Locked On Broncos - Daily Podcast On The Denver Broncos - Denver Broncos Defense POISED To Become NFL's Best In 2025

Episode Date: June 24, 2025

The Denver Broncos defense has all of the tools and personnel to become the NFL's top defense in 2025. Led by Patrick Surtain II, what can the Broncos defense do to generate more interceptions in 2025? How important are the additions Talanoa Hufanga and Dre Greenlaw to elevating Denver to the league's best unit? Cody Roark is a credentialed beat reporter for Mile High Sports and covers the Broncos daily in person. Sayre Bedinger is the site expert for Predominantly Orange. Both bring Broncos Country the most in-depth and objective coverage of the Denver Broncos. WANT MORE DAILY DENVER BRONCOS CONTENT?For all of the latest Denver Broncos news today -- Follow & Subscribe on all Podcast platforms…🎧 https://link.chtbl.com/LOBroncos?sid=YouTube Locked On NFL League-Wide: Every Team, Fantasy, Draft & More🎧 https://linktr.ee/LockedOnNFL Follow on Twitter: @CodyRoarkNFL and @SayreBedingerFollow the show on Twitter: @LockedOnBroncos Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!RugietHead to Rugiet.com/LOCKEDONNFL and use code LOCKEDONNFL to get 15% off today. GametimeDownload the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNFL for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Download Gametime today. What time is it? Gametime. FanDuelRight now, new customers can get $150 in BONUS BETS when your first $5 BET WINS! Download the app or head to FANDUEL.COM to get started. Monarch MoneyTake control of your finances with Monarch Money. Use code LOCKEDONNFL at monarchmoney.com/lockedonnfl for 50% off your first year. FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN) Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Last season, the Denver Broncos defense led the NFL in Sacks, and in 2025, we'll tell you how they can lead the league in interceptions. All 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, Lockdown Broncos, your daily Denver Broncos podcast, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. for all your Broncos news content coverage analysis more every single day all year long. This is the place to be a special shoutout to all the everydayers out there in Broncos country. Thank you so much for tuning in and making us your first listen.

However, you choose to do so for all your Broncos discussion. I'm Cody Rourke, Broncos reporter for Mile High Sports. And I'm Sarah Bedinger, site expert at predominantly orange.com. And here's what you can expect on today's episode of the show. Broncos country. We're diving into the Broncos defense after an impressive season in 2024. can the Broncos ascend to new heights this upcoming season? We'll tell you how the Broncos can lead the NFL and interceptions here in 2025

and how the Broncos defense will take the next step to be the number one overall unit in the NFL this upcoming season and which players will be crucial to ascend to that number one spot this upcoming season. You'll get all that on today's episode of the show. Sir, I mean, let's go through and let's talk about it. At 2024 for the Broncos defensively under Vance Joseph, I think there were a lot of questions before the show. the season as to what can this Broncos defense achieve, right?

We know in 2023, they had the arguably worst start in NFL history from a defense. And then they went on this string where they were just forcing turnover after turnover after turnover for a consecutive five game stretch, which helped them get out of that one in five hole in 2023. And think a lot of people going into 2024 said, okay, hey, that was just a lucky stretch. Broncos defense, they ramped things up. They were a big reason why they were able to win games and hold on in the early parts when Bo Nix was still trying to get his feet wet,

they ended up finishing the leading the league with 63 sacks last season. And now I think there's an important conversation here. As this defense can ascend to the next level, how can the Broncos lead the NFL and interceptions this upcoming season? So much of it is related to obviously the pass rush department. Yeah, it starts with that pass rush and getting pressure on the quarterback and forcing his internal clock to speed up. Obviously, when you're getting that rate of pressure,

which the Broncos, not only did they lead the NFL in Sacks, Cody, but they led the NFL in total pressures as well. Vance Joseph, of course, we know last season, he loved to blitz, and he blitzed often over 29% of the time. So the Broncos, they brought the heat and they brought it often. And unfortunately, it didn't lead to them ultimately leading the NFL in interceptions or takeaways. They were still good in those areas.

But when you're a good defense, even a great defense, even a top three defense, you're always trying to find what's that one area that we can gain an edge over other teams and continually get better. We saw obviously the investments made in free agency, but in order to lead the league and interceptions, Cody, the DBs, they simply got to make more plays on the ball. The one area that I could find that the Broncos actually kind of struggled last season defensively was giving up some big plays. And so we'll kind of look more at those things as we go along. but how many interceptions would they need in order to lead the NFL? Three years ago, it was 20.

Two years ago, 22. Last year, 24. So I guess the bar should be set around 20 interceptions. And I think if you feel like you had the best secondary in the league, you feel like 20 interceptions is pretty doable at this point. Well, and I think when you look at where Denver is at with the personnel that they have here, certainly the added pieces there was Jada, Barron. You know, improving the middle of the field was a big area.

of emphasis for this Broncos team, especially for the defense, adding Dre Greenlaw, Talanoho, Fonga, guys will highlight a little bit more in depth later on as the show progresses there. Those seem to be the areas where the Broncos felt like teams were attacking us in this specific area, and we have made the unnecessary additions to help maybe rectify that, to make that a strength rather than a weakness. And I think that when you look at just the rate of man coverage in which the Broncos ran last season, I think it's very telling as to how the Bronco strategy is, right? Because in order to dial up pressure, right, as Vance Joseph does,

you can't just sit back in zone. The Broncos played a lot more zone coverage down the stretch last season than man. And that was a little problematic, especially when they were trying to get home on some of the quarterbacks there that they face, the Justin Herbert's, the Joe Burroughs. Heck, they sack Joe Burroughs seven times. And they still found a way to lose that game, which was nuts to me to when you look back at it in hindsight.

But I think here for this Broncos defense, you have to look at the balance, right? When Rodley Moss went down with his injury, it changed the way that the Broncos played man coverage. You know, as a matter of fact, according to our friends NFL next gen stats, when Rodley Moss was on the field, the Broncos played man coverage at a rate about 40% last season. When he was injured and out and not on the field, that dropped to 32%. So it really did change their philosophy. So how does the addition of Jada Baron maybe factor into the equation? here is that now that the Broncos believe in Sean Payton said it.

Pat Sertan, Rodley Moss, Jekwon Macmillan, Jadae, Barron. They believe that these guys can play madameen coverage at an effective rate. And so for Vance Joseph, I think it just gives him everything that he needs to say, hey, let's create pressure. Gray-Greenlaw can be a pressure player. Tal and Oufanga could be a pressure player. Jada, Baron, and J-Mack can blitz from the slot if you need them too. Denver's got the guys, the personnel defensively, to do that.

So it's just about, as you say, making plays on the football. It's also about timing. Can your pressure create that uneasy pocket to where it allows your coverage guys to go out there and make a play? That's the recipe here for the Broncos to lead the league in interceptions in 2025. They led the league last year with 63 sacks, created a lot of pressure, but it didn't necessarily match the output of that down the stretch in terms of overall takeaways and interceptions from that standpoint. Yeah, Cody, when you look at some of the numbers last year, I think the Broncos, they were in the bottom 10 in total air yards allowed defense.

which ultimately indicates that, yes, you're getting pressure, but teams are still able to win vertically down the field. And so when you get those opportunities on deep passes, when you're getting tested in your man coverage, when you have the hopefully the safety help over the top, those guys are the ones making the plays on the ball instead of the opposing receiver. That's what I kind of glean when I look at that number in the Broncos, allowing 2,267 air yards last season.

that to me indicates that, okay, we were being sticky when it comes to the teams trying to, you know, do their short intermediate passing game and our pressure rate is good and those things are working. But how can we ultimately translate that pressure rate into plays made on the ball downfield? Because if teams go against the Broncos and they can just launch the ball downfield and, you know, get a long completion or a penalty, which is something I want to bring up as we continue along in this discussion. but if you're constantly giving up big plays, you're limiting your opportunity for creating turnovers, right? Because ultimately, if opposing offense is creating big plays through the passing game,

they're utilizing the vertical passing game, they're shortening the field every time they have the ball. And yes, your pressure is coming through. Remember the Broncos? I think the perfect example is last year's game against the Bengals, right? The early part of that game, Joe Burrow and that offense, they're picking you apart, and then you get down into the inside the 30, let's say, and your defense all of a sudden starts to buckle down.

At that point, you're kind of just trying to get off the field. You're not able to really be aggressive in making plays on the ball. So that's where I think the Broncos have to be better this season, is making plays on the ball, especially in the vertical passing game. It's hard. It's hard when you have an ultra-aggressive defense. Like, you have to take chances. It's like a 50-50 risk-reward type of approach there.

And I know that the Broncos are very strategic in how they produce pressures and things like that. But it is a game. Like you have to also have perfect coverage on a lot of those situations, right? If you're going to send the house, your coverage needs to hold up. But if there's a perfect window, perfect throw or, you know, you face a quarterback that's very good of throwing against the blitz knowing exactly where to go, they have identifiers, offensive players do about, hey, we know the blitz is coming. We know we're getting a cover zero look.

This is our target route right here, right? And sometimes it may be a shot downfield or it just could be an underneath or, you know, they could call a pick play where it frees a guy up underneath. and then you got yards after the catch. So much of it is strategic. And I do think that Denver, while they have the personnel to do it, part of me is wondering if their play-calling approach from Van Gogh, Joseph, is it going to stay just as aggressive here in 2025?

Or are they going to be a little bit more balanced and calculated with, hey, we want to be, we don't necessarily want to showcase that we're going to pressure here. We want to be a disguising unit, which I thought Denver disguised relatively well last year, but it didn't change the aggressive rate that they had last season. So I'm very curious about that. I also think where you look at like a sweet spot. Denver had 15 interceptions last season. And certainly, you know, you want the guy opposite of Pat Sertan to come

with more picks. Pat Sertan, you know, himself, he's a producer. And when it seems to throwing his way, he's coming up with the football, which is nice to see. But I think you need more production from the slot in terms of interceptions. I think you need more production in terms of interceptions at safety. I would rather see the Broncos also add maybe three or three or four additional picks at the inside linebacker position this up. coming season. I think that's going to be key because if it's just coming from your outside players,

that's hard to get those, you know, a large amount of numbers of overall interceptions. I mean, I could think of a guy for the Detroit Lions who consistently generated takeaway after takeaway last season. Brian Branch, middle of the field. Can the Broncos have a guy like Brandon Jones become that? I think Brandon showcased his ability to be a ball hawk. I'm excited to see if that can transition here going forward. But I think of the Broncos can find that balance overall from a play calling standpoint with obviously the guys that they can play man to man, man, coverage. I think Denver can find a way to lead the NFL and interceptions this upcoming season. Broncos country, we want to hear from you. What do you think the Broncos defense has to do this

upcoming season in order to lead the league and interceptions? Make sure you share your thoughts with us here on today's episode, Lockdown Broncos, but we're not done yet. We got a lot to break down here on this Broncos defense, including how the Broncos defense can take that next step to become the number one overall defense in the NFL this upcoming season. You're going to get that and more on today's episode, Locked on Broncos. Broncos country, today's episode. show is brought to you our friends over there. Fandu. And as you all know, Fandu, they're America's number one sports book and summer sports are now in full swing. And whether you're all about baseball under the lights, golf on the green or high stakes soccer action, Fanduil is the best way to make

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If you're new to Fandual, new customers, they can bet just $5 and get $150 in bonus bets if your first bet wins. Open the Fandual app today and visit Fandual.com slash locked on to get started. If the Denver Broncos want to be the number one defense in the NFL this coming season, there are a few things they've got to do better and a few things they've got to fix. We started touching on a couple of them in segment one talking about how, man, they could lead the league in the interceptions if guys made a few more plays on the ball. Easier said than done. But Broncos country, there's some other things this team can do to become that number one

definitive, undisputed champ of the world this year in the NFL as the top defense in the league. We're going to break that down on today's show. and we appreciate you all so much for making us part of your day every single day. Shout out to all of you who are following along on TikTok as well these days where you know your voice, Cody and Sarah, popping up in the algorithm all over the place. Cody, let's talk about what the Broncos defense has to do to take that proverbial next step. Last season, obviously they were the number three overall scoring defense in the NFL, and that was with some pretty substantial collapses down the stretch.

You know, gave up a lot of points against the charge. gave up a lot of points against the Bengals, kind of evened it out by dominating the Chiefs' backups in week 18. But all told, I think this defense was much better in the first half of last season and much more opportunistic in the second half, total collapse against the Cleveland Browns. Total collapse that, you know, up until Jonathan Taylor drops the ball at the goal line against the Indianapolis Colts.

What do you see as being the number one thing that they have to do to take the next step to being the definitive number one defense in the league? this year. I think they've got to find ways to get off the field, you know, early and often. That was a, that was a huge issue for them during that stretch that you were describing against Cleveland, against the Chargers, the Bengals, so on and so forth. The list goes on. They had a very difficult time getting off the field on third down or, you know, specifically, I'd say first down, you're allowing some big plays. But primarily, I think for the Broncos, part of that equation was just being on the field way too much. You know, I think in that

Cleveland game, they were on the field for 70 plus plays. I think the Bengals game, I think it was around 80 plays defensively, if I'm not mistaken. Like, Sarah, that is too much. That's, that's a ridiculous amount of volume to be on the field defensively. It's a lot of snaps to play. And that can wear you down over time. And I think during the stretching which Riley Moss was out and you had the Levi-Wallis debacle and you had just some uncertainty, Vance Joseph alluded to it last season as, you know,

this late in the season, you know, all of our warts are on film. Well, it's like, all right, well, hey, Vince, you got to be the dermatologist. You've got to figure out how to get rid of those warts here. Like, that can't be the excuse. There was a, I just think, an overall lack of execution late last season. I'm not sure if it's because guys are on the field too much, but that certainly does wear on you if you're a defensive player. You're just hoping, you know, you're, let's say it's third and three or third and seven.

And, you know, you've been on the field for already eight plays. And it's like, all right, we need to stop right here. And then 15 yard completion or a big run that, you know, gives them a first down. It's kind of deflating. If you've ever been a defensive player, it just kind of like sucks. the air out of unit. It's like, all right, now we've got to do this. We've got to get stopped for three more downs now. That's going to be a major key here for the Broncos defense this upcoming season. I think if they want to become the number one overall unit, look, they led the

league in sacks last year. We know that. We know what they have to do in order to lead the league in interceptions. But I think primarily their efficiency on third down is going to have be key. And for a large portion of last season, Denver was one of the best third down defenses in the NFL, except those numbers dropped significantly during that brutal stretch down the end stretch of last year. Yeah, and that was when they obviously had the injury to Riley Moss that threw Levi Wallace into the game. And then you had those total breakdowns over the season.

The wear and tear that really where it affected the Broncos the most last year was at linebacker, where they constantly had guys shuffling in, rotating in and out. And it just wasn't healthy for the team, you know, for to, I guess, pun fully intended there. You look at the numbers, like you said, Cody, they were really good for the majority of the season. They were tied for the number one mark in the NFL and scoring percentage per drive defensively, which is percentage of drives ending in an offensive score. That was only 31.6%. I mean, it doesn't get much better than that. Only two other teams had that mark, which was the Vikings and the Philadelphia Eagles. So the Broncos were right there. And when you talk about

average starting field position, that's where I think this defense benefited the most, that bend don't break mentality that eventually, as the season went along, they started to break. And they started to break a little bit. They had the third best starting field position of any defense in the NFL over an 18 game season, which means that they're being set up with long fields to defend, despite the fact that you had the touchback rule, despite the fact that, you know, guys are doing much better these days returning kicks. And the Broncos actually kind of struggled to make plays when they, when the opposing team was returning kicks. So I just think all that adds up to, man, there's different things that, okay, you can kind of see where there might have been holes that they were filling with,

you know, temporary fixes last year. And there's issues that could be filled by the guys who have been brought in. I think to me, Cody, and you can tell me what you thought about this. I was not surprised at all to find out that although the Broncos weren't overly penalized, they gave up 42 first downs by penalty defensively last season, which was the fourth worst in the NFL. That feels like it contributed heavily to. that third down issue that you talked about.

Yeah, and look, it could be something as simple as a legal contact or it could be, you know, an off sides, a difference of five yards, whatever it may be. And then also there's the big ones where maybe you hit a guy too hard and it's unnecessary roughness or there's an inadvertent face mask. That definitely adds up, you know, to keeping drives alive. But I do feel like, Sarah, maybe a comparison between the 2013 Broncos defense and the 24 Broncos defense. It definitely felt like how the offense played,

certainly factored into maybe how the team struggled defensively a lot in 2023, right? Because sometimes they'd turn the ball over and then teams would have great starting field position, whereas the Broncos offense didn't turn the ball over much, but in some games, let's go to the Baltimore Ravens game, you know, for an example, when Lord Jordan Humphrey, you know, tip the pass and it was intercepted, you gave the Ravens starting field position. They ultimately came away, I think, with some points there.

that is you know that that that swings things a little bit in the favor to where like count against the defense negatively but certainly allowing you know the amount of points you allow to the Cleveland Browns there where Denver all of a sudden you know bow next strikes a 93 yard touchdown of Marvin mims and on the very next play jerry judy goes 80 something yards for a touchdown it's like all right what's happening here there are things i think little little bits and pieces of context sprinkled throughout last season that talk about some of the highs and lows of this Broncos defense. I'd say there's some volatility down the stretch there for them in a negative way. But I think that the penalty factor, certainly that's a coaching thing. Sean Payton emphasizes that they got to work on their technique in some of those instances

because I do remember sitting there often at times we're saying, hey, how many penalties are the Broncos going to get? How many times are they going to come close to having 10 penalties in a single game? Like that has been an issue here for the Broncos in Sean Payton's first two years as a head coach. And of course, I think when you play aggressive, the way that Denver's defense does, you're probably going to have a little bit more of a risk of getting penalties, but it's tough. It's tough to imagine.

But when you are extending teams drives because you have a penalty, it can be costly. And it all adds up when it's all said and done. Yeah. And it comes back to just making more plays on the ball instead of grabbing the receiver. I mean, you want these guys to be physical. You want them to be physical downfield. You want them to have the my ball mentality at the catch point.

You just can't get caught. kind of with your pants down out there, you know, caught, you know, making too much, too many times jumping the ball, trying to make a jump on a route, things like that. And then ultimately, you get frustrated over the course of a game. The frustration boils over. There's just not many numbers that indicate, Cody, that, wow, the Broncos defense really struggled here. It really does require us to go back and kind of look at the tail of two halves from last season, the first half of the year, or however many games it was before Riley Moss went down with that injure. and then ultimately kind of what happened as a result of that.

And I think that's really critical for this team when you talk about, okay, we want to see them make more plays on the ball. We want to see them intercept more passes and maybe even get to up to 20 this season, try to lead the league and interceptions. I don't know how many balls were batted at the line of scrimmage. It felt like the Broncos didn't do as great of a job at that either, just sticking your defensive line and stick your hand up in that running lane. They're getting so much pressure.

They're getting so close to the quarterback. I felt like we didn't see it very often where a defensive lineman got his hand up and batted the ball down or tipped it up at the line of scrimmage to create those easy interceptions for the linebackers like you were talking about there. So there's more to the story that meets the eye. When you look at the Broncos numbers last year, how awesome they looked on paper, but how difficult of a time they had with some of the key injuries down the stretch. Well, and that'll be key for them maintaining or sustaining and building an identity become the best defense in the NFL this upcoming season. and health is a big part of that here. And we'll tell you why the Broncos new additions of Talanoa, Hufanga, and Drey Greenlaw

are going to be crucial for the Broncos to ascend to the number one defense this upcoming season. You're going to get that much more on today's episode, locked on Broncos. The offseason proved that the Denver Broncos were going to go out there and make some big additions to help bolster what they believed was already a strength of theirs,

and that was improved in the middle of the field here for the Broncos defensively. Upgrades it inside linebacker, upgrades at the safety position, and they believe everything else around them is intact for the Broncos to become a number one defensive unit here in 2025, but which players outside of the new additions are crucial to their ascension to that point here. We'll break it down on today's show here, Sarah.

I think first and foremost starting off with those key additions, Talenoa, Hufanga, Dre Greenlaw, when healthy, the idea of these guys being plugged into this Broncos defense here with Vance Joseph and the pieces around them at the secondary position, I mean, this has all the makings for the Broncos to ascend to that number one spot when we talk about getting off the field on third down, stopping the run, getting after the quarterback, which was already a strength of theirs, and hopefully takeaways when teams try to target the middle of the field for the Broncos this

upcoming season, I think these are the two most important players we have to talk about now about if Denver's going to ascend to that number one spot, these two new faces are going to be a big part of that. 100%. And it starts with Dre Greenlaw because the Broncos kind of put a lot of chips in the middle of the table with him being their big money free agent at the linebacker position. in an offseason where there was quite a few decent ones, right? I mean, it sounded like there was maybe some preliminary interest in Nick Bolton. I think everybody would have liked to have had a shot to at least talk with Zach Bonn before he resigned with the Eagles.

But ultimately, the Broncos may have gotten the best guy. He just so happens to be arguably the biggest risk at that position, right? And he's already dealing with the pulled quad. And you just can't help but be a little bit worried about the injury history there, at least recent history, right? because Drey Greenlaw was one of the best linebackers in the NFL for like four years before his injury in the Super Bowl against the Chiefs a couple of seasons ago. So to me, Cody, he is the one really big X factor on this defense that ultimately will decide and determine, okay, the Broncos are a, they've graduated to a new level in 2025.

I think when you watch on film Greenlawn, Hufanga, like when you watch the 40s defense and these guys are both on the field, they are near each other. almost every frame of the snap, which is exciting because you want to try to run the ball. They give the Broncos flexibility not to have to go with a heavy package essentially defensively or adding an extra defensive lineman. They don't necessarily need to do that against some of these run heavy teams because they have two guys that are sledgehammers against the run that give them flexibility to cover the pass, but also prevent big runs from happening. That's exciting to me.

I think I agree to I think he's going to be the X factor to that. But while those new additions I think are going to be very crucial here, Sarah. for Denver to take a step forward. I also think maybe the ongoing development of some of the Denver's younger players is going to be big. We've talked a lot about Riley Moss this offseason and a lot of the narratives surrounding him. We talked about it earlier in the show about what the Broncos numbers were for Vance Joseph Colin man coverage, 40% with Riley Moss on the field.

When Riley was not on the field, they called it at 32%. That's a huge statistic. That's a very valuable number to keep into consideration. The Broncos have guys at corner that can play man at an offense. effective rate, right? So if you want to go cover zero, cover one, you want to send the house, you've got the guys that you believe can lock up. And I think that's going to be a very important aspect here. But I think Riley is going to be very crucial this upcoming season for the Broncos defense to continue to ascend here. What are your thoughts on that? Because look, you're playing

opposite of Pastor Tan. You are going to see a large volume of targets. I think for Riley, he's going to have to find a way to create more takeaways himself or just get stops because he was very good at knocking the football away when it's thrown his way. But maybe more interceptions for Riley can be a saving gracio for this Broncos defense. Yeah, Riley Moss really needs to force other teams to say, well, we might have to throw at Pat or Tartan or, you know, at least try to pick on Jada Baron, and in which case I think you're going to find maybe less favorable results even than that. So I think that there's going to be an opportunity there for the Broncos to really force teams to play into their hand defensively.

And Riley Moss is critical to that because he's going to get targeted more than pretty much anybody else. Obviously, you think that teams are going to target in the slot or whoever's the least experienced guy out there. So Barron probably get a lot of attention if he's playing in the slot. But Riley has to make more plays on the ball. And he has to, he has to prove that it's a bad idea to throw it in his direction. And he was on his way towards doing that last year. He made a lot of plays. He looked like he was developing into a pro bowl type of corner before that injury, which derailed him. So I think if he takes that next step, it's going to be huge.

The addition of Hufanga, to me, Cody, he seems like that type of guy that gives you the, it feels like we got 12 guys out there defensively. He just adds that sort of presence. He shrinks the field. He's always around the ball. It just makes it difficult for offenses to get any sort of rhythm going when you have a heat-seeking missile like that out there. And I feel like he and Riley Moss are kind of wired the same way.

They're a C ball, attack ball, go get ball, be aggressive. be physical and do whatever it takes. And I think it's only a matter of time before those turnovers start to pile up. Who are some young players that you maybe have your eye on as well that can help the Broncos ascend? Because look, this is a defense that's returning a large portion of who they had last year. You're returning J.F.M. DJ Jones, Zach Allen, Nick Benito, Jonathan Cooper, Malcolm Roach, Alex Singleton, essentially, who obviously missed a large portion of last year, you know, played well through the first three weeks of the regular season before he suffered the ACL.

everyone's returning on this defense with a couple of new additions. But are there any younger players on defense that you maybe have your eye on that are going to be crucial for Denver to ascend further as well? Because, hey, when Benito, Cooper, or maybe the defensive line, some of these guys come off for a break, these next guys have to step up as well. Yeah, I think that when you look at a guy like Jonah Ellis and his development in year two, it's not one of those things that's really often talked about. Everybody's focuses on Nick Bonito, his contract situation. Jonathan Cooper is established. And then you've got other guys on the defensive line that command way more of the headlines than somebody like Jonah Ellis,

where I don't think anybody sort of really feels right now. Like there's a, there's a lot at stake for him playing exceptionally well this year. So in a way, he's kind of playing with house money out there. And I feel like he's one of those guys that as he grows in his craft, we saw Utah, the guy can be a dominant pass rusher off the edge.

Now can he take that next step in his second NFL season? If he does, it adds another dynamic that's sort of unexpected for this Denver Broncos defense. Last year, great rotational guy, productive in the opportunities he was given. But this year, what if he becomes way more of a factor on a week-to-week basis? That's going to be fascinating to see. I'll even throw Dondre Tielman into that mix as well because I thought that duo together when Benito and Cooper came off, Tillman and Ellis, they were impressive. I mean, there wasn't really a drop-off.

Like these guys are making plays. I mean, for Jonah Ellis to have the impact he did. I know he forced a couple of homes, had some sacks last year. There were times where he even deflected passes down at the line of scrimmage. But Dandre Tielman, five sacks while only playing 29% of Denver's defensive snaps in that rotational role. Dandre's look good this offseason program. Hugh Robinson, who they drafted as well, like when Tillman and Robinson have been in together,

at least in the offseason program, they were generating pressure. They were standouts on a day-to-day basis. Can they do that when the pads come on? Tillman has proven that he can when the pads come on. He was a standout last year in training camp and the preseason, but for a guy like Q Robinson who is drafted here, and maybe the vision for him is primarily special teams as a rookie, or maybe he's going to be an inactive guy for a little bit of time.

This can make things very interesting for the Broncos group here defensively, and I'm excited about that. And maybe some wild cards as well, Drew Sanders. We know there's competition inside linebacker with Drew with Alex Singleton and Justin Sternad, Lavelle Bailey maybe in that mix as well. you have some undrafted guys fighting for a roster spot. I'm excited to see. But I feel like this Broncos defense can be better than they were last year.

But with that said, Sarah, there is a lot of pressure with that. Like they were one of the top units last year. And now the offseason narrative for so many people, I think some outlets is like, this is going to be the best defense in the NFL. With that comes pressure, that outside noise, you can't let that affect how you prepare. You can't just hear like, hey, we're the best defense in the NFL. We have it made. Knowing the Broncos, knowing the guys in the locker,

They're not going to think that way, but I think it's important to pay attention to that narrative from the outside is don't let that just be the defining factor. Go out there and prove that you're the number one defense. Don't go out there and say, hey, we're satisfied with people thinking that we are because what people think and what you really are are two different things. You have to become that. And I think that's going to be very big for the Broncos. It is. You want teams to fear you that that play against you every single week. I think there was some level of that that occurred with the 2015 group, right?

where it didn't matter how bad the offense was playing. That 2015 defense was like, we'll score. We'll score however many times we have to. It started from week one. And I think that they just had that mentality that we're better than you and we know it. It was like the Globo Gym defense of the Broncos had back in 2015. They were better than you and we know it. And they did every single week.

They were just better than everybody for the most part, right? They got the number one seed in the NFL despite basically no support from the offense other than sparks here and there. I think when you have a. but an offense to back you up in a way, it gives you that sort of that edge to really feel like, hey, we can just come out here and do our thing every single week. And I do believe that this group in 2025 is looking at that 2015 group and kind of looking

up to them and saying, hey, we want to be like those guys. We want to have that level of dominance. We want to be able to carve out our legacy like they did. And I think that they're going to take that mentality, Cody. I don't think it's going to be a situation where they just get all high and mighty and believing like, oh, yeah, we're the best in the NFL because clearly, as we've pointed out, there's ways that they can get so much better. And I think they're going to be even more critical on themselves.

And there's a lot of unselfish players inside that defensive room. And with this team, I think that's evident with the culture the Broncos have built. And I think that's going to be very big for them down the stretch here as things go about. But Broncos country, we want to hear your thoughts on today's episode of the show, your thoughts on the Broncos defense of what they need to do to become the number one unit and the National Football League this upcoming season. Thanks to all the everydayers out there. Thanks for making us your first listen, however you choose to do.

So make sure you subscribe or follow. If you haven't done so already, for you every dayers, here's what you can expect on tomorrow's episode of the show. We'll tell you why the Broncos have a culture right now that will make them contenders for the Super Bowl this upcoming season. You can get that much more on tomorrow's episode. Lock on Broncos.