Locked On Broncos - Daily Podcast On The Denver Broncos - Denver Broncos Secondary Led By Patrick Surtain II Took A Step Forward In 2024

Starting point is 00:00:00 The Denver Broncos secondary took a big step forward in 2024. We'll highlight the cornerback and the safety position and look at where they can get better in 2025 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. Broncos, what's happening? Welcome into another episode, Lockdown Broncos, your daily Denver Broncos podcast, part of the Lockdown Podcast network where you know it is your team every day. day. Thanks to all the everydayers out there in Broncos country, all the first listeners for tuning in and making us part of your day. However

Starting point is 00:00:41 you choose to do so, make sure you get in the conversation on social media at Loco's at Cody Work NFL at Sarah Bedinger. I'm Cody Rourke, Broncos reporter for Mile High Sports. Join as always by Sarah Bedinger, site expert, predominantly orange.com. We got a lot to break down here on today's episode of the shows.

Starting point is 00:00:57 We wrap up our final position overview of 2024. We're going to look at the Bronco's secondary. Well, maybe take a look and wrap up the show by looking at how the Broncos can improve at cornerback and safety in 2025. We'll look at how the safety position fared in 2024. We're going to kick things off on today's episode of the show by highlighting the cornerback position and how that turned into one of the Broncos' biggest strengths

Starting point is 00:01:19 and some of the biggest questions were answered early on there. You get all that on today's episode of the show. Sarah, my friend, let's start off here with cornerbacks as we wrap up our final position recap of the 2024 NFL season. I remember coming into it, going into training camp, You and I had a lot of conversations and discussions surrounding the cornerback position. Who's going to emerge opposite of Pat Sertan this season? Is there going to be competition between veteran Levi Wallace or is Riley Moss going to be the guy?

Starting point is 00:01:47 Or is the Broncos rookie that they drafted in the NFL draft? Is he going to be the starter? There were so many different conversations that we were having. And man, we got this question answered pretty early on in training camp. We did because Sean Payton loves Riley Moss. And he kind of put that out there when I believe it was an interview he did with K. Adams or something like that where he was talking about Riley Moss, Cody, and a number of Riley's teammates were talking about him as well.

Starting point is 00:02:12 Like they've embraced this whole thing about Riley Moss being the only white cornerback in the NFL until Cooper DeGine obviously came in. But, you know, there's the white man can't jump graphic that was put out there by our friend Boggins on Twitter and things like that. And Pat Sartan got wind of that. They love that stuff. And I think they really embrace this fact that, okay, like we're kind of making a little bit of modern history here in the NFL, but like now that the joke is out there and everybody's

Starting point is 00:02:40 talking about it, are you going to back that up with the way you play? Like, if you're going to be the only guy out here that's playing corner, can you do it? Can you play corner? And Riley Moss proved that he can, Cody. So you not only had a defensive player of the year candidate in Pat Sartan, but then you had one of your top breakout guys on the roster in Riley Moss. Unfortunately, the knee injury against the Las Vegas seemed to hinder his, you know, I guess if you want to call it a red shirt rookie season or his first year as a starter, that injury, that knee injury was the only thing that derailed what we saw because then he got cooked by T. Higgins, had a rough game against the bills a little bit in the playoffs in some areas and aspects. But I think when you consider the expectations

Starting point is 00:03:24 at this position going into the year, man, Riley Moss vastly exceeded expectations that has given the Broncos another important building block. Yeah. And look, I think some of those struggles that Riley had coming off the knee injury, I think it clouded a lot of Broncos country's minds about, okay, well, hey, maybe we don't have cornerback to you. Folks, take a deep breath for a second. Riley Moss is cornerback too here for this team. That's not a knee. That's not a worry for this roster. Like coming off of an MCL injury or even any knee injury for that matter where, hey, guess what, you don't play for what, four or five weeks at that point? That's tough to go back. And you're doing the,

Starting point is 00:04:00 you're playing the hardest position in football where you're moving laterally, you're cutting, you're planting, you're back pedaling, you're doing all this stuff. Riley had an adjustment period and even said himself that, you know, hey,

Starting point is 00:04:09 like sometimes you get a crap sandwich and you have to eat it. Like you said, like Riley took full on accountability for how things had gone from those final few games there, especially coming off the injury. But do we forget how he played before the injury where, look, you know,

Starting point is 00:04:23 of course he's going to get up some catches here and there, but it's like his coverage all year long. And I'm going to do a film review on it over a mile high sports here in the off season. He was sticky. There wasn't like guys were getting massive separation against him. Guys were making tightly contested catches if they were making any, but he was driving on the football and look, man, he was having a great game against the Raiders 2 before the injury. I remember it was right before half. He did a great job planting and breaking up. I think it was a pass to Trey Tucker, who was one of the fastest dudes in the NFL.

Starting point is 00:04:50 And then he had the friendly fire incident where he gets hit in the knee. And that kind of summarized a lot of different things there. So I'm not worried about Riley Moss here. And obviously, we'll dive deeper into that here, you know, going to later on in the show. But, man, I was impressed with the cornerback position. Obviously, you know, in that stretch where Riley was gone, Levi Wallace veteran, who was on the training camp roster as well. He got cooked to the point where the Broncos ended up releasing him. To me, you see with Riley out, you saw the emergence of another young guy, Chris Abrams drain, man. Look, obviously, we'll talk a lot about Pat.

Starting point is 00:05:20 We have already here, you know, in a couple of other episodes. But, man, I was impressed with the depth minus the Levi Wallace thing here for, Denver. Yeah, because Chris Abrams Drain came in and played outstanding at the end of that Cleveland game and then going into that Los Angeles game where he got an interception off of Justin Herbert. And I believe at that point, Cody, I think Justin had thrown just one or two other interceptions. Yeah. Or year at that stage. And then he went and threw four in the playoffs against Houston. But at that, it was very rare for Justin Herbert to be throwing interceptions. And Chris Abrams Drain got a game changing play. Now, that game.

Starting point is 00:05:58 changing place should have truly changed the game for the better for the Broncos. Unfortunately, it was kind of the straw that broke the camel's back in terms of their downside in that. But that doesn't take away from what we saw from Abram strain and coverage, played really well. I thought Damari Mathis, Cody even came in and played some solid reps. Yeah. It goes as a dime player this past season.

Starting point is 00:06:19 They probably should have just gone with their gut, right? When you're looking at that Cleveland game, you knew Riley Moss wasn't playing, like Levi Wallace being out there as long as he was. It took them too long to pull the plug there on that decision to have him in the game instead of Chris Abrams dream because the whole situation for the Broncos last year was, hey, we're young and hungry. We're this young and hungry team. Why not throw the young guy out there a little bit earlier? I guess it's no no use crying over spilled milk at this point. But that's kind of my thought is that they have such a talented young core. Jayquan McMillan, McMillan, a slot. A few too many penalties.

Starting point is 00:06:57 from him this past year. Some of them, not necessarily great calls, but at the same time, you feel like he's one of the top slot corners in the NFL. So this position group, I mean, they are set. Like, you want to talk about being able to sleep at night when we evaluate the roster, the edge position that'll help you sleep at night, the starting tackles, that helps you sleep at night. The quarterback position being solved helps you sleep at night. I think cornerback is in that mix as well. Yeah, I agree with you too. And to your point, going back to J. Mack, I thought, like, you know, for him this season, he saw more volume, more targets inside the nickel than he did last year. And look, I think when you have Pat Sertan and you had at one point a healthy Riley Moss, you know, they were going to try to attack the slots in the inside because that's really where teams can create the most opportunities.

Starting point is 00:07:42 It's hard to get that on the outside unless you're running, you know, sits and you're running out routes or you're running, you know, trying to do that. For the most part, a lot of those outside routes are compressed and contained by Riley Moss, Pat Sertan. So naturally, you know, you're going to try to get some space. you're going to try to get those rub routes there to where you're going to put Jaquam Macmillan in a tough position there. But still with all that, I mean, he's still played with high energy. And look, you know, he's in ERFA here this off season. They'll bring him back.

Starting point is 00:08:07 It's an easy decision to make in terms of tendering him. Man, I was impressed with what we saw from him overall in that position, you know, specifically at cornerback. And look, let's talk about Pat Sertan here. We'll kind of close off this segment by highlighting what he was able to do. I mean, we already talked about it in yesterday's episode of the show, how winning defensive player of the year, which we'll find out if he does that here tonight

Starting point is 00:08:28 on the NFL honors, how winning defensive player of the year kind of cements a little bit of a Hall of Fame case for him. If you missed that episode, make sure you go check out yesterday's episode to get that conversation. But man, just so impressed by Pastor Tan's level of dominance this season.

Starting point is 00:08:42 Obviously, the production, you talk about who he went against, who he shut down and limited. That right there is hard to do in today's NFL. And look, I think the numbers, the passer rating went targeted. And that right there speaks for itself Like no receiver could really gain any separation against Pat.

Starting point is 00:08:57 That is something you can continue to build off. He's a special player. Man, when you have him and you have a guy like Riley Moss when fully healthy, these guys elevate your defense at even another level. And that, to me, as you agree, I sleep well at night knowing that. Yeah, throwing at Pat Sartan is advantage Denver Broncos. And that's a huge, huge reason why this defense was able to take a leap forward this past season is because Pat is just so consistently dominant on his side of the field or wherever he's lining up.

Starting point is 00:09:26 Because as we saw throughout the season, I mean, he's playing against wide receivers. He's going against tight ends. He's going against slot guys. He's going against big guys. He's going against fast guys. He's going against guys who like to use their bodies to create separation. It doesn't matter who's going up against Pat Sartan. It's so hard to get an edge against him.

Starting point is 00:09:47 And we saw, I mean, how much frustration did we see from other. other players like, I know there was a couple of times DeAndre Hopkins, you know, pushed off to get separation from Pat Sertan and those guys were jawing at each other a little bit out there. It's just frustrating for receivers because he's so technically sound. He doesn't get fooled very often and he doesn't make mistakes. And that's what's so great about him. And having a pass rush that led the NFL in Sacks, that's partly due to Pat Sertan shutting down his side of the field because quarterbacks, they only have so much time to make a decision.

Starting point is 00:10:18 If you're looking Pat Sertan's direction, that's a split second that a defensive lineman or an edge guy is going to be able to get to the quarterback. And so, man, he's such an impactful player and he makes a difference for everybody on this team. Here's a big difference maker for the Broncos in a cornerback position as one. Denver's in a really good spot here going forward. But how did the Broncos safety position fair in 2024 following the offseason departure of Justin Simmons? We'll tell you why the position group surprised us here on today's episode, Lockdown Brom. Today's lockdown Broncos podcast is brought to our friends over there at Fandul America's number one sportsbook. And Super Bowl 59 is here.

Starting point is 00:10:57 One game. Two teams, endless possibilities. And there's no better way to make even more every play, even more exciting with Fandu's sportsbook, whether it's predicting the first touchdown of the game, calling who wins the MVP or even betting on the coin toss or even what color gatorade it is. Fandu makes it easy to get in on the action with all of your Super Bowl 59 props all in one place.

Starting point is 00:11:17 Plus, with live betting all game long, you can adjust your bets as the game unfolds, and you can feel the thrill from kickoff to the final whistle. The live betting feature lets you stay involved no matter what happens on the field, and the app is super easy to use and navigate. Plus, knowing that you can place a $5 bet and potentially win $200 in bonus bets for the Super Bowl, that's the icing on the cake. Download the app or head to Fanduil.com to get started, bet just $5, and if you win, you'll score $200 in bonus bets.

Starting point is 00:11:45 That's Fanduil.com. Betwith Fandu, official partner of Super Bowl 59. For the first time since 2016, there was no Justin Simmons on the back end of the Denver Broncos defense. But Brandon Jones did him proud back there picking off a bunch of passes and creating some game-changing plays. Did the safety position do enough in 2024 to warrant maybe not being addressed in 2025? We're going to break that down on today's episode, locked on Broncos. And Broncos country, hey, thanks so much. Mile high salute to every single one.

Starting point is 00:12:16 one of you that makes lockdown Broncos, your first listen of the day, every single day. You every dayers already know, Cody and I, we got you every single day this offseason. Broncos news, content coverage, everything you want, every angle of this team. If you're not an every day or already, hit subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts as well as on YouTube, so you don't miss a single ounce of Denver Broncos this off season, which Cody, there's going to be plenty to talk about. We haven't heard anything about the coaching staff. We haven't heard anything about any outside of day.

Starting point is 00:12:46 for reserve future contract guys. I mean, there's lots of exciting stuff to be coming up with free agency, barely over a month away at this point. And the safety position is where the Broncos had to address in 2024 with the departure of Justin Simmons. Needed the cap space, 14 million in savings by cutting Justin Simmons, very, very bitter pill to have to swallow. But with those savings, the Broncos went out. They signed Brandon Jones from the Dolphins and they brought back PJ Locke to be their two starters. How did you feel, Cody, watching these two guys play this past year? How did you feel they paired together?

Starting point is 00:13:22 Do you feel like this was a strength of the team? I know we talked about some communication errors late in the season. What was your take on the starting safeties this past year? I mean, I came away surprised with the, you know, as you mentioned, you know, what we, we asked all the questions last off season. What is this defense going to look like without Justin Simmons? Oh, they released Justin Simmons. That means that they're really going to be rebuilt.

Starting point is 00:13:44 And this may just be like a, you know, one or two or three year thing before the Broncos get competitive again. Like those were our immediate thoughts when that had happened. You know, and Denver goes out and this time, Brandon Jones. And, you know, I think going into it, you and I even when we did the breaking news episode on that, we were like, okay, what does this mean? Like we looked a little bit how Brian Flores deployed him a little bit. Obviously, you know, he played in a Fangio style defense prior to that. And we're thinking, okay, is he more of a box guy against the run? Well, Brandon Jones, you know, we didn't get to see a lot of him in training camp.

Starting point is 00:14:13 We didn't see him in the preseason because he was dealing with an injury. And we're sitting here like, oh, no, like, what is happening here with this Broncos safety position right before the regular season? Well, come to find out, you know, Brandon Jones comes in week one against the Cawks. And it's like, all right, while this guy's making plays, he's coming up against the run. Oh, he can play zone coverage. Oh, he can play man coverage. And that was something that Jones really came into when I talked to him in training cap and he met with us. He said he really wanted to showcase that he's more than just, you know, what defined him in Miami.

Starting point is 00:14:42 me. A lot of people said, well, he's just the box safety. He can't play the middle of the field. He can't cover. He's more of his own guy than a man guy. I think he proved to be a little bit of everything here for the Broncos. And as a matter of fact, he led the team in tackles, which, you know, when your safety is leading the team and tackles, it might not always be a good indicator. You know, there might be some issues there. It's like, all right, hey, things are getting up to the second or third level. To be honest with you, he did a really good job of coming up, taking good angles and even coming up in the box and helping out in the run before.

Starting point is 00:15:12 it got to the second or the third level. So I'd say that the context of that is very important. He was probably the biggest surprise. Obviously, you mentioned PJ Locke. They brought him back here. And I think a lot of it was, okay, this is going to be PJ's true opportunity and test to play the safety position and to start it for a full-time year. And there were some ups and downs, I think there with PJ.

Starting point is 00:15:33 But as you mentioned, Sarah, I go back and part of me really feels. And a couple of people I've also talked to down the stretch where there were some big plays. It seemed like there were some miscommunication issues between the safeties and the linebackers. And a lot of times, I think it was on the linebackers that ended up putting the safeties in a tough position because, hey, you're going to have to climb, you know, to the hash. You're going to have to climb and cover all the sideline with the Broncos scheme and how they do it. There's times where, you know, the safety is going to have to rotate and play that deep, that deep third essentially while you play cloud coverage

Starting point is 00:16:04 with the corner playing in the flats to that side. There were a lot of different moving pieces there. And certainly there were some more plays that even PJ himself will tell you, you know, I was out of position. I could have made a better play on that. I felt like PJ was solid. And look, I think the Denver's going to run it back here with PJ this year. It's interesting because after 2025, he will be a free agent. I felt like Denver safety duo.

Starting point is 00:16:26 I thought they were fine in comparison to a lot of teams around the NFL. I still think there's plenty of room to grow for them, though. But then you got two guys, Brett behind those guys that I also felt like had some moments this season. Yeah, Devin Key seemed to play quite a bit for the Denver Broncos this past year and not just on special teams. We saw him defensively out there, especially against like Cleveland and later in the year. J.L. Skinner, we saw finally get some action on special teams and a little bit on defense as well. But I think Broncos country felt two years into his career, like based on what people were saying about J.L. Skinner coming out of the 2023 NFL draft that, boy, he'd be playing a much

Starting point is 00:17:03 bigger role at this stage of his career. So could his development be a factor this year? I mean, That'll be interesting to monitor. I found it really interesting, Cody, the strategy the Broncos took. I mean, PJ Locke deserved an audition in 2024 to really be that full-time starter out there. I think as we'll as we talk about what do they do going forward, we'll have an interesting discussion about that. I found it fascinating that Suea Cravens, the former Broncos safety, floated it out there that, you know, a certain Justin Simmons might be interested in a reunion with Denver in the 2025. offseason. And that's interesting because I believe Suea was the one who broke the news that Justin was going to be signing with the Atlanta Falcons. We know those two guys are close and have

Starting point is 00:17:48 been close. So I mean, that's an interesting storyline to kind of monitor there as we get into the off season. But felt like this year was a true audition to be a full-time starter for PJ Locke. And again, the strategy the team takes going forward, it's tough to know at this point. But man, he made plays. I mean, everybody in the defense made plays to rank in the top 10. defensively, you've got to be pretty consistently good at all three levels. So these guys did make plays. Now we've got to get hypercritical and say, okay, where can we gain an edge? Where can we make those minor improvements or those, you know, maybe it's a major improvement

Starting point is 00:18:22 going forward to be even better in 2025. Yeah, 100%. Look, you know, the New York Jets game was an exception, but I didn't feel like we saw PJ Blitz much, like from Vance Joseph. Remember how they just put them in? I think, you know, at times in the dime or the nickel, they'd switch some guys around. But I think particularly in the dime, they'd bring PJ down to Blitz. And I think a lot of it was PJ was back a lot out of that too high shell or playing in the middle of the field quite a bit. And to your point as well, I know we'll talk about maybe how Denver can address this as well. I think we should revisit the Justin Simmons thing here coming up in our next segment on today's episode of the show. Because I got some information on that that I found to be a little interesting that I think is a little bit worthy of discussion. But, you know, Devin Key, you know, I was impressed with him. J.L. Skinner, arguably outside of Tremont Smith, the best special teams players.

Starting point is 00:19:09 the Broncos had this year. But with Devon Key, I thought Devin Key played very under the radar, very well for the Broncos, minus the Baltimore Ravens game. The Baltimore Ravens game was a rough one, but it's like, fans see that one rough game. They're like, oh, he was terrible. They never want to see him on the field again. I thought Devin Key actually played pretty dang good for a large portion of the times

Starting point is 00:19:29 he was on the field defensively this season, you know, minus that Baltimore game. But he's a young player, a developmental guy. Like, you need that type of experience. And not to mention Devin Key, Key, he special teams guy, pun intended there for Denver as well. So I think that those guys, their ability to play special teams certainly brings a lot of value there.

Starting point is 00:19:45 We'll maybe look at what Denver can do at this position going forward. Does Denver need to add anybody in the off season? That corner or on safety. We'll share our thoughts here on today's episode of Lockdown Broncos. This show is sponsored by BetterHelp. What do you want your 2025 story to be? Every January brings a new chapter,

Starting point is 00:20:03 365 blank pages waiting for you to fill. If there's a part of your life that you want to rewrite or a plot twist that you've been craving, why wait? Life isn't about fleeting resolutions. It's about taking control and becoming the author of your own story. Think of therapy as your personal editor, helping you craft a life that you deserve. It's not just for crisis situations. Therapy can help you develop healthier coping strategies, improve your relationships, and empower you to be the best version of yourself. Whether you're facing a challenge or you're looking for personal growth therapy is a powerful tool to help guide you on your journey, whether it's learning how to set

Starting point is 00:20:37 boundaries are tackling stress in new ways. Therapy can help you develop skills for a better tomorrow. Even if you've never tried therapy, the benefits are clear. Finding someone to talk to and gaining fresh perspectives can make all the difference in how you navigate life's ups and downs. And I've used BetterHelp therapy before in the past. I've really benefited from being able to match with a licensed therapist. And if I didn't vibe well with my therapist, I could change therapist at any time at no

Starting point is 00:21:00 additional charge. So write your story with BetterHelp. Visit BetterHelp.com slash locked on today to get 10% off your first month. That's BetterHelp, help.com slash locked on. The fourth quarter action of today's episode, Locked on Broncos is here in Broncos country. We're going to talk about maybe some off-season moves that Denver needs to make a corner or safety or if they should make any at all. Real quick, I want to say thanks.

Starting point is 00:21:25 Once again, all the everydayers out there in Broncos country. Thanks for tuning in, making us part of your day. However, you choose to do so, we're very appreciative of you. Make sure you follow some social media at Codywork NFL at Sarah Bedinger at Lockedger at Lockedon. Broncos to keep you up to date with everything that's going on throughout the entire off season. Also milehighysports.com for my written work, predominantly orange.com for Sares. You can check it out there every single day. Broncos country. Let's take a look here at the secondary. I mean, Sarah, let's ask the question here. Does Devere need to make any moves here

Starting point is 00:21:53 here in the secondary, in your opinion? I'd be a little surprised if they didn't. And that's just my thoughts, Cody. And I go back to the discussion on PJ Locke and the way that he played this past year. And over the last couple of years, he's gotten a lot of reps over the last two seasons. Seven passes defended. Obviously, three forced fumbles, very, very good over the last two years. But one interception, I believe that was a tipped ball from Jonas Griffith, potentially, and against the San Francisco 49ers in 2023. I can't remember 100%. I think that was the former. He had the interception against Green Bay. The Green Bay, that's right. Yeah, the interception against Green Bay. Absolutely. Yeah, I was mixing those two things up. I think he tipped a ball that Jonas

Starting point is 00:22:34 Griffith picked off way back when. But his quarterback rating when targeted this past year, Cody, 125.8, four touchdowns allowed according to pro football reference, 484 yards in coverage allowed. And like I said, this past year was an audition, I think, for him in terms of can you be effective every down? I think PJ Locke is effective. I think he's a starting safety in the NFL or at least a full-time player when it comes to like 60% of the snaps or more.

Starting point is 00:23:04 on the defensive side of the ball. When you look at the free agent safeties that are available, I mean, you can go up and down this list, say whoever's realistic and whoever's not. I mean, there's guys like Javon Holland, Marcus Williams, Justin Reed, obviously Justin Simmons, who will talk about Julian Blackman and plenty more players on a loaded list of unrestricted free agents. I just don't know if you're the Denver Broncos, do you pass on the chance there to potentially upgrade this position next to Brandon Jones?

Starting point is 00:23:31 Do you bank on PJ Locke being, you know, taking that next step, right? And so that's kind of where I'm at with it is I feel like the Broncos could improve at starting safety next to Brandon Jones. Yeah, look, I think you look at the options, right, where you bring in competition. It doesn't hurt to elevate those positions or those rooms specifically. As we've also seen the safety market, the financials for it, kind of take a little bit of a hit, which is a big reason why the Broncos moved on from Justin Simmons. And he didn't get a big deal in free agency here, because of the safety position and the evaluation that we're currently seeing at that position.

Starting point is 00:24:05 To kind of go back to the point I mentioned earlier, I was teasing in the last segment about maybe some things that I heard as to whether or not, hey, Justin would be open to coming back. I know Justin is well loved in that locker room by players there. I don't know if Sean Payton wants Justin back. Like that's something that I've heard from a couple of people that I've talked to saying it's just like how Sean was versus how Justin, like leadership style is. Like Justin's established. And of course, Sean has established as a coach. but somebody somebody had told me that those two didn't mesh well together.

Starting point is 00:24:34 And I don't know whether or not it's true, but that's something I think definitely to monitor in terms of that because I brought up like, hey, because the Broncos bring Justin Sims back. And people laughed. They're like, no, like absolutely not. That's not going to happen because of that. So is there validity to it?

Starting point is 00:24:49 I don't know. I'm not sure. Like I know Justin pretty well. I'm not going to go out there. I'm not going to ask Justin that. That's not my place. Like, you know, I think we got a pretty cordial relationship on a lot of those fronts.

Starting point is 00:24:58 And, you know, I think if that ever wants to get out, like maybe after Justin's playing career, certainly. You know, I think that'll probably be asked as to how certain things went with Vic Fangio, how things went here in Denver with Hackett and obviously with Sean Payton. But I know players in that locker room would love Justin back. I know Justin would love to be back with those guys, especially with Pat. There's just a legacy factor here. You know, I think that when you look at Justin, I feel like he's a future ring of

Starting point is 00:25:23 famer here for this franchise. And he did so much. He meant so much to the city Denver. He still lives here. and it's part of the Denver community. So my thoughts on that. You mentioned a couple of other names out there. You know, Javan Holland's probably been the one that a lot of people have talked about.

Starting point is 00:25:37 And I think everyone's immediate connections. Okay, hey, he played in Miami. Brandon Jones knows a lot about Javan Holland. That could be something that it ever looks. I know there's been some outlets that have put it out there. Is that something that Denver needs to do right now? Like, if you had to prioritize maybe upgrading safety in terms of before running back, before tight end, like where do you land on this one?

Starting point is 00:25:55 Yeah, I feel like that's an area where you would say like, we're going to let the market play out. Like we don't need to be in the mix on the best. Maybe you feel like you do. Maybe you feel like that best safety on the market is somebody like Justin Reed. And you're like, hey, if we can steal him from the chiefs, it's worth whatever it costs to do that. At the same time, do I think you need to go get the biggest money safety that's out there and sacrifice at other positions? If that's what that means, like, no, I don't think you need to do that.

Starting point is 00:26:22 I think, like you said, bringing in viable competition, if not a guy that's started and could legitimately take the starting job from PJ Locke. I do think that's a possibility, but the safety market looks so flooded right now that I think it's going to be a team-friendly market. And if that's the case, man, I think you could really find somebody

Starting point is 00:26:41 that could be an asset to your team at a reasonable price. Like Trvon Merrig from the Las Vegas Raiders is a free agent. He's a young guy. He's a box guy too, man. Sean Payton called him an alley player. So he's a guy that you want to prevent an outside run. He's going to come up in the box and play.

Starting point is 00:26:57 and I thought he did well against Denver this year. He did. So there's names like that that's out there, right? And you just kind of got to wait and see what happens when it comes to free agency. But I don't think these guys, we saw the deal that Brandon Jones signed last year, and he's a very, very good player, earned all pro votes and pro bowl votes and things like that. So maybe the market falls the Broncos way at safety again in 2025. Well, to see how that goes.

Starting point is 00:27:20 So let's look in-house here in terms of that. I think when you look at corner, I think that Denver is going to tender, J-Quam McMillan, Passertan luckily we don't have to go to this office. He's saying, okay, Howard the Broncos going to pay PS2. Could you imagine now, like with the defensive player of the year, if that happens tonight? Like, and he wasn't assigned to an extension, we'd be like, oh, shoot. Like, he already reset it. And then the Rams with Jalen Ramsey reset again.

Starting point is 00:27:41 I hate that as petty, stupid, whatever. Thanks a lot, L.A. for that. Passertan clears by a mile. But for me, I was like, man, that contract, if that didn't happen in season, would be monumental. It would be mega for Patrick Sertan the second. if he wins defensive player of the year tonight. In terms of that, like even looking at developmental guys, like, could we see J.L. Skinner, I know we're talking about safety here,

Starting point is 00:28:03 but could we see J.L. Skinner potentially play some inside backer for the Broncos this season? Maybe. Like, why not with his, with his height, with his ability to move? Do you need to put on some, like he's a big guy. He's strong, but how would that translate? I mean, we've seen guys like Zach Bond translate from edge rusher to inside linebacker. You look at J.L. Skinner, could he go from safety to playing inside? I don't know.

Starting point is 00:28:25 maybe something to throw out there. But I don't think you need to tinker with it too much. But I'm very much with you. If the market falls a certain way for Denver, I'm not opposed to them looking at options to add to the position and bring in competition. And one thing I think you and I would really agree on is that the cornerback group, there are certain people out there that we've talked to, even our good friend,

Starting point is 00:28:46 Maddie over there at mainly Broncos. We've had this discussion about do the Broncos need cornerback too? Like, do they need to potentially bring somebody in for competition? And my personal thought is that I don't think you need to do that. I think that's maybe a bridge that you would cross if, okay, you know, we saw a lot of good things from Riley Moss this year. We saw a lot of good stuff from Chris Abrams drain, even in a smaller sample size. And I think what you saw in 2024 from those guys should give you the clearance to address any other area on the roster in 2025. And I do think it's valid to bring in competition.

Starting point is 00:29:20 I think you always want to be drafting corners and bringing in corners because like Vic, Fangio said, I mean, there's 96 essentially starting cornerback jobs in the NFL and there's not 96 corners to fill them out in the league. So if you have an overabundance, that's a great luxury to have. But to me, I would bank on these young guys continuing to develop. It's not always linear in the NFL, but the progression that we have seen already from the young guys here, I think you've got four really good ones. And Damari Mathis is still under contract. I wouldn't do really much of anything other than maybe take a late round flyer on an athletic guy who can help your special teams at that position.

Starting point is 00:29:57 Yeah, why not? I mean, you look at every option. And I know the mindset of Sean Payton, George Payton is to, does this guy make us better? Like, if not right now, maybe two or three years from now, does this guy address a future need for us in some way, shape, or form? Or can they? You're very much at like, you don't want too much roster turnover, but anytime you can upgrade any position possible to make it even better.

Starting point is 00:30:18 I think that they'll look at every opportunity to do just that. And there's going to be a lot of evaluation ongoing. And part of me is wondering how that evaluation may change with Denver losing some of these executives. Like they lost Darren Mucci to the New York Jets. They lost Mark Fuse to the Las Vegas Raiders. Like you've had a lot of changes. How does that impact your evaluation? And when you bring new people in or promote from within, does that make things kind of stay status quo?

Starting point is 00:30:41 Or are you going to run in some obstacles and challenges with your evaluation in terms of scouting and personnel? I'm very curiously how that may be impacts the Broncos this season. Well, Broncos, country. I'll wrap up today's episode of the show for all you, every dayers. Look, we're hopeful and we're adamant. We believe that Pat Sartan will win defensive player of the year tonight at the NFL honors. If that happens, we'll recap it. We'll break it down.

Starting point is 00:31:02 We'll even include his speech if he has one there. But we'll also share some insight from Sean Peyton as he appeared on Up and Adams at Super Bowl Radio Row. What did he give away in terms of that NFL train that everyone seems to be on? We'll see if he gave some insight on that. You'll get that on tomorrow's episode, Lockdown Broncos.

Locked On Broncos - Daily Podcast On The Denver Broncos - Denver Broncos Secondary Led By Patrick Surtain II Took A Step Forward In 2024

There aren't comments yet for this episode. Click on any sentence in the transcript to leave a comment.