Locked On Broncos - Daily Podcast On The Denver Broncos - BUBBLE: Denver Broncos Players On Roster Bubble After NFL Draft

Starting point is 00:00:00 After the NFL draft and free agency, there are several veterans who could be on the roster bubble. We'll take a look at PJ Locke, Demari Mathis, and others here on today's episode, Locked on Broncos. You are Locked on Broncos, your daily Denver Broncos podcast, part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. What's all, Broncos country, happy Friday. Welcome into another episode, Lockdown Broncos, your daily Denver Broncos podcast, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, where you know it is your team every day for all your Broncos, new. content coverage, analysis, and more. This is the place to be every single day all year long. Thank you so much to all the everydayers out there in Broncos country.

Starting point is 00:00:44 Thanks for tuning in making us your first listen. However, you choose to do so. We appreciate you so much there. I'm Cody Roar, credential Broncos reporter for Mile High Sports. And I'm Sarah Bedinger, site expert at predominantly orange.com. And here's what we got in store for you on today's episode of the show. Bronco's rookie minicamp has officially began. Friday's practice closed off.

Starting point is 00:01:05 to the media. We'll be there at Saturday's practice in Doveller to recap all that. But we're going to go through after the NFL draft and Free Agency, which veteran players could be on the roster bubble after the Broncos made additions to several positions across Free Agency and the NFL draft. We'll take a look at which rookies we feel like will have an instant impact here for the Broncos. And we'll also dive into why Pat Bryant could be the most under-the-radar rookie edition this upcoming season. We'll break all that down. I'm just more on today's episode of the show. Sarah, let's dive into it here.

Starting point is 00:01:38 Obviously, as rookie minicamp commences, you know, the Broncos are going to get their first look, their coaching staff at the rookie class undrafted rookie free agents, some veteran tryout players. But all that to say, I think when we look at all the moves the Broncos made, is they're looking to formulate their 90-man roster. Right now, it's at about 92 players. So I imagine a couple of moves will be made here or there.

Starting point is 00:02:00 My thought is which veteran players going into training camp, that we need to keep our eye on us potentially being on the roster bubble. Well, I think when you look at this roster up and down, the deepest position groups are in the defensive backfield. And it's no surprise, as the Broncos have invested a ton there the last couple of years, whether we're talking day one, day two, day three of the NFL draft, undrafted guys, big time ticket signings, an NFL free agency. That has been an area of focus for this team.

Starting point is 00:02:29 And so that depth, unfortunately now you're talking about having to make some potentially really difficult decisions. I think you've got to start at that safety spot where you added Talanoa Hufanga this offseason. You add Brandon Jones last year. You got a number of young guys at that position. Where does that leave guys like PJ Locke and Delarian Turner Yellow Cody? I think those are two players that we're going to have kind of under the microscope this

Starting point is 00:02:53 off season as what is what is their role? Are they going to be core special teams guys? Are they going to be in the defensive rotation at all? I think they can be special teams, guys. but is that where the Broncos want to invest that percentage of the salary cap high, is those guys playing 250, 300 snaps on special teams? That's going to be a fascinating one to watch. Yeah, and I'm not sure exactly how it's going to go, right?

Starting point is 00:03:16 Because we don't know PJ was the starter last year for the Broncos. He had some ups and downs. He's, you know, he played through some injuries, but I don't think PJ was, like, I think there's an error. A lot of people said PJ was bad last year. I don't necessarily agree with that, just knowing what I know about some of the coverages that were called responsibilities. I mean, that's one thing I always.

Starting point is 00:03:32 like to ask players, you know, it's off the record. So I can never share it here on air, unfortunately. But, you know, when something happens, I'll talk to players and I'll ask them, hey, off the record, you know, what happened here? So there's some things that I know that I feel like PJ got a little bit of the unfair backlash, you know, from a lot of the stuff to happen. I think that was a little bit more on the inside lineback position and also extended coverage that had happened because of that.

Starting point is 00:03:55 But, you know, like for Delary and Turner Yale, you know, he came off the PUP list last year. And unfortunately, because the numbers crunch situation, in the middle of the season, the Broncos, they unfortunately never fully activated him off to the PUP to the active roster. So he reverted back to it and had to play beyond the remainder of, you know, the offseason, geez, well, I'm tongue tight today. My God. He had to revert back to the PUP list for the remainder of the season,

Starting point is 00:04:20 despite him coming back to practice and looking good, looking comfortable. So for me, it's, it's okay. Hey, you bring a Talano who Fonga, who you paid a hefty price. There's no way he's not going to start for you. Brandon Jones, you pay. him a hefty amount of money a couple years ago in three and c there's no way he's not going to start so for pj is like is this a demotion or do the broncos have in mind for him he even though you're not the starter because of these two guys you're still going to play plenty of defensive snaps i

Starting point is 00:04:48 still think that you know if you factor in injuries with talanoa hufonga brandon jones i think having a guy like pj on your roster is a great insurance policy i personally don't think the bronco should put him on the bubble essentially i think he should be on the roster But you're going to have to factor in. Obviously, when he signed that extension, it was a two-year deal. So now he's in the last year of his deal. Delarian Turner Yel is in the last year of his deal as well. And so there's going to be competition between, I think, Turner Yale, Devin Key,

Starting point is 00:05:15 Kedron Smith, these guys for some defensive snaps or even like in the preseason or even special team snaps. That to me is where this gets a little crazy. You have to have a lot of safeties. You have to have a lot of players in that position. J.L. Skinner, they want to see him take another step forward, which I think he did last year. But this year, it's going to be. even more critical. So I think this is an important decision for them to make. I don't know how it's

Starting point is 00:05:37 going to go. Well, because you have a lot of friends now in high places around the NFL, you can't sneak guys through waivers or, you know, try to get guys on the practice squad. You just have too many connections around Lee where these guys are proven commodities in a number of ways, whether that's just on special teams or like you mentioned with PJ, a former starter defensively, which leads me to another former starter, Cody. And we stay in the defensive backfield. here. Damari Mathis, he's a former fourth round pick, former starter. He certainly has had his share of injuries. And like you mentioned with PJ ups and downs the last couple of years, but I don't know if the Broncos are going to throw in the towel on him necessarily. I think that the biggest maybe

Starting point is 00:06:19 path to Damari leaving Denver is if the team is like, look, we need to do right by this guy in a contract year. Like he's not going to play in Denver, right? Unless there's an injury, right? He's probably fifth or sixth at best on the cornerback depth chart right now. And because of that, going into a contract year, you want to do right by the player. So I could see the Broncos saying, hey, this guy's on the bubble in a way, like not because he's bad, but because we have so many other good players, PS2, Riley Moss, Jada Baron, Jaquan Macmill and Chris Abrams Drain. Where's, where's DeMari Mathis fit into that equation?

Starting point is 00:06:54 So I think getting him playing time elsewhere might be a priority for this team and they're going to just wait and see if injuries happen over the course of the offseason. Yeah, no, I agree. And it's a tough position for a guy like Damari to be in because he's a former starter. I think he's proven he can play here at the NFL level. But there are just so many guys in that room and Jay Kwan, PS2, Riley. I mean, Jada, those guys are four roster locks. Those guys are safe on this roster.

Starting point is 00:07:21 So it's going to be hard, you know, and especially when you have that investment, Chris Abrams, Drain, who they expect is going to take a little bit more of a special team's approach this year. I think if Damari is on the roster through the preseason, really what's going to define whether he makes the roster or they hope to bring him back and maybe clear waivers, whatever it may be, has to be on the special team side of the ball, which brings us to our next guy here. A wide receiver, Sarah, and I know you feel very strongly about this here, but I feel like we should talk about Trent Sherfield. Obviously, he signed it, what was it, a two-year deal in the off season, $6 million,

Starting point is 00:07:51 but $1.5 million of that is only guaranteed. And when you look at where Denver's at with the addition to Pat Bryant, you know, maybe AT Harry, Trent Sherfield is not necessarily a roster lock at this point, in my opinion. No, me either. I think that there's so many guys defensively that we've talked about already and that we could continue to talk about that those guys can play special teams as well. I don't think Trent Sherfield is the only guy on the roster who can play special teams. So he's going to have to go out there and prove to be a difference maker in that regard.

Starting point is 00:08:20 And I'm sure the coaching staff and the scouting department, they've already determined, Hey, this guy, he provides this level of special teams. We know what we're getting, just like Tremont Smith. That's why he was signed to replace Tremont Smith. But if you're talking about having a set wide receiver group at this point, Cody, that would frustrate me. If your top six receivers are set in stone, you have no competition, that doesn't make anybody better.

Starting point is 00:08:46 That would be the lamest way to approach the offseason at a critical position. I love the idea of developing the youth. I love that. We're investing in the guys we've drafted. That's fine. But get some real competition for these guys, especially somebody like Sherfield, who he's been mostly a special team's only guy in the NFL.

Starting point is 00:09:07 Yeah, it's going to be interesting to see how it plays out. I mean, like I said, I don't think his spot is guaranteed if there's somebody else on special teams, even in the defensive backfield, where I expect them is going to keep more defensive back-tight bodies, linebacker-type bodies this year, than probably wide receivers. Because like I said,

Starting point is 00:09:21 I think roster lock, Cortland Sutton, Marvin Mims, Devon Valle, Troy Franklin, and obviously, Pat Bryant, there's six guys right there. So what's it going to be? You're going to keep seven? I don't know. I don't know if that's going to be the case. We'll see how I'll think he's kind of pan out here.

Starting point is 00:09:35 But let's go here to tight end real quick. And we'll get into obviously another one. I think Lucas Crowell with the addition to Caleb Loner, he's probably got the most pressure on him to perform and to succeed. Loner's got the four-year deal. Go ahead and start your fantasy football names here for Caleb Loner. Only the real ones will understand that reference there. you can piece together what rhymes with that.

Starting point is 00:09:55 We'll see how it goes. We've already seen some crazy stuff from Broncos country when it comes to Will Lutz when he makes big kicks. But we'll go through that. And Inoma-Uaziriki, I think, is probably on the defensive lines there, probably on the bubble because of the additions of Savian Jones. And I think they like that room that the guy, especially with Jordan Jackson. You're looking for Inyoma to take another step.

Starting point is 00:10:15 Granted, the year missed hurts him. We'll see how it pans out. Your quick thoughts on Crowl and obviously Uwazerique. Yeah, I think those guys are firmly on. bubble, especially because they're kind of contract to your guys. Anytime you have a guy that's set to hit free agency the next year, that makes it a little bit easier for teams to get out of those deals. So those guys obviously, and then, you know, Mike Burton and Nate Adkins, Cody, they could be fighting for one spot on the offensive side of the ball as well with Nate being a hybrid fullback

Starting point is 00:10:43 tight end, Burton being a fullback special teams guy. I mean, those guys both bring value, but are they both going to be part of the 53 man equation this year? That's going to be fascinating to see. We want to hear your thoughts. Broncos country, which players do you believe are on the bubble going into 2025? We're not done yet. We still got a lot to break down on today's episode of the show. Up next, we're going to dive into the rookie class and which rookies we believe will have the biggest impact. We'll tell you why Jaude Barron, R.J. Harvey will have a big impact right away.

Starting point is 00:11:11 But how can others make some noise? We'll break that down much more here on today's episode, Lockdown Broncos. Today's episode, Lockdown Broncos is brought to our friends over there at Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K. And did you know that your fire TV is also in Xbox? Turn any TV into your gaming and entertainment hub with Fire TV stick 4K devices. No console required. Just grab your pair controller. Subscriber sign in to Xbox GamePass Ultimate with EA play included and you're ready to go.

Starting point is 00:11:39 Dive into hundreds of premium titles including EA Sports College Football 25 to Call of Duty as easily as you stream your favorite shows. And Cody, as you know, I'm going on vacation really soon and me and my kids love playing games together. So the fire TV stick 4K makes it possible to keep playing, even though I'm not bringing a console with me on vacation. I'm not packing that away. You can easily bring a fire TV stick 4K, play some Jedi Fallen Order there, play some EA sports college football 2K 25.

Starting point is 00:12:09 You know, we're almost getting to the new titles as well. So that's something else to watch out for. But no matter if you're in front of your main setup or not, you can bring this with you and play anywhere. Head to Amazon.com slash fire TV locked on to get start at Xbox, Game Pass, ultimate subscription, and compatible controller required, available on select devices, including Fire TV Stick 4K, 2nd generation, Fire TV Stick 4K Max, first and second generation, and Fire TV Cube, third generation.

Starting point is 00:12:37 Denver Broncos rookies should be expected to make a major impact in 2025. Cody and I are going to tell you which names you need to be keeping an eye out for here in this upcoming season because Broncos country, we're in mini-camp stage right now, The OTAs are going to continue. Pretty soon it's going to be training camp preseason before you know it will be back into the regular swing of things. So if you haven't already done so, make sure you subscribe to Lockdown Broncos because you know your boys, Cody and Sayre will have you covered every single step of the way. And thank you to all of you every dayers out there already.

Starting point is 00:13:10 Let's talk instant impact from the Denver Broncos rookie class. It's been a mixed bag in the Instant Impact Department under Sean Payton, Cody, because I think that a lot of times you're drinking through a fire hose when you talk about, hey, you're coming into play in Sean Payton's offense. It's very complicated. There's a lot of verbiage and terminology. Of course, we saw Bo Nix as the week one starter last year, but then you see other guys like Troy Franklin, Audrick Estime, they get brought along a little bit slower. What do you expect this year in terms of instant impact? Like I think we start off with Jaudei Baron, obviously. He's playing in, you know, defense. He's not.

Starting point is 00:13:49 playing in Sean Payton's offense. Do you think that he's going to be able to bring that versatility into the mix immediately for this group? Yeah, no, I agree. I think he will. And I think just based on what the Broncos have said that they've liked about Jaide Barron, I mean, it's easy to see. Like, this is a guy who don't want to say he's a positionless player, right? Because I think sometimes when people say that, they're like, oh, that means that, well, why do they draft a positionist player? Do they not know where to put him? No, it just means that he can play a multitude of positions. You know, he can play the nickel. He can play outside. He can play a dime back. You can drop back to safety if need be.

Starting point is 00:14:22 You know, it gives you flexibility here. I think right away he's going to have an impact. He's going to be firmly in the rotation play, a significant amount of snaps on week one, which we know the Broncos opponents will be announced, like in terms of the schedule and the order in which it's going to go. Rumors about London and the New York Jets have already come out. So we'll see about that.

Starting point is 00:14:40 But week one, I expect Jadae to play right away to have a big impact here. I also think it's safe to say that RJ Harvey, just based on where the Broncos took him in round number two, probably going to have a big impact right away. And I think the one thing that would keep him off of the field would be an injury or if he was having some fumble issues early on. I think that would be something to monitor that. I don't think that's going to be the case, though.

Starting point is 00:15:01 So I think we can expect these two guys, it's easy to say, hey, day one, week one, you're going to see a healthy dosage of these two guys. Is there anybody else you feel the same about there? Or are these the two guys that's like, hey, they're probably going to have that instant impact right way. Those are the two most obvious, but then I think, you know, if Jeremy Croshaw wins the punter competition, we'll see him holding for extra points, plenty, won't we? We won't see him hunting all the time. He'll be holding for extra points. So I'm excited for that. I'm excited to see how good of a holder this guy, as we talk a lot about his net punting, which that does matter

Starting point is 00:15:36 every now and again, but we obviously hope the Broncos are better in terms of scoring the football this coming season. I'd love to see Jeremy Croshaw crouched down on the ground there holding for extra points more often than not. But I think that's, you know, the, how disappointing would it be if, if R.J. Harvey ends up in the proverbial doghouse at the beginning of year. I mean, if we talk about, like, we like to be optimistic this time of year because there's no reason not to be. But if for some reason, for any reason whatsoever, R.J. Harvey ends up not being a heavy, heavy piece of the offense and that rotation at running back from week one, that is going to be something. That is going to be something that we discuss at length on this show because you two years in a row essentially

Starting point is 00:16:20 with running backs right and that would mean like are you are you messing up in the scouting department with these guys are you asking them to do too much are you not you know picking the right fits like why did you trade down and not take this guy why didn't you move up and get this guy you know that's the last thing the last thing we want is even in week one to be having a conversation like why didn't the broncos just take a marian hampton and get that need you kill it with fire in the first round. That's the last thing that we want to be talking about because you moved down and maneuvered around the board.

Starting point is 00:16:52 And he talked about how RJ Harvey was your pet cat in the draft process and how you watched this film for two hours and didn't want anybody to know that you liked him so much. Like if he's not heavily in the rotation in week one, that is going to be a major problem for me. Yeah, no, I agree. And certainly the hindsight conversations will be there. And look, I think so much of it's just about trust. And this is where I think sometimes maybe Sean can get in his own way. Like, you know what?

Starting point is 00:17:19 Yeah, let's say he has that struggle adjustment. You gave Bo Nix, like through the first two weeks, Bo Nix was struggling. And, you know, it looked like his confidence was shot a little bit as a rookie as he adjusted there. I think some of these other guys will deserve that same grace. I think R.J. Harvey deserves it. Heck, I thought Adrick Estimate deserved that kind of grace. Yes, granted, he fumbled against the Seahawks in week one and then was on IR for the next four weeks,

Starting point is 00:17:42 subsequently there with some ankle injury. to me I just trust like you've got to let these guys make mistakes um so if that's the case if there is a doghouse there we're not seeing as much of these guys I would be a little disappointed especially at running back I don't think that's going to be the case in any way shape or form with jade baron um pat brian I know we we talk a lot about maybe he can have an instant impact but I think he's going to fit better into our other category coming up in today's show where I feel like he's going to be a little more under the radar impact which isn't a bad thing whatsoever you mentioned cross shot here What about if, you know, Savion Jones and let's say, let's even go with seventh rounder, Caleb Loner. What if these guys have an instant impact right away? Like Caleb Loner is more so the long shot here because of where he was taken and the fact he doesn't have a much football experience.

Starting point is 00:18:29 But I go back to Savion Jones. And I think he's got a chance of out of everybody. Like that's not Jod A. Baron or R.J. Harvey. I feel like Savian Jones is probably in the best position to have an impact right away as well in that defensive line rotation. I agree because we saw Jordan Jackson played a decent amount of snaps last season, right? I mean, I'm looking at it right now. Jordan Jackson played 310 snaps just under 27% of the snap count total for the Broncos last year.

Starting point is 00:18:58 Let's say Savion Jones comes in and takes those snaps. That's going to have an opportunity to do some damage there. Jordan Jackson made some plays for the Broncos. So 300-some snaps is nothing to scoff at. I think that that's very well within the realm of possibility, especially because you want those guys to be fresh. And as much as we love seeing Zach Allen out there all the time, I would much prefer to see him in a rotational,

Starting point is 00:19:25 like not that you want him to be riding the pine in key moments. Fresh. Yeah, keep him fresh. He doesn't need to be playing a thousand snaps out there. But I know he's chasing after. Once he gets that new contract, Cody, that pays him appropriately for what he's been putting out, there. I think he's one of only five or six guys to have 40 quarterback hits. I don't remember what

Starting point is 00:19:47 the stat is, but it's like J.J. Watt, T.J. Watt, Aaron Donald, Nick Bosa and Zach Allen. They're the only guy. That's crazy. Yeah, it's nuts. So give the guy his money and then let him play 60% or 65 or 70, but not like 90. You know, we we need these guys to stay fresh. So I think Savion Jones can help with that. Yeah. No, I agree with you as well. And Broncos, can you want to hear from you on today's episode show which rookies do you feel like will have an instant impact right away. And I'm talking, maybe even training camp day one, but also more importantly, week one of the NFL regular season. We want to hear from you on today's episode of the show.

Starting point is 00:20:24 With Broncos country, we're not done yet. We're going to get into a conversation now about the rookie class, which players could be under the radar in terms of impact this upcoming season. We'll tell you why Pat Bryant and Q Robinson are perfect under the radar candidates for the Broncos this upcoming season. And on today's episode, Lockdown Broncos. Today's episode of Lockdown Broncos is brought to you by LinkedIn. As a small business owner, your work does not end when the clock hits five.

Starting point is 00:20:49 Your business, it's always on your mind, which means when it's time to hire, you need a partner that works just as hard as you do. And that is where LinkedIn jobs comes in. When you clocked out, LinkedIn clocks in. And LinkedIn makes it easy to post your job for free. Bear it with your network and get qualified candidates all in one place. And here's how it work with LinkedIn's new post-your-job feature that can help you write job descriptions and then quickly get your job in front of the right people with deep candidate insights.

Starting point is 00:21:19 And here's a pro tip. Add the hashtag hiring frame to your profile picture to double your reach to qualified candidates. It's no wonder 72% of small businesses say LinkedIn helps them find high-quality hires. Post your job for freight, LinkedIn.com slash lock on NFL. That's LinkedIn.com. slash Locked-on NFL to post your job for free terms and conditions apply. As we jump at the fourth quarter action on today's episode of Locked-on Broncos, we're going to dive deep into why we believe players like Pat Bryant and Q Robinson

Starting point is 00:21:54 will be perfect under the radar impact players this upcoming season for the Broncos, offense, defense, and special teams. But before you, I want to say thank you once again for taking time out of your day to make us your first listen. We appreciate all the every dares out there. Broncos country. Thank you for helping grow the show exactly where it is. We couldn't have done it without you. We can't continue to do it without your support. We appreciate you so much. Make sure you shared this episode with someone in Broncos country that you know here.

Starting point is 00:22:21 Sarah was continuing on a conversation. I mean, I feel like we could have talked about Pat Bryant, maybe being a player in that instant impact category here, considering that they took him in round number three, I think he can have an instant impact, but I think we should probably highlight him under the focus of under the radar impact, just because the Broncos wide receiver room has so much depth right now with Cortland Sutton, Devon, Valle, Marvin Mims, Troy Franklin. Those guys are really kind of some solidified players at this point.

Starting point is 00:22:49 Whereas Pat Bryant, you know, people are so hung up on 40-yard dash speed. But I think the conversation has shifted a little bit because when people actually turn on the film and they watch it or they get these film breakdowns, they start to see that this guy, it doesn't matter what he ran in terms of 40-yard dash. the way that this guy plays, it's exciting. I mean, it honestly seems like a seamless fit here for Sean Payton's offense this upcoming season. Even if he's not the featured guy here, this is a guy who I think can be a chain mover for you on third down.

Starting point is 00:23:19 I think if you need like an extra effort block that's going to spring a running back on the outside perimeter, you're going to see whatever number Pat Bryant is wearing on the field. And you're like, wow, great blocks set up by Pat Bryant. I think he's going to have an impact in this category. and I think it's going to be under the radar. The Broncos didn't draft him. He didn't need to come in and put up a thousand yards or see him. But Sarah, let's say he has 300, 400 yards.

Starting point is 00:23:42 Let's say he has four or five touchdowns. I mean, that's fine with if other guys are excelling and the Broncos' offense is taking off. But I think he's more so an under the radar impact type of player. I think so too, because at this point, we don't really know what's that receiver rotation going to look like. What is Sean Payton envisioning for personnel groupings? How does Evan Ingram affect? affect everything else at that position group because the last two years,

Starting point is 00:24:07 there's been no legitimate threat at the tight end position or wherever they're going to line up Evan Ingram. I don't care if you, however we want to split hairs with that one, I don't care where he's lined up. He's going to affect everything in terms of the target share, in terms of how everybody else gets covered and that affects personnel groupings. It just changes everything so dramatically that we really need to see this out on the field. And it might not even be in training camp, Cody.

Starting point is 00:24:35 They're not going to give everything away in training camp. You're not going to give everything away in the preseason. We may have to kind of adapt our analysis of that whole picture as the regular season unfolds. Because right now, it's just tough to know. And I think maybe we'll get clues and hints here and there. You'll see as Pat Bryant, he's going to be rotating in with the ones. Sean Payton does that regardless of whether or not guys are in the doghouse or not, he'll rotate, got undrafted free agents in with.

Starting point is 00:25:02 the first team offense throughout the course of the off season. So I expect people to be talking about, hey, Pat Bryant's rotating in with the first team offense. That's just what Sean Payton does. And he's going to get those guys familiar because there will be a billion personnel groupings. The guys over at Pro Football Focus, who logged that stuff, Cody, they got to hate Sean Payton because he just throws, I think he just does it for fun sometimes. He throws different guys out there. He's like, yeah, let's give me Bryant and Mims and let's throw in Adkins. And it's just weird. He's going to get, He's going to be like a mad scientist out there, but that's where I think it's tough to know

Starting point is 00:25:35 and why we think he's under the radar to circle it all back is because we have no idea what these personnel groupings will be. Yeah, and look, that's one thing that Sean does is he mixes and matches everything. So there's really no trend, essentially. Like I think so many people will go in a trainee camp and they're going to hear about these rotations. And that's always my favorite part of trinity camp is,

Starting point is 00:25:53 oh my gosh, this guy was with the first team offensive defense folks. I mean, that's just normal. That's a normal part of the process there. You want to be able to put some of these guys in, with the first team units and see how they respond, right? You know, when you match up against the third team defense, it's going to be a drastically different look if you're going against that first team offense, I mean, even the first team defense.

Starting point is 00:26:13 Like if you're Pat Bryan and you're lining up against Pat's or 10, that's a different level of a challenge than if you're Pat Bryant, you're lining up against quitting Newsom, you know, against the third team defense. So I think it's important to be able to get that variance. And look, when you rotate guys in with the first, second, and third team units, you know what it does, Sarah? it gets you more on field reps in totality. And every rep that the Broncos have on field,

Starting point is 00:26:35 every player in training camp, there's a camera, right? Film is taken and these guys get everything put into their own player portfolio that they go through after practice and they watch with, obviously, the coaches, the scouts, the GM, they all sit together and they break this all down in meetings,

Starting point is 00:26:50 ad nauseum. They're going to do that here with rookie minicamp. So I'm excited to see that. Let's talk about Q Robinson here as well. I mean, obviously we've, I think highlighted initially, The move of adding him right now, unless there's an injury at edge rusher, he's probably not going to see any defensive snaps. So maybe you can formulate a couple of package looks for him here and there depending on a skill set or a matchup or an opponent where you feel like his athleticism is something that you can use.

Starting point is 00:27:14 But you already have guys like that. So his instant ability to have impact is definitely going to be able to come on the special team side where at Alabama, he was a special team's ace. That was highlighted by Nick Sabin, obviously before he ended up leaving the program. but your thoughts here on Q Robinson being able to have an under the radar impact. I think with Darren Rizzi coming in as special teams coordinator, there's an opportunity to impress. It's new faces, you know, and Darren Rizzi,

Starting point is 00:27:40 we know is going to play the best 11 players for specific units. Can Q Robinson become one of those? Yeah. The question that I have is, do you think he can lead the team in special team snaps? Because last year, it was, Tremont Smith led the team with 387 total special team snaps. That's a lot. That's a lot of over 81%. So there's a huge void being left, which is to Trent

Starting point is 00:28:05 Sherfield's credit, I guess, to his benefit that if he was signed to replace that guy, maybe his roster spot is more solidified than it seems. But I have a question of whether or not Q Robinson can be the one to lead this team in special team snaps because he's got the athletic traits. There's going to be a ton more involvement in the kickoff aspect of things where you're asking guys now to go make a lot of tackles. I could see him being not just a core four guy for you, but maybe that number one guy from the get-go. And Darren Rizzy, he clearly is not afraid of going after young guys

Starting point is 00:28:40 for these big-time roles because you drafted a punter. You brought in a special teams ace in the fourth round. You've got these, you know, XYZ. I'm going to be fascinated by his impact because why it's under the radar is that kicking game. We have not yet seen how. impactful special teams guys will be with the new rules of the touchback coming out to the 35 and teams trying to kick it off more and make tackles before the, you know, the 25 to 30. So I think that aspect of Q Robinson's rookie season is going to be fascinating.

Starting point is 00:29:12 Yeah, I'm curious as well, too, like how does the punter competition impact maybe these guys getting looked on special teams, right? Like you want to have quality reps. And let's say if your punters are shanking it in the air and it's impacting, you know, your trajectory on what you're supposed to do, that can obviously influence things. Though I would say the Broncos quite a bit like in some of the install walkthrough periods, they won't punt during those. They'll use the jugs machine so they can simulate the, you know, the kick.

Starting point is 00:29:39 You'll have the return dynamic on the back end. And then it's just, hey, stay in your lanes. Like it's very educational. So, you know, like that's one thing that people in training camp probably don't like to pay attention to is those little educational walkthrough special teams things. But man, they're so important. And that's something that we can't highlight enough here. I'm excited to see how it's all going to play out here, Sarah. And look, obviously we've got rookie minicamp ongoing today.

Starting point is 00:30:02 It's going to be ongoing on Saturday, which media will be able to attend that. We'll be able to do a bonus episode for you on Saturday. And then we won't get access to Sunday's practice, but we'll get to hear from Sean Peyton, get to interview the rookies in the locker room on Saturday. Complete coverage and recap here on lockdown Broncos to follow folks. But with that said, that I'll wrap up today's episode of the. show. We'll have you covered next time, as we just said here for a recap of Broncos rookie minicamp. Plus, we'll sit down and maybe do a little bit of a too early prediction of the Broncos

Starting point is 00:30:32 schedule. Sarah and I will share our own predictions to see how close we come when the NFL schedule releases next week. We're excited about a Broncos country. Thanks for rocking with us here. Once again, make sure you subscribe or follow. So you never miss out on what's going on with your favorite team. Broncos country. See you next time for another episode, Lockdown Broncos.

Locked On Broncos - Daily Podcast On The Denver Broncos - BUBBLE: Denver Broncos Players On Roster Bubble After NFL Draft

There aren't comments yet for this episode. Click on any sentence in the transcript to leave a comment.