Locked On Broncos - Daily Podcast On The Denver Broncos - Denver Broncos WR Jaylen Waddle is Under More Pressure Than You Think

Starting point is 00:00:00 There's a lot more pressure on Jalen Waddle in his first year with the Broncos than maybe anybody realizes. You are locked on Broncos. Your daily Denver Broncos podcast, part of the Locked on podcast network, your team every day. The pressure on Jalen Waddle in his first year with the Denver Broncos is tremendous. Broncos country, we're going to talk about the newest addition to the offense this offseason and why that pressure is so intense. not just for what he can bring to the offense, but for how he can help the defense. Jalen Waddle's presence this offseason throughout training camp

Starting point is 00:00:43 and the ability to live up to these lofty expectations. Well, it affects everybody on the team. We're going to talk about that on today's bonus episode, Locked on Broncos and Broncos Country. We appreciate you so much for tuning in. My name is Sarah Bedinger, co-host here Locked on Broncos site expert at predominantly orange.com. And as always, we appreciate you every day or so much for tuning in.

Starting point is 00:01:04 rocking with us every single day. And I want to just have kind of an open discussion on Jalen Waddle because this topic actually came up. We were talking about Jalen Waddle a little bit on our squad show the other day. And it really struck me as we were talking about him. The more we talk about Jalen Waddle, isn't it interesting that the more it comes up how much Jalen Waddle is going to elevate somebody like Cortland Sutton? How much Jalen Wattel's route running ability is going to help young.

Starting point is 00:01:34 receivers like Marvin Mims and Troy Franklin evolve in their game. Pat Bryant as well in that category or how much the involvement of Jalen Waddle means to Davis Webb taking over as a first year play caller being able to have that kind of weapon at his disposal. We've talked about how much Jalen Wattle impacts the running game, how when he's on the field, man, defenses really have to stay honest. They can't just load up the box when Jalen Waddle is on the field because, man, they get burnt over the top.

Starting point is 00:02:03 He's going to beat you deep down the field. There is so much pressure offensively with Jalen Waddle simply being available. And I know that that's one of those situations that in the offseason, everybody's healthy. You want to knock on wood and expect your team to be healthy throughout the course of the season. But doesn't it feel a little bit like the hopes of the Broncos taking that next step offensively hinge a little bit, maybe even too much on what Jalen Waddle brings to the table. I think there's tremendous pressure on him. And it kind of reminds me of the situation with Russell Wilson.

Starting point is 00:02:42 And I'm not saying this is apples to apples. But remember when Russell came in to Denver, the expectation was that he was going to be the same guy that he had been for 10 years with the Seattle Seahawks. Even if he was getting older, even if he was not as good as he was with Seattle, we still expected Russell Wilson to be a game changer at the quarterback position. And ultimately, that didn't work out. And I'm not trying to sit here in fearmonger by any means.

Starting point is 00:03:08 But what I am saying is that when you trade what the Broncos did to get Jalen Wattle, a first round pick, a third round pick, you are expecting that guy to come in and be an absolute game-changing weapon for your offense, somebody who's going to be able to eat up a high volume of targets and capitalize on those targets all on his own, but also somebody who's going to elevate everybody else around him. And we're banking on Jalen Waddle helping with Bo Nix in the third year of his growth and development in the NFL. We're banking on Jalen Waddle being the one who propels this offense up into the top 10,

Starting point is 00:03:44 maybe even higher than that in terms of NFL points scored this season, total yards offensively, third down efficiency rate. We're expecting Jalen Waddle to be the tide that raises. all boats in the harbor. And that pressure that's on him to do all those things, to be that for the other players on this team, that starts at OTAs. That starts at OTAs where the Broncos kick things off on June 2nd

Starting point is 00:04:10 when they get their first on-field work together as a team. And that is where the pressure is going to be squarely on Jalen Waddle to prove right away. And yes, there's only so much you can glean from those practices, right? There's no pads on. it's not necessarily, you know, real football, so to speak. But at the same time, you want the perception from whatever practice the media is allowed to view, you want them to be coming away saying, we see why Jalen Waddle was acquired for such a

Starting point is 00:04:41 high price. We see why the Broncos traded their first and third round picks in this year's draft to get this guy because the impact that he's going to make on this team is tremendous. And we are talking about, you know, wow, Cortland Sutton's going to. going to draw a lot more one-on-one coverage. And that's going to help him maybe have the best year of his career beyond the age of 30. So there's just so much at stake with this move that the excitement of adding Jalen Waddle on paper, you know, I put him on the Broncos in Madden.

Starting point is 00:05:11 It's so much more fun to play with a player like this who has elite speed, who is an elite route runner, who has great hands, who can win deep down the field. And it does make you feel like, okay, yeah, the Broncos have the ability to, to get to that next level offensively, but it does hinge a lot on him and his availability. And so that's what I'm kind of talking about with this whole. The pressure is on him. It's not just on him to go out there and produce at a high level when his number is called.

Starting point is 00:05:40 It's on Jalen Waddle to help make everybody else in this offense better and to help make Bo Nicks better, to make Davis Webb's job even easier. And so that kind of just intrigues me a little bit. And I wonder if it intrigues you as well, just thinking about it from that vantage point, that there's a difference between the excitement of adding him on paper versus the real life pressure that is being put on him as somebody who is, hey, you were just acquired in probably the biggest blockbuster trade of the off season, right? So that pressure is there for you to go in and be the guy that everybody says or thinks

Starting point is 00:06:17 that you are capable of being. And I think Jalen Waddle will be up to the task. You know, what's funny is like the Broncos, they haven't in Sean Payton's time with the Broncos since 23, they do not do introductory player press conferences. They do, you know, players will meet with the media after a practice. And that'll typically be the first time we hear from any new additions to the team. Go back to last year with Hufanga, Dre Greenlaw, those guys. The first time we heard from them was after they took the practice field with the Broncos.

Starting point is 00:06:49 But that's not the case with Jalen Waddle. He got the red carpet thrown out for him. He had a full-blown press conference, met the media, did the whole spiel. Thankfully, this pressure is nothing new for Jalen Wattle, right? Because obviously he was a big-time recruit going to Alabama, high expectations going there, first round pick of the Miami Dolphins, high expectations there. So it's not like he's never had these kinds of high expectations before, but he's now gone from being the centerpiece of a place where he's been kind of, I don't

Starting point is 00:07:21 if you want to say comfortable or where he knows what to expect. He's going from being the centerpiece of the Miami Dolphins offense to now being the missing piece of the Denver Broncos offense. And there's just a different level of pressure that comes with that because when he was selected by Alabama, there's a hundred other guys on that roster that help make that team great. And when you get selected to the Miami Dolphins in the top 10 picks of the draft, there's not as much pressure to go in there and be that game-changing force for a franchise. Of course, yes, there's first-rounder expectations.

Starting point is 00:07:56 But you get what I'm saying. It's different when you're talking about a first-round pick on a bad team to now being the subject of a blockbuster trade for a team with Super Bowl aspirations. And that is inherently where this discussion kind of comes from. But I don't think it's just to do with the offense either. Nick Ferguson brought up a great point on our squad show. that I want to talk about today and how Jalen Wattle impacts the defense tremendously as well. We're going to break that down coming up on today's episode, Lockdown Broncos.

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Starting point is 00:11:20 Fandual, play your game. Jalen Waddle is going to help the Denver Broncos defense be a lot better this season, or at least that's what we hope and that's what we believe based on what he's going to do on the practice field in Broncos country. I think that adds even another layer of pressure to this star wide receiver who is now in orange and blue, which is very exciting. but the pressure is intense, and I think he's going to live up to it. I'm going to tell you how we can help the defense on today's show,

Starting point is 00:11:49 but I want to say thank you to all you every dayers and all of you who make Lockdown Broncos your first listen of the day. Every single day means the world to us to make us your first listen, to make us part of your day, however you choose to do so. If you want an ad-free version of the show, check out the Everydayer Club at Lockdownbroncos.com. Jalen Waddle is going to help this defense for the Denver Broncos, specifically because he's going to help their defensive backs with their technique.

Starting point is 00:12:14 I thought Nick Ferguson did a great job of bringing this up on our squad show. It's another reason why you should tune in, especially live because we engage with all of the listeners live during the show as well. But he brought up the point that Waddle is going to be able to help somebody like Riley Moss because in practice, these defensive backs, even the best of them, I mean, even Pat or Tartan, probably going to get beat by Jalen Wadle a time or two in practice. And so what does a player like that help you do? It gives you the opportunity to go up against an elite talent every single day in practice to hone your craft.

Starting point is 00:12:48 Riley Moss led the NFL with over 200 penalty yards last year. And even if you want to say some of those penalties were tiki tack, he was still flagged 12 different times for over 200 yards. And an average, I mean, every of accepted penalties, which he had 10 of them, that's an average of 20 yards per accepted penalty. I mean, that's something that regardless of how high you are on the talent of a player, that has to be corrected. And so you get opportunities in practice to go up against Jalen Waddle.

Starting point is 00:13:20 And what is Jalen Waddle going to do? He's going to force you to have great technique. He's going to force you to have to practice those things that you struggled with last year. And the same applies to whenever Waddle is lined up in the slot. he's going to make Jekwan Macmillan better. He's going to make Jadae Barron better. He's going to make Pat Sertan better. He's going to make these linebackers better as well because Jalen Wadle, we know,

Starting point is 00:13:43 is a threat to take the ball the distance no matter what level of the field he's getting a target. So everybody is going to have to be on point when Waddle is on the field because otherwise, he's going to make them look bad in practice. That is something I'm so excited for is not just the fact that these defenders are going to start looking bad in practice, because of Waddle, but I think because he's going to help refine a big problem for the Broncos last season, which was penalties. And it wasn't just Riley Moss, right? We had plenty of other players on the defense, especially getting called for penalties. It was almost just an epidemic running throughout the Denver Broncos team last season. Penalties have cost this team so much

Starting point is 00:14:26 over the past couple of years. And so that's where I say, once again, I go back to this idea of the pressure on Jalen Waddle. The pressure is on him to be that guy who's helping refine the defensive backs in their skills in practice because he brings something to the table that not everybody else does, right? He brings that dynamic element of speed, explosiveness, quickness, route running savvy. That's not necessarily what we've seen from Denver Broncos receivers in recent years. And now we have a different receivers coach coaching those guys up.

Starting point is 00:14:58 Ronald Curry is now in charge of coaching the wide receiver. so you hope that it can improve across the board and not just because Jalen Waddle's out there revealing his book of secrets. But you want to see Waddle and what he can do impact both sides of the ball, right? Especially during practice where you have the freedom to fail, where you have the freedom to work on things or ask him as a star receiver, hey, this is how I'm playing the ball when we're 40 yards down the field. What should I be doing differently than Waddle can give his insight because he's a veteran and he has experience beating defensive backs in every possible way. So I just find this discussion very interesting, Broncos country as we ramp up towards

Starting point is 00:15:41 the team taking the field for the first time this offseason here in a little over a week. It's really fun to think about what Jalen Waddle brings to the table on paper, but it's another thing to kind of put that into real life perspective and how much he does impact everybody around him from his teammates offensively to the coaching staff to even the defenders that he's going up against in practice. And the Broncos really need him to bring that impact to the table. They invested a lot to get him. And so that impact is going to be the expectation.

Starting point is 00:16:12 And I can't wait to see how he responds to it. I think he's going to be absolutely amazing. I mean, I think this is going to end up being the move that people are talking about as the biggest and best move that any team made to upgrade their roster in the entire. offseason. The Broncos paid the price to get that distinction, obviously, but I think we're going to see it come to fruition. I think Waddle is going to be tremendous for this team. Broncos Country, let us know your thoughts. If you're watching on YouTube, drop a comment. Let me know your thoughts on how excited or nervous you may be for the Jalen Waddle edition.

Starting point is 00:16:44 I think it's, I think it's pretty much unanimous excitement in Broncos Country at this point. But let us know your thoughts on today's episode of the show. We appreciate you once again, so much for tuning in every single day. and we'll catch you on the next episode of the show.

Locked On Broncos - Daily Podcast On The Denver Broncos - Denver Broncos WR Jaylen Waddle is Under More Pressure Than You Think

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