Locked On Broncos - Daily Podcast On The Denver Broncos - Denver Broncos Path Of Making The Playoffs Doesn't Matter, Just Do It

Episode Date: December 30, 2024

The Denver Broncos path of making the playoffs doesn't matter, they just need to do it. In our latest Mailbag Monday, Broncos Country asked if it should matter whether or not Denver gets into the playoffs by beating the Kansas City Chiefs backups, what it says about the team if they miss the playoffs, and whether or not the Broncos are a few positions away in their current rebuild? 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!PrizePicksDownload the app and use code lockedonnfl to win $50 instantly when you play $5. You don't even need to win to receive your $50 bonus, it's guaranteed! Prizepicks. Run Your Game.Click Here: https://prizepicks.onelink.me/LME0/LOCKEDONNFL GametimeDownload the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNFL for $20 off your first purchase. Terms Apply. Download Gametime today. What time is it? Gametime. FanDuelYou can start the season with a big return on FanDuel. New customers can place a FIVE DOLLAR bet and you’ll get started with TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTY DOLLARS in BONUS BETS - if you win your first FIVE DOLLAR BET ! Visit FANDUEL.COM to get started. 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.

If the Denver Broncos make it in the playoffs by beating the Kansas City Chiefs backups, does it really matter how they get there if they get there? We'll debate that because that's widely discussed right now all across Broncos country here on today's episode of the show. You are Locked on Broncos, your daily Denver Broncos podcast, part of the Locked On podcast network, your team every day. Hey, what's happening in Broncos country? Welcome into another episode of Locked on Broncos, your daily Denver Broncos podcast.

part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. Thank you so much to all the everydayers out there in Broncos country. Thanks for taking time out of your day to make us your first listen of the day. However, you choose to listen or watch your podcast, we appreciate you so much every single day all year long. We've got you covered for all the Broncos news content coverage analysis that you need and more. I'm Cody Roak Broncos reporter from Mile High Sports. Join as always by Sarah Bedinger, site expert, predominantly orange.com. And a lot to discuss here.

in the aftermath of the Broncos unfortunate loss on Saturday to the Cincinnati Bengals. It sets everything up for a matchup against the Kansas City Chiefs who will be playing their backups. We'll highlight that as well. But we're going to open up a mailbag edition of the show here on Monday. Broncos Country asked the questions. Are the Broncos a few positions away in their rebuild?

They also asked the question whether or not, what will us say if the Broncos missed the playoffs after being in the position that they're in? But we're obviously going to kick things off by answering the question. Does the Broncos path to the playoffs matter how they get into the dance, essentially here? We'll break that down here on today's episode show. So Sarah, I'll see you. Let's open things up here with the question I was sent in from DeMark on Twitter.

He asked the question. He says, there's talk of being embarrassed of getting a playoff berth by beating a Kansas City team with their backups. He says, to me, it doesn't matter how you get in should it matter? I think this is a great question because I think Twitter right now, any social media sphere that you use, This is kind of being talked about a lot. Yeah, it really is. And I think style points matters to a lot of people, Cody. And I brought this up on my Twitter or X account as well.

And I think it's an interesting thing to kind of debate here as we talk about it. Is it meaningless for the Denver Broncos to be battle tested at this point when compared to the style points of going into the playoffs on a hot streak? Those are the two situations we're facing right now. Obviously, everybody wants to go into the playoffs. feeling like the team is hot, feeling like they're maybe catching fire at the exact right time. But somebody made a great point. I don't off the top of my head remember who it was who tweeted back at me. But they said, hey, remember back in 2015, the Broncos weren't exactly the hottest team in the NFL

going into the postseason, right? They had to kind of scrape and claw their way to the number one seed in the AFC. Peyton Manning came in at halftime of a game against the Chargers in which Brock Osweiler got benched to help secure that number one seed. And then at that point, everybody was wondering, like, what the heck is Peyton Manning even going to bring into the postseason? We have no idea what we're going to see from this Denver Broncos team, as bad as the offense was that year.

So a lot of question marks going into the playoffs. And similarly, team backed into the postseason back in 2011 when Tim Tebow was the quarterback. And what happened? They went out in the wildcard round, got a win against the defending Super Bowl champion, Pittsburgh Steelers. And so you just never know what can happen when you get to the playoffs. So that's what you and I have been preaching all year long, which is why I say,

I think it's just as valuable for the Broncos to have been battle tested at this point as it is that they would go into the playoffs on a hot streak. Yeah, no, and I agree with you too. I personally don't believe it matters how you get in, right? Getting in and getting a ticket to the dance is probably one of the more important things that you can do. And I think for this team here, Sarah, where, look, everybody had them at five wins or less. this season. Almost a lot, you know, a lot of people, even a lot of people in the fan base were very

skeptical and rightfully so. There wasn't a lot to necessarily like, hey, what's going to give the indication that this team is going to win over nine games this season? Denver has exceeded their expectations this year. But I think what everyone is getting caught up on, and certainly myself, I'm very guilty of this. I've been kind of grumpy as of late just because like the last two weeks, like it's awesome. It's kind of selfish, right?

I feel very selfish for fulfilling this way. But like, I want us to be able to experience covering. this team in the playoffs for the fan base because I think it's exciting because not only that there's so many new Broncos fans out there that will find this show that'll help grow the show as it is and it's like there might be new younger fans that like hey really love the Denver Broncos then they find the show it makes it fun for you and I makes it fun for the fan base I got to change responding to all the negative negative the negativity that we're getting from a lot of people like I'm just going to focus on the people that you know are willing to have good logical discussions and

things like that. I just feel like I get, I've been grumpy as of late. So I apologize for that Broncos country if my, if I seem short. But just get in the dance, right? I mean, the title of this episode is the Broncos path of making the playoffs doesn't matter. Just do it. Get in. If you have to beat Kansas City's backups to do it, do just that. But there's no guarantee of that either, Sarah, as we've seen the NFL very weird this season. And even just this past Sunday where you have Drew Locke leading the Giants to a win over the Indianapolis Colts and ending the Colts playoff hopes. He counts for five total touchdowns. Like nobody saw that coming.

You get guys like Kenny Pickett leading the backup squad, you know, against the Dallas Cowboys so they could clinch the NFCE. So, I mean, there's so many different things that can happen. It's like Carson Wentz led Kansas City Chiefs team. We don't know what that looks like just yet. What Broncos team is going to show up. That's probably the bigger question here for week 18. But it's all very simple.

The Broncos win. They are in. The Broncos lose. And the Dolphins win. or the Bengals win, the Broncos are out. So plain and simple, it does become a must win for Denver. Doesn't matter how you do it. Chiefs backups, chief starters, prove, prove you belong.

I thought that Denver on Saturday, I loved how they fought against Cincinnati offensively. I love how Bow responded in a lot of different situations. I love that. But now go out there and do it. You had two chances to do it two weeks in a row against good quarterbacks. You couldn't come up with the win. Denver's got to go out there and prove it. And who knows what can happen if they do get in the playoffs.

I wanted to ask you this kind of maybe as a follow-up here, let's say Denver does get in. Do you feel like with what we've seen that Denver is going to be one and done, or maybe could they be one of these surprise teams that sneak somebody? I feel like the general consensus looking on paper, if they play the way they have been, especially defensively, they're going to get bounced quickly in the first round. But does that matter, right, versus them just not even having a playoff appearance?

I'm very curious for that. I think we'd all rather see this team just make it in and see what happens. right? If they do get blown out by the Buffalo Bills, then so be it. But let's remember, like, the Broncos have only been blown out one time this entire season, right? We talk about this team not being able to finish and close games against good teams. And that's a fair assessment. They have not been able to do that. You go back to week one against the Seattle Seahawks and the Pittsburgh Steelers. And lately, obviously, against teams like the Bengals and the Chargers. And you could go through a number of different games, every single one of the Broncos seven losses, aside from that Baltimore game,

was a close game. And that's because this team is resilient. That's because this team is able to fight back when they've been down big, like against the Chargers earlier in the year. They fought back in that game and got it to a one possession game. So it's just, it's one of those situations to where you kind of feel good about the team's chance. If you can go toe to toe with Joe Burrow right now, Cody. I don't know who you can't go toe to toe with in terms of offensively, keeping up matching point for point, or if you can hold

Josh Allen to field goals in the red zone instead of touchdowns. Like, this Broncos team could do that. And they've proven that they can do that against the best quarterbacks in the NFL. Now, obviously, you've got to find a way to score at least one more point than the other team. In games that have been decided by one point or less,

we know that if the Broncos would have their record flipped, they would probably have the best record in the NFL, right now if every if every team had their one score games flipped the broncos would be among the best but that's just neither here nor there at this point they've got to find a way to finish games but that's why i say that battle tested team like they they've got to learn how to finish but they've kind of figured out a thousand ways how not to finish at this point it's like okay we can't you know we have to take advantage of this opportunity at the end of game situation or you know defense needs to come through through this way i think there's so many different paths for this team to to

be a problem in the postseason. And that, to me, alone, is worth saying, hey, I don't care who the Chiefs play. The Broncos, if they can win that game, they deserve to be there. And look, a postseason appearance raises the standard in Denver. I think it adds a little bit more pressure and may encourage ownership to go out there and spend more money to get elite level assets around a rookie quarterback like Bownex. And obviously, that's going to be something we'll talk about here a little bit in the show

because someone in Broncos country sent in a question about that. But, you know, to me, though, Sarah, I agree with you. Like, defense has regressed in the last four or five games here. And they're going to have to find a way to make some changes to be able to get back to who they were, warts and all, as Vance Joseph said. But they can't keep playing the way they do. And they certainly, if they get into the postseason, they can't play the way they have been against a team like the Buffalo Bills. That could get ugly very quickly.

I would say if there's any criticism I have of this young team. And I think it's because they are a young team. It is exactly what you say. said, they don't know how to finish yet. And I think the moment they start getting a couple of games, we're like, hey, we face some adversity, but we found a way to finish in a situation. Maybe the Colts game was a great example of that type of resiliency there. But I'm talking about like in bigger games against better teams, better quarterbacks, better defenses they're going to go up against. They can find a way to do it. That's going to be a confidence builder for them

going forward. And look, I like what we've seen from this young team, the resiliency, the fight, But you're going to have to find a way to finish here at some point here. Great question sent in from D. Mark on Twitter in our Mailbag Monday episode of Locked on Broncos. The next one that's going to be coming up is what will us say, though, if this Broncos team being in the position that they're in, if they don't make the playoffs, we'll tell you exactly what it means. You're on today's episode, Lockdown Broncos. Today's Lockdown Broncos podcast is brought to you by our friends over there at Rocket Money. Did Rocket Money help you find any subscriptions that you forgot about or that you were paying for twice?

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all of the apps premium features. So cancel your unwanted subscriptions and reach your financial goes faster with Rocket Money. Go to RocketMoney.com slash locked on today. That's rocketmoney.com slash locked on. Rocketmoney.com slash locked on. What will it say about the Denver Broncos if they can't end up making the playoffs in 2024? Considering all the expectations or lack thereof going into the season,

will it still be considered a huge failure? Or will we look on the bright side of things? Well, Broncos Country, Cody and I are going to break down some more of your questions on today's Monday mailback. edition, Lockdown Broncos. But thank you so much to all of you everyday listeners for tuning in and making Lockdown Broncos your first listen of the day. Every single day, we appreciate you so much, especially those of you that have hit

subscribe on your favorite podcast platform as well as on YouTube. And Cody, this question was sent in by Kelly. I think it's a valid question because we kind of have to preemptively prepare ourselves in case this does happen, in case the Broncos do end up missing out on the playoffs after previously having a 91% chance of getting in. 91% after that win against the Indianapolis Colts, a win and in situation for three straight weeks to end the season. I would say that's one of the most enviable positions

that you can be in as an NFL team, and you've got to take care of business. It doesn't matter if you're the third youngest roster in the NFL. So what will it say? I mean, to you about this team, to Kelly's point, here if the Broncos can't go out and finish this season with one win in their final three games. You know, I would say for me personally, just being around the team, being around the players, it would be disappointing, to be honest with you.

Like for Denver to exceed the expectations, right, to get win number nine, that right there put a lot of people like, oh, wow, like, how did this happen? It doesn't matter who the Broncos play, right? You got to play who's on your schedule. But Denver found a way to win nine games. People don't understand. People think, okay, you can just go out there and win nine games. It's easy.

There's some really good coaches in the NFL that have a really bad record. You know, there's teams that are good one year that end up being bad the next year, bad one year, good the next year. Like the game changes, the landscape, the teams, the situations, they change on a weekly basis. So for Denver to be at nine wins, they've exceeded expectations, right? But for the last three weeks, as you've mentioned, they've been in a position where you win and you're in. You're this close to the postseason for the first time in nine years. to me, them not making it, that would be very disappointing. It doesn't mean that the season is a failure.

I think the Broncos are ahead of schedule and the rebuild in which they are in, and they are currently going through right now. Nine wins is great. It's a winning season for the first time since 2016. Missing the playoffs would be, selfishly, I'd say, would be very disappointing, considering they've been in a position to get into the postseason and they haven't been able to capitalize on that. That's where I'm at.

Where do you stand on this? I completely agree. I think given what we said was the expectation at the beginning of the year, you and I forget what everybody else said. I mean, you and I were on the trajectory of saying this team can be better than what they were last year, which was an eight-win team. And here they are. They've won nine games already.

So I guess we can check that box off. But, man, once you've got the opportunity at a 91% chance to get in, win and in with three games left to play, it's kind of like Bo Nix said after the loss to the Cincinnati Bengals. You know, he was asked about his connection in particular with Troy Franklin and why, you know, how frustrating it is after all the connections they made at Oregon, like they can't quite seem to figure it out in the NFL. And Bo Nix basically just said, like, look, now I'm an NFL quarterback. I've got to make those throws at the end of the game.

Those two throws that he missed in overtime, he's like, I'm an NFL quarterback. Got to make those throws. And I think for the entire team, that's kind of a good. little microcosm there of where this team is at. Like, okay, you won nine games. You got to a win and in situation with three games left to play. You might be the third youngest roster in the NFL, but you're an NFL roster. You've got to go do what an NFL roster and a nine-win team with three games left to play

would do. And that's close out the deal and make the playoffs. I think we have every right to be disappointed at this point if they don't make the playoffs, as well as encouraged by what we've seen this year. because also we've talked about the most important thing this year is finding a franchise quarterback, and you've done that already. But now, let's have our cake and eat it too. Yeah.

And look, I think you make valid points here, too. It's exciting the season that they've had disappointing in terms of the end result and the missed opportunities. But I think those are things that you can build off of, especially when you were a young team. And it's going to obviously segue into, I think, another mailback question that we have here that we're going to close the show out with today. But I just think if the Broncos don't make the playoffs this year, Sarah, the standard next season has to be playoffs or bust. And Denver's going to face some tough opponents next season as well, though they're also going to face the AFC South.

And that's going to be something that does get thrown in there. But if they don't make it this year, they absolutely have to make it next season. And obviously, there's going to be an off season where they're going to retool. They're going to add weapons. Hopefully they're going to build in the draft. Barry Kersey, what their approach is going to be, where they look at and what they prioritize this off season, but go out there and take care of business against Kansas City. Look, you know, the expectation they're not going to play their starters, which means Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelsey,

probably not the Andre Hopkins or Hollywood Brown, probably Xavier Worthy's going to play. Probably some other guys are going to play. I don't imagine they're going to rest every starter on their defensive side. Like I think Carloftus won't play. I think McDuffey won't play. I don't think Chris Jones will play or Nick Bolton. But there's going to probably be a couple of guys who start because I don't know, this the preseason. You don't have 90 players on your sideline that you can change in. So it's going to be

the key guys that they're like, hey, we need these guys going into the postseason. Go out there and do it. I also just want to go back to Kelly's point as well because even in her question, she says, how sad will it be if Denver doesn't make the playoffs? She said this and I think this stands out. And Baracko's country, feel free to chime in. The season has been better than anything I can remember recently, she says, but being so close and not making it would feel pretty bad, right? It's like you get so close, you're there and then gets pulled away from you. You don't want to be in that situation because I do feel like it leaves like a sour taste in your mouth going into the off season. Certainly our dialogue and discussion is going to be very tailor made all entire off season.

If that is the case on how Denver can get to the playoffs, how they can get over that hump there, because look, eight games one year, nine games the next, the standard's got to be higher the next season. So how do you get to that? That I think would be kind of that point there. But also I think for the players, it serves as like, most. motivation, right? If you have this sour taste in your mouth, you can't wait to get back to work so you can get it out. But you want to be able to control your destiny.

And the Broncos have been in that position. I mean, Sarah, even after the miss field goal against Cincinnati had in that game on Saturday, that was destiny saying, hey, here you go, take advantage of it. And they simply couldn't do it. Can they do it this week? That's the million dollar question. It is. So they've got to take the bull by the horns, right?

Obviously, they've got to do the thing. They've got to go out there and take advantage. of what's before them. And look, I mean, not making the playoffs at this point would mean ending the season with a loss in those throwback uniforms. Like, I don't know, Cody. I mean, I don't think that there's any more positive vibes that could be for this team. You're playing at home.

Kansas City is coming to town and they're likely playing a lot of backups. You're wearing the throwback uniforms. Like, you should have a huge chip on your shoulder after dropping two straight games that you very well could have won, that the stars have aligned for this game. It's set up. It's all there. The Broncos, you don't need any help to get in.

All you've got to do is win. And I know that's easier said than done, but how many years? I mean, even last year, when they were, what, 7 and 7 or whatever it was, we're sitting here, like, doing these complicated calculus equations, being like, well, if the Houston Texans and this,

and the, you know, the Indianapolis Colts and the Jacksonville Jaguars do, you know, jump over this hurdle. It's like, we don't need any of that bowl. We don't need it. We don't need it. Just win a game. And Sean Payton and your coaching staff, get these guys prepared. No more Tremont Smith getting in the face of a returner before it's allowed. Like Riley Dixon, figure out how to punt in between this past game and the next game. Like Bo Nix and Troy Franklin, I don't care if you've got to pull a Kobe Bryant and go sit in the gym all night until 4 a.m. Go and practice that deep ball and get your timing down for at least one of those shots in this Chiefs game.

Like, don't let the little details be the reason why you drop a game at home against the Kansas City Chiefs to make it to the playoffs, regardless of what happens. Because I'll tell you right now, Cody, as fired up as I am right now, I've been just thinking about it. Just imagine what it'll be like if the Broncos actually do miss the playoffs. We're going to have every right to be ticked off if that happens. Yeah, no, 100%. And that's the worst case scenario in that situation. but even two, can we see simple things like slants? Like I don't know when the last time we've seen a slant thrown in this offense like Sarah,

what we're seeing other teams do, which I mean, you look at what Joe Burrell is able to do. Joe Burrell carved the Broncos up underneath and then would take the vertical shots, right? But the concepts for Denver, and you and I've talked about this have seemed like they're very long developing at times, right? And it's like, all right, well, if it's long developing and you've got two vertical routes and you've got four guys covering two of the. vertical routes there. Your underneath stuff might be there, but it's going to be short. And the defense is wanting you to throw it short to rally and tackle. So running simple concepts like, hey, like we even saw it against New Orleans where they came out and trips to one side, Lucas Crowe ran vertical and it freed up Devon Vele on a slant underneath as the number

two guy. We have not seen those things kind of brought back to the forefront of this offense. That might help Bo Nix get into some rhythm a little bit as well because defense is right now. And it's nothing to, it's nothing against Bo Nix. I think if anything we learn from Cincinnati game is, Bo can throw the football. And anyone that says he can't, you don't know what you're talking about. You don't what you're looking at. You don't know ball.

Plain and simple, Bo can throw. But when you have six to seven defenders dropping back to take away the deep stuff and they want you to throw it short, of course, like you're going to have to take the checkdown because that's all the defense is giving you, unless you want Bo to throw it into triple coverage. You may do a play like he did on the interception of Gino Stone.

You don't want that happening here. make it easier for Bonics. That's something, that's a challenge to Joe Lombardi. It's a challenge to Sean Payton this week. Make it easy for your rookie quarterback to go out there and make plays in the biggest game of the season. Here we are once again. That's the theme here. But Broncos' country, our mailbag is going to continue.

We're going to wrap things up with one question here. Are the Broncos a few positions or more away in the rebuild that they're currently in? It's a great question asked by Broncos Country. We'll answer that much more here on today's episode of the show. Are the Broncos multiple positions away from being a truly complete. competitive team in the midst of the current rebuild that they're in. That was a question that was sent in from members of Broncos. We'll answer that here today.

Obviously, thanks, once again, to all the everydayers and first listeners out there for making the show exactly what it is. We appreciate you so much. We got you covered all week long in the biggest week of the year here for the Broncos. It is do or die here for the mile high city in this game against the Kansas City cheese. But Greg Hunt on Twitter asks the question, are the Broncos a few positions away in the rebuild? And, Sarah, I think we have to look at this not only just on offense, but I think think we have to look at it on defense as well.

Where are you leaning when it comes to this question here from Greg? I think it's a great question from Greg, Cody, and it reminded me of the 2020 Cincinnati Bengals and going into 2021. So remember, the 2020 Cincinnati Bengals were fresh off having the worst record in the NFL. They got Joe Burrow with the number one overall pick. And I'm not trying to say Bo Nicks is Joe Burrow or anything like that. What I'm saying is situationally, you found your quarterback in 2020, if you're the Cincinnati Bengals.

2021, they had a decision to make. You take Jamar Chase at number three overall, or do you take Penet Sewell, the offensive tackle? They took Jamar Chase and gave Joe Burrow a true, legitimate number one weapon for that offense, and it changed the entire dynamic of that team. Joe Burrow progressed in year two. Jamar Chase was an absolute stud from the beginning. So what am I saying?

The number one priority for the Denver Broncos in this 2025 offseason has got to be getting a go-to threat for Bo Nix. And that's with all due respect to Cortland Sutton. We saw T. Higgins, you throw him a high volume with targets. He produced at a very high level, even without Jemar Chase. But just thinking about Joe Burrow having Jemar Chase and T. Higgins and Yosevoss and Gaseki and Chase Brown, the Broncos don't even have a fraction of that right now. And I get that we want to see progression from certain guys in this offense.

And we want to see these young guys step up. You need to go out and get. if he's available, a T. Higgins, you need to go out and try to make a trade for a Garrett Wilson. And the Broncos are in position to do that. They are in position where they could justify trading away a second round pick because you have your franchise quarterback and because you've locked in your offensive line. You've got key pieces of the defense locked in long term. You can trade those draft selections now in order to get young cost-controlled players who could be future cornerstone pieces of your team. That opportunity didn't exist

prior to this year because why? You didn't know if you had a franchise quarterback. Now you know. And so now you can be way more aggressive. That makes the offseason, I think, a little more exciting to think about is how are they going to approach free agency? How are they going to approach the draft? Like Denver can go out there. And I think Denver should express interest in T. Higgins.

Obviously, everyone saw the picture on social media of Bo Nix covering his mouth talking to T. Higgins. Could you imagine T. Higgins in Denver and look to your point about Cortland Sutton, like imagine Cortland Sutton having a player like T. Higgins to counter him kind of opposite. It was almost like what we saw when Cortland and Tim Patrick were very like, were healthy and successful. Like those guys played well off each other. T. Higgins is a number one wide receiver. Like the Bengals, the luxury they have, they have two elite level number one wide receivers in those guys right there in Jamar Chase and T. Higgins. And the unfortunate nature is you realize you can't have two of those guys on your team, especially when you already have your quarterback paid for, you know,

in terms of the money that Joe Burrow got, the extension that he's got, the needs that they're going to have on the offensive line. You can only pay so many players and keep them around here. T. Higgins could have very well played his last home game in Cincinnati, obviously this past week against Denver. Could he end up elsewhere? I know he's going to have a very strong market like the New England Patriots. You brought up Garrett Wilson, which was interesting because Ian Rappaport reported on Sunday

that really it was more along the lines of the Jets have a decision to make it. It's either bring Aaron Rogers back or find a way to trade Garrett Wilson, because Garrett Wilson doesn't want to play with Aaron Rogers. And I wouldn't blame him there. And man, when there's smoke, there's fire a little bit. But adding another wide receiver, and that's not taking a shot at Devon Vele, it's not taking a shot at Troy Franklin or Marvin Mims. I think it makes things more opportune for those guys to go out there and make more plays

because you have some of these other guys. I mean, that's where Iosovus came in handy for the Bengals. Like you focus so much on Jamar Chase and T. Higgins, well, here's Yosovus on one play. Here's Mike Yaseki on 10 freaking catches for 87 yards. You need that diversity here. So are the Broncos a few positions away in the rebuild? I think they need an elite level wide receiver, whether you get that in the draft, whether you get that free agency.

I think that's got to be an emphasis for them. I think you need a tight end. I think that's going to be a position that needs to get addressed. I would even say inside linebacker here for Denver, Sarah. I mean, I don't know how you feel about that. But for me, these last handful of weeks, we've seen that become a little bit of an issue. Alex Singleton will be back, but Denver does probably need to find a legitimate guy there that can help them with some of the issues that they've had on the outside, you know,

in terms of the hashes and the numbers. That's been, I think the Broncos are a few positions away here. Yeah, they are offensively for sure. Defensively, I think you're right. Inside linebacker is that one spot with Alex Singleton, potentially being a cap casualty, even coming off the injury, Cody. I know that the Broncos don't have a ton of guys that you would say, hey, that guy's probably going to be a salary cap cut.

He could be one of those guys, potentially if they look to overhaul that position. But Justin Sirnaud, a free agent. Cody Barton, a free agent. And behind those guys, I don't know who the Broncos even really have on their roster right now. So it might be- Val Bailey and Zach Cunningham.

Okay, so the cupboard is slightly bare, you know, is what we're saying there. So inside linebacker is defensively that one position. You and I kind of talked off the air last night, like the defensive breakdowns these last few weeks, are confusing because everybody that you're building around on that side of the ball is on the field. There's nobody out there that you're saying, hey, they're going to move on from this guy after this year. It's all the core guys that you want to build around on that side of the ball. That's why it's so frustrating right now.

But inside linebacker is that one area where is there a guy out there like Fred Warner's, they don't grow on trees, but there are guys who could potentially elevate that position group for the Denver Broncos on the week. They found Brandon Jones. at safety. Brandon Jones. So there's opportunities out there. And I think that's that one spot right now that maybe they attack something in free agency

because guys are hitting the free agent market year after year at that position that could provide you quality play. Let me ask you about another one. What about running back? Like your thoughts on that? Like I love what we saw from Julea McLaughlin on Saturday. And to me it's like, why haven't we seen more?

My fiancee even she said, how come they don't hand the ball to that guy more? I said, babe, that's a great question. I've been asking that all year. or Adric Estimate. Like we finally saw those two guys be the primary ball carriers. And we really did see Samajé kind of transition to that Samajé P-Rine role there. Javante did by being in.

But it was almost kind of like a tendency break because then it's like, oh, Javante's in. They're going to throw the football now. That's something that's going to have to obviously get it corrected. But what do you feel about running back? Do you feel like if obviously they move on from Javante, do you feel like Audric Estimate, Joliel McLaughlin, you have Tyler Bade, you got Blake Watson. is there somebody out there that could be game changing that you don't have right now?

I think there's going to be a concerted effort to upgrade that position group and have all those other guys be part of that other than Giovante. I think Javante will be gone after this season because right now, I mean, shoot, if they had done what your fiance said, Cody, and give the ball to Joliel McLaughlin a little bit more, they might have a 500-yard rusher on the team, but as it stands currently, don't have one of those. So you need somebody, and we know the Broncos were in on Josh Jacobs in free agency.

They wanted to bring him in. Unfortunately, I think they pursued him maybe just a year too early. If they had been able to pursue him after this season to show like, hey, we're getting back to some winning football. Maybe could have lured a free agent like Josh Jacobs to the Mile High City, but there's nobody like that currently in free agency. So guys that could become available via trade this offseason, maybe like a Travis ETN, maybe a Jonathan Taylor,

maybe somebody like a brest hall out in new york i don't know what i don't know who ultimately becomes available in a trade potentially but i think that's an area that you would look at or the nfl draft where everybody's you know so opposed to paying running backs or investing a ton of assets in running backs you could find somebody in the nfl draft and maybe we see a situation at running back like we saw at corner last year where everybody's like the broncos need another corner next to pat or sartan or opposite pat sartan they don't have that guy on the roster and then riley moss has a break out season. I think that could be a situation that we see at the running back spot. And he puts his faith in those two guys at the top. Audrick estimate, Jolila McLaughlin.

Broncos, if you want to answer Greg's question as well, we're always open to hear them from you as well. Are the Broncos a few positions away in their current rebuilding? If so, what positions are those that you would like to see them revamp or even upgrade this offseason? But with that said, that'll wrap up today's episode of the show. Broncos Country. Appreciate you as always. For all you every dayers, here's what you can expect tomorrow we're going to react to what sean payton told us on monday morning in his annual weekly press conference that you always get on top of that a state of the a c we now know the path for the broncos plough picture when but you get in there's also another way that they can get in

you don't want to have to bank on that we'll break that down and much more on tomorrow's episode of the show