Locked On Broncos - Daily Podcast On The Denver Broncos - Denver Broncos LOVE Current WR Room | Evaluating RB, DL Ahead of 2025 NFL Draft

Starting point is 00:00:00 Denver Broncos head coach Sean Payton is higher on the team's wide receiver room than most people think. But when it comes to the NFL draft, he said they won't bypass a crystal just because they need a blender. We'll tell you what that means. And much more on today's episode, Lockdown Broncos. You are Locked on Broncos, your daily Denver Broncos podcast, part of the Locked on Podcast Network, your team every day. Hey there, hi there, ho there. What's up, everyone. Welcome into another episode, Lockdown Broncos, your daily Denver Broncos podcast, part of the Lockedon.

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Starting point is 00:00:55 button wherever you get your podcast. And you'll never miss out on what's going on with your favorite team. I'm your host, as always Cody Roark, Broncos reporter from our high sports. And I'm Sarah Bedinger. co-host as well as the site expert over there at predominantly orange.com. Together you get the best Broncos podcast and coverage out there on the entire pod sphere here. In Brockos country, we heard from George Payton. We heard from Sean Payton in their annual pre-draft press conference.

Starting point is 00:01:18 We'll go through and we'll talk about why Sean Payton believes the wide receiver room the team already has is in a good position. But they won't pass on going out there and bypassing a crystal, even if they need a blender at other positions. What does that even mean? We'll dive deep into that here. But we'll also dive into why the Broncos really believe that this year's running back in defensive line class contain a lot of valuable depth that could be good additions to the team here going forward. And then we'll obviously share our key takeaways from the Broncos pre-draft press conference, including some insight into why the Broncos hold top 30 visits.

Starting point is 00:01:51 You'll get all that much more here on today's episode of the show. So, Sarah, look, we heard from George Payton. We heard from Sean Payton, obviously on Thursday afternoon for their pre-draft press conference, just a week away from all the action. And I felt like we got a lot of good information, a lot of good insight into their thought process on where the current team is at, how they build this team around Bow Nix. And part of that is it's multifaceted, you know, building a better team around Bo Nix or painting a better team, a picture about what that team is going to look like around Bo. It's not just on the offensive side of the ball. It's who you have on the defensive side of the ball.

Starting point is 00:02:24 But as we've been talking about wide receiver, Sean Payton, you know, confirmed that the team, they're very high on the wide receiver room that they currently. have, but they're open to even adding to that room. Yeah, I heard you ask a really great question in the presser, Cody. So shout out to you for that one. And obviously, the wide receiver position is going to be one that's in focus because, well, last year it wasn't all that good for the Denver Broncos. It was rough. It was really rough in the early portion of the season where Marvin Mims wasn't contributing

Starting point is 00:02:53 as much. Devon Valle had the ribs injury. Troy Franklin was inactive. I mean, the first half of the season, it was really bad. And I think that the Broncos, as you look at and kind of just to, you know, spoiler alert a little bit on the comment that Sean Payton made, he talked about the year two jump for certain guys. Talked about the year two jump for Marvin Mims and what they're excited about for

Starting point is 00:03:14 Devon Velae and Troy Franklin feels like a little bit of that year to jump. I know this is not exactly right, but kind of started last year for Troy and Devon, I think in a big way. You know, there was a clear before and after for those guys. I can't help but wonder, as we're getting closer and closer to the NFL drafts, Cody, is this all smoking mirrors from Sean Payton? Or is he being genuine? Because even going back to his interview with Kay Adams, he seemed to be pretty content with

Starting point is 00:03:46 he's been, I mean, he's been driving this bus for a few months now at this point of saying, like, yeah, we're, we like our young receivers. We like our young receivers. That has been a message that's been put out there almost as much as anything else this off season. Yeah. I mean, it could be smoking mirrors. You know, Sean had said, you know, we're not going to bypass a crystal, so to speak,

Starting point is 00:04:07 just because we need a blender. You know, you can look at it, you know, multitude of ways there, but, you know, more so like what is missing from that wide receiver room? And it seems like there are traits there that, you know, guys like Devon Veil and Troy Franklin and even A.T. Perry, you didn't mention Perry specifically, but they believe they have some guys on the roster wide receiver that have some of the tools that they feel like will help the offense going even further. and Sean even went to the lengths of talking about

Starting point is 00:04:31 and going back to when it was being asked about like adding weapons here for Bo Nix. It's not necessarily just the wider receiver. He said, I think the one thing is. And he said, I said this when we drafted Bo was that the strongest allies you could have for a young quarterback is a strong running game and a good defense. Well, the Broncos on paper, they have a really good defense. Can they get that strong run game going for context on the wide receiver position?

Starting point is 00:04:51 Here's what Sean had to say during Thursday's pre-draft press conference. We drafted two receivers last year. And the good news is after their first year, man, we really like their progress. And we certainly see, just take Marvin for a second from year one to year two. We saw the returnability, and we saw certainly glimpses in his rookie year. More production, obviously, in his second year. Troy, you know, the same way came in, pick things up. you know, Cortland is such a positive role model and leader for these guys.

Starting point is 00:05:35 Bailey, you know, and I haven't even hit on all of these guys, just relative to our overall depth, we're going to add numbers to the position when you look at it and what we take to training camp, now whether that's through the draft or free agency. but I would say we're happy with the two we selected a year ago, the one we selected two years ago, and the guys that are already here. Now, if one of those players arrives in a round where we're looking at it, and that's the trick to this, I mean, you can target guys sometimes.

Starting point is 00:06:19 we're all guilty of really liking a player and then trying to and then but let's not bypass the crystal for a blender if we need a blender yeah i think that that's a good philosophy to take right in the NFL draft you you want to go after the best bang for your buck right that's what he's saying we don't want to pass up the crystal just because you need a blender like yeah we have these needs on the roster right now but this player is way higher on our board and that's the dilemma that you oftentimes face with these draft classes. And so I don't know, Cody, even after listening to that statement that he just made and the, I don't know if you want to call it word vomit, that's not very, that's not right.

Starting point is 00:07:00 But, you know, similar type of deal there, it feels like he's trying to say, basically he's trying to make it seem like they're okay in that spot. And I don't know what that means. I don't know, like I said, I don't know if he's being genuine. I don't know if it's smoking mirrors. and I think that's part of the achievement of that comment right there is that you can't really tell what they want to do at that position based on what he said. Yeah, and also goes back to like, let's go to that second year jump that, you know,

Starting point is 00:07:28 he was alluding to here once again. Maybe there is this level of confidence inside from Sean and from George because, you know, when they take a player initially, there's a vision, right? There's a year one vision. There's a year two. There's a year three vision. Obviously, we'll get to a question a little bit later on that they answered about looking at guys who like day two, day three prospects potentially, but who can have an impact right away.

Starting point is 00:07:50 What is, what was the vision for a guy like Velae initially, like when they took him? Like, what is it two years from now? I don't know if their vision for Devon, in a sense, was necessarily, hey, we know that this guy's going to contribute for us right away here. Obviously, they liked his size. They liked obviously his features there. You got to see him early on in rookie mini camp, but they still have Tim Patrick on the roster at that point.

Starting point is 00:08:10 They go through and they sign Josh Reynolds in free agency. So I don't think the expectation was, hey, hey, this guy's going to play right away. You know, in fact, we're in Troy Franklin. They had a round two grade on him initially. He went in round number three to Denver. The way that they view the roster building standpoint, it's like, hey, if this happens right away, like organic, they're not going to force something, right?

Starting point is 00:08:30 But they're going to try to work it into what they want to do. And I think certainly towards the end of the season, we saw that with Troy Franklin. We saw that with Devon Valle a little bit. And we certainly saw more of that come to fruition with Marvin Mims. Is there a confidence inside here from Sean Payton? and the team that says, hey, we believe that that year two jump is going to happen quicker than maybe we anticipate. You know, sometimes it could be a year three jump, but they think it's going to happen a little bit earlier. The Broncos, it would be a gamble.

Starting point is 00:08:57 Wouldn't you say if they did have that approach and they didn't add to it? Like they said, they're going to add to it, whether it be free agency or the draft. But if it's kind of those are the primary guys, the guys that they end up adding are more so undrafted guys for training camp bodies. That would definitely be a gamble in my opinion here. Yeah, I'd be surprised. if they really went into this draft saying like, no, we've got that at home. You know, we, we're good at home with that.

Starting point is 00:09:21 We don't need to get anything else. We don't need to get any better at that position. I just can't, that's hard for me to stomach at this point based on what we saw. Now, I get that there's progression, there's player progression, and the team does have specific vision for guys and they want to get guys playing time. I get that. And so I just would be very surprised if they came away, or if they,

Starting point is 00:09:42 if they entered this draft process, saying, yeah, we're good at wide receiver. Like, we don't need to look even as early as round one. I know that was kind of a hot button issue there when you and I brought that up on a couple of episodes of the show ago, just really talking through that thought process there, there's a large sect of Broncos country that does believe the team is good with what we've got at home, right? With the young players that they've got already.

Starting point is 00:10:08 So I'm interested to find out what come the NFL draft if the Broncos actually. believe that. Like that will be one of the, you talk about diamonds and blenders. I mean, that will be very interesting. If they pass up on a mecca egg buca, Matthew Golden or Tett McMillan, if they're all sitting there at 20 overall, if you pass on all of those guys, man, that will speak volumes to the players that you have on the roster. And how they feel about it too. And I think obviously, you know, what Sean said, had a, had a glowing endorsement once again of Cortland Sutton, who we know those contract talks have gone really well and are expected to go really well. Cortland is expected to sign a deal sometime after the NFL draft timeline to be determined

Starting point is 00:10:49 as to like when that actually happens. But all signs point to Cortland Sutton finishing his career as a member of the Denver Broncos, which I'm not opposed to. I like that a lot here. But Broncos country, we're not done yet. Sean Payton, George Payton, share their thoughts on what they believe is a deep running back class. What exactly are they looking for and what stands out about these backs in this year's draft

Starting point is 00:11:08 class? We'll break that down and much more on today's episode, Lockdown Broncos. Today's episode, Lockdown Broncos is brought to you by friends over there at Upwork. And scaling your business requires the right experience at the right time. And with Upwork, you can find specialized freelancers in marketing, development, design, and more experts who are ready to help take your business to the next level. And Upwork gives businesses flexibility by connecting them with top freelance talent across multiple industries, including IT, AI, web development, and marketing. So whether you need extra hands for a project or a long-term partner, Upwork makes hiring simple and affordable. Plus, it's important to find the right talent.

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Starting point is 00:12:27 Because obviously, they've talked about it plenty. We've talked about it plenty. We're all ready to find out who's going to be getting the rock from Bo Nix this year. So what did Sean Payton and George Payton have to say about that at their pre-draft presser. Well, we're going to tell you exactly that on today's episode, Locked on Broncos. And hey, Broncos Country, appreciate every single one of you so much for tuning in every single day here on the show. If you're not already an everyday listener, go ahead, take a couple seconds, become one. Hit subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts,

Starting point is 00:12:56 as well as over there on YouTube. Cody, let's talk about this because we've all been kind of eager to find out what's the philosophy on running backs in the draft. I know there was a question asked to Sean Peyton like, you know, what do you think about this perception that you can't take first round running backs? How do you evaluate these guys as past protectors? What do you think of this class overall? They got a lot of different angles of the running back position in this press conference. Yeah. And look, I think, you know, the more glaring one is something that you and I've been touching on really for a long time this off season, which is kind of led into, obviously, if you caught our mock draft that we did for locked on yesterday,

Starting point is 00:13:35 our league-wide mock draft. We ended up with Omerian Hampton running back out of UNC. I mean, knowing what we know now, it would have been Hampton, or we would have been okay with selecting Trevion on Henderson at number 20. But, you know, they acknowledge that this is a very deep class at the running back position. They even through an honorable mention out there that they also feel the same way about interior defensive line. But, you know, there's different types of runners in this draft.

Starting point is 00:13:58 That's what Sean Peyton said. And, you know, there are guys who, you know, were downhill, three down back. There are guys who are also, I think, impact players who can run different routes. You know, they can run to one side of the field, pivot back and get to the other. Like we're talking about different levels of versatility and impact. So I think really it's they have options to choose from now. It really, I think it boils down to.

Starting point is 00:14:19 They said they are going to take a look at the running back position here. But I think so much depends on when does the run on running backs really start? And could the Broncos be the one team that really gets that going, right? Because if we all anticipate Ashton Genti is probably going to be the first guy off the board at six overall to the Las Vegas. Raiders. If that's the case, the next running back taken, I mean, realistically could come by the Broncos at number 20. That could begin the run on things. It's very possible that could happen. And look, and I wouldn't be surprised because I know that not every running back coming out is Sequin Barclay, things like that. But man, it's definitely one of those situations to where you feel

Starting point is 00:14:57 like teams are going to be coveting after that kind of guy, right? And especially after Jen T came out and had that letter that he wrote to teams where he's like, hey, you saw what Sequin just did for the Eagles, you might as well draft the guy that nobody can tackle, right? I love that message being sent from him, really hoping that he doesn't end up with the Raiders, right? Obviously, at this point, that's kind of the one major hope that we have. If he's not going to be a Bronco, just at least, please don't let him go to the Raiders. But I think that, look, when you look at this running back class, George and Sean have both said it a number of times. It's one of the deepest positions in this draft.

Starting point is 00:15:33 Does that mean that you don't have to take one early, though? That's my question here. If you feel like it's a deep position, wouldn't it make sense to say, hey, here's a guy that we believe is on a different tier from the depth of this draft. So we're going to take him early as opposed to saying, no, we're going to get cute with it. And we're going to try to find a guy in rounds three or four. And Sean has done that before, right, with Alvin Camara. But he had a better fail safe back then than they currently have with the Denver Broncos.

Starting point is 00:16:00 Well, you know, another thing, too, and this is kind of my takeaway from sitting there and listening to Sean and George talk. They even talked about how the perception of this year's overall NFL draft is that your round one guys in terms of the top heaviness of, you know, your positions available, blue chip prospects, things like that. They believe that at pick number 20, they can get a player who's graded that could go 10th overall in the draft. So they believe they're going to get a very high value player even if they stay put at 20. Now, obviously, there's the possibility they could always move up if they wanted to. I know that they talked about the week before the drafters' conversations, the week of the draft, there's more serious conversations, and other teams start to call you to see if they can move to where you're at as well.

Starting point is 00:16:42 So there's a lot of options that the Broncos certainly have here. But I feel like they believe that there is a position. I don't know if they gave it away that if they don't get it in round one, that they surely can get it in round number two. That's the vibe that I took away from their press conference. But our good friend, Andrew Mason, I thought he asked a fantastic question about when you're going through and you're looking at day two, day three prospects here and you're trying to evaluate, can this guy play right away or can he play two years, three years down the line? I felt like George Payton had a very interesting response on that. And I know it kind of ties into even some depth here at several positions.

Starting point is 00:17:20 Yeah, we just had a conversation about this. We were talking about some interior delinement. And there's one that's ready to roll. We think, you know, he's ready to play next year. And then there's another one that, man, you may hit on him. And I think it's important that, you know, you go around the room, you talk to the assistant coaches, you talk to the scouts, and what's the vision for this player? Year one, year two, and beyond.

Starting point is 00:17:41 So you have a lot of those discussions. And then you dig into the mental, you know, and the makeup of these players. And do they have the makeup, if they are raw, to take that next step, the work ethic, to take that next step. And so you dig into all these, you get into the analytics, and they help you break a tie, a cluster. So that's kind of how we go about it. I think that's a big reason why they brought in such a high volume of running backs, Cody. I know we're going to talk more about that today as well. But those top 30 visits, the Broncos went heavy at the running back position. Also brought in a couple of guys that could

Starting point is 00:18:11 be in consideration for as what we've been talking about, this strength of the draft in terms of the depth at running back, D-line, tight end. They brought a number of those guys in for those pre-draft visits. And I think George right there even gave us some great insight as to what are they looking at in those guys that they feel like maybe, okay, we wait till day two. We take this guy here. We feel like he can be something for you. And that's where maybe you do shift away from the running back in round one or bust sort

Starting point is 00:18:41 of mentality is to say there's multiple guys on day two that we know we can get that, but we're certain are going to be there for us that we feel can play right away. and they they set themselves apart in whatever meeting we had. So I think that's a huge, huge note from George Payton right there. Well, and I think another thing as well, it just goes to the lengths of how this team has been built in the last couple of years with Sean, like the vision, the overhaul, you know, you've gotten rid of a lot of key pieces. You've gotten rid of some big names in the last couple of years.

Starting point is 00:19:13 And you've completely invested in the youth movement, whereas they were forced to go youth movement last year. But now they found themselves sitting in a position where it's like, wow, we've, we've, we've added this talent here in free agency. We've made our team better on this department. How can we continue to make this team better in return, which will help our quarterback in the offense get even better? It doesn't necessarily have anything to do with just adding to the offense.

Starting point is 00:19:34 It's what pieces can we add that make for favorable situations on, you know, getting off the field on third down, not facing a long field when you do get the ball on the offensive side of the ball. Can we flip the field position with special teams? Like there's all these factors and it's not just this one size fits all answer. it's multifaceted. And I think a way that this philosophy has been kind of created here with George Payton, Sean Payton, and their alignment here, the Broncos, I think at 20 are sitting in a position

Starting point is 00:20:01 where if they want to move up and get a guy, they feel is going to be a game changer for them. They certainly will do that. They're in a position where they don't necessarily have to reach for anything, but they believe that the player they're going to get is going to have an impact for them right away. And their depth options that they have with some of their other picks. They really believe that they have targets. They have exit plans and strategy. Like if a player that they really want is not there, they have is what George said.

Starting point is 00:20:24 They have exit strategies as well to try to figure, okay, what do we do now if the player that we like is now off the board is taken away. I'm excited to see how it's going to play out here, Sarah. It's going to be fun. I know that the Broncos, this draft class specifically, I know last year's was big. This one, I think there's going to be a lot of expectations on. There's going to be a lot of eyes on as to what does this mean about the future of the team? That I think is very exciting. But we're going to get some of our other key takeaways that we have from George and Sean.

Starting point is 00:20:48 presser, including some insight from George as to why they have top 30 visits, what information they're looking for from certain prospects, and could it be a potential tactic by the Broncos that could get them some valuable intel on players they actually do like. We'll break that down. And much more on today's episode, Lockdown Broncos. Today's episode Lockdown Broncos is brought to my friends over there at Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K. And did you know that your Fire TV is also in Xbox?

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Starting point is 00:22:53 and it's the two-minute warning. You've got to drive down field. Lockdown Broncos is the place to be in Clutch Time scenarios. For all your Broncos news, content coverage analysis and more, you get the best Broncos breakdown here on lockdown Broncos. Thanks all the everydayers and first listeners out there in Broncos country. Sarah, kind of wrapping up with some of our final takeaways from George and Sean Peyton's press conference.

Starting point is 00:23:13 You know, a lot of good questions asked. We've dived into wide receiver. We've dived into running. back, you know, overall, I felt like it was an interesting point because everyone always talks about it. I thought Mike Cliss asked a great question with this. Everyone wants to know what top 30 visits are for, right? They're like, oh, like, are these top 30 players? Are these the players that they have ranked on their big board as their top 30?

Starting point is 00:23:32 You know, I think there was a misconception. I think some players certainly could be top players on their board. But George Payton kind of gave a little bit of a formula out saying that, you know, we use these top 30 visits to acquire more information. Here's what he had to say. why we'd bring someone in on a top 30 or why we would, you know, we talk to every player, you know, all the all-star games, the combine, and then, you know, we get through our meetings and maybe there's a player, we just need a little more information on. Maybe can he learn what we're doing mentally?

Starting point is 00:24:00 Maybe he has something off the field we want to dress. Maybe it's someone who didn't go to the combine. We want to bring him in and get a physical so we can draft the player. Maybe we're just trying to recruit a college free agent. So there's a number of reasons why we're bringing players in, why we're talking with the players. You know, you can't have enough. information. And so we're always searching for information, and especially the coaches, you know, those Zooms are really, they're so important. And so, man, just more information we can get,

Starting point is 00:24:27 the better decisions we're going to make. I think when you look at the group of players that was brought in on a top 30 visit, Cody, I think you can kind of glean, okay, so from those reasons that George Payton just gave, why do you bring these guys in on top 30 visits? When you bring in a high volume of running backs that are all supposed to go relatively within the same range, of the draft. Like we're talking Trayvion Henderson, Quinn Sean Judkins, Caleb Johnson, DJ Giddens, all of these guys that the Broncos could realistically consider in the first two rounds. We know how important that pre-draft meeting was last year between Sean Payton and Bo Nix and the coaches that they had, right? Obviously, that wasn't in Denver. They traveled to Oregon for that

Starting point is 00:25:09 to kind of conceal that from the rest of the league. But I think you're getting a similar type of vibe from those guys there saying, hey, can you pick up this level of information? I don't think you're necessarily bringing all those guys that are in the same relative cluster of your potential board or players that you would realistically be considering for your running back one position just to say, hey, you know, we don't have a box checked off with this guy. Remember, the Broncos didn't go to the Ohio State Pro Day. They want to get hands on with these guys. And so I think that that's very interesting to me what he said there about, you want to see if they can handle the information that you're giving them because that's why I think those running backs are brought in exactly can you handle what the what the coaches are throwing at you because you're expecting that guy to come start well look it's the physical traits it's the mental makeup those things are important attributes to NFL teams look at and I think competent NFL franchises that are run well I think those are of higher importance in terms of bringing up do you have the physical traits are you a good teammate do you have that mental makeup that hey when things are going tougher

Starting point is 00:26:13 it's like you have a fumble. Like if you're a running back, you have a fumble, can you shake that off? Because you know you're going to get your butt chewed out by Sean Payton. Can you handle that type of hard coaching? They want to know some of those things. And certainly it's just like, all right, hey, we saw this. We want to be sure.

Starting point is 00:26:26 Also, a top 30 visit could be used to, you know, hey, you played against this guy last year. Tell us a little bit about him. Like what happened there. You know, we looked at, you know, Harrison, obviously of Kentucky, the cornerback who obviously ran a very fast 40-yard dash, potential first round consideration. And you and I immediately after the press conference, I said, hey, Sarah, let's look up. Who did he face in terms of wide receivers?

Starting point is 00:26:49 You know, if you want to get some insight as to like, you know, if you're a corner and you want to learn about a wide receiver, what did you, what did you think of this guy here? Well, you know, he faced off against Luther Burden. He's faced off against Matthew Golden. You know, he saw a wide variety of Texas players like Gunner Helm, Jaden Blue. So you get good insight there. But I felt like one of the more interesting things that was discussed that probably isn't being talked about enough, not necessarily a big. deal, but the fact that they talked about outright that, you know, hey, if there's an Oregon

Starting point is 00:27:16 player that we're watching film on, John's called Boe right then and there and is asked about them. The involvement of saying, hey, we know that there's a player or there's someone here in this building that knows about this prospect, because either they were there, they were a teammate, whatever it may be, it gives us an idea as to what we're going to be getting if we're truly interested in that guy. I found that to be interesting. Yeah, I really like that note as well, where you're consulting the players that you have on your roster. You, Like he said, all types and all forms of information at this time of year are so valuable. I also found it interesting that Sean Payton brought up, Cody, that basically there's no prospect in a given draft that they would throw up on their board and say,

Starting point is 00:27:56 we don't have a three degrees of separation from this guy, right? And that's important because you have coaches who know people that know these players. You're able to evaluate the personal side of things. I was having a conversation with somebody earlier this offseason that made a great point about how. the NIL at the college level now is going to make it much more complicated to find out how much guys want it at the NFL level, right? Do you really love the game? And I think that having coaches, having former teammates that know these guys that can speak

Starting point is 00:28:28 to that fact, what this guy's like in the locker room, does he love the game? What kind of way did he carry himself? I think all of that stuff can make or break potentially a player's standing in the draft him because you might have, okay, this guy's an A plus in terms of athleticism. He's a B plus in terms of on field. We love the tape. We saw a great workout at the scouting combine. But then we went and asked Pat Sartan about how he was like in the Alabama locker

Starting point is 00:28:54 room, you know, and he said, I don't know about that. I don't think. What would you do in that case? Yeah. Sir Tann said that. I mean, would you be like, hmm, that's interesting. You might bring that guy in for a top 30 or you might just say, you know what? We're going to take him out as word.

Starting point is 00:29:09 we're not going to draft this guy. I mean, having that personal, you know, acknowledgement of being able to have guys to say, hey, I know what this guy's like in a locker room. This guy, you know, he works hard in practice. He doesn't. That information is important because when you look at guys, you know, you bring Pat Sertan's name up. I think that's a great example. You ask a guy like Pat, you know, Pat Sertan, your thoughts on, you know, a wide receiver he

Starting point is 00:29:33 covered or, you know, a former teammate there. That review is going to have more weight than I think necessarily. or let's say you have a practice squad guy who went to a school. I don't think that's going to hold as much weight as you would when you factor in your superstar players feedback. That right there. And also you feel like you're including them into some potential big time discussions that allow them to say, hey, you know, I maybe had a hand in that type of, you know,

Starting point is 00:29:56 move that the team makes on draft night or maybe leads to a free agency signing. I know there was a lot of Broncos players, including Bo Nix, we're out there on the recruiting trail and free agency and really pitching some guys to come to Denver. DJ Jones was a big on that train as well. obviously with Tala Noah Hufanga and Dre Greenlaw, which I think is a big reason why DJ decided to come back to the Mile High City. I think all the ties there, it's important to know that. It's a relationship-laden business, you know, really add to its core.

Starting point is 00:30:22 And that's where I think the Broncos, I'm glad that they're in a stable place now because now I think it allows the conversation to be more nuanced. And now we can get a really good tale as to what they decide to do. Okay, was there way? Was there something that they said beforehand that gave an indication of that? Then it allows us to decipher what's real, what's smokescreen, what's not. So I'm excited about it. Broncos country.

Starting point is 00:30:44 We are one week away from the NFL drafting, you know, your boys, Sarah and Cody. We got you covered every single day for everything you need to know about the Denver Broncos. And for all you every dayers, next Monday, obviously to open things up, Sarah Beninger, he's responsible for our mock draft. And did the pre-draft presser swayed Sarah in any way, shape, or form to change maybe where he's going to the 20th overall pick? Tune into Monday's episode for our mock draft Monday. recap and then it's the buildup. Thursday, the NFL draft.

Starting point is 00:31:12 I'll be in Dove Valley at Broncos headquarters there for the draft. You'll get coverage from Sarah and myself all week long here on Lockdown Broncos. We'll see you then.

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