Locked On Broncos - Daily Podcast On The Denver Broncos - Denver Broncos Offensive Line is BACKBONE of Team With Championship Expectations

Starting point is 00:00:00 The Denver Broncos offensive line isn't just responsible for keeping Bow Knicks upright. They're the backbone of this team and their championship expectations. You are locked on Broncos, your daily Denver Broncos podcast. Part of the Locked on podcast network, your team every day. What's happening in Broncos country? Cody Works, Sarah Benninger here for another episode. Locked on Broncos brought to you by our friends over there at GameTime. Download the GameTime app, create an account, and use code locked on for $20 off your first. purchase as we wrap up our training camp position previews with arguably one of the more important

Starting point is 00:00:40 units that Sean Payton believes permeates throughout the entire building. That is the offensive line. How many offensive linemen will the Broncos keep on the 53 man roster? Is it nine? Is it 10? Sarah and I are going to go back and forth on that because it is a tough conversation and a tough decision ultimately that George Payton and then will have to make. Plus, we're going to highlight the Broncos depth and why it is enviable on the offensive line across the board at some of the more major positions coming into 2026 when we kick things off by highlighting the Broncos O line being the backbone of this unit for Bo Nix having the same starting offensive line unit for the third consecutive season. That's very important. So Sarah, let's get into that. I mean, this is for Boe coming

Starting point is 00:01:18 in as a rookie in 2024. I think there were times where we were wondering, what is the O line going going to look like during Bose 10 year here in the Mile High City? Obviously, the Broncos in 2023, their first move for Sean Payton was getting Ben Powers at left guard and Mike McGlinchy at right tackle. And we weren't sure after 20, 20, 20, serious. Garrett Bull is going to be back? Is he not going to be back? He ends up getting the extension. And then there was a lot of questions about who the starting center was going to be. But now, going to 2024, that same offensive line group has remained the same. In 2026, it is returning that same unit. You're going to have Garrett Bulls, Ben Powers,

Starting point is 00:01:52 Luke Wattenberg, Quinn Miners, and Mike McGlinchie is the starting guys. I imagine, Cody, that Sean Payton sleeps really well at night, not having to think about his offensive line, really at all. I mean, when you have such a veteran-laden group, guys who know how to do their jobs, how to do their jobs exceptionally well, they know the offense exceptionally well. That's the type of unit that you can really delegate leadership to, and you can say, hey, we want you guys to go out there and just do what you do best, right? Just go out there and continue to do your job.

Starting point is 00:02:27 job at a high level. And you can trust those guys to set the example. You can trust those guys to carry culture, which is what Sean Payton essentially has said in the past about this offensive line unit is that it's the one unit on the roster that really permeates the entire building. And so you've got guys that are not only great leaders for their peers on the team, but they're great example setters for their positions around the league. Like Garrett Bowles might be the best offensive tackle in the NFL, regardless of what random scouts and executives and coaches might say he might be the best left tackle in the game. At least he's proven that in terms of his past protection abilities, I would say,

Starting point is 00:03:04 over the last handful of years, Mike McGlinchie, the much, you know, contested signing and free agency that he was back in 2023. Oh, my gosh, the Broncos overpaid for Mike McGlinchie. Oh, there's a reason why Kyle Shanahan let him go, I'm not seeing it, Cody, other than the occasional McFlinchey nickname that he has, you know, understandably earned a little bit out there. He's had a lot of false starts, but he's been so,

Starting point is 00:03:28 so good. And he's been a great leader for this team who's bought into the culture. I mean, it's just top down, this unit right here. I get that we can be critical of them, right? We can say, hey, yes,

Starting point is 00:03:39 you could be the best offensive line in the NFL, according to this metric and that metric and this ranking and this list and that list. But ultimately, we want to be critical and say, hey, this is where you guys can get better because if you're the best, well, then you need to be dominating every single week. And obviously there's room for error and nobody's perfect and things like that. But this is a unit that we expect big things out of because they've proven big things over time. Well, and I would say this about Mike McGlinchie, too, because I think he's another

Starting point is 00:04:07 one of those polarizing figures at Broncos country seems to be split on from time to time, right? I think Mike has brought solidarity to a position specifically that you and I almost every year since we've been doing the show together, have been asking who's going to be the starting right tackle? Mike McGlinchy has been by and large the best right tackle the Broncos have had in recent memory. And I think there are some areas of his game that he can improve. But I think that's the case for every single player. And look, so let's get into that as well because you talk about, hey, you know, where can this O line unit improve? I think we saw at times. And specifically, like when Bo Nix was not the quarterback.

Starting point is 00:04:42 in the AFC championship game. I will say the Broncos' offensive line did not have a great game. Quinn Miners didn't have his best game, and Quinn is one of the best offensive linemen in all of the NFL. But for me, I think the issue here with this Broncos O line unit, right, is that the scheme did not match up some of their skill sets, right? Because we talk about Denver last year going out and adding the outside zone, the wide zone scheme to their game.

Starting point is 00:05:08 Well, a lot of that is you have to have very athletic offensive linemen. And I would say that Denver has some athletic offense alone. I think Mike McGlenshy for his height and for his size, he's athletic. I think that's also a big reason why the Broncos tried adding it because he played in that scheme in San Francisco with Kyle Shanahan. But I don't think that Ben Powers necessarily is the most athletic offensive guard. I don't think Luke Wattenberg is the best athletic center in football. He's very good, I'd say athletic-wise, but he's also very strong. Quinn Miners, I would say, is probably the most versatile.

Starting point is 00:05:42 title player that the Broncos have on their offensive line unit right now from a strength, athleticism standpoint. And Garrett Bulls is also one of those options. But the wide zone scheme requires, I think, at least three pieces that have this superior athleticism to their ability to make the outside zone mesh well. And I don't know if Denver's going to carry over the outside zone into 2026. We'll find out a little bit during training camp. But I can tell you this, there, I've talked to running backs on the Broncos roster. I've talked to a couple of offensive alignment and they told me the hardest thing last year for them was the outside zone scheme adding that into the mix because they have a zone blocking type of offensive philosophy where there's a

Starting point is 00:06:21 guy who's lined up in a three technique which is on the outside shoulder of the offensive guard typically depending on who's lined up and where the guy on the outside is lined up in comparison of where the offensive tackle is well now you might have the tackle and the guard they might be double teaming that three technique but then all of a sudden at the and at the end of the same And that's right when the ball is snapped. But then because of that, the most closest trajectory to get to the quarterback is on the inside, right? If you have interior penetration, that is the quickest path to the quarterback. That's why they focus on double teaming.

Starting point is 00:06:53 And then the offensive tackle you see, he'll chip and then he'll have to take a reset and he'll have to pick up whatever's coming on the outside. Well, now when you add in the outside zone, it's like, we got to get to a landmark. In order for this run play to work, I've got to get to this spot right here. And that can change if a defender moves in the slide. So that was tough. I don't think that's what the Broncos offensive line group that they have here is there. Sarah, I would like to see more of a power scheme for this offensive line because I think that they are very strong. You got to use that strength of their advantage.

Starting point is 00:07:24 Yeah, they need to play more bully ball this year and really just sort of impose their will. I think that's the only thing that I wish we had seen more of last year is, okay, if you're the number one offensive line in the NFL, which we continue to hear. You and I talk a lot about the disrespect that the Broncos get from the national media. It seems like the one area that they get the most respect is on the offensive line. And it's the one area that you and I kind of consistently call out is like maybe being a bit overrated by the national folks. Because ultimately, I don't, I want to clarify, I don't think the Broncos offensive line is overrated. But what we have seen is exactly what you just described. Maybe a little bit of trying to fit a square peg into a round hole, maybe a little bit too much.

Starting point is 00:08:07 of trying to make fetch happen when it comes to the outside zone offense. So what I want to see is these guys go out there and impose their will in the running game. And we have seen that in spurts over the last handful of years, haven't we? I mean, a few games come to mind where, man, you just see the Broncos just, I mean, physically dominating in the running game and really going after, I mean, early in a game against the Chargers back in 2024, Cody, when we had called all week and like, hey, you need to set the tone, establish the run, make that a huge part of your game plan. They come out and they just bullied down the field.

Starting point is 00:08:43 So we know they're capable of doing it. And this is where I think there's that tension of, okay, Sean, yes, we want you to commit to the run, but we also want you to commit to maybe a little bit more pace in the offense because that's where that physicality and their ability to dominate in this way can really wear down a defensive front is when you're going out there with pace, you're running, you're not just trying to hit a landmark, you're trying to bully the guy in front of you to the ground, and they can do that. All these guys can do that.

Starting point is 00:09:12 So that's what I want to see more of going forward is just we've talked about this throughout this series. How can we find ways for the Broncos to sort of keep it simple in certain ways offensively, to really maximize the skill set of every player and get back to, I don't want to say traditional style of football, but ultimately a more balanced offensive attack that allows them to dictate the line of scrimmage because that's what you should be able to do when you have this talented of an offensive line that's entering the majority of these guys year four together. That's crazy.

Starting point is 00:09:45 Any other NFL team would do unspeakable things to have that kind of continuity on their own line, especially for a young quarterback. So the Broncos can't, they have to be better stewards of the situation. that they have right now. I want to see more poll plays with Quinn Miners. Every year on Twitter, you always see this throwback. And it's always like these, you know, AI generated accounts. But they go through and they always show Quinn Miners in his rookie year polling against Kansas City.

Starting point is 00:10:13 And they're like, look at number of 77 points. Like, do more of that. Pull Quinn Miners more. Get him out in space because the dude is a freaking maller. Like the Broncos, they did pull Ben Powers, you know, from time to time. But I want to see more stuff too. Where you're even getting Garrett Bulls on a pole play and you're getting your running back's behind them. I think that's when good things happen for this offense.

Starting point is 00:10:32 So we'll see if that is the case here coming up into 2026 with Davis-Web as the play caller. But coming up next, a lot of the NFL would be smiling if they had the depth that the Broncos have on the offensive line. And Denver is very strong. We'll highlight the depth that you've got to keep an eye on here on today's episode of the show. Today's episode of the show was brought to you by our friends over there at O'Doo. Running a business shouldn't feel like you're trying to connect a bunch of systems that were never designed to work together. You got one app for accounting, another for inventory, another for sales and somehow none of them talk to each other. That's where things fall through the

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Starting point is 00:13:16 compared to the rest of the NFL, that's depth. But on the offensive line, man, teams will be looking at the Broncos with the green NVIs all year long because they have players who can step up in big, moments and they have done. So we're going to talk about that depth and much more coming up on today's episode of the show. Broncos country. Thanks so much for rocking with us every single day here throughout the offseason training camp is at the doorstep. Finally, football almost here for good. Cody, I can't wait. I can't wait to see these guys on the field. This is one of those position groups that Sean Peyton talks about, hey, until the pads come on, it's really tough to

Starting point is 00:13:49 evaluate these guys. So when the pads come on, this is going to be one of those units that I think we'll be excited to see the progression because not only do the Broncos have an outstanding starting five on the offensive line, but they also have a plan for the future. They have depth on the offensive line. They have developmental prospects. We have our first relatively high draft pick at the position in quite some time. Let's start by talking about the guy that was re-signed this offseason, kind of an underrated move. Bringing back Alex Palcheski, who is sort of their primary depth piece. I would say if there's a sixth man of the year award for the offensive line in today's NFL, Alex Palchewski probably should be a leading candidate for that. I mean,

Starting point is 00:14:32 proven over the past two seasons to be a very valuable piece for them. I really like what he brings to the table. He's number six on my personal depth chart. What do you see as being the role for him though this year? Because he started last year as the, hey, reporting eligible guy. That transitioned to Frank Crum after Alex was pressed into action at left guard. Where do you see him starting off this year? I think he goes back to that reporting is eligible. But I mean, maybe there's competition between he and Frank Crumb for that. I mean, the reason that Frank had to overtake that is because of what you just mentioned there. He had to fill in at left guard. Now, here's the crazy thing about Poucho. And this has been the thing since he's come in.

Starting point is 00:15:08 Sean Payton, even during his rookie season, even after he redshirted an entire year and he came into what was it in 2025, one of the things that Sean said in training camp was Paucho's a right side player. He's not a left side player. Like, we want to keep him on the right side and specifically they viewed him as a tackle option, though he did get some preseason snaps last year at right guard. Well, he is kind of this swing player can play now. As we say, I'd say there's more value for him because of his versatility. He can play offensive tackle.

Starting point is 00:15:36 He can play offensive guard. He can play right side and he can play left side. Now, can he play left side offensive tackle? I don't know. He did play left side offensive guard really well, having to fill in. Obviously for Ben Powers after Ben got hurt and then his backup, Matt Pert got injured. They had to thrust him into the lineup there. And I was blown away, honestly, with how well Paucho did.

Starting point is 00:15:55 And we got to see that consistently. And then Powers ultimately returned and kind of jumped into that role where they rotated them a little bit for a couple of weeks until Powers was kind of full speed ready to go, which was interesting. But I understand that. But that led to us having some discussions as well because Ben Powers was entering the last year of his deal. And he had such a high contract. You and I were discussing, do the Broncos restructure, do the extended or do they just move on from Ben Powers? Denver decides to stay put with Powers. and they didn't even alter his price tag for this upcoming season,

Starting point is 00:16:24 which was, I think, a very surprising move to all of us. Then they re-sign Alex Pouchesky to a two-year deal. We're like, all right, so now what's the vision for Poucho? I don't know what the exact vision is, Sarah, but he can play anywhere. And I think he will be that eligible tackle reporting in, but it's also something to watch not only just for this year, but after next year, Mike McGlinchie is also going to become a free agent. Is the vision for Poucho to eventually replace Mike McGlinson?

Starting point is 00:16:51 who's obviously getting up in his 30s. I don't know. I don't want to write that. I don't want to put that out there as like, that's what's going to happen. But I could see that maybe being in the realm of possibility in terms of how the front office is thinking. Yeah, I could too.

Starting point is 00:17:03 And I think that ultimately that's the nice flexibility to have right now in terms of future thinking, right, is to be able to say, well, we do feel like we can plug Paucheski into one of another couple of spots, right? We feel like he could play left guard if need be, but we really like him on the right side what happens with McClintchy, what happens with all these contract situations. Ultimately, just having these guys around right now and developing in your program gives you that ability to make a much more informed decision for the future as opposed to it's the, it's the classic scenario of being proactive versus being reactive, right?

Starting point is 00:17:40 Yeah. How often in the Broncos roster building history, especially in recent years before George Peyton got around, have they tried to be reactive? like Menelick Watson, you know, you draft Michael Schofield. I mean, all these players that you could plug into that, you know, the past equation. And all due respect to those guys, right? They, you know, they earned their spot at some point. But in Denver, it wasn't happening.

Starting point is 00:18:04 Remember Donald Stevenson that experiment? I mean, how many times did the Broncos seemingly try to buy somebody's backup offensive tackle and make him their starting right to? I mean, I just. John James. there's so many disastrous names to put into that equation there. But now you've got that stability and now you're being proactive when it comes to, hey, we know what we've got in this guy. We know what he can do at these positions.

Starting point is 00:18:32 And I think that's a great philosophy to have. Now, Cage Casey, when he was drafted, you and I were talking about, hey, is this the first tackle the Broncos have drafted since Garrett Bowles? I mean, ultimately, yes, technically Cage Casey only. only played tackle at Boise State for 42 games, 41 games, whatever it was. But he's seemingly going to be playing guard in the NFL or center where the Broncos feel like he has starter traits as well. But you and I, I think, agree.

Starting point is 00:19:01 He's the heir apparent at left guard, which is just another example of this team being proactive, going after somebody they view has starter traits. Yeah. Take over for Ben Powers. You save a little money on the offensive line and you bring in somebody who's going to be seasoned for a year behind one of the. best. I love the planning, even though it does mean eventually you do have to say some of those difficult goodbyes. Yeah, and that's why player development. That's why I think specifically developing

Starting point is 00:19:28 on the offensive line has been such an important emphasis, not only for George Peyton, but for Sean Payton as well. We've seen it with Paucheske. Frank Crum seems to be that exciting other project that we're excited to see, what can he do a little bit more of this year? I think Frank more so projects to either compete for that tackle eligible spot or he's going to be the primary backup up to Garrett Bulls and maybe it will be the future takeover guy for Bulls when Bulls decides that he wants to retire after playing along and pretty successful turnaround NFL career. But I also look at other situations. Well, the Broncos, they invested some money in undrafted guys, Tyler Miller, who I think

Starting point is 00:20:02 they can actually probably develop a little bit more on the practice squad. That's kind of been the approach with some of these guys. Frank Crum was a practice squad guy before he wasn't last season. And then you look at your other guys that you can rotate in. Like you bring in some veteran guys like Calvin Throck, Morton. who are these, hey, break in case of emergency type of situations there. And that's where Throck has kind of been like this. I don't even want to say like extremely valuable.

Starting point is 00:20:27 And I'm saying like his role has been important for Sean Payton because he has been this guy, hey, we have a multiple lineup of injuries that pop up. Well, guess what? We've got a guy who's a veteran that we can plug in here at center here at guard. And that's where we have at least some security in the event that there's an injury, injury, injury, the way that the Broncos ran into last year. And he's kind of probably be a practice squad piece once again that has the rotation flexibility to be brought up to the active roster.

Starting point is 00:20:54 So Denver's depth for the most part. And we haven't even talked about Alex Forsyth. We'll talk about him coming up here in just a minute. But then you've got him at center who's been developing nicely inside of this offensive system as well, being former teammates of Broncos quarterback Bow next. But coming up next Broncos country, Sarah and I are going to put our GM hats on. And we're going to predict how many offensive linemen of the Broncos will carry on their 53 because this is one of the most important positions you need to have numbers

Starting point is 00:21:19 at in the Broncos. They got a lot of numbers here. But what is the final number going to be? We'll break it down here on today's episode of the show. Today's episode of the show is brought to you by our friends over there at the Game Time app. There are more live events than ever worth seeing right now, whether it's games, whether it's concerts, comedy shows or festivals. The hard part usually isn't deciding what you want to attend. We all know what we want to attend. But it's actually getting tickets to those events between the long wait times, confusing checkout processes and surprise fees. Buying tickets can sometimes feel harder than it should.

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Starting point is 00:22:28 Create an account and use code locked on for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Again, create an account and redeem code L-O-C-E-D-O-N for $20 off. Download the GameTime app today. The numbers game is going to be very interesting for this Denver Broncos team as they go to trim down their 90-man roster to 53 after their final preseason game. One of the bigger questions is how many offensive linemen will the Broncos carry onto their 53 coming into this upcoming season? That is the $6 million question of Sean Peyton would say. Broncos Country, thanks for Rock with us, tuning in, making us your first listen every single day all year long here on the Lockdown Podcast Network, the number one sports podcast network in the country.

Starting point is 00:23:06 And also where you get your team every day. We appreciate you all so much. Football is here and we're so stoked about it. Sarah, let's talk about this. I feel like when we're trying to put the numbers together throughout all these other position previews, we're thinking about what's the most ideal number for this position here? And then at the end of the day, when it all boils down to it,

Starting point is 00:23:27 the number one position you're going to have the most guys at on your roster is always going to be the offensive line because it is so important to have that depth in case of an injury. That's the problem here with this Broncos team that seemingly has some of the most enviable depth across the league, but also the same returning starting offensive line unit that Bonix has had since he's started his NFL career. So what does the numbers game look like here for the Broncos? Well, I'm going to start off with nine.

Starting point is 00:23:53 I'm going to say nine offensive linemen because I think we can effectively say that there's nine guys who should be guaranteed roster spots based on what we know about these guys, based on what they've done in the past. Obviously, we know the starting five is set for the Denver Broncos. really about what depth pieces do you keep? We know Alex Palcheschi is going to be around Cage Casey, obviously a fourth round draft pick. But then you have Frank Crum, who the team is heavily invested in his development. They really like his upside. And then Alex Forsyth, who we didn't get a chance to talk about before, he's started games for this team. And he's been a very valuable

Starting point is 00:24:30 depth piece for them at the center position when needed. So I think with those nine guys, you really set yourself up well to say, in a worst case scenario, we know the nine we're taking into the regular season. In a best case scenario, somebody else makes a case for us to keep 10. And then we have to figure out the roster gymnastics elsewhere. So they've invested in players, right? I mean, they drafted Nick Garjulo, who we hope can get back to full strength because he appeared to be the prior backup left guard behind Ben Powers before his injury in last year's preseason. You've already mentioned Calvin Throckmorton, who's got lots of experience, but he seems like he could be a practice squad type. And you've got Tyler Miller, Gavin Ortega from this year's undrafted free agent

Starting point is 00:25:14 class. I think those guys are interesting. Matt Pertre signing with the team is interesting. So really what it comes down to is who can make the case to sort of be that 10th player and force the Broncos to keep that spot. They've done that before. Like, remember how poor of a preseason Frank Crum had when he was initially, you know, signed by this team as an undrafted free agent. And we're sitting there watching the preseason. We're like, yeah, he's definitely a practice squad guy. Well, they stashed him on the 53.

Starting point is 00:25:43 And we were shocked by that when the roster was solidified because of how he played, but it's all about the vision for a player. So does somebody like Tyler Miller enter that conversation or somebody else, you know? So that's where I think nine for sure. And if somebody makes a case, maybe you keep 10. I agree with the nine players that you kind of outlined there with Crum, Casey, Forsythamke making up that back in depth behind your initial starting five. I mean, looking on the interior offensive line as well outside of the guys we've mentioned,

Starting point is 00:26:13 Matt Pair, I think on the outside because he's also got that flex there. I mean, he was a tackle prospect as well, but played guard. He probably played a lot more guard last year, especially in the preseason, compared to what we saw in terms of him playing offensive tackle in the preseason in the prior year there. So he's an interesting man to keep it on because of his swing versatility. And then I think you're going to look at other guys as well. like Michael Dieter was, you know, probably not going to be talked about enough.

Starting point is 00:26:37 I think his path to the 53 is going to be very tough. Gavin Ortega being an intriguing prospect. And I'll go through maybe what I saw a little bit. Ortega struggled during the offseason program with getting the snap to the quarterback. There were several times where the Broncos had two, two plays back to back where the snap was either high or it was low and the ball was on the ground. That can't happen. That can't be the case here for them going into this upcoming season.

Starting point is 00:27:04 I don't think the Broncos will have patience for that. But if there is something about this player, even though that they're struggling in practice, right, but maybe they have something, and to your point of what we saw from Frank Crumman, his rookie year, there's something about this player. It's like, hey, with more coaching, more time, more development, this player might actually be something.

Starting point is 00:27:22 I wonder if they think that about Ortega, who's very talented, very strong, very strong upper body. And as we get into training camp, the more important thing that we're going to actually be able to evaluate is, how does the offensive line do when they can actually make contact with players that are moving versus these blue handshield bags that I absolutely cannot stand. Like, there's no translation into what we see in the actual game when these guys have to shoot their hands inside of this bag that's being held on the outside or by these little

Starting point is 00:27:52 handles behind the bag where it's like, if you're a player, you actually cannot, if you're holding the bag, you can't make contact with that player and move them. You're literally just your elbows are getting pushed inside because there's no stability there. It is one of the things that is the least translatable, I would say in all of that. Now, I would love to see, you know those tall bags that they had that you just sit up and they have the heavy base on the bottom?

Starting point is 00:28:16 You know how you've seen teams play around with like moving them on special teams to where they have like a motorer and they can actually move? That's in my opinion. Okay. You might be able to simulate some cool stuff with that with your offensive line. But instead you're going to be hitting these stupid blue handshills, which make things a lot harder. That's why I do think the offense usually typically falls behind

Starting point is 00:28:37 because the defensive guys, once they're told, hey, full paths are on, you can make contact. They go do what they do best. You know, they translate that. Them hitting the sled, Sarah, actually translates a lot better than the offensive line and having to hit these stupid blue hand shields that drive me freaking nuts.

Starting point is 00:28:53 Don't even get me started on it. Don't get started on the blue hand shields. It's frustrating me. But this is where I think that the development of this offensive, line and how it has been one of the better units in football over the last handful of years with clearly a lot of room to improve. And I think you can poke some holes in some theories about them being the best offensive line of football because you do see certain things where it's like, wait a minute, if Bownex wasn't in and Bowdox didn't have his mobility, how would this

Starting point is 00:29:21 offensive line unit work? I mean, I don't know. But I want them to get back to that that bully ball dominating mentality. And I think they got the start in five that can do it. And I think arguably, If we look at our O line prediction of the nine guys between Frank Crum, Pauchesky, Forsyth, and if Cage Casey can continue to develop and emerge as a potential option, all right, Denver's got enviable depth. I mean, how many teams have nine players on the offensive line that they're like, we really, really, really like this group? It's rare in Denver's in that company right now, at least on paper.

Starting point is 00:29:52 Yeah, teams would love to have three or four, I mean, that they really feel confident in. And I think that's ultimately what makes the Broncos in such an enviable position. position here. And if the offensive line has anything to say about it, getting to the Super Bowl this year, like they're the tone setters. We've heard McGlunchy, we've heard bowls, we've heard some of these players already speak this offseason to just about, you know, getting to that next level and the fact that getting to the AFC championship game, like, they've seen, hey, this is the potential of this team to go even further is there. And so if the O line has anything to say about it, this team's going to go far. And if the offensive line is

Starting point is 00:30:30 what is, you know, the Super Bowl depends on one position group this year for the Broncos. And it's the offensive line. This team's going to go really far because I feel like this is a unit that is going to have a chip on its shoulder. They don't like the way that last season ended in terms of the run game and the fact that Sean Payton said after the season ended, like he's going to go to Zach Streif, the run game coordinator. I mean, they take that stuff personally, I bet.

Starting point is 00:30:55 I don't know them all personally, but I know if it was me and I'm the competitor on that group and after the season ended the coach was like i need to talk to the run game coordinator and offensive line coach at the time right that's that would send a signal to me like hey it depended on me and i didn't come through that's where i think this o line is going to have that big time chip on its shoulder this season to really prove hey what everybody says about us it's legit we're the best in the league we got to go out and prove it right that's the mentality's a player and look devere's going to face some tough pass rushers and defenses this upcoming season,

Starting point is 00:31:32 including week three against Miles, Garrett, and company. We'll see if Aaron Donald is back in the mix with that unit by the time that week three Sunday night football game rolls around. But Denver's going to have a lot of tests that will either prove or dispel, I think, the narrative about their standing as the offensive line. That is probably one of the better units in the league. And I think that they always find a way to rise to the occasion.

Starting point is 00:31:52 I'm excited to see how it's all going to go. And we're going to have you covered here every step of the way. Lockdown Broncos is Broncos training camp begins officially on July 28th, is when veterans report. Rookies are already there beginning today. Media will not be able to attend these practices or these sessions, but here at Lockdown Broncos, Zizuick, we've got some fun episodes coming your way.

Starting point is 00:32:10 Tomorrow's episode, for example, we're going to go through and share some of our bold predictions that we think are going to take place here for the Broncos season in 2026, including Bo Nix coming in at number 59 on the NFL top 100. It's going to be widely debated, but Bo is a top 100 player, and we're going to talk about that as well here this week on Locked on Broncos.

Locked On Broncos - Daily Podcast On The Denver Broncos - Denver Broncos Offensive Line is BACKBONE of Team With Championship Expectations

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