Locked On Broncos - Daily Podcast On The Denver Broncos - Denver Broncos Special Teams Must UNLOCK Field Position Potential for Bo Nix

Starting point is 00:00:00 For Denver Broncos special teams coordinator, Darren Rizzi, the hidden yards mean much more in the grand scheme. And the Broncos have a chance to maximize that 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, Broncos country? I'm Cody Rourke. joined as always by Sarah Bedinger.

Starting point is 00:00:27 And today we're looking at the three biggest questions facing Bronco special teams coordinator, Darren Rizzi. And maybe where some adjustments can be made in the kicking game for Denver after the emergence of Jeremy Croshaw last season, but also Will Lutz. How can he be even better going into 2026? Plus, the Broncos need to find a way to continue to win the hidden yardage aspect of the game with returns on punt, punt return, and also pinning opponents a little bit deeper into some long fields. We'll go through that, but we're going to kick things off by talking about how the Broncos can get more out of their kick return unit this upcoming season. Darren Rizzy has done a really great job of transforming the Broncos special teams unit. Obviously, since coming back and reuniting with Sean Payton,

Starting point is 00:01:11 there were a stretch of games where the special teams unit was actually struggling quite a bit. But then they found a way to flip a switch and get a lot better. One of those areas they can be desperately better in this upcoming season, has to be in the kick return game, especially when it comes to giving Bo Nix and the Broncos' offense with all the weapons that Bose got around him, better field position to start. And this might surprise people that we're talking about the Broncos needing to add another dynamic return presence because Marvin Mims Jr. for the first couple years of his NFL career has really been one of the best in the league.

Starting point is 00:01:45 I mean, and all pro. So, I mean, you could make an argument that he's been the best in the league. But teams started to kind of kick away from Marvin Mims last year. He ranked just 12th in the league in terms of total yards per return, 26.3. and you know what? I think that the Broncos kind of discovered through a process of not necessarily elimination, but I mean, they rotate RJ Harvey,

Starting point is 00:02:09 Tyler Badey back there. And I just don't think they ever found anybody that was really capable of being a full-time weapon in that regard. And there's other teams that certainly had players who were weapons in that. Chimerae D.K., I'm not totally butcher how you say his name, Cody. He's a good player for the Titans. He's one of the best returnment in the league. All pro return.

Starting point is 00:02:30 I need to learn how to say his name. But I think that that's, you know, you have a guy like that who's so dynamic and he's, you know, busting off big returns every time he touches the ball. Why was that not happening for the Broncos after two years of Marvin Mims essentially doing that in the kicking game, especially because you kind of felt like, hey, these new rules, like they really benefit the Denver Broncos. And so I don't know. It was a weird thing, but it's been something that's on not just our radar, but I think

Starting point is 00:02:59 on the Broncos radar as well this off season. Especially with Marvin and how valuable he is to special teams. We saw Marvin take a couple of helmet-to-helmet shots. Concussions were up on returners this year, according to league data. That was something they discussed at the NFL annual meetings. And there was a pitch there by Darren Rizzian company, how to make an adjustment to the current kick return rules where now I believe you can have an extra guy, we're not necessarily an extra guy, but one of your players can be an extra upman, right?

Starting point is 00:03:28 because really it's your line and then you have your two return guys back there. Well, come to find out some guys are breaking through and make a helmet to helmet contact with the returners. Now that you can have a guy out there that can kind of be like this upman lead blocking type of guy for you with your two returners back there, now you have a chance for someone to make contact. So if there is this guy on the kick coverage team that is breaking through, you have an extra body to go up there.

Starting point is 00:03:53 And the dynamic and how it works is that you have two returners, one's to one side, one's to the other. Whoever's not getting the ball has to go up and block. Well, now you add an extra blocker on top of that other return guy being a blocker for whoever receives the kickoff. I think that's a great way to mitigate maybe the concussion risk there. But I'm with you, Sarah. I've been a big proponent of saying take Marvin Mims off a kick return, find somebody.

Starting point is 00:04:16 This is the year. Like with this NFL draft, and you and I are going to talk about this a little more in depth, this NFL draft for the Broncos is not about getting a starter with the 60-second pick. This is the perfect opportunity. to draft maybe a player or a couple of players who have returnability that you could put them on kick return. Keep Marvin on punt return, but remove him from that dynamic having to be a kick returner unless this rule change benefits those guys from taking unnecessary shots. But that's one thing I think everybody wants to see is, hey, protect Marvin. He's one of your best offensive players, your best punt returner, remove him from kick return where there's more risk for him, essentially, in terms of getting blown up or helmet to helmet.

Starting point is 00:04:55 I agree, and I think that Denver needs a final way to do that. This is the year. But also, Sarah, you know, it goes back to the return aspect of, all right, when teams are doing it, like, do the Broncos have the quality guys right now in the roster that could go out there and be consistent enough return options for you? I don't think they do outside of Marvin. Look, Tyler Badegh got some opportunities. He looked good in the preseason on a couple of returns, but that never translated into the regular season

Starting point is 00:05:20 where Denver was making, I mean, sometimes starting off at their own 20s, starting off sometimes, barely getting to the 23 or the 24. The better proponent was saying, hey, like, we're just going to take the touchback. We're going to start on the 35. That was great. But Denver needs to be able to threaten teams by being able to field the ball in the field and be able to get to 37-yard line, 40-yard line. That has to be a better aim point because Denver's overall return yards and average

Starting point is 00:05:47 starting field position last year were not good enough. No, not at all, especially when you consider the fact that, so they were 12 in the NFL, total, not just because of Marvin Mims, but they were 12th from the bottom. So 12th worst in the NFL in average yards per return at 25.3 last season. And I think you could justify that if you were near the top of the league in terms of total kickoff returns. But that's not the case. The Broncos actually were near the bottom of the league in total kickoff returns.

Starting point is 00:06:17 They're tied with, let's see, one, two, three, four, five, six, seven. So they're tied for eighth with, or tied for seventh, excuse me, with the Eagles and Rams. at just 59 total returns last season. So a low volume of returns and low yards per return is not a good formula. I mean, if you have less shots, you would want to think like, hey, maybe we busted off a couple of bigger ones. It boosted our overall average per return. That didn't really happen for the Denver Broncos last year.

Starting point is 00:06:44 So they've got to figure out a way to make that an advantage again. And I look at other teams around the league, like the Dallas Cowboys had 72 returns of 20 plus yards last season. I mean, that's just, that's crazy. That's 72. Turpin is, and he's legit. Turpin is good. Turpin is one of the best in the NFL.

Starting point is 00:07:05 Get this, Cody, with Marvin Mims. I mean, 59 opportunities, even if Marvin gets only half of those, let's say, right? The Broncos had one kickoff return last season of 40 plus yards. One. I mean, it's just, it doesn't make sense when you have an all pro guy out there, even if teams are kicking away from him, even if you, I mean, you figure you could accidentally have two 40 plus yard returns with Marvin Mims back there returning kicks. So I just think that this is a huge area that needs to improve for the Broncos.

Starting point is 00:07:35 And I think Mims could be part of that solution. But like you said, what's the vision for him offensively? And how much does that impact, you know, whether or not you want him back there risking a concussion, which happened multiple times last season? I'm hoping when we get a chance to talk to Darren Rizzi at some point, maybe we'll be able to talk to him during O.T. and mandatory mini-camp, usually they make coordinators available, at least on one of those weeks that we have access. I am going to try to ask him about maybe the vision there at kick return. Because, look, I mean, Denver does view other guys on this roster as options besides just Marvin Mims.

Starting point is 00:08:12 I didn't like the fact that R.J. Harvey had to be out there, especially considering he was your number two back to J.K. Dobbins. That's not a role I think that he should play going forward. I think he should be removed from that equation entirely. does, but does a guy like Cody Strader somehow factor into the equation in this, right? He's a largely unknown commodity at this point, and not a lot of people are talking about him, but maybe, maybe there's a chance that he could maybe factor into the kick return rotation. Jilil McLaughlin was obviously listed as a backup, like a depth option, and one of the kick return aspects for Denver last year, but Denver never put him back there.

Starting point is 00:08:48 He never got those opportunities. And I don't think you want to put Jalil back there. That's not necessarily his goal. game. So you have to go out there and say, hey, if we're going to add a wide receiver this year, if we're going to add, you know, an additional running back to the room here, we need to have a guy that can go out there and play special teams. And I actually floated out yesterday on yesterday's bonus episode of the show. And this has nothing to do with outside linebacker, inside linebacker. But I kind of brought up the fact that the Broncos have roster

Starting point is 00:09:13 flexibility because Jonah Ellis is switching to inside backer but can still play outside linebacker, well, now you may free up an additional roster spot to allocate another body. at another position. Maybe that's where this factors into running back or to wide receiver because of the return game specifically. That is my hope here. And Broncos country, we're eager to hear your thoughts on today's show about kick return, whether or not you think Marvin should stay out there. Let's know here on today's episode of the show. But coming up next, Sarah and I are going to talk about something that's so important here in today's NFL. It's being able to win the hidden yardage battle offensively, defensively, and special teams is the major driver that will break it all

Starting point is 00:09:50 down here on today's episode of the show. Today's episode is brought to you by TurboTax. It's tax time, but for a lot of us, the old way of doing taxes is a lot. Trying to book an appointment that's not the most convenient, sitting in a waiting room with a stack of papers, emailing back and forth and wondering if they really get your situation. But this year, you're getting a major upgrade into it TurboTax now has in-person locations nationwide. You can meet face-to-face with a real tax expert and your documents get uploaded straight to your TurboTax app on the spot. And just like that, you're done.

Starting point is 00:10:21 Your TurboTax expert works to get you every dollar you deserve while you get real-time notifications as you go about your day. It's the relief of walking in and meeting a real person and walking out knowing your taxes are being handled right. Head to turbotax.com slash local to find a store near you and book your appointment. If you want to win the hidden yardage battle in the NFL, you can't rank in the bottom four in starting field position. So how does Darren Rizzy get that fixed for the Denver Broncos from his part, at least? in the 2026 season. We're going to talk about that and much more coming up on today's episode, Lockdown Broncos.

Starting point is 00:10:57 And thanks so much to all you every dayers out there. You want an additional way to support the show. We appreciate you considering the Every Dayer Club, lots of great bonus features in their ad-free episode of the show. Cody does some all-22 film reviews. Got Jada Barron, got J.K. Dobbins, Cody. You've done a Cortland Sutton one. And I'm sure there's going to be plenty more as the NFL draft comes up here.

Starting point is 00:11:19 So definitely thank you for considering. during that, all you every dayers. And Cody, let's talk about winning the hit in yardage battle because ultimately, this was something that Sean Payton brought up early on in his head coach tenure with the Denver Broncos. And it's really something that stands out now that he's kind of said it. It's now something that I think about quite often. And I think that we noticed it all throughout last season,

Starting point is 00:11:42 that special teams, like you mentioned in the open of the show, special teams didn't get off to the best start. I mean, like we talked about the Titans, that game where you allow a huge. return. And I mean, it's just that type of thing seemed to happen too often, but it wasn't just allowing big returns or penalties in the special teams department. It was really the Broncos not being able to effectively win the field position battle. And so I want to start off by talking about where the Broncos consistently started in terms of field position last year. Their average starting field

Starting point is 00:12:15 position was the 29 and a half, even if you want to call it the 30, feel free. That was 29. in the NFL, an average starting field position, that absolutely has to get better in 26. Yeah, it does because, you know, going into last year looking at the Broncos inconsistent run game with the group that they had, we talked about it as well when we did our episode, I believe it was yesterday on Zach Streif and the Broncos run game scheme. When you get pinned and your average starting field position is one of the worst in the NFL, you have longer fields that you have to work with in order to

Starting point is 00:12:51 go down. Your room for error simply isn't, I would say, as big as maybe some other teams that know how to run the ball effectively. I'd say that was a balance in terms of room for error for teams like the Buffalo Bills or teams like the Philadelphia Eagles. They could make some mistakes, but they had really good run games. They helped kind of offset maybe some of the struggles that they had in other areas offensively or defensively. So for Denver, you want to be better at that. And we're all banking on it. You and I are, and I know Broncos countries as well, we're banking on the fact that Denver's going to have a better run game this upcoming season. All right, well, now you need to have a better return game here.

Starting point is 00:13:24 Imagine if Bow Nix and the Broncos offense with a really good run game was able to start, let's just say a few drives on their own 38 or the 40, or let's say you break one and you get to midfield. You get to the 50 yard line. I think that's something that would benefit Denver more importantly. And look, I think so many people forget about special teams. It is the most important phase when it comes to supporting the offense and defense. Now, you talk about that in terms of what other teams are doing to Denver.

Starting point is 00:13:51 I also think how Denver sets their defense up from a field position standpoint is better. And I thought Jeremy Croshaw did a really good job last season of doing that here for Denver, Sarah. And I want to go through some of the numbers there. Now, look, Jeremy had some stretches, including that Thursday night football game against the Las Vegas Raiders where he struggled. But last season, Croshaw actually emerged into being one of the better punters in the NFL, 75 punts.

Starting point is 00:14:14 That's way too many. You don't want him to punt that many times. ideally you want your punter to punt the round 48 to 55 times, 55 even being a maxeter. But 75 total punts last season, not good in terms of what you're doing on the offensive side of the ball. He had nine touchbacks on 75 punt attempts and 30 of his punts landed inside the 20 yard line. To me, Cross shot got better as the season went on, but he actually flipped the script a little bit in the playoffs. Sarah, he had 10 punt attempts in the playoffs, which once again, in two games, your punt. hunting 10 times, that's not good.

Starting point is 00:14:50 But his punt in the division around against the Buffalo Bills helped the Broncos defense in a big time way there. When you think about if maybe they would have called holding, you know, that was against DJ Jones. The game would have ended in a safety. Jeremy Croshoop pinned Josh out of the Buffalo Bills inside their own five yard line. Now, of his playoff snaps here, they had 10 total punts last season. Five of those were pinned inside the 20 yards. line and his longest was 65, which came against the Buffalo Bills in that playoff matchup. That is another hidden aspect when you talk about how Denver can win more games.

Starting point is 00:15:28 And when you force the opponent, kind of the inverse, we were talking about where Denver's offense needs to start, that is where you can start to stack. And that's where you can start to turn maybe these one score games into, hey, we're not just winning these one score games. Now we're scoring more points. We're getting two score possessions, three score possession games, and we're winning those. these are where those things kind of come to a reality a little bit.

Starting point is 00:15:50 Yeah, definitely. And how important was it for the Broncos to spend that draft pick on Jeremy Crosha? I mean, I know some folks out there just might not agree even in principle with drafting a punter or drafting a kicker. But certainly it paid off for the Broncos last season. And Jeremy Croshaw looks like a weapon in that department. But you obviously want to see him more being utilized as a holder on extra points than you do out there as a punter. it is just nice to have him be able to boom the ball when, okay, your offense is stalled, you've got a punter who can absolutely just hit a rocket to the other side of the field

Starting point is 00:16:24 and flip that field position. And yes, the hidden yardage thing is, I mean, there's no better example than what we saw against the Buffalo Bills in the postseason. And so in terms of average opponents starting field position, Cody, the Broncos were middle of the road, 15th in the NFL last year. So that wasn't necessarily an issue. But I think when you look at the fact that, again, the ninth fewest 20 plus yard kickoff returns in the NFL, you're setting your offense up, which the offense was already struggling in a number of different ways. They're struggling with balance.

Starting point is 00:16:57 They're struggling to run the ball consistently. They're struggling with three and outs. So when your average starting field position is the fourth worst in the NFL, that has sort of a compounding effect over the course of not just each game, but then each season. And you're setting yourself up for failure. So I think that's where, man, just improving that starting field position, that could be the difference between, like you said, the Broncos having a bunch of one score, tight games, maybe coming from behind in the fourth quarter to now they're winning games by double digits. That's where I think this hidden yardage really comes into play. You want to know some statistic about Kroshaw that I forgot to mention here in the playoffs. We mentioned the 10 total punts.

Starting point is 00:17:36 You know how many return yards opponents had against Denver in the playoffs on punt? How many? I don't know. Two, two yards, two yards returning. So, I mean, that's a testament to guys like Devin Key, Denver's kick coverage, guys like PJ Locke, who obviously Denver has to replace. They made that move there with Tyson Anderson. Obviously, some new faces are going to have to factor in.

Starting point is 00:17:56 You got some of your younger players that you're looking to see a little bit more of here this season. Like Q Robinson's probably going to play a little bit more special teams this season. Dondre Tillman's going to continue to get more reps there. Jonah Ellis will play a ton of special teams this season, considering where he's at, not as a starter on any position of the defense. the side of the ball, but you want to see your younger players get more reps here on special teams because they already know it. They've been in that room. You're not bringing in as many guys, but it's an opportunity for maybe some of these guys on the outside looking in from

Starting point is 00:18:25 the roster to go out there and make a name for themselves, get more playing time, guys like Jordan Turner and inside linebacker. So for me, I'm excited to see how it all plays out for Denver here. You got to find a way to win those hidden yards. It goes back to what was it, a Vic Fangio used to say, death by inches. And I would say, Denver over the course of the last two seasons and three seasons, really since Sean has taken over. I thought with Mike Westhoff and Ben Kotwick, and obviously now with Darren Rizzi in 2025, Denver Special Teams Unit has really done a good job of not letting those things that have impacted them negatively come back to bite them. Though I will say a couple of big returns given up last year from them in the kick return game against opponents.

Starting point is 00:19:07 Tennessee specifically was one of those ones. you have to mitigate those things from happening on a consistent basis. And Denver down the stretch did just that. And they face some really good returners, obviously down the stretch there. But, you know, New Year, now they have to keep maintaining that same exact standard inside of that special teams room here. Broncos country coming up next. Sarah and I are going to talk a little more about Jeremy Croshoap. But we would also put Will Lutz in the spotlight.

Starting point is 00:19:33 He was consistent. He was money. He was a game-winning machine for Denver last year. But there's still some areas he can be better. We'll highlight what those are. here on today's episode of the show. Today's show is brought to you by our friends over there at Indeed, workplace chaos, deadline, stacking up. Your inbox is overflowing in the one position you have to feel is still sitting open. When the pressure's on and you need the right hire, this is a job for

Starting point is 00:19:54 sponsored jobs. Indeed, sponsor jobs helps you reach to people who actually fit what you're looking for, the skills, the experience, and the location. So you're not just hoping the right candidate stumbles across your post. And here's a stat that says it all. In the minute that I've been talking to you, companies like yours make 27. seven hires on Indeed, according to Indy data worldwide. So if you're hiring, spend less time searching and more time interviewing candidates who check all your boxes with Indeed sponsored jobs with less stress, less time, and more results. When you need the right person to cut through the chaos, this is a job for Indeed, sponsored jobs. And listeners of this show, you're going to get a $75 sponsored job credit to help get your job the premium status.

Starting point is 00:20:33 It deserves at Indeed.com slash podcast. Just go to Indeed.com slash podcast right now and support our show by saying you heard about it. about Indeed on this podcast. Indeed.com slash podcast, terms and conditions apply need to hire. This is a job for Indeed. Sponsored jobs. Big deal, Will. Will the thrill.

Starting point is 00:20:52 I can't say the other nicknames that Broncos country has for Will Lutz, but the Broncos saw a much needed boost in the kicking game from Will Lutz in a season where the Broncos needed his leg in some of the big time moments, walk off bill goals. He did it all. And yet there's still room for Will to improve as a kicker. We'll go through that here on today show. I just want to say thanks to all the everyday areas in Broncos country. Thanks for tuning again, making us your first listen, however you choose to do so here.

Starting point is 00:21:16 Sarah, we talk about the kicking game and this being a little bit more of a solidified aspect of Denver this upcoming season. We talked about Jeremy Crosha a little bit in the Hidden Yards department in the last segment here. But Crosha, he grew from week one all the way through the midpoint of the season. After that Thursday night football debacle against the Las Vegas Raiders where what did Darren call it. There was like some sort of ground wind or something like that. And it was jitters. It was jitters. It was like cronky. But he got better throughout the entire stretch of the season. And arguably in the most important stretch as Denver was looking to make a deep playoff push. We talked about the Buffalo Bills game. But let's go to Will Lutz here first.

Starting point is 00:21:58 And we'll close things out with Krosha here. I would say for Will, will prove to be very accurate for Denver last season, not only on PATs, but when you need something from 20 to 29, 30 to 30, to 39, 40 to 49. He was clutch. 50 though, still seems like it is this one area you're searching for for some balance of consistency from Will. Now, granted, Will might not have the strongest leg out of all the kickers in the NFL. He did make a couple of clutch 50-yard field goals last season, but when he goes out for a 50-plus yard attempt, I think everyone in Broncos country is kind of like, I'm not sure. That's an area he could be better this upcoming season. Yeah, 100% and he's automatic, like you said, from inside of 40.

Starting point is 00:22:43 His only misses, and he had six misses last year. So, I mean, it's not like there was none, but definitely have to consider also too. Like did the Broncos ever try? I can't remember situations, Cody, where they may have even tried like a super long field goal just because, you know, it was the end of a half situation or something like that. So every, every miss has to be inspected a little bit. But, you know, he had three makes on five attempts from 40. to 49. So I mean, that's, you can live with that, I suppose. But the year prior, he was 11 of 11 from that same range. So something may be there to improve on as well. But four out of six from 50 plus. I think what we come to find from Will Lutz is just, I mean, and he got a contract in the middle of the year. So he's somebody of this team believes in his clutch abilities. They believe that he can do whatever it is that, you know, they ask him to do. And I just don't, I think he has a limit to where he can go. He's not Brandon Auburn.

Starting point is 00:23:38 you know, or Cam Little or something like that. He has a, there's a cap on where you can put Will Lutz out there and say, hey, go, go drain us this kick. But I also thought too, Cody, that man, shoot in that game against the Patriots, where I know the Patriots kicker wasn't hitting anything in that game. I think Will would have made that field goal in the, in the blizzard. If it wasn't for the Patriots player getting a hand up on it, I don't know if that's necessarily on the kicker or if it was just a great play.

Starting point is 00:24:08 by the Patriots guy or what it was, but I think Will kind of had figured out how to kick in that mess. And so he's somebody that you can trust, that you can rely on. I'm not worried about Will. I think that there's certain times where you wonder like, man, what's up with the like slice on his kick? But I think every kicker is going to have the same sort of struggles at one point

Starting point is 00:24:31 or another during a season. Kickers to me are a lot like relief pitchers in baseball, right? There might be a couple of games where they get. get lit up and give up a bunch of home runs. And you're like, dang, like, can we really trust this guy? And then they just start striking everybody out. No walks, all strikeouts, barely anybody's getting a bat on the ball. That's kind of how kickers can be.

Starting point is 00:24:50 They're kind of temperamental. And so I just think with Will Lutz, you have somebody who's been in these big moments. He's proven himself. He's redeemed himself from that Chiefs game two seasons ago. I just think you've got a guy that you can trust out there. Yeah. And I would say I would take him over Brandon McManus. I mean, I remember with Brandon, every time any field goal attempt you had between 40 and 49,

Starting point is 00:25:12 it was like praying. You were praying like, gosh, please Brandon, just freaking make this kick. And obviously we saw Brandon really struggle in the playoffs. So Denver did the right thing of knowing, hey, we like Will Lutz. We're going to take him. You know, the thing with Will too. And, you know, there was one early on in the season. I believe it was against, was it the Chargers of the Colts where they missed?

Starting point is 00:25:32 I think it was the Colts game where he missed like a 42-yarder. And it looked like it was going. And then all of a sudden, it just sliced and peeled. It was one of the weirdest trajectories I've ever seen. Then he had a field goal blocked against the Houston Texans. That was one of those ones as well. I remember they talked about, what was it, the Nico Autry? They're like, hey, we can't let this guy do it.

Starting point is 00:25:53 And what does he do? He comes out and he blocks a kick. And then you mentioned obviously the snow game against the Patriots. You missed two field goals there. One of them were Will took, I think, a lot of flack from people. Because after like the game, he said, you know, I didn't know if we had the right depth. I don't know if we were lined up too close. There was the snow there.

Starting point is 00:26:09 The lines couldn't see the lines. And I remember a lot of people were on him about that. But Will has always been gracious. I'd say, you know, in victory and in defeat when the Broncos and they miss a kick, Will is very open after the game saying, you know, I got to be better. He has been probably the more consistent kicker Denver has had in recent memory. And it's not just the value of like field goals and extra points. He's very smart in terms of where to place the football in the kickoff game as well.

Starting point is 00:26:35 I mean, we mentioned a couple of situations Denver took advantage of last year where Will is kicking it. It's on a trajectory where it looks like to the returner. It may go out of bounds, but it's actually going to bounce and be in the field of play. And so the guy picks it up and might carry it out at the one or the two yard line. There were a couple instances of that last season. So Will is very accurate in that regard here. Let's touch on Jeremy Croshaw here one more time. I would say for in this upcoming season, what is one thing you want to see from him that you feel like he can

Starting point is 00:27:05 be better on because I felt like the critiques that we had of him last season in the early parts and then the midway part, I felt like we're valid. I felt like he he adjusted. He got better from those to the point now. I'm saying, okay, what is it that Jeremy can do better now? I don't really know what else he can improve on because I think the things that we had the biggest concerns about he improved. Yeah, 100%. We talked about it when you draft a kicker, you really are a punter, excuse me, you really have to buy into that player's development. Like so many teams throw out the baby with the bathwater and they're just like, this guy's not consistent enough right away.

Starting point is 00:27:42 I was guilty of it. I was guilty. I think we all are because look, it's like when something like that is causing a Super Bowl caliber team to sputter in any way, you're just like you can't have that. You need to at least bring somebody in on the practice squad, right? But the Broncos stuck by Croshaw. I mean, he was great last year, honestly. I mean, 47.6 yards. punt, only nine touchbacks on all of his punts, which seems really good.

Starting point is 00:28:10 30 punts inside the 20. I mean, maybe you just say, hey, let's get better in every regard. Let's get a better net, which last year was 41.1. Let's get a better net yards per punt. Let's make sure the coverage unit can get down there. Let's get better at directional punting. Let's not have as many valleys with the hills, right? Let's make it just a little bit more steady, become a consistent weapon in the

Starting point is 00:28:35 special teams area. That's something that I think with Crosshaw's talent, Cody, because man, this guy, we know he's got a big leg. I mean, and that should be a huge advantage for the Broncos playing at altitude. His longest punt last season was 76 yards. That ridiculous. That brings me back to like the Todd Sauer Braun days. That's how I'm, you know, I'm dating, you know, a lot of people on that. I'm going back and showing how young I am at this point with the old sour brown where it's like it felt like every punt that he had, you're like, like, man, this is going to be like a 60 plus yard punt. I mean, the dude could absolutely boom it.

Starting point is 00:29:09 Crosshaw can boom it. And I think for him, what Sean did, the little change of what was happening was when Cross shot was going out there to punt, he was kind of cold in the sense. So the Broncos started simulating throughout their practices, punt, punt, punt, just a random punt, just so Crosshaw could stay warm or get used to like, hey, any minute, I got to come in and be able to do it. That helped that physical translation of practicing that, help. him when he had to go out there and punt for his first time in the game.

Starting point is 00:29:38 And I think that's what helped down the stretch as he got obviously better as things went on here. And hopefully the Broncos aren't punting as much in 2026. Hopefully, uh, Crosshaw is holding more extra points and Will Lutz has more extra points booted in, which I think last year for him, I think he said a Broncos franchise record, if I'm not mistaken for most PATs or most field goals in a season. If I'm looking at Will, he was on extra points last season, 39 of 39. He was perfect, but he had 28 of 32 field goals made there.

Starting point is 00:30:10 So I think 32 attempts was something there was a lot there for Denver. But I think him making 39 extra points was, in fact, I think they mentioned it. And one of the weekly releases that we had was a franchise record. I'm not quite sure. Now I'll have to double check. Someone in Broncos country knows by the time this obviously gets out. Make sure you comment it down below as well. But that will wrap up today's episode of the show this week.

Starting point is 00:30:32 We have focused on the three biggest questions for Broncos coaches next week. We're running aback by focusing on the three best case scenarios for each coach, starting with Davis Webb. You'll get that on Monday's episode. Lockdown Broncos. Broncos country, enjoy your weekend. We'll see you then.

Locked On Broncos - Daily Podcast On The Denver Broncos - Denver Broncos Special Teams Must UNLOCK Field Position Potential for Bo Nix

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