Locked On Broncos - Daily Podcast On The Denver Broncos - Denver Broncos' Davis Webb HANDS ON Coaching Will Benefit Him As Playcaller

Starting point is 00:00:00 Denver Broncos offensive coordinator, Davis Webb, has a more hands-on coaching approach than what we saw from him last year. And that's a promising role as he steps into a very important job. You are locked on Broncos, your daily Denver Broncos podcast. Part of the Locked-on podcast network, your team every day. What's up, Broncos country? Happy Monday. Cody Rourke. Sarah Bedinger here for another episode of Lockdown Broncos brought to you by our friends over there at Fandul. The biggest stage in world soccer is here. Let there be goals on Fanduel. Visit Flander here. duel.com to get started now as we talk about Davis Webb, the Broncos, newly titled offensive coordinator going into this upcoming season, Sean Payton handing over the play calling

Starting point is 00:00:45 duties to him and what we've seen at OTAs. And the Broncos running back dynamic with Webb as a play caller, that is going to be an interesting wildcard factor to kind of decipher as the offseason goes about through training camp and even into the preseason. Plus, Webb showcased early on, at least in the one OTA practice we saw, Evan Ingram will be a very important part of this offense. We'll tell you what we saw from practice. And on top of that, we're going to start things off by talking about Davis Webb being more hands on in terms of what we saw in our first week of OTAs here with this Broncos team. He now transitions into being a play caller. And he is as players call, Cortland Sutton specifically, the mad scientist. I love it, Cody. I think that's

Starting point is 00:01:24 the nickname that we want him to live up to now, right? Is Davis Webb, the mad scientist of the offense? We don't want that to come back to bite him at some point. We want that to become a good omen for him, obviously. And I think Davis Webb has been around Sean Payton long enough. Matter of fact, Davis Webb has bumped elbows with a lot of really good offensive minds over the course of his football playing career, his coaching career now. I think he's going to be able to do a good job. And look, my kids are not at the point, Cody, where they're driving or anything like that.

Starting point is 00:01:57 But I remember when I was in driver's ed, and I remember the teacher sat in the front seat. and if anybody else had a similar experience to me, the teacher had a brake pedal on their side of the car. And so anytime you were about to screw up, the teacher pumped that brake pedal and was like, hey, no, no, no, no, you got to do this. You got to slow down here. You got to look this way before you turn.

Starting point is 00:02:20 And, you know, one of the guys that had drivers at with me, by the way, turned on the wrong side of a median in the middle of downtown in rush hour. That's not what we want Davis Webb doing as an offensive coordinator here. So if Sean Payton needs to, Hey, go ahead and pump that teacher's break on the right side. But look, I think that that can be sort of a picture of what we're looking at here is that in the initial stages, maybe not quite driver's ed, because Davis Webb is a professional NFL offensive coordinator.

Starting point is 00:02:47 But at the same time, when you have Sean there, I don't, I think what you talk about here is or what you put here for the show subject is really great, Davis being more hands on. I think it's an important distinction to make that Sean is not going to be more hands off. is delegating a specific task to Davis Webb, but this is still Sean Payton's offense that we're talking about here. So Davis is going to be probably getting regular and really specific feedback. Yeah, and that's not a bad thing too. And I think Sean Payton in the press conference we had with him after practice last week, thought he did a really good job or just kind of highlighting the reality. Like, you know, right now you're not going to see too much of what that really looks like until

Starting point is 00:03:29 we get into the season because, you know, that's when we're calling plays. Like right now, it's practice. And this is where you, I think, not only do you as a coach encourage players, like, of course you don't want to make mistakes, but if you're going to make them, you want to make them in practice. Same thing applies here with Davis as he goes through this coaching dilemma. Now, going back to what Cortland Sutton said about him being a mad scientist, when they're in their offensive meeting room, like when they're having their

Starting point is 00:03:53 offensive meetings where the skill players, quarterbacks, offensive line, they're all in there. And they're going through those meetings. Players have said, like, Davis is very much in command that he does have a very large voice. He's got great ideas there. And as you mentioned, this is Sean Payton's offense conceptually. I think it'll be nice to have Sean's offense here, but then now you get a little bit of a new school wrinkle added here and there. And I'm not sure exactly what that's going to look like just yet with Davis because we have yet to see him call a regular season game. We want to see that process build out here. But it is a great opportunity for him to add a little bit more. And

Starting point is 00:04:25 also for Sean, it's going to help Sean evolve as a coach. And as you mentioned, is that driver's reference there in driver's ed if davis is is dealing with any obstacles you've got a guy right there that can also help you out there and sean that's a question i wanted to ask last week i felt like it might be a little too early to ask that question so i'm going to hold on to that for yet another day here but one thing i did notice at ota's last week sir and i wrote it down in my handy dandy notebook at the very top it was the very first thing that i wrote down during group work here web hands on with quarterbacks and wide receivers during group work so what i mean by that is when they're going over like they got two man route concepts with certain positions on the left side,

Starting point is 00:05:03 tight end, wide receiver on the other side there. He's spending time with both talking about from where the quarterback is lined up. Let's say it's in shotgun or under center based on where the receivers lined up. He wants them lined up a certain way stacked against another. Like if it's a stack formation or making sure their splits are right. And then he's going over what the route concept is with him visually with his hands. He's pointing at, you know, if you've got a vertical route, this is where we're trying to attack because we want to open this up.

Starting point is 00:05:30 You can see the hands-on approach, which is, look, he was very hands-on with Beau and the quarterback's when he's the QB coach, but now he's more hands-on with the entire offense. To me, for Sean to do that, that's a clear-cut sign for anyone that had questions as to whether or not Sean was going to be giving up play calling. Now, Sean can sit in that CEO approach, and I think that's actually going to benefit the Broncos so much. I really do, too.

Starting point is 00:05:52 I feel like, and I know this is maybe just, you know, cherry-picking the best example that there is in the NFL. right now. But the way that you're describing Davis, I feel like is what I perceive Ben Johnson to be and why I feel like he was so effective in Detroit, why he's been so effective early on in Chicago is because of that hands-on approach. And that that's not just the play calling element of what these guys bring to the table. When you have somebody who is a mad scientist about the offensive side of the ball or the defensive side of the ball, what they're able to do is sort of unlock new pathways in these players' brains of how they approach the game mentally

Starting point is 00:06:32 so that they can be better than everybody else. Because we know pretty much everybody in the NFL is on a similar playing field physically, right? These guys are all elite athletes. They're all the best of the best. They were all the best player on their high school teams, best players on their college teams, athletically speaking. And even in terms of, you know, playing the game, they're the best of the best.

Starting point is 00:06:55 So what sets these guys apart? is what these coaches are being tasked with, hey, you have to teach these guys how to be better than that other guy on the other side of the ball, who's also the best at what he does. And that's where I feel like Davis Webb's new voice brings sort of that fresh perspective on something that we've already, you know, it's like I've given the Star Wars analogy before.

Starting point is 00:07:19 George Lucas created Star Wars. Dave Filoni comes in. He's the new president of all things Star Wars, right? So he gets to give his spin on how things are going. And he can create things that maybe George Lucas would have never created. That's where Davis Webb comes in. It's like, okay, you have the godfather, the CEO, that is Sean Payton, who coached up Drew Brees and made it to the Super Bowl with multiple different looking offenses and created the Taysom Hill offense. Now Davis Webb gets to come in and put his football background, his football knowledge, and what he brings to the table as this mad scientist to help everybody be better.

Starting point is 00:07:55 I know that we don't get to see play calling in OTAs or even really training camp like sequencing, but I think what we're going to see is the edge that Davis Webb gives to each individual position group on that side of the ball. And I'm curious because right now everything is scripted in terms of practice. They always look at left hash, right hash, middle of the field. They, you know, everything is scripted. Whereas in a game, it's going to be predicated upon the result of the play. And so it does differentiate and vary. But one thing I'll say that players have talked about too, like for Davis Webb specifically, shortening the play.

Starting point is 00:08:25 call is something that they believe is going to lead to them getting off to faster starts. You know, you get to play call in and now you're not thinking the clock's not running down and you have to burn a time out because no one's lined up correctly week one. That's our number one hope for week one of the regular season is that there's a clean operation in terms of the offense, no delay of games, none of that stuff that we've seen the Broncos struggle with in season opener the last couple of years here. So one thing to watch right there. But I like that more hands-on approach here, certainly with Davis.

Starting point is 00:08:52 I think the players appreciate it as well. Sean Payton, as you mentioned, has the feedback, and Davis is going to continue to grow. Sean is his focus right now is really just coaching the coaches and the players when need be, but really it's just making sure the operation is running smoothly. And for Sean to give up that much in terms of delegation signals a lot of trust on his behalf, which I think a lot of people are shocked by that. But we'll see how it all works out here. One thing that we do want to see in 2026, more Evan Ingram.

Starting point is 00:09:19 And Thursday's OTA practice last week gave us an indication that with Davis Webcom plays, Evan Ingram is going to get his opportunities. Today's episode, the show is brought to you by our friends over there at Fandu. The biggest stage of world soccer is here, and every match feels like it has the potential for a memorable moment. One goal can completely change the energy of a game, can shift the momentum, and alter the outcome in an instant. That's what makes tournament soccer so exciting from the opening whistle to the final kick. And now Fandu is giving fans another reason to stay locked into every match with every goal pace. Bet on a match and get bonus bets for every goal scored in that match.

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Starting point is 00:10:13 Visit Fanduil.com to get started now. After a disappointing first year in Denver, we all want to see more of an ingram. And it sounds like we're getting that early at Denver Broncos OTAs. Going to have Cody kind of lay out what he saw at Broncos OTAs, as well as talk about maybe some firing up that optimism for Evan Ingraham. Once again for this upcoming season. But Broncos country, we appreciate you so much for tuning in,

Starting point is 00:10:38 rocking with us here at Lockdown Broncos every single day. And if you want your Denver Broncos fix every single day ad free, check out the Every Dayer Club. Link will be in the show notes for you. You can get your favorite team every single day plus bonus episodes of the show completely ad-free, lockdown Broncos.com. Cody, let's talk about Davis Webb showcasing Evan Ingram. I know it was just one practice, but I think it's meaningful to a degree here

Starting point is 00:11:05 when you talk about noticing that Evan Ingram was more involved in the, I guess, sort of the offensive installation that we're seeing right now, the way that they're going about practices, getting him more involved, maybe even working in the month of June to build up his confidence after what I do believe what I said. I mean, I don't think it's a hot take. I don't think it's just hyperbole. I think it was a disappointing year last year for a number of different reasons, not even playing what, 46% of the snaps or whatever it was. I mean, so disappointing for sure. Do you feel like the Broncos are, you know, what you saw out there? Let's just, let's get, before we get into all the different aspects of it, tell us why you

Starting point is 00:11:43 feel like it was worth mentioning that Evan was getting involved early on at OTAs. Yeah, he had the. most targets and the most catches out of anybody else skill player wise and Thursday's practice at least and once again too we're we're prefacing all this by saying we didn't get a C day two or day one initially because we're only allowed one day mandatory mini camp I'm going to be very curious to put this to the test right in terms of this theory here because we do get access to all three days of June 16 17th 18th how much do they feature Evan there but he had four targets four catches throughout the day during Thursday's practice there and there was one play in particular

Starting point is 00:12:18 where Jared Stidham found him working across the middle field. Now remember with Evan, we saw a lot of kind of vertical deep overs from the right side to the left side of the field. This one was more so him coming across the field from the left side and he caught a pass probably about 20 to 22 yards at the middle of the field in between two safeties. Just perfect throw there by Jared Stidham, but a great route. And he found the open guy there, the open spot. But for Evan, the one thing we saw, the concentration, no drop passes being featured in

Starting point is 00:12:48 terms of them motioning him across the formation, him isolating on a linebacker on an out route for a catch. He had that. He had several catch there, including a few more so in space where Sarah, you and I were asking for it last year where why can't you just run Evan Ingraham, run him on a sit or, you know, hitch or a curl if the spots there against zone and just get him the ball. There's five or six yards. He might also make a guy missing. You might get more yards after the catch. There are a couple of those sit routes that you and I had kind of been calling for last year to see a little bit more with Evan, even just to get him in rhythm early on. But he had the most catches on the day during Thursday's practice for my observation and my handy dandy, a little notebook

Starting point is 00:13:25 that I got from OTAs. And obviously, we're hoping that trend continues here this week when Denver takes the field. Media will get access to Thursday's practice more than likely once again. And so that'll be a huge storyline. We'll follow. But it seems like early on, like at least with Davis Webb, his former teammate, by the way, in New York, that there is a plan to kind of feature him a little bit more than what we saw last year. I think if anybody understands that frustration that maybe Evan had, maybe Davis Webb going into and watching film last year was thinking, man, how did we not get this guy the ball a lot more? I feel like that's probably going to be on display this upcoming season. One of the things that we had talked about all throughout last off season was wanting Evan Ingram to be

Starting point is 00:14:02 that Denver Broncos offense easy button. Like that was what felt like it was missing in 2024 was anybody in that passing game, which was the highest volume passing attack in the NFL last year, that could be an easy button. I mean, and I think the solution oftentimes has been with guys like Evan or somebody like Marvin Mims or really anybody, Troy Franklin could be included in this category as well. We want to get this person more touches. So we're going to get them the ball as quickly as possible in the form of a bubble screen or in the form of, you know, we're going to hand the ball off literally to Marvin in certain instances.

Starting point is 00:14:41 I don't think that's necessarily the solution here to getting these guys more touches, more targets. I think it's more of like what you said, those sit routes or the opportunities for Evan to kind of just drag across the field and maybe get a full head of steam and catch the ball when he's running at full speed, which we didn't really see very much of that last season. We only saw Evan Ingram score one touchdown in the entire 2025 season. That was against Philadelphia. I remember he serves me correctly. And so I just hate that. I love that play.

Starting point is 00:15:15 I hate that it was the only time he scored a touchdown all year. And that's not his fault. Like you've got to get him more opportunities. He's got to be out there on the field. I think let's rev up that engine again saying, can Evan Ingram be the easy button for this offense to help a Broncos offensive unit that really struggled to get any level of consistency in the early downs, right? This is where they struggled.

Starting point is 00:15:41 They had a lot of three and outs last year. They still managed to put up a lot of points, but they had a lot of three and outs. They had a lot of rough drives. They had a lot of rough stretches. If somebody could be that easy button, it prevents those types of stretches from happening. Easy Evan Ingram. That's the model. The Broncos already had it built in if they want to use it.

Starting point is 00:15:59 And look, I even think at times two, remember we came out of the, Washington Commander's game on Sunday night football feeling like, wow, okay, hey, the Broncos that finally unlocked the formula for how they should use Evan Ingram, right? And look what they did to Bobby Wagner. They ran a certain route a couple of times in that game to see how Bobby was going to respond to it. And then in overtime, when you absolutely needed to change something or to take advantage of maybe a potential exploit there, you run that same route, you give a little shake because you're catching him in man. And now all of a sudden Bobby Wagner is trying to chase Evan Ingram field for a 40 plus yard game that, I mean, we thought he was going to score on that one.

Starting point is 00:16:32 And that would have been very interesting because it would have ended the matchup there in overtime, but to set up RJ Harvey's eventual game winning rushing touchdown in that game specifically. And it's like Evan can contribute in a multitude of ways. And I think as you mentioned, the early downs, not only do the Broncos need to be better in the early downs in the run game, but I think just, hey, you get Evan Engelm the ball on first down and he gets, what, five or six yards? You're setting up second and manageable. And now it's like, if our run game's working, we might run the ball here on second and five, second and six. And then on top of that, you know, we could also throw it to Cortland Sut, Jalen Waddle.

Starting point is 00:17:05 Like everything changes here. And I think that Davis Webb is going to have a very important role here in trying to not only get the run game going for Denver, but I also think unlocking these other skill players because, look, I think everyone can acknowledge the talent of this wide receiver room, the talent of some of the guys at the tight end position. And certainly, what we believe the talent can be at the running back position. and with what Bo Nix is as a player and who he's continuing to grow into as a franchise guy, you have all the pieces here to have a very successful offense. Can Davis Webb get them there?

Starting point is 00:17:36 Will Sean Payton allow him to? I think he will, but the bigger question will be, can Davis do it? Because here's the thing. And this is also the wild card in all of this, sir. We don't know what to really expect from Davis as a play caller just yet. We don't even know it's going to guarantee success right now, but that's the mystery of the NFL. That's why we wait and see. It's why it's going to be so fascinating because like we've mentioned, the stakes are really high with that move in particular because Sean Payton is trying to become the first NFL head coach to win a Super Bowl with multiple franchises.

Starting point is 00:18:06 And to be able to feel confident enough in Davis Webb to give him the keys to the car is significant. It's not for show. It's not for, you know, well, Davis Webb is going to be a future head coach and the Broncos owe it to him to let him call plays. And no, that's not what's going on here. Like the Broncos are fine with Davis Webb having success and getting looks from other teams. I do think part of the reason why they gave him the offensive coordinator gig is to say, hey, we want you back. Like if other places want you, then we want you as well.

Starting point is 00:18:39 So what would it take to keep you? I think that's part of it. But also, I mean, we're talking about this guy who's being labeled as mad scientists on that side of the ball and somebody who is talented. And that's what Sean Payton has said. like I wouldn't just give it to just anybody to have them take this role from him. It takes a specific person. I mean, Sean has not done this before.

Starting point is 00:19:00 And he's had a lot of trusted coaches on his staffs in the past that, man, he's had them for years. He's had people around him that he, like, he loves those guys. Like he's done a lot of working and winning with a lot of different coaches. But this is the first time that he's given up play calling. Like, I think that it's a big, big deal. and it does put a lot more pressure on Davis Webb. It does. And I would be so curious to just know, like, what is it that Sean, like specifically?

Starting point is 00:19:29 What is the one specific thing that Sean sees in Davis? He's like, I'm okay with handing overplay calling to him. I want to know what that is. What does Sean know that the rest of us do not know? That's the million dollar question. Or Sean says the $6 million question. I wonder why he says that because he told me that when it came to Jonah Ellis. He said, that's a $6 million question.

Starting point is 00:19:49 What is the, like, what? What is the $6 million question? The only thing that I could think of was that's how much they saved from Dre Greenlaw, you know, when Drey Greenlaw's contract came off the books. And so I thought that's what he was talking about. But he's referenced the $6 million thing more than once and not in that context. So I'm maybe we'll find out. I have no idea.

Starting point is 00:20:10 What are your theories, Broncos? Let us know here on today's episode of show. But coming up next, Davis Webb being a play caller, when it comes to the running back position, it's going to be a wildcard dynamic. And we have one preseason game that could hopefully give us a little bit of insight as to what they may look like here on today's episode of the show. Today's episode of the show is brought to you by our friends over there at Square. It's the business platform that helps sellers become neighborhood favorites, whether you're gearing up or a busy season or you're just trying to keep up with everyday demand. Square keeps your business running smoothly from payments to online orders, inventory, staff, and so much more.

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Starting point is 00:21:36 get started with Square and build a setup that works the way you do. The Debra Broncos run game is going to be big key to unlock in the offense. But how Davis Webb as a play caller uses the running backs, It's going to be the wildcard dynamic and determining whether or not the run game takes off this upcoming season. Brockos country, thanks for rocking with us, making us your first listen. However, you choose to do so. We appreciate you so much here on the lockdown podcast network who knows your team every day. It's also the number one sports podcast network in the country.

Starting point is 00:22:02 All thanks to all of you. Sarah, let's get into this here because we only have one preseason game that really tells us what Davis Webb's flow of a play caller might be. One game, even though there were a handful of plays in that game, I mean, it was a very dominant output by the Broncos' offense there in the preseason last year. It is still too much of a small sample size to determine. But here's what I liked about it when you look at this game. The Broncos in that preseason matchup, they won 27 to 7 against the Arizona Cardinals, a team that did have interest in Davis Webb this offseason.

Starting point is 00:22:33 Thankfully, he didn't go there because that place is an absolute disaster there. But in terms of the run-pass balance, which was one of the bigger questions, the Broncos was in that game between two QBs, Jared Stidham, Sam Ellinger. Ironically enough, the guy's getting most of the reps right now in OTAs with Bo Nix being out with an injury, they threw the ball 39 total times, and they were efficient. 30 of 39 passing collectively between the two of them, but they also had 32 rushing attempts. Sarah, if you talk about 39 passing attempts, 32 rushing attempts, that's pretty balanced. That's not necessarily weighing over on one side versus the other, and Denver's offensive

Starting point is 00:23:06 production showcased that as well. Well, that would certainly be a vast difference from last season where the Broncos were number one in the NFL. with over 600 passing attempts, and they were number 19 in overall rushing attempts last season. So that represents a lot better balance than the Broncos had last season, and that really came out of necessity, right? Because the running game wasn't working, so they didn't feel comfortable sticking with it, and therefore they didn't. I mean, they just didn't. That's just the case. And that's what it was. And so with Davis Webb, you can't help but wonder, I know Sean Payton has talked about this, and I'm interested for your thoughts on this, too, Cody,

Starting point is 00:23:42 but he talks often about how difficult it is to involve three running backs. And I wonder if he's talking about, is that from an offensive coordinator standpoint, is that from him as the head coach and offensive play caller standpoint, is that from a running back standpoint where it's difficult for more than two running backs to really get into a flow or because now Davis Webb is the play caller for the offense, will it be easier for somebody who has, you know, just that's their job, that's Davis Webb's job. would it be easier for him to involve three guys?

Starting point is 00:24:14 Because I think at this point, we do expect at least three guys to be active and working in that backfield every single week. You want to keep J.K. Dobbins healthy. You want R.J. Harvey to show growth as an overall player. Jonah Coleman, he seems to be part of the plan. So that's where I'm really fascinated to find out how does that work out and how do they manage sticking with the hot hand? Yeah, I know it's different in the preseason because everybody's got to play. Like you want to get guys touches. You're going to have different units that are that are grouping out.

Starting point is 00:24:45 But the Broncos in that game specifically had Jalil McLaughlin, Blake Watson, Adric Estimate, RJ Harvey and Tyler, today five running backs. Each kid carries. And then you had guys like Courtney Jackson getting some plays on like some end-round stuff. And then he had QB scrambles. We take those out of the equation in this conversation. But, you know, I kind of threw a challenge out. I got a bonus episode about Jilillea Loflin specifically,

Starting point is 00:25:07 him being a wild card in the running back competition behind those three guys that you mentioned. as JK, RJ and Jonah. But for me, it's like, okay, Sean has said it's hard to feed two. And I'm saying, Davis, find a way to feed three, right? Like, if it's a challenge, maybe that's from Sean's philosophy, because what did Sean tell us a couple of years ago, Sarah, when we thought like really after free agency, when Giovante was set to hit, the Broncos need a bell cow. Sean himself said, I hate the idea of a bell cow.

Starting point is 00:25:33 It doesn't work in today's game with the amount of games that are being played. And eight seasons progressively getting longer, the amount of contact that those positions have to take, you have to have a committee approach. So, on my opinion, it's like, you know, we saw three backs last year, but the Broncos only fed too, which was a dilemma point because then when Tyler Badee was on, they're not handed the ball to Tyler Bade, though they should have, and that was one thing I'll pound the table for. They should have handed him the ball a lot more. Davis Webb, I think can, from his perspective, figure out how to do that, but I think it has to be conditional because what's one thing that we saw work for Denver on the run game, week four,

Starting point is 00:26:07 Monday night football against the Bengals. J.K. had a driver. He had the hot hand that kept him on the field. The next series, RJ came in. RJ started developing a little bit of warmth. He stayed on the field. Like they didn't, when some guy got the hot hand periodically throughout the season, we would see Sean take that guy off the field and all of a sudden someone else comes in and now your run game goes cold. We saw that far too often last year. Does that change under Davis Webb, I think is a huge question.

Starting point is 00:26:31 I do too. And does that mean that we're going to see certain games where J.K. Dobbins has 30 carries. I mean, I can't even remember off the top of my head, Cody, the last time of Broncos running back had 30 carries in a game. I know that's a lot, but I mean, at the same time, that would be the definition of Belkow. I mean, I don't even remember too many times Giovante Williams having 25 carries.

Starting point is 00:26:54 Like I'm just throwing this out there as arbitrary numbers because I don't really remember under Sean Payton, anybody, any back in the running back stable, having that kind of a workload. And it, there is a degree to which you understand it, right? Well, preservation of these players does make sense. But shoot, if Dobbins is ripping off six yards of carry in a game or seven yards of carry in a game, like you don't want to take that guy off the field.

Starting point is 00:27:21 You want him to do the Ezekiel Elliott where he's like shoveling cereal into his mouth or whatever. It is like, keep feeding me. Feed the beast right now. When's the last time we saw the Broncos feed the beast? Like they've had a finally, Dobbins busted that streak of no 100 yard games last season. it's fitting that he was the one to do that. But man, when's the last time the Broncos fed a back, 25 carries?

Starting point is 00:27:45 I'd be interested to know. I don't know off the top of my head. Well, not quite 25, but 24. And it was Latavius Murray back in 2022. So that was not, that was not like in a recent memory. And that's obviously not when Sean was here. But like in terms of Giovante, I'm looking at Javante's 2024 stats with Denver. The most carries he ever had in a game came in a week.

Starting point is 00:28:08 week eight against the Carolina Panthers. He had 17 carries for 44 yards. So traditionally, like the Belcal approach hasn't worked for Sean or the Broncos. And maybe that, has that been a reason the Broncos run game has been so up and down because when you don't have a guy who's getting consistent rhythm, does it change? Does it change the approach? I mean, it's, it's tough. It's generally tough, I think, to really have a true answer to that because you look at personnel, you look at scheme, you look at maybe the offensive line and you look at the defense that you have to go against. Like there's so many different factors that impact the success or failure of a run game.

Starting point is 00:28:41 But then you look at guys like Derek Henry. I mean, even like Derek Henry now, like he's had moments in the last year or so, right? But now we're starting to see where it's not even working as much for Derek Henry as it used to be when he was striking fear into the heart and soul's defenses. So it is tough. I'm curious to see what the Chiefs will do with Kenneth Walker. I'm curious to see what the Cardinals are going to do with Jeremiah Love and some other teams have some bigger backs out there.

Starting point is 00:29:05 But I think today's NFL is the more you have, the better. And so we'll see if Davis Webb can find a way to feed three guys. And what would that ideal split look like? I mean, Sarah, let's say the Broncos are trying to run the ball 28 to 32 times per game, right? Which, I mean, that might be 32 might be a little high. But if it's working, 32 might be it. You divv that up amongst three different backs. Well, theoretically speaking, let's say you get to 30.

Starting point is 00:29:30 Can you give three guys 10 carries? I think that's hard. I think that's really hard. hard. So one guy's going to have to have probably 15, the other guy's going to probably have to have 10, and then one other guy's going to have to have probably five carries. That seems a little more realistic. I think so too. And I think the guy who has 10 carries would probably be R.J. Harvey in this example, and he would probably get another, you know, four to eight touches as a receiver.

Starting point is 00:29:55 And that's where you want him. That's what you want him doing. I know you've talked about in the past about him being sort of Sean Payton's new Alvin Camara, right? Or at least that's what lot of folks have thought is that, you know, whenever he gets those wings, uh, he's going to be that type of player. And so I think that RJ can be effective, maybe even more so than an every down runner. And I don't think that Broncos drafted him to be an every down runner. I think they drafted him to be a playmaker in the offense and somebody that can catch passes. So JK can be that guy who if we need to lean on him, the question is that we're asking and that we're really just discussing right now openly is if jk shows that he can be in a game

Starting point is 00:30:40 a 20 plus carry guy can somebody on that offensive staff finally just be like all right screw the the percentages that we were trying to go with in this game jk's freaking dominating right now and we're not going to stop yeah that's what we need to see that's why we keep talking about well the broncos in one score games and oh my gosh are they going to be able to win as many one score games or is that going to flip flop and are they going to lose more one score games? And to me, I'm thinking they should win by freaking more points. Like they should step the foot on the gas and absolutely dominate some games because they have the players to do it.

Starting point is 00:31:18 And JK's one of them. So when they get those chances, they can't let it pass them by. One of the last times. Okay, so last year, JK had 20 carries for the Broncos and it came in that week five game against the Philadelphia Eagles. His next highest was 18, which came against the Raiders on Thursday night at the game he got hurt him. But in 2024, as a member of the Chargers, he did have against the Broncos, ironically enough, 25 carries for 96 yards. So I mean, J.K.'s got the capability to doing it. I think maybe because of his injury history, I would be shocked if they ever like consistently do that.

Starting point is 00:31:52 But I think JK is good for a few games a season of getting 20 plus carries on the ground. And if it's working, keep riding the hot hand. That's our one demand here for the Broncos. in 2026. With us at Brockos Country, we appreciate you so much for rocking with this here on today's episode of the show. If you're a brand new viewer, listener and you like the show, hey, make sure you hit that subscribe or follow button because you get daily content. You get 30-minute shows.

Starting point is 00:32:13 You get bonus shows. You get exclusive content from Boots on the ground coverage of your favorite team, the Denver Broncos. Tomorrow, Sarah and I, we will be back because we're going to take a look at three storylines. We want to see going into week two of Broncos OTAs.

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