Locked On Broncos - Daily Podcast On The Denver Broncos - Devaughn Vele, Troy Franklin ESTABLISHING Bigger Roles in Denver Broncos Offense

Starting point is 00:00:00 When it comes to the Denver Broncos offense, the wide receiver room has a ton of options, including larger roles for Troy Franklin and Devon Bailey. We'll break it down 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 to another episode, Lockdown Broncos, your daily Denver Broncos podcast, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network.

Starting point is 00:00:32 We know what your team every day. Thank you so much to all the everydayers. out there in Broncos country. Thanks for making us your first listen of the day. However you choose to do so. And to make sure you never miss out on what's going on with your favorite team, hit that subscriber and that follow button wherever you get your podcast or on YouTube. Becoming every day or so you stay in the know as to what's happening with your favorite team. I'm Cody Roark. Brocko's reporter from Mile High Sports. Join as always by Sarah Bedinger, site expert of their predominantly orange.com. We got a lot to break down here on this Monday bonus

Starting point is 00:01:00 podcast episode of the show, recapping Monday's practice, as it is officially game. week as they prepare for the San Francisco 49ers. We'll go through why Devon, Velley and Troy Franklin are prime for bigger roles. And what that's looking like at training camp and the connection that they have with Bo Nix. And on top of that, we'll go through some of the training camp standouts, including Devin Key, Lucas Crowell and young guys like Sam Ellinger,

Starting point is 00:01:23 Sling in the Rock, we'll go through all that on today's show. Sir, Monday's practice in the books, it was a hot one in Dub Valley here. But, you know, I think we have to talk about these wide receivers a lot more. you know, so often a conversation on social media is who's wide receiver too, you know, what does the depth chart look like? And I'm going to tell Broncos country this right now, the depth chart's not going to matter. John Payton has a lot of wide receivers that he's going to play. And I'm excited to talk about two guys that think are going to have larger roles than people think.

Starting point is 00:01:53 It's going to be exciting to see how Sean utilizes these receivers all throughout the season because we know he's kind of a madman when it comes to different personnel groupings. he likes to mix it up. He likes to throw different guys out there to the point that you and I had talked on a number of postgame shows like, hey, maybe stick with the same group of guys for a little bit and see if they can get any momentum going. But obviously, if things are going well, you're not going to really mind the fact that he's throwing a bunch of different players out there. It's when you've got rookie receivers dropping passes or not being timely or they're committing penalties when they get their loan chance to be out there, things like that. that you're kind of sitting there saying, hey, why not stop with the different personnel groupings and just keep these guys out there? But I think what we've seen in training camp at this point is that this young receiver

Starting point is 00:02:40 group with its variance of skill set is going to really be able to give Sean those, that variety of options that's not just going to be the spice of life, but it's going to be a variety of options that keeps defenses on their heels all throughout games because you've got so many guys that could be weapons after the catch, guys who can take the top off a defense, guys who can win with size, guys who can win with, you know, power in the open field in so many different ways. I really can't wait to see. And especially this year's camp breakout story, Cody, I feel like is Troy Franklin.

Starting point is 00:03:12 Yeah, no, it is 100%. Troy has had such an impressive training camp here. And look, we're talking about him making plays, catching the football, getting downfield used in the short to intermediate. But I would highlight his blocking today. Now, obviously, in Monday's practice, the Broncos, they were in helmet. they had like some positions had shoulder pads it was a light day because the broncos aren't going to go crazy when they were going to have a hard scrimmage against the 49ers on Thursday before that preseason game on Saturday. So it's about being smart this week here.

Starting point is 00:03:41 But Troy has become, I'd say a willing blocker here. Not to say that he wasn't last year, but I'm saying this is a guy who when you watch him during these practice reps, he's going out there and he's attacking, taking the right angles on defensive backs there. But man, he's coming up big. Now, what I want to mention, This is so many people are caught up on this depth chart conversation, which the Broncos will, I think, this week, released their unofficial depth chart,

Starting point is 00:04:03 which nothing to read into it at all. If anyone has known Sean Payton the way that they do it, he says, I put it out there just because we're required by the league to do it. Don't read into it in any way. What we're seeing from this wide receiver room, Sarah, and this is something I don't think anybody's talking about enough. Sean Payton is actively platooning multiple guys, right? Look, Corlin's Sutton's going to be the top dog.

Starting point is 00:04:24 When you look at overall snaps this season, if he stays healthy, he's going to get the most snaps at wide receiver out of anybody. And you factor in Evan Ingram at his role, but that's kind of that tight end receiving threat type of role there that he's going to play. Devon Valle very much right now still kind of goes back to what we talked about at OTAs and mandatory minicamp before he missed some practices with that undisclosed injury there. Devon Vailay is very much like when you have Cortland on one side, you have valet primarily on the other side.

Starting point is 00:04:52 And there's times where you can have both these guys there because VALA is working slot and also on the outside. Same thing with Cortland. Cortland's working on the outside. He's working this slot. But what I've seen a lot of when the Broncos come out in 11 personnel, we're seeing a large presence of Cortland Sutton, Devon, Valle, primarily, and Troy Franklin, which I like it.

Starting point is 00:05:12 I'm not going to say, I'm going to pull a John Gruncle and say, nicey. That's got me feeling nicey at this point because you have good height there. I mean, Troy's a little bit shorter than obviously Devon, Velae and Cortland. But man, I mean, you talk about just getting guys in. And then behind him, it's Pat Brom. Ryan, it's Trent Sherfield. These guys are all rotating in and they're getting a ton of reps,

Starting point is 00:05:32 which I think Sean is going to do a lot of, and I don't want to forget Marvin Mims. Marvin, I think, is still in that gadget role right now here for the Broncos. And it's not necessarily a bad thing. Right. And because last year he played only 286 snaps. Cody, we've talked about the low percentage of snaps for Marvin Mims last year. Excuse me, 297.

Starting point is 00:05:51 Troy Franklin played 386. I got my wires crossed there on the numbers, but kind of crazy to think about that. Franklin played nearly a hundred more snaps than Marvin Mims last year. But what's going to be really interesting about what you're talking about here is a complete renovation of a just think about a room in your house that you know how it's all set up and you have your table, your chairs or your couch and your TV set up, your fireplace, all these things.

Starting point is 00:06:16 Just imagine leaving one day and coming home and everything is different. Everything's completely changed on the inside. You're like, I don't even recognize this place. That's what it's going to be like with offensive. personnel for the Denver Broncos this year because the second leading wide receiver in terms of snaps played last year was Lil Jordan Humphrey, followed by Devon Veilay, followed by Troy Franklin. So it's going to be a completely different group here. You're gutting the tight end position as well. I mean, last year's top snaps guys were obviously Adam Troutman, Nate Adkins,

Starting point is 00:06:49 Lucas Krull. So this is going to be a completely reshaped offense with different guys who are going to be intentionally getting involved, not to mention Evan Ingram. So it's going to be completely just off the wall different from what we're expecting based on last year. It's going to be nothing like that. So I think that's what's really exciting to me about these personnel groupings. Also, the Broncos using these guys in situational drills that they're doing and working, okay, it's this situation in a game and this is the down and distance or this is what we got to do at the end of half and they're putting these guys out there for those situations. That's what gets me really excited. It should be six wide receivers on the 53 man roster. If all these

Starting point is 00:07:29 guys stay healthy from now until roster cuts, I would be shocked if it's not six because who are you cutting at this point? You know, that's not, you know, your primary rotational guys here. You know, you're certainly not going to cut Trent Shirtfield just because he's your key special teams guy. And look, he's had himself a nice camp as well. Let's go through a couple of highlights here in terms of why I think we should talk about Troy Franklin a lot more. Let's also talk about Bo Nix, right? People are freaking out over some interceptions and practice. Now, let's, let's be open here. Interceptions and practice aren't a big deal. I don't know why we suddenly have made this a huge deal in the social media discourse side of things. But, you know, Bo obviously a few practices ago, he had one

Starting point is 00:08:10 interception. He had another one that was a illegal contact, you know, Pat Sertan initially. So, you know, people were saying, okay, two interceptions on the day when a reality, if we're actually counting it, it would have been one there. He had one, obviously, in the Saturday. day scrimmage. And he had one today in seven on seven to Devin Key who made a terrific play. He did throw one in the first team period that the Broncos had, but Zach Allen jumped off sides at that point. So it was a free play. So in a real game, it's not even counting. So I just don't care about this whole conversation. Like I feel like I have to argue about it. Like I don't want to. And so I'm not going to. But I'm just saying like if Sean Payton was

Starting point is 00:08:46 asked about it after practice and he said, we're not charting interceptions like hurricanes here. So take take out what you will. But, man, Troy Franklin had a couple of big plays. I mean, the Broncos had a move-the-ball period in that final team drill there. Troy Franklin, heavily involved in getting some reps out there, including having a big 15-plus-yard catch against Pat Surton. They're coming back to the football to allow the Broncos in a final minute move the ball period to get closer to field go range, which ended up with Will Lutz booting it in.

Starting point is 00:09:17 I thought Boehlnicks and the Broncos offense had a pretty good day outside of what I would say was that first team period in seven-on-s but man, he went to Cortland Sutton on a deep 20-yard play on third and nine, and he had Dandre Tillman bearing down on him on the right side. Bo did a lot of really good things here today. And of course, I think you're only going to see some of the negative stuff amplified. Bo and the offense had themselves a bounce back big day here today for the Broncos offense. I felt like we had to highlight that here. And Devon Velae, Troy Franklin, Cortland Sutton, these guys are a massive component for that,

Starting point is 00:09:50 as well as Pat Bryant rotating heavily into the mix. We're excited Broncos country, and you're going to see your first look here this Saturday when the Broncos take on the 49ers in the NFL preseason. But we've got a lot to break down as well, including some other camp standouts from Monday's practice in Denver, including a third-string quarterback who is slinging the rock and getting these undrafted guys in the mix. And on top of that, a quarterback who just continues to have himself a strong camp. We'll highlight that much more on today's episode, Lockdown Broncos. Today's Lockdown Broncos podcast is brought to you by our friends over there at five-hour energy

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Starting point is 00:13:13 wherever you listen to podcasts as well as on YouTube. Cody, let's talk about training camp, from today. I obviously saw your updates coming through on Twitter and really just seeing a lot of positive things about a number of young players on this team. Even with the guys out there in shells, we know that it's not 100% full contact, but obviously guys are still out there making plays. Who do you think was the biggest standout, though? We talked about the receivers. Anybody else have a really great day out there at practice on Monday? Hey, Sam Hellinger can sling the football. I mean, we've seen for two straight practices, Just some athleticism to his game there, but the ability to throw it on the run,

Starting point is 00:13:54 I think, accurate. And some of those plays have been big plays to Jurwan Newton, you know, Courtney Jackson. He had a bomb to Courtney Jackson who got behind the defense here today. You saw him connect with Pat Bryan a little bit. But then you got other guys getting involved in the mix as well. I mean, Sarah, tight end. We've been talking about Adam Troutman and Evan Ingram. And, you know, hey, Caleb Loner was making plays in week one.

Starting point is 00:14:15 Today was the first day where we really saw Lucas Crowell make plays and get targeted. I mean, one of the team periods of the Broncos had was their second one. Bo Nix found Lucas Crowe for a beautiful dime throw, a laser across the middle of the field, where he kind of dove for it and caught it, was able to secure it with, you know, a linebacker bearing down on him, you know, in coverage. It was a fantastic play. It would have been about 15 to 20 yards from that downfield depth angle there. I thought he had his best training camp practice of the day.

Starting point is 00:14:43 And obviously, you want to see him stack that. And then you want to see them carry that over into this weekend's preseason game. because for Sean Payton, it's really all about the larger body of work. You know, you can have a guy go out there and have a really good practice. They're not going to remember that one practice. They're going to remember, hey, this guy did this almost on a consistent basis every day. He did it in the games. That's where the evaluation comes in.

Starting point is 00:15:04 And I even had a chance to ask Sean Payton about how to evaluate these young guys when you have three preseason games. And he even alluded to it that it's going to change because now you're going to transition eventually to two preseason games when the NFL puts that regular season game, the 18th one in there. The evaluation of these guys, it has to be the body of work. And ultimately, you see these joint practices, and that's where you're going to factor them more.

Starting point is 00:15:26 So can these guys do that against San Francisco on Thursday? I think they can, and I think they will. This is a young San Francisco defense that obviously they're going to be out there trying to prove themselves as well. And Robert Sala is going to have those guys ready to go for the season. I know that I remember the one time when he was with the 49ers, Cody, he coached a game against the Broncos that everybody thought Denver was going to beat the 49ers. I don't know if you remember this game, but both teams were kind of beaten and battered.

Starting point is 00:15:51 And Robert Sala had a bunch of practice squad dudes out there, absolutely dominating. I think it was Case Keenham or one of those quarterbacks of the Broncos used to have, you know, the former, but I believe in him based on that game. He is that dude when it comes to coaching up a defense. And I think that he'll have these guys ready and young guys are always going to be hungry out there fighting to make plays. So I think that does amplify to kind of circle it all back, what the Broncos are going to do. And to your point about only being able to evaluate a couple of preseason games,

Starting point is 00:16:21 we're seeing the Broncos get ahead of the curve, right? They're getting ahead of the curve by having multiple teams that they're going against in joint practices this year because it gives you a chance to evaluate against other rosters, against other teams that they don't know necessarily what you're doing out there. They don't know your installation plan, whatever it may be. I think that that's a huge advantage now getting those two joint practices going. And that's not groundbreaking or anything. teams have done that before, but you're getting kind of a head start on eventually only having two preseason games and getting that additional evaluation phase of your training camp process.

Starting point is 00:16:57 I like that the Broncos are doing that. And it also gives you another chance to scout a couple of other teams and say, hey, who can we maybe poach if they cut this guy or that guy? I mean, that has worked out pretty well in the past for the Denver Broncos with the guys like Tim Patrick. So certainly going to be a fun week of practice for these guys. I'm excited for it too just because then you get a different look. You know, look you haven't been practicing against, you know, I think for this Broncos defense, that 49ers offense, it does incorporate a lot of that wide outside zone and sets things up. It's that old Shanahan system.

Starting point is 00:17:29 And obviously, Kyle's calling the plays there running his dad's playbook and finding ways to evolve that almost on a yearly basis. It's going to be a good challenge with Kittle, with McCaffrey and even Purdy there. I'm excited for this Broncos defense to get that look. But I'm also excited for Bow Knicks in this offense to get. get that look of that Robert solid defense, right? And look, we're not going to overreact to training camp practices. We're going to, you know, not overreact to preseason games. It's, hey, the preseason, you want to see guys progress.

Starting point is 00:17:55 Like, your starters are going to get some reps. We know that they're going to play. The Broncos are going to play some of their starters. But the idea is, like, it doesn't matter if the Broncos win or lose. That's not what we're evaluating. We're evaluating the players here in these three preseason games that certainly the team is going to have there. I want to give a shout up to Nick Benito and Riley Moss.

Starting point is 00:18:13 I mean, Sir, Nick Bonito had a play. I'll say this could have been the play of the day if he was able to corral it. There was one play where the Broncos, it was in a team period. Bo Nix was hot in this period. The only incompletion or the only like negative play there, and it wasn't necessarily a negative by Bo. It was Nick Benito dominating here. It was a kind of like a boot action,

Starting point is 00:18:34 bringing Cortland Sutton, you know, across the field there. He let's go dump it off. And Nick Benito just shot through the offensive line, almost picked it from that standpoint, behind the line of scrimmage there. It was a crazy play. And all of a sudden I thought to myself was like, Nick Benito should have just went like this,

Starting point is 00:18:49 you know, afterwards. He should have done the money sign like, Cheching, because if he's doing that in the regular season, that price is going to skyrocket. The Broncos should find a way to get a deal done with him there. And then Riley Moss, man,

Starting point is 00:19:00 he's had a terrific camp, Sarah. I mean, there's been so many questions that people have had on social media. And you and I've been kind of saying it all along. It's unquestioned that Riley is the cornerback too opposite of Pat. He's had some good plays against Cortland. I love hearing that. I think that it builds his confidence so much to be able to go out against a guy like Cortland Sutton and make those plays. And for Riley, I think that you're seeing kind of that chip on his shoulder a little bit, right?

Starting point is 00:19:25 When people are talking, these guys hear it, right? You know that. I know you and Riley chat and things like that. And I'm not putting words in your mouth or anything. But I would reckon that he's got a chip on his shoulder. You know, I think that he's probably heard all this noise about his starting job is up for grabs, everything that went down against. T. Higgins, you and I have had to defend the guy almost as heavily as we defended Bo Nix last year at times, you know, because of the things that are being said about him. But it's just, it's one of those situations where we're ignoring reality for the hypothetical for no good reason, right? He was such a devastating loss after that Raiders game. And then after the Bengals game, now it's like, well, his starting job is probably up for grabs. You know, I just think that Riley is

Starting point is 00:20:09 one of the key young players of the core of this. team that next off season we're going to be talking about and when is Riley Moss going to get his extension? How much is that going to be worth? Because we're already at that time as of 2026 Broncos country and I think that conversation will be happening big time. I'm excited about it. I've just been very pleased with the development and the progression of these guys and now you get to see it unleashed a little bit against San Francisco. And if Nick Benito is shining and training camp against San Francisco, look, he's probably not going to play much. He'll probably play a couple of series. I imagine starters will play a place.

Starting point is 00:20:43 series or two. And obviously that first preseason game, maybe they'll play into the second quarter, or maybe even the, they might play the whole first half against Arizona. We'll see. But, and just so many guys like Riley with Benito and just a handful of others, we're going to see this team finally take the field this Saturday for the preseason. You know, Sarah and I, we're going to have you covered every step of the way. But with that said, Brockos country, that'll wrap up today's bonus episode, recapping Monday's practice. Make sure you stay tuned tomorrow after Tuesday's practice because Sarah and I, we're going to sit down. We're going to talk about the story of the day before the Broncos head off to San Francisco,

Starting point is 00:21:15 who stood out and more as training camp continues for one step closer to Saturday's game. We'll see you then.

Locked On Broncos - Daily Podcast On The Denver Broncos - Devaughn Vele, Troy Franklin ESTABLISHING Bigger Roles in Denver Broncos Offense

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