Locked On Broncos - Daily Podcast On The Denver Broncos - Denver Broncos In SEARCH For Offensive Identity | Evan Engram The Key?

Starting point is 00:00:00 The Denver Broncos have an offensive identity problem, and Sean Payton is hoping that a team can find it on Monday night against the Cincinnati Bengals. We'll talk about what that looks like and more 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. Happy Friday, Broncos country.

Starting point is 00:00:27 Welcome into another episode of Lockdown Broncos, your daily Denver Broncos podcast, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network. We're not your team every day. Thank you so much. all the everydayers out there in Broncos country. Thanks for tuning in and making us your first listen. However, you choose to do so. I'm Cody Roark, Broncos reporter for Mile High Sports.

Starting point is 00:00:44 joined, as always, by Sarah Bedinger, site expert over there, predominantly orange. com. We got a lot to break down here on this Friday episode of the show here. We're going to go through the Broncos searching for their offensive identity, something Sean Payton said that they do not have so far three weeks into the season. How can they get there? We'll go through that. Plus, Evan Ingram returned to practice after missing all of last week with a back

Starting point is 00:01:05 injury. How can he up the Broncos offense potentially find that identity? We'll go through that. And Bo Nix, despite missing a couple of shots against the Chargers last week, he plans on slinging the football a little bit more here as the season goes about. You get all that here on today's episode of the show. Sarah, my friend, look, no game for us on Sunday. We get the Monday preview that's coming up Monday night football. So we're still in practice mode. The Broncos had their first practice of the week on Thursday. And we got to hear from head coach Sean Peyton, one of the things he talked about was acknowledging that the Broncos don't have an offensive identity.

Starting point is 00:01:39 I felt that was very interesting for him to come out there and acknowledge at least publicly. But, I mean, once again, it's not a surprise. We all saw it. Yeah, right now it's early in the season. You're trying to find what's your bread and butter. You and I have talked about that. How many times have we mentioned that? The Broncos offense right now just doesn't have a bread and butter to really lean on something

Starting point is 00:01:57 that they can say, hey, any given drive, we can do this. And we know that we're going to be able to get something going at any time. offense in the NFL struggles, but not every offense in the NFL, even this early in the season, not every offense is struggling to find something that they can, you know, have, be a consistent, you know, sort of baseline for them and everything that they do. And that's where the Broncos offense is struggling. New pieces, obviously, you got a new running back duo and J.K. Dobbins and R.J. Harvey. You've obviously got Evan Engram, who we will talk about more as this show goes along. Got some new players at receiver also stepping up and maybe renewed confidence.

Starting point is 00:02:34 and people like Marvin Mims on the offensive side. So, yeah, you're trying to figure out a way to make all of this work all at once. And you and I have talked about that. It's like, okay, we may just need to find the most consistent guys in this offense and let them be the ones that everything flows through instead of trying to get everybody involved right away. What's been crazy about this, too, is really the core, the nucleus of this offense has returned from last year, right?

Starting point is 00:02:59 You're talking QB, your offensive line, some role players at Tide-in like Adam Trouten. being one of those examples there, your wide receivers, the new additions, you talk about, you know, a rookie here and obviously Pat Bryant and a veteran in Trent Sherfield, but largely this team is returning a lot of key pieces, but you mention those new faces, right? And I think if you look at it on paper, they're all presumable upgrades over what the Broncos had last year. So I think that's why fans are frustrated. I think they're confused as to why this offense hasn't looked better. It hasn't even looked like the offense we saw last year that was steadily improving, Sarah.

Starting point is 00:03:35 Like we thought, like, all this experience and what the Broncos built off of last year, it would carry over into, you know, immediate success to start the season. Unfortunately, it hasn't been that. That's because of the identity here. But here's what Sean Payton had to say about the team not having their identity. Yeah.

Starting point is 00:03:50 Yeah. Yeah. And I think we've evaluated, that's a great question relative to where we are. And so it's important. And I think this sums it up. is to say, hey, this is an identity relative to running and throwing the ball. This is our identity. And I would say we've yet to establish that clearly for anyone watching ourselves. And so that's us as coaches.

Starting point is 00:04:18 And I wonder what his plan is to change that perception, right? Because obviously right now, we don't know what the Broncos want to be in terms of, you called this out early in the week, Cody. I thought it was a great call out. Just run some gap schemes for your running game and get these guys. guys into the A, the B or whatever, you know, just, just make it simple. Simplify things so that you can do the small things right without trying to put all this window dressing on things. We know the Broncos, they don't really use a lot of pre-snap motion

Starting point is 00:04:46 even. So they don't have a bread and butter even without all the dressing before plays. Like they don't, there's, there's just, that's the source of everyone's frustration right now is that like it's not even the fact that pre-snap is overly complicated. It's everything post-snap. There's so many different moving parts, so many personnel changes, and no game flow because of penalties. Penalties have killed this team's ability to have any sort of bread and butter. So it's not just scheme or play calling. I think a lot of it has to do with this untimely mistakes, really having missed opportunities in there, and then maybe a little bit too much of personnel shifting.

Starting point is 00:05:23 I want to ask you your thoughts on this too. Before Sean answered that one thing he was asked about is, you know, when things aren't going, Do you have things that you feel like you can fall back on? And he said, yeah, we do. I'm curious to what that may be. But also at the same time here, my question to you is, so far through three games, I felt like the indie game, I felt like was actually pretty good for the offensive line. But I feel like the offensive line as a whole, that unit has kind of taken a step back this year.

Starting point is 00:05:49 And part of me thinks it's because they introduced the outside zone scheme, the wide zone scheme, which look, it's like, all right, you're adding that wrinkle into a mix of what you're already doing. But the thing with that, anyone who's coached offensive line or is coach running backs or, you know, knows the X's knows the game a little bit, they're going to under, they're going to tell you as well. The outside zone scheme is very, very hard to coach because you really have to have, I think, the right guys for it because it's all about getting to a landmark. It's about getting to a specific angle to block and to seal defenders off. And if you're stretching it wide, right, your running back is looking for that cutback lane. Well, if your interior guys aren't getting to their landmark, you're getting backside penetration there. there is no cutback, and that's why you see one-yard gains or minus two-yard plays.

Starting point is 00:06:32 I definitely think the offensive line is thinking a lot more, and they've kind of taken a step back, and even Quinn Miner's a little bit has struggled a little bit. I'd say so far early on in the season, what are your thoughts on this? Do you think that that's kind of attributed to maybe the struggles that this offense has had so far through three weeks? Yeah, I think the offensive line has, you know, I don't want to say they were overrated going into the year because I think they played well last year and even the year before that, But I do think that you see these metrics that are coming out saying the Broncos have the number one pass blocking O line in the league.

Starting point is 00:07:03 And they've got this and that run blocking offensive line. And I just don't, I don't know that I agree with any. I don't know where these grades are coming from, Cody, because we saw this offensive line get blown up by Jeffrey Simmons and Tavondre sweat in week one. Even the tight or the, yeah, the Titans rookie edge guy, number seven. I can't remember who he was, but he made a bunch of plays in that game. We saw the Colts obviously winning the line of scrimmage plenty against this offense. And then in week three, of course, the Chargers, I mean, they really dictated that entire game. Nine first downs from the Broncos offense.

Starting point is 00:07:35 You want to tell me, even in a small sample that a team that had nine first downs in a game has the best anything offensive line in the NFL. I just, I don't agree with that. I don't think that anything that we've seen our eye test would say the offensive line has been lights out this year. And we want them to be like, I get it. Like you measure some of that stuff by how many pressures certain guys are credited with allowing or this, that, and the other. I understand how they arrive at some of these things. But I just don't think that what we've seen in games is indicative of the Broncos, for instance, they have a top 10 rushing attack this year, right? Have they had a top 10 run blocking?

Starting point is 00:08:15 I mean, what were we talking about in the third game of the season, the Chargers? Just last weekend, we're talking about Sean Payton going into halftime, ticked off. He's talking about negative plays. like way too many negative plays, way too many negative plays. That's the offensive line. You're getting bullied up front. Bonix can't convert a fourth and one quarterback sneak against the Titans because the old line's getting bullied.

Starting point is 00:08:36 This kind of stuff is what leads me to believe that maybe there's a total disconnect with these advanced metrics and what's actually happening on the field. I think it's a valid claim there. And look, you know, you talk about top 10 and rushing. I mean, that's really only just because RJ Harvey Harvey sprung off the 50-yard run against the Titans. JK had a 19-yard touchdown run, and then JK had that big 40-plus-R run last week.

Starting point is 00:08:59 Aside from that, you look at the overall statistical ranks. You take those away. The Broncos are bottom five when you talk about rushing efficiency. That right there is scary to me. It's like a couple of big runs can skew the data a little bit. So the Broncos got to get that going. Here's what Sean Payton had to say, though, about getting the offensive identity together and hopefully soon.

Starting point is 00:09:19 I think it's down. I think soon. Soon. Would you like to be further along? Yeah, sure, sure, yeah. Yeah, absolutely. You can just tell he's not worried about it at all. And I know he made a joke, too, in that press conference, Cody,

Starting point is 00:09:32 about how, you know, he was asked about his September record versus his October record. And he's like, we can call this like an honorary October game, right? I love that, you know, the confidence right there because they're not worried about anything. They know they've got the personnel and they know they've got the scheme. It's now just about making things consistent. Well, speaking of scheme and personnel, the Bronel. Broncos hopefully can get a boost from the tight-end position with the return of Evan Egram. He was back at practice. We'll talk about how he can help this Broncos offense find their

Starting point is 00:10:01 identity here on today's episode of the show. This episode is brought to you by Square. Your favorite neighborhood spots run on square. There are certain businesses that truly make the neighborhood feel like home, whether it's the local sports bar that's packed on game days, the coffee shop that knows your order by heart or the corner deli that's been serving your community for decades. These are the places that bring people together. And when neighborhood businesses thrive, The whole neighborhood thrives. Shake Shack is my go-to. You can find one almost everywhere, every corner in the city of Denver.

Starting point is 00:10:29 It's always one of my game day favorites, especially just to grab a burger. My wife and I, we actually had Shake Shack last night. For Thursday night, football, we ordered it, and I'll tell you what, it always delivers clutch, taste, especially gourmet burgers, the best in the business here. And Square is a proud partner of more than 4 million neighborhood businesses around the world, including ShakeShack. You can go to square.com slash go slash locked on NFL to learn more. but before you do, go support your favorite neighborhood spot.

Starting point is 00:10:55 You'll be happy you did. Square, see you in the neighborhood. Today's episode, Lockdown Broncos is also brought to you by friends over there at DoorDash. It's almost the weekend and it's time to look back and crown this week's MVP on who delivered, powered by DoorDash, just like you can win every Saturday with DoorDash streaks, saving more every time you order. These players delivered when it mattered most, let's break it down last week, even though the Broncos defense lost late in that game, gave up a couple of big plays.

Starting point is 00:11:20 Broncos outside linebacker, Nick Benito, delivered in a big way with the two sacks that he had on Justin Herbert. And when the pressure was on, he was delivering pressure on that Chargers offensive line. No hesitation, no delay. And if you've been watching week after week, this performance from Nick Benito, it wasn't a fluke. Nick Benito is on a streak. And just like Benito delivered for the Denver Broncos this past week, DoorDash delivers your Saturdays with DoorDash streaks. You save every Saturday that you order. Stack it up all season.

Starting point is 00:11:48 and you can save up to $250, including $100 in DoorDash credits. Order this Saturday, keep the streak alive, fuel your game day only with DoorDash. Terms apply. Promal period through November 18th. Evan Ingram is back for the Denver Broncos returning to practice in full on Thursday. His return to the offensive lineup renews some optimism that the Denver Broncos need to get him going here early in the 2025 season Broncos country. We're going to talk about Evan Ingram's return to the practice field. and much more on today's episode.

Starting point is 00:12:20 But before we go any further, I want to say thank you to all of you that make lockdown Broncos your first listen of the day every single day. If you haven't already done so, hit subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts, as well as on YouTube. Cody, let's talk about Evan Ingram returning to practice.

Starting point is 00:12:34 I think for those like me that care about this stuff, I loved seeing the video footage of Evan out there, rocking the blue helmet, knowing that the team's going to be wearing blue jerseys this week. I know you and I haven't got a chance to talk about that, but that will be a first for this. mile high collection is the blue jerseys the blue helmet evan ingram rocking it all i don't know for sure what color pants are going to be wearing it seems like it could be white though so we might get a brand new

Starting point is 00:12:59 overall look for this team as far as these i i love the uniforms cody i know we don't talk a lot about that stuff on the show you know how much i love the uniforms though but at any rate it was great to see evan out there running around at practice not even limited in any shape or form out there with a full designation on Thursday's practice. And he, apparently, from what I understand, he looked good out there. Yeah, he looks like he's ready to rock and roll. Should be able to go on Monday night football here. And look, I think this is going to be part of the larger conversation.

Starting point is 00:13:31 We just talked about Sean Payton saying that the Broncos need to figure out what their offensive identity is. So much of it, Sarah, and I truly feel this. And no disrespect to guys like Lucas Crowell or Adam Troutman. But the Broncos have no element of the passing attack. with those guys in there right now. You know, Crowell, I think, caught that terrific bounce pass that got tipped up in the air. Great heads up played by him. But we've seen some issues where Crowl is seemingly getting confused by what the defense is

Starting point is 00:13:58 throwing out there. So if it's zone, there's times where you got week one where Bo's like stop, stop, stop, like you've got to stop and sit there before you run into the coverage there. And then there was that miscommunication on the Broncos first drive against the Chargers last week where it didn't seem like he and Bo were on the same page on where they needed to connect there. I think having Evan Ingram back in the mix is going to be very crucial here. But Sarah, I also think we can't ignore the fact that so far, even when the games when Evan played,

Starting point is 00:14:25 the Broncos and Sean Payton have not utilized him in the way that I think we have envisioned. We've talked about that. We've called on that. Sean Payton did say initially that it's just it takes time to get where Evan needs to be essentially in this Joker role that he's talking about here. But I also think at the same time, like you can't wait for the perfect opportunity to present itself. you need to at least go to him. Evan is a guy, Sarah, and I see it every day in practice when I watch the guy. He's fast, he's athletic.

Starting point is 00:14:52 He can win those one-on-one matchups against inside linebackers. So why don't we start trying to get the ball to Evan Ingram Moore? I think he can be one of those facilitators that certainly can open things up here for the offense. If the tight end is not present here in Sean Peyton's offense, Sarah, it is so one-dimensional. And I think everybody who has watched a game can see that. Now, the Broncos have been searching for that for three years. And it's crazy that the offense has done some of the things that they have without a reliable tight end that could be a consistent downfield threat, a matchup threat.

Starting point is 00:15:23 Once again, no offense to Adam Troutman. Adam is not that type of guy. Adam is a possession tight end, in my opinion. And I think he's a good blocker. But, man, they really have to find a way to use Evan Ingram to unlock this identity that they are searching for. Yeah. And him being hurt last week and coming back this week is, like I said, it renews a bit of optimism. Okay, like the first two games, six targets, four receptions, the two missed targets were near

Starting point is 00:15:49 interceptions because they were trying to force feed him the ball on quick out routes in which the defensive backs read it like a book. I mean, it was all too predictable. And where we really want to see Evan impact the game is over the middle of the field, that play in the preseason, I can't remember who they were going up against if it was the 49ers or whoever, but that one play where he took the ball over the middle of the field and then turns up the sideline for a huge game. I mean, that's exactly what we all anticipated and envisioned when Evan Ingram was signed,

Starting point is 00:16:19 is a guy who can take a short passing play with a full head of steam and gain a bunch of yards after the catch because he is an athletic mismatch. And I would love to see him get a higher volume with targets overall, Cody, but really just let's make, let's make this week easy E week. Come on, that's what we need to see. We need to see somebody like Evan Ingram go out there and just be that easy button for this Denver offense. you know that other guys are going to command attention.

Starting point is 00:16:45 Cortland Sutton's going to command attention. The Bengals after last year, I know it's a different defensive coordinator. Marvin Mim is going to capture a lot of attention for them. And the first three weeks have shown anything, Troy Franklin's going to catch a lot of attention as well because the Broncos have forced the ball into his hands a number of times. So Evan has a real chance here to do something special against this kind of defense where you feel like, man, didn't get off to the start we wanted.

Starting point is 00:17:10 We didn't get him as involved as we wanted. wipe it all the way, flush it down the toilet, whatever you got to do, go get Evan Ingram involved this week, especially if he's feeling it out there on the practice field. Yeah, and I'll say his return will be a welcome addition because I agree with you. You know, you can't just come out stationary the way that the offense certainly has here. Find a way early on. I mean, even if it's just a couple, not the outsare, but like let's say, you know, he's lined up in the slot or he's lined up offset, not in line with his hand in the dirt. find a way to just run him on a sit route. Get four or five yards.

Starting point is 00:17:43 Like imagine that on first down. You know, if you can isolate that matchup, maybe against a smaller nickel defender. I'm very curious to see how much the Bengals play nickel or dime personnel this week, considering they may try to replicate some of the stuff the Chargers did. Granted, it's hard to do because they don't have guys like Derwin James or Diane Henley that can make those things work for them. And I certainly don't believe they have the defensive front that can do what the Chargers

Starting point is 00:18:07 defense did to Denver's offensive line. But there are so many things here that I think have to go right for this Broncos offense that are we going to see Sean Payton and this team come out and keep it simple, stupid. Like that's the same thing. The Kiss method, it's worked many of times, simplify things, and then you can start to add onto those wrinkles there. I think that's going to be a very big key this week here for this Broncos team. I think if Denver's going to have success going forward, because look, you've got the Bengals

Starting point is 00:18:32 on Monday night, Eagles next Sunday, London game against the Jets. You come back against the Giants and then you have the Cowboys. boys, you have to find a way to get this offensive identity clicking sooner rather than later, because this is right here, even without Joe Burrow, this is the toughest part of the Broncos schedule for the remainder of the season. And my humble, honest opinion, I don't know how you feel about that, but that's where I'm kind of laying my cards. Yeah, what's crazy is I think that if you look at it, I think the Broncos have four

Starting point is 00:19:01 games left with teams. I know that's so early in the season. So take this with a grain of salt. But I believe they have four games left against teams. with winning records right now. So the Bengals are one of them. And I think the Eagles are obviously the next one. So then you have the Chargers as a third.

Starting point is 00:19:16 So right now where the Broncos schedule is at, yeah, you have to look at this as an opportunity to really get a full head of steam going into the fall here. And I love that the opportunity is being presented with Evan Ingram because I feel like he's going to make everybody better on this Denver Broncos offense. If he can get going, it opens up the running game because whenever he's on the field, you can't just stack the box and assume that, well, it's going to be a whatever. You're going to create lighter boxes if you can start getting Evan Ingram going.

Starting point is 00:19:48 You're going to create favorable matchups for your other receivers if you can get Evan Ingram going. You're going to draw people into the middle of the field and open up things over the top if you can get Evan Ingram going. So that right there, Cody, maybe that's the underlying hint that Sean Payton is giving in conjunction with Evan coming back and saying, hey, we want to find a that bread and butter sooner than later. Maybe that is Evan Ingram.

Starting point is 00:20:12 And I know that may seem like hyperbole because, you know, Evan was the big offseason addition and things like that. But to me, that position in this offense just opens up everything else for everybody else. And he's got to be the guy to go out there and make it happen. You talk about bread and butter. Can Evan be the knife that spreads the butter on the bread potentially, right? You look at all those like just how other teams utilize their tight ends. And I find it laughable a little bit that Denver hasn't been able to get to that point just yet.

Starting point is 00:20:41 I mean, it almost seems like it could make everything easier for you if you do it. But there's, I don't know if there's this non-commitment level like emphasis by Sean to get it going or if it's just, hey, we're not there yet. But commit to it. I guarantee you it'll make the process easier all across the board for all those things that you mentioned. Broncos country, let's know your thoughts here on Evan Ingram's return and what you hope to see from him here on Monday night football here. But coming up next, Broncos, quarterback, Bo Nix, despite having a couple of overthrows in Sunday's loss to the charters. His plan is to keep on slinging it.

Starting point is 00:21:13 We'll talk about that and more. We'll hear from Bo here on today's episode of the show. Today's episode is brought to you by our friends over there at Mazda. And Mazda, they craft cars for those who do more than simply move. From footwork to breath work, athletes sweat all the details. And Mazda brings the same intention to how we craft every model. You can feel Japanese craftsmanship in every detail from metallic accents to available Napa, leather upholstery and you can make everyday drives feel like anything but from smooth handling

Starting point is 00:21:40 to intuitive controls with all-wheel drive standard in every crossover SUV. You can drive with confidence through almost any season. Like our players, we sweat every detail because when you make every move count, impossible becomes irrelevant. Mazda, move and be moved. Bo Nix's confidence surely isn't shaking after Sunday's tough performance. He was very reflective this week as the Broncos prepare for a Monday night football showdown against the Cincinnati Bengals and a defense that has a safety in Jordan Battle,

Starting point is 00:22:10 who's snagged two interceptions so far the season. The Broncos have to be calculated with their passing game this week, and hopefully the run game can follow suit. But if you ask Broncos quarterback Bo Nix about how he's going to approach those deep balls here, he's going to keep slinging it. I felt like we learned a lot from him. Sarah, let's go to Bo where he talked about Sean Payton, like, you know, Sean this week doubled down and said, you know, I've got his back.

Starting point is 00:22:33 Like, we're not talking about overcoaching on. on a couple of throws that were outstretched on the fingertips. He said that his placement is good, obviously just a little bit too far on those instances we saw against the Los Angeles Chargers. But Bo had a lot to say about Sean having confidence in him despite that. Well, I love it. That's, you know, the name of the game. You just keep making the next play, keep throwing it.

Starting point is 00:22:56 You know, you don't want to be, you know, afraid of failure. Don't want to be afraid of missing. You just go out there and shoot the shot and, you know, we'll hit him. Cody, I love his mindset of mortality. When it comes to this whole ordeal right now, it feels like I know that wins and losses are at stake here, right? I understand that everybody wants to see Bo become an MVP candidate as soon as possible. And you want to move on to the next alternative if you feel like your heart is going to be broken at some point. So you'd rather just move on now, have your heart broken down the line.

Starting point is 00:23:29 I get that. But when it comes to the way that quarterback in today's NFL get evaluated, it's such a disappointment to me. It really is. I mean, you and I have to go through the spiel every single week, defending Bo Nix for missing throws that went off the finger. I mean, Sean Payton talked about that at his pressure as well, that he's like, we're talking about throws that went off guys' fingers. I mean, we're not talking about you missed by, we're not talking about you can't hit the broad side of a bar. And we're talking about you hit, you hit the fingertips. You got to go try again. And that's the thing that I dislike about the

Starting point is 00:24:03 whole discourse with Bo Nix and quarterback development in today's like look at look at all these guys who were given up on around the league that teams probably would be kicking themselves guys who lost jobs over making draft picks like Sam Darnold who's crushing it with the Seattle Seahawks and crushed it last year with the Minnesota Vikings how many stories the stories like that Daniel Jones those stories are so much more common now so just let Bo Nix develop man I don't We can't, these guys are not afforded time to develop because we need it now. I need it now. I want it now.

Starting point is 00:24:40 It's the worst part. It's the worst part about, I think, social media because look, if Twitter was around when John Elway was a rookie, I guarantee you fans would have ran him off as well. And I don't buy the narrative. You know, fans are always talking about Josh Allen should have been in Denver Bronco. I mean, seeing how fans talk about Bo and talk about quarterback development, they would have never let Josh Allen develop here either. I also think the conversation, Sarah, it's a little.

Starting point is 00:25:02 little frustrating to me because I always ask, do people watch other games around the NFL? Like, have you watched three of Kansas City's games this year where Patrick Mahomes has overthrown receivers? We're talking about he's overthrown guys by several feet at times trying to go downfield. Are we going to go back to the same game here against the Charters where Sarah, I mean, how many deep shots did we see Justin Herbert try to make downfield where he overthrew guys? But because the Chargers won, nobody is talking about that. Because the Broncos lost, every throw gets put under a magnifying glass. And so I think it's unfair.

Starting point is 00:25:35 Like if you look at the actual game itself, folks, like you see this all around the NFL. It's nothing that's earth shatternally concerning at this point. We're not talking about Bo Nix throwing like Tim Tebow for crying out loud. That's, I think, where my frustration kind of came in on the whole discourse this week. And you see all the people already given up on Bo Nix. Look, some people have already made up their mind. So be it.

Starting point is 00:25:55 Some people have already said the season is over. Like, I don't know how many comments we've gotten. We're like, all right, the season's over. Well, guess what? Don't comment. I don't want to see a comment from these people that are already saying the season is done with right now. Turn off the games. Don't watch another Broncos game all season long.

Starting point is 00:26:10 Like if you're going to keep that same energy, at least stick with it. Have the dignity to do just that. I just, it's frustrating to me, Sarah, because social media, and I understand, everyone's got an opinion. I respect that. But sometimes the dumbest opinions get the magnified the most. Sometimes the dumbest opinions are the loudest people in the world. is so frustrating because you really can't have nuanced conversation like that anymore. Like you don't get that like we used to do like at school coming back, you know,

Starting point is 00:26:38 over the week and you go to school, you talk to all your friends. There's nuanced conversation at least. You don't get that anymore because of this thing called social media. It's a blessing. It's a curse. I love obviously the platform. I love the community we have. But my goodness, some days it has me not even wanted to like, I don't want to respond to comments sometimes.

Starting point is 00:26:54 Just come like, man, like I don't want to say that this person's take is dumb. And I've had plenty of dumb takes too. I'm not saying that I'm not susceptible to doing that, but I think that we lack nuance in these discussions these days. It's reactionary, instant gratification. I think even the commentary with Riley Moss is a spot-on example of the same exact thing that we're talking about here with Bo Nix. It really is.

Starting point is 00:27:16 I mean, you're writing guys off for no good reason, really. That's what it comes down to. And so there's, I think, ample reason not to write Bo Nix off at this point. Over a 20-game sample, because he just started his 20th game. not including the playoff loss to the bills last year, Cody. Over a 20 game sample, Bo Nix is the best quarterback the Broncos have ever drafted. I know including John Elway in these numbers. I mean, when you break down every single number, when you break down everything,

Starting point is 00:27:45 and I know context is different, different eras in the NFL, all these sorts of things. Games harder today, I think. The game is, the game is harder today. And I think that's 100% true. I think playing the quarterback position, especially the microscope that you're under. I mean, there was better. security back in the day. There's no question about it. When Jay Cutler was drafted by Mike Shanahan, Jay Cutler's job security was, I mean, ironclad as long as Shanahan was in the

Starting point is 00:28:09 building because Shannon would love them. So I just think that when you talk about these things that are, that we're seeing in real time, it's so difficult to see the forest for the trees because you want to focus in on these missed throws. And they were off the fingertips. And some could argue as we watch other breakdowns and we see your breakdowns, Cody, could you lay out for these passes? I mean, Coralyn Sutton did. It still wasn't good enough. Could Marvin Mims have laid out?

Starting point is 00:28:36 I mean, you can ask these questions, and I don't think it's unfair either to criticize Bo Nix. I think that's the thing that lost in this is that you and I have criticized Bo plenty on this show, but at the same time, I don't think you throw the baby out with the bathwater. You can criticize a game. You can criticize throws.

Starting point is 00:28:54 You can criticize decisions without saying, is he for sure the guy? Because right now, he's for sure the guy. This is Peyton's ship that he's going down on. So there's no sense in being miserable for the next handful of years or at least a couple of years here. He ain't going to be cut this off season. He ain't going to be traded this. He's going to be the starting quarterback in 2026.

Starting point is 00:29:16 No question about it, Cody. So I just think that it's interesting that we have to write the guy off after a couple of misthrows in a tight one-score game. like this. Have people seeing how bad college quarterback play is really? Like you don't see those prototypical guys anymore. Like even guys who had the best college football seasons even last year. Like think about Will Howard and the success he had. Will Howard is not even in the conversation of ever starting in the national football

Starting point is 00:29:41 league. Like that's where we're at. Like some people are like, oh, the next college quarterback is going to be the great. Here's one last thing I wanted to touch on this in terms of like offensive identity. I thought Bo Nix had a great touch and a great kind of plant his flag moment on why the team is trying to find their identity, where they're at. with that and maybe some of the circumstances that have impacted them. Here's what Nick's had to say.

Starting point is 00:29:59 Well, I think with, you know, you look at our offseason acquisitions, the guys that we got, we're still trying to fit them into our scheme, find out, you know, where we are as a team. But, you know, we still have an identity up front. You know, they're going to keep the guys off of me. We're going to be able to, you know, not stay in long yards because of sacks. We're going to complete passes. Cortland's going to have good games. And, you know, those other guys as they continue to grow, they're going to be able to

Starting point is 00:30:25 going to find their rhythm. And I'm going to continue, you know, after, you know, just 20-something games I've played, going to continue to get better and better and see things well. And then, you know, we're going to continue to find the rhythm and the, you know, the plays that we like, the scheme that we want to fall back on. But, you know, it takes about, you know, three or four weeks, you know, each season, you're always looking around unless you have the same exact team with the same exact coaches. And even with an identity, you know, it's important to have. It's important to use and be able to fall back on that, but the defense also knows, you know, what you're good at. So at the end of the day, you're going to have to change a little bit,

Starting point is 00:31:04 you know, year by year. So much changing every single week here. And Bo Nix put it right there, Cody. I think that obviously it's still early, both in his career and the season. So let's see if they can build some steam. I think they can do that. I think they can get people back on their side. You know, it feels like it's, oh, you lose a couple of games like this early in the season. The expectations were not met. It's tough for everybody. I get it. But I love the perspective from the starting QB there. Well, you take care of business on Monday night football. And let's say somehow the Broncos go in and beat the defending Super Bowl champions. All of a sudden, the narrative, the conversation shifts a lot in the Broncos. They're in control of their destiny.

Starting point is 00:31:40 Broncos country, enjoy your NFL Sunday with Denver playing on Monday night football. You can enjoy red zone like myself, my wife, Sarah and his family. You're going to get all that. And then on Monday, you're going to get an extensive game preview. Sarah and I, we're going to share our players to watch on offense, defense, and our keys to that'll lead you right up into kickoff Monday night football what they say at Broncos country we'll see you next time for another episode of the show

Locked On Broncos - Daily Podcast On The Denver Broncos - Denver Broncos In SEARCH For Offensive Identity | Evan Engram The Key?

There aren't comments yet for this episode. Click on any sentence in the transcript to leave a comment.