Locked On Broncos - Daily Podcast On The Denver Broncos - Denver Broncos FINALIZE Day 3 NFL Draft | BOOST Special Teams Depth

Starting point is 00:00:00 The Denver Broncos significantly upgraded their special teams on day three of the 2025 NFL draft. Plus, Sean Payton might have found his next Jimmy Graham with his last pick of the day. We'll have that and much more coming up next for you 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. The Denver Broncos closed out their 2025 NFL draft. class with a couple of sleeper picks, some players who can help right away, but not necessarily in the way that a lot of Denver Broncos fans envisioned this team attacking the draft

Starting point is 00:00:46 even on day three. The Broncos, once again, going away from offensive playmakers early on and focusing instead on special teams. The Broncos made three picks on day three of the 2025 NFL draft, rounding out of class that ended up being seven players after all of the moving around the Broncos picks, changing hands a number of times, but certainly a polarizing draft class. Cody and I are going to have a full episode breaking down the entire class on tomorrow's show. So you don't want to miss that. Hit subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts as well as on YouTube over there. And shout out to all of you who are already everyday listeners of lockdown Broncos,

Starting point is 00:01:25 mile high salute to you for rocking with us all throughout this year's draft season. And Broncos country, it's an exciting time, obviously, to be. part of the fan base because the Broncos, they made the playoffs last year. They won 10 games last year. And there's definitely going to be a lot more pressure to build the team when you are winning games, especially when you've just found a quarterback. But the Broncos are kind of building around Bow Nicks differently than just giving him playmakers. They started things on Saturday in round four when everybody's hoping for a tight end, another running back. You'll get another receiver even. The Broncos went after a pass rusher and special teams ace in Q Robinson, formerly of Alabama.

Starting point is 00:02:11 His season was cut short last year at Alabama due to an arm injury that he suffered with four games left. So he missed the final four games, but there's a lot of really good hype surrounding this pick. As I know a lot of folks thought that this could be one of the steals of the draft. Just played over 300 snaps at the college level. a lot of talent there off the edge at Alabama and kind of got buried on the depth chart. But this is a very athletic guy at 6'5, 241 pounds, 33 plus inch arms. I mean, just an athletic specimen when you look at him. And he not only can rush the passer, which he had some really good flashes.

Starting point is 00:02:50 If you watch some of what he did last season, not only can he rush the pastor a little bit, but he is an elite special teams player, a good friend of mine named Nick. he pointed out to me that Nick Saban had once said that this guy is the best special teams player, basically that he's ever had at Alabama. And so the Broncos are getting somebody that I think this is kind of a hat tip to Darren Rizzy, the special teams coordinator. And this is a player who's probably going to play a pretty substantial role for you in that phase. And don't forget, the Broncos and every NFL team are going to be dealing with a lot more kickoffs this coming season.

Starting point is 00:03:25 And so you need to have guys that are big, that are athletic, that can go. make plays in that phase of the game because you're going to probably at least double, if not more, the amount of kickoff returns that you're going to have to defend against this year being that the touchbacks now come out to the 35 instead of the 30. Teams are going to take their chances that their guys can go make plays on special teams. And this guy gives the Broncos the opportunity to do just that. A former four-star prospect, again, if you're going to Alabama, you're probably going to be a big-time prospect.

Starting point is 00:03:56 but where I think people started to really like this guy last year is that he got some time to actually go on the field defensively and prove that he could be something, to prove that he could be an effective pass rusher, big time speed off the edge, athletic freak, definitely got all those traits that you look for, but unrefined as an overall prospect, right? I mean, just over 300 total defensive snaps at the college level. there's not many guys out there that you're evaluating with that low of a sample size. And so it really is a lot about his special teams translation. And believing that in round four, you bought yourself one of the best special teams aces in this draft, right? And somebody who can make a huge impact as a core four guy. The Broncos, we know they've lost a couple of guys this off season.

Starting point is 00:04:46 One of their best special teamers, in fact, in Tremont Smith. The response to losing Tremont Smith was signing the wide receiver, right? Trent Sherfield. Now you add another upgraded player. I do believe what's interesting this year in the NFL, we could see a shift in how many edge players teams keep, how many linebackers overall teams keep because of that kickoff situation, right? You could see a lot of teams maybe sacrificing in not just, not necessarily the defensive backfield, but probably the defensive line or other areas of the roster in order to be able to keep an extra guy out there on. the defensive front seven, whether it's an edge guy or a linebacker,

Starting point is 00:05:28 somebody who can really be effective in special teams at shutting down those kickoff returns, that's going to be essential. And I think this guy's going to play a pretty big role. Now, in terms of his edge rushing development, what's fascinating about the pick from that vantage point is we know, Nick Benito, he's in a contract year. Jonah Ellis, he ended the season last year with a shoulder injury and actually came to Denver with a shoulder injury.

Starting point is 00:05:53 So is that worth monitoring going forward? We know the Broncos really like those guys and we'll see how much they like Nick Benito, whether he gets a contract extension or not. But Jonathan Cooper, he's locked in with a three-year contract extension. Dondray Tillman is back this year as an exclusive rights-free agent, which basically means that this is kind of a, you know, prove it year for him as well to see if he sticks in the rotation in Denver. Wouldn't be surprised if Q Robinson ends up getting a little bit more. run than people think because we already know in the NFL preseason, that's the time for

Starting point is 00:06:27 pass rushers to really shine. You're going up against backup offensive linemen. You're going up against quarterbacks who their internal clock is not processing as fast as other starting quarterbacks in the NFL. Past rushers in the preseason get put in the spotlight and get the opportunity to shine better than most. So I actually like this pick for the Denver Broncos. I'm just as much as everybody really wanting to see the Broncos add more and more playmakers. And you kind of get fixated on who did they pass on at this pick. I don't mind the Broncos going with an edge player here because of his ability on special teams, because the pass rush is something that you can never have enough of. You're always dealing with injuries at these positions.

Starting point is 00:07:10 You always need guys to step into the rotation and you can never have too many guys that can win one-on-one matchups off the edge. So Q Robinson, very, very interesting pick for the Denver Broncos, but he wasn't the only substantial special teams guy that they added on day three of the 2025 NFL draft. After moving down with the final pick in the sixth round of the 2025 NFL draft, the Denver Broncos selected a punter. They got the punter out of Florida, Jeremy Croshaw.

Starting point is 00:07:42 We're going to be talking about him and much more coming up next on today's episode. episode Locked on Broncos. Today's episode of Lockdown Broncos is brought to you by Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K. Did you know that your fire TV is also an Xbox? You can turn any TV into your gaming and entertainment hub with Fire TV Stick 4K devices and no console is required. Just grab your paired controller, subscribe or sign into Xbox GamePass Ultimate with EA Play included, and you are ready to go. You can dive into hundreds of premium titles, including EA Sports College Football 25, right?

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Starting point is 00:10:44 made some certainly some controversial picks, certainly some polarizing selections. But everybody always seems to love the day three punter. And we're going to break it down on today's show. But thanks, once again, for making us your first listen of the day every single day. You know that your boys, Cody and Sarah, will have you covered all throughout the offseason right here on lockdown Broncos. So hit subscribe if you haven't done so already. This punter for the Denver Broncos, this guy is booming the ball over the last five seasons. for the Florida Gators, came over to the Florida Gators program from Australia where he was a

Starting point is 00:11:16 rugby player and the guy's just been booming the ball ever since. George Payton said after the draft that this was the number one punter on their board. The Broncos had offered Riley Dixon and a free agent contract earlier this offseason. He decided instead to go to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Broncos are kind of left without a date to the dance in terms of their punter situation. So they kind of got backed into this corner a little bit. They did sign punter Matthew Hock earlier this offseason. He has some history with special teams coordinator, Darren Rizzy.

Starting point is 00:11:51 But the Broncos actually privately worked out the punter from Florida, whose name is Jeremy Croshaw. He is an Australian native, and he's a big dude, six foot four at the punter position. And from everything that we're hearing about this guy, he absolutely can boom the ball. Andrew Mason, absolute legend in Denver sports media, Broncos media. He said he was at the Senior Bowl this year, and he said that every time this guy kicked the ball,

Starting point is 00:12:17 it sounded like a cannon was firing somewhere. This guy's got a big leg. Hopefully the Broncos finally have somebody that can take advantage of that mile high air. And we know how important the hidden yardage of special teams is to head coach Sean Peyton. And we saw this really became a problem for the Broncos last year. So is it necessarily the worst thing that this team kind of got backed into the corner of having to take their top punter in this draft? I'm not so sure it is. I mean, you'd rather this guy be holding the ball on extra points more than punting, right?

Starting point is 00:12:50 And he said he's very good with holding the ball for extra points. But you certainly need somebody that, hey, when your offense can't get something going or when you need to flip field position, you need somebody that can do that. And having a rookie punter, that's a pressure-packed situation. So, yes, there's risk involved in having a rookie out there for a team that has playoff aspirations, especially because, well, you can't really afford Shanks at the worst possible moment. Just ask Riley Dixon against the Cincinnati Bengals last year or against the Los Angeles Chargers last year. When it looked like he was punting cinder blocks out there, the Broncos can't have that. They need somebody to finally just be consistent.

Starting point is 00:13:30 And Riley Dixon was, I might have called him Riley Moss just a second ago. Somebody let me know in the comments if I'm crazy. But it's the NFL draft weekend. You know what we've barely been sleeping around here. People, you understand the grind of this. But Riley Dixon really struggled at times last season and kind of in moments for the Denver Broncos, didn't he? I mean, it was unfortunate to see, but certainly something that, you know, he's maybe been the most consistent punter they have had in a long time. Since Britain, Colquit was the punter back during Super Bowl 50, it's kind of been a revolving door for the Broncos.

Starting point is 00:14:04 They have not been able to figure this out. So, I mean, I guess drafting a guy, that's the second puncher they've drafted in the last 10 years, Riley Dixon being the other. So going to be interesting to see how this guy responds to those pressure-packed situations because you have to be able to win the field position battle when you have the number one defense potentially in the NFL. That's exactly why you invest a draft pick in a punter

Starting point is 00:14:29 is because you believe that even if our offense is struggling to get things going. Even if our offense is struggling to move the chains, our defense is going to be able to get us extra possessions. We need a good punter to flip field position to make sure that our defense is in the most favorable situations possible all throughout the season. And I think that getting this guy helps you do that. That's kind of the vision behind why you draft a punter. It's not because while, you know, what we're flexing because we already have such a good roster that we can draft a punter. I think this was one of the more underrated needs the Denver Broncos had. You don't want to put it to chance saying, hey, we're going to let this guy fall to the seventh,

Starting point is 00:15:08 or we're going to let him fall to undrafted free agency. If he's your best punter on the board, and if you have a draftable grade on him, especially, you go and make that move. And obviously, the Broncos did their research on this guy before the draft. But one player who it's tough to get any research done on is the seventh round tight end out of Utah that the Denver Broncos brought in Caleb Loner. Now, remember last year, Denver Broncos. Broncos, they go in the seventh round.

Starting point is 00:15:35 They take this guy named Devon Bailey that nobody really knew about going into the draft, unless you're a Utah Uts fan, in which case, shout out to you. Or if you're a sicko that grades, you know, 350 different guys every year for the draft, and you love the draft that much. Props to you for that. But Caleb Loner is somebody that, I mean, he had four catches last year, barely any snaps played. Why did the Denver Broncos take a shot on this guy? Well, he's a former basketball player, six foot eight.

Starting point is 00:16:04 259 pounds, runs a 4-6-9 in the 40-yard dash, explosive vertical jump, very much so in terms of that athletic mold that you look for at the tight-end position. And it just so happens that all four of his receptions last year for Utah, those were touchdown catches. So kind of interesting when you think about it from that vantage point that this guy was just such a weapon when they got down close to the end zone, they just chucked the ball up and this guy's going to go up and get it. And for the Broncos to draft a player who he did come in.

Starting point is 00:16:37 This is one of the rare cases where the Broncos brought a guy in for a top 30 visit and actually drafted the guy. By the way, Riley Moss and Nick Benito are the only two examples of that that we have in recent years. The Broncos bringing a guy in on a top 30 visit and then drafting them. So maybe I want to chalk that up next year. And we're thinking about those top 30 visits. But this guy, four catches, four touchdowns, six eight, nearly two hundred 60 pounds can jump out of the gym, runs really well, strong hands, obviously playing basketball,

Starting point is 00:17:08 being a rebounder, all those sorts of things. I'm intrigued by this. And I think that Sean Payton, obviously, being the fact that he drafted Jimmy Graham once upon a time, developed him into a pro bowl tight end. I think that's really fascinating. The Broncos also, they've taken a shot on, you know, Julius Thomas back in 2011. That worked out really well for them. And it took a couple years for him to stay on the field.

Starting point is 00:17:32 to injuries and to develop, but he figured it out. And he became a really good NFL tight end. There's plenty of other examples of guys doing this across the spectrum of the league. But certainly when you have the hands-on aspect of Sean Peyton having done this in the past, that adds to the intrigue of a player like this, despite the fact there's not much tape to go off of when you're evaluating. And that does complicate the evaluation, but it can also kind of peak your interest in the seventh round.

Starting point is 00:17:59 I mean, you're throwing darts anyway in the seven-th round. anyway in the seventh round. You're not necessarily trying to say, hey, this guy's got to come in and start for us or we see a starter two years from now. You're kind of looking for the guys that either they can play special teams right away or they have such immense upside that you feel like, man, this guy could be an asset in some way, shape, or form if things go well. Like it's that wild card that you, the lottery ticket, right, so to speak. So I don't mind this. The Caleb loner pick there in seventh round. That really rounded out the Broncos draft class.

Starting point is 00:18:32 And of course, as we're recording even, they're going out and looking at undrafted free agents. We'll kind of figure out maybe who are some of the priority guys that they're looking at there in terms of bringing in players after the draft. But certainly the Broncos, a polarizing draft class indeed. Definitely not everybody's favorite flavor at every turn. But Cody and I are going to discuss on tomorrow's episode why we kind of feel like the Broncos got value all throughout this draft. and certainly they're zinging while everybody else thought they were going to zag.

Starting point is 00:19:01 It's not the most popular strategy, but it's fascinating. And we'll see if it works out for them. We're going to discuss that and much more coming up on tomorrow's episode, Lockdown Broncos.

Locked On Broncos - Daily Podcast On The Denver Broncos - Denver Broncos FINALIZE Day 3 NFL Draft | BOOST Special Teams Depth

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