Locked On Broncos - Daily Podcast On The Denver Broncos - Denver Broncos' RJ Harvey Poised For HUGE LEAP In 2026

Starting point is 00:00:00 Even though the Denver Broncos re-signed J.K. Dobbins and they drafted Jonah Coleman, R.J. Harvey is in the perfect role to thrive in 2026. You are locked on Broncos. Your daily Denver Broncos podcast. Part of the Locked-on podcast network, your team every day. What's up, Bracko's country? I'm Cody Roar. joined as always by Sarah Benninger. On today's episode, show, we're going to talk about three players we feel like we'll have a breakout season in 2026. We'll go through and tell you that Troy Franklin, he's in a good position. Even after the arrival of Jaylon Waddle, a lot of people are sleeping on Troy Franklin, and we'll tell you why you shouldn't here on today's episode show. Plus, Jonah Ellis making the switch from Eddrusher to offball linebacker, and why that move might be easier for him than most people are thinking. We're going to kick things off by talking about RJ Harvey being in a position to take a huge leap

Starting point is 00:00:53 going into his second season, even after the team, re-signed JK Dobbers, even after they drafted Jonah Coleman. Sarah, let's start off here with RJ, because I think a lot of people have kind of written him off since the Broncos re-signed JK since, and I'd say even more so, since they drafted Jonah Coleman. I mean, Denver's got a lot of running backs right now in that room. But going into training camp, you typically are going to have a handful of different guys there. They re-sign Jolome McLaughlin. They re-sign Tyler Bade.

Starting point is 00:01:21 So what does this mean for R.J. Harvey? So I think from my perspective, RJ, they like him in a specific role. And with Jonah being drafted, with J.K. being back, it allows him to stay in that role that help the Broncos offense thrive at times last season. He's going to be the team's top past catching running back. There's no question about it. And that right there indicates, like, man, he's going to have a big role because what do we know about the Broncos?

Starting point is 00:01:46 And I know there's a new play caller in Davis Webb, but they led the NFL in pass attempts last season. They like to throw the ball. They like to use the quick passing game as an extension of the running game. And so I think just by way of the passing game alone, I think R.J. Harvey stands to take a huge leap forward. But obviously everybody wants to see him take a big leap in terms of the running game, especially when it comes to those outside runs because that's where he really struggled

Starting point is 00:02:13 last season, one of the worst, quite frankly, in terms of running outside the tackles of any running back in the NFL. So I kind of sit here thinking to myself, man, there's nowhere to go but up for RJ Harvey when it comes to especially those outside runs. And I think like you mentioned Jalen Wattle's name a little bit ago, I think, man, the arrival of Waddle, it's going to help everybody in this offense, but teams aren't going to be able to stack the box as much. And that plays so much into the favor of somebody like R.J. Harvey, when he's on the field,

Starting point is 00:02:45 teams won't be able to know, hey, they're going to be passing the ball here. Because the Broncos do have to avoid kind of those same tells that they had with Tyler Badee last year. And even to a degree, Harvey, where, hey, when he's on the field, we're thinking 70% of the time, they're throwing the ball. they need to keep defenses off balance. And I think Harvey improving, especially on those outside runs, is going to be that big leap forward that he takes in 2026. I think there's been a huge misconception about Harvey, right?

Starting point is 00:03:13 Especially with Denver drafting Jonah Coleman. A lot of people say, well, they don't believe in RJ Harvey. I disagree. I think every draft is different. Doesn't matter if RJ went round two last year. It doesn't matter if they drafted Jonah, round four, round five. It doesn't matter. The approach here is we need to bolster this room.

Starting point is 00:03:28 And I can tell you this, the Broncos believe that they're run game struggles last season. That was a scheme issue. They, once again, they tried to implement the outside zone. They added that wrinkle into their offense during last year's offseason. Garrett Bulls kind of spilled the beans during OTAs. And we saw them struggle with that throughout training camp. It was new.

Starting point is 00:03:46 We got to get to a landmark spot here. And I think that's why the outside runs for RJ Harvey, Harvey specifically weren't there. Now, when JK was healthy, I'll go back, even though the Dallas Cowboys defense last year was terrible, JK and RJ's roles, man, they caught. complement each other so well. And even going back to Monday night football against the Cincinnati Bengals, you're seeing these guys be involved in different ways, having a different impact. The way the Broncos use JK is not how they use RJ. I mean, JK is not featured in the passing game like

Starting point is 00:04:14 RJ was last year. RJ had 12 total touchdowns as a rookie. So when JK went down with that injury, they kind of had to put RJ in this JK role, which to be honest with you, I don't think that necessarily suited his skill set. He had to still be the guy and still play his role. I mean, he had some big games for Denver in the past, catching game, obviously on the road to help the Broncos win that game against the Houston Texans. He got isolated in a matchup there with a linebacker. But when you talk about just needing to run the ball, I think that Denver with JK with RJ. And I think now I'm excited to see with Jonah Coleman. I really do think that all three of these guys can have a positive impact on the offense this upcoming season. I'm curious to see what tweak Sean makes to the scheme. But despite all that, Sarah, here we are once again talking about RJ. who had 12 touchdowns. People were, I think people are up in arms. He didn't have a thousand yards rushing, but here's the deal. The Broncos didn't need him to.

Starting point is 00:05:08 If you got 12 plus touchdowns, that's a sign that you're being used, you know, right. And here's the thing for RJ. He didn't fully grasp the entirety of the playbook last year. Now he's coming into year two where he understands it a lot more and things are going to be a lot easier for him. He's not going to have as much on his plate. And I think that's where JK coming back is so big. And also, yeah, that is a huge, huge factor.

Starting point is 00:05:31 being able to compliment a back as opposed to having to do all the work. That's a huge factor. I think like you mentioned and you were kind of alluding to there too, Cody, not being a rookie in general, I think is helpful for these guys because you come up from UCF where it seemed like every time they handed him the ball or threw him the ball, he's just going up the field for a long touchdown. Yeah, I think he led every player in last year's draft class in terms of explosives, maybe behind Ashton Gentie, but he was one of the top.

Starting point is 00:06:01 two or three guys in terms of explosives from last year's draft class. And you saw that when you turned on the UCF game tape or the highlights. I mean, you can see very easily, okay, yeah, this guy's got the home run speed. And then he showed that right away with the Denver Broncos in that Titans game. I mean, the home run abilities are there. But now that he's just not a rookie, he is going to be able to know what the speed of NFL is like. And we know that guys hit a rookie ball at some point. And it just unfortunately occurred for R.J. Harvey, it seemingly happened right after that Jacksonville game, Cody,

Starting point is 00:06:35 because as you look at his game logs from last year, that Jacksonville game, he had 121 yards from scrimmage, seven carries for 50 yards and touchdown five targets, four receptions, 71 yards through the air. So 121 yards from scrimmage after that point, man, it was tough sledding for him. He had, let's see, 43. The Chiefs game was nice. The Chiefs game, yeah, absolutely. he did some good work there so i think look ultimately it's it's going to be that hey you're not a rookie anymore the game speed has you know you've caught up to that right if you're r j harvey that's going to be

Starting point is 00:07:11 a huge factor for him because ultimately i think all rookies do hit that point where it's like all right this guy's kind of hit that proverbial wall and the speed catches up to him or you know they just they go through bouts with you know consistency struggles or they get cold and they can't get out of that funk, I think that those inconsistencies are going to be far, you know, fewer and far more far between here entering his second season. Yeah, and I just think there's just going to be a further level of comfortability. I think Lou I, and he's done such a great job with that running back room there and got a really good core nucleus of guys. And now I really think it kind of changes things too, because you talk about the addition of Jonah Coleman. You're bringing

Starting point is 00:07:51 back JK and what that means for this offense. He was one of the most effective runners in the NFL last season before his injury. And so the Bronco, he, they're really banking on that. They believe that JK is going to play a full set of 18 games and knock on what I pray, that's the case too. Because I think RJ, like, you never want to fit a square peg into a round hole. And what I mean by that in the context of the Broncos running back room is, JK does things really well as kind of this patient in between the tackles type of runner.

Starting point is 00:08:19 RJ is this wild card that could just suddenly burst off for a 50-yard run. Or he's going to catch a 60-yard touchdown on a wheel route because it's going to beat a linebacker right there. He has a unique skill set that, I mean, I think in NFL, you want to find a way to maximize guys and play them in roles where they can thrive. And to your point, going back to the J. LaWattle edition, think about from the coverage standpoint of what that means for not only Denver's receivers, but let's say in past catching situations, let's say where a defense locks up man to man, now you got to deal with Courtney. You got to deal with J. Let's say Marvin or Troy Franklin, the speed package is out

Starting point is 00:08:52 there. And then you got RJ. Well, now you get RJ one-on-one against a bigger linebacker. And imagine this too. Denver has, and they had quite a few of them last year, long drives of 10 plus plays where they took a lot of time off the clock. Imagine in the Green Bay Packers game is a great example. Imagine gassing down a defense. And now you got to worry about Jaylon Walto, Cortland Sutton. And then, hey, you know what? We're going to get this linebacker one-on-one against RJ Harvey. And we think RJ is going to win that matchup.

Starting point is 00:09:17 That is where I think that Sean Payton's processing is going to influence some things here for Davis Webb. I think having Sean in the game plan, the installs, I think. that's going to be big for Davis in year number one, is he kind of gets comfortable with what it's like to call an actual NFL game in the regular season, not necessarily the preseason. Getting that experience, I think is going to be so valuable for him. And I think RJ is going to be someone who benefits tremendously from that this upcoming season.

Starting point is 00:09:41 In Brockos country, let's know your thoughts here on RJ Harvey. What do you think he's prime for a year-two leap inside of this offensive system for him? But coming up next, we're to tell you why Jonah Ellis, even though he made the switch from edge rusher to offball linebacker, he might be more ready for this type of position switch than anybody. else. We'll tell you why you on today's episode of the show. Today's episode of the show is brought to you by friends over there at game time. Broncos Country, the NFL schedule release is official here today.

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Starting point is 00:12:32 We're going to break down why that means he could be a breakout player here in 2026. Broncos Country. Cody and I want to thank you so much for all you every dayers out there that make us part of your day, however you choose to do so. Check out the Every Dare Club. Man, you're going to get ad-free episodes of the show, get access to our exclusive Discord server

Starting point is 00:12:50 where you can talk Broncos with other members of Broncos Country. Lockdown Broncos.supercast.com link will be in the show notes. Cody, let's talk about Jonah Ellis as a possible breakout player. I think oftentimes there's sort of a stigma when players change positions. It ultimately means, well, he's either positionless or it's kind of a last ditch effort to see what you can squeeze out of a guy. I think Jonah Ellis's situation couldn't be further from that, right? where he's the type that he's playing at a position group on the Broncos roster right now, which might be the best on the entire team, right? The edge rusher position, top two guys set in stone.

Starting point is 00:13:27 Your depth outstanding. Dondrey Tillman, very good player. Q Robinson flashed last year. The Broncos simply, I think, want to get their best guys on the field. And I think you agree with me. So why do we think Jonah Ellis is going to be able to break out this year at linebacker, as opposed to maybe even being just in a year of transition? or kind of just, I don't know what to really expect from him in 2026.

Starting point is 00:13:51 Yeah, it's a great question. And I think for Jonah, it's the traits that he has. And look, I think it goes back to how the Broncos scout players, right? When we talk about the NFL draft process, we talk about them identifying free agents. And you look at positions maybe where you need some help. And Sean Payton, before the draft answered my question about Jonah saying, it's an effort for us to get our best players on the field. And we simply feel that he is one of our best players.

Starting point is 00:14:14 But with that, it's like, well, he hasn't had. time on task at off ball linebacker where we know in Vance Joseph's defense, it is a little complicated. There are a lot of match concepts where you have to have your head on a swivel. You have to have your communication down pat. Now, when you're playing outside linebacker, you're not necessarily communicating as much as the guys that the off ball linebacker corner safety are. A lot of times you're just setting things up for those guys behind you. So for Jonah, I think a lot of it is the Broncos.

Starting point is 00:14:40 They sampled a little bit last season when Jonah was playing outside linebacker. There were times where the Broncos often in a disguise look would drop their outside linebackers back into coverage. I think they liked some of the things that they saw from Jonah in that regard there to be able to play in space against certain guys. And he did that, I think against the Las Vegas Raiders on the road at times. He did that against the Jacksonville Jaguars. There's some samples out there. But also think it's we think that this player could do this, right? Looking at traits.

Starting point is 00:15:08 Okay, we like these traits. We also like our depth here at Edge. We want to see more Q. We like Dandre. So our best bet for Jonah is to put him here at this position where we feel like maybe the depth isn't necessarily where it needs to be right now. With that in mind, I think it's translating what Jonah does well, being able to read the offensive line quickly because at the edge you have to be able to read what the tackle is doing. If your tackle steps down and the guard pulls, well, you have to be able to set the edge. Jonah knows how to read that because at offball linebacker, your primary responsibility is reading the guard to see if it's run or pass.

Starting point is 00:15:40 And then it's either attacking your run fit or dropping back to your zone or identifying who you are going against in coverage. I think it's that combined with Sean Payton's experience of looking at guys like Zach Bonn. I think Jonah's brother, Caden and Christian, looking at those guys and saying they can handle this. I think Jonas certainly can't. They're taking a little bit of a gamble. But Sarah, I think he's the type of player that can absolutely make this work because I think he's got the skill set. I also think he's got the right mindset to be able to achieve it. And it's the perfect year to do it, right?

Starting point is 00:16:10 Because ultimately you can just move him back to the edge position during his final year of his rookie contract, right? If they don't like how it looks, even this offseason, they could say, yeah, he's going to stay on the edge after training camp. But I think one of the biggest reasons why they're making this move and maybe the most underrated reason is that I think Jonah Ellis is one of the best tacklers on this team. And we've seen that on special teams manifest itself when he gets out in space and he closes in on. If it's a ball carrier in the backfield, if it's a quarterback trying to run away from him. I know that the Drake May play is from the AFC championship game. That's maybe an isolated incident where it didn't work out in his favor. But what we've seen from Jonah when it comes to attacking guys in space and bringing them to the ground,

Starting point is 00:16:55 like that even though that's a slightly limited sample over his first two seasons, he has been phenomenal when it comes to bringing guys down. So there's no question that he has the tackling ability. to play this position as well as like all the things that you mentioned. And I get excited about just his level of physicality, tenacity, hustle, taking on blocks, the physical element of playing linebacker and attacking those bigger defensive linemen getting out to the second level. That's not going to be foreign to him.

Starting point is 00:17:27 So he's going to have an advantage in so many different ways. But ultimately, I think it's that the ability to rack up tackles. I think he's going to be just at home in that way. And what are we seen from guys like Zach Bonn and Kaden Ellis and other players who have made that switch? We've seen them be able to unlock those pass rush abilities from different alignments in a defense as opposed to just consistently being off the edge. Hey, go beat an offensive tackle with, you know, a speed rush or or power combined with speed or try to bend around the edge and get that long arc to the quarterback. And, you know, whatever it might be, right? it's going to be different when Jonah is doing those double a gap blitzes that we see from

Starting point is 00:18:10 Broncos off ball linebackers or the delayed blitzes or when he's a quarterback spy. And so it's just all encompassing of, man, like you mentioned, that that skill set that he has, it uniquely does kind of translate really well to the way that some off ball linebackers are being deployed in today's NFL. Well, the question is, too, is there going to be competition at offball linebacker in training camp? I mean, the assumption right now, at least coming out of the NFL draft, is that Justin Sternad and Alex Singleton are going to be the starters here for Denver. And I think when you look at their contracts, you make a great case.

Starting point is 00:18:43 So if that is the situation, how does Jonah find himself on the field? Because here's the thing at linebacker, they don't necessarily rotate like you do at edge rusher. So to me, that is a question. Also for Jonah making this transition is, do the Broncos want to keep him at the same weight? Or are they going to have them maybe lose a little bit of weight? I think that's a great question. He's what, six foot two? I think he's 245 pounds.

Starting point is 00:19:06 So is he going to play at 245? They're going to have him play at 240. I mean, I think we're just trying to figure things out. But once we get to OTAs, if we ever get a chance to talk to Jonas specifically before the season he begins, I think that's a valid question. And we'll probably ask him when we attend practice here. But I do think that this is a move that can work. And here's the thing.

Starting point is 00:19:25 The Broncos have flexibility. I've mentioned it multiple times from a roster standpoint. Even though he's out off ball linebacker now, he can be another depth option still. at edge rusher. If there's an injury that happens, it is easy to just bump him back to where he works, where he knows. He knows his defense in and out,

Starting point is 00:19:43 at least from the outside linebacker position. It's going to be a transition learning how the inside backer position kind of plays with everything else around them. But Denver's got flexibility to where Jonah could essentially count as two different positions with one roster spot. That gives Denver the ultimate flexibility here going forward. And we'll see if there's truly some competition

Starting point is 00:20:03 opening up as the Broncos get to OTAs, get to training camp in the preseason. I'm very curious to see what that rotation looks like, because if our assumption is correct that Justin and Alex are going to be the starters, well, who rotates in there with Jonah? Is it going to be a Red Murdoch playing alongside Jonah Ellis? Because at Rookie Meehanep, we saw Red Murdoch and Tarene York getting those reps next to each other with Red being the guy that was signaling the defense to the group of guys that are at rookie minicamp. So I'm very curious to see how much Vance Joseph puts on the plate.

Starting point is 00:20:33 of Jonah Ellis here. Brockos country, let's know your thoughts on Jonas' transition. Do you think he can make that leap? We think he can, but obviously he's going to have to do it on the football field here.

Starting point is 00:20:42 But coming up next, we're going to tell you why Troy Franklin, even with the arrival of Jalen Wano, Troy Franklin actually might be ready for a lot more on his plate this upcoming season. Rocket Money is a sponsor of today's episode of the show. If you're like me, if you ever opened up your bank account

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Starting point is 00:21:44 subscriptions, monitors your spending, and helps lower your bills so you can grow your savings. Let Rocket Money help you reach your financial goals faster. Join at RocketMoney.com slash locked on. That's rocketmoney.com slash locked on. Jalen Waddle was the big arrival here for the Denver Broncos this off season to really boost a wide receiver room that really needed another bit of juice. Jalen brings that. But Sarah and I actually don't see eye to eye on this necessarily in terms of Troy Franklin being in line, I'd say for an even larger role this upcoming season.

Starting point is 00:22:17 Sarah, let's talk about this. So I'm going to plant my flag. I'm going to give you my stance because you and I were talking before the show. And I said, you know, I think Troy with the arrival of Jan, I actually think Troy is going to take a bigger leap this year. Like I'm very curious for your thoughts. So my thought on this is we've already. talked about Cortland Sutton. Katie, if you bring Jalen Waddle into the mix,

Starting point is 00:22:35 Cortland might get more one-on-one opportunities this year. If Jalen Waddle thrives, right, or if Jalen sees that attention now, the defenses want to shift, and let's say teams are also covering Cortland. This is where I really think Troy Franklin, in a role where he's not going to be the featured guy, I think Troy is going to make some big plays for the Broncos this season. And the reason I say that is there's an area of emphasis he went in this off season. He wanted to put on some weight. He wants to double his production. He feels like, he can do a lot more. I truly think where we saw Troy last year was catching the ball in space,

Starting point is 00:23:08 those deep overrout's about 10 to 15 yards. I do think that's going to be a big part of his game this year. But man, I think Troy Franklin's deep ball game, I think that's going to come back this season. I think that's going to make its return here to the Broncos offense because of J. Lin-Waddle. He opens things up, in my opinion, more for Troy Franklin. Now, now that I've told you that, okay, where are we at here?

Starting point is 00:23:30 I like it, honestly. I mean, I think, you know, it's easy to see the addition of somebody like Jalen Waddle as he raises all boats in the harbor, but simultaneously like he's going to get the ball a high volume, right? That's what we expect anyway because he traded a first and third round pick to get him. So he's going to get a high volume with targets, but that doesn't mean necessarily that somebody like Troy Franklin has to suffer because of it. I was interested to hear your perspective on it. And I like that, Cody. I think that ultimately when you look at Troy Franklin from last season, he obviously had 104 targets. It's a lot.

Starting point is 00:24:02 109 yards. There's a lot of targets for Troy. Six touchdowns was one of definitely the best red zone receivers in the NFL, which is maybe going to surprise a lot of people. But he was truly one of the most consistent targets in the red zone. And here's why I think, okay, I can see where you're going with this. Because for Troy, he's got to be thinking to himself, what I did against Green Bay, six catches, 85 yards, and a touchdown.

Starting point is 00:24:28 What I did against Kansas City back in week. 11, four catches, 84 yards and a touchdown on eight targets. What I did against Dallas, six for 89 and two touchdowns. He's probably sitting here in the offseason thinking, like, if I could do that a number of times throughout last season, why can't I do it consistently? I mean, six catches, that was kind of the magic number for him to get to that point. And like 80 plus yards a game is going to get you a long way in today's NFL. That's pretty rare to see that happen.

Starting point is 00:25:00 So even if he did that 70% of the time or even if he did that 50% of the time, that'd be, I mean, he would be in line for a massive leap because he had, let me just look here. He had eight catches against Indianapolis, another great game that he played, unfortunately, in a loss. Obviously, the Dallas game, the Kansas City game, the Green Bay game. And then Jacksonville had some good production as well. There were games that it wasn't like he necessarily disappeared, Cody, but there were games that it was like, hey, you kind of wonder, why isn't Troy playing like he did against Dallas or Kansas City? That is the guy that we all want to see at least, you know, okay, maybe I'm being over aggressive with 70%, at least 60% of the time, right? More than half the time, you assume that he can be that guy who had six catches, 80 some yards, a touchdown.

Starting point is 00:25:49 Like more than half the time, I think it's reasonable to expect him to be that way, especially if he's drawing favorable matchups. Well, here's the thing that's crazy to me, right? You mentioned 104 targets. I don't think Troy is going to get anywhere close to that this year. But let's say Troy gets 65, 70 targets. I think that's very reasonable. But can he have that same level of production? I do think that with guys like Jalen, you know,

Starting point is 00:26:11 with Cortland, maybe having more one-on-one opportunities, I think you could very much see a consistent basis where Troy can come out and maybe get five or six targets a game. I think he can, even if he's averaging what? You know, one big play. Let's say he averages a 20-yard catch per game. I think that role is a very nice spot for him to be in all things consider. I think there's going to be games.

Starting point is 00:26:33 I mean, look at the target share. If you look at the game log and you look on a week-to-week basis, a lot of the times he would have games of 10 targets, eight targets, seven targets. But then there were games where he had four, five, three, two. And then against the chargers in week 17, the last game of the regular season, he only had one total target in that game. But there was a stretch where he was a high volume target guy to where it started to drastically reduce. And I think that's because Pat Bryant started taking on a little bit of a larger role as the season kind of went on there. But defenses are also accounting for him. I mean, that's why we saw his third down numbers kind of skyrocket in terms of production the season because what did they know going back on film from 2024?

Starting point is 00:27:13 Hey, third down, Bo Nicks is favorite guy. That's number 14. So they would take Cortland away on third down situations. And look, he's still surprisingly enough thrived in third down. quite a bit this season. He's one of the top producers in terms of yards inefficiency on third and fourth down compared to first and second down numbers this year. But for Troy, okay, he's getting that attention. Troy started to eat early on. And then you started to see a shift where teams now on third down, okay, they're bracketing Cortland,

Starting point is 00:27:39 but then they're bringing a linebacker because Troy's playing the opposite of Cortland on the other side and they're dropping that linebacker so that they can spy where Troy is going because they knew that Troy, they like to get them on those deep overrouts. So they adjusted a little bit And that's where I think you and I have been saying, hey, man, the Broncos, if they just had a run game to balance things out, things would be so much easier for this offense. Or how come we're not getting Marvin Mims more targets in the passing game? I mean, there's so many great examples last year of where we felt like,

Starting point is 00:28:08 and you and I have done so many shows on this, the Broncos do something in a game and we're like, wow, this is the formula. They've unlocked it. The next week, they don't even do it. And I felt like Troy was definitely factored into that equation sometimes there. But, man, he's been trending hard this off season. And I really think that even if he's not going to get 100 to four targets,

Starting point is 00:28:26 I think he could get 60 to 70 this year. And I think his production can be one of those ones where he might be able to get 600, 700 yards in a rotational role here. And that wouldn't be a bad thing here. If he can get up to 14, 15 yards of catch, because he was at just over nine in his rookie season, just over 10 in his second season. So it would be a big jump in that regard. But I think if he can be more of a field stretch,

Starting point is 00:28:52 like you mentioned. I think that's going to really unlock a lot of things about his game. And how much can Jaylen Waddle help all these other wide receivers just make themselves available to the quarterback? Like, what is it that Jalen does that, man, he creates such separation? What are the little nuances to his game that he can, you know, gift that wisdom and knowledge to players like even Cortland, who is his senior at this point, a couple of years his senior,

Starting point is 00:29:17 and Troy Franklin, who's still, what, 23, 24 years old this season? very young player, Pat Bryant, Marvin Mims, what can Jalen Waddle teach these guys and Ronald Curry, the new incoming wide receivers coach to make themselves more available to your quarterback? I think that what we've seen from Troy is that, hey, when we're on target with the downfield passing game and when you're able to make yourself available, the production is there. But when you're not creating that separation, we're disappearing for stretches of time. If we can unlock that aspect of his game and any other receivers for that matter, man, it's going to take this offense from being frustrating and maddening and inconsistent

Starting point is 00:30:00 to being explosive and dynamic and pick your poison. I don't want to say 2013 levels, but I'm saying, man, there's plenty of talent out there. I mean, it might not have the top end talent of DT and Sanders and, or D.T. and Decker and Welker. But Cody, I think this group has the type of physical and a, athletic traits to really be, I mean, near at least, that level of, you know, just guys who can create separation, guys who can make plays, guys who can create offense for your team. And I even think as well, what if Jalen Wattle and Troy Franklin are the crossing tips on the offense that,

Starting point is 00:30:39 you know, when you're trying to stretch the field, both of these guys are going to be legit threats. Let's say that you're running both these guys on deep overs and they're at different levels of the field, right? And the defense chooses one guy, the other guy's open. This is where I think Troy and Jalen can play well within each other too in this regard. And I think that's going to open up Cortland more on the underneath inside stuff. And of course, I think the deep ball is going to be there for Cortland as that 50-50, go get it type of guy.

Starting point is 00:31:05 The back shoulder throws from both nicks. But I really think that Jalen and Troy are going to be the two secret sauces here on the intermediate, middle of the field stuff, and defenses are going to have a hard time between choosing who to go after because I really do think whoever they choose, the other guys are going to make them pay and vice versa. I'm excited to see how it boils down. And look, Broncos country, this is all like best case scenario. We're we're hypothesizing things here because this is what we do in the offseason. We tell you what we see. We see the vision for it. But can the Broncos actually translate this onto the football field? That is the question. And we're going to be keeping our eyes

Starting point is 00:31:40 peeled every step of the way throughout OTAs, mini camp, training camp, and obviously preseason, regular season. Lockdown Broncos is for you here every single step. of the way here. The next episode you're going to see from Sarah, myself, to all you every day is out there in Broncos country is the schedule release breakdown. We're going to know the official schedule from week one to the by week to week 18, where the Broncos are playing and when. We're going to get all that on tomorrow's episode, Lockdown Broncos.

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