Locked On Broncos - Daily Podcast On The Denver Broncos - DAY 2: Denver Broncos Defense TIGHTENS In Red Zone at Broncos Training Camp

Starting point is 00:00:00 Day one of Denver Broncos training camp saw the offense win in the red zone pier, but on day two, the Broncos defense, they tightened up. You are locked on Broncos, your daily Denver Broncos podcast, part of the Locked on podcast network, your team every day. Training camp continues. Welcome in Broncos country to another episode, Lockdown Broncos, Cody Roark, Sarah Bedinger here as we go through and break down day two of Broncos training camp. Little Jordan Humphrey has quietly stacked a couple of nice days together.

Starting point is 00:00:34 He was one of the key standout. in the Broncos second acclamation period practice and a couple of young cornerbacks out there making plays on the football and seven on seven and in the team period. We're going to kick things off by talking about Denver's defense, though. After losing the day, essentially, to the Broncos offense on day one at training camp, Denver's defense, they tightened up in the red zone period on day two and limited action ahead of fans being able to attend tomorrow's practice where there's going to be more team periods, which means more volume, more evaluation. sir once again scorching afternoon in del valley but overall a good practice here for the broncos on day two nothing crazy but good work put in by these guys yeah the team still going through their acclamation period right i mean we see the videos being posted by the social media team and they're trying to kind of make it clear but we also heard from tallano hofanga that you know they feel like the intensity kind of started all the way back at o's and minicam things like that so certainly i think these guys are going to be ready to put the pads on or to be out in front of the fans again even and have the fans back out there,

Starting point is 00:01:38 that energy. I'm excited to hear about what the defense specifically looked like out there, Cody, like what you noticed in terms of seven on seven, 11 on 11. I know you got your handy dandy notebook for those that are listening and not watching the show, but that's where, okay, how does a defense respond after the offense kind of puts together a little day to start training camp? And we know that in recent years, the defense have been the tone setters out there. at training camp for the Denver Broncos, even without pads on.

Starting point is 00:02:07 So now you've got, oh, Jalen Waddle's out there making one-handed catches for the highlight reel and everybody's being super complimentary of Davis Webb and how crisp the offensive operation is. And Bo Nix, man, he's looking good coming off that ankle injury. So the defense, you know, they're a top three, top five unit. I mean, you could split hairs on that one, I guess, if you're the Madden video game ratings people, but I'm saying top two defense. but what did they do out there specifically?

Starting point is 00:02:35 And players standouts, I mean, tell us all about it. Yeah, I feel like, you know, we'd start off with the first period that Denver did where it was offense versus defense. And as always, it's typically group work or it's seven on seven. It was seven on seven here once again. And the Broncos offense had some success. It wasn't to the nature on what we saw on day one where there were multiple touchdowns for multiple guys.

Starting point is 00:02:55 However, Bo Nix, he was slinging the rock. So was Jared stood him in this period here. Bo Nix. He did throw a touchdown pass to. Lil Jordan Humphrey with Riley Moss in coverage there. And once again, the thing I've noticed from little Jordan in just these first two days, they like throwing to his size, right? Not necessarily some of the stuff we've seen with him before where they're not throwing

Starting point is 00:03:16 jump balls to Lord Jordan, but they're throwing like in breaking routes and he's making plays out to catch. So far in two days, at least in the goal line red zone emphasis, it's, hey, let's take advantage of little Jordan's speed. And his size, I don't want to say necessarily like speed is a game changer. but for a guy of his size, he moves pretty damn well, enough to draw the matchup of Riley Moss there and Bo Nix. I'd say the trajectory of his throws,

Starting point is 00:03:39 especially in the red zone, you always hear coaches talk about it. You've got to be careful with your placement because you don't want it to be intercepted. So if you're going to throw it, make sure it's high. It's to the outside where really only your receiver has an opportunity to get it. That's exactly what that throw was to load Jordan Humphrey,

Starting point is 00:03:55 who in my opinion has stacked two really good days in a row here. And then Jarrett Stidham. He found Adam Troutman for a touchdown in seven on seven. It was Jaday Barrett in coverage. Troutman went up for it. It was almost kind of like a post pattern. Did a really good job of focusing. And then Barron was kind of in trail technique underneath there.

Starting point is 00:04:12 But aside from that, seven on seven, the offense really only had two plays where there was any kind of standout play right there. Sam Ellenger, I mean, the Broncos defense, they locked up for a majority of those reps outside of Bose touchdown and Staddy's touchdown. But then you get into the team period where that's where the bread and butter, the meat and potatoes. of this whole entire thing goes off. That's where he started to see. Okay, now Nick Benito's in the mix. Jonathan Cooper, Zach Allen, and even these other guys rotating it on the defensive line.

Starting point is 00:04:40 Zach Allen and Jonathan Cooper had a couple of instances and Nick Benito as well where they were chasing Bo Nix and Bo had to throw it away. Bo did have a nice play in the team period where he connected with Evan Ingram on a quick strike. It would have been a touchdown, I think, in a real scenario here. It looked like it from our vantage point there. But that was about it. Aside from that, he was being chased by Coop and by Zach.

Starting point is 00:05:04 And the same exact thing happened with the other defense that was coming in behind, you know, when Jared Stidham was the quarterback. And we got to see Stidham connected with Lord Jordan Humphrey on a crosser where he got a lot of yards after the catch kind of amplified him. But aside from that, the defense, they communicated well. They suffocated. You know, if they gave up a short catch, when they were on the goal line, like their heels on it, they tightened up in a big way. And they forced a lot of throwaways, a lot of throwaways.

Starting point is 00:05:29 a lot of throwaways from the QBs ultimately. And your undrafted guys coming in, not Sean Fresh Jr. Obviously coming over from the UFL, he intercepted Sam Ellinger on a play that was intended for Colby Katz. Did a great job being in phase going up and ripping the ball out of the air from Colby Katzis, being able to make a play on it. And then practice ended with Brent Austin,

Starting point is 00:05:49 the undrafted guy knocking away a Sam Ellinger pass. So if it wasn't for the defense chasing and forcing the quarterbacks to run and throw it away, some of these other guys were making plays in the same. secondary. That's what I love to hear too, just that competitiveness. And those young guys on the bottom of the roster trying to make an impression, what do you have to do when you get to training camp? You got to make standout plays and you got to stack days. And we know that for sure when it comes to this Broncos team. And certainly, yes, it's one through 53. You want to figure out who's going to be contributing to the game day roster. But in recent years, shoot, we've seen that practice

Starting point is 00:06:24 squad. Those guys get shuffled up all the time. So it's great to have guys out there making plays, whether it's the first team, second team, third team, scout. It doesn't matter. I mean, the last guys on the roster right now making plays for this team. That gets me excited, Cody. I'm interested to know, too, any, any observations from the linebacker position at all when you're noticing is they're working these red zone drills and covering these running backs, covering the tight ends. Are you notice anything? I saw some, uh, some stuff out there about the Evan Ingram having a touchdown today. Yeah. As well, what are you noticing from the linebackers early on. Well, you know, I'd say nothing stood out in a bad way or, you know, which is usually a good thing.

Starting point is 00:07:04 I think when Sternat and Singleton were in, but I did note that the rotation, like the first guys up at linebacker after those guys came off the field, it was Lavel Bailey and Corinne Reed. And I think that's more so probably due to seniority at this point. But on little Jordan Humphrey's catch that he had, you know, initially in the first team period where Jarrett Stidham was the quarterback, he was working across and LaVelle was chasing him. Like, you know, he was kind of behind, you know, so I imagine it was one of those crossing patterns where maybe something didn't get communicated because a lot of times in this defense that Vance runs, it's match concepts, meaning, hey, if this guy crosses my face, I have to match and I have to go with him because of whatever we have called. And so it looked like there was something

Starting point is 00:07:42 on there where he beat the linebackers on that specific play. Lord Jordan Humphrey did. But for the other guys like Red Murdoch, Tori, and York, hard to see anything right now just because we're in such a limited space where this acclamation period, you had seven on seven work, you had one team period. And then he had a briefer second team period, but not a lot of reps and volume for those guys just yet to truly say, hey, okay, this guy stood out. It's, hey, who's making the plays and who's chasing and who's in trail technique. But I will say, Jadae Barron shook off. You know, once early on, he gave up a touchdown to Adam Troutman. In one of the team periods, he had good coverage on Troutman on another Bow Nix pass that he had thrown to him. But primarily in the second team period, the defense, once again,

Starting point is 00:08:23 they were chasing. They had an RJ Harvey Harvey inside run, which, you know, without pads, I don't know why to run the football. It's always tough. But then Bo had an incomplete pass. I think to Cortland Sutton. And then he had a throwaway because Troutman was covered really well by Barron. And then he had another throwaway because he was being chased by, you know, the defense. But really nothing that stood out too much from Denver's offense on the stay outside of little Jordan Humphrey. And obviously, Sam Ellinger throwing the interception. You know, we're monitoring that QB2 battle here. That's not going to be decided today, though. Yeah. Do you think when the, obviously, the fans are going to be

Starting point is 00:08:56 out there for Friday's practice and we'll get to see things firsthand. Is there anything that, based on what you've seen in these two acclimation practices, offense or defense, is there anything that you're kind of watching for in terms of rotations? Is there anything that you're watching for in terms of, hey, this guy, obviously we've talked about a couple players standing out, but what specifically are you going to be? I know you're going to talk about this later as well a little bit, but based on what you've seen so far, is there anything that you're kind of just like, hmm, I'm going to make sure I have my handy Danny Noble ready to be watching for this. Yeah, I just think it's continue to see what those reps at the cornerback position look like.

Starting point is 00:09:33 Like right now, Jaday is getting reps on the outside, but it's not with the opposite of PS2. It's kind of with that second unit group of guys. So he is working in there when the Broncos are going to their defense. And obviously their personnel changes sometimes. They'll go nickel. Nickel is kind of their base. But then when you get into the dime, Jaday is on the field in the slug. opposite of Jayquan while Riley and Pat are kind of matching everybody else up.

Starting point is 00:09:58 I want to see what that looks like in more of the team peers. Now, like when the fans come, I don't know if this is going to be the case in Friday's practice, maybe Saturdays for the back together weekend, which is a huge extravaganza around the NFL, when the Broncos finally get into those move the ball periods, that's what I have my eye on in terms of which wide receivers are coming in based on personnel and groupings in terms of 11, 12, 13 personnel and how the rotation changes in the secondary and at linebacker when that does happen here. We'll have you all covered here.

Starting point is 00:10:24 Broncos country. You have a step of the way here. Locked on Broncos. I have a little more insight in tomorrow's episode of the show as well. But coming up next, we're going to highlight little Jordan Humphrey, how he stood out and all the other cornerbacks that have made plays. We've talked about what happened in these team periods. But what about these guys exactly stood out.

Starting point is 00:10:39 We'll highlight that more here on today's episode, Lockdown Broncos. Indeed is a sponsor of today's episode of the show. When Workplace Chaos hits and you need the right hire, well, guess what? Indeed, sponsored jobs helps connect employers with candidates who match specific needs like skills, certifications and locations. So less time gets spent searching and more time gets spent finding the right fit. People are finding quality hires on Indeed right now. And in the minute that I've been talking to you, companies like yours have made 27

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Starting point is 00:13:11 stack days, just two days into Broncos camp, as well as some young corners making plays and what specifically stood out about these players. Before we do that, I want to say thank you to every single one of you that makes Lockdown Broncos your first listen of the day. Every single day right here in the Lockdown Podcast Network, the number one sports podcast network. And you know that Cody and I are so excited to be talking actual stuff on the field.

Starting point is 00:13:34 And Cody, I know Lil Jordan Humphrey is a polarizing figure in Broncos country. I mean, certainly he's been a beloved player of Sean Payton over the last. handful of years, even dating back to his time with the New Orleans Saints, he's clearly a trusted player from this coaching staff. And he's somebody that I feel like there's a lot of things that he does really well. Yes, dropped passes have been a frustrating point of tension with Lil Jordan. But I honestly think that he's, he's a player that I want on this team. And I know that that may

Starting point is 00:14:10 come across as like a hot take. I've been critical of Lil Jordan. But I want him on this team. I think he's proven how valuable he can be. And I'm not surprised at all that he's starting to stack days early on in camp. Yeah, look, and I agree with you as well. Look, is he going to be one of your top options? Probably not, but you know what you're getting with Lord Jordan Humphran. I know, Sean Payton will say that, you know, take a shot every time you hear Sean Peyton say that they're in training camp.

Starting point is 00:14:36 You know what you're getting with this player. But that is the case here, Low Jordan. And I'll be honest, as critical at times as we have been of Low Jordan. And it's not because of who Lord Jordan is as a player, I think he's a very good role player. I think he might be one of the better role players that you can have in your rotation across the league where he's not necessarily a top guy. But man, when you go to him, he is going to make a play. You talked about the drops. Yes, I think the more notable one was the one that he had obviously in the playoff game against the Buffalo Bills.

Starting point is 00:15:03 But then he redeemed himself, right? That's all you can ask for. But the thing I've noticed about Lord Jordan, obviously we know how big of a receiver he is. he, I feel like he's gotten faster. I don't know if he's lost some weight and he's just like this lean, muscled up dude now. He was a bigger guy. I think last year, he wasn't necessarily the fastest.

Starting point is 00:15:23 He's got a little bit more of an explosive burst to him. And maybe it's because the shoulder pads aren't on just yet. But I'm liking what I'm seeing two days in a row here where the Broncos are using him in a formation. And I can't really give away what the play is, but they want to isolate to where they want to use his size as an advantage. and they want it to be, you know, anywhere on the field where they feel like, hey, if we put this ball in the right spot, the corner, no matter how good a coverage he has, can't make a play on it, but little Jordan Humphrey might be able to make play. Cortland Sutton might be able to go make a play on this because little Jordan 6 foot five.

Starting point is 00:15:55 Cortland is what, six foot four? I mean, you got size right there, but it's the toe tap. It's going up using his body, locking on the football, catching it first, and then using his body control to get two feet in right where it's like, hey, you got to get your two feet in. It's not like he's wide open and beating guys. He's making tough contested catches. And that's what we've seen two days in a row now in the Red Zone 7 on 7

Starting point is 00:16:18 and in the team period from him. Well, it's still very early on in training camp. But part of me can't help but, you know, think about the fact that, okay, little Jordan is stacking days. Why not other guys? You know, we talked about Pat Bryant yesterday. We haven't mentioned much about Marvin Mims or Troy Franklin at this point. Honestly, I mean, like I said, it's so early in camp, like there's no reason to worry about anything whatsoever.

Starting point is 00:16:45 But I think you kind of get the gears turning a little bit on, you know, you hear two days in a row like, hey, rally moss gave up a touchdown in coverage. It's like, well, yeah, that's seven on seven stuff, right? I mean, that's what you're saying. So it's like, okay, take everything with a grain of salt and understand that we want to see all these guys making plays. but at the same time kind of just filing certain things in the old brain file cabinet there just for hmm i remember back early in camp this was happening pretty frequently and then later down the road in camp we might be saying how the pads come on a lot of these sort of things that we were wondering about are starting to manifest so does the lack of plays being made by any of these guys does that

Starting point is 00:17:29 stand out to you in any sort of way no it's i don't think it's a concern for me right now Now, and look, we've talked about how the Broncos rotate these guys in. And I'll tell you, there's times there. And I'll talk about this little more in depth as we preview tomorrow's training camp practice on tomorrow's episode of the show before it all begins. The Broncos, I mean, there's times where it's Jalen Wattle, Cortland Sutton and Troy Franklin, with Evan Ingram on the field. Then there's times where it's Marvin on the field with maybe Adam Troutman, Jalen Wattle, Cortland Sutton. Like they are getting guys in, right?

Starting point is 00:17:57 They're rotating guys in. And quarterbacks are going through the progressions, but it's just about, okay, maybe this guy wasn't the target. So like two days, you know, we haven't necessarily seen a lot of targets going to Troy. There was obviously, you know, there was a throw attempt to Troy from Jared Stidham on a really nice design play. I can't tell you what it is because then I would get in trouble. But the quarterback through the past too high and it wasn't Bose. It was Stidham on that play. But in that kind of period, red zone, you don't want to throw it in the harm's way, right?

Starting point is 00:18:25 If you're going to throw it, you want to throw a high, but it was a little too high for the, you know, Troy to go and make a play on it. So it's not like these guys aren't getting targets. Marvin caught a couple of quick passes. nothing substantive in terms of like being downfield because the red zone work has been the key. But he's cut a couple of short and quick passes here in the last couple of days. But nothing of noteworthiness to say like, okay, hey, like this guy, man, standing out. We know what these guys can bring to the table. But right now in red zone, we're managing who's catching touchdowns, who's being prevented from scoring.

Starting point is 00:18:51 The rotation, I think, is going to play itself out. I'm excited to see how that goes. But I think when we can sit and watch these guys in the move of the ball period, we'll have a little bit of a better understanding. and great opportunities for guys like Brent Austin and even Sam Fresh, who's got returnability and not only as a defensive back, but for those guys to also come out here and the team period against Sam Ellinger, make plays knocking the football away in seven on seven, fresh coming with a nice interception, and then Austin ending practice with the PBU.

Starting point is 00:19:20 Now it's nice to see what these guys in the secondary can do. And also, I forgot to even mention Jaden Robinson yesterday in that third period against Sam Ellinger. He forced to fumble on Joseph Manjack and recovered it. even Jaden Robinson standing out. These are your young guys in your secondary. You know like, hey, we're going to build on our practice squad with these guys. They have the talent. And so far early on, it's translated into success.

Starting point is 00:19:43 But this is just a small piece of the pie. We got the pads coming on here in the next week or so. And then we got preseason games. That's where everything's going to add up. And then it's going to give us a better idea, probably two and a half, three weeks from now. We're sitting here and say, okay, this is the stock report on this guy, this guy, this guy, and these position groups. And now we'll have a better idea.

Starting point is 00:20:01 how that translates maybe into the 53 and also who makes up the practice squad. And we know that things are condensed, obviously, when you're working in the red zone. When you get to move the ball periods, the whole field is available, right? So it's a, it's obviously different type of football, you know,

Starting point is 00:20:18 it's like evaluating one-on-ones and saying, oh, this wide receiver is having a great camp. He's dominating one-on-ones. Well, you know, there's situations, right,

Starting point is 00:20:26 that you look for. And so I love the potential storyline of another UFO guy. you know, coming up and doing something to either make this team or make it to the practice squad like Sean Fresh coming in, getting an interception in his first two practices, I think is big for him because you start to at least put a tally on the board as opposed to everybody wondering. And people have questions, right? The fans, the everydayers, the commenters, the listeners, they all have questions about certain guys. Like, well, how's Drew Sanders doing? How's, you know, this player doing?

Starting point is 00:20:57 And I think everybody has all the same questions, right? but they can't all be answered in two acclimation practices where the primary team work is being done in the red zone. So that's where, hey, we're all excited to have that football back. But like you said, Friday and Saturday especially, we're going to get a really good feel for which players are stepping up for the Broncos here early in training camp. Yeah. And that's the problem with 90 players. You can't see all 90 at the same exact time. You can only see which 11 are on the field at one side of the ball on the other 11, two on the other side and trying to figure out like, okay, who stood out.

Starting point is 00:21:30 out if we could film practice, man, if we can just get the practice film, we could go back and like start to piece together stuff. But we don't get that. We have to react to it in real time on a handy dandy notebook in the summer heat of freaking July here. Broncos country so stoked that Brockos football is here. And look, if you're a brand new viewer listener here of Lockdown Broncos, rock with us here every single day because we're boots on the ground at practice, at games, and you get no better coverage of your favorite team up close and personal than you do here. 30 minutes or less, no fluff, no craziness. We bring you straight fire. Appreciate you so much for making us your first listen.

Starting point is 00:22:05 We'll be back tomorrow for a little bit of a preview for the morning practice. We're going to hear from Talanoa, Hufanga, Mike McGlenshy on the tone that is being set here for this particular team and where their focus is at as training camp ramps up. You get all that here on lockdown Broncos.

Locked On Broncos - Daily Podcast On The Denver Broncos - DAY 2: Denver Broncos Defense TIGHTENS In Red Zone at Broncos Training Camp

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