Locked On Broncos - Daily Podcast On The Denver Broncos - Denver Broncos OTAs: Courtland Sutton, Devaughn Vele DYNAMIC DUO Emerging

Starting point is 00:00:00 The Denver Broncos wide receiver duel of Cortland Sutton and Devon Bailey took center stage here once again as the Broncos wrapped up OTAs will give you all the insight into Thursday's practice here 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. What's up, Broncos country? Welcome into another episode, Lockdown Broncos, your daily Denver Broncos podcast, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, where you know what is your team, every day. day for all your Broncos news, content coverage analysis more. This is the place to be. So a special shout out to all the everydayers out there in Broncos country. Thanks for tuning in making us your first listen. However you choose to do certain.

Starting point is 00:00:46 If not yet, never day, or become one. Subscribe or follow wherever you get your podcast and you're never going to miss out on what's going on with your team. I'm Cody Rourke. Broncos reporter for Maui Sports where you can check out my written work over there, daily mileysports.com. And I'm Sarah Bedinger's site expert at predominantly orange.com. Make sure you check out all his stuff there to every single. single day. But Broncos country, here's what you can expect on today's episode of the show.

Starting point is 00:01:09 The Broncos have officially wrapped up OTAs. The voluntary portion of the offseason program is Finito. It's done. Next week, it's mandatory minicap and media was in attendance for Thursday's practice. And we've got to see Cortland Sutton, Devon Vele, becoming a little bit more of an established wide receiver duo here for Bo Nix. We'll talk about that dynamic. But then also Sean Payton, giving us a little bit of the game plan, how he views the safety position behind guys like Talanoa, Bufanga and Brandon Jones and what those guys need to do to make the roster. And Adrick Estime, seemingly in a spot right now with all the running back rumors, his roster spot could be in danger here this upcoming season.

Starting point is 00:01:47 We'll break it all down on today's episode show. Ser. OTAs, obviously, you know, the final day, the infile installment of seeing the players on the field for the voluntary portion where next week we transition to mandatory minicamp, where Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday of next week, everybody is mandated to be there. Players that aren't there, they do get fined. John Franklin Myers will be there. We know that.

Starting point is 00:02:07 But the final practice of OTAs here for this Broncos football team, really I think the story of the day, it has to be Cortland Sutton and Devon Valle. And Sarah, these guys kind of looking a little bit like the two main pillars of this wide receiver room here for Bo Nix. And I think what's really exciting, too, is that we're getting good developments from other players like Troy Franklin

Starting point is 00:02:29 and Pat Bryant and even Marvin Mims as well, Cody. So the wide receiver position sounds like it's poised, to take that next step forward. And I've been as guilty as anybody of sort of underrating the potential impact of Devon Velae going forward and him taking that next step in his game. Look, as a former seventh round pick and as a guy who's 27 going on 28, it's kind of easy to just put on the sort of, okay, I'm going to ride the NFL train on this one. Like, guy has limited upside.

Starting point is 00:02:57 You know, he's not necessarily going to be around for very long. But shoot, I don't care if he's around for a long time, Cody. We know Devon Vail is around for a good time. here for the Denver Broncos. And it sounds like he's been really tearing it up the last couple of weeks. I saw stuff from you. I saw stuff from Parker Gabriel, Benjamin Albright, our good friend Ryan Edwards, as well, talking up Devon Velae and the camp that he's having so far for the Broncos this

Starting point is 00:03:22 offseason. And look, 41 catches last year, 26 for first downs, second best quarterback rating when targeted on the team last year behind Marvin Mims Jr. So maybe Velae is that guy that's going to take the step into a wide receiver. or two role to be one of the most trusted guys for Bo Nix in 2025. I would say it's trending that way right now. Based on how it's looked, you know, the last two weeks, Velae has looked impressive.

Starting point is 00:03:45 And look, I would say even Velae, just looking at him, it looks like he put on some muscle mass a little bit this offseason. He's still just as explosive. Now, granted, the one thing we have to see is, all right, what does it look like when the pads come on, when the corners can actually play physical jam at the line of scrimmage a little bit more? I mean, they can jam now, but it's not like an authentic look that you're going to get in an NFL

Starting point is 00:04:05 game. But Valet's catch radius, one of those big things. I thought he had an impressive sideline catch with tightly contested coverage during Thursday's practice. And then Cortland Sutton just attacking once again here. Being Bo Nix's go-to guy, he had two big catches downfield for the Broncos from Bo Nix, who had a lot of time. And one was, I think he kind of fired off of his back foot, like kind of side-armed it to get it out. And that arm trajectory that We see there led Cortland Sutton in stride perfectly with coverage right behind him. So obviously, that relationship between those two guys is budding a little bit more here. Obviously, other guys standing out as well that we'll talk about a little bit later on at the running back position,

Starting point is 00:04:46 Julea McLaughlin, RJ Harvey, these guys caught touchdown passes from Bow Nix. And like I said, I can't tell you exactly what route or what design that they ran. But let's just say that, hey, that passing game with the Broncos running backs could be unleashed a little bit more of this upcoming season. really well-placed football. But once again, I think with RJ Harvey, you're not going to see any issues with him being able to haul in the football. No concerns there. Same with Julele McLaughlin.

Starting point is 00:05:09 That was a nice development to see here. Now, for the offensive side of the ball as well, some news and notes as to guys that weren't there. Second week in a row, sir, we have not seen A.T. Perry. So I'm not sure what's up with that. Of course, it's voluntary right now. We'll see if he's at mandatory minicamp next week. We'll see if there's anything that we don't know about that's going on before the time that happens.

Starting point is 00:05:28 No Garrett Bulls. He had an excused absence that Sean Peyton was aware of. So a little bit more work for guys like Alex Paucheschi, Frank Crum, primarily getting some good reps here, working with all three quarterbacks on the day. Defensive side of the ball, though, I think you're going to like this one. One thing that we saw the pass rush.

Starting point is 00:05:46 Last week, Dondre Tillman was a guy who stood out. He stood out here once again this week, but he and Q Robinson. I was sitting there with Andrew Mason. We're watching practice. These guys come off the edge with just this relentless aggression and granted, you know, the offensive line that, you know, when the pads come on, it's going to be more important for the evaluation. But these guys were beating whoever was blocking them.

Starting point is 00:06:08 They were pressuring in the quarterback in the quarterback's face within a second or two of them having the ball in their hands on their dropbacks. A couple of instances what could have been strip sacks in a real game situation. Just those guys standing out. And once again, it's that high motor that we saw from Dandre Tillman last year, Q Robinson. We're seeing a high motor from him so far here early on in OTAs. you want to bring past Russian waves and the Denver Broncos are like,

Starting point is 00:06:32 all right, how many waves do you need? Because we can go one, two, three. It doesn't matter. We can put our first unit, second unit, third unit. These guys are going to be able to bring pressure.

Starting point is 00:06:41 And that affects the quarterback all throughout the course of a game because there's no, there's no let up period. It's not like you see number 15 and number zero running off to the sideline. And then you can kind of just take a deep breath and relax a little bit. You got to deal with other guys who are out there trying to kind of make a name for themselves as well. So really exciting to hear about the Broncos pass rush depth.

Starting point is 00:07:02 Really exciting to see Pat Sertan back out there, as you said that he would be. Cody, I saw your video report, which is always excellent and some footage of PS2 out there. I know Blake Watson wasn't out there as well. We kind of did an episode about him. And unfortunately, then he wasn't out for this one practice. I don't know if it was all week or just the one practice, but of course he wasn't out there. And it's always just you connect the dots. You follow the breadcrums, right?

Starting point is 00:07:28 the Broncos have J.K. Dobbins in. Sean Peyton said that they were going to kind of, you know, do his visit after practice today. So for anybody that was wondering about that, Sean Payton said that that was going to be kind of happening after they got them with practice. So obviously we'll keep you updated as we know more on the J.K. Dobbins situation. But the timing is, of course, very interesting because Matt, I mean, Blake Watson wasn't out there. And so you have the, okay, do we connect those two dots? There's something going on.

Starting point is 00:07:56 But ultimately, Sean says, said that Dobbins is a guy that they got firsthand looks at last year. He's a good player. So really exciting, I think, to be able to add good players to an already great roster, Cody. And you talk about that depth on both sides of the ball. I think that's the one area that the Broncos have improved substantially over the last couple of years under Sean Payton, just young guys stepping up at every level of this roster.

Starting point is 00:08:19 Yeah. And look, I was even walking into the building. You know, you see the guys going off on the side field. I saw Blake Watson. He's like, wow. Of course, we just did an episode on him highlighting the underrated role. he could have and, you know, he's on there. No extent, we don't know what, you know, what it is,

Starting point is 00:08:32 but the fact that he's on the side field is always a good sign. I'd say if guys aren't on the field and they're dealing with injury, it's a little bit more reason to be concerned. So nothing to invest in much there. But let's go through some side field news and notes here for the Broncos. Number 57 in the white jersey defensively. Drey Greenlaw was on the side field dressed out and going through stuff with the training staff. PJ Locke, obviously still working on the side field with the training staff as well with a helmet,

Starting point is 00:08:56 as he's continuing to recover from that off-season surgery that he had, we don't know about yet. Mitchell Friboni obviously he underwent back surgery this off-season. He was also on the side field working there. So you get to see a little bit of these guys mixing the match. And it's like, all right, hey, side field is good news. These guys should be ready for the start of training camp here. But Broncos country, that's the first news in terms of players who stood out overall on Thursday's practice of OTAs alongside Bo Nix.

Starting point is 00:09:23 But coming up here, we're going to talk about Sean Payton, giving out the playbook a little bit as to what he's looking for from this Broncos safety room, and why Audrick estimates roster spot doesn't seem like it's necessarily guaranteed at this point. We'll dive deep into that and much more on today's episode, Lockdown Broncos. Today's episode of Lockdown Broncos is brought to you by Fandul. The NBA finals are here and every night we know it's going to deliver highlight worthy performances, major momentum shifts and those can't miss moments that we love, whether it's a game winning shot or a breakout player,

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Starting point is 00:10:49 And there might be a running back in the doghouse. Cody and I are going to talk on today's episode of the show. bonus episode here as we cover Broncos OTAs about some safeties on this team. Audric Estime and his future with this team and what OTAs could potentially mean for him. Cody, I'm interested to know I heard you asked the question while Sean was doing his presser as well. Really good stuff and insight from him on the safety position. We know established starters. Talanoa Hufanga, who sounds like, man, he sounds like he's making an impact already with just his energy.

Starting point is 00:11:22 I'd love to hear you talk about that as well. But you asked a question about the safety depth on this team. Interested to know kind of your thought process behind that too. And what you heard from Sean in terms of those guys who are battling it out for spots, you know, behind Brandon Jones and Tallinnola Hufanga. Yeah, it's a deep room as we had talked about. And obviously, guys, we didn't see last week J.L. Skinner, veteran Sam Franklin, Jr. those guys were back here this week in the practice that media was able to attend.

Starting point is 00:11:49 They could have also been there during Wednesday and Tuesday. practices previously, but our first look at those guys here in the offseason program. But yeah, you know, I wanted to know from Sean what the idea was. Like they've got a lot of safety depth right now with the return of Delarian, Turner, Yale. You've got Devin Key, Keadren Smith, Tanner McAllister on top of those guys that we already mentioned, and PJ Locke, who's recovering from an injury. We don't know the numbers game or how many players at that position.

Starting point is 00:12:15 The Broncos specifically will look to carry on to their 53. We're a long ways away from that. but with Talenoa Hufanga being a starter, Brandon Jones being a starter, based on what they're being paid, what does it look like? How do those other guys make the team? What is the expectation? As Sean Payton told us, it is contributions on special teams. It says you don't see many safeties in the NFL.

Starting point is 00:12:36 If you're not starting, if you're not playing on special teams, they're probably not really going to be on a major roster. So the ability to play special teams, if you're not a starter here for this Broncos defense, I think is going to be the most crucial element of that. And immediately, I already think to guys like PJ Locke. He made his, he made his, you know, mark in the NFL. That's how he got noticed was by his impact on special teams to start his career, especially in Denver.

Starting point is 00:13:02 You know, he's got the experience there. So he'll probably be a really strong factor into this equation. J.L. Skinner became one of the Broncos most important special teams players last year. Delirian Turner Yale before his injury was an important part on the special team side. Devin Key really ate last year on the special team side for the Bronco. So for me, it's like you have all this opportunity, Sam Franklin Jr. Was the key special teams guy in his, you know, for the course of his NFL career, that's why he's still kind of been floating around.

Starting point is 00:13:28 He hasn't played much at safety. So there's a lot of competition there. I don't know what's going to play out. Your thoughts on that, you know, but real quick before we do that, you talked about, you know, asking about Talanoa Hufanga. He did have an interception on the day while in the Broncos team period did a really good job of reading a play and just going on and making it there. Something we've seen him do at San Francisco.

Starting point is 00:13:49 I can't wait for the paths to come on for Denver to play other teams. So we can see that physicality being brought to the table. But you mentioned the energy. He does bring that defensively as well. Seems like he's fitting in perfectly here alongside Brandon Jones in Vance Joseph's defense. But your thoughts, obviously on what Sean had said about the safety pecking order here. Yeah, it's really going to be important to find out who those special teams aces are this year. And whether or not those guys are going to be core four, you know,

Starting point is 00:14:16 or whether it's going to be, hey, this guy can do a couple of things. Well, I don't know. I think there's going to be separating factors for a lot of these players. It can't just be, well, you're good at one thing, but not the others. Darren Rizzy is going to play a huge role, Cody, I think, in ultimately determining the bottom handful of spots here on this roster. And there's so many guys there that it feels like they've made their hay in the NFL by playing special teams.

Starting point is 00:14:41 Like, that's what they're going to be doing for the majority of their career. and PJ Locke, who wasn't out there as well, as you mentioned, he has been a core special teams guy in the past as well, a really good one. So you have a ton of competition there. That's why I think, man, it's, it stinks to think that the preseason could eventually go away or, you know, that it would be diminished to two games,

Starting point is 00:15:03 which I think will happen eventually. But what stinks about that is that you don't get as many reps for these guys out there in live action. That's why I guess you do the joint practices nowadays and try to get better look that way. But I'm excited to see how that plays out. And I think there are a lot of guys there that could be, I mean, you could realistically say any of them for the roster at this point, including the guys who haven't practiced as much. But talking about realistic roster chances, Cody, the running back position is going to be fascinating, especially if the Broncos add J.K.

Starting point is 00:15:37 Dobbins to the mix. You and I have kind of talked about what, what does that mean for other guys on the team. I've been on record as saying, I think Jalil McLaughlin is most affected by this, but the tide might be turning a different direction, right? And you mentioned this on our bonus episode that we did, that Audric Estime, he's stylistically the most similar guy to J.K. Dobbins on the roster already. Maybe he's the guy. And based on what you're seeing at OTAs, it could be potentially bad news for Audrick Estime if J.K. Dobbins is brought into the fold. Yeah, look, and obviously right now, I mean, it's tough to read into so much, but the fact that your J.K. Dobbins is in the building,

Starting point is 00:16:17 okay, hey, that's a sign. And obviously, if he does sign, there's bigger signs to be kind of foretold from that. Blake Watson, obviously being on the side field, could that also be a reason, you know, possibly here? But the reason why I feel like Audrick Estimames roster spot isn't necessarily guaranteed. And look, Broncos country, you know, this would come as a shock, but also when you'll get Sean Payton's history, it necessarily wouldn't. You know, Sean Payton's cut a fourth round running back in favor of an undrafted guy before, right? It was Antonio Pittman in round four. They drafted in 2007 out of Ohio State. And then it ended up being Pierre Thomas, who makes the roster as an undrafted guy because

Starting point is 00:16:49 he was playing better. Ball security is going to be the most paramount thing here. And while we don't obviously have any information, we obviously couldn't report on if that were to happen. If there was, let's say, a fumble by Audric in any of the practices, the Broncos, like that's something that Sean Payton does not want to have happened. But I would say as many as these guys, like at running back in wide receiver, the Broncos and Peyton, they're rotating a lot.

Starting point is 00:17:10 of these guys in, we're seeing a heavy dosage early on of RJ Harvey and obviously a guy like Jelow McLaughlin getting, you know, getting those first touches overall with every offensive unit, with the first quarterback, second quarterback, third quarterback, whereas we're not seeing as much of Adrick in that featured role early on here in practice. And I would say this is the biggest thing. If you don't have Sean Payton's trust, that's going to be a hard thing to kind of earn back. You have to figure out a way to do it. And I would say looking at the trends last year, okay, Sarah, obviously the fumbles, the ball security from Adrick was a little bit of an issue in the preseason.

Starting point is 00:17:48 We saw that. Week one, he fumbles against the Seattle Seahawks, doesn't lose it. Obviously, Adam Troutman recovered it. Then he goes on short-term IR for four weeks. And I can tell you this. You know, Audrake estimated. You know, an ankle, you would think you'd be in a boot if he was going on short-term iron.

Starting point is 00:18:04 That was not the case. So who knows? Maybe that's just me reading into the tea leaves a little bit. but this is a dynamic and I think this is something that Broncos country needs to pay attention to. I think as more and more time develops and passes here, Adrick Estimates got the most pressure on him out of anybody in that running back room to make the roster. I think with Sean Payton, this is just my vibe from being around Sean going on three years now, being at practice,

Starting point is 00:18:28 Sean trusts certain guys. Julea McLaughlin is one of his most trusted guys. I don't think Jalil's roster spot is in danger in any way, shape, or form. RJ Harvey is obviously going to be heavily featured. But I think that there is a lack of trust right now overall, just from my perception and other reporters there will tell you the same thing. There's a perception that doesn't seem like Estimate is being trusted by this coaching staff fully just yet. That could be different, but that's the perception that we are all seeing right now.

Starting point is 00:18:56 And I wonder if there's a situation where the Broncos, like, do they just cut bait with him or do they try to continue to develop him behind the scenes? Because you've mentioned this before and we talk about, this. He was the youngest player on the team last year. And I think that there's an element of that where you have to be patient with a guy like this. You can't throw the baby out with the bathwater. You've got to be willing to live with a guy's flaws when he struggles as a rookie. And you want to get the most out of him. Like, yes, there are the instances where you cut the fourth round pick in favor of the undrafted free agent. But there's also instances where you say, we're not going to cut

Starting point is 00:19:32 this guy because we say, we talk about this all the time. Vision, vision, vision, vision. vision, vision. How many, you know, take a drink every time Sean Payton says either vision or Joker and you will be, you won't be able to drive after very long, right? But look, it's one of those things that if you buy a guy's vision, you can't give up on it after not seeing anything in year one, you know, or just taking the opportunity off the table in year two. If Estime is cut from this team or traded away from this team, Cody, it would have to mean

Starting point is 00:20:03 that there's things behind the scenes that we may not find out about for years. years down the line and that it's just a, you know, personality clash or can't work together type of situation. It would be a bizarre ordeal. But certainly you don't want to give up on a guy this early in his career. I hope the Broncos figure it out with him. And I hope he responds because this is a big challenge now for him. This is an opportunity to respond and go out there and win one of those jobs. I think you said it perfectly because for for all of us, like we all, we like Adrick. Audrick's been so great with us in the media. And we've seen him on the feel like this is a guy who can have an impact he can be i think that three down back that you're looking for

Starting point is 00:20:42 but if there is like for example something going on behind the scenes where i mean let's say in practice let's say stuff that we maybe probably don't have access to because you know in the regular season we don't get a watch the full on practices the way that we do in training camp so you know there could be instances if he's fumbling in practice i mean that stuff's obviously not going to get out ever because we don't see it we wouldn't be allowed to report on that but if he's fumbling in practice that can also that's that's another thing Bill Parcells hated that. And I've heard stories from players who've played under Bill Barcells about guys who fumble the ball, even in practice, like how you practice is how

Starting point is 00:21:16 you essentially play. And of course, I think practice is where you want to make mistakes. Don't get me wrong. I'm saying you can't do that. But if that's becoming a consistent trend, that's something that is going to, I think at that position itself lead to a lack of trust. So we'll see. I'm with you. I think Audrake Estimate can have a very impactful role here. I think if you compare the two body types, Audrey Estimate, J.K. Dobbins, very alike in a lot of different ways. So even if you bring in Dobbins, could that be a guy that Audrick can learn from? I think that you can.

Starting point is 00:21:44 But when it comes to roster gymnastics, who knows? We will find out, though. But I will say this, Broncos country, it does seem like there's a lot of pressure here on Adrick Estimate. I'm not trying to create a false narrative out there. But this is just the vibe and the perception that we're seeing out there at practice is that there are other guys right now who seem to be a little bit more in favor in the eyes of Sean Payton from what we're seeing there.

Starting point is 00:22:05 And I think that's important for. us to read into. But with that said, Broncos country that'll wrap up today's bonus episode lockdown Broncos recapping the final day of organized team activities. You want more coverage of that. Go check out Milehysports.com. I got my story up there. Go check out Sarah's work over there, predominantly

Starting point is 00:22:21 orange.com. But we'll be back tomorrow for another episode of the show because we're going to dive deeper into the role here of Troy Franklin and Sean Payton gave us a little bit more insight as to what he's been doing that's impressed him the most here this offseason and where players are at in terms of development as well.

Starting point is 00:22:36 more OTA storylines on tomorrow's episode, Lockdown Broncos. Thanks to all the everydayers. We appreciate your subscriber or follow. If you haven't done so already, we'll catch you next time.

Locked On Broncos - Daily Podcast On The Denver Broncos - Denver Broncos OTAs: Courtland Sutton, Devaughn Vele DYNAMIC DUO Emerging

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