Locked On Broncos - Daily Podcast On The Denver Broncos - How Denver Broncos, Bo Nix Can AVOID Sophomore Slump In 2025

Episode Date: May 19, 2025

The Denver Broncos and Bo Nix are heading into the 2025 NFL season with high expectations, and Sean Payton has done three key things to help Nix avoid a sophomore slump this season. Plus, why are Troy Franklin and Marvin Mims in a position to take a Nik Bonitto-like jump for the Broncos offense. 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. Skylight CalendarRight now, Skylight is offering our listeners $30 off their 15 inch Calendars by going to Skylightcal.com/NFL. LinkedInPost your job for free at LinkedIn.com/LOCKEDONNFL. Terms and conditions apply. 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.

The Denver Broncos have done three things this off season that will help Bo Nix avoid a sophomore slump in 2025. We'll break it all down and much more here 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, Lockdown Broncos, your daily Denver Broncos podcast, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. This is the place to be for your Broncos. news content coverage analysis more every single day all year long. Special shout out to all the everydayers out there in Broncos country.

Thanks for tuning in making us your first listen of the day. However, you choose to do so. And if you're not yet in every day or make sure you become one and make us your first listener today by subscribing or following wherever you get your podcast or available on YouTube as well. I'm Cody Roark, Broncos reporter for Maui Sports boots on the ground every day in DeValley, bring a Broncos country, everything that they need to know about their favorite team. And here's what you're going to get on today's jam-packed episode of the show.

Mailbag Monday, Broncos Country wants to know how Bo Nix can avoid a sophomore slump. We'll tell you why the Broncos have three things in place that will help him avoid that this upcoming season, which Broncos players are in line for a potential Nick Benito-like jump this upcoming season. And how can the Broncos upgrade this roster or do they even need to before training camp? Is it good enough as is? We'll dive deep at all that and much more here on today's episode of show. So Broncos country, let's get right into it right here right now. I feel like after the NFL draft, we've received a lot of questions. I've received emails from fans over at Mile High Sports about how can the Broncos avoid

and how can Bo Nix also avoid a sophomore slump here of this upcoming season? Because usually, okay, year two in the NFL, everyone looks at that and says, okay, our defense is going to throw something at this quarterback that he hasn't seen before. And I understand. I think it's a valid question. But I also think when we talk about the context of sophomore slumps, you have to look at the full big picture, right? Because often at times we look at a sophomore slump,

we place the onus solely on the player. And yes, there's times where, you know, hey, players might run into a wall a little bit as they continue to navigate throughout their journey. They're going to have some ups and downs. And certainly, Bo Nicks, Bo is going to have a lot of great games in his NFL career. I believe that.

I also know he's going to probably have some bad games in his NFL career. Every quarterback does. Patrick Mahomes, Tom Brady did it, Peyton Manning did it. I think we live so much now in a vacuum society with social media, instant gratification, like everything right at our fingertips. If you catch me, like when it comes to Broncos games, I don't have that emotional reaction in a sense. But if you watch me tweet about the Nuggets while they're playing, which sadly they're bounced from the playoffs, I'm an emotional Nuggets fan. So I am guilty of that instant gratification tweeting how I feel in the very moment about a bad performance.

The Nuggets, unfortunately, suffered that in game seven. Check out Lockdown Nuggets for that more. But in terms of like Bo Nix, yes, he's going to have some bad games throughout his NFL career. He's going to have a lot of good games as well. But the Broncos, in my firm opinion, right? We've received this question. It comes in from Calvin. He asks, how can Bo Nix and the Broncos avoid a sophomore slump this upcoming season?

We saw it with, you know, people are saying, oh, we saw it with C.J. Stroud last year. I want to preface this by saying, I think C.J. Stroud. I think, I don't necessarily believe his was like a truly deemed. sophomore slump, I think more so the pieces around him weren't necessarily clear, right? And Bo Nix had a lot of pieces around him in terms of, you know, offensive playmakers last year that it wasn't necessarily clear. But for C.J. Stroud, I mean, he lost his best receiver, Nico Collins for a long portion of time due to a hamstring injury. He comes back. Then they lose Tank Dell,

who's a very important part to what he wants to do. And yes, they had an upgraded run game at Joe Mixon. But, you know, the offensive line at times was up and down for that Houston, Texans offense, right? So I think a lot of people are seeing what happened with C.J. Stroud and they're asking a question, what if that happens to Boe next? I think it's a valid question. I want to say that. But I'll give you three reasons why I think that the Broncos have actually done a really good job of putting things in place to where Bow doesn't necessarily have to deal with a sophomore slump here in 2025. I think first and foremost right now, let's start off with number one. And this has been a problem with the Broncos organization for many years

before Sean Payton came. Really, I think Sean was able to work his magic after that first year there. And I was like, all right, we found it. Stability. That is number one. The Broncos right now, in these last two seasons under Sean Payton, they've had stability in terms of the direction of which they're heading

when it comes to roster personnel, the way that they're building it. Sean Payton's coaching philosophy here. And certainly, yes, there's been some missing pieces. And certainly in Bo Nix's first season, we were talking about it. The Broncos, they were missing some elements that we felt like would have helped Bo Nix. You know, Sarah and I have done so many shows here. We're like Bo Nix was QB1, RB1.

He was also a wide receiver one at one juncture of the season. Bo did a lot of stuff last season, you know, with not a lot around him or not a lot of established pieces around him. And I think that's going to change here the season. But what I mean by that, the Broncos having stability around them, you have the same head coach, which is great for a quarterback. I think you look at organizations that go through turnover of head coaches and coordinators.

I think that's problematic. The Broncos, they've had the same head coach, the same OC, the same quarterback coach in place there, which is important for the quarterback position. Not previously in other years for the Broncos, this was never really a consistent theme for them. Stability, I think, in the coaching staff and the direction which you're heading from a roster standpoint. Yes, there's been a lot of changes to the Broncos front office structure. They've lost a lot of key pieces due to executive promotions with other teams around the league. But the Broncos have promoted internally over the past weekend, nine internal hires, two external hires, to really kind of build this super kind of powerhouse front office,

which we'll dive into a little bit, you know, tomorrow's episode of the show here. But for Bo, you have stability from a coaching staff standpoint, from an organizational standpoint, which I think is a great piece to have. That's the first thing. Number two, I think Bo Nex has more playmakers around him than he did his rookie season.

And right now it's still a question mark because some of these other pieces are going to have to prove themselves. You have Cortland Sutton. Bo's number one guy, his go-to guy. Okay, great. Marvin Mims, who we really, really saw catch fire in the second half of last season for Denver. He's still firmly in the mix.

Troy Franklin, we know that those guys have that connection going back to Oregon. It didn't work out as much in his rookie year and Troy's rookie year between the two. But we saw that really kind of capitalizing that Buffalo Bill's playoff game. We know what Troy Franklin can become. So there's the piece that's working there. I even think early on in the season, we saw Bo Nix. I mean, the first game against Seattle. He targeted Devon Valey eight times, eight targets, eight catches.

So he's got this chemistry with Velae, but now you go out and you add Evan Ingram, an NFL free agency who can be a high volume player, move around chess pieces, that tight end joker piece of Sean Payton's looking for. You go out and you get R.J. Harvey in this year's NFL draft, who I think is going to be dynamic, but we still have to see him play, right? That's going to be the first thing. We like the pick, we've got to see him play here at the NFL before saying, this guy's going to immediately be an impact playmaker for you.

I think he will be. We just have to see it. They go out and they add Pat Bryant, which if you didn't catch the NFL rookie premiere, if you saw everyone's doing that reaction drill where they're trying to catch the dropping pole, Pat Bryant was listed as number one. So he was top of the leaderboard there, really good skills. Obviously, you saw him at rookie minicamp. It looks good, right?

I think he's going to be a playmaker here for the Broncos. You don't believe me, I kind of dove a little deeper into that in last Friday's episode of Locked on Broncos. So make sure you go check that out if you missed that. But I think that Denver added playmaking pieces around Bow Nix. And I really think the idea here for Sean Payton is, okay, Bo had a number one guy. We recognized. And Sean Payton said this at the Super Bowl to Kay Adams. We need a Joker.

They go out and they get that guy as the must have. That's what they got there with Evan Ingram. They go out and they add two pieces at wide receiver, one at running back in Harvey and Pat Bryant. You hope Audrey has to make and take another step forward. We'll dive deep in him a little bit later on in today's show. But you have a lot of those same pieces that have been in your system already for a year. They were rookies last year, now with Troy Franklin, Devon Valet. These guys are going to get a little bit more run here going forward.

So I think you have pieces around Bo that goes in and supports point number one that we made about stability. If stability number one, number two, you have more playmakers around you for Bo Nix. Number three, I think Denver has a foundation that Sean Payton has kind of been aiming for since he came in and took over as the team's head coach. And I remember even when Russell Wilson was here, Sean Payton came in and he said the one thing he wants to do is get the run game. going. I asked him at the first OTA practice that we had in his first season about that. And he said, we really want to get the run game to be a big part of our offense. And certainly, Javante was factored in the equation at that point. We didn't know who Julele McLaughlin was just yet. But there were so many different things that went on, I think with the running back position, I think some offensive line

ups and downs and obviously Sean's first year, some scheme getting adjusted to there. That was certainly there. The Broncos believe internally. And I can tell you this, George Payton has told us this, they believe very much in their offensive line. And I think that they have that foundation around him. You have your starters at left tackle, left guard, right guard, right tackle center right now. Maybe the one position on the old line that's kind of up in the air. But you have a solidified offensive line in place here for Bow Nix. And last year, there were injuries to Mike McGlinchie and other players where there were some turn styles a little bit.

I don't even know if I used the right word there. There were some different guys coming in and out of the offensive line due to some injuries at various points of last season. And it didn't necessarily have the negative impact that we thought it would for a rookie quarterback like Bo Nix. Bo made up for a lot of different things without how smart of a football player he was. But now they, on paper, have a hopeful run game with Adrick Estimé and R.J. Harvey and a third running back where there's going to be extensive competition here in training camp where they believe the run game is going to get going this upcoming season. And if it does, that helps. And on top of that, they go out and they boosted the defense, which was very good last season. But then you had Talano, Hufanga.

You had Dre Green Line to the mix. Jaide Baron, a cornerback, and you got some really nice depth pieces in the NFL draft. The foundation is there for Bo Nix to have some success. So that is the three reasons. Why I think Bo can avoid a sophomore slump this upcoming season, it's as much on the team as it is the player as well. Want to know your thoughts here on today's episode of the show, Broncos Country. As always, we always appreciate you tuning in. But our mailback questions, they're not done just yet.

One member of Broncos Country wants to know which player on the offensive side of the ball will have a Nick Bonito-like jump for the Bronco. in 2025. We'll tell you why Marvin Mims and Troy Franklin, all eyes are on them. Here on today's episode, Lockdown Broncos. Today's episode of Lockdown Broncos is brought to you our friends over there at Skylight Calendar and Broncos Country. Say goodbye to sticky notes, scribble plans on the fridge, and overlapping calendar invites. The Skylight Calendar, it's here to bring clarity to the chaos and help families stay organized without the stress. And this sleek digital display syncs with your existing calendars, Google, Apple, Outlook, and more,

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Skylight is offering our listeners $30 off their 15-inch calendars by going to skylight cow.com slash NFL. Go to skylight cow.com slash NFL for $30 off your 15-inch calendar. That is, S-K-Y-L-G-H-T-Cow.com slash NFL Skylight calendars. which players on the Broncos offensive side of this roster could have a Nick Bonito-like jump in 2025. That's one of the questions we got in today's mailbag episode. We'll get to here in just a moment. Just want to say thank you once again to everyone in Broncos country. Thank you so much for tuning in, making us your first listen.

As always, this is the number one place to be for short, sweet objective to the point coverage of your favorite team. No hot takes, no clickbait, no fluff. You just get Broncos talk from a realistic standpoint here every single day. all year long. We appreciate you so much here, Broncos country. Well, let's go to our handy dandy mailbag and open up another letter. You know who it's from. It's from our good friend over there. Rob, he sends in the question. Last year, we saw Nick Benito take a huge step and become one of the league's best outside linebackers. Which offensive player do you think has the best chance to take a Bonito-like jump this year and become dominant at their position, right? So I think when we

put this into context for Nick Benito, really, his rookie season, there were a lot of questions. There was a lot of uncertainty, especially in the direction which the Broncos were heading under Nathaniel Hackett and everything. The Russell Wilson trade, the lack of draft picks. There were questions about Nick Benito going into 2023. And then we see Nick get an opportunity to play more, start some games even in 2023. And then his production went up. He led the team and tackles for a loss behind a line of scrimmage with, I think, 14 TFLs in 2020. And this is a guy who didn't even start a majority of the season for Denver, start at the beginning of the season there for the Broncos.

He was really a rotational role player at that point. And then this year, he started off in 2024, not even as a starter here for the Broncos. It was Jonathan Cooper and it was Baron Browning. And then he comes in to lead the team with sacks despite not starting. That right there, I think, showcased just a massive leap and a massive jump, right? But for Nick, I think a lot of people are forgetting his second year in the NFL, where we saw him make such a drastic improvement from his rookie year to his sophomore year. And then obviously he made a bigger leap going into year number three.

So I think when you look in the context of it being like a Nick Benito-like jump, okay, you've got to think about second, third-year players. Well, first off, I'm going to go with one guy who's a second-year player. That's obviously going to be in his second season in the NFL this year. That's Troy Franklin. He's going to be the first guy I'm going to look at here because I think there's a couple here offensively when we take a look at where the Broncos are at with some of their young players. You know, with Troy Franklin, the one thing that I have always kind of pounded the table for

and I've kind of just beg Sean Peyton in a sense just like when I'm tweeting or when I'm writing my game recaps or talking about it here on the podcast is, all right, we understand Troy. Troy's got speed to get behind defenses. We saw it in Buffalo. We've seen it in various games this year. And yes,

he had a couple of drops this season. He only had three drops on the year. You know, I think the drops narrative is something that people are saying like, oh, he drops the ball too much. Yes, he said he had three drops. And a couple of them were pretty bad drops. But at the end of the day, it's not like he had 10, 12, 13 drops in terms of the

of the volumes of targets there. You know, a lot of these were some downfield misses where Bow, bow overthrew him. You know, one game against the Ravens. You know, he had the drop against the Raiders there, understandably. But I want to see the Broncos do more with Troy Franklin than just run the nine route, right? He can run the fate. He can run vertical. He can try to get past the defense. I want to see him running routes. I mean, from the side, yes, I want to see him get behind defenses, but I also want to see him stretch the field. I think if you go to the New Orleans Saints game on Thursday night football, there are a couple plays that they run to Troy Franklin, where he's

backside. He's running a backside crosser. And Bo finds. him, he's getting 12, 20 yards, something along those lines. There's a game against the Las Vegas Raiders on the road. It's first and 20 for the Broncos. They're backed up due to a holding penalty. Bo Nix fires a rip on a dig route inside to Troy Franklin for a 26-yard gain on first and 20, right? So you need 20 yards. You get 26 there.

That's what I think pairs well with Bo. He's kind of got like this balance between, okay, I'm not going to put the ball into harm's way, but I know where I can take risk. I know where I can be a gunslinger at times. That's the thing I like about Bow. He's not reckless with the football. He's very smart. That's one reason why the Broncos drafted him.

It's because he protects the football. Troy Franklin can be more than just the one-trick pony of just running a deep ball and then trying to catch it, right? And I also think the same exact thing here for Marvin Mims. Marvin obviously has the speed that scares defenses. Troy Franklin is about three inches, four inches taller than Marvin Mims and has the opportunity to do the same exact thing. I think Troy's got Marvin Mims like speed.

But I think when we're talking about third year player, I'm also going to be talking about Marvin Mims here. I think that both Troy Franklin and Marvin Mims are going to be in a position for the Broncos where they can have a Nick Benito-like jump. As a matter of fact, I think you can look at Marvin's second year in the NFL and look at what he did in the second half of the season and say, okay, that was kind of like Nick Benito's sophomore year in the NFL. It wasn't necessarily a hot start.

He wasn't necessarily the feature guy, but down the stretch, he was cooking a little bit. And you're like, okay, there's something to work with with this player. I think for Marvin, that role is only going to expand. They're going to use him in a variety of different ways. Having Cortland Sutton, that's great. He's your number one option. We know that for Bo Nix.

But bringing in a guy like Evan Ingram, that's going to create some matchup opportunities. Bringing in a guy like RJ Harvey, that's going to create some matchup opportunities in the passing game because defenses, you're only allotted certain amount of cover guys, right? And sometimes like last year, Denver defensively late in the season, they were having moments where teams were just playing zone where they were dropping six. seven defenders back into a zone. And the Broncos were still dicing up, right? And we're talking about seven people dropping back into coverage on three-man route

concepts, sometimes two-man route concepts because the Broncos had to go a lot of 12 and 13 personnel from time to time. So there'd be guys staying in a block, while two guys run routes, and vice versa. So Denver still capitalized in those areas despite teams dropping back so many guys in the coverage. But now if you're going to get a lot of pressure, which some teams are going to bring pressure at Denver, try to get after Bo Nix. that's where I think Bo can carve you up.

You can eliminate the blitz with the quick passing game. Cortland's a big prominent player of that. Marvin's a big prominent player of that. And these other guys that have you had, I think Pat Bryant is going to be an underrated player in that role as well. And the short of the intermediate passing game, I think that's where he's going to eat. But get guys like Marvin Mims and Troy Franklin, the ball in space.

I think more so Troy Franklin on crossing routes, you know, deep overs. I ever think you could do like even the out route concepts there. You can run double moves with him. Marvin is the type of guy where I feel like you can put them in the backfield as we saw Sean Peyton do. You can line them up in the slot. You can line them up on the outside. He can do a little bit of everything. But don't just run Marvin and Troy on go routes. Don't run them and gas them early on here. Open things up. Be methodical. Then that's where I think the run game coming in at the Broncos having improved rushing attack. That's exactly what will open up those deep shots downfield. Denver didn't have that threat of a run game last season consistently enough.

and they still took shots downfield. Bo Nicks through some, I think the most or the third most passes downfield by a player and people still want to call them a checkdown merchant. It drives me nuts when you can go watch the tape and see for yourself, Bo's making the smart play. If they're taking away the deep stuff, you're supposed to throw it to the checkdown guy.

You're supposed to throw it short. But the Broncos didn't have a guy that was necessarily dangerous. And, you know, getting the ball, like let's say you threw it to a tight end on a checkdown or a running back on a checkdown. The Broncos didn't have a guy that can make guys miss the way that they do now with Evan Ingram. with guys like RJ Harvey. So I think so much of that will kind of play into the mix here.

And I even want to ask this question too because it's just an own known right now. Can Odrick estimate be thrown into this mix? I think that there's a chance, right? I liked what we saw from Odrick in the sample size in which we got to see of him last year, late in that Baltimore game, that Kansas City game on the road. There's just bits and pieces. But the Broncos running back rotation was so inconsistent and up and down. There was never any flow to it.

And then obviously, you know, some questions about why he didn't play in that playoff game. That was more so to, hey, Javante Williams, Broncos first playoff game. They like to match up with Tyler Badey against Buffalo's defense. They thought they could have an explosive advantage against. It didn't work out that way. But Adrick Estomay, I think is a guy to maybe like an honorable mention here in this list. But Troy Franklin, Marvin Mims are the two names that I would keep an eye on here for the Broncos to have a Nick Benito-like jump in 2025. That's a great question sent in from our friend Rob on our mailbag Monday episode of today's.

locked on Broncos. We're not done yet. Broncos country. We have some more mailbag questions coming your way, including how the Broncos can upgrade this roster that's already at 90 players before they get to training camp. We'll debate and discuss that and much more. You know, today's episode of the show. No matter what juncture

of the off season you're in, you can still find ways to upgrade your roster. The Broncos, they can look on the offensive side of the ball and the defensive side of the ball. As a matter fact, all year long, they're always looking for ways to upgrade their roster. But right now as they're preparing for OTAs and minicap. Is that what Sean and George Payton are looking at so far here going forward?

That's one of the mailback questions we got in. We'll debate and discuss here on today's episode. Lockdown Broncos. Once again, thank you so much, Broncos country for tuning in and being a part of what we got going on here. Lockdown Broncos. You want objective Broncos coverage every day? This is the place to be. So let's get into our mailback questions.

We got a couple here. Bronco Talk NFL sent in the question, which position is most likely to be supplemented by a veteran signing late in the offseason. I think this is a great question. It's a valid one to because I think, you know, Denver right now as they're getting into the stages of preparing for OTAs and mini camp, which is coming up realistically here in the next week and a half, two weeks. So I'll be at Broncos practice.

We'll provide updates, you know, here lockdown Broncos for you. But when they get on the field and granted, they're not going to be in pads, they're not going to be popping each other, it's not going to be contact. But there's going to be some competitive periods, which I'm always excited about. seeing that. They're going to evaluate everything from individual drills, team drills, groups on air, and they're going to continue to evaluate the roster. Even though the draft is past, the Broncos aren't sitting there like, all right, now we just got to prepare for next college football season and go through that. And we'll have our pro scouts take a look at a variety

of different players that are still free agents and see, you know, what teams are doing. There's year-round work here that the Broncos scouting in front office, their personnel department, they're constantly doing. We're looking at the college game, the pro game, rookie minicamp, that you had a bunch of rookie tryout members there. They're going to be monitoring every single player that they've already had come in the building that has tried out. They didn't necessarily make it to, you know, minicamp or OTAs, but there's notes. There's player profile databases that the organization builds up on that. So they're evaluating everything here.

So there's still a chance that they can maybe look to upgrade or add to this position, whatever it may be offensively or defensively, going into training camp. And so to really kind of answer your question here about which position is most likely be supplemented by a veteran signing late in the off season. I initially thought tight end would be that position. Certainly it's still a possibility, both them drafting Caleb Loner, with them signing, you know, fathering ham, obviously a veteran in the NFL on a pro tryout.

He impressed he turned enough heads. They added him to the mix. They released Thomas Yasmin here. I don't know if tight end is going to be that position. We look at running back as well. Like, is that still a position that Broncos could add to? I mean, they're going to get another look here at Blake Watson, Tyler Bodeigh, Julele McLaughlin.

You know, we know that they like Audrake estimate. We know that they like, obviously, R.J. Harvey. These two guys are, in my opinion, are roster locks, but they're going to look at Jalil, Tyler, Blake, and they're going to try to make a decision here. So, okay, do we need to change anything, right? Could the Broncos maybe sign a veteran running back at this point? Really, the only guys that are available here, J.K. Dobbins, still available, surprisingly, and Nick Chubb at this point.

So for me, I still think the Broncos should stay away from that path. I know a lot of Broncos fans are uncertain about the running back room really outside of RJ Harvey. I think the excitement level for Harvey is pretty high in Broncos country right now, but you got to let the rookie grow. I don't think the expectation is going to come in and be an every down back right away. Can he become that? Yeah. Could he establish that rule for himself early on?

I think there's a possibility. But why I put that label on him right now? Let him come out in camp. Let him learn the system a little bit more and let him learn. He wants to be great. You know, he said he wants to be better than the Alvin Cameras, you know, the Mark Ingrams, the Redmond. he doesn't want to be like the next them he wants to be r j harvey and he wants to be the next

big thing which i like that i like the mindset i like the attitude here so running back i could see it that position i used to think as well wide receiver keenan allen still being a free agent could denver add a veteran here i think if anything uh they they probably could is it likely though probably not at this point i think Denver right now i think that they're going to go into ota's and minicamp here in a couple weeks with the roster intact as is I think after that, they'll evaluate some of their options. And they'll see what's going on in terms around league circles. And, you know, is there an injury that pops up for another team?

Could that create an opening? Could there be potential trade talks? I mean, sometimes you could see that worked out during training camps. Sometimes you can see it worked out during the preseason. I just don't see it right now. The Broncos going out there and making a veteran signing. And if they did, in my opinion, it would either be a running back with one of the two names that I mentioned with Dobbins or Chub or wide receiver with a guy like Keenan Allen.

and I think right now they're very content with the roster that they have and where they're going. I still think it's a valid question, though, so I appreciate you sending that one in here on today's episode. The show. Our last one we're going to get to on our Broncos, Medback comes in from our good man. DeAndre Witherspoon. Always appreciate DeAndre's comments. Appreciate you, my man. What possession could the Broncos still upgrade, if any?

This could be a debatable one here. You know, to me, I still think that maybe the Broncos could add a linebacker, right? You know, with the injury to Drake Greenlaw, which we know Sean Peyton has told us, I was there when he said it, that Green Law is going to be fine for training camp. Do you still bring in another veteran guy just in case there is a setback in Greenlaw's recovery, right, or an injury pops up. You know, Alex Singleton's coming off the ACL injury. He's on track to be ready for training camp.

He's making great progress. Do you still add to this room? You know, you've signed an undrafted rookie free agent who tried out on a rookie basis and in Preston, Jordan Turner out of Michigan State. You got Drew Sanders position. You've got LaVelle Bailey, you've got Corrine Reed, who's obviously an undrafted guy that they signed. So, you know, you got some bodies at that position, but could you bring in a veteran in the event? There is a setback or an injury with either Alex Singleton, Dre Greenlaw.

I think that maybe they could still upgrade inside linebacker a little bit. I love where they're at with edge rusher. I love where they're at on the defensive line. I love where they're at in the secondary, a corner and at safety. I think they're in a good spot there defensively. offensively, I don't see another position they can really add to right now that's going to make a lot of sense as to like upgrading it. But maybe the Broncos have a plan in place right with an undrafted guy who Sean Payton and the Broncos seem very high on right now. And I'm not sure if this has anything to do with the center position or potentially left guard here.

But with Clay Webb, who had a draftable grade, we've discussed this on the show. Sean Payton just acknowledged it at rookie minicamp last week about what had happened with Clay, Webb, the lawsuit has since been dismissed after it was ongoing for a handful of years. It was dismissed. So he's obviously cleared from that. But that obviously held some teams back from drafting him. The Broncos have been very upfront about it and that Webb was up front about the whole entire situation with them.

It does seem like there is a good chance here that Clay Webb maybe gets thrown into the center competition mix potentially here. I don't know if that's going to be the vision for him. Once we get to OTAs and minicamp at a couple weeks, I think I'll have a better. idea and understanding. I'll have a chance to ask Sean after practice if that's the case. So that's going to be something to be in the back of my mind for when we have that press conference or left guard, you know, with Ben Powers.

Like I said, I think the Broncos, they have stability on the O line. And I think some people said, you know, Ben Powers can be a little bit more consistent. I think that that there's some truth to that. But I like what I like what Ben Powers has done. I think that once again, another year of comfortability, you know, where he's not banged up. I think that he's going to be a good fit here in the system. Do the Broncos see Clay Webb as someone who could eventually replace a guy like Ben Powers after this season? Or is this a guy who can throw his name to the hat of maybe a center competition?

Whereas maybe Luke Wattenberg, Alex Forsyth, maybe it's not a two-man battle. I mean, the Broncos, they brought in Sam Mustafa, I think last season to compete for that center job. And realistically speaking, he didn't get thrown in with the ones or the two's much at all. It was Wattenberg and Forsyth. primarily Wattonberg with the ones, a majority of training camp in the preseason. So Clay Webb, a name to watch there, maybe at the center or left guard position here for the Denver Broncos. But aside from all that, I don't think that there's a specific place right now that Denver, like me personally speaking, can upgrade this roster before training camp. But if you agree with me or disagree with me, Broncos country, make sure you let me know.

If you feel like there's a position of the Broncos you feel I can upgrade at, hey, make sure you let me know. shoot me a message on social media. Respond of the socials at Codyork NFL at Lockdown Broncos. Send me an email Cody at Milehysports.com or reply on the podcast. You know, wherever you get your podcast. Spotify, you can comment on episodes now, apparently. You can comment on YouTube episodes. But make sure you let me know your thoughts here on today's Melbag Monday episode of the show.

But with that said, Broncos country, I appreciate you so much for rocking with me here today. Sarah is going to rejoin me on tomorrow's episode of show. As we go through the Broncos front office structure, there's been some change. changes, a lot of internal hires. Sean Payton and George Peyton are building a little bit of a powerhouse on the front office structure after losing a lot of key pieces this off season. We'll debate and discuss that and more on tomorrow's episode, Lockdown Broncos.