Locked On Broncos - Daily Podcast On The Denver Broncos - Denver Broncos TE Room Can't Be WEAKEST LINK In 2026
Episode Date: July 15, 2026Can the Denver Broncos tight end room find new life in 2026 with Davis Webb calling plays? After being widely viewed as the weakest link on the roster, the Broncos tight end room is much better than p...eople think and that's because they're heavily underutilized in the passing game. Cody Roark and Sayre Bedinger break down the biggest headlines for the tight end room as Broncos training camp approaches including using the tight ends more in the passing game, finding a way to use Evan Engram in the Joker role, and why Justin Joly has a great chance to learn behind him. Position battles will likely feature Dallen Bentley, Lucas Krull, Nate Adkins, and Caleb Lohner for a fourth and final spot on the active roster. Cody Roark is a credentialed beat reporter for Mile High Sports and covers the Broncos daily in person. Sayre Bedinger is the site expert for Predominantly Orange. Both bring Broncos Country the most in-depth and objective coverage of the Denver Broncos. WANT MORE DAILY DENVER BRONCOS CONTENT? For all of the latest Denver Broncos news today -- Follow & Subscribe on all Podcast platforms 🎧 https://lockedonpodcasts.com/podcasts/locked-on-broncos/ Locked On NFL League-Wide: Every Team, Fantasy, Draft, & More 🎧 https://lockedonpodcasts.com/leagues/nfl/ 📲 Cody Roark Twitter / (https://twitter.com/codyroarknfl) 📲 Cody Roark Instagram / (https://instagram.com/codyroarknfl) 📲 Sayre Bedinger Twitter / (https://twitter.com/sayrebedinger) Everydayer Club If you never miss an episode, it’s time to make it official. Join the Locked On Everydayer Club and get ad-free audio, access to our members-only Discord, and more — all built for our most loyal fans. one 📲 https://lockedonbroncos.supercast.com/ TEXT LINE: Support the show and interact with us on Denver Broncos rumors, News, Game Previews, Q&A's, and more. 📲 https://joinsubtext.com/c/lockedonbroncos 📲 TEXT: (720) 580-5759 📢 Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors! FanDuel Today's episode is brought to you by FanDuel. From the opening whistle to the final kick, Let There Be Goals on FanDuel. Visit https://FANDUEL.COM to get started now Square Get up to $200 off Square hardware when you sign up at https://square.com/go/lockedonnfl! #squarepod Indeed Listeners of this show get a $75 Sponsored Job Credit to help give your job the premium placement it deserves at http://Indeed.com/podcast. FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN) Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
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Discussion (0)
The Denver Broncos tight-in room going to 2026 is perceived as the biggest weakness on the team,
according to national experts.
But is that truly the case?
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, Cody Roark.
Sarah Benger here for another episode, Locked-on Broncos is we're going to continue our trending camp position previews.
We're focusing on the tight-in position here.
We'll go through and predict the 53-man roster.
Who makes it going into 2026 if it were up to us?
And on top of that, which position battles do you need to keep your eye on when you're attending training camp?
When you're watching the preseason at this position exclusively,
we're going through some of the major headlines and storylines of this group as well,
including Evan Ingram being on the last year of his deal and so much more here on today's episode of the show.
Sare, look, tight-end position.
The national experts, obviously, before training camp and the preseason begins,
they always do their roster overview.
And the widespread consensus, at least from the national guys,
is that tight end is the weakest position on this Broncos roster.
Maybe we start things off.
Do we agree?
Do we disagree?
I feel like when looking at it,
you can make a case,
but it's only based on what I think the production of this room did last season,
not necessarily in terms of what they can do.
Yeah, that's exactly it.
I think it's less about what they can do
and more about what we've seen them do when they're on the field, right?
Because last year, it wasn't even like the guys who are blocking specialists
on the team were elite blocking specialists, right?
We talked about kind of their struggles in that regard throughout the entire offseason.
And then ultimately, Evan Ingram as a big money free agent signing, the supposed joker of the offense,
well, that role ended up kind of being the butt of every joke among Broncos country because not that Evan Ingram doesn't have the talent or the ability because he does.
He nearly set the tight end record for most receptions in a season once upon a time.
But he wasn't involved, hardly at all.
I mean, 42% of the offensive snaps last season, just an egregious misuse of one of your most talented offensive weapons in the passing game.
And ultimately, I think that's led to a lot of concerns from Broncos country and then the outside world as well, looking at this position group, not seeing anybody on this team, even in the top 32 among NFL tight ends last year in receiving yards.
Like, that's embarrassing.
And that's something that especially when you talk about, like Sean,
does often. Sean Payton, he talks about how important it is to have these jokers at running back
and tight end because when you can dictate coverage with a mismatch player at one of those two
positions, it not only frees up the middle of the field, but it changes everything else for your
entire offensive operation. So you went out and signed a guy, Evan Ingram, in free agency to a two-year
deal. You pride him away from the chargers. We had the whole story about no, there's no Lombardies
that he was seeing on his tour with the Chargers
after he went to Denver, right?
And we're all talking about like, man,
it's such a better situation for him with the Broncos.
And ultimately, it was.
Like, the Broncos were the number one seed in the AFC as a team.
But for Evan specifically,
even he was left questioning at the end of the year.
At his exit interview,
he's basically like,
I kind of just had to stop thinking every week,
like, is this going to be my role?
And just kind of take what they gave me.
That's not what you want at this position.
And that's what has created all these,
major question marks. Well, when you're a tight end who led the team in overall snaps, Adam Troutman
has 23 total targets, 20 catches throughout a 17 game regular season. That is a problem. And of course,
like the Broncos, you primarily use Adam as a blocker. Then they'll use them as a decoy from time
to time. And defenses at times, like they build up to it where the defense is like, hey, 82 is not
going to catch a pass. They're not going to feature him. That's where the Broncos can catch him
slip in a little bit. And that's what they did at times last year. Like Adam, I think would be a better
receiving tight end if he was used more. Right.
I think he's very underrated in that regard.
Is he going to be a tight-in one world beat?
No, but I think he and Evan can be effective in the past catcher game.
So one of the major headlines here is that they got to have better past game utilization of the tight-in position going into 2026.
When Adam Trotman is on the field, they can't just assume, hey, we're not going to throw it to Adam.
They need to find a way to throw the ball to Adam.
But also, there needs to be an indication when Evan Ingram is on the field.
It's not just going to be a passing plate.
They need to find a way to run the ball when Evan Ingram is out there on the ball.
the field as well. They have to change some of these narratives that defenses started to pick up on
a little bit that made things a little bit more predictable for how they would counter Denver's
offense, which once again, Denver having the success that did it offensively last year with
Bo Nix, that considered what the tight end position really lacking in this offense, the lack of a
freaking run game. That's astonishing to me. It tells me that, hey, this Broncos offense can be
really, really good if they can get these two pieces, obviously short up here. Then I think it goes to
what you had talked about. More Evan Ingram, 42% of the SNAPsy career low,
him in 2025.
That cannot be the case going into
2026. Now, in the offseason program,
we've seen him use quite a bit.
Is it a coincidence that Davis Webb now is the play caller
former team of him, has kind of made a conscious effort saying,
you know what, we're going to get the ball to Evan.
We're going to use him a little bit more.
I like that.
If the Broncos offense is going to have success,
they have to use Evan a lot more.
And then I think we even get to, do the Broncos get to it with Davis Webb?
We don't even know what this is going to look like yet.
But Davis Webb said, you know,
through the first seven weeks of the season,
and hinted like he referenced the Los Angeles Rams last year.
He said through the first seven weeks, you look at a team like L.A., they played around
so many different personnel rotations.
And then about by week seven, they really figured out what worked for them, L.A., Seattle.
And what was that?
They used a lot more 13 personnel, one running back, three tight ends.
Could that be something Denver uses this year?
I'm very curious to see if that'll be the case.
But when I talk about there being maybe these roles like position style rotations,
all right, when we're looking at it as we project our roster,
Evan Ingram is the F-type tight end.
Adam Troutman is the in-line why.
Do they rotate guys if he makes it like
Dallin Bentley with Adam Troutman?
Do they rotate Justin Jolie with Evan Ingram?
Do they use these specific things in certain situations
versus it just being Adam Troutman, Evan Ingram?
I'm very curious to see what that's going to look like.
I am too because I think ultimately the discussion about the tight-end position
isn't just about misuse of the top end guys.
It's the fact that you didn't have good enough depth
at this position when you needed it, right?
That was really the situation last year because you had to bring in
somebody like Mercedes-Lewis basically out of,
I don't want to say he was retired because he wasn't retired,
but I mean, off the street,
nobody else was hiring him at that time.
You bring him onto the practice squad.
You had to replace Nate Adkins,
who was hurt by bringing in Adam Prentice to now come play fullback,
as well as obviously Mike Burton,
who was injured during training camp,
but those roles could have been filled by other guys.
And they weren't able to,
B because the Broncos, well, in my opinion, Cody, this is a different conversation maybe for
another day. I think they dumped Greg Dulcich too quickly. They moved on from him too fast.
And he was not working out in Denver, but ultimately a little bit of patience has, you know,
he's become an interesting player now for the Miami Dolphins. So that's somebody that, and maybe
to that end is kind of why we didn't see the Broncos sort of clean sweep everything.
They could have moved on from Adam Troutman, right? I mean, he was a free agent.
him back on a three-year deal. They could have moved on from Evan Ingram, despite five million
in guarantees on his contract for this season that were already guaranteed. They could have said,
you know what? Just like with Dre Greenlaw, we're moving on. We're going to go a different
direction. Even if it's just bringing back our own guys and drafting somebody, they could have used
a higher draft pick at this position. They had a second rounder. They could have moved up for
Eli Stowers or somebody else like that. So they clearly are saying to everybody, we like the guys that we
believe that we can get the best out of them. What we're saying is we're admitting that last year,
we didn't use them right. We didn't use them properly. That to me is the perception that I'm getting,
even though you move up for Justin Jolie, even though you go after a second tight end in the draft and
Dallin Bentley, right? I think what you're saying is by not replacing the two guys who were your
primary leaders in snaps last season, you're saying, hey, we admit it last year wasn't good enough.
We didn't use these guys right. We're going to get it right this coming season. And that,
like you said, could be an X factor for this offense taking the next step in 2026.
Davis Webb becoming the play caller and obviously for the offense where Sean Payton was how he called things.
And I love that piece that we got from Seth Wickersham of ESPM where we kind of learned how Sean Payton works.
How does that change now, right?
With this position specifically, how does that change for Davis Webb is now the play caller?
I think it forces them like moving to Davis Webb means that the offense has to evolve.
And also, I think when you look at elements inside the offense, the tight end position, how they use them has to evolve.
It cannot be the status quo of what we've seen since 2023, where really the tight end position has kind of been non-existing.
You're going to the game plan defensively.
I'm not worried about the tight ends.
I'm not focused on them saying, hey, these guys, they're checkdown options.
They're not necessarily going to be your first or your second primary guy.
That has to change.
That needs to be the thing.
And I think the addition to Jalen Wattle now opens things up.
I think for the tight end position to have a bigger impact than what they're.
had last season. And overall, when we look at it in the red zone third down, Jalen Waddle's
edition might actually open things up for Evan Ingram, Adam Troutman, and any other tight-in
that is going to make the roster to have a big impact this upcoming season. But coming up next
Broncos country, we're going to go through and look at which position battles you need to keep
on, specifically a tight-end, whose spots are up for grabs and so much more. Here on today's
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It's going to be a fun training camp for the Denver Broncos at the tight-end position.
A couple of rookies being added to the mix as well as some other guys that kind of surprisingly
were brought back.
We're going to talk about that on today's episode of the show, Broncos Country.
Cody and I want to say we appreciate you so much for rocking with us here all throughout.
The off-season training camp is on deck, everybody.
And football season, it is almost here.
couldn't be more excited and couldn't be more excited to just jump back into it. Cody, I'm as much as
everybody else out there. Hey, I enjoyed the festivities of the World Cup, the little hype that comes
along with that. I enjoyed it, you know, to a degree. I enjoy the MLB season. You know me. I'm a big
Cubs fan, but there's nothing like when the Broncos are back on the field. Even when they're practicing,
I've been talking about trying to get my family out to training camp again, Cody, and my kids are all like at
different stages of whether or not they even like the team.
This is a total aside, by the way, for the listeners of the show.
But they're like, hey, what is it like at training camp?
Because they haven't been since like 2021, I think was the last time we were there.
And they're like, what's it like at training camp?
And my oldest who remembers what it's like, she's like, it's so boring.
All they do is just, they just practice for three hours.
And I'm like, man, sounds so good to me to round that all out.
So I was going somewhere with that the whole time.
But it's not boring to me.
It's not boring to us.
and it's not boring to you.
So at the tight end position,
we're looking for a lot at this training camp for the Broncos.
Obviously,
it's the first camp for Justin Jolie,
Dallin Bentley.
Those two guys sort of,
I think,
lead out this discussion of the position battles
that we're most excited to watch here.
Yeah, no,
I agree.
And obviously,
because the Broncos invested draft capital
into both of those guys,
it is worth monitoring.
But who are they going to be competing against?
Well,
I think you have to look at guys that were on this roster last year.
Nate Adkins,
dealt with some injuries last.
year in 2025 that impacted his availability.
They love what he could do on special teams.
Caleb Loner, who was a seventh round project for the Broncos last season from
Sean Payton was a practice squad guy throughout the entire year.
And then there's Lucas Crowe who spent the first part of the season on the roster.
Then he was on injured reserve.
And he kind of got worked out of the tight-in rotation because early on he was.
It led to us having that week one against the Tennessee Titans,
Bo Nicks going through and having that gift moment of pointing to Lucas Crows to where he should be.
He says, keep going, keep going, or sit, sit.
That's the thing with the Broncos is I don't feel like this position was used enough throughout even the training camp and preseason to where there was evident chemistry between the quarterback and the tight end.
I think primarily it was quarterback and the chemistry that you had with the running backs in the passing game and your wide receivers.
That was primarily it.
The tight ends, I would even say in the preseason when Bo was playing, they were not commonly used outside of checkdown options.
And that carried on into the regular season.
Evan Ingram is really the only guy who was used in the passing game,
but we talk about the consistency rate of that.
It was not there.
So for competition here going into Trinicamp,
the position battle that Broncos country must watch, in my opinion,
at tight end, I think Justin Jolie is going to be right behind Evan Ingram.
I don't think he's going to be competing for a spot,
but I think you're going to have guys like Nate Adkins,
Caleb Loner, Dallin Bentley, and Lucas Crowell.
I think these four guys right here are going to be competing.
And primarily, I think,
Dallin Bentley competing against Loner and competing against Nate Adkins for that role right behind
Adam Troutman this upcoming season. That's the position battle I think will take place.
I completely agree with you on that. And that's what's going to be so fascinating is you've got these
young guys with traits, right? I mean, we talked about Dallin Bentley being a nine point something in the
RAS department. Obviously, Caleb Loner was selected because of his athletic abilities. And as a
basketball player who had 59 snaps or whatever it was at Utah, Justin Jolie, tremendous athlete
can play all over the formation and be a mismatch option. So you've got those athletic options
at the position who are competing for roster spots. That gives you the opportunity as a
coaching staff to say, hey, especially with a couple of experienced backup quarterbacks,
let's really not experiment, but let's really start to kind of test these theories that
an athletic tight end can be utilized in this offense.
And we can do it with every unit out there on the field because we have these athletic guys.
So get that, get that going.
Get those, those gears moving here as training camp gets going along.
But I mentioned a couple of guys where a surprise returns to this position group.
Cody, I think it starts with, honestly, like to me, Adam Troutman, as a three-year deal that he got in free agency,
the Broncos had an opportunity to say,
all right,
we kind of got the most that we could out of Adam Troutman
and Sean Peyton's even joking at the end of the season,
that 25 targets or whatever,
or five targets is his season high.
Like they had a chance to say,
all right,
we're going to move on.
But they decided to bring him back
and not just bring him back,
but on a three-year contract.
So I was surprised that he was back at all,
much less on a three-year deal.
I was surprised that they re-signed Lucas Crowell,
Remember everybody on Twitter at the time was like, okay, the Broncos are resigning everybody.
Wouldn't it be funny if Lucas Crowell was the next guy they brought back?
And then sure enough, that notification drops and we're like, you've got to be kidding me.
Like they could have decided we are going to just clean sweep a little bit here.
But they brought back Troutman.
They brought back Crowell.
They brought back Nate Adkins.
I mean, so they're bringing back everybody and allowing what it allows for to me.
And this is the key.
It's not to say, hey, we're happy with pedestrian numbers or we're happy with underachieving or we're fine with not having a good tight end room.
What I think that does is it paves the way for guys like Jolie and Bentley to have to beat out players who have been on this team for three plus years or beat out guys for snaps who are way more experienced than them.
That really will ramp up, I think, this competition for roster spots in general.
No, you're right.
And I like that.
I'd like the fact that, you know, even though they were drafted, like Justin Jolie and Dallin Bentley
aren't just going to have a roster spot handed to them. They're going to have to compete.
I think it's easier.
I think it's easier right now for Jolie.
I think Jolie is probably a safer lock right now than anybody else.
But to me, I agree with you in terms of being surprised.
I was surprised that Trotman got the three-year deal.
If anything, I thought he'd be back maybe on a one-year deal, right?
Like that wouldn't have been a surprise to me if it was a one-year deal.
The three-year deal, very, very surprising.
And part of it is that's because Sean Pate says you know what you're going to get from Adam.
And I think that in order to make this three-year investment in Troutman to bring him back at that length,
they have to use him more in the past game primarily.
He cannot just be this decoy, chip release, checkdown option.
Like, I'm sick of it.
Like use him a little bit more.
He can be effective in short to intermediate areas.
I think he certainly can be.
Is he going to be a deep threat tight end?
No, he's not.
But with the man, Cook.
I think he's very underrated in a past catching game.
Evan Ingram, as we all know, was entering the last year of his deal.
find a way to utilize him at this point.
But let Justin Jolie learn behind him.
Nate Adkins, I would say, I was not surprised that Nate was brought back.
They really like Nate.
He's a Darren Rizzy guy from a special team standpoint.
But I think one healthy, like Nate does a lot of these little things that kind of move around hybrid tight-in fullback.
He's the H-back essentially where not only is he a pretty good blocker, but he's also, I'd say, a very underrated pass-catching option as well.
I mean, Bo Nix has developed a chemistry with Nate that we have seen.
But he's not used enough to really say, like, hey, we're, you know, passing down situation,
you're going to number 45.
That has never been the case here.
So he's going to have competition.
Lucas Crowell's kind of been this practice squad project guy that we've been excited about really since
23, where he was the, I think, the leading tight end in the preseason in terms of catches,
formerly the New Orleans Saints.
We're like, hey, man, this Lucas Crowell guy has a lot of upside.
It has never translated, unfortunately, into on-field success in the regular season.
And now, really, for him, he's going to have to compete for.
a roster spot and Caleb Loner.
I know a lot of people are excited about him.
I think we have to see it here in training camp once again.
I think Dallin Bentley is in a better position right now to beat all of those guys
than Caleb Loner is taking a roster spot here on the 53.
I think it's just going to be very hard.
But that's just my opinion here.
And Broncos country coming up next, Sarah and I,
we're going to go through and give you our predictions as to how many tight ends,
Denver keeps and who they keep on the 53 men roster after training camp is all set
done you'll get all that here on today's episode of the show davis web will be the wild card
and how the denver bronco's tight-end position is used this upcoming season but it is going to be
imperative for them to be utilized as a security blanket option for bow nicks in 2026
broncos country thanks for taking time out of your day every single day to make us your first listen
you're on the lockdown podcast network your team every day plus the number one sports podcast
network in the world thanks to all of you we appreciate you so much let's go into this share how many
tight ends are you keeping on Denver's 53 man roster? Who is it and why? And then I can't wait to even
share mine because this is one of those positions I have questions about, but I also think you can
get created with how you use them and who you ultimately keep on your active roster. I'm excited to hear
what you have to say as well, Cody. I'm going to take four. I'm going to take four tight ends.
Obviously, Adam Troutman, Evan Ingram, I think are locks for this roster. Justin Jolie, I believe,
is a lock for this roster.
That fourth spot is where the whole,
I guess, topic of discussion at hand
comes into play, right?
Is this position battle or who's going to be out there
proving to be the most valuable in this regard or that regard?
While I do view Dallin Bentley as the guy that I want to get that fourth spot,
I'm as guilty as anybody of, you know,
hey, I'll take the new guy over the proven guy.
I feel like it's going to be really tough to beat out Nate Adkins for a job.
I just do.
I don't know if it's impossible.
I don't think it's impossible because the Broncos saw what life without Nate is like last year,
and they've had the opportunity to move on.
Justin Jolie can do a lot of those things.
But I'm going to say Nate right now is my fourth guy,
although I want so badly to put Dallin Bentley in that spot.
That's where we need to see these guys utilized properly in camp and the preseason,
showing the fullness of their skill sets, including Nate Adkins, quite frankly.
I mean, just to see what can these guys do when we are,
actually using the tight end position the way that it's supposed to be done.
And if we see that, I think that Dalton Bentley has a good shot of winning that
roster spot.
Now, special teams be the final piece of the equation, won't it?
Because ultimately you got to play.
Because Nate Adkins plays special teams.
That's his biggest asset right now.
And I think if Darren Rizzy is the final, you know, say so when it comes to the roster,
I think he's taking the guy that's played for him, you know, the last, obviously last
season when he was healthy, but also has a body of work, even.
predating Rizzi's arrival to Denver.
Well, the challenge, I think with this, too, and if you want to keep four, you want to keep five.
I mean, I think you can make an argument for five, though, I'd say based on the utilization rate, I think it's, it's not likely.
But based on what Davis Webb said about eventually maybe getting to 13 personnel, which is something the Broncos didn't do much of last year.
Who are the best guys that can make 13 personnel work, right?
A combination of receiving and blocking, that's where I think Justin Jolie can really help out.
that's where I think you can have Adam Troutman, Justin Jolie in that situation.
And then I think there's a great argument for Nate Adkins, as you mentioned there.
And you are right.
Special teams will ultimately determine this.
So maybe a little bit of a bold take here.
I think Devere'll keep five.
That'll be my prediction here.
And it's going to be Adam Troutman, Evan Ingram, Justin Jolie.
And then I think it's going to be Nate Atkins slash Dallon Bentley at this point.
I think Bentley is going to showcase some athleticism.
I think he might out of everybody at the tight-in position.
I'll even go on the record of saying it here.
I think in the preseason,
Dalin Bentley will be the leading tight end
in terms of production through three games of preseason play.
I think he's going to be the one guy that stands out the most.
You're not going to probably see Adam Trowman,
everything going to play as much,
even though they are going to play,
starters are going to play in the preseason.
I think Dalin Bentley will probably get more overall time on task
than all of those guys.
And I think he's going to stand out.
So I think five guys,
and I think with Nate Adkins,
here's where the wild card is.
That flexibility is that full-back tight-in hybrid.
could the Broncos slide him to fullback?
And because Adam Prentice is a vested veteran,
could they give him a little Jordan Humphrey treatment?
Like, hey, we're going to be on the practice squad for now.
But we're going to sign you right away.
We are going to use you.
It's just a matter of when.
I think that's exactly what I'm looking out for as well.
I mean, when it comes to the fullback position,
it's not utilized enough to really say,
hey, we're going to sacrifice a roster spot for you
and cut this other guy that we just drafted,
who we think could potentially be a,
like what did George Peyton say going into day three of the draft?
They were looking for guys with future starter traits.
And that extended to the last pick of the draft.
So you also have to assume that includes the Dallin Bentley selection, right?
So I think that that's something that's kind of underlying in this whole discussion.
And what I want to see to help really determine this is not just dump off to tight ends as checkdowns, Cody.
I want to see true utilization on downfield routes.
Like one of those things that we didn't really see.
a ton of last year is like who can even run routes at the tight end position.
We didn't see anybody really getting open when they went to heavy personnel.
Frank Crum is the most dynamic guy that they had after the catch last season.
So I think that that's something to watch for is like who can create offense for this team
in the mid to deeper levels of the field because we know, I mean, you could dump it off to any
tight end in the NFL and they can rumble and stumble and stumble for extra yardage.
but who can be a actual weapon for you in the passing game,
and how do you discover that?
I think Davis Webb, obviously, coming in, getting those fresh eyes.
I want to see that he's like studied how did the bears get Colson Loveland to a pro bowl level as a rookie?
I mean, there's different ways that teams are like Ben Johnson did it with Sam LaPorteur before that.
And so we know that it's scheme related.
It's usage related.
You can still involve your receivers.
And the Bears had some good ones, DJ Moore, Luther Burden, Romadunze and others.
You could still involve your backs.
They still involved Swift and Menangai.
Like, you can still get all those guys involved and everybody eats.
The problem becomes when not everybody eats and you're left after, you know, an entire season of wondering, wait, why didn't everyone eat?
And it's our fault, right?
That's what the Broncos had to avoid.
And that's what I want to see a concerted effort towards here in the preseason.
Yeah, no, I'm with you there.
and I would even go to the lengths of saying,
like Denver can't be so focused on force feeding just one guy, right?
And I'm talking about even just a receiver.
Like, this might have to be our production is spread out amongst multiple guys.
In my opinion, that is the most sustainable way of winning games.
Yes, you can have guys who are legit dominators, right?
I look at what?
I mean, you look at Pooka and the Kua and Devante Adams in LA.
Those guys are dominators, right?
They got two of those guys.
There's a luxury.
You might be able to have that with Cortland Sutton.
and obviously Jalen Waddle, but what does the tight-in production look like?
What does the running back production look like?
What does your contributions from your other three wide receivers we perceive will make the 53 for Denver?
What does that look like?
If it's so heavily leaned towards this guy and that guy is your top two guys,
and there's not a lot of production spread out amongst anybody else,
that is where your offense can become a little one-dimensional.
But in theory of adding Jalen Waddle to the mix, that should open things up for Cortland.
Jalen should be able to be a creator himself.
That should help the run game with J.K. Dobbins, R.J. Harvey.
That should help the tight ends specifically in third down situations or maybe even the red zone because the defense are going to be focused on Jalen and Cortland.
Well, guess what? That's where even if you don't have a tight end who can create separation naturally as a route runner,
maybe you can scheme that guy open to be a producer in the red zone, to be a producer on third down.
To me, that's where this offensive philosophy for Davis Webb has to come to the forefront.
And that's where we need to save this offense, take that next step.
And I think for Bo Nix, even at Oregon, I watched him.
He loved the tight end position.
He had Terrence Ferguson that he was throwing.
to he loved what he had there he was a true security blanket they have not had that here since
bow has arrived that cannot be the case here coming into 2026 so a lot of questions surrounding this
position i think the perception of it being the weakest link on their entire roster i think the
perception of it i can see where it's coming from but i think once again as i said at the very
beginning of the show i think that's a byproduct of how they were used in 2025 and that could change in
26. I think they have the potential to be an impactful tight-in room, even if it's not the sexiest
names that you can think of here at this position. I'm very curious to see what you have to say
as well, Broncos Country. Let's know your thoughts on the tight-in position, who you think they will
keep on the active roster. How many tight-ins and so much more? Make sure you let Sarah and I know here
on today's episode, Lockdown Broncos. But for all you every day is tomorrow's episode of show,
we're going to be focusing on the outside linebacker position. Could this be with the ongoing
Jonathan Cooper situation playing out here for Denver? Could we see Nick Benito and Jonah and
Ellis as the two starters going into 2026. That's a big question. And I'll we highlight one of Denver's
biggest strengths. And that is their pass rush depth on the outside.
