Locked On Broncos - Daily Podcast On The Denver Broncos - Denver Broncos Trading Up for THIS POSITION Makes Sense

Starting point is 00:00:00 And our locked on Broncos mock draft 1.0, we traded up for tight-in Oscar Delp. Was that the right move here for the Denver Broncos? We'll discuss here on today's episode of the show. You are locked on Broncos. Your daily Denver Broncos podcast. Part of the Locked-on podcast network, your team every day. What's all Broncos country? I'm Cody York.

Starting point is 00:00:27 joined as always by Sarah Bedinger on today's bonus episode of the show. We're going through and diving deeper into our pick of Oscar Delp and our lockdown Broncos 1.0 mock draft that we dropped earlier on this week. We'll go through and talk about why Oscar Delp brings a specific skill set here to the Broncos offense that could be developed inside of the system, but more importantly, they're going to kick things off by talking about our decision to trade up into round three to get Delp in this year's NFL draft. Sarah, let's go through it, my friend. Obviously, you compiled this mock draft here this week. You decided to trade up for Oscar Delp. What was the capital initially that you had to give up in order for the Broncos to move up to

Starting point is 00:01:04 him in round three and then we'll talk about whether or not it's a good idea if Denver were to look at trading up for a tight end this year. Yeah. So I kind of reference to the Riley Moss trade that the Broncos made back in the 2023 NFL draft where they gave up obviously a fourth rounder to move up and get him, but a future third rounder on top of that as well. So you pay up a little bit in terms of the future capital to go ahead and move up from pick 108 into roughly pick 90. I think is where I landed. Cody, the dolphins have four selections in the third round. Can't help but feel like they'd maybe want to fire up the trade engines with the Broncos again and say, hey, you know, we want to get another dart to throw in the 2027 draft. You guys want to move

Starting point is 00:01:45 up or the Broncos, maybe vice versa pitching that opportunity to them to go up and get somebody. And I think the thought process behind trading up for a tight end, we'll get to Oscar Delp in a second. But the thought process in trading up for a tight end is relatively simple. This is a big time class at the tight end position. Maybe not necessarily huge at the top end, but certainly a deep class at that position. And you kind of feel like if you're the Broncos, you want to make sure you get somebody, if you envision them as a future starter, you want to get your guy at the position. So trading up to get him after taking Caleb Banks with our first round pick,

Starting point is 00:02:22 it's kind of the thought process that I use and figure if it takes, you know, a future third round pick to move up 18 spots to go get your guy that you believe can be a starting tight end in the future, that seems like a worthwhile price to pay for somebody as talented as this guy who's, I mean, top five tight end on most big boards out there. Yeah, and it's interesting to see like Denver right now is in a spot with Evan Ingram. We know he's going to be their top tight end option this upcoming season, Adam Troutman being brought back on a three-year deal. It makes it to where maybe Oscar Delp, if brought into Denver, would likely have a rotational role on offense, which wouldn't be a bad thing, but also gives him time

Starting point is 00:02:59 to learn, as we know, is a very complex. scheme here for Sean Payton as players have talked about that. And I'm curious to see if the run game scheme changes. We heard Adam Troutman talk about it last year that the outside zone scheme. It's made it a lot tougher for the tight ends because it isn't about just beating a man. It's getting to a specific spot. Well, now you have a guy who can learn from Troutman, who can learn from Evan Ingram. And maybe, like I said, you're looking at maybe what your role could be next season very much. Oscar Delp could take over that Evan Ingram role going into the next season. I'm curious to see if Sean believes that he has certain traits that

Starting point is 00:03:32 qualify him as maybe going to that joker's school. I know fans get triggered by that word, but it's worth bringing up here at this point. But also on top of that, you look at the last three seasons for Delp at Georgia. He has played in 14 games in each of the last seasons, the last three seasons there as a bulldog. And there's been changes in quarterbacks. There's obviously been times where he's played alongside a player like Brock Bowers. That skews his overall production sample size a little bit. Yeah, it definitely does. So you have to take, you know, the stats that he posted, which was, you know,

Starting point is 00:04:03 I think less than 25 catches each year that he was at Georgia, right? So you take those statistics with a little bit of a grain of salt and you kind of have to just evaluate the skill set, right? And I think that's very similar to, I mean, I'll bring up the Iowa Hawkeyes all the time, Cody, you know me. But it's very similar to the way that you sort of evaluate a lot of the guys that come out of that program at the tight end position because you're not necessarily. going to get a high volume of options to look at when it comes to evaluating the tape. Now, it's not a one-to-one comparison with guys like George Kittle or Sam Leporta, T.J. Hawkinson, Noah Fant and things like that. Those guys were able to put a lot of good things out there on tape, but it might be similar

Starting point is 00:04:45 to like the George Kittle or Sam Leporta situation where their production is, is there in spurts, but the skill set is kind of what's getting hidden by the lack of quarterback talent or, you know a change of offensive systems, right? Because we know Todd Monkin left to go, uh, be the offensive coordinator of the Baltimore Ravens at one point. Now he's the head coach of the Cleveland Browns. So there's different different factors that play into that. But what you see with this guy is the talent across the board and all the different things that the Broncos will ask of a tight end. And so that's where I think you play in a pro style offense at the college level. That's really helpful for where the Broncos are at right now in terms of needing depth of that

Starting point is 00:05:26 position, but also sort of a succession plan going forward. Well, Delp does have some traits there. It qualifies him right now. His projection in the NFL is to be a good backup with the potential to develop into a starter. Well, guess what? The Denver Broncos are the perfect place for that. We'll take a look at what skill set he could bring to the table for Denver if they

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Starting point is 00:08:53 which is just days away at this point. Thanks for rocking with us all throughout the course of the off season. We appreciate you every day or in Broncos Country. It means the world to us that you would spend some time during your day listening to the show. And Cody, I think let's let me make a pitch here for Oscar Delb because I think honestly, you look at a deep tight end class and you could you could kind of spin this both ways. You could say, well, why would you trade up for a tight end in a deep tight end class as opposed to just letting somebody fall to.

Starting point is 00:09:20 And I think that does make some sense. So let's make an argument for why you would trade up to get your guy. And specifically, Oscar Delp, who, I mean, we love to talk about these guys who score high in the relative athletics score department, the RAS department, the RASP leading up to the NFL draft, Oscar Delp, scoring a 9.84 in the RAS department. And frankly, the only reason he didn't score higher than that is because he was kind of in the middle to lower range in terms of height and weight, but 99th percentile, Cody, in terms of speed and explosiveness.

Starting point is 00:09:53 So when you look at a guy and you say, all right, I see 20 catches, 21 catches, 24 catches. That production is pretty, you know, pedestrian at best. And then you see a guy that's running a 449 in the 40 yard dash and, you know, 39 inch vertical jump. Then you start to say like, wait, wait, wait, wait, like, what did the, let me look at all those. Let me look at all 20 of those catches and see what he was doing. Let me see what he brings to the table as a blocker.

Starting point is 00:10:20 You see the athleticism, the speed pop when you watch him play at Georgia over these last handful of seasons. Especially at 6'5, 245 pounds. Interesting enough, his athleticism score ranks second amongst all tight ends and this year's NFL draft class. Of course, he's right behind Kenyon Sadiq in that regard here. But obviously with his projection of where he's at as being a good backup with the potential to develop into a starter, it makes sense for the Broncos at the position that they're at right now

Starting point is 00:10:49 to take a chance on a player like him and why not do it from a program like Georgia? Look, he's played alongside Brock Bowers. His sample size in terms of overall catches per season is a little bit low, but those are things that are moldable. If the Broncos are willing to take a flyer on a player like Caleb Loner with actual draft capital, why not take a chance on a player who has a chance to develop into an actual starter for you down the road here with Oscar Delp. You mentioned the athleticism. You mentioned the, obviously, the vertical jump right there. That's what you need. Like, we're not asking him to run straight line nine times out of 10, but in short areas, does he have burst of explosiveness that could benefit if he's playing against zone coverage?

Starting point is 00:11:26 Can he sit quickly, catch the ball, make moves, yards after the catch? That's what the Broncos need out of a tight end. They're not in a position this year to draft a starter, but can you draft the guy that can become a starter for you in-house? This is a great situation for a player like dealt to come into Denver and to do that with his skill set. And there are obviously some areas of his game where he can go through and he can improve. But he is projected to be a round three to round four player here, trading up in a round three to get him.

Starting point is 00:11:53 Sarah, I'm not opposed to this. I think this is good. Some of his weaknesses, according to Lance Zerlin of the NFL.com says inconsistent finishing catches through heavy contact, average elusiveness to add yards after the catch. And he needs to get stronger in his upper body for blocking duties. And he gets caught leaning too far forward. when getting into blocks. You don't think that these guys are coming out of college,

Starting point is 00:12:14 has finished products. He's a young guy. He's 22 years of age. There's still a lot to work with and things that he can develop here at the next level. And I think the Broncos, I would be on board with them taking a chance on a player like Delpere. Absolutely. And you do see him throw some guys out of the club when it comes to blocking

Starting point is 00:12:31 and he's able to take good angles and things like that. So it's not like he's a bad blocker. And I would say even also, you know, with a guy like Eli Stowers, I found out, Cody, that he was only on the field for 41% of Vanderbilt's designed running plays. So it's not like you don't trust Oscar Delp either because he's a full-time player at the Y position, which is the in-line tight-end position, whereas somebody like Eli Stowers might play that F position or kind of that, you know, the move tight-end.

Starting point is 00:13:01 And we don't know exactly what the Broncos are going to prioritize, which is it going to be a more balanced prospect at the position like an Oscar Delp? Will you sacrifice, hey, he doesn't really have great length in terms of the arm length, which can affect playing in line at the NFL level. We'll sacrifice that because we believe he has untapped potential as a receiver. And then you have the other side of the argument that's the, you know, the Eli Stowers types, the Justin Jolie types where you're saying, this guy, we see the receiving upside plenty.

Starting point is 00:13:34 Like it's on tape. It's out there. We like it. we believe in it and he just stinks at blocking or he's not ready to block, you know, on a full time basis, not even at the college level, like 41% of the running plays for Eli Stour. So I think there's a great kind of dilemma there when it comes to what skill set. Because Sean Payton historically, you know, we talk about Jimmy Graham all the time, but there's also guys like Jared Cook. There's guys like Joanne Johnson. There's guys like Marcus Colston,

Starting point is 00:14:04 who fits kind of that big slot mold. Devon Valet fits into that mold. Size-wise, they're not all identical, but skill-wise, like Joanne Johnson was a college-wide receiver at Oregon, you know, and he became a tight end at the NFL level. So what do you want if you're the Denver Broncos? Do you want somebody who's more balanced and can give you the blocking, you know, on a semi-high level?

Starting point is 00:14:28 Or do you want the guy who's going to be that just, hey, this guy's a dog in the passing game. we don't care if he can't block. I'm interested for your thoughts on that too, Cody, because I go both ways when I'm putting together mock drafts. Part of me is one or two, what is the Broncos preference at tied in? Are they looking for a pass catching option?

Starting point is 00:14:47 That's the primary strength for that player? Or are they just looking for a guy who is just a dominant, in line, run blocking guy, might offer some value, some possession catches from time to time, kind of similar in the Adam Troutman type of role here. Is that the key? If the Broncos run the ball more, is it more so along the line saying,

Starting point is 00:15:07 we want a prospect who's going to get his hands in the dirt and is going to dominate if the line of scrimmage can be used as an extra asset. That's kind of how Sean has been using tight-in since he's come to Denver anyways. You haven't really seen this concerted effort by Sean to go out there and say, hey, we're going to involve this guy in the passing game, high volume, vertical threat down the middle of the field. The only guy that's had some glimpses of that has been Evan Ingram. But that hasn't always come in line.

Starting point is 00:15:30 That's also come in that slot roll. So I'm curious to hear what Sean and George have to say when asked about the tight end prospects this year. I'm going to try to ask them that if obviously I get into the rotation on the queue. But I wonder how much of that matters because here's the thing. We could talk about getting a physically dominant inline blocking tight end all we want, right? That would be nice to some coaches that primarily run the ball more than they throw it. Denver's a high volume throwing team. At least they worked last year.

Starting point is 00:15:56 They led the NFL in passing attempts. My question would be with a guy like Oscar Delp, you don't need him to be a physically dominant blocker. If this guy knows how to take the proper angles to seal and get leverage, that's all coaches are asking for in the blocking game. They're not necessarily offensive linemen who need to bury and throw dudes out the club. To me, I think Oscar Delp would bring some skill set in both departments because he's a smart player. He knows how to take the right angles. And what he maybe lacks in physical strength, he'll make up for in the receiving game. That's why I like this pick here. Yeah, and I don't think you can honestly go wrong either way.

Starting point is 00:16:32 We've seen over the last two years how many snaps like Lil Jordan Humphrey has played for this team. And a lot of folks out there will be like, well, little Jordan Humphrey is a wide receiver. Yeah, he is, but he's more so. And he's not a joker by any stretch of the imagination, but he's that big body who you can kind of disguise, what are we doing when he's out there, right? Are we going to try to run because he's lining up kind of near the tight end or we're going to, you know, utilize his abilities after the catch? I think there is some, you know, maybe some merit to the idea of saying,

Starting point is 00:17:06 hey, we're going to elevate that talent level at what position he plays or what we were missing last year when we traded away Devon Vele, because nobody really replaced that for the Broncos when he left. And that's not to say, well, he was this superstar player, but it is a critical role that Sean Payton does lean on when he's game planning, when he's designing plays, all those sorts of things. and we know the Broncos are still always looking for the jokers. So where there is value to the guys who are traditional balance, can play in line, can block, can offer you that, I don't think Broncos country should be writing off the glorified big wide receiver types because how many we go through history once again,

Starting point is 00:17:48 Lil Jordan Humphrey, Evan Ingram, Devon Valet, Jimmy Graham, Joanne Johnson, Jared Cook, Marcus Colston. There's way too many of those types of guys in Sean Payton's history. to just write them off in the pre-draft process. Yeah, and look, we're going to find out here sooner or rather than later. But Broncos Country, make sure you let us know your thoughts. Would you like Oscar Delpen, a Broncos uniform in 2026? But with that said, Broncos Country, we'll see you tomorrow for a brand new episode of the show.

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Locked On Broncos - Daily Podcast On The Denver Broncos - Denver Broncos Trading Up for THIS POSITION Makes Sense

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