Locked On Broncos - Daily Podcast On The Denver Broncos - Denver Broncos Don't NEED Cooper Kupp | Broncos WR Room Still STRONG

Episode Date: March 14, 2025

The Denver Broncos offense certainly doesn't need to add Cooper Kupp for Bo Nix, but it would be a luxury. With all signs pointing to Kupp not coming to Denver, how does this impact the vision of the Broncos wide receiver room? Why is Sean Payton confident in the younger players, and does WR become a position the Broncos don't really look at this offseason? 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!BetterhelpDiscover your relationship “green flags” with BetterHelp. Visit betterhelp.com/lockedon today to get 10% off your first month. Monarch MoneyTake control of your finances with Monarch Money. Use code LOCKEDONNFL at monarchmoney.com for 50% off your first year. FanDuelRight now, new customers can get TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS in BONUS BETS when your first FIVE DOLLAR BET WINS! Download the app or head to FANDUEL.COM to get started. Bet with FanDuel—Official Partner of the NBA. 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.

The Denver Broncos might have been in a good position to get Cooper Cup, but even if they miss out, they're still in a good spot here when it comes to the Broncos offense. We'll tell you about the wide receiver room and why Denver's in a good place here on today's episode, Locked on 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, Eric, where you know, It is your team every day for all your Broncos news, content coverage analysis and more. You get that here every single day all year long, including the off season, because for the true fan, there's never an off season.

Thank you so much to all the everydayers out there in Broncos country. Thank you so much for tuning in making us your first listen. However, you choose to do so. And if you're not yet in every day or become one by hitting that subscriber, that follow button. So you never miss out on what's going on with your favorite team, especially as NFL free agency continues on. and we inch one step closer to the NFL draft. I'm Cody Roark, Broncos reporter here from Mile High Sports. Join, as always, by Sarah Bedinger, site expert over there, predominantly orange.com.

We've got a lot to break down here on today's episode of the show for you here. Do the Broncos need another wide receiver? That is a question that we're going to get into, especially if the Broncos do, in fact, miss out on Cooper Cup, where all signs are pointing towards that. We lost Sarah Bedinger, folks. Anyways, the show must go on at this point time. you guys can just look at the ghost of Sarah C-Stars on here.

What passing on a guy like Cooper Cup means for the Broncos current wide receiver group here, and more importantly, even if Denver's going to miss out on Cooper Cup, why are the Broncos in a good enough position to be able to be okay with that? There's a lot of conversation, a lot of dialogue going on on social media right now about what Cup would or would not bring to the table here for the Broncos' offense. But we're going to break all that down here on today's episode of the show. So with that said, Broncos Country, let's get into it right here. You know, first and foremost, all the reports right now about Cooper Cup.

Obviously, last night was something we were going to monitor as it was developing here initially that the Broncos were one of the teams, as reported by Adam Schaefter, as reported by Jordan Schultz. Two people who I actually trust the most when it comes to these conversations, especially when it pertains to the Denver Broncos about having interest in a guy like Cooper Cup. But then again, you know, things can change based on things like financials and money. And one of the things I think that was brought up here is that his asking price may be too. too high. Well, then you get Chase Daniel, who's got really good ties to obviously Sean Payton. He's got ties here to guys like Davis Webb on the Broncos coaching staff saying that the Broncos don't want to pay $14 million per year for Cooper Cup. And that's actually a great point. Like, would you want to spend $14 million per year right now? And I think you have other

pressing needs, right? Like if wide receiver right now was a massive need for Denver, I could maybe see the argument saying, hey, find a way to pay Cooper Cup. If he wants $14 million per year, go ahead and do that. But we all know that the Bronco. his biggest priority are now when it pertains to the offensive side, when it pertains to wide receiver is Cortland Sutton and making sure that they try to lock him up to a long-term deal, or at least to an extension. I don't know if long-term is necessarily the right word here,

but obviously that was something that came out before or after the NFL draft. The Broncos would like to extend Cortland. I know Cortland would love to be back here in the Mile High City, but once again, he's entering the final year of his contract. So that is something we'll have to keep an eye on here as things formulate here, but, you know, as Sarah rejoins the show here after some technical difficulties, just going over the situation here, Sarah, with Broncos country here on today's show about obviously Cooper Cup, the asking price, potentially $14 million per year. And while the Broncos

don't need him, I think he would be a luxury to have inside this offense for, you know, a young quarterback like Bo Nix. And look, going back and even watching the film on Cooper Cup, it had me excited about the possibility. It could still happen, but it's not looking like that's going to be the case here. Yeah, it really doesn't. It feels like things have been trending away from this ever since incidentally. I think it was Jordan Schultz who said the Broncos are definitely in the mix or they're firmly in the mix, something like that. And then everybody gets all excited. And from that point, I mean, that was basically the Cooper Cup era in Denver right there. That was it. It was about as close as it feels like we're going to get to having him as a Bronco. But I think the blow is softened significantly

by the Evan Ingram signing, Cody. If the Broncos hadn't signed Evan Ingram, I feel like losing out on Cooper would be just a detrimental setback to the offseason. Now, obviously, when you talk about missing out in a guy and free agency, what's really interesting to me is that you can say it's missing out, or maybe the Broncos just aren't interested because they apparently had interest from Debo-Samuel's side of things. And Debo had even said, like, hey, I think the Broncos are one of the more up-and-coming teams in the league this coming season.

And it sounds like, according to Adam Schaefter, that, you know, now Cooper Cup had interest in playing for the Broncos. So what a position to be in to potentially pass on two guys that just a couple of years ago were helping their teams to the Super Bowl. And I'm looking through the comments right now, Cody, I'm seeing all these people. Be being zoned out. Can you imagine if I was just like literally not paying attention to you on the show? That would be hilarious. But actually, it would not be. But that was you having too much cups of coffee last night waiting for something to happen.

Yeah, the orb of confusion for the SpongeBob fans out there. But yeah, it's one of those moves that or lack of moves that kind of really seems to have a, it seems to speak loudly to what Sean Payton said to Kay Adams at the scouting combine, which is, I don't know, I think maybe our wide receiver room is better than people think. Well, you know, even to go to Brandon's point here, says, Mims is just like Cups stay with what we got a receiver. I don't know if they're similar at all. I mean, obviously, their roles will be the same to catch passes.

But Marvin Mims, the way that he plays is designed to be speed, you know, get the ball in space. Whereas Cooper Cup, I mean, this is a guy who's a possession receiver, third and short. You need something at the sticks or at the change. He's going to be a reliable guy. Great focus, you know, goes up for contested catches, isn't afraid to catch passes in traffic. Whereas, you know, a guy like Marvin Mims, I don't know if his body's as durable to be able to take a shot. across the middle of the field necessarily in between a safety and a corner. I did a film review on what Cooper Cup would bring to the Broncos offense from Mile

High Sports and I mean, just a different dynamic. And a lot of people are saying Cooper Cup can't separate or anything like that. Cooper Cup's speed is still there. I mean, there was one play in the NFL playoffs, more recent body work here for Cooper Cup, where he motions all the way across the formation. He runs a wheel route. Would have been a touchdown. But Matthew Stafford underthrows him.

And I understand, look, you're going against a Brian Flores defense. they're sending an all-out pressure. But Cooper Cup, I mean, the safety's playing over the top. He's off ball about eight or nine yards and he still gets burnt by Cup. And then Cooper Cup in the playoffs against the Philadelphia Eagles on the left side, runs a little bit of a double move, beats the corner, catches a pass in between obviously the safety of the Eagles. And I think it was Cooper DeGine, if I'm not mistaken, a quarterback.

One of those guys there. And it's just like, all right, where are these narratives coming? Because you got nerd numbers like Warren Sharp. Anyone who listens to that guy, don't. Like seriously, don't. Watch the tape. Use your eyes because what happens is when we see on social media, somebody talking about what a player can or can't do, you see a lot of people parrot talking points. And it's like, wait a minute, just take the time to go watch the guy play.

Cooper Cup still has a lot of good football in the tank. And look, we talk about, you know, security blanket options. I think the signing, as you mentioned there, of Evan Ingram is huge for Denver at the tight end position. And a guy you can move all across the entire field here. He is the Joker. As, you know, a lot of people are saying he's not. He goes out and he confirms it by posting a tweet that, you know, of the Joker there. That's the role that Sean Payton brought him in to be.

Having that at that position helps. And to your point of what Sean Payton said about being very comfortable with all the wide receivers that Denver has, that they are higher on them than most people think, okay, when maybe the issue in Sean's eyes truly is, okay, hey, we have a number one guy that we believe in Cortland Sutton. He's our high volume guy. We love what we've seen with Mims and how he came on the second half of the season. We know what Devon Velae can bring to the table in terms of a big body position.

possession catch type of guy for you. Troy Franklin, a guy who's got Marvin Mim's speed, but has really good size to him. That could be the weapon that the Broncos are looking to really break out. And then you have Evan Ingram as that move around guy. Like Denver is in a better spot right now at the skill player position. I would say today than they were obviously last season, but adding cup to the mix certainly wouldn't hurt the Broncos there. And I think ultimately, wherever he decides to sign and it could still end up being in Denver, but ultimately it just probably price tag at this point knowing that, hey, we got to get an extension done with a guy like Cortland Sutton first

before we go pay another wide receiver, that type of money, which I can't fault the Broncos for looking at it from that standpoint. And, you know, they could have traded for him. Like, in all honesty, they could have traded for him and the Rams would have eaten some of that money, right? And so that's where you get into this discussion of he gets cut by the Rams. A lot of fans were not on board for trading for him. But at the same time, a lot of fans were saying,

all right, let's go for him if he does get cut. And I think it's fair that the Broncos would want him on their terms, right? They have the flexibility to sign him. They have the need on the roster for a veteran wide receiver, as we'll talk about going forward in the show today. But if they really wanted him that desperately, they could have traded for him, which I think is the big takeaway for me is that none of these teams traded for him and his contract. You can redo a contract, right?

I mean, the Houston Texans just did that with Christian Kirk. they traded for him from the Jacksonville Jaguars and they redid his contract opening up a bunch of cap space. Clearly, these teams felt like we want to get Cooper Cup on our terms, which is why I feel like he's still not signed Cody, despite the fact that on Thursday night, Mike Garifolo of NFL Network was like, hey, a decision is going to happen tonight. And I'm like, dude, do you not understand what today is? Like, I'm trying to watch severance. I'm trying to watch Reacher. Like you're trying to tell me that Cooper Cup is signing tonight.

And then he doesn't when I have my laptop sitting open trying to watch my shows. You know, I blame Mike Garifolo for this. This is bull, Cody. But in all seriousness, like if the Broncos wanted Cooper Cup, they could go get him because I feel like he would want to be there. And Adam Schaeffcher said that. Multiple people have said that. So if the price is right, we'll see what happens here because it doesn't seem like anybody's really going up to his asking price at this point in time. And we'll see what the market kind of formulates for a guy like Cooper Cup.

And if anything, I would expect, if I'm giving a bold prediction here live as we're doing this, I would maybe suggest that Cooper Cup's going to announce where he's going to play versus somebody else coming out and doing it. I mean, he was the one that came out and broke the news that, hey, the Rams want to trade me. I imagine he's probably going to come out and break his own news. So we'll see in Broncos country. If it happens to be Denver, you know what that means? You're going to get a breaking news episode. We're going to react to it live as he is here.

But we're going to dive deeper into the Broncos wide receiver room. And we're going to tell you why we believe that even without Cooper Cup, they are in a good spot. what roles will Cortland Sutton, Devon, Valey, Marvin Mims, and those guys play this upcoming season paired alongside Evan Ingram a titan. We'll break that down. And much more on today's episode, Locked on Broncos. Brockos country, you know what time it is. It's the month of March, and it's always fun because, look, you got NFL free agency. You've got the push to the playoffs for the NBA season.

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So visit Fandual.com and get in on the college. troops action. I'll turn along. Once again, fandual.com, America's number one sports book. The Denver Broncos might be in a good spot at the wide receiver position, regardless of what happens with Cooper Cup here in the coming days. We're going to talk about

the wide receiver position in Denver. In a way, maybe Sean Payton was on to something when he told Kay Adams that they like what they have already. On today's episode, Locked on Broncos, Broncos country, you can expect a lot of this kind of instant reaction stuff from Cody and I all offseason long, which is why if you're not

already. You're going to want to subscribe to the show. Take a couple seconds. Hit subscribe if you're listening to the podcast or if you're watching live on YouTube right now and you're one of the people who's not subscribed yet. Hook up your voice, Cody and Sarah, because you know, we got you covered every single day with your favorite team. Let's talk about why passing on Cooper Cup potentially, Cody, obviously we can't speak in absolutes quite yet at this point because at the time of recording, he has not signed anywhere and we don't know what's going to ultimately end up happening. But look, I think that the wide receivers that this team currently has, again, I feel like the Evan Ingram signing, although Evan is not a wide receiver in name.

Say that again. Evan Ingram is not a wide receiver, by the way, nor is he just a tight end. He's the Joker. I was kind of surprised by that, Cody. Maybe we'll have to talk about that in another episode there. The comments on the Evan Ingram Joker episode that everybody's saying, no, he's not a Joker actually. And you and I are like, well, yeah, actually he is. And now we know for a fact, he's sure enough is the Joker. But here's what I think with the wide receiver position. And I want to hear your thoughts on this. I think the Broncos are still a veteran shy of having a complete room. The Trent Sherfield Edition upgrades special teams. I think he gives you five definite guys you go into the roster with next year. But I still think they're missing a veteran. So whether it's Cooper

Cup or somebody else. What do you like about this receiver room? And why do you maybe, why would you maybe argue against that they need another veteran? Yeah, look, I, I love what you're getting from Cortland Sutton. I still think, and I said this probably a month ago here on the show, I said, I think that Cortland is is getting to the point, even though he's getting older in his career, I still think we haven't seen his peak yet. I still think he's got the best football that he's going to play still ahead of him here. And I think this type of offense can kind of rejuvenate him in that sense versus what he experienced with some of the QB inconsistencies. The Broncos have a foundation in place.

And now, as long as he stays healthy, I think Cortland is going to play some of his best football still remaining. Well, two years in a row of high-level football by Cortland with some of the disastrous play that we've seen on the offensive side of the ball. Last year, we saw him be a big reason. The offense, he and Bo Nix took a step in the right direction, 18 touchdowns in two years. That is good. That's the trajectory you want to see with a guy like Cortland.

And you got to take care of that guy, probably a two or three-year extent. extension is something I imagine, maybe even a four-year extension. We see coming up here for the Broncos when it comes to him. But I agree with you. I still think they should add a veteran. But let's talk about the young guys first before we get into maybe what that veteran would look like here. First off, let's start off with Marvin Mims, who really did come on strongly towards the second half of the season last year for this offense. And it was because they just started moving him around and certainly putting him in the backfield at times.

It's like, oh, wait, oh, what's happening here? It's like, you trust Marvin's speed when you match up in situations. let's say you get a cover zero or you get cover one where it's like, hey, we know either an outside linebacker or an inside linebacker is going to be lined up man to man against Marvin. And if we get the perfect look, we know that Marvin's going to break off a big play. I love seeing Marvin just catch that little swing pass out in the flat or even running that wheel and then getting downfield and scoring. Like Marvin's got the ability to catch the ball at two or three yards, get upfield.

We saw that firsthand in that game against the Los Angeles Chargers down the stretch. And then we saw him obviously put. the team on his back with Bo Nix against the Cincinnati Bengals with a couple of those touchdowns right there. Marvin is a guy that you can scheme and do some really fun stuff with, but you have to find a way to where you don't make it as one dimensional, right? And that's where I think you need the emergence of another player. And I think this is where Evan Ingram at the tight end position is going to help because Cortland Sutton on third down, what do we see?

Oh, hey, we're going to bracket cover Cortland if you're an opposing defensive coordinator. We're okay with trying to let these guys who haven't been proven yet beat us. That was the defensive coordinator's game plan there for the Broncos. Now you get a tight end in this position who can go out there and make that type of play. I'm excited about that. You get a guy like Marvin Mims who can obviously use his speed, Troy Franklin with his size. That connection between he and Bonix is eventually going to formulate. And I know that Sean is going to find a way to work Troy Franklin in a lot more.

And I think we saw it in that game against the Buffalo Bills. And then Devon Valey, you know, very under the radar guy, a big body possession type guy. I think we're going to see used downfield a lot more. That's how you can use these guys more. The addition of Ingram opens up opportunities for them, but you are right. Like in the games where maybe those young guys just aren't there yet or the game is not flowing for them,

that's where a veteran would help. That's where a Cooper Cup would help or maybe even a guy like Keenan Allen. Yeah, Keenan Allen. I've seen some in the comments suggest Amari Cooper. I've seen Elijah Moore's name thrown out there. So there's plenty of names out there right now. And look, I feel like although the Broncos are not playing money ball the exact same way as they were last year when you had roughly 90 million,

a little over 89 million in total dead cap because of Russell Wilson and other guys on the roster or not on the roster anymore. You're not playing that level of money ball again this year, but could the wide receiver position in 2025 be similar to the cornerback position in 2024? Remember, we were in the offseason last year and a lot of folks are saying, Broncos need a cornerback. The Broncos need to go sign a veteran cornerback. They need to go sign a starting caliber cornerback.

I mean, last year at this point, it wasn't even unanimous that J-Quan-McMillan was going to be the number one guy at nickel, according to the fans and things like that, Cody. So while I think opinions are all valid at this stage of the game, it's also very possible that Sean Payton and this coaching staff poll, what they did last year with Riley Moss and J-Quan-McMillan at the cornerback position and say, no, like we actually had a second round. great on Troy Franklin.

And obviously they really liked Marvin Mims. They traded up to get him. So they're not just giving up on those scouting reports after one or two years. Like they're going to believe that those guys can still live up to the potential that they believe that they have. And so that's kind of what I'm getting at here is that remember, Riley Moss in his rookie season, he barely played. We barely even saw him on the field at all, like at least with these guys. We saw them on the field last year.

Troy Franklin had the big touchdown in the playoffs, as Bobby just said in the comments. I think, Cody, that there is a real chance. And I tweeted this out. You can check the receipts earlier this year. I think there's a real chance that the Broncos do go with a Riley Moss approach at wide receiver here in 2025. I wouldn't be shocked by that, too. And I also think we're forgetting there's a young under the radar developing guy that has some really good regular season experience already when he was with the New Orleans Saints.

It's an A. T. Perry. A.T. Perry, kind of a little bit of a wild card in that situation here, an unknown. I can tell you from watching him in practice every day this past season that his size, it's fun, six foot five. His speed for his size, pretty fun as well. I mean, he's not as bulky as Cortland Sutton, but man, the guy can move and he's a big body target. Like, I think A.T. Perry is going to come in. He's going to compete for a spot here, which, look, I think if we're looking at from this standpoint, if little Jordan Humphrey is somehow in the mix to return on a one-year deal, which those conversations, from what I know are still very much on the table here for the Broncos. I know that would not be a popular move in the eyes of Broncos country, but you're telling me a guy like A.T. Perry, who's got that size there, wouldn't be a nice little addition if he's going to be getting those reps or something

along the lines that a guy like little Jordan Humphrey was getting. And A.T. Perry is a very good blocker as well. He, you know, he's very committed in that regard. He would be a fun player to keep an eye on here, I think, as things go about. But I would not be shocked at the Broncos say, you know what? We've said it from the very beginning. Look, we value Corlin Sutton. He's a big part of what we want to do.

We love the young guys that we have. We added a Joker that we believe can help. And obviously now the focus goes to running back and whatever that may look like. Denver's offense is drastically better right now on paper than they were last year. And I think that's an exciting development to watch. Do they go out to add that veteran option? It was a very interesting question. Make sure Broncos countries you're tuning in wherever you get your podcast.

You share your thoughts as well. Do you prefer the Broncos to go through and add a veteran wide receiver? Or do you think that they should just run with the, young guys. Make sure you will let us know here. But we're not done yet, Broncos country. We still got a lot to talk about here on today's episode of the show. Sarah Bedinger, myself, we're going to discuss and open it up for Broncos country as well with whether or not wide receiver even needs to become a focal point of what the Broncos look at in the remainder of free agency or even the NFL draft. We'll debate discuss that and much more here on today's

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The fourth quarter action of today's episode, the show is here in Broncos country. We're going to debate and discuss with the Broncos apparently standing pat right now at the wide receiver position, knowing what we know about Cortland Sutton and the potential looming contract extension for him, the investment and the confidence level in the younger wide receivers here and the addition of Evan Ingram at tide end. Should the Broncos focus solely be on running back now or should they still maybe look at adding a wide receiver, whether it be later on in NFL free agency or in the NFL draft, make sure you play along as we're going through today's episode of the show.

Sarah, I wanted to ask you this because I think this is still a conversation that people are having on social media. I've seen a lot of variances on it. If the Broncos miss out on Cooper Cup, right, if he does sign elsewhere and the Broncos are like, hey, the price point is way too high and Denver misses out on adding him to the mix, do you think that the priority should now shift to running back here as the focal point for the Broncos with the NFL draft coming up. What we have heard and what we've seen from a lot of draft analysts out there is that this is

the deepest running back class. Some of them have ever seen in terms of quality backs, what you can get out of it. And certainly there are a handful of names that would be exciting for the Broncos. Or do you still think maybe wide receiver would be on the table for the Broncos, maybe even in the first or second round of the draft when it comes to it? Well, let's make one thing very clear. It's that running back is the much, much bigger need at this point for the roster than is wide receiver. And I think that there's a lot of guys

that the Broncos could add at wide receiver in free agency. And not to say let's just straight up pass on everybody in this draft. But look, you've already got three young guys that you like, Marvin Mims, Troy Franklin, Devon Velae, and you developed A.T. Perry within the system last year.

So there's four guys, four young players already. And then adding a fifth one into the mix would be really interesting. And it would speak to potentially, is the team giving up on somebody going forward. And so I would say running back has the clear priority over everything else at this point.

But does that mean that you take one at 20 overall, right? I mean, that's the big question right now. I think the perspective is going to shift quite a bit, Cody, because Ashton Genti probably off the board within the top eight picks, eight or nine picks. O'Mary and Hampton from North Carolina going to be off the board, in my opinion, between picks 10 and 12, if that's the case with Gentie. And, you know, we've seen surprises happen in the past. I know a lot of folks disagreed with me on that with that take,

but I think things are really trending that direction. So where does that leave the Broncos? Well, as Ricky said there, Trayvion Henderson, we keep on coming back. I've been banging the table for the Ohio State guys for the last couple of weeks, Cody, since the scouting combine took place. I feel like there's so many different backs in this draft, your best option is to just take two. And there's no reason why you shouldn't be doing that

if you're the Denver Broncos in this draft class. And so set yourself up to potentially take, you know, Egbuka from Ohio State or Luther Burden from Missouri or maybe even Matthew Golden from Texas because we know Vance Joseph's brother was on the Texas coaching staff and he's going to have some great intel and insight on all of their stellar prospects this year. But to me, it's running back.

the clear priority. And it's not that receiver. You're just like, ah, disregard. Who cares? Don't worry about receiver round one. I think you could still take one there. But I also don't think, Cody, I don't think you just say, all right, let's back ourself into a corner of taking running back in round one either.

Well, I think Graham made a really good point up above. He brought up the fact that we may not even be having to talk about wide receiver additions if the run game is better in 2025. And I think that's a fantastic point because, you know, so much of this, like Denver's got four young backs right now that they really like in Tyler Badegh, obviously Jalilm McLaughlin, Blake Watson's a very interesting name to watch here. Audrick Estimate, where I don't know how Denver feels about Estimates, Sarah. I mean, it was one of the weirdest developments that we saw last season because he goes through

having a more featured role in those final couple of games of the season where Javante kind takes the backseat, third down passing situations for past pro purposes, and then Estimates all of a sudden made inactive. That to me was really weird. And I understand. Look, Tyler Badegh, he's got flash, he's got spring, and we certainly saw that in the preseason. We saw that early on in the regular season before a scary injury. But for me, I think the Broncos, if they can find the solution here at running back,

and I think going younger is the way to go. I think this is where the youth movement should be of any position right now on the offensive side of the ball. I would be okay with the Broncos taking two backs. Look, there was one year where they took two Ohio State guys at linebacker and Barron Browning and Jonathan Cooper. I would not be opposed if the Broncos suddenly double-dip at running back from these Ohio State guys with Judkins and obviously Trayvion-Henderson. This is a fun class to watch. But I wanted to ask you this question as well because it kind of pertains to we know Evan Ingram is the Joker. But let's say the Broncos go out there and get a guy like a Trayvion Anderson who has Joker traits to him.

For the Broncos, we would have two guys who can maybe play that Joker role out of maybe different looks, one at a tight-end position, one at a running-back position. To me, I think that secretly is that secret. sauce that Sean Payton alluded to here in his end of the year press conference. Look, it's hard to find jokers. Like George Peyton and then we're stressing out about it, talking to us at the NFL combine. But if Denver suddenly has two guys who can do the Joker stuff, that changes everything here for this offense.

I'm pretty sure if you buy a deck of cards, Cody, there's always two jokers in the deck of cards. I'm pretty sure that's the case. I'm old enough to have played card games, by the way. Shout out to anybody else who's listening. That's played card games in the past. but look, I feel like I completely agree. I think that this is a situation to where you don't back yourself into any particular

corners in the draft. Don't marry yourself to any prospect. And I would encourage even those in the comments right now, Cody, that you see, don't, don't speak in absolutes. I know I'm speaking in an absolute right now. Don't speak in absolutes about players who will or won't be available because you're setting yourself up for massive disappointment. Like I saw a mock draft just a couple of words.

it was two weeks ago, more than two weeks ago from Daniel Jeremiah at NFL.com who has Travion Henderson going like 24th to the Minnesota Vikings in the first round. So like don't, don't marry yourself to the idea that Trayvion Henderson, he's going to be there at 51 overall, you know, like we have no freaking clue if he's going to be there at 51 overall. So don't marry yourself to that idea. And with any prospect, right, especially Omerian Hampton at 20. Like, I'm not saying he's definitely going to be off the board by 20. But what I'm saying is, is don't hinge your NFL draft hopes on him being there at 20.

I mean, there's never any real predictability when it comes to the draft beyond the first maybe two or three picks. You just have no clue what's going to happen. So that's what I would caution right now is to say, let's not get married to the idea that certain guys are going, like this guy for sure. Like, you can't take him at 20. he's going to be there at 51. Well, what if he goes at pick 50? What if he goes at pick 48? Like, I just think that's so funny that we speak in those absolutes.

But look, it's a great draft class at positions of need and the Broncos are set to take advantage. You want to know what creates that, that problem? Mock drafts. Machraff machines. And we fuel the machine. You know, like Broncos country knows how I feel. I like to wait as long as possible to do mock drafts just because it's like it is a fun exercise. Is it, you know, you can look and maybe talk yourselves into prospects.

I think it gives everybody a chance, ourselves as analysts included, to, okay, hey, let's see how the board falls. Let's learn more about this player. Okay, okay, how does this player plug and play? Like, it's a fun game from that standpoint. But obviously, when people follow the mock draft machines a little too much, when the draft is playing out, people are like, wait a minute, why is he going there? I think the Detroit lines with what they did with Jemir Gibbs essentially saying, hey, we believe in our scouting process. here. We know this player has explosive traits, obviously ridiculous. Sarah, Jimir Gibbs is a true joker when you talk about the Detroit Lions offense.

But it's like, I do think we're going to start to see maybe the narrative surrounding drafting running backs in round one start to change. If you have an absolute belief that, hey, this player can help us with something we don't have right away. I think teams are going to start going back to them more. And certainly the Detroit Lions are a great example that. I think the Broncos had turned into a great example of trust in their gut and going with the guys they feel like can have an impact. So we'll see where they decide to do. But look, Broncos Country until it is over, the Cup watch is still on. We'll have you covered here every step of the way.

Lockdown Broncos if Cooper Cup somehow lands with the Broncos, you'll get a breaking news episode. If he doesn't, we've already talked about why the Broncos are okay if that's not the case here. But with that said, Broncos Country, that'll wrap up today's episode of the show. We appreciate everyone of you out there here in Broncos Country. All the everydayers, thanks for making us your first listen. If you're not yet in everydayer, subscribe or follow so you never miss out. on what is going on. One of the things that we have in store for you as well,

yes, folks, we did promise it after NFL free agency, really that major wave there. We're going to start looking at some. You heard it here first. Mock draft Monday. Sarah Bedinger is going to have you cover with a mock draft here as well, and you're going to have a chance to have your mock drafts featured here exclusively on the show as well.

We'll go through and we'll select some of the best ones to include on Monday here. But with that said, Brockos Country, appreciate you. Happy Friday. Enjoy the rest of your day. And as always, stay tuned here. Locked on Broncos. for all your Broncos news coverage content analysis and more.