Locked On Broncos - Daily Podcast On The Denver Broncos - Denver Broncos Could Upgrade Center Position In 2025

Starting point is 00:00:00 You're the Denver Broncos running back with your interior starting offensive line. We'll tell you why they should make a change at one position here on today's episode, Lockdown Broncos. You are Locked on Broncos, your daily Denver Broncos podcast. Part of the Locked on Podcast Network, your team every day. What's happening in Broncos country? Welcome into another episode of Lockdown Broncos, your daily Denver Broncos podcast. Part of the Lockdown Podcast Network where you know it is your team every single day for all your Broncos news,

Starting point is 00:00:34 content coverage analysis and more every single day all year long. Lockdown Broncos is the place to be. So thank you so much to all the everydayers in Broncos country. Thanks for making us your first listen of the day. However, you choose to do so. I'm Cody Rourke. Credential Broncos reporter for Mile High Sports. Join, as always, by Sarah Bedinger, site expert, predominantly orange.com.

Starting point is 00:00:54 And here's what you can have on today's episode of the show. Broncos country will wrap up today's show by talking about Denver making another coaching change. The Broncos firing inside linebacker coach Greg Mnuske. We'll talk about the impact of that. But we're also going to focus on the offensive line. We'll talk about whether or not the center position should be upgraded here for the Broncos in the off season. And we're going to kick things off by highlighting the impact that Broncos guard play was in 2024th, Quinn Miners and Ben Powers. You're going to get that here on today's episode of the show, which is brought to you by friends over there.

Starting point is 00:01:24 Price Picks. Go to pricepix.com slash lockdown NFL news code, all lowercase, lock down NFL to win $50 instantly when you play $5. $10. Sarah, the offensive line really has put together as much as it is. A lot of their key pieces are locked in for the long term at this point, with the exception of a couple of positions. But let's focus on the interior O line here. We looked at the offensive tackle position yesterday, specifically looking at the guard play here,

Starting point is 00:01:51 Ben Powers, Quinn Miners, left guard, right guard. In 2024, those two guys played relatively well. And Quinn Miners obviously earned himself an in-season contract. extension. I mean, do you even look at making any changes to the interior line? I feel like it was pretty locks. I feel like it was pretty rock solid for a large part of the season. I do too. I just don't understand why you would maybe make a big move at guard if you're the Denver Broncos right now, not necessary given where the team is at in its current development phase of just being built overall. Like, look, there might come a time where the Broncos are so loaded

Starting point is 00:02:29 it on the roster that you can look back and say, okay, do we want to maybe kind of make a move here? I think of a position was pretty good this year, but we might have the ability to, you know, think forward in terms of the NFL drafts. Like a lot of teams will draft interior offensive linemen or offensive tackles a year or two before they need to. I just don't know if the Broncos are in that spot right now, Cody. Now, when it comes to the center position, might be a different story because obviously, although we got an all pro year out of Quinn Miners, we got Ben Power.

Starting point is 00:02:59 continuing to play consistent football at the left guard position. I think the center position left a little bit to be desired, honestly. I mean, Luke Wattenberg missed some time. It was his first year as a full-time starter, so we have to kind of give that caveat there. But at the same time, like, how many times did you and I talk about this weirdly saw the snap from the center in the shotgun in particular, kind of drifting back to Bowdox, off target a little bit,

Starting point is 00:03:26 maybe a little bit more of a soft toss than a direct snap. I mean, just kind of weird stuff that I noticed all throughout the season at center. And does he get enough push in the run game? Of course, we saw Alex Forsyth out there as well. He played pretty solid when he was given the opportunity. So, I mean, you look at this interior offensive line as a whole. I'm not necessarily the foremost expert on interior line play, but you can't help but wonder if the Broncos might upgrade one of these spots this year.

Starting point is 00:03:54 No, and spot on there too. And if I have to look at, you're looking at Guard, center guard, if there's any position, I feel like Denver maybe looks at either bringing in competition or upgrading it. In my opinion, I agree with you. It's got to be the center position. I know a good friend Patrick Keoti is definitely he, what was he doing all season long on Twitter?

Starting point is 00:04:14 It was something like Watton Watch or something like that in terms of, yeah. There was just some moments where the offensive line struggled at the center position from time to time. Now, obviously, when Wattenberg was in, you look at Wattenberg, he's a bigger guy than Alex Forsyth. He's got a little more strength and power to him, but it seemed like the Broncos run game was better when Alex Forsyth was in. And look, Forsyth, not the physically strongest guy there, I think in comparison to Wattenberg. I don't know what they're, you know, lifting numbers are, but when you look at their body types, it's like, all right, you can see like maybe like Luke Wattenberg is probably stronger. But Forsyth, I think Forsyth is one of the more technically

Starting point is 00:04:52 sound high football IQ guys in a sense of even if he lacks something from the physical aspect, he understands angles, he understands how to pin and seal guys. And I think that's why we saw the Broncos offense have some success. And also, I don't recall seeing when Alex Forsyth was in at center, granted he's played with Bow Nix before dating back at Oregon, but you didn't see any instances where there were any low snaps or there were snaps. I know for Wattenberg, there were a few evident examples where Bo Nix is having to turn to adjust to catch a snap either to his left side, to his right side, and then that impacts something for Bo Nix like footwork on a dropback, right?

Starting point is 00:05:28 Like those were some things that we saw. Now, in my opinion, look, you still have Luke Wattenberg under contract here. I think you bring Luke back, and we're going to dive deeper to this position, but I think you have to at least bring some competition in there and see if Alex Forsyth can win that job this year or, you know, can hold them off, or is there somebody else out there? I don't know if that's going to be the case here, but I definitely felt like, because you and I highlighted the offensive tackle position,

Starting point is 00:05:52 and yesterday's show. I didn't come away, like, you know, concerned about offensive tackle. I felt like you and I were like, hey, they answered their biggest questions. You have security at the tackle position right now. You have some veteran options. You have some developmental options behind them that are pretty solid. Here at this spot here, you got Quinn Miners locked in. You got Ben Powers here on a long-term deal.

Starting point is 00:06:14 I'm not worried about this position, but center is the one position. I'm not saying I'm worried about. I would say that I'm a little skeptical about in terms of, okay, is it sustainable with the way that it is going? And we also talk so much about it as well when we talk about the run game struggles, how much of it is also scheme related as well. Yeah, and you think about this team in the depth department as well, Cody. I mean, they're not exactly running huge depth at this. I mean, not every team in the NFL is going to have great depth on the offensive line at every position.

Starting point is 00:06:47 But it kind of felt like the Broncos had to do a little. little bit more shuffling than was expected when you had some injuries there. When Wattonberg missed time, obviously if you slide Forsyth and he's a natural true center, but then what happens when Quinn Miners has to miss time or if Ben Powers has to go out for a bit? I mean, who slides into those spots? That's another area that I think we saw. Maybe the Broncos had to kind of, you know, McGiver some stuff. We saw Alex Pachoski, who we talked about. He got some run at right guard. But I don't know if that's maybe an area where you feel like, hey, if we go upgrade center, now we've got somebody like Watenberg who could

Starting point is 00:07:24 kind of give us depth at both guard and center and then Forsyth, who gives you depth at center as well. And I just can't help but feel like that's maybe the best course of action. Now, what we'll get into, I'm sure here is how much you prioritize that because of everything else that you need. Like, do you feel like that was the result or the cause with the effect being the running game struggling a little bit. Do you feel like that was the thing? Because if that's the case, then you really put that higher on the list of offseason needs to say, hey, we need to change at center. But when you go back and you watch this season, I can't help but feel like the center spot was that weak link on the offensive line throughout the course of the year. And the frustrating part about it being the off season. And maybe we find this out at the NFL scouting combine, because that's the next time we're going to hear from George Payton and Sean Payton is in Indianapolis when they break out. out into those pods there. And the question is, is like, where is it scheme related?

Starting point is 00:08:22 I don't know if Sean will ever answer that question for us because then Sean is the type of coach and understandably so. I wouldn't do the same thing if I was a coach. But maybe revealing like, hey, we have a weakness. Teams are going to take note of that and they're going to do whatever they can to exploit that. But then that's where you as a coach, you have to kind of sit there and say, you know what, if this is our weakness, if we're not the only one seeing this, other teams who have really

Starting point is 00:08:44 good scouts, really good coaches that are also doing the same evaluation. of the opponent. They also know this. So it's on the coaching staff to be able to make the necessary adjustments, whether that be to scheme, whether that be to personnel to put you in a position to succeed. I am wondering if Center is one of those positions where they don't necessarily have their answer at it just yet.

Starting point is 00:09:03 Maybe it is the only question mark you have on that offensive line. And now maybe you're like, we're going to figure out how to address this, whether that's in-house because you look at a guy like Luke, Luke is part of that developmental process. I mean, remember, he played tackle. one year. He got thrown in the fire at tackle. He got thrown in the fire at guard. I actually thought he did really well at guard when Quinn Miners had that really scary situation pop up in Los Angeles there where,

Starting point is 00:09:27 you know, he had the heart episode. That was a little concerning. But Luke Wondonberg, I thought stepped in and did a really good job at guard. So is it a comfortability thing here for Luke? You know, is it what can he take from the off season? Because this is what happens. The coaches get together, position coaches get together and the ones that haven't, you know, gone elsewhere to a promotion or have been let go, but they sit there and they'll highlight what their players did well, what their players didn't do well. And those players will have that feedback going into the offseason as this is an area we need you to emphasize and work on and improve on. I'm very curious to see how they feel about the center position. And maybe we find out at the scouting combine, which is coming up in Indianapolis

Starting point is 00:10:05 here in the next month, month and a half. And we'll obviously have you covered here every step of the way here locked on Broncos. But to continue on with this conversation here, should center be upgraded here for the Broncos? We make a. look at maybe why they should upgrade it. We look at what that looks like in-house, out-of-market, whether that's the NFL draft as well. Here on today's episode, Lockdown Broncos. Today's Lockdown Broncos podcast is brought to you by friends over there at

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Starting point is 00:11:24 prize picks run your game. If the Denver Broncos are going to find an upgrade at center in the 2025 off season, where the heck is it going to come from? Are they going to go to free agency? We're going to see the NFL draft. Are they even going to mess around with it? Because you know what? That center quarterback

Starting point is 00:11:41 exchange, I mean, there is a chemistry involved there. So do you want to add a new guy to the mix? We're going to break that down on today's episode Locked on Broncos. And hey, Broncos country, thanks so much for rocking with us through this whole entire season. We get to cover the preseason, the regular season, and the postseason, finally, for the very first time. And all you everydayers out there, mile high salute to every single one of you. We appreciate you so much. If you're not an everyday listener yet to lock down Broncos, hit subscribe, get us at the top of your feet, at the top

Starting point is 00:12:11 of your algorithm. Do that right now. It really helps out the show. And let's talk about this. interior offensive line doesn't get a ton of love in the, you know, the Twitter discussions, Cody, because it's all about the skill players. It's all about the glamor positions and justifiably so. Broncos need playmakers. There's no doubt. But in order for Bo Nix to get the ball to the playmakers, got to have the proper quarterback center exchange.

Starting point is 00:12:35 I kind of want to start off this discussion about our question here today. Should center be upgraded? I kind of want to start off the discussion by pointing out that, hey, just so we have a heads up here. Bow Nix already has chemistry with two guys at the center position on this roster. And the idea of upgrading the position will require gaining chemistry with somebody new. Yeah, and that can always be problematic. And look, I think this is where Alex Forsyth, I think, has the advantage over everybody because he has that prior experience being Bo Nix's center in college,

Starting point is 00:13:08 where once again, Bo was one of the least sack quarterbacks in all of the NCAA in his final two years at Oregon. I mean, you combine numbers from the both years that he was there at Oregon, the least sack quarterback in the entire country. That was, you know, a testament to obviously the Ducks offensive line there. Forsyth understood that. And look, I don't think you really had any quarterback center exchange issues. If I'm not mistaken, I think didn't Bo have one or two QB center exchange issues while under center with Luke Wattenberg? But didn't that come early on in the season? Seems like it.

Starting point is 00:13:39 I don't feel like it was much of an issue later on into the year. but certainly it's you know those things can disrupt your momentum so to speak there so I agree with you sarah and it's like we can answer this question too like should center be upgraded yeah absolutely but it also can be upgraded with luke watenberg it can be upgraded with alex foresight either or and what i mean by watenberg if he takes all the feedback that this coaching staff gives him and let's say he can certainly works towards out this offseason we won't really know if they'll tranny camp or even the preseason what that may look like like, so to speak, but he can improve.

Starting point is 00:14:15 Like, that's the thing. He's not just going to be the same player if he puts forth the effort into working on those things that he needs to work on. Like, no player in the NFL is going to be the same player unless they don't put in and work or the personnel or the environment around them isn't sustainable for them to grow or succeed. We've seen that with different positions. But the center position, I think, has to play better in 2025.

Starting point is 00:14:36 If Denver's going to have a chance and look, you got to be able to run the football. Nobody's not saying that. But you also have to, I feel like at times, a lot of the pressure sometimes came from the interior, which if you know this more than anything else. And look, you're also seeing this debate about Josh Allen this week on where he should have thrown the football. And, you know, film analysts are getting picked apart by former NFL QBs, which you kind of like to see sometimes. Inside pressure is the most dangerous threat to a quarterback in the disruption of a play more so than an outside linebacker beating an offensive tackle, right? because a quarterback can then dip up underneath.

Starting point is 00:15:11 But when you have pressure coming on the interior, you can't step up in the pocket because you're going to step up right into that pressure and you make it easier for the defense. So I feel like at times, Wattenberg did struggle with some consistency with getting beat on the interior specifically. I'll go back to the Indianapolis Colts game. That was definitely something that we saw early on there. So yeah, it has to be upgraded.

Starting point is 00:15:33 The position the play has to be better, but you can do it in-house versus going out there and looking at the free agency market. And Sarah, I've got the free agents pulled up right here that are going to be available here in terms of UFAs. There really isn't anyone that stands out to me except one guy, right? Ryan Kelly of the Indianapolis Coast is the only name, the only real veteran option that has an estimated market value according to our friends over there at Spottrack. I don't see anybody else on this list necessarily. And I'm like, all right, hey, Denver's got to go out and they got to go get this guy. I'm not seeing it. So your best bet, in my

Starting point is 00:16:08 opinion, sticking with who you have and hoping that their development takes a step forward. Yeah, that could very well be. And we'll see who ends up getting cut and things like that. Another name that I saw Cody was James Daniels, the Pittsburgh Steelers, who's been playing guard for them, but he was a center coming out of Iowa back in the day. So shout out to my Hawkeyes, always seem to work their way into the discussion somehow. But James Daniels could be an option. I think when you look back at Sean Payton's teams in New Orleans,

Starting point is 00:16:38 how important was it to have investments basically at every position on the offensive line? I mean, occasionally we would see Sean hit on a steal in the NFL draft, but more often than not, I mean, we're talking about making your primary big investments on upgrading the offensive line. And we saw that with guys like Eric McCoy, Andrews Pete, Ryan Ramcheck, you gave Jari Evans contract back in the day. Obviously, they had Tehran Armstead for a long time. They made a trade one time.

Starting point is 00:17:07 That was one of the biggest blockbuster trades at the time in the NFL when they sent tight end Jimmy Graham to the Seattle Seahawks. And it wasn't just for like a first round pick or multiple first round picks. Remember, Sean Peyton traded to acquire Center Max Unger back in the day. He traded his dude, Jimmy Graham, the Joker. Like, we're talking about the most important. That's what Jimmy's mad at him still. Yeah, I would assume that's probably why that is.

Starting point is 00:17:31 So you traded for Max Unger to upgrade your center position. I'm not saying you'd go make a move like that, like to trade for a guy. Maybe you do, but depending on the cost, obviously. But I want to just highlight that because of how important it is to Sean Payton to have this position locked up and to have, you know, the best of the best that you can at that spot. So maybe Ryan Kelly is the guy, you know, where we talked about, hey, Sean's fired certain coaches. It's like he must have an upgrade in mind to be getting. rid of these guys. Maybe that's the similar approach that you take at the center position to say, hey, you already have two guys who started for you last year and who played, I mean, relatively well.

Starting point is 00:18:12 We're being critical on the show and harsh because you have to be in the off season when upgrades are potentially available. But man, to upgrade at center would require like a clear and obvious upgrade, which would be somebody like a Ryan Kelly of the Indianapolis Colts, where by the way, they run the ball real well there in Indianapolis. And so he would be. somebody that I would be highly intrigued by Cody, but at the same time, you can't guarantee that kind of stuff when it comes to free agency. So you would have to have your ducks in a row here when we get to the combine,

Starting point is 00:18:41 like you said, in just a handful of weeks. Well, and I would also argue, too, it's center is not really a need for this team right now. It's not even one of those things. You're like, ah,

Starting point is 00:18:50 they really have to find a way to go out and address this. I think you and I have been very vocal about it. I think Broncos country has as well, tight end, running back. Those are probably the more high priority positions on the offensive side of the ball. And honorable mention thrown in there for wide receiver. I mean, when you look at center, it might be fourth or fifth at this point, but not really something that's like

Starting point is 00:19:10 pressing for the Broncos to go out there and obviously revamp. Now, look, I think one thing we have seen with Sean Payton, to your point, he is always looking. If there's an upgrade available that he feels like will give them better play right away that you can plug in and go, he's going to try to take a chance on that if there's an opportunity to do so. I don't think he's reckless and the moves that he makes. Like I would say that's one thing about Sean that I've observed here in my time covering him is that every move he makes, there's some sort of calculation to it. There's a reason behind it. And I know there are some movies that you and I are saying, you're like, wait, why is he going to do that? Like, why did they go out and they get Jared Stiddam and free agency to a,

Starting point is 00:19:47 you know, as their backup quarterback? Is he going to try to compete to start? Like, we had those questions when that move initially happened. And it's like, all right, Sean Peyton understands you need a, you need a really good backup in today's NFL. And to that point, Jared did him show that he could be a good. I mean, he lit up the number one defense in the 49ers one year when he was with the Las Vegas Raiders. So you look at those things like, all right, this is what it could be. And I like that because I think when you make moves from the understanding of, all right, right now on paper, this is what it could be. It makes us better.

Starting point is 00:20:17 That's why you take the chance at doing it. And then sometimes it works. Sometimes it doesn't work. That's just like the duality of being a coach is that you have to forecast some of these moves. and ultimately if you know and you believe it's going to make you better, you have to try to do that because every year your window, it opens and it closes. Like the Broncos window for some reason, for the last 10 years, has kind of been, it's closed. Okay, wait, it's opening a little bit.

Starting point is 00:20:42 It's closed. Oh, they're just a quarterback away in 2019, 2021. Okay, opening a little bit. Okay, it's closed again because they have a legit defense. And now it's like they get to the playoffs. Their window with a rookie quarterback right now, the window is as open as it has ever been for this Broncos team. And so if you can do whatever you can to maximize that time that you have, you do that. Will Sean Payton take that chance? I think is a very, very valuable question here

Starting point is 00:21:05 going forward. And speaking of taking chances that Broncos still dealing with some coaching changes. This time, Sean Payton made a decision to move on from one coach at one position that struggled a little bit towards the end of the season. What do the Broncos have in mind, an inside linebacker? We'll break that down and much more here on today's episode, Lockdown Broncos. Today's Lockdown Broncos podcast is brought to my friends over there at TurboTax. And this is a message from our sponsor, Intuit TurboTax. Taxes was waiting and wondering and worrying if you were going to get any money back and then waiting, wondering, and worrying some more. Now, Taxes is matching with the TurboTax expert who can do your taxes as soon as today.

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Starting point is 00:22:24 here and Denver is making some changes to their coaching staff. Well, I've had some coaches depart for new job promotions to Broncos. They fire two coaches already as they get ready to revamp the staff here in 2025. Thanks to all the everydayers and first listeners out there in Broncos country for making us part of your day. Every day, however, you choose to do so because for the true fan, there is never in off season. Sir, I tell you what, the NFL news cycle, it never ends. There's always something going on. And yesterday we found out that the Denver Bronco, Sean,

Starting point is 00:22:54 and they parted ways with inside linebacker coach, Greg Mnuski, and now they're going to be in the market for finding a new inside linebacker coach this upcoming season. I wish that websites like SpotTrack and all these other places had like a coaching free agency tracker, right? Which coaches at which positions are available? Because that would give us a better idea as to who might the Broncos look at. And I know some names have been thrown out like I think Pagano. I think John Pagano was a name that was thrown out maybe at one point. we just saw that Chuck Pagano.

Starting point is 00:23:25 It's coming out of retirement to go coach for the Ravens and John Harbaugh over there. So for me, Denver making a move here by Fire and Greg Mniewski, who came in when Sean Payton was on staff here, two seasons, right? You get two years. Now they're moving on to me that kind of tells me that Sean Payton was not pleased with how the linebackers

Starting point is 00:23:45 played specifically on the inside or how it was coached up. And I think it's going to expand to a larger conversation about that's Joseph. Yeah, I think, Cody, when you look at this move and you look at kind of the coaches that they've really let go or fired this off season. I mean, special teams coordinator. I mean, Ben Contwica, he gets let go after a number of major errors this past season. Let's just put it that way for that unit. And then the tight ends coach, Declan Doyle, he obviously got a huge promotion to go to Chicago. But at the same time, I don't think the Broncos were necessarily upset to see him go considering the performance at that position.

Starting point is 00:24:22 in terms of the passing game. And then now inside linebacker, which is another area of weakness for this team. As you and I talked about down the stretch this season on a number of post games, bad communication from the inside linebacker position with the safeties and things like that, especially in coverage, passing guys off. We heard Sean Payton's comment about all the free runners against the Cincinnati Bengals. A lot of that had to do with the linebackers having issues. And so maybe that was the Chargers game, actually, that I'm thinking of, the free runners.

Starting point is 00:24:51 but either way, there was too many guys running wide open in both of those games. But you know, you see this and you kind of see, okay, they're taking a hard stance against the areas that really crushed this team at different times this season. Yeah, they made the playoffs, but man, nobody's satisfied with just making the playoffs. Sean Payton is not satisfied with the status quo. And you can see that. Like, people are questioning, why are you firing this coach? Why are you letting this guy go?

Starting point is 00:25:16 Why are you letting everybody pluck off your staff? I think he's okay with succession plans in different areas, Cody. And I kind of don't mind the idea of let's get some fresh eyes, some fresh blood, because it might be perfect timing because you might be about to overhaul this entire position group in terms of the roster. I mean, you got three guys at this position already that are unrestricted free agents. The only guys you have under contract that are returning, Drew Sanders, Alex Singleton coming off of his ACL injury. And then Lavelle Bailey, who was an undrafted rookie free agent for you last year. like this position room really could look entirely different.

Starting point is 00:25:51 And if anything, sir, I would say right now, Drew Sanders might be the only safe bet to return at this point. But to your point, right, and I made a, I made a mention about Vance Joseph. What did I mean by that? Well, Broncos country, I understand. Look, there are a lot of Broncos fans. And Sarah, no matter how many episodes we put out,

Starting point is 00:26:07 a lot of Broncos fans don't want Vance Joseph to come back. And a lot of people are like, well, Vance's defense, it fell off. We talk about, okay, yes, the defense, the Cleveland game, that was the Levi-Wallis game. That was Levi Wallace's struggles. And it was also a little bit of the inside linebackers on those crossing patterns. As we've mentioned, that has been a little bit of a problem. And teams started to exploit it.

Starting point is 00:26:27 So for Denver to move on from Greg Mnuski, like here's the thing, Vance Joseph oversees calling the defense. You have position coaches who are responsible for coaching up those players and making sure when there is a call that those players understand their assignment. You know, everything gets put on Vance Joseph. And of course, Vance, for some of the defensive struggles, has his share. share of blame to handle right. But it's also on those position coaches when that unit in particular is struggling the most. And it's the little thing, Sarah, it's like the linebacker blitzing into the wrong gap or

Starting point is 00:26:59 blitzing into where you have a defensive lineman where he's supposed to go. So now you've got two guys in the same spot, which then opens up a hole for a runner to run through or it just allows you to easily just crash those guys down and pass protection. Those are those things that we are talking about here. and from the looks of it, with them making a move from getting rid of Greg Mnuski, they're going to be looking into bringing a coach who can teach this position to be I think a little bit more disciplined. And look at linebacker, you're going to think a lot because you have to read the guard.

Starting point is 00:27:31 Is it run? Is it past? Okay, it's run. I got to fill. I got to get into my run fits. Oh, it's pass. I got a drop. I got to locate.

Starting point is 00:27:37 Okay, if we're in man coverage, I got to tell back if he's to my side or if it comes to my side. Oh, it's zone. I got to get back to my drop. If it is a pass, where is my zone? where is my zone dropping to? And you know, like coverage calls, they change depending on if there's a motion or there's a certain check. Like it is a position where those guys have to think a million miles an hour.

Starting point is 00:27:55 And so for your position coach, you have to teach these guys and you have to be in a spot where, okay, we're not going to overload them with too much information. We're going to simplify it. But we're going to also allow them to play as loose and free as possible. I mean, that's why guys like Fred Warner, Matt Milano, they play with their hair on fire, man, because they don't have to think too much. They understand the assignment. and they go and they react to it.

Starting point is 00:28:16 And so much of it is that continuity, because you and I've talked about us how many times, you have 10 players doing their job, one player doesn't do their job, it impacts the whole entire operation. That's what happened from time to time. And apparently for Sean Payton, it is the inside linebacker position,

Starting point is 00:28:32 which now makes me ask the question. With the struggles that we saw in obviously the Broncos run game, could the Broncos make a change from Lou Aeney? Yeah, I mean, I wouldn't be surprised. The running backs coach, I mean, that would be the next dominant. know that I would expect to fall potentially in terms of this.

Starting point is 00:28:47 And maybe even, honestly, maybe even wide receiver with Kerry Colbert. I mean, I don't think anything should be necessarily off the table at this point, Cody, although you don't want to necessarily just fire everybody and say, look, you guys underachieved this year. I mean, but I mean, it's worth speculating. And I can't help but wonder at the inside linebacker position. This is just a theory. This is not, I'm not trying to make a false equivalence here or anything like that.

Starting point is 00:29:11 But here's my theory. if the Broncos and Sean Peyton bring in a young coach who's maybe even never been a position coach in the NFL before. Maybe it's another former player hiring. Let's say they make that kind of a move. Like I've seen it thrown out there, Rob Ninkovich. I can't remember who first said that. I know Sean Peyton talks about him all the time.

Starting point is 00:29:30 But if it's somebody like that. Linebacker coach. I mean, hey, if it's somebody like that, I could see the Broncos then going into free agency and saying, hey, we're bringing in a first time position coach. We want to bring in some more veteran guys to play at the position and have him coach them up, as opposed to saying, hey, we're going to bring in a young coach with young players at the same time because it's going to be so critical for this defense to carry over its success and build upon that next year,

Starting point is 00:30:00 as opposed to saying, hey, we're willing to kind of take a step back here and take our lumps with some young guys. Not saying the Broncos wouldn't do that, but I'm going to make a guess here that if the Broncos, if the Broncos bring in a first time position coach at linebackers coach specifically, and especially a former player, then I think they go to free agency and they make some investments in guys. If they bring another veteran coach, a guy who's been around the block, maybe a guy who work with Sean Payton in New Orleans or something like that, if it's a more experienced guy, I think maybe they try to go with the young player route at the position.

Starting point is 00:30:32 So let's just kind of see what materializes there, but that's kind of my theory that I've got at this point in time. Well, Broncos country, it sets everything up perfectly for tomorrow's episode of the show because we're going to be switching to the defensive side of the ball now that we've gone through every offensive position possible in terms of recap, biggest question and what they can do to answer that question going forward. Inside linebacker is where we're going to take a look. We're going to look at the performance in 2024. We're going to ask the biggest question, which you got a little bit of a teaser here. Who's going to be the new coach?

Starting point is 00:31:01 What is that room going to look like? How do they answer it? We'll take a look at some free agent options that are available. and also maybe even the NFL draft will break all that down and much more. For all you every dayers out there in Broncos country on tomorrow's episode of the show.

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