Locked On Broncos - Daily Podcast On The Denver Broncos - Dallen Bentley Pick Puts Denver Broncos Tight Ends on NOTICE

Starting point is 00:00:00 Denver Broncos seventh round tight-in, Dallin Bentley might just put Nate Adkins and Lucas Crowell on notice. You are Locked-on Broncos, your daily Denver Broncos podcast. Part of the Locked-on Podcast Network, your team every day. The future is now, old man. The Denver Broncos tight-in room is getting revamped. I'm Cody Rourke, joined as always by Sarah Bedinger. Dallin Bentley, seventh round tight-in selection for the Broncos in the 2026 NFL draft.

Starting point is 00:00:35 just put Lucas Crowell and Nate Adkins, their status on notice ahead of this upcoming season, where he's got the perfect traits that can develop inside of Sean Payton's system. And it also changes the entire outlook, the Broncos tight-in room. Sarah, obviously Denver going with a double dip in this year's NFL drafted tight-end, Justin Jolie, who will do an episode on here in a few days, going backwards in our order from undrafted seventh round to where we're going to eventually get. Dallon Bentley was one that I think when he was selected a lot, of people in Broncos country we're very excited about when you talk about an inline true

Starting point is 00:01:09 wide tight end. He has all the traits to come in right away and learn, I'd say, inside of the system, even if he doesn't necessarily play as a rookie. Absolutely. I mean, this guy, Cody, is a steal of a seventh round pick for the Denver Broncos. I know we're hyping up the late round guys lately and a lot of the listeners might be wondering, are we just pumping fluff? Absolutely not. So let me give you an unbiased reason to believe that the Broncos got a steal here. Cody, because you know what? We've got the orange glasses on sometimes. But here, let me tell you right now,

Starting point is 00:01:41 Dane Bruegler's Big Board has Dallin Bentley as a fourth to fifth round selection. The Broncos got him at 256th. Overall, he's the 13th ranked tight end, according to Bruegler and others had him really highly ranked as well. Some had him in their top 10 tight ends of this draft. And I think for one really good reason, this guy does not drop passes, Cody. I mean, 76 targets this past season at Utah.

Starting point is 00:02:05 zero count them zero drops for dallin bentley and that's even more interesting when you consider and you and i were talking about it before we hit record today he only really played like and got action in one season at utah it was this past year before that i mean his availability or his is usage i should say not availability his usage in the offense was sparse like it was almost non-existent so when you go from almost nothing in terms of your action that you're getting in the targets department to getting 76 targets and you drop zero passes. I mean, that'll catch some attention right there. So to me, that's the number one trait that he brings to the table above anything else. He is sure handed and he can impact at all levels of the field. You see that on

Starting point is 00:02:51 his tape. He can be an outlet. He could be a vertical threat. And he's still learning in the route running department, which I think gives him an even bigger advantage coming into his rookie season. He's far more polished, I would say, right now than Caleb Loner, because of Caleb's overall inexperience. And look, these two guys obviously played together. Caleb was a seventh rounder last season. But Bentley, I think, is an overall better player and probably more suited to have a longer NFL career.

Starting point is 00:03:17 And look, maybe Caleb Loner suddenly turns things around, hits it big and sees a huge jump from last year to this year. But for Bentley, he played in 13 games last season for the Utes. 48 catches for him, 620 yards and 6 touchdowns where you go back to the year prior, his production. What was this in 2024, Utah, he was hardly featured. He appeared in 12 games, only had two catches for 15 yards. He wasn't really a focal point of the offense. And once again, I'd say from a receiving standpoint, Utah in 2024, they didn't necessarily have a lot of dudes going out there and making big plays. Their leading receiver, I think, had 55 total catches.

Starting point is 00:03:54 They're leading tight end, which was not either Caleb Loner or Dallin Bentley. He only had, what, 35 total catches. So really the run game was a bigger portion of their offense and considering how many tight ends they had, they wanted to run it. But when they did throw it, obviously the tight ends were probably the biggest benefactors of that, especially Caleb Loner's touchdowns that he had in 22 and 24. But Bentley, Sarah, in my opinion, when I look at the Broncos, their ideal process and going through this draft, they did a little bit of both. They double dipped into two different realms of that position here, where with Justin Jolie, he's that move around F piece, which.

Starting point is 00:04:30 kind of correlates a little bit with Evan Ingram's role. Dowlin is a true in-line, wide blocking tight-in that isn't afraid to catch across the middle of the field. He had a couple of really good catches this season where there's a defender underneath, the safety over the top, and he's going to catch and he knows he's going to take a shot. He's got that toughness as well to make it work here inside of this offense.

Starting point is 00:04:50 And once again, zero drops. That's important to remember, keeping that ball in your hands through the contact, not necessarily seeing a ton of volume from him in terms of contested catches. But you're right, Cody. I mean, when he does have to absorb a hit after he catches a pass, I mean, he's holding on to the football.

Starting point is 00:05:06 So that's a big, big deal. And to your point about him being more of the traditional inline type, six foot four, two hundred fifty three pounds, ran a four five nine in the 40 yard dash at Utah's pro day. So, I mean, he's got the big time athleticism that you look for. I think when people ask, hey, what's the reason then that he lasted to the seventh round? I think one of the biggest reasons is probably the fact that he was over 25 years old.

Starting point is 00:05:28 going into this draft. So he's 25 years and almost a quarter. So I think he's going to be obviously, you know, on a more of a fast track when it comes to rookies to say like Devon Valey when he was coming out. I mean, obviously he's younger than what Devon Velae was. But you expect those guys to kind of come in and hit the ground running a little bit. He did an LDS mission once upon a time.

Starting point is 00:05:49 So obviously that's part of the reason for this. It's not like, well, man, this guy just can't figure out football. I think there's a lot in his background to get you excited about this pick. and he's still learning when it comes to being a true, you know, dominant blocker in the inline department. Like when he gets out on the move and he can get up to that second level or get to a defensive back, I mean, if he gets hands on, he's going to plant those guys in the ground. But when it comes to playing, you know, that traditional role and just kind of being off the, you know, right off the line of scrimmage there, he's got a little bit of work to do when it comes to sustaining blocks

Starting point is 00:06:26 against those bigger defenders, right? So there's a trust element when it comes to throwing him the ball, and I think he can develop that trust element when it comes to his abilities as a blocker. Well, Sean Payton has clearly shown over the course of the last three seasons. He values the tight ends that can block, and that is a pathway for Bentley to maybe make some noise and make this roster, which puts Nate Adkins and Lucas Crowell

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Starting point is 00:07:46 That's RUGIET.com slash locked on NFL for 15% off. Rougiate, performance medicine for men. The selection of Dallon Bentley along with Justin Jolie puts a couple of guys, Lucas Crowell and Nate Adkin. you know, firmly on thin ice at this point, I would say, for the Denver Broncos. When it comes to the roster impact of drafting two tight ends, and certainly somebody who didn't drop any passes last year at Utah, we're going to break down the depth chart implications of this draft pick,

Starting point is 00:08:16 as well as kind of how that competition could shake out over the course of the offseason. Broncos country, Cody and I appreciate you so much for tuning in and rocking with us every single day. If you're already an everydayer, we want to invite you to check out the Every Dayer Club. And if you're in the all access tier, Cody, already got the breakdown Justin Jolie, Jonah Coleman, all these different guys from this draft class in terms of all 22. It's really great stuff for the listeners of the show to go a little bit deeper in terms of what these draft picks mean. So definitely invite you to check that out.

Starting point is 00:08:45 It's a great way to support the show. Lockdown Broncos.com as well as the link will be in the show notes for you. Cody, let's break down the position outlook. You teased it from the beginning of the show. Nate Adkins, Lucas Crowl. These guys are kind of on thin ice after the selection of both Justin Jolie and Dallin Bentley now. I think, you know, there's the shine of new draft picks and stuff. So let's talk about this. Why do you think those two guys in particular could be in danger of losing their roster spots to these two incoming rookies? Well, I think it's bringing those guys back on one-year deals, which aren't necessarily a guarantee that you're going to even make the roster coming out of training camp,

Starting point is 00:09:22 just ensures that you're going to get a spot to have your name in the mix here. But it's when you look at how the Broncos have drafted and granted, it is hard. And we even came into this draft saying not every rookie is going to. going to make the active roster. Maybe, you know, someone makes the practice squad here. But I look at it from stylistically what the Broncos offense currently has. Adam Troutman, in line blocking, wide tight in, underrated pass catcher, not heavily featured in terms of volume in Sean Payton's offense. I look at Allen Bentley and I say he's probably more projected to learn from Adam Troutman and play that Adam Troutman role inside of this offense. And then going through

Starting point is 00:09:57 and watching the tape on Justin Jolie, I'm like, gosh, I was thinking to myself, I was like, this is literally what the Broncos are doing with Evan Ingram. And here's the thing. Evan Ingram, I think is the speedier, better route runner type of guy where I look at Justin Jolie. And I'm saying this is the move around more physical. It gets his nose in the dirt. He does the hard work.

Starting point is 00:10:16 He's a willing and engaging blocker. And he wants to hit people. That's what you see about him. And he's got really, really strong hands. The film reviews that I did on him, my goodness, that's one thing that stood out. He projects more for that Evan Ingram roll. So when I'm looking at, if the Broncos are, going into the season with four guys, which they typically do,

Starting point is 00:10:34 you want a guy who is going to maybe play that role that Adam Chopman does in the event of an injury, right? Can Dallan Bentley come in right away and learn that? Can he excel? And if he does, he's going to be a favorite. You look at Justin Jolie. He's learning that Evan Ingram type role. That's where he's going to learn and play from. And Ingram's on the last year of his deal.

Starting point is 00:10:51 From a roster building standpoint, this is kind of what that hierarchy looks like. And I really think Nate Adkins, I don't know if he necessarily fits either of those roles, I think he fits more of a hybrid fullback than I think he does really tied in. Which to that point, the Broncos also brought back Adam Prentice this offseason. He did a really great job filling in for the injured Michael Burton, who is now with the Cleveland Browns in case anybody missed that news. But Adam Prentice playing that traditional fullback role, I'll be interested to see,

Starting point is 00:11:23 hey, what does that mean for Nate Adkins? Because he also plays special teams, but hasn't really emerged, struggled with the injuries last year. I know he dealt with those and he's been a key piece of this team when he is available, but how many roster spots can you now dedicate to these guys? And why, why throw the draft darts at both Bentley and Jolie unless you had plans of, you know, hopefully the plan is to keep them around and not to say that that, well, just throw Nate Adkins to the side. That's not the case, but these guys play the more traditional tight end role to your point as opposed to, hey, where can we move this guy around the formation to be an asset? And is,

Starting point is 00:11:59 it now a matter of, okay, Nate Adkins is competing with Adam Prentice for a roster spot as opposed to with these rookie tight ends. I think that could end up being the case. It gives you more roster flexibility at the end of the day when you're trying to figure out how do we build the best 53? Well, we really like Nate Adkins. We like what he can do on special teams. But you know what? Maybe Dallin Bentley comes in and is impressing alongside Justin Jolie. And the idea is, well, we really, we drafted these guys. We want to develop them. They have some things that we feel like that can offer us a little bit more. I look at Nate Adkins and I was thinking to myself even last year, like Adam Prentice was

Starting point is 00:12:35 he was the hard, he was the hard hat guy, right? The blue collar just does his job. And he surprised a lot of people because every time he touched the football in the run game was a first down, right? I mean, the fullback position didn't die with Denver. I look at Nate Adkins and I think Nate is more athletic, might be able to do more in the passing game or out of the backfield than Adam Prentice, not to limit Prentice or anything. But that's the way that you can continue to maximize your roster without sacrificing maybe

Starting point is 00:13:04 your younger guys that could. And maybe some of them, you never know, might get picked up by somebody else if they have to go through waivers to get to your practice squad. Somebody else might be able to land them. And so that puts pressure on Justin Jolie and Dallin Bentley to say, can one of you guys, or both of you guys, play some special teams for us right away because Adam Prentice does that at a pretty high level. And when you're talking about taking him off the roster, you're taking more than just a Swiss Army knife offensively who can be a threat as a receiver who can block really well for you. So there's a lot of interesting questions that arise from this as I think with the Lucas

Starting point is 00:13:40 Crowe part of this discussion is, well, we don't, we haven't seen. We've gotten, you know, a three year sample at this point from Lucas Crowe. He didn't play much last year. Obviously, he had the injury and the Broncos brought him back on a one year deal. So it'll be, it'll be tough for him to make the roster, I think, even though he has all this familiarity in the offense because these guys are just, they're newly drafted. They've got the rookie contracts in their favor. And that's another thing with the Adkins discussion is you've got four years potentially

Starting point is 00:14:10 of team control on Dallin Bentley, whereas, you know, only one with Nate. So that's a factor in this discussion. And the Broncos don't need these guys to play right away. They've got other guys to play and they can stash some on the practice squad. It'll be, I think it's going to be tough for either. Adkins or crawl to make the team, although we know how highly Sean thinks of Nate Adkins specifically. So maybe

Starting point is 00:14:33 we'll end up being surprised by his off season and what he's able to do to fend these rookies off. Best case scenario for me. I'm just dreaming of this, okay? Now let me dream for a minute, Broncos country. You know, two tight in sets, right, double tight, but maybe you have two different styles. Maybe a double tight

Starting point is 00:14:49 package where it's your best inline blockers. It's Dallin Bentley. It's Adam Troutman, and you have one of those guys on each side, or you're facing an elite level pass or sure you put both of I'm on the same side to help out whoever's that offensive tackle. I like that strategy. I just imagine having like a pistol formation here with bone nicks. And let's say you have Justin Jolie and Evan Ingram as the backs that are next to him.

Starting point is 00:15:11 And then you got R.J. Harvey or one of your other backs behind him, a true three back pistol, so to speak, with those guys. I'm envisioning that. And I'm like, you know what? I like it. I'm here for it. Justin Jolie being a lead blocker on that or maybe even being a chip and then leak out option. I like the different possibilities you can get into with these guys. Right now,

Starting point is 00:15:32 we're just speculating what could all look like on paper. But at the end of the day, the players got to take the field. We've got to see them develop into these roles and have some time. As Sarah said it, and he nailed it perfectly here. These rookies aren't in a position where they have to play right away. And that's a good thing. That's a sign of where your roster is at, but it also allows them to develop without necessarily being thrust into the fire right away. Though the NFL sometimes puts you in those situations. And if that's the case, I'm curious to see how these guys would respond. With that said, Brockos country, that I'll wrap up today's bonus episode of the show.

Starting point is 00:16:03 Tomorrow's bonus show, we're going to take a look at Miles Scott. We watched the film on him, a couple of his games, including one, and Ray at two interceptions against Northwestern, and he brings a dog mentality to the safety position and how that might be able to factor in. We'll look at that more on tomorrow's episode of the show.

Locked On Broncos - Daily Podcast On The Denver Broncos - Dallen Bentley Pick Puts Denver Broncos Tight Ends on NOTICE

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