation, though, that they failed last year in the draft, which was so good at tight end.

And they didn't end up with anybody besides Caleb Loner in the seventh round who barely played 59 snaps or whatever it was in college. So I think the only way to fail this offseason at tight end is to just run it back or not play the game. And so to me, there's just too many. You couldn't tell me really a bad option right now in free agency from Kyle Pitts all the way down to whoever it might be. Like we're looking at this list, Charlie Colar, I think would be an upgrade.

Daniel Bellinger, probably an upgrade. He played pretty darn good against the Broncos too, which means a lot to Sean Payton, you know, Chigal Conquo, Isaiah Likely, there's so many different guys I think could be massive upgrades to keep in theme with Nate, with what Nick is saying, that that really take this offense to the next level and bring that past catching element to the inline position. Is there any interest in the Kyle Pitts dynamic? Very similar to Evan Ingram. Yeah. Younger, though. Yeah. Maybe more upside too. Yeah, but the one thing that you have to kind of keep in mind, yeah, it's similar to Evan Ingram and last season you didn't get a lot of blocking. Once again, I go back to these basic fundamentals. You didn't get a lot of that from the wide receiver position. You definitely didn't get a consistent dose of that from the tidning position. So you don't want to have two of those guys on your roster. You can survive one. You can't survive with two of those guys because those are mere image guys talking Evan Ingram and Kyle Pitts. And I like Kyle Pitts from a past. catching standpoint.

But like Evan Ingram, they don't block well. It was so bad to one point. They had to bring in 41-year-old Mercedes Lewis. Yes. Yeah. Just think about that.

Should have drafted. In hindsight, I think instead of the 20th overall pick, I would have found a way to trade out of that. They had interest in trading up for Colston, Loveland. Look, you don't know how a guy's going to do, but man, Loveland, who, what he did in Chicago down the stretch and even in the playoffs.

That kid is special. Oh, yeah. Denver needs a guy like that. 100%. That was Goddard. Yeah. Well, no, good conversation, fellas. I mean, we'll see what they do at tight end, wide receiver and running back.

And on Friday's episode, we'll take a look here at the defense. That should be fun as well. So good stuff today as always. But any closing thoughts before we get out of here, fellas? I had the worst bowl of cereal in my life today. What'd you have? The Catalina Crunch Cinnamon Toast one. It's bad?

It was bad, but you know, it redeemed because we had such a great show. Okay, wow. I'm here all. Great bridge. Great bridge. Oh, love it, love it, love it. All right, cool. Well, that is going to do it for us on today's Lockdown Bronco squad show.

Y'all are the best on your way out the door. Hit that like button, smash that subscribe button. That we guys don't miss anything here on the channel. And we'll be back again on Friday. But for Cody Rourke, Sarah Bedinger and Nick Ferguson, I am Adelope. Signing off. Talk to you guys later this week. Toasty