Locked On Broncos - Daily Podcast On The Denver Broncos - Denver Broncos New Offensive Depth HIGHLIGHTS Competition

Episode Date: May 21, 2025

How does the Denver Broncos skill player positions on offense look as OTAs approaches? With Courtland Sutton as the Broncos offense top receiver, how might Pat Bryant, Marvin Mims, Troy Franklin, and Devaughn Vele establish a role for themselves and Sean Payton? Will Audric Estime or RJ Harvey be the primary ball carrier, and who steps up at tight end behind Evan Engram? Cody Roark is a credentialed beat reporter for Mile High Sports and covers the Broncos daily in person. Sayre Bedinger is the site expert for Predominantly Orange. Both bring Broncos Country the most in-depth and objective coverage of the Denver Broncos. WANT MORE DAILY DENVER BRONCOS CONTENT?For all of the latest Denver Broncos news today -- Follow & Subscribe on all Podcast platforms…🎧 https://link.chtbl.com/LOBroncos?sid=YouTube Locked On NFL League-Wide: Every Team, Fantasy, Draft & More🎧 https://linktr.ee/LockedOnNFL Follow on Twitter: @CodyRoarkNFL and @SayreBedingerFollow the show on Twitter: @LockedOnBroncos Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!FanDuelRight now, new customers can get TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS in BONUS BETS when your first FIVE DOLLAR BET WINS! Download the app or head to FANDUEL.COM to get started. Bet with FanDuel—Official Partner of the NBA. Skylight CalendarRight now, Skylight is offering our listeners $30 off their 15 inch Calendars by going to Skylightcal.com/NFL. LinkedInPost your job for free at LinkedIn.com/LOCKEDONNFL. Terms and conditions apply. FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN) Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

As the Denver Broncos prepared for OTAs, we're going to take a deep dive into the depth chart of the skill player positions going into practice next week. We'll break all that down and much more 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. Broncos country, what's happening? Welcome into another episode of Lockdown Broncos, your daily Denver Broncos podcast. part of the Lockdown podcast network where you know what is your team every day for all your Broncos news content coverage analysis and more that you get every single day all year long this is the place to be a special shout out and a mile high salute to everyone in Broncos country all the everydayers out there thanks for tuning in making us your first listen however you choose to do so we appreciate you so much if you're not yet in every dayer it's simple to become one all you got to do is hit that subscribe to that follow button and you're never going to miss out on what's going on with your favorite team i'm cody roark broncos reporter for my mile high sports. And I'm Sarah Bettinger's site expert at predominantly orange.com. And here's what you have in store on today's episode of the show, Broncos Country.

We've got practice next week. Not sure how many practices we're going to be able to access as media. I think we're guaranteed one out of three days there for OTA's mandatory minicamp here in about two and a half, three weeks time. We'll be able to be at every single practice that they have there. But as the Broncos prepare for practice, we're going to go through the depth chart outlook at every player, every position at wide receiver, running back, tied in. What are the established roles here? We'll dive deep into that and much more all on today's episode of the show.

Sarah, my friend, look, we're getting close, man. This is where I get excited because I think the buildup for the season is always the fun part because there's so many questions. There's so many different outlooks as to how the position or how the roster may fall when it becomes time, you know, to make roster cuts at the end of that third and final preseason game. But really right now, it's just that buildup. We don't know what the team is going to look like.

We don't know what the roles are going to essentially look like, but we can play this game where we maybe put a vision board together and see what it looks like here. Let's start off here with wide receiver. I think no question. Cortland Sutton, when we talk about, you know, top of the depth chart, easily Cortland Sutton right now and it's not even questioned. Yeah, it's Cortland Sutton and he is the alpha of that group.

And I think you and I agree he's going to be so much better this year with improved supporting cast around him. Obviously, the Broncos getting a running game, which we'll talk about later on today's episode of the show. That's going to be huge. Having Evan Ingram, who we'll talk about later as well, that'll be huge. But I still feel like there's a level that Cortland Sutton can reach as a player that, yeah, the P word is no longer applicable to a player of his age, right?

The potential, right? But I still think that there's another level of production and really just create. mismatches with his skill set that hasn't been effectively exposed by the Denver Broncos over the course of Cortland's career, that that aspect of his game can still be unlocked. And so I think that while he's kind of a polarizing player, Cody, I mean, I would say up to this point, has Cortland been that true wide receiver one, that ball dominant guy? Like, you know, you put guys in that tier like Justin Jefferson, Devonte Adams, players like that, like Cortland hasn't been that type of guy for Denver, but can he?

be a team leader in targets and be efficient on those targets and not just be a, hey, F it. Cortland Sutton's down there somewhere. We're going to throw it. That's basically what he's been for his NFL career. It's like, you know what? Screw it. He's down there.

That's how we're going to try to get the ball to him. I think there's another level of his game that can still be unlocked. Yeah. Look, and I'm glad that you said it, right? I mean, potential is a word that we always talk about in the NFL when it comes to players. And it's a dangerous word to talk about, but my favorite P word as well is production. And you look at Cortland's production the last two seasons, Sarah, 18 touchdowns, you know, and he's had Russell Wilson throwing in the ball.

He's had Bo Nicks throwing in the ball. When you look at those two, like obviously Russ had a great connection with court, but it was evident that Bow and Rutt, Bow and Court had a far better, like, I'd say, chemistry and more knack of like, hey, this is the guy I can go to no matter what. Whereas Russ was like, hey, Sutton's down there somewhere. I'm going to chuck it down there. He's going to go make a play. You get that dynamic still with Boe, but I think there's just a level of Bo

knowing where Cortland's going to be on certain things. They've got really good chemistry and rapport with one another. That's something that I like to see. I think that is the unquestioned part about it. But really, I know we get into this conversation so much, especially on social media, right? Everyone's talking about wide receiver one, wide receiver two, wide receiver three. I really think that's kind of like a fantasy football buzzword that's really kind of infiltrated the conversation a little bit.

Whereas I look at, okay, hey, who could be a number two wide receiver, right? Not necessarily wide receiver two, so to speak. But who can be that next guy? I think so much of this Broncos offense there is role established versus wide receiver one, wide receiver two, wide receiver three. You look at Cortland, he's that big X. He also can't play that zero. Sean Payton wants his wide receivers not to just specialize as one position. He wants them to be able to move around a little bit.

That way he can isolate certain matchups against different defensive looks there. I look at Cortland Sutton as that big X here. What about the slot? This is where things get a little dicey, right? look at a speed slot, I look at Marvin Mims, you want to look at a big slot. That's where I think Devon Valey comes into the mixture. But I also think Devon Valey, Troy Franklin, and also Pat Bryant, they kind of play that big Z role that I think Sean Payton is also looking for inside his offense. So there's multitude of guys here. That's why I don't think there's really a pecking order outside

of Cortland Sutton because I feel like John will rotate in and isolate different matchups and move guys like Marvin, Franklin, Vele, and Bryant around a lot more than probably Cortland Sutton in terms of role. That's where I think the, you know, the offense kind of expands a little bit to this conversation about the depth chart. Yeah, at the end of the year, we're going to be able to look at, okay, this guy led the team in targets. This guy was second, third, fourth. We're going to be able to look at that. There will be statistical evidence of guys being more involved than others, but we know that Sean Payton is all about playing the chess game. He's all about putting guys out there, like you said,

to create mismatches, guys that, okay, he wants to give you this look, and he's going to do something completely different than what he did last week on film. And he'll feature Devon Veilay in week one of his rookie season as a seventh round pick when nobody's expecting it. And then, you know, the next week, it'll be Cortland Sutton. The next week, it'll be, oh, national tight ends day. Okay, we're going to get, you know, big time plays for our tight ends. That's just kind of how Sean's, I guess, MO is and has been throughout the course of his

coaching career is that, yeah, there's guys that dominate the target share or there's guys that dominate touches at times. But more often than not, he wants everybody to eat. It's kind of like, you know, as we watch the NBA playoffs unfold, you have deep teams like the thunder. I hate to bring them up. I know it's a sensitive topic with a lot of people, but these deep teams that you're like, okay, who's going to be this night? Who's going to be the leading score, right? Who's going to be the person that's stepping up in a big moment? And that's how the Broncos, I think, we can expect them to beat one week it's going to be court another week it's going to be oh marvin mims had a huge he almost had 200 yards that game you know or in franklin valet bryant angram all these guys

they are going to be featured in the passing game so i agree with you when you talk about wide receiver one two three four xyz it's really more about okay this particular week how can sean and the offense exploit whatever defense they're going up against well i think if we look at last year's numbers, Corlin Sutton in terms of target share, snap percentage, he was by far, you know, the guy that had the most volume there. I mean, snap percentage wise, 936 total snaps offensively. That's 85% of the team's offensive snaps last season. Little Jordan Humphrey, who we had so many shows on, we're like, why is this guy getting, you know, more run than some of these other young guys that you have? He had 546 offensive snaps.

That was 50% of the offensive snaps overall for the team, but I find this interesting. Let's go to Devon Valey, who obviously missed some time due to a rib injury that he suffered, ironically, his rookie debut in week one against Seattle Seahawks after he had eight catches on eight targets. He had 447 offensive snaps last year, which is 53%. So he had an uptick more over little Jordan Humphrey. To me, I think that paints an interesting picture. And look, I look at maybe where Devon Valey was at size, straightwise, probably made the most sense that he was going to be the next guy. Because towards the end of the year, he was climbing up that ladder in terms of snaps. but so was Troy Franklin here as well.

Yeah, and that's where I think we have to maybe pause the conversation about wide receiver one, two, three, even a little bit more is because we really didn't get a accurate glimpse last year of, okay, this is exactly what it's going to look like going forward because like you said, Lil Jordan Humphrey took so many snaps last year that obviously he's not on the team anymore. He's with the New York Giants. And so you're going to be replacing his snaps. You're also going to have Evan Ingram kind of reshuffling the deck, so to speak, as the Joker. You know, I know that makes people cringe nowadays, but hey, it is what it is.

It's the role that Sean Payton has in the offense. So we're going to continue to use the term. If people are sensitive over the word Joker, don't even pay attention to sports. Like, my goodness, we get some comments sometimes like, oh, if you guys say Joker one more time, I'm turning it off. Well, turn it off. Everyone in Denver saying it. So there's that. You want to hear something interesting.

And I'm sorry to interrupt you. Go ahead. you're talking about Cortland, Little Jordan, and Devon Valle. All right, Troy Franklin, let's take a look at his offensive snaps last year. 386, 37% of the offensive snaps. Here's what's mind-boggling to me. Marvin Mims, 27% offensive snaps last season, only 297 reps. What is going on with that?

That to me is just a little bit wild. That's where I think you and I were, as much as we talked about, why is little Jordan Humphrey playing last year? We were also talking about why is Marvin Mims not getting? playing time because he's supposed to be taking this second year jump. And then I think at the second half of last season, after the trade deadline, I don't know what the Broncos realistically looked into doing, but it was a clear before and after with Marvin Mims and his involvement before the trade deadline and after the trade deadline. You can go look it up, look up the stats, look up the

snap counts, look up his target share, all those sorts of things. The clear before and after was after the trade deadline. They were like, all right, this guy is so good at returning puns. and returning kicks. He's so good with the ball in space. We have to be more creative in finding ways to get him the ball. And so that's a role that I think it existed in the second half of last season for the Broncos. Now it's going to be there the whole year. And I think that that's so exciting because you're also adding the Joker into the mix

to where we didn't have that on the team last year. A lot of folks wanted to say, well, is Marvin the Joker? Is he that guy? And it's like, no, he's not because he's not a running back or tight end that threat. is the middle of the field. He's a dynamic weapon with the ball in his hands, but it's a different role entirely with those other guys out there. So you have some interesting, I guess, sort of new wrinkles to dream about. It's not, it's not going to be, hey, watch last year's film, and that's exactly what you're going to get this year. I feel like you're almost going to get

bordering a brand new offense. You might have to go back to Saints offensive tape to really see what to expect from the Broncos in 2025. Well, we want to hear your thoughts. Broncos countries on the wide receiver discussion here for the Broncos, the pecking order, the established roles that you have envisioned. Make sure you let us know here on today's episode of show, but we're not done yet. We still have a lot to talk about the running back position. There are a lot of questions, but there are two guys who are unquestioned going into the season. We'll talk about Audrakees and R.J. Harvey and their roles here on today's episode of the show.

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candidates. No wonder why 72% of small businesses say LinkedIn helps them find high quality hires. So post your job for free at LinkedIn.com slash locked on NFL. That's LinkedIn.com slash locked on NFL to post your job for free. Terms and conditions apply. We've got some questions about the running back position in Denver in 2025, but there's two guys on this team. There's no question. They are going to be heavily featured in the offense going forward. But what does that mean for the rest of the competition? Well, that's exactly what we're going to discuss next on today's episode. Lockdown Broncos and Broncos country, we appreciate you all so much for making us part of your day every single day here on the show. And if you're not already an everyday listener, if you're not already making

lockdown Broncos your first list, of the day. Go ahead, take a couple seconds, hit subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts, as well as on YouTube. We appreciate you so much for doing that. And we're going to continue the discussion about the running back position, which is fascinating to me, Cody, because the Broncos added one guy. This is, this going into the off season, I think you and I agreed, beyond tight end, this may have been the most concerning position of need on the entire roster, offensively or defensively in terms of what we saw last year and who is available this year and how the Broncos would attack it.

This was the big major question mark offensively. I mean, there's so many different players that we talked about over the course of, you know, the last handful of months going from free agency to the draft. The Broncos added one guy. They added one dude at the running back position during the draft, after the draft, free agency, et cetera. RJ Harvey is now in the mix. So the question becomes,

who's going to be the primary rusher between he and last year's intriguing draft pick, Audrick Estimate? Yeah, that's the question. That's the mystery right. And RJ Harvey right now is kind of the sensation that's being talked about in Denver. And there's a lot of talk about Quadzilla

and what he's got. I mean, Sarah, I've seen him in person. I've seen him at practice. The way this guy moves, he may, I mean, he's so quick. Like sometimes it looks a little bit like a blur, like there's a glitch in the matrix or something when he's making his cuts. But I mean, that's exciting to see.

But ultimately, we have to figure out what is it going to look like when the pads come on, when you have to go in between the tackles, when you play different competition. The Broncos are anticipated to have a joint training camp practice with one of their preseason opponents. That's going to be away from Denver. Obviously, as construction is ongoing at the team facility. Some fans will still be able to attend training camp. Obviously, it just won't be as jam-packed as it has been in the last handful of years here.

But I want to look at it from another standpoint here because so much of the conversation about the running back position this offseason, even after the NFL draft, Sarah has been, well, who's going to be the three down back for Sean Payton? And I think you have a lot of people out there right now saying, oh, RJ Harvey Harvey's going to be the three down back. Audrake estimated. I think it's a little unfair this early on to kind of place that expectation that RJ Harvey's, you know, he needs to be the three down back. And if he's not, then, well, that's a disappointment. You know, they shouldn't have drafted him. I seen that narrative. And it comes from a lot of these fantasy football analysts,

which drives me nuts because they don't watch tape. They don't watch the scheme. They just look at their little spreadsheet and they have these projections. But the thing that I look at here is, okay, does it have to be the three down back here for the Broncos? Do they need a guy who's going to carry it consistently first down, second down, third down? Well, if that's the case,

that kind of suggests a bell cow approach, which, Siri, you and I've talked about, is contradictory to what Sean Payton has said he believes the running back room needs. he believes in the committee approach here. So if that's the case of not really embracing that Belcal style of role here, what does that look like? Well, I think primary ball carrier is probably the best term to kind of throw out there.

And that's where I think that comes into play here between Audrick Estime and R.J. Harvey. And then really, I think everything behind that, there's another subcategory here. What about short yardage situations? Well, to me, I mean, Sarah, when you look at it, what makes the most sense for you in that category? To me, Audrake Estimate is a short yardage back makes sense. But does it impact this standing as maybe a primary ball carrier? I don't know. But then you also look at what about the change of pace guy?

RJ Harvey can be a short down back. He can also be a change of pace back. But what does that mean, you know, if these two guys are roster locks, what does that mean for guys like Jilil McLaughlin, who's been a big part of the offense the last couple of years, what had the most productive rushing output in terms of yards per carry last season for the Broncos at 4.4. And then you got Blake Watson and Tyler Biday right behind him.

Do you think that Denver is going to add to this room or you really think that those two roles are solidified? And then those three guys, as the Broncos said, they have comfort in who they have on the roster at running back. One of those three guys is going to get that final spot. I just don't know who they could add that would really excite me more than one of these young guys stepping up and becoming part of that rotation. And that's where I really have taken issue all offseason with the idea of this free agent running back. class, it's nothing like what last year's was. We had Josh Jacobs and Seguan Barclay, Derek Henry, even Tony Pollard would have been a fun addition.

But the Broncos, they missed out on the guy that they allegedly wanted, right? They reportedly wanted Josh Jacobs. Sean Payton was no, he made no secrets about that when he talked to Jacobs. I think that was after the 2022 season when he was still working with Fox Media and things like that. And he was kind of, you know, lightly recruiting him or whatever. He wanted Josh Jacobs, didn't get him. So this off season, it was looking at that free agent class, you're like,

Najee Harris and who? I mean, I don't know. And Najee Harris even, I think that would have been a disappointing addition to this running back room based on what we've seen from him. And maybe not everyone will agree with me on that, Cody, but I feel like the Broncos going young at this position is the right move. I look at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers from last season, right? When the Broncos traveled to Tampa Bay in week four, I was doing the crossover episode,

and they were still talking like, hey, our running game in Tampa Bay has been non-existent to the first three weeks. They don't have any identity there. All of a sudden in week four, I think that was really when Bucky Irving kind of flashed for the first time. Bucky became that lead ball carrier for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, ultimately led the team with 254 touches, 1,500 yards from scrimmage, eight total touchdowns, caught 47 passes. But beyond him, like Rashad White had 144 carries.

and 51 touches and nine total touchdowns. And then Sean Tucker behind him had 50 carries, nine catches over 400. Yeah, exactly. Sean Tucker. So we're talking about these guys like, hey, they had no running game and no identity through the first few weeks of the season to having three dudes, young guys at the position who stepped up and played big, big roles for the offense. I feel like that's what you want the Broncos to really parallel this coming season.

How did the Buccaneers do it? They were number one in the NFL in third down conversion rate. That's where the Denver Broncos have to get better in order for the production at running back to be better than it has been the last couple years because that's why it's suffered. They have been three and out way too many times. If you can convert on third down, you extend drives, your running game is able to get more snaps. You get more snaps. You get more yards. You get more touchdown.

I mean, that's how it works. It's that simple math that's like, oh, yeah, you get more snaps. You have more rushing attempts. You have more rushing attempts. Yeah, more rushing yards. I mean, that's how it works. And so that's where the Broncos have to figure it out, that early down guy, who's it going to be to get them in those favorable situations?

Yeah, because, I mean, the Broncos at times last year with Giovante, they would run it on first and 10. It goes backwards a yard or two or you get zero yards. And then now it's second and 10. And then let's say you throw it, it falls incomplete. Well, now it's third and 10. Like, it is the ultimate, just strategy game. Like, you have to be methodical in how you do it.

And obviously when you have negative production, you know, on first down, or you're going backwards due to a penalty or just missed yardage or you miss a block. Like it makes your offensive operation even more difficult to adjust to, which then in return impacts how you call a game because you're going to call, you know, are you going to call a run on third and 14 unless it's just a standard draw where the defense is there protecting the sticks? Like that's the only time you really see run plays called there. But like if you say, let's the first of 10 comes out, okay,

hey, the Broncos come out. They get a four yard run to open up. Okay, that means it's second and six. coming up. Okay, maybe you do a quick pass. Maybe you get three yards. Now you have a third and three. You can pick up three yards on the ground. It's a little more manageable than it is to like a third and 10 or third and eight, you know, with the run game. Third and eight, almost everybody believes you're going to be throwing the football. So it kind of makes your options as a play caller limited when that is the trend. And I think that's a reason why the Broncos third down numbers were

not as great last season in the last handful of years, the lack of a run game and the lack of efficiency overall on first down, that was problematic. But that's also where Bo Nix came in and helped the Broncos because what Russell Wilson was doing in terms of him getting sacked in the Broncos losing yards, Bo Nix wasn't taking sacks. Bo Nix wasn't turning the football over and wasn't running backwards. That actually was a net positive for the Broncos offense in the rushing department last season. But Broncos country, we want to hear from you on today's episode of show. Who do you think will get the established role of primary ball carrier for the Broncos' offense?

Who will be that short yardage back? And who will be? be the change of pace guy. Make sure you let us know here on today's episode of the show. But what about the tight end position? The Broncos went out and they made a big swing for Evan Ingram to come in and hopefully solve some of the issues at tight end. But what does it look like behind him? We'll debate and discuss that here on today's episode, Locked on Broncos.

The tight end position has been a tricky one for the Broncos for the last handful of years. And Sean Peyton has been trying to figure out how to navigate those waters where when he came in, Greg Dulcich was the guy that he envisioned for that position in. injuries derailed that. Then Greg Dulcich couldn't find his way out of the field when he was healthy in 24. The Broncos ended up releasing him, which, I mean, you look how fast the NFL comes at you. Denver wasn't playing around. But I think Sean Payton is trying to figure out how to learn from putting all the eggs in that Greg Dulcich basket. So he goes out there in free agency. He gets a guy like Evan Ingram to add into the mix, a guy who has those true joker-like traits that can thrive in this

offensive system after the Broncos tight-end production was abysmal in 2024. Really, Sarah, let's open up the discussion here as we get into the fourth quarter action of today's episode of the podcast here with Broncos, country, all the every dares out there. We appreciate you. How does this go in 2025, in your opinion? We know Evan Ingram is the tight-in one. And I have to refrain sometimes because it drives me nuts. I see all the time on social media on Twitter.

People are like, well, the Broncos don't really have a tight-in because Evan Ingram's not going to play inline. Evan Ingram is going to play some inline tight end folks. I don't understand because he didn't play it as much in Jacksonville. He can't play in line. He's going to play everywhere in line, in the backfield at times, in the slot, on the outside, as an offset wing. Like to me, the idea that Denver doesn't have a tight end because Evan Ingram is not a

primary inline guy, I think it's a little short-sighted here. I do too. I think that it's just really semantics in terms of, you know, well, Remember there was a time when we didn't call edge guys, edge guys. They were still called outside linebackers or defensive ends or things like that. So call them whatever you want, but Evan is going to be the de facto tight end in the offense, right? And he's going to play, like you said, all over the place. And he's going to take a, he's going to completely change the complexion of this offense.

We alluded to it earlier, but the Broncos did not have a player last year or the year before that under Sean Payton that is going. to do in 20 that that did what evan ingram is going to do in 2025 in terms of a role in terms of threatening the middle of the field and this is a guy that i mean we don't bring it up enough finished second all time among tight ends in a single season with 114 catches just two years ago with the jacksonville jaguar so he's capable of taking on a high volume of targets he's obviously got great speed he's a great athlete he's a huge red zone threat i mean the addition of evan Ingram, I think it's kind of brushed aside often because of his injury history and things like that, which is a valid, you know, concern to have about his game at the same time when he is

on the field, the way that he's going to impact and dictate things for this Denver Broncos offense, it's tough to overstate at this point because really we won't even know, and we've mentioned this on a previous episode, but we won't even know until after week one, maybe the first month or so of the season, what is this Denver Broncos offense tendency-wise going to look like? Because we haven't seen anything yet, I don't believe, to give us any clear indication of that. Yeah, and it's tough because if you even want to go back and try to reference New Orleans Saints tape, it's also hard to do that too. I mean, you can make the analogy with Jimmy Graham, you can look at that. But, I mean, that was a different offense. I was a little bit of a powerhouse offense that

Sean Payton had there. The Broncos have pieces, but they're not all quite there yet, right? We're still trying to figure out how all the pieces fit into the mix on the playing board. And that's going to take some time. But hopefully not at the expense of the Broncos coming off and starting off slow to the season. We know Evan Ingram is the unquestioned guy there. I think another guys, we were talking about locks at running back. I think the other guy who's really unquestioned at this point is veteran tight in Adam Troutman.

I mean, there's a lot of trust that Sean Payton has in Troutman. And Troutman took on a larger responsibility over the last two seasons because of Denver's plans with Greg Dulcich following through. I mean, Adam Troutman had to be that tight-in one. And look, while he didn't impact or blow anybody away with big time receiving numbers, he was reliable a lot of the times, not only as a blocker, but as a past catch. I mean, we're talking about a guy who had a one-handed touchdown catch against Carolina. You know, on National Tidens Day, he comes up big as well.

And then against Kansas City, he also came up big in that game. You know, when you're serving so much and what you're doing is the dirty work where you're blocking, blocking, blocking, Sometimes guys at the tight-in position across the league, you can get discouraged because all I'm doing is blocking, but eventually you get rewarded. And it's going to come seldom, you know, partly in between, like 188 total yards on the season for Adam Chalbun, okay? But that guy works his tail off, and he's going to be your reliable blocking guy that you can bring in alongside Evan Ingram. But he can be the guy that maybe stays in and chips while Evan Ingram is the guy, you know, out of 12 personnel that maybe runs the route with some of your other receivers there. So I'm excited to see how you mix and match there, but really behind Adam Troutman and Evan Ingram.

Sarah, right now a huge mystery. We know they drafted Caleb Loner. We're excited to see how he develops. You have Lucas Crowe, who's back for another year. They obviously signed his ERFA tender, Nate Adkins, back in the mix. And then now Coal Fotheringham, another former Utah tied in in the mix. How does this room play out? If you have to do a depth chart here today, what does it look like and how many guys are you keeping?

I think your top three guys are the two that you mentioned already, Evan Ingram and Adam Troutman. And I think Nate Adkins as that third guy who can also, as you've mentioned before, maybe floating to the fullback position or maybe even switching their full time, depending on what the Broncos want to do with Mike Burton going forward. We'll see what happens there. But I do believe that Caleb Loner is a lock for this roster in terms of he's a draft and stash. The way that George Payton, Sean Payton, talk about him.

I mean, he could get on the field this year for sure in packages and he could be a threat there. Maybe even use on special teams as there's that picture. I don't know if you've seen the picture, Cody, of Caleb Loner trying to block the field goal that he did against, I believe it was Colorado. Last year, it's kind of a crazy photo, how high up. You did what Brock Osweiler could never do. The, yeah, come on, Brock. What were you doing there? You had one job and you had a great opportunity.

Remember that? He didn't even jump. Yeah, I was like, man, that's a great idea. Throw him out there. He's six foot eight. Um, so this guy could impact games that way. So maybe he does get on the field. But I think those guys are, I just believe that it's going to be really hard for

Lucas Crowell to make this team, unless he has a massive, massive offseason what we were expecting maybe last year. Yeah, look, and special teams is part of the equation, which Lucas embraces playing on special teams. But in terms of his road to making the roster, out of all those guys you mentioned, he's probably got the most difficult path ahead of him to be able to do that because really the last two seasons, you bring him. in as okay, hey, we want to develop him.

And then last year, like, all right, early on in OTAs, we're like, hey, number 85, he's making plays. Okay, he's looking good. But then in the regular season, we don't really see anything from him. And that was a little surprising, I think, overall. I thought we were going to see a lot more Lucas Crowe last season, didn't formally, even though he led the tight end room and catches. But we didn't see that really come to fruition here for Denver.

So when you talk about, like, is the window, is the hourglass and the little sand pebbles, is it running out here for Lucas Crowle. He's got a chance, I think, though, regardless if he doesn't make the roster, he's got a chance to go make him some money and maybe impressed to where, hey, like, he was a standout for the New Orleans Saints in the preseason before Denver grabbed him. Can he go somewhere and ball out in the preseason get an opportunity elsewhere? I think there is certainly a possibility for that.

But Denver's got to formulate that room. They got to put it together as the best guys possible to give Denver the chance to have the most production, I would say, from that room. They haven't had production at Tide-in since, gosh, who knows when? Owen Daniels? I mean, did Virgil Green? I can't remember if he had really an impactful stretch at one point. It was like, wow, right.

Hey, Virgil's stepping up. I know Virgil was one of those guys that we kept talking about, like, can this guy showcase something? It might have been, Owen Daniels might have been the last really productive tight-in. The Broncos had, except Noah's, but, you know, Noah's job. I mean, I think Pat Schumer kind of handcuffed him a little bit. Yeah, I'd say it goes. Noah Fant Owen Daniels, those are the last two productive tight ends. The Broncos have had one of them came what, three, almost four years ago at this point.

And then now the other ones almost 10 years ago. So like there's not, there's a big gap in between. So just nuts how it all plays out, Sarah. Maybe the Broncos revived the tight end position at 2025 this upcoming season. Broncos country, we want to know your thoughts on today's episode of the show, how you think that tight end room is going to look here as we prepare for OTAs, which begins next week. And for all you every dares, we got a lot more in store for you on tomorrow's episode of the show.

Sarah and myself, we're going to take a look at the trenches of the O line and the D line. Who are starters? Who are depth pieces? Which guys can work the way up to the depth chart? Which guys might find themselves falling off of it? We'll debate and discuss that much more on tomorrow's episode. Lockdown Broncos.