Locked On Broncos - Daily Podcast On The Denver Broncos - BUYERS: Denver Broncos Could Be ACTIVE at NFL Trade Deadline

Starting point is 00:00:00 The NFL trade deadline is approaching next week, and the Denver Broncos might find themselves in position to be buyers. Will they? We'll break it all down 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. Broncos, what's happening? Welcome to another episode, Locked on Broncos, your daily Denver Broncos podcast, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network where you know, it's your team every day. I'm Cody Roark, Broncos reporter for Mile High Sports. Join, as always, by our good friend, Sir Bedinger, site expert over there, predominantly orange.com. We got a lot to break down. I want to say thank you 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. Here's what we're going to talk about on today's show. Injuries at the tight end position and apparently some rumblings at the wide receiver position could have the Broncos becoming buyers at the NFL trade deadline. We'll debate and discuss tight end options, potentially with the injury to Nate Adkins. what wide receivers could make a difference and more. You get all that on today's show.

Starting point is 00:01:06 Plus, we'll go through our little bit of an early preview of Sunday's game, an AFC matchup between the Broncos and the Texans. For Bow Nix and the offense, they'll face their toughest defense yet with the Houston Texans and what Domingo Ryans has got cooking over there in Houston. On top of that, we'll talk about how the Broncos defense can continue to make life miserable for C.J. Stroud this upcoming season, you'll get all on today's episode of the show brought to you by our friends over there at the GameTime app. Download the GameTime app.

Starting point is 00:01:31 create an account and use code locked on NFL for $20 off your first purchase. Sir, trade deadline rumblings have always been interesting because in Sean Payton and George Peyton's 10 year together, we have not seen them become buyers. We have not seen them become sellers. Now they're in a very interesting position where there's been some rumblings that they're eyeing the tight end market and they're also maybe eyeing and making calls about wide receivers. What does this mean? Who could we potentially talk about the Broncos maybe having interest in and why?

Starting point is 00:02:01 I think what it means is that the Broncos are legitimate contenders this year. We've talked about this before, but I think it's worth repeating again for anybody that hasn't heard it. George Payton, the general manager of the Denver Broncos, has never really been in a position to buy at the trade deadline. Now, that doesn't mean that he's never made trades to acquire players during the season before. What I mean is, is that right now, you are a legitimate Super Bowl contender in the AFC. I don't care what that guy at ESPN says. The Broncos are legitimate Super Bowl contenders. And so what do you do when you're a Super Bowl contender?

Starting point is 00:02:37 You explore every option to make sure that you are the best team that you can possibly be. You look at adding to your roster, not just supplementing areas that you've been injured, but actually strengthening strengths or getting better, getting ready for the war on attrition to make sure that you remain a contender throughout the course of the rest of the 18-week regular. season and into the playoffs. This is where as a general manager, you have to have foresight. This is where as a general manager and as Sean Payton, who makes the final ultimate roster decisions, you have to sit there and say, how could we possibly prepare ourselves now for what we're going to face in January? This is how you have to be thinking right now.

Starting point is 00:03:19 This is why you become a buyer at the trade deadline if you're the Denver Broncos. Sarah, I think you make some great points here. And look, the months of, I mean, we're in October. We know how good Sean Payton's record is in October, November and December are going to be very defining about this Broncos football team. It's good that they're in a six and two position right now coming into Sunday's game against the Texans. But I wanted to ask this situation here, like looking at them potentially looking at the tight end market. It was interesting that they put in two waiver claims on two tight ends. Nobody that was necessarily big names, so to speak, right? They put in a claim from someone from the Green Bay Packers and the Houston Texans.

Starting point is 00:03:53 And those guys were more so blocking tight ends. they've also brought in veteran Mercedes Lewis who was drafted when Jay Cutler was drafted in 2006. I was in seventh grade. You know, we're bordering on unc status. He is unc status at this point. They brought him in. And the belief is that, you know, for the tryout basis, he could still be an effective blocker. In your opinion, Sarah, if the Broncos don't go out there and trade for a tight end,

Starting point is 00:04:20 do they maybe go and make a trade for a wide receiver? And if so, who and why? Like, I'm curious for your thoughts here because we've seen. now started to see Cortland Sutton, Troy Franklin, Pat Bryant recently emerging. What would this mean for the wide receiver room and whose roster status essentially would be put into question if the Broncos were really looking out there to go get a wide receiver? That's what I'm curious about. Who are some names maybe that you would entertain here if you were the Broncos? Well, let's start at the tight end position because

Starting point is 00:04:48 I feel like that's where we could maybe see some of the bigger names potentially moved, right? I mean, they've been thrown out there like T.J. Hawkinson, you know, I'm never going to shy down from an Iowa guy coming aboard this Broncos roster, right? So T.J. Hawkinson would be a lot of fun from the Minnesota Vikings if they're willing to part from him. Incidentally, the two guys, the Broncos tried to claim off waivers, Cody. They were claimed by the Browns and Vikings, respectively, who just so happened to have two guys on the trade market that everybody talks about seemingly annually at this point. David Njoku is the primary one. I know you responded to my post on Twitter with David Njoku's name and everybody was kind of running with that. And I love that because I think it's exciting to think about the prospect of him coming.

Starting point is 00:05:33 It makes some sense for the Browns to trade him being that, you know, Harold Fanon Jr. is playing well for them this season. You give him kind of that tight end one role. Chigo Conquo from the Titans. I mean, they've got Gunner Helm. I guess the theme of this whole thing is that why didn't you just draft the tight end, George and Sean, like just draft the tight end because all these teams, that are rumored to be trading guys, for the most part, drafted tight ends this year,

Starting point is 00:05:56 Gunner Helm with the Titans, Harold Fanon Jr., with the Browns and so on and so forth. So I think that that's kind of indicative that you maybe should have done that back in the spring when you had a chance. But at receiver, Cody, everybody's focuses on the Saints guys right now, right? Rashid Shaheed and Chris Oliva. You got the old Sean Payton connection right there. Mickey Loomis is on speed dial. Cody Rager knows everybody in that front office.

Starting point is 00:06:20 and even if Sean Payton wasn't part of drafting all those guys, right? Cody Rager was. And so there's a serious connection there that I think you feel like you could add somebody into the mix. Now, whose roster spot or whose snaps does that put in jeopardy? That's the big question there. I don't think the Broncos have anybody on their team like Chris Oliva. However, I do think Rashid Shahid is pretty much a one-for-one comparison to, I mean, maybe

Starting point is 00:06:48 a Marvin Mims with what he does and what he brings. the table. So very interesting that the Broncos would be interested in receivers. I don't think you can have too many playmakers. I wouldn't be upset about it. But yeah, you're right. It does raise an interesting question now that these other young guys have kind of been playing well. I feel like maybe it would upend Trent Sherfield status on the roster. I mean, I just, I can't see them going away from Troy Franklin, Pat Bryant, Marvin court. I mean, those guys are really the top four receivers. Then you also have Evan Ingram. I think adding another tight into the mix would be nice. But the question is, okay, let's say the Broncos go and they add a T.J. Hawkinson or they add a David

Starting point is 00:07:23 Nizoku, right? Or a Tommy Trimble from Carolina. What does that do for the offense in terms of the rotation, right? Because you know Evan Ingram was brought in to be the Joker, right, that Sean wants. We've started to see Evan start to get utilized a little bit more. You already know what you're getting from Adam Troutman. Is this more of a, hey, this is just going to be an extra tight end? and you trade for this guy, but he may not start. I think when you look at the possibilities of like for Nizoku, he's in the final year of his deal in Cleveland, are you going to trade assets for a half-season rental potentially?

Starting point is 00:07:53 I think if you believe that he can make a difference for you in certain situations offensively and you're going to make this push to go and make a run here inside the AFC, I think you do that. Now, in terms of receiver, this is where my hang up was is at times this year, we have talked about it. The Broncos have been so inconsistent offensively in getting a lot of their playmakers involved. And certainly guys like Rashid Shaheed or Chris Olavi, they are added value automatically if you trade for them. They bring instant value to your offense. But my question is,

Starting point is 00:08:23 is with the stuff that we've seen, the up and downs of this offense, you have all these different mouths to feed. How is that going to work? What is the logic and the reasoning for this? So I'm very curious to see if they do that. And then of course, I think we've gotten some questions, too, from Broncos fans. Could the Broncos look at the cornerback market and the trade deadline? According to someone I spoke to, that's not in the realm of possibility. They're rolling in-house with Abrams Drain, Baron, and J-Quann McMillan, while Pat Sertan misses what the team now expects to be three games, which means he'll miss the Kansas City game, and the hope is that he'll return Sunday night football against the commander.

Starting point is 00:08:55 So that is good news is the team is not putting Pat on injured reserve, but your thoughts here, it would have to make sense for me. If you're going to buy it the trade deadline, it has to be someone that you feel like and come in and make an instant impact right away. I just don't know if that's what the Broncos are going to do. Is this all just smokescreen at this point from George and Sean? Right. I think that's the big question right now is because nobody necessarily believes that anything

Starting point is 00:09:21 is going to happen. This is the trade deadline in a nutshell, right? Everybody throws names out there. Everybody gets excited about those names potentially joining their team. And then most of those guys don't end up getting traded at all, right? And the Broncos, like I said, they have not been buyers under George Payton. Like they traded von Miller back in 2021. They traded Bradley Chubb in 2022, right?

Starting point is 00:09:43 They've traded away players, but have they bought on anybody, right? They did. There's one guy they bought on. And I was like, why did they do it? Remember Jacob Martin, pass rusher? Yeah, Jacob Martin. That was the big buy. He just had two sacks against the chiefs, I think.

Starting point is 00:09:59 I think that was Jacob Martin anyway as a member of the commander. So just like Joe Flacco, maybe the Broncos were just a little too early on that one. Never wrong, just early, right? So, but yeah, it's that, it's that idea that, okay, there's these names available. The Broncos have draft capital. They have every reason in terms of the competitive nature of the AFC right now to make a move. So if ever there was a time, this would be it. But again, just like everybody else, we're kind of sitting here skeptical because they haven't done it before.

Starting point is 00:10:30 Broncos country, let us know your thoughts. Do you think that the team should become buyers at the NFL trade deadline? And if so, who do you have your eyes on here? We'll break down more here on today's episode of the show, including a little bit of an early matchup. Bo Nix and the Broncos offense, they face the toughest defense that they've ran into yet on Sunday when they take on the Houston Texans. Today's episode of Lockdown Broncos is brought to you by Mazda. Mazda crafts cars for those who do more than simply move. Mazda delivers confidence with every ride with more IHS top safety pick plus awards than anyone else.

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Starting point is 00:11:39 The NFL season is back. It's in full swing. And honestly, there's nothing better than being in the stadium surrounded by the fans cheering on your team. I wish I could have been there with Cody during these last couple of games during the Broncos home stretch. But let's be honest, getting tickets to a game can be a hassle between cues, log in screens, prices jumping at checkout. It's so frustrating. That's why I use game time, the app that gives the advantage, back to the fans. Game time, it's fast, it's easy, and it's backed by the game time guarantee.

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Starting point is 00:13:03 offense, which finally just got going against the Dallas Cowboys. And we'll break down what makes this Texan defense so tough. We've seen it. We've seen it before with this Denver Broncos team. But unlike in 2023, we got a new QB1 in place to try and attack it. Broncos country, we're breaking down all things with this matchup upcoming here for your team on Sunday in week nine. Already the season time flies by.

Starting point is 00:13:26 You know what? That's why you're going to want to be subscribed to lockdown Broncos because we got you every single day, no matter what, especially. this time of year. Trade deadline coming up. You never know when a bonus episode is going to hit. So make sure you hit subscribe so you don't miss a single episode of the show. We appreciate every single one of you. Cody, let's talk about the Broncos offense facing off against maybe their biggest test yet. The Houston Texans defense. I mean, the Broncos have played tough defenses this season. Absolutely. They've played some of the best defensive fronts in the NFL. I would say the Giants qualify among them that just a couple of weeks ago.

Starting point is 00:13:59 but this Houston defense has been stingy all year long. They are good at pretty much every level. D'Amico Ryan's, he knows how to call it. I mean, these guys are really good, and they don't show necessarily any signs of slowing down. No, and if the Texans offense was more consistent, I mean, they would be a team. I feel like you would definitely have to fear inside the AFC.

Starting point is 00:14:20 Like, hey, don't sleep on this team. And what we saw last week from them specifically against the San Francisco 49ers was they are very, very good, very stinious. very smothering in a sense. Obviously, we know how good Christian McCaffrey and the 49ers offense typically is in the run game. This Houston, Texan's defense held them to 48 total yards on the ground, sir.

Starting point is 00:14:40 And if you take away that element here for the Broncos in this game and you stick it to where they just have to sit back and pass all game, that makes things a lot more difficult here for Bow Nix and the offense. Any offense, for that matter, in the NFL, if you take away the run game and you just have to sit back there, the defense knows, hey, you're going to throw it. We've seen defenses play a lot of zone here against Denver, But this is a Texans team that, you know, they'll mix up different looks of zone, but they're going to play a lot of man-to-man coverage because they have really good players in their secondary,

Starting point is 00:15:06 led by Derek Stingley Jr. Obviously, there was a play a couple of years ago where Cortland Sutton, we thought he was going on a post pattern there. And we thought he was going to have a big play. And Russell Wilson threw it, and he jumped it perfectly and obviously picked it off there. That was a really game-changing interception error for Houston's defense. He's playing really well. Jalen Petrie at the safety position on the back end, man.

Starting point is 00:15:29 He's playing really well. He's got two interceptions for them this season. The way that they communicate when you watch them on tape, they're just very fundamentally sound. They're athletic. They fly to the football. And those guys on the back end, their jobs are made so much easier because you have guys like

Starting point is 00:15:43 the Neil Hunter and Will Anderson that are trying to get after the quarterback here. I mean, you look at the tell of the tape here, the Broncos coming into this. Make no mistake. The Broncos, folks, they have a top 10 offense in a lot of categories so far this season, yards per game. They're ninth right now in the NFL. but they're facing a Texans defense right now that is allowing the fewest yards per game.

Starting point is 00:16:03 266.9 to be exact, which is good for first in the NFL. They are limiting teams. They're also the number one scoring defense right now in the NFL holding teams to about 14.7 total points per game. They make life difficult. They're top 10 against the run, top 10 against the pass as well. This is going to be a challenge here for Bo Nix and company. And look, Sarah, I think the key here early on, come out and try to run the football. and then everything else opens up.

Starting point is 00:16:28 But if the Broncos come out to just try to pass, pass, pass, pass, I worry about the flow of the game, potentially going away from them. Well, when you talk about the flow of the game, there's really no better example than this last weekend, when Houston played against the San Francisco 49ers and had nearly 42 minutes of time of possession. Why?

Starting point is 00:16:46 Well, not only could the 49ers defense not get off the field, but look, that Texan's defense is obviously creating extra opportunities for the offense to play ball control. And let's be real here. We'll talk about it when we get to the next segment too. But C.J. Stroud has not played very well. So, and that's not just this season.

Starting point is 00:17:05 I mean, last year, he did not play well either. So what we're looking at here is it's funny, Cody, I'm looking through Fanduel and all these different spread and, you know, over unders. Guess which game has the lowest over under of the week on Fanduel, at least early goings. It's this game. The Broncos and the Texans is projected as the lowest over under of the entire week. weekend. I think what you see with this type of game is it's not necessarily a Josh Allen versus Patrick Mahomes. Like we're going to get when the chiefs take on the bills, right? You're not saying, hey, it could be a shootout, whoever has the ball last type of thing. This is one of those games where you

Starting point is 00:17:43 want to play ball control. You want to see that screen game, the quick game working for the Broncos. So I know a lot of fans out there are really annoyed by all the screen passes. This is a game where you want those guys making plays after the catch and not forcing Bo Nix to have to put the ball in harm's way take shots when you get a chance but man the short quick passing game along with the running game going to be huge this week yeah and it's going to be big and when I look at this Texans D as well they don't have a lot of weaknesses when you look at them they're they I mean at the lineback position they flow and they feel very aggressively they got good players there I mean they have eight interceptions so far eight total picks on the year defensively too so they're finding ways

Starting point is 00:18:24 take the football away from opposing offenses. The one statistic that kind of stands out to me that doesn't make sense about this Houston team, and I'm sure you'll talk about it on the crossover show tomorrow. They're like the 31st ranked red zone defense in the NFL. So I don't know if that has anything to do with C.J. Stroud and the offense is up and down issues so far this season. You mention all the time the war on attrition. Are they just worn down at certain points of the game here?

Starting point is 00:18:49 Because realistically, they have a very, very good defense. If they had a competent enough offense or consistent enough offense, this Texans team would be very, very scary. And look, they kind of struggled last year during C.J. Stroud's sophomore year, and then they ended up thumping the Los Angeles charters in the playoffs in the first round. Nobody thought that Texans were going to win that game. So this is a team that has the ability to flip the switch.

Starting point is 00:19:11 They're coming off of a performance where they had 475 yards. We'll talk about that coming up here in just a minute. But what is the biggest key for you for this Broncos offense against this Texans defense? Who are you most worried about on that Texans defense that Denver has to avoid? It's not Will Anderson. It's not DeNeal Hunter. It's Derek Stingley, Jr. Cody,

Starting point is 00:19:31 I think he's that one guy who he's almost got better ball skills than most wide receivers in the NFL. I mean, when the Chargers took on the Texans in the playoffs last year, Justin Herbert was one of the, I think he had like three interceptions coming into that game or something ridiculously low. And then he throws, what, three or four? And a couple of them to, to Derek Stingley, Jr.

Starting point is 00:19:53 So this guy, he forces quarterbacks to put the ball in the tightest possible of windows. And you cannot make a mistake against him. And Lasseter has played well for them. Obviously, they've got a great defensive backfield overall. That's very aggressive, great ball skills, great instincts. I do want to see the Broncos attack deep down field. But with that in mind, you can't be off. you have to be on point, just like you were against Dallas, it's going to be a tough one.

Starting point is 00:20:25 It is. So that's why I think you have to win after the catch. That's why I think you have to win in the screen game. You got to use misdirection, all these sorts of things. That's going to be key. But Derek Stingley Jr. is the one guy with all due respect to Will Anderson Jr. And Daniel Hunter. Those guys are amazing.

Starting point is 00:20:40 That's just how good Derek Stingley is. And that's going to be the challenge here for this Broncos team on Sunday. We're coming up next Broncos country. We'll tell you why. Houston has a problem. And it's called the Debra Broncos defense, and they're coming to town. We'll tell you about that more here on today's episode, Lockdown Broncos. I'm Cody Roark from Lockdown Broncos.

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Starting point is 00:22:04 a matchup on Sunday between two of the best defenses right now in the national football. It could be the major story of Sunday's game here. But the Broncos, they're going to have to slow down the little bit of fire that C.J. Stroud on the Texans' offense caught last week against the San Francisco 49ers. How can they do just that? Sarah, I was looking at that matchup and going back and watching it on tape. It was just weird to me because this was kind of an anomaly from what we've seen from the Texans' offense all throughout the entire season.

Starting point is 00:22:32 They've been so up and down. Their offensive line has been rough. CJ Stroud has been pressured left and right. Then all of a sudden, Stroud and that offense comes out. And they put up over 475 yards of offense against that 49ers D. Granted, there is no Fred Warner. I'm sure if Fred was out there and Nick Bosa were out there. I'm sure that would be a different story.

Starting point is 00:22:52 But is that more so due to the 49ers being in a tough spot with injuries? Or is that maybe the Houston Texans, in your opinion, catching a little bit of fire because C.J. Stroud, what I found to be kind of astonishing here, no Nico Collins in this game. He threw the ball to nine different past catching options in Sunday's wins. So for me, we look at Passertan being out of this game. You see the development of this Texans offense that we, was on fire last Sunday. Is this just a one week mirage here with Houston,

Starting point is 00:23:22 or do you feel like this could be a challenge here for Denver? I think it's a bit of a mirage anytime, and I don't mean this in a disrespectful way by any means, but anytime you're pushing 42 minutes time of possession, Cody, I think that's way more of an outlier on a given week than it is indicative of, hey, like we, we're just dominating. You know, what C.J. Stroud had a number of plays in which he broke through sacks and got past the line of scrim or past the line to gain for a first down.

Starting point is 00:23:51 I mean, they had 16 first downs through the air, six rushing first downs. You get only one drive, though, extended by penalties. But on those third down plays, it was really C.J. Stroud avoiding that pressure and creating with his legs to either create those additional opportunities for him to throw for a first down or to kind of just scamper beyond the line to gain. So I watched most of that game. And I felt like, man, the 49ers, they've got them dead to rights and they just can't finish the play. So for the Broncos, it's all about finishing the play.

Starting point is 00:24:25 Again, this is with no disrespect meant. I saw a bunch of people start talking about C.J. Stroud versus Bryce Young, two draftmates in 2023. They were talking about their last 17 games going into, I believe it was Sunday's action. So it was about a week ago this kind of discussion was happening because people are wondering what's going on with C.J. Stroud. Last 17 games before Sunday's game against the 49ers, Bryce Young was 8 and 9 with a touchdown to interception rate of 26 to 11. C.J. Stroud, his team, 7 and 10 with a touchdown interception rate of 19 to 12. So going into that 49ers game, Stroud's been struggling. And that's not just this season. It's dating back to last year. Their offensive line stinks. They don't have Joe

Starting point is 00:25:12 Mixin out there. So they're using buddy marks and a number of other guys. Nico Collins presents a great challenge for anybody they're facing. But look, this Texans offense, I bet Texans fans are saying the exact same stuff. A lot of Broncos fans are saying about the Broncos offense over the course of the first eight weeks of the season, with the way that they've been struggling and the way that Stroud has been playing. Yeah.

Starting point is 00:25:34 And look, I think that Denver is going to have to be just be efficient early on. This is always an interesting match because I remember I've already seen the clips of Remember Alex Singleton and C.J. Stride that one time they got into it. I can't believe Singleton got flag for that. That was one of the worst calls I've ever seen in NFL history there and that first match up there. But CJ, the quick passing rhythm, even without Nico Collins was something that was effective there. And obviously, you have different guys getting in the mix. They had Jalen Noel. They obviously have a rookie and Jaden Higgins. Some guys that we talked about in the NFL draft process.

Starting point is 00:26:02 They had multiple guys stepping up in this game. And obviously they have, I think, a tandem of backs. I mean, it really is a bycommittee approach there. You mentioned Woody Marks. He had 11 carries for 62 yards, averaging 5.6. Nick Chub, we know he's kind of turned back the clock a little bit. He's not necessarily breaking off 100-yard games so far the season. But he has a game, like every game, he has one of these runs.

Starting point is 00:26:21 It's like, oh, looks like the Nick Chub of old a little bit. And then they bring in Dario Gumbawale as well, who obviously I think has given the Broncos some problems before. And it's just because he's a bigger body guy. So I'm curious to see their approach. The number one thing I think is going to be important here coming off of what the Texans were able to do. They were very effective on third down against the 49ers. They were 9 of 16. Well, they're going to be facing the league's number one third down defense right now in Denver.

Starting point is 00:26:48 The Broncos defense are holding opponents to 29.9% conversion rates on third down. So your early down efficiency is going to be so important here for the Broncos this week to get them backed up into long field situations. How does the Texans offense plan to attack the Broncos without Pat Sartan? I'm very curious to see, but we're going to get an opportunity here this week to see. to see some guys step up. And then I think another thing that's going to be important here is you look at the Texans, C.J. Stroud has been sacked 15 times this season of the Broncos. We know lead the league with 36 right now.

Starting point is 00:27:19 We know Dak Prescott coming into last week's game wasn't sacked very often. And he also didn't turn the ball over much. He was sacked twice. He was also picked off twice and held without a touchdown. Obviously, I think the Cowboys offense across the board was far more talented than what we're going to see this weekend in Houston. But I'm also not going to overlook the Houston Texans because I do think that they can, if you catch them on a day where they're just like, hey, it's on the road.

Starting point is 00:27:40 It's 11 a.m. Mountain time for us in terms of where we're at watching the game. You don't want to fall asleep against a team like Houston because they will make you pay for it. So I'm curious to see how Denver responds this week. I still think the defense is going to play relatively well. Yeah, 100%. I have to quickly apologize for calling him Buddy marks. It's Woody, like you said, Cody.

Starting point is 00:28:00 Woody. I got my nicknames mixed up there. There's somebody's named Buddy. I'm sure of it. But hey, buddy. Don't you love that one? People say that to you. There's a snake in my boot.

Starting point is 00:28:12 There's a snake. Yeah, exactly. Reach for this guy, C.J. Stroud. Hey, hey, in this game, this has got to be a Vance Joseph game, right? This has got to be a Vance Joseph game where, look, you don't have Pat Sir 10. So it's not 10 on 10. You and I have talked about that this week. But I do think, like, am I crazy for thinking that this could work out decent for the Broncos?

Starting point is 00:28:35 In terms of you're getting young guys an opportunity to step. up. So yes, they've got to go make the plays, right. Riley Moss, Chris Abramsdrain, Jod A Baron, Jekwon Macmillan, they've got to make the plays. But it's not like we've got, you know, the Levi Wallace situation all over again. I feel like when teams play the Broncos, they can kind of go into it thinking, hey, Pat's going to take away whatever side of the field he's on. So we've just got to filter everything else to the other side. In this type of a situation, you're going through way more full field reads if you have time to do it. And I think that that Vance Joseph can really create some situations to disguise coverage, to confuse C.J. Straub,

Starting point is 00:29:14 because there's no Pat Sertan, he's got almost too many options at the beginning of a play, which will cause him to have to think faster when that pass rush is getting home. Because when Pat's out there, you can think pretty quick. You can say, all right, we're going to, we're going at Riley Moss's side of the field. More targets than any corner in the NFL this season. That's been the story. So when you're not facing off against PS2, these other guys might make you pay for making a quicker decision to go one way or the other instead of just knowing, hey, they're going to come at Riley this play, et cetera. That's kind of what I think.

Starting point is 00:29:48 Could we see the Broncos defense be in a position to get a few more interceptions than they have so far this season? I think this is a perfect opportunity when you talk about that test. Chris Abrams drain last year came up big on the road against the Chargers. Can you come up big against C.J. Stroud? I'm very curious to see how it is. You know, for me, I mean, I understand it. I feel like I'm always anxious about a game like this, right? And then we want to see how it plays out there.

Starting point is 00:30:11 I'm always anxious about it. It's just because of the circumstances and situations. And then, you know, you don't want to look too far ahead because then you got the Thursday night game against the Las Vegas Raiders. So for me, it's just like, all right, like this is such a crucial stretch. And I think we talked about it obviously yesterday's show when we were talking about the state of the AFC West. You got the chargers and you got the chiefs creeping up right behind you. So you have to take care of. business and look we're going to learn a lot about this team here on sunday when they take on

Starting point is 00:30:36 to houston texans 11 a m mountain time kickoff there but broncos country that'll wrap up today's episode of the show we appreciate you so much for locking in with us and making us part of your day your first listen however you choose to do so we'll be back tomorrow sarah's going to sit down with the locked on texons podcast john hickman to preview this matchup from every angle you get that more on tomorrow's episode of the show

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