Locked On Broncos - Daily Podcast On The Denver Broncos - Denver Broncos WR Troy Franklin PRIMED For LEAP YEAR In 2025

Episode Date: May 30, 2025

Denver Broncos wide receiver Troy Franklin is primed for a leap year in 2025 according to head coach Sean Payton. Payton touched on what he's seen from Franklin following Broncos OTAs this past week and why the WR room seems set in stone. Plus, Audric Estime seemingly has the most pressure to produce on the touches he's primed to get this offseason and Evan Engram is looking like the player the Broncos needed at tight end. 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://link.chtbl.com/LOBroncos?sid=YouTube Locked On NFL League-Wide: Every Team, Fantasy, Draft & More🎧 https://linktr.ee/LockedOnNFL Follow on Twitter: @CodyRoarkNFL and @SayreBedingerFollow the show on Twitter: @LockedOnBroncos Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!FanDuelRight now, new customers can get TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS in BONUS BETS when your first FIVE DOLLAR BET WINS! Download the app or head to FANDUEL.COM to get started. Bet with FanDuel—Official Partner of the NBA. Monarch MoneyTake control of your finances with Monarch Money. Use code LOCKEDONNFL at monarchmoney.com for 50% off your first year. 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.

Denver Broncos head coach Sean Payton highlighted at Thursday's OTAs, three offensive players who can do a little bit more to take a step forward at 2025. We'll break down Troy Franklin, Audrakees, and new edition, Evan Egram on today's episode, Locked on Broncos. 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? Welcome into another episode of Lockdown Broncos, your daily Denver Broncos podcast, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, You know, it is your team every day for all your Broncos news, content coverage analysis more. You get it here every single day all year long. A special shout out to all the everydayers out there in Broncos country. Thank you so much for tuning in and making us your first listen.

However, you choose to do so. If not yet an everydayer, it's easy to come on. All you got to do is hit that subscriber that follow button. And you're never going to miss out on what's going on with your favorite team. That is the Denver Broncos. As always, I'm Cody Roark, Broncos reporter for Mile High Sports. And I'm Sarah Bedinger, the site expert at predominantly orange. And on today's episode, we're going to go through the aftermath of the first week of OTAs.

We went through the recap initially on yesterday's episode, but on today's show, we're going to go through three offensive players that Sean Payton touched on and how they can impact the team. We'll start off with Troy Franklin and why he's ready for a year to leap. Then we'll also dive into what Adrick Estimate needs to do to be able to see more touches on the field. There's some pressure on him. And then we'll also talk about the new edition, Evan Ingram, and how he can have an impact on the Broncos offense. after we got our first look at him during Thursday's practice at OTAs. You're going to get all that on today's episode of Locked on Broncos. So, Sarah, let's kick things off right here.

Probably one of the players, I think, that has been an important talking point this offseason. When you look at the Broncos wide receiver, and we've talked about Cortland, we've talked about a new edition and Pat Bryant. Troy Franklin is the one name that I feel like Broncos country has probably been talking about the most as they need to see something. They want to see a leap. Well, Sean Payton internally believes that Troy is going to take a Marvin Mims like leap this upcoming season. He said that in his presser on Thursday.

Yeah, I was really excited to hear that too, because you know that somebody's doing well on the practice field and in meeting rooms and showing you the work habits that the coaching staff wants to see when a coach like Sean Payton gets asked about another player, right? He's asked about Marvin Mims and how he's progressing and he brings up somebody else. He's like, yeah, I feel like specifically he said, Troy, I feel is going to make a year two leap just like Marvin did. And I love that. I think that, you know, you and I were texting back and forth and talking back and forth about the practice that was.

And you said that Troy looked good out there. And I'm excited to hear more about, you know, what you can share, at least in terms of what you saw out there from Troy. But just feeling that confidence from him, I know the Broncos put out there. I think it was the first hype video they kind of released after the practice ended. It was a pass from Bo Nix to Troy Franklin rocking that new number 11 jersey. And then Sean goes out of his way to talk. about him. And I think it's just a, it's a big situation for a position that, yeah, I mean, I don't think anybody in Broncos country is super worried about it because there's so many names

at wide receiver, but we really do need to see these guys step up. And Franklin sounds like he's going to be up to that task. Yeah. And look, this all goes back to the end of last season, you know, the end of year player exit interviews, Troy Franklin talked with Sean Payton. And one thing that, you know, he and Sean, they got on the same page about, hey, this is what the vision is for your role, right? You knew that coming in, but obviously with all the guys that the Broncos had last year, there were a couple other veteran guys in the mix. I think for Sean so much, like the rookies got to earn it. We saw that certainly when Marvin, you know, was a rookie. He certainly had to earn some of his touches that we saw in in terms of his rookie season. You know, for Troy Franklin, I would say

the same for he and Devon Velae last year. More so, though, I felt like Velae had more of an established role early on versus Troy. It's like they're trying to just get him on the same page, trying to get him to where he needs to be because ideally, look, you have the X position, you have the slot, you have the Z position, you know, for your standard offense. But for Sean and for the wide receiver rooms, there's a different archetype, I think, for every one of those positions that he plans to deploy, right? It's not just, all right, you're a Z. You have to do this.

It's, oh, hey, you're a speed Z. You're a guy that we believe, you know, you got good height. This is where I think they factor in Troy Franklin. They consider him a big Z. They believe he's got the ability. He can play the slot too. But he's got six foot two height. He's got athleticism, but he's got Marvin Mims like speed that they want to use in different facets in different categories.

You know, so much can be matchup contingent. For Troy Franklin, what is the one thing, Sarah, that you and I have kind of been talking about all year? We love seeing Troy on the deep ball, right? And obviously they connect in that Buffalo game. It was nice to see that. That's still going to be part of it. But where we felt like you could see a little bit more of Troy Franklin where the team should deploy him on the short to intermediate routes. I will say we saw that in practice on Thursday.

it looked like there was more of a concerted effort by Sean Payton when it comes to Troy Franklin. They put him in the role that they said that they want him in. And he was getting reps there and he was working. And I liked what I saw. He had a couple of nice catches there. You can see how he's being deployed in certain, you know, certain systems, certain packages. And it's starting to make sense like, okay, the vision is there. Can they carry it over into the regular season or are they just getting reps right now in OTAs?

It does seem like there is an effort here to get to Troy to where they want him to be, essentially. And I wonder if that means as we talk about this wide receiver position, should we shift the conversation to, hey, is Troy going to be part of the plan this year to could he be the second leading receiver on the team in terms of targets? You know, I mean, it's possible. Anything's possible at this point. That's why we get we get to talk about it. You know, in May and Jude, that's what you talk about in the offseason in the NFL. And I think Troy Franklin is one of those guys that, yeah, you can see him dictating defense with his vertical speed. but also when you get started on these mesh concepts,

we don't see a ton of that from the Broncos. We haven't anyway. And I think when you can get some more mesh concepts over the middle with a guy like Franklin and get him out in place where, okay, the intention here is to get him the ball quickly over the middle of the field, but we're going to kind of run these pick routes and create an opportunity for him after catch because, yeah, you can dictate with speed vertically and you can really force a defense to say you can't come stack the box.

you have to keep two safeties deep because you got Marvin Mims on one side or at least out there on the field and you got Troy Franklin out there. You have to keep those guys back because we can threaten you that way. And then when you got those guys back, that's when you say, hey, we get these guys the ball quickly. There's not enough guys up in the box to make plays. And if Troy can take that next step in terms of just, I mean, starting with catching the ball last year, that was one of bigger issues, right? But also the timing and chemistry between he and Bo Nix was oddly off. If that stuff is corrected, even to a degree, not just completely corrected, but even just partially corrected, this offense with Troy Franklin taking a next step, Cody, we're talking about a team that was already top 10 in scoring last year. The Broncos offense with young guys stepping up, especially Troy Franklin.

Man, this offense could be just, could be just awesome in the passing game. That's the hope. I mean, that's what we're hoping to see. That's what we're excited to potentially see here. I found it interesting what Sean did say after practice. He made some interesting comments about the depth of the wide receiver room. And one of the things that he mentioned specifically was, you know, with that room, he said, guys aren't necessarily competing for spots.

They're competing for touches. So it sounds like for the most part, the general idea of the Broncos wide receiver room is intact. Now, how many guys they choose to carry that position is the bigger question. We'll find that out. But Cortland Sutton, Marvin Mims, Devon Valey, Troy Franklin, Pat Bryant. Those seem to be the top five wide receivers here on this roster. And I think just from what I've seen early on, it feels like Cortland Sutton and Devon Vele, those guys are mainstays of that room.

And then everybody else is going to have a role where they come in and they produce at a different rate, right? That's what I kind of envision it right now, even with Marvin Mims and Franklin and even a guy like Pat Bryant, these guys are going to mix and match in, right? It's just about the number of touches, right? It depends on what personnel you come out in at certain. dictates and warrants touches, but Sean Payton made it seem like at OTAs. That wide receiver room is really kind of set in stone for their top heavy guys,

at least that we know on the 53 man roster. So I find that to be a little bit interesting. Your thoughts on that, like how did you perceive Sean's comments when he said that? I think that he rightly wants to see what he's got in the guys that they've believed in and the guys that they said, you know, it's like if you, you know, you know me, Cody, I really love buying shoes. That's kind of my one of my only hobbies is sneaker collecting, right? I'm a big advocate of wear your shoes, right?

If you buy shoes, don't just put them on display and set them up for it. It's not like a piece of art, in my opinion. It's like you buy shoes to wear the shoes. And the shoes that I bought last year, I can't just stop wearing them now because, well, they've lost the luster. It's like I invested in that pair of shoes because I want to wear it and I want to see what, you know, what outfits I can wear with it, things like that. I know that's maybe a bad analogy, but in a way, let's circle it back.

You don't draft these guys and you say, I've got a second round grade on Troy Franklin. I had a third round grade on Adrick Esm. We really like Devon Bailey as a potential sleeper. Compared him to Marcus Colson, compared him to Tim Patrick. You don't just throw that stuff by the wayside when a guy struggles as a rookie or even a second year player. Even in the middle of Marvin Mim's second year, the Broncos are like, we have to figure this out. We have to get this guy targets. We have to get him touches.

He's so good in the return game. He's so good in the open field with his vision. How can we create that on offense? You don't just throw away the initial love that you had for those guys in the first place. You can't in the NFL. You have to be willing to pour into player development. And I love that Sean Payton is not like, hey, you know what? Yeah, it's time for the next new pair of shoes, right?

Ditch the old one, even though we know Sean is a sneaker head as well, Cody. You're not ditching the old ones. You're still rocking your favorites, you know, and you're still rocking the ones that you invested in before. The same is true for these skill players. You had a vision for them. You can't say vision, vision, vision, vision, and then never let it come to fruition.

Yeah, I mean, you got to get those guys on the field. You've got to see what they can do. And it sounds like the Broncos have a really good plan at the wide receiver position. In Broncos, country, we want to hear from you. Your thoughts on what Sean Payton said about the wide receiver room, specifically guys competing for touches, not necessarily spots on the roster. How do you interpret that? Make sure you let us know here on today's episode of show.

but Sean Payton did kind of put one player on the clock. Audrey Guestime has a lot of pressure on him to perform this offseason. If he wants a role in the offense this upcoming season, we'll share our thoughts on that and much more. On today's episode, Lockdown Broncos. Today's episode of Lockdown Broncos is brought to you by Fan Duel. The NBA finals, they are almost set. We know the Oklahoma City Thunder are going to be there.

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program next week. We're going to tell you what he said about Adric Estimate. We're going to tell you what he and Bo Nix had to say about Evan Ingram and his impact on the offense. But Broncos country, before we go any further in today's episode, I want to say thank you to all of you that make us your first listen of the day every single day. You every dayers already know your boys, Cody and Sarah got you covered with whatever goes on with your favorite team. But if you're not already in every day or, hey, take a couple of seconds. We appreciate you. hit and subscribe or follow wherever you listen to podcasts as well. And Cody, we have to talk about the running back.

You and I said going into OTAs. One of the things that we want to know about is how these running backs look. And yeah, there's only so much that you can glean when these guys aren't wearing shoulder pads. It's not full contact, especially for a guy like Audric Estime. But again, it goes back to the same discussion about Troy Franklin, the vision for the players. Audrick Estime is one of those guys you and I have kind of been assuming he's in the top two, right? And with this roster,

I'm interested to know what you saw out there from him at OTAs. And then we'll talk about what Sean Payton had to say about him as well. Yeah, look, I think right now the running back order. And look, this was just you have day two and day one of practice where media is not able to tend. So we don't know if there was a change up or anything. But, you know, from my observation in day three on Thursday, the one thing that I noticed is seemed like the running back favor, or not necessarily the rotation,

but it seemed like Jalil McLaughlin and R.J. Harvey were really the primary guys in terms of being the, you know, the guys getting the first amount of reps wherever, right? That's kind of what I saw. And then Audrake estimated sprinkling in. Like it would be one, one, one, but primarily it would always be like Jalil or RJ getting that first look essentially,

right? So, you know, so much of what you and I've talked about here this off season, and this has also been my opinion, I, you know, from conversations that I've had with people around the building has been that, okay, hey, RJ Harvey, he's going to be a very, very big part of this offense.

You can almost kind of pencil and lock his spot in. And that ideally the team wants Audrick estimate to take a step forward to to become potentially that three down guy or maybe that primary ball carrier. They want him to do that, right? Because they invested capital in him. They had a higher, you know, third round grade on estimate. He went in, what, round five essentially? So for me, I look at the running back room.

And when you sprinkle in a guy like RJ Harvey Harvey and you draft him with a second round pick, It definitely puts you on the spot a little bit, put you on the clock. But with Jalilil seemingly getting a little bit of favor in that first look here, Don Peyton's comments post-practice, I think kind of put into perspective that there's some pressure here on Audrick Estimate to perform. Now, he did mention that a lot of it is he looked at it as like you look back at Audrick's grade last year. He says it would be incomplete, essentially. And that's because he said, you know, a guy like him requires more touches. I found that to be interesting because what Sean had said post-practice and his presser was year two for him.

Like what he wants to see from him is just running style physicality, the things that got him drafted, the things they saw at Notre Dame. And he says it was a little bit harder for him last year for a handful of these guys, also factoring in Jalil, Blake Watson, Tyler Badegh. He says, I don't want to say the grade was incomplete, but they just didn't have enough touches. And then the one thing that stands out, this is where I think where our focus is, for Estimate specifically, he says he's a. back that requires enough touches.

He's going to get those opportunities. To me, hearing that, he's going to get those opportunities. Doesn't say to me he's going to be the guy. He's got to earn it. It seems like there's a lot of pressure on Adric Estime this offseason to perform well in training camp preseason. Ball security is going to be a big part of that. But it doesn't sound like his spot is necessarily penciled in just yet.

Yeah, it sounds to me like the Broncos believe that Odrick Estimate can be the most effective when he's at a higher volume of overall touches, and that's because his physicality wears down a defense, and they want to see, okay, we're going to commit to giving him that volume of touches to see, can he be that guy that we're envisioning? Because if you don't give him the touches, you can't see that vision come to life. You can't. You just can't. With what Sean just said there, he has to get those touches in order to be, to let his physicality shine through, the yards after contact to shine through, the things that we saw at Notre Dame.

Does that mean that he's going to get 30 carries every single week? Absolutely not. But he's going to get an opportunity to prove, all right, we're giving you a heavy workload. This is going to be the game plan this week. This is the Audric Estimate game. And we're going to have you get a chance to go out there. We're going to give you the, you're going to sink or swim, 25 touches. Let's see what he can do.

Let's see if that, if what we believe that he can wear down defenses with physicality, if that can come to life, that's, I think, the opportunity that Estimay is going to get this year. Last year, it was so sporadic for everybody, including Javante Williams, right, who was the lead ball carrier the last two years. There was no continuity on a week to week. It was, can we find a hot hand? Who's going to be able to, it was almost like a baseball lineup, right, where you're saying, I don't, I don't know if the production's going to come from the one spot, the four spot, the seven, the eight, the night. I don't know where it's going to come from, but we're going to let these guys keep going through the lineup and see who

can step up. That doesn't work in the NFL at running back. These guys do need a volume of touches. Some can work well with limited touches. Adrick Estime is the type of guy that needs, man, that four minute drill. Boom, boom, boom, boom. Use that physicality.

I love that they're committed to getting him not, but I think you're right. I don't think it necessarily means that he's going to be guaranteed, locked in running back one. Well, and I think the smart approach from a coaching standpoint here is, once again, maybe Sean learning from the mistakes of the first couple of years,

right? First year, I hate to bring this up, put all the eggs in the Greg Dulcich basket at tight end. what happened. I think last year he put a lot of the eggs into the Javante Williams basket, hoping that, hey, okay, another year removed from the injury. Can Javante be effective? Can he return to the guy? Like he lost 10 pounds. Sean Payton even said to Javante, I want that guy, right? He's senior year of college. He put on the tape and he says, I want to see that guy. So is Sean also learning like, all right, we can't just put all the eggs in the basket of hope, right? Hope is not a

strategy. Hope is, you know, a process and there's got to be a lot of work that goes into it that makes it a little more tangible, right? That belief there. So he wants to see it. I think he's going to have a heavy workload in terms of reps and getting those opportunities, as Sean said, but it's up to Adrick to make the most of those opportunities. So what do we mean by that? It's making the most out of, you know, protecting the football,

not putting the ball on the ground in training camp. I know he did that several times in training camp last year. He did it in the preseason game against the Indianapolis Colts. He did it week one against the Seattle Seahawks and that kind of put him in the doghouse a little bit. So I think the ball, pun intended, is in the court of Audrake Esme. They're putting the ball on his hands essentially to say, hey, you got to take that next step. And obviously, I think there's an obligation by the coaching staff to put him in a position to succeed as well. Like, is there some pressure on Louie Yenny, the running back coach to be able to get these guys to get this room to where it needs to be?

Because that's been the one thing we've been waiting to see since he came on as a coach is, can that room be productive so far it has not? It's just as much on the coaches as it is the player. the ball is in Odrick Estimay's hands this season, but I think there's a lot of pressure here in Broncos country. We want to hear from you as well. Your thoughts on Sean Payton's comments on Estimate, do you read into it in any way, shape, or form? Does it put him kind of on standby here for this upcoming season?

Make sure you share your thoughts with us on today's episode, locked on Broncos. We're not done yet, Broncos Country. We're going to talk about Evan Ingram and his edition, what we saw from him on the first day of media being able to see OTAs. How is he fitting in with Bo Nix? We'll share our thoughts on that and much more on today's episode of the show.

Evan Ingram was a key off-season edition for the Broncos offense, and now Sean Peyton has to put him in a position to succeed this upcoming season. How is he getting acclimated with Bow Nix based on what we saw from the third day of week one of OTAs. The only day that the Broncos had media able to attend practice was on Thursday. We'll share our thoughts on what we saw from the Broncos new edition and the hopeful joker that Sean Payton has brought in here for this offense. But real quick, I want to say thanks once again, everyone in Broncos country.

Thanks for making us your first. first listen. Thanks for tuning in however you choose to do so. We appreciate you so much for making this the best Broncos podcast out there. Thank you, Broncos country. Sarah, obviously our first look at Evan Ingram and I think everyone like there, there were a couple of clips that got posted out there on social media about like the size difference between he and Caleb Loner, right? You're talking about a guy who's like six foot two, six three versus a guy who's six foot seven. Loner's a little more broad and physical, whereas Evan Ingram's a little more slim compared to a guy like loner, but it's just that, yeah, is more, I think it more athletic at that point and more of

a weapon here for the middle of the field. Certainly, you could see the impact early on here with Bow Nix getting acclimated here with Evan Ingram, that a really nice connection to open up the team period. I can't tell you what happened. I can just say that, hey, that connection right there, it looked pretty good to me. And that's exactly what the Broncos need is somebody like Evan Ingram who can affect the middle of the field. I know Sean Payton was asked about that after practice as well. Just the impact that he can have in terms of an area of the Broncos really didn't affect last year, right? I mean, Sean said,

I think it helps a lot depending on the coverages you're getting your third down, your red zone game plan. He said, I think it really helps. And it's true. Having a guy like this who's as experienced as Ingram is. And knowing that he's, you know, second all time in NFL history, single season receptions at the tight end position. Yes, we know that he doesn't line up in line every single play. We know that he lines up out wide. We know even dating back to his time at Ole Miss. You know, you called him a glorified wide receiver at that position. But that's what the Broncos need, right? They didn't have a past catching threat like this at tight end who can line up all over the formation. So as I've been saying all offseason, Cody, and I'm interested

to know your perspective on this, even just based on one practice, I feel like Evan is going to play a role in the offense, unlike anything the Broncos have had under Sean Peyton thus far. I don't think this role has really existed effectively for what he's going to be doing. No, spot on. And I would say that that's a very valid observation that I had during Thursday's practice. Now, overall, we're going to wait to see the overall volume of that throughout the off season, you know, mandatory mini camp, training camp, really, when the pads come on, there's going to be a lot of importance on, okay, what is he doing?

How are they using him? they're not going to expose the playbook just yet, you know, in terms of their full plan with him. I think, you know, it's some walkthrough sessions that they do when media is not in attendance. That's where they're going to get Evan a lot more of those reps versus like publicly. We're going to see him getting reps at tight end playing in line. We're going to see him flexed in the slot on the outside, offset as a wing underneath the formation. There's going to be times I imagine we're even going to see him in the backfield as well. But it really is about what Sean said, identifying what coverages you're getting.

because look, if you're facing an aggressive defense that loves to blitz their inside linebackers, okay, can you capitalize against a middle linebacker blitz by bringing Evan Ingram on a crossing pattern where now he can catch the ball in space and then he's going to have to work upfield against a safety. You take your chances on that type of matchup almost every time. Or are you getting a matchup where, okay, hey, it is, let's say cover two man where everyone's playing man coverage, but you're going to have two safeties over the top playing those deep halves to protect right there. to me it's like can you get a matchup against an inside linebacker that you know cannot guard Evan Ingram right and it's not just about like we want to isolate this matchup so we can get a 60 something

yard touchdown no ideally that's never going to happen like there might be a coverage of us from time to time but the goal sir what do we talk about it's sustaining drives it's keeping the time of possession going it's hey if it's third and four and you can get this matchup can you get four yards against this guy to keep the drive going that's what the game of football is all about out from a broken down standpoint. The big plays, the exciting yards after the catch, that's a byproduct of being able to manipulate against different coverages and take advantage of matchouts. But the idea is for sustainability for your offense, which the Broncos, they have more

three and outs than anybody in the NFL last year. Can you imagine if they finally have an aspect that tied in? It's going to give them the ability to keep those drives alive. So it's like, hey, we're not coming on the field and it's always three and out. Sure, Devers going to have some three and outs this upcoming season, but hopefully you can reduced that by at least 25% versus what you had last year, a guy like Evan Ingram gives you those opportunities to do that with the role that Sean Payton has envisioned. And then if you can bring a guy like RJ Harvey along to play that at the running back position, you can have two guys

who have that joker archetype. I know the word that everyone in Broncos country is tired of hearing, but you know, that's what it's called. So we're going to call it that. If RJ can also become that at the running back position, now you really have an opportunity to manipulate how you can attack defenses. And that is what Sean is banking on. Those quick man coverage beaters are guys who can completely change the complexion of your offense, right? And Evan Ingram is that. He's somebody who can quickly beat man coverage to the middle of the field. He's more athletic than most linebackers.

He's more athletic than most safeties. He's more ball dominant than most safeties and corners. He's going to be able to win you those one-on-one matchups. So defenses are going to, that's exactly what the Joker does. You dictate coverages based on a guy being on the field that nobody's, no defense has to follow around Adam Troutman with all due respect. No defense has to follow around Nate Adkins or Chris Manhart's or Michael Burton or any of these other guys.

Defenses have to follow around Evan Ingram because they cannot cover him one on one over the course of an entire game. It's just, it's been proven. 114 catches just two years ago when he was fully healthy playing for the Jaguars. You cannot cover him one-on-one. And because of that, now you're going to get opportunities for not just Evan Ingram, but, okay, you throw Mims out there and you throw Franklin out there and you've got Sutton out there. You've got R.J. Harvey out there.

What do defenses do? What do they come out there and expect? You've already, based on personnel, got them on their heels. And that is the dynamic of having a guy like this in your offense is that bread and butter, yeah, we know we can throw it to Evan Ingram on a quick curl. and he's going to be able to pick up that third and four, or we pick up that third and four with the curl route to Evan Ingram so frequently that defenses start expecting it.

We swing it to the left to Marvin Mims coming out of the backfield or coming in motion from the other side of the field. There's so many different things in ways that one guy is going to change this entire offense. And I just can't wait, Cody. I cannot wait to see it unfold. I mean, we've seen that with Corlin Sutton. We've seen how defenses play one man and how it dictates what you could do with other guys. I agree. And I think that builds a trend, right? Because when you start throwing these different looks out there, you're going to have some tendencies on film. And so defenses are going to try to adjust to that. But then it's like, all right, like the coaching world, our mind automatically goes to, okay, if we're going to start doing this against this look. And if this is how defenses start to adjust to us, here's the little sprinkle we can add in. Here's what we can do to counter that. That's what Sean Payton thinks about. It's like, here's what we can do. Here's what we expect. Like if they counter us this way, we can hit them with this or with this player or with this look. It's constantly changing. And the good.

thing about it, it evolves week to week based on who you play. You don't apply the same game plan to every single week of the season. You change your game plan up. And I actually got a little bit of note of that. Can you talk about the Bill Parcells tree? Like obviously Bill Belichick coached with Bill Parcells before. And I was reading Bill Belichick's book, The Art of Winning. And I highly recommend to understand the process of a head coach. I think Sean things very similar in a lot of ways to what Bill does. It just makes sense. Like you always have to counter. You have to always change your game plan. It's based on what your opponent does defensively and offensively that dictates what you decide to do versus we're just going to fit this game plan into a one size fits all.

Sean Payton's not like that. I'm excited to see if this offense can find that evolution here this upcoming season. I think they've got the pieces to do it. You obviously want to see it. And that's what the season's for. That's what preseason is for. That's what being able to get four weeks, five weeks into the regular season and seeing the jumps and the improvements kind of come in. What are the adjustments made? That's what we all look for to. That is the game of football. And it is a beautiful thing. But you know what else is a beautiful thing? Us thanking you,

Broncos country, thank you so much for making this the best Broncos podcast out there. We always look forward to getting, you know, to be able to do a show for all of you. And our next show is going to come up on Mondays. We're going to talk about Sean Payton.

He's got a little more pep in his step here after the offseason developments. We'll talk about why Sean Peyton is in the perfect place to really creep up here. And I think shocks on the NFL world. We'll discuss that on Monday's episode. Lockdown, Broncos. Enjoy your weekend. We'll see you then.