Locked On Broncos - Daily Podcast On The Denver Broncos - DRIVE: Denver Broncos' Bo Nix STEERS Team's Super Bowl Ambitions

Starting point is 00:00:00 If the Denver Broncos are going to make it to a Super Bowl, the biggest driver for that is Super Bowl. 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? Happy Friday. Cody Roark, Sarah Bediger here for another episode of the show brought to you by friends over there at O-Doo. Do great organizations win because operations matter. And that's why you should get O-D-D-D-D-com.com. slash locked on. That's Ode-O-O.com slash locked on. All week long, we've been breaking down how the Broncos can get back to the AFC championship game in 2026. But now it sets the stage for how did the Denver Broncos get to the Super Bowl? Who are going to be the most important players that can do that?

Starting point is 00:00:49 Sarah and I, we're going to go through defensive players that we feel like are drivers for the Broncos road to the Super Bowl on offense, on defense. But we're going to kick things off by talking about the one guy who's probably the most important needle mover when it comes to that. and that is Broncos quarterback Bo Nix. There's nobody more important if the Broncos are going to get to and win the Super Bowl this year than Bo Nix. I mean,

Starting point is 00:01:12 I know that a lot of folks don't subscribe to the idea that quarterback wins are a stat, but Bo Nix sort of defies that logic, doesn't he? I mean, when it comes to the value that he brings, especially late in games, Cody, I mean, we've already seen 11 come from behind victories, including the playoffs. and we see it with the playoffs. We've seen it in the regular season.

Starting point is 00:01:34 We've seen it against defending Super Bowl champions. We've seen it against the powerhouse in the AFC West. Bo Nix has been that valuable that his 24 wins over the course of his first two seasons. Tying Russell Wilson, by the way, for the most in NFL history, I think we can effectively say Bo Nix is a major reason why that happened. Yes, football is a team game. There's 22 guys on offensive defense. all your special teams players, all your depth,

Starting point is 00:02:02 53 players on a roster. We get it. Like it's not like basketball where there's only five guys on the court at a time and, you know, one guy can dominate the ball. But Bo Nix at the quarterback position, the most important position in the game, he has proven that he has ice in his veins and that he is bigger than the moment.

Starting point is 00:02:22 And we saw that. Josh Allen showdown against the Buffalo Bills in the playoffs. That game right there for me, sir, like remember the high. before we found out he had the injury right after that game. But remember how we felt initially, just you and I were texting as the game was going and as the game hit double zeros

Starting point is 00:02:38 and I was about to go to locker room. You and I were texting. And I remember one thing you said to me is like, wow, this is a high I have not felt in a long, long time. And the conversations that we were having about, wow, Bo Nicks just outdued Josh Allen and beat Josh Allen in one of the biggest stages of football in the postseason. And all of a sudden we're like, man,

Starting point is 00:02:58 the legend is now starting to write itself. There were a lot of the tractors about Bo Nicks pre-draft. There were a lot of people saying, hey, this guy's not going to amount to anything. If your team takes him, I'm going to feel sorry for your team. Bo didn't get off to the greatest start. Obviously, in his first four weeks of his rookie season, but then what did we see? He started to get more confidence. He started to get more comfortable.

Starting point is 00:03:17 He started to understand, hey, this is the speed of the game now compared to the college level. We've seen him adjust accordingly. We've seen him rely on his athleticism. A lot of people have talked about his arm. Oh, he doesn't have a strong arm. I think he's put that to the test quite a bit. especially the throw he had to Marvin Mims against the Bengals in 2024 and that overtime thriller that Denver had there. Unfortunately, they felt short in that game. But we've seen Bo and the Broncos

Starting point is 00:03:40 go through some of these ups and downs, right? Some of these moments during his rookie season. And we question, okay, can they flip the script the next season? They did that. Those one score games, they found a way to win that. 14 and 3. They won 11 straight games. And of course, as you mentioned, it is a team sport. I think a lot of people, there are a lot of false narratives out there. Oh, Bo Nix is just carried by his defense. He's carried by the best offensive line in football. I think a lot of these morons and mouth breathers on Twitter that don't actually watch the games and they look at these little nerd charts and advanced analytics. Watch the freaking games. Watch what Bo Nix does in moments. I think the one thing that maybe

Starting point is 00:04:19 we can all have a consistent gripe on can Bo get off to hot starts quicker, right? But that's, I think naturally across the NFL, you look at that. Some quarterbacks get off to hot starts in the beginning and then they fizzle out. You know in a fourth quarter situation, got to have it. I don't think there's anyone right now that I would trust more than Bo Nix. I think Bo has got that juice. He's got that secret sauce. And that's a big reason.

Starting point is 00:04:41 Sarah, think about this too. 24 and 10 record in his first two seasons. Obviously back-to-back playoff appearances for the Debra Broncos, 7,700 yards passing. So 7,706. The thing that stands out to me, 64 total touchdowns for him in just two seasons. That's crazy to think about when you factor it in, right? 54 total passing touchdowns in his career. He's got nine rushing touchdowns.

Starting point is 00:05:02 He's got one receiving touchdown, which came in his rookie season. Bo is a playmaker. If you look at this Broncos roster and we saw this, what were we saying after the AFC championship game? Man, if Bowenix plays that game, Dembers, in the Super Bowl, that's how much of a needle mover that Bo is, that everybody, I'd say unanimously across the league, executives probably felt the same exact way.

Starting point is 00:05:24 That just goes to show that the performance that he put on against the Buffalo Bills earned him some much due respect, I think, from people in terms of what he's capable of doing, not just in a vacuum, but I think, like, as a player, what he brings to the table every single week, we've seen it now. I mean, two straight years of playoff appearances and a tide for the NFL record in the most wins of your first two seasons in NFL history. I mean, with the dead cap hit that the Broncos had from Russell Wilson alone, not to mention guys like Justin Simmons and others who carried deadcap. I mean, that's incredible with the way that this team was constructed.

Starting point is 00:06:04 So many young guys around him. And that was offensively and defensively, right? That wasn't just Bo Nix as playmakers. It was a lot of the defensive guys like Nick Benito and all these other players kind of finding their way as well. But offensively, especially with the playmakers lacking the way that they have, more drops than pretty much any other team in the NFL over the last. two seasons. Bo has been able to overcome so much with the dead cap hit the drops,

Starting point is 00:06:32 the inconsistencies in terms of player personnel being on the field. Like I feel like he's even, no run game to speak of. Like he has been like you mentioned, the receiving touchdown they had against Baltimore, his rookie season. He's been at times QB one. He's been RB one. He's been wide receiver one. He's been at all for this Broncos team. And so I think that what's exciting is feeling like entering year three that the pressure is not all on bow like there is pressure always for the quarterback there is definitely that's it's the glamorous position it's the leader of the team the captain of the team but in terms of him having to do everything that has now shifted because you have other players around him who can help him be better and so i feel

Starting point is 00:07:18 very, very strongly that, yes, Bo Nix defies the logic that QB wins is not a stat because Bo is a primary reason. If you were to look at, you know, like baseball has wins above replacement or whatever, you know, that type of stat, like Bo Nix would be, in my opinion, Cody, arguably up there in the top two or three guys at the position in the NFL when you factor in everything we've seen for this Broncos team, the last two seasons. Yeah. And the last two two seasons. It doesn't lie. And there can be a lot of people that are going to try to detract and take away from Bo Nix. Going back to one of those myths about he's carried by a really good offensive line, how did that fare in the AFC championship game? We really saw,

Starting point is 00:08:00 I think the reality is, hey, the offensive line works well with Bo Nix because of what Bo Nix does well mobility-wise, athletically. Like, it's just a perfect combination between those guys. And I think we saw that kind of come to the surface in the AFC title game. And it led to a lot of what if questions. What if Bow Nix was healthy against the Patriots? What if it was. What if wasn't Jarrett Stidham that had to go in and step in there. Like, do the Broncos take care of the Patriots? I think they take care of the Patriots pretty easily if Bo is in there. There's just something about it too now, Sarah, where it's like, if the Broncos find

Starting point is 00:08:29 themselves with their back against the wall, there is no question that, hey, like, Bo's done it for two years. We think he's going to do it here once again. Now, ideally, you don't want to be in those situations often where you have to come from behind, but we've seen that the Broncos can do that. And Bo is a big catalyst. He's a big driver of that. And I'd say arguably right now, Bo Nix is probably the.

Starting point is 00:08:48 most important player on this roster that is in the driver's seat of getting Denver to a Super Bowl with the talent and the pieces around him. Now, he's not going to be the only one here. Broncos country coming up next. Sarah and I are going to talk about and we're going to share our offensive players we think can also support Bow Nix and helping lead the Broncos to the Super Bowl in 2026. Today's episode of the show is brought to you by our friends over there at Odu. Running a business, shouldn't feel like you're trying to connect a bunch of systems that were never designed to work together. You've got one. app for accounting. You got another one for inventory and there's another one for sales. And somehow

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Starting point is 00:09:57 And they realized coming together, working towards that goal of trying to figure out how to turn things around and flip that script, led to them winning 14 games last season, 11 straight games winning and dominating those one score games and flipping the script. Same thing applies in sports as it does in business. And great organizations win because operations matter. and that's why you should get O-D-D-D-D-O-D-O-D-com slash lockdown. That's O-D-O-O-D-O-com slash lockdown. Besides Bo Nix, which offensive players for the Denver Broncos are going to be driving this bus to the Super Bowl in 2026?

Starting point is 00:10:31 Well, we're going to tell you, and we have some surprises for each other on today's episode of Lockdown Broncos. But before we get into those players, Broncos country, we want to say thank you so much for rocking with us every single day here at Lockdown Broncos, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day, the number one sports podcast network in the country. And you know what?

Starting point is 00:10:50 You can get your daily lockdown Broncos fix completely uninterrupted. If you check out the everyday air club today, you can even start a seven-day free trial and just check it out. See if you like that because we all know, we love a good podcast without any ad interruption. So check that out today, lockdownbroncos. com. Link will be in the show notes as well. Cody, let's surprise each other here, right? We didn't talk about this before the show.

Starting point is 00:11:13 It's not in the script. are offensive players who are going to help drive this team to the Super Bowl. I think you and I agreed. I mean, we were talking about this on the phone yesterday before we recorded this. Like Bo Nix is the obvious choice. You know, when we're talking about which players are going to, you know, be the most instrumental to the Broncos getting at the Super Bowl. Bo Nix is number one.

Starting point is 00:11:33 Got to talk about it. But besides Bo Nix, I find this to be a really interesting topic. So offensively, who are you going with in this category? This is tough because, you know, I go back and forth to, I go with the skill player because obviously skill players are important, but then do I go to the offensive line? Like the trenches, like we've seen recent Super Bowl winners offensively, defensively dominating in the trenches has been a huge factor. So for me, it's tough. And this may be a little controversial, Sarah, I'm going to go with J.K. Dobbins. I think having him, having a healthy run game,

Starting point is 00:12:06 that's been the biggest thing the Broncos have been missing in the last two seasons is a consistent in run game. Well, JK has kind of really only been the bright spot in the Broncos run game in the last handful of years. And I know he's gone on the record saying, hey, I'm going to show everybody this year. This is the year. No injuries, no nothing. I'm going to show I'm going to become a top rusher in the NFL. J.K. truly believes that. I think even last year, we were thinking, hey, even if JK was back in that game, if JK was healthy, do the Broncos beat the Patriots? I think we also felt pretty good about that. Maybe controversial. And I know there are some fans that just don't have the faith or the belief in J.K.'s ability to stay healthy. It's fair to question that.

Starting point is 00:12:43 I'm going into this season, brand new clean slate, optimistic. I believe JK. I believe that JK is very focused on not being injured. A lot of his injuries have been categorized as freak injuries. He is my selection when we talk about being an additional driver. And there's obviously more that we'll go through here on today's show. But that's where I'm going to start. How do you feel about that?

Starting point is 00:13:03 And then I'm curious for your player, do we have the same player or are you going with another name? Because there's so many names I think I could think of right now. No, yeah, I think that's a great pick. I love the JK Dobbins selection. He wasn't necessarily my pick, but I do agree with you. Like when you look at what he did last year for this Broncos team, I mean, we've talked about it so many times, top five in pretty much every metric that you can come up with when it comes to rushing yards, yards per carry, yards after contact, all those sorts of, you know,

Starting point is 00:13:33 important statistical categories. J.K. Dobbins was the catalyst for whatever the Broncos had going for their running. game. And we saw in the first half of the season, I would say more of those sort of dominating victories for the Broncos are more separation created, right? When JK played, I think of the Dallas game. I think of obviously the Bengals game. I know that those games are different in terms of, you know, who you play against quarterback wise, but still with JK running well, the Broncos were able to have some of their more dominating wins last year. And that's kind of what we've talked about this offseason as being a key to getting back to where they were is not just finishing those

Starting point is 00:14:09 one-score games, but creating even more separation in your victories and becoming a more dominant overall team. I think JK is part of that. I'm going to pick Jalen Waddle as my one player for the Broncos, who I think is going to be this big-time driver to the Super Bowl. And it's, it's not just because he's the shiny new player on the team, right? It's not just because finally they released the media day footage of Jalen Waddle in the uniform. He looks good in the uniform, by the way, Cody. I know you've seen the pictures. But, man, I think, that with Jalen, what you're adding is exactly what Bo Nix talked about at mini camp. He said, you know, we didn't have that same element of explosiveness that he brings to the table.

Starting point is 00:14:49 I think that's been the view from the top down of the organization, right? When you think about the Broncos taking that direction to say in the middle of March, all right, we've looked at the draft class, we've looked at the potential receivers we could select. Nobody's going to be worth our picks more than Jalen Waddle. And what he brings to the table in terms of speed, quickness, explosiveness, just a team first mindset. Man, he's everything this Broncos offense has needed, a separator, an offense creator, somebody who's going to be the tide to raise all boats in the harbor when it comes to just his presence on the field. I feel like he's that one guy to me offensively that can make everybody better, not to diminish Sutton,

Starting point is 00:15:31 or even others like Evan Ingram or holdovers from the team previously, guys who have been growing up with this, team like Troy Franklin, not to diminish any of those guys, but Jalen is that star player who could be the missing piece. Yeah. And like you said, too, I mean, those guys are all going to have roles, but you know, you want to talk about someone who's going to push the needle further. That's why the Broncos made the trade for Jalen. They felt like, hey, like we need someone who has this. You know, we got guys that do this, this, this and this well, but we don't have a guy that does all of that well as one. Jalen is that guy. He's a true playmaker. And it also impacts the guy that I selected with JK, right?

Starting point is 00:16:09 You and I have talked about it. If teams and defenses are so worried about Jalen Waddle's ability to break things open in the passing game, as Bo Nix highlighted at OTAs in minicamp when we talked to him, he said, he's got the potential to make our offense one and done where, hey, we're on the field, one play, 65, 75-yard touchdown drive, we're off the field. That's the type of explosiveness that Jalen brings to the table. And he said, Bo himself said, we've had explosive plays. We have explosive players, but we have not had an explosive element.

Starting point is 00:16:37 like a guy like Jalen. Well, now all of a sudden, you're taking two defenders out of the box. And J.K. had a lot of success last season. I did a film breakdown this offseason. For those in the everyday air club, you want to go back and check it out.

Starting point is 00:16:49 It's there. But it showcases JK's runs of 10 plus yards, and most of the time it was against eight and nine man boxes. And I highlight that. It's shown on the film right there. And you see that production from JK. So now you remove a few of those guys away. The Broncos believe in their offensive line.

Starting point is 00:17:05 Well, now all of a sudden, they believe, hey, what we're doing now with J.K. here, with Jalen added into the mix and how defense is going to change, we believe that we can physically dominate whoever lines up in front of us. We believe we can get to the next level at the linebacker, prevent him from making a play. That's where I think Jalen is a needle mover. He is a driver here for this offense. But I also think it amplifies as well. If I have to throw another name in there, it's a guy that is going to play opposite of him. It's Cortland Sutton. I think what Jailen is going to bring to the table is going to allow Cortland to be more dominant, to be that guy that we saw just a few years

Starting point is 00:17:39 ago who had 10 touchdowns. It was kind of the only bright spot offensively in the 2023 season with Russell Wilson. We are going to see that here with Cortland, I think, coming back into the mix because defenses, they're going to have to get very creative with how they try to play against this Broncos unit. And if Denver, you and I've said it, we've highlighted Bo Nix and today's show and everything that he brings to the table, if the Broncos can have a consistent run game, now you have Jalen, you have Corlin, you have these guys that can actually thrive and do the things that we've seen them be special at in their previous stops, whether it be Cortland here in Denver, whether it be Jalen over there in Miami. This is what's going to move the needle for the Denver

Starting point is 00:18:17 Broncos to compete for a Super Bowl here in 2026. Is Cortland Sutton even going to know what to do with himself with there's not a safety shaded over to his side of the field? I mean, I think that's another underrated aspect that you and I have, we've been talking about Cortland Sutton the past handful of years, obviously. But when it comes to what he brings to the table, I think there's been this real, I would say contentious discussion of whether or not he's a wide receiver one. And I think there's very little validity to like that argument as a whole. But I think in terms of what he can do like by himself, you know, that's the,

Starting point is 00:18:55 that's the part of the discussion that's always gotten to me is like, well, I agree. I don't necessarily see Cortland on the same level as a guy like Justice. in Jefferson or Jamar Chase or those types of players. Like there's a clear tier that he is probably below those guys. At the same time, we have not seen Cortland in any version of the Broncos offense where he's not the number one receiver. So while he may not be a wide receiver one compared to his peers in the NFL, he has been the Broncos wide receiver one and he gets guarded as such.

Starting point is 00:19:29 And so there's been a nice little breakout from him over the last three seasons. kind of quietly, honestly. Like since Russ got to Denver in 2022, 2023, like Cortland really took steps forward in his game and he provided that level of, I guess, stability for Bo Nix. Just imagining Jalen Waddle in this offense and what he can do to take pressure off of Sutton. I think we say that and we're like, oh, yeah, that sounds good.

Starting point is 00:19:54 But like sit in that for a moment if you're listening. Because like the idea of Cortland getting more one-on-one coverage, the idea of Cortland not having bracket, safety coverage all the time or having a safety shaded to his side of the field, that opens up an entire other aspect of the Broncos playbook that just like when Max Crosby doesn't ever come off the field, you can't run those plays. And so now you've opened up a whole new can of worms that defenses haven't faced a Broncos team where they can, we can't double cover Cortland Sutton.

Starting point is 00:20:26 So the Broncos have an opportunity to exploit that in every single week this season. despite not having really somebody opposite of him the last handful of years, that was truly a threat. Cortland has 25 touchdowns in the last three seasons. And he also, last year as well, he and Jalen Waddle are in a very special category. They alongside, I think it was Justin Jefferson, Puka Nakuwa, had the most explosive plays of 20 plus yards downfield last season. I believe that Jalen and Cortland were actually, I think Cortland had 20. I think Jalen had 21 or 22 something along those lines. Well, now you add both those guys into the mix.

Starting point is 00:21:01 The sky is the limit here for this Denver Broncos offense. And if everybody stays healthy, this is a team that is a true Super Bowl contender. And the opposite side of it, the Broncos have a Super Bowl caliber defense. But who are the biggest drivers on that side of the ball? We'll break it down here on today's episode of the show. Square is the sponsor of today's episode of the show. Support for today's episode comes from our friends over there at Square, the business platform helping sellers become neighborhood favorites.

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Starting point is 00:22:39 Who are the players on defense that are the drivers for the Broncos Road to the Super Bowl here this upcoming season? It's an interesting discussion. Can't wait to break it all down. Just want to say thank you once again, all the everydayers out there in in Broncos country for tuning in rocking with us, making us your first listen. We appreciate you so much, even throughout the entire office. We got you covered. I promise to you is that you get boots on the ground Broncos coverage every day all year long. Nobody else is doing it like we do.

Starting point is 00:23:02 We appreciate you for your time. Sarah, let's dive into it here. I want to open up with you here because you and I have not talked about this. We just kind of went into this as a blind exercise of, I wonder who you're going to pick. Well, we talked about Bownix. We've talked about Jalen, J.K. Cortland is guys on the offensive side of the ball. But now on the defensive side of the ball, we know Denver's got a Super Bowl caliber unit. I mean, I feel like there are plenty names to pick from.

Starting point is 00:23:25 I'm just here to see who you decide to go with first. Who is, if the Brock is going to make to the Super Bowl, the number one driver on the defensive side of the ball? Well, I think it's Nick Benito, Cody. I really do because Nick Benito, to me, is a guy who has been, obviously he's been getting all pro votes. He's made the Pro Bowl. He has earned some defensive player of the year consideration at certain points

Starting point is 00:23:49 over the last two years. I think there's another level that Nick Benito can reach to become truly one of the superstar past rushers in today's NFL. I think he's already great. I think he's awesome. I'm not trying to diminish Nick Benito at all. He had 14 sacks last year. I think taking that next level in his game or getting to that next level in his game

Starting point is 00:24:10 where he's now punching the ball out when he gets to the quarterback. And it's like, hey, if Benito gets into the backfield, it's going to be basically a three-point play going the other direction. Because if it's on our side of the field, he's going to pop that ball out. and the Broncos will be in field goal range immediately. That's the level to which I want to see Nick Benito get this year, Cody, in his game of just dominating offensive tackles, getting to the quarterback, making that play when he gets to the quarterback,

Starting point is 00:24:37 taking the ball away, creating takeaways, creating havoc. I think if the Broncos are going to increase the number of takeaways they have as a defense this season, I think Benito is going to be a big reason why, not just for his own force fumbles, but because he gets to the quarterback so quickly, he's going to make it easier for the DBs to make plays on the ball. So to me, Benito is that guy. There can't be those stretches where it's like, man,

Starting point is 00:25:00 Nick Benito hasn't had a sack and however many, whatever. You know, that was the case last year for a bit. And he still had 14. So that's what I say. He's already awesome. He's fantastic. But he's got that next level that I know he can reach. And so that's, I think he's that guy that if he takes that next step in his game,

Starting point is 00:25:18 man, the Broncos are they're going to be so hard to beat because he's going to help give the offense all those extra possessions. I think the most obvious pick would be Patrick Sartan. I think everyone listening is like I thought, you know, Sarah was going to go with Sartan. I think that would just probably be like the easy one. It's just like for offense, Bo Nix would have been. We could have dedicated an entire segment to PS2 there. PS2 is a more evident one.

Starting point is 00:25:38 I'm going to go with another guy here. And it's a guy who plays near Nick Benito. And that's Zach Allen. I mean, Sarah, I think you have to have a pass rush. Like what do we see a few years ago when it was the Philadelphia Eagles versus the Kansas Chiefs? They won with a pass rush with four down linemen. And of course, Denver's defense schematically, philosophically is entirely different.

Starting point is 00:25:56 They're an attacking unit. They love to send four, but they love to send five, six, sometimes seven guys after the quarterback because they believe in creating pressure, creating those opportunities. Zach Allen is that guy who rarely comes off the field and has a high motor. You're going to get the same effort from him on play number 45 as you're going to get from him from the very first play of the game. High effort. Now, here's the thing.

Starting point is 00:26:17 He's had back-to-back seasons here in 2024, 2025, with 40-plus quarterback hits. 2024, he had 40. Last year, he had 47. But let's talk about pressures. Because pressures, they do matter in the grand scheme of today's NFL and pass rush because what does pressure do? It forces the quarterback to speed up their clock.

Starting point is 00:26:34 It may force them into throwing into an errant window. 47 total quarterback pressures in 2024 from Zach. Then he had 50. He is in a very unique category right now because he, I think, is the only player alongside, I believe it was Aaron Donald. and if I'm not mistaken, I think it was J.J. Watt as the only players to accomplish that, to have that type of level of pressure production quarterback hits in the span of the last two seasons. Like for them, he's an incredible driver for what they want to do.

Starting point is 00:27:04 And I know it doesn't necessarily show up like, could we see a Zach Allen double-digit sack year this year? I think it's very possible. But with how the defense plays his impact, even though sometimes it doesn't show up in sacks for him specifically, man, it's quantified. It's a multiplier across all levels of this. the defense. He is unbelievable. I mean, when it comes to getting to the quarterback and just impacting passing plays, Zach Allen, there's nobody on the interior defensive line in the NFL today who's better than him. I mean, pro football focus, Cody combines hits, sacks, hurries by their metrics.

Starting point is 00:27:40 Zach Allen last year, according to them, their pressure stats, which includes all those other factors right there that I just mentioned, 73. And number one among all interior defensive lines, And so you're talking about 73 plays out of 555 pass rush snaps that he is affecting the quarterback. That's more than 10%. That's obviously, that's way more than 10% of the time. I'm not the best at math as the listeners know, Cody. But I mean, this guy is absolutely wrecking games for his ability to rush the quarterback. And I think once again, just like with Nick Benito, there's that other level that he can get to in terms of getting the ball out when he gets into the.

Starting point is 00:28:20 the backfield. I know easier said than done, easy for me to say sitting here in my podcast studio, my basement, you know, but I think that it's, it's one of those things that's like those great players are always looking for what's the next way that I can get better. They're not sitting there satisfied with just being number one in the league and pressures among interior defensive linemen. Like Zach is thinking to himself, like, how can I take that next step in my game? If I have to give an honorable mention here, Cody, I would go with Riley Moss because I think if Riley can, I know it is. I think that if Riley once again can take that next step in his game,

Starting point is 00:28:58 if he can turn 19 passes broken up into seven interceptions. I mean, like, that's a lofty number, but walk with me here. If he can turn that into that and limit the penalties, what won't this defense be able to do? What old teams do? Like, if Riley's picking off passes at that rate, they'll have to start throwing at Pat. or Tanmore. And if they're throwing a Pat

Starting point is 00:29:20 Sir Tan more, well, we've seen the results of that. I mean, it's better to basically dirt the ball as a quarterback instead of throw it at Pat Sertan. So that's where I'm saying if Riley can take that next step in his game and start picking off passes, man,

Starting point is 00:29:36 I don't know how you, I don't know how you approach game planning this Broncos D. I know. It's tough because they have guys at every level and I would even say Jayquan Macmillan. I mean, he's been one of the best playmakers that Denver's had defensively. I can see Talenoa Hufanga for his experience, just what he brings to the table. PS2 is obviously the most evident one. But, man, I'm with you on Benito with Zach. Riley, I mean,

Starting point is 00:30:00 once you mentioned those 19 passes defense, convert that into at least three, just three or four total interceptions. Take 19 of those, take three or four of those, turn them into picks, maybe one of pick six. Like, that changes a lot of dynamics here. And I think the biggest frustration that fans have with Riley is all the penalties. this and that. That stuff had, you know, it was acknowledged during the season. And then in the final stretch of games, it wasn't an issue. It wasn't something that popped up. And I'm curious to see if that pops up this year or if it's something that it has changed in his game or if officials changed the way that maybe they, they officiate when Riley's playing, right? Because last year,

Starting point is 00:30:38 they had a reputation on him going forward. I think that could change this upcoming season. If Riley's making plays on the football, man, we're back in business. We're talking about like, now all of a sudden, like Denver doesn't want to throw a pat, but if they're going to throw out Riley. Now Riley's making them pay. Now you have to try to attack other areas of the field. And I like where Jayquan kind of fits into that equation there. The Broncos defense, it is a Super Bowl caliber unit. I think very much like they got far last season and they weren't necessarily the issue and why they lost in the AFC championship game.

Starting point is 00:31:08 Though they had a couple of contained breakdowns on Drake May with his legs in that game. But aside from that, I have no complaints, no gripes about Denver's defense. So Broncos Country, now that we've talked about it, we want to hear from you. Let us know who are the biggest drivers for the Broncos Super Bowl aspirations here in 2026. Give us your offensive picks, your defensive picks, and so much more. We appreciate you so much here. But Broncos Country, the next time you'll see us, we're going to begin looking at all of our rookies on the Broncos 2026 draft class

Starting point is 00:31:36 and projecting their roles, their fits, their production in 2026, and what that may look like next week on Lockdown Broncos.

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