Locked On Broncos - Daily Podcast On The Denver Broncos - NEXT STEP: Denver Broncos Run Game READY to EVOLVE For Bo Nix

Starting point is 00:00:00 Denver Broncos head coach, Sean Payton says the run game is further along than it's been in his first three years with the team. You are locked on Broncos. Your daily Denver Broncos podcast. Part of the Locked on podcast network, your team every day. Happy Friday, Broncos country. Cody Roark, Sarah Beninger here for another episode of the show. Today's episode is brought you by Kauci. For a limited time, download the Kauci app and use code locked on to get $10 when you trade $10.

Starting point is 00:00:33 dollars. Broncos head coach Sean Payton raved about the run game and where he feels that they are at in comparison to his first three seasons here as the head coach of the Denver Broncos. Plus, will Riley Mosser, Jayquan Macmillan be the next players who carry on a specific September 4th tradition? We'll pay attention to that. Plus, what are the expectations for the outside lineback room with Jonathan Cooper not being around for the foreseeable future and the expectations as the Broncos start the season against Kent City? We'll get in all that here on today's episode of the show. Sarah, let's dive into the run game. you and I, everyone in Broncos country has acknowledged. Even last year was saying, man, if the Broncos run game could get going, this offense would be even better. Broncos head coach Sean Payton gave a very promising update to those who are eager to see the run game get going this upcoming season. 100% Cody. And what do we know that Sean Payton's problem was with the running game?

Starting point is 00:01:22 At the very end of last season, he said it was scheme related because he said, I got to go talk to Zach, you know, Zach Streif being the run game coordinator. And so he knows that it was a scheme. issue. So to me, for him to say it's further along than it's been in any of his first three, four seasons with the team, that indicates to me that Sean is seeing the scheme and he's saying, okay, this is going to work, right? Instead of, well, we need a better guard or we need a better running back or we need a better tackle. We need somebody who can be more athletic when they pull. That's not the case. And also, also, the run game being further along has everything to do

Starting point is 00:01:59 with what do we talk about all the time, the relationship between the run and the pass. So, you know that you're going to be able to threaten every level of the field and you're going to be able to run the ball because jk daubbins faced this stacked box of eight plus defenders more than pretty much everybody in the league last year i think he was third on that list third or fourth on that list and certainly when the broncos lost jk daubbins teams were daring them to try go ahead go ahead and try to run you're not going to be able to run the ball you're going to have to throw it past our second level so it was it made them one dimensional for them to be further along even now that's going to help this team start fast, and we know that's an emphasis for them this offseason. You brought up a very interesting point about J.K. and the stack boxes, our friends over there, True Media, this is where I pulled that stat from. For J.K. Dobbins, specifically,

Starting point is 00:02:46 he had 33 rushing attempts against stack boxes of nine plus players. You want to know what his, in 33 rushing attempts, you want to know what his yard per carry average was, and 33 rushing attempts against nine plus players in the box? You want to take a guess? I'll say 4.5. Higher, 4.8 yards per carry against nine man boxes. Okay.

Starting point is 00:03:08 So now think about, think about, and I think this is where Jalen Waddle comes into the equation, right? Because Jalen, you factor in like you're going to motion Jalen and let's say the defense is a man coverage or they have a certain check. And all of a sudden, now they got to draw a defender over or they might have to shift everything once Jalen goes in motion, right? Or if they want to cheat to the strength, or let's say Denver has trips to one side and they need to. cheat and allocate there. Well, now you bring another guy in motion or you catch him in man. And all of a sudden it's like, all right, now we've got to take guys out of the box a little bit. JK theoretically, because of the addition of J.

Starting point is 00:03:40 J.L. Wattle, should see less nine-man, eight-man boxes this upcoming season. I think that's what you get with that type of player that you bring into the mix. And a fully healthy J.K. Dobbins has me excited, man. And knock on wood, I'm rooting for this guy to get all 17 games this upcoming season. The dude is tough as now. He's got a great mentality to him. He's just been dealt with a little bit of an unfortunate hand throughout his NFL career. Could this be the year the stars align here?

Starting point is 00:04:05 Sarah, if they do, that means the Broncos run game is going to be a big strength of theirs. And that opens everything up for Bo Nix. It opens everything up for the defense. And Sean Payton really emphasized this as well. He said, I feel like we're further along with the run game now than we had been in my first three season. But he also said it's not just about the run game. It's what the run game does for the defense. It's what it does for for Bo.

Starting point is 00:04:25 Like it's all these things have a relationship with one another. And I couldn't agree more. It's so important. And if they can get it, Sarah, man, the sky's the limit with this team. Well, and I know we're talking about the run game as a whole and not J.K. Dobbins specifically, but has J.K. Dobbins kind of quietly become the most underrated piece of this Denver Broncos offense? Because we've touched on it throughout the course of the off season that last year, before he went down with injury, he's top five in pretty much every category, every major metric, right? rushing yards, yards after contact.

Starting point is 00:04:58 He was doing what you said against stack boxes. He was one of the best in explosive runs of 10 plus yards last season. And so if you do have a fully healthy J.K. Dobbins, I think all of a sudden, okay, what did we, remember the AFC championship game? After that game was over, we were lamenting not only having, or not only not having Boe Nix, but man, if you had J.K. Dobbins, even just for fourth and two, where Jared Stidham ended up throwing an incomplete pass, even just having J.K. Robbins for that one play would have potentially made the difference in the outcome of the game.

Starting point is 00:05:30 And so he has quietly kind of become the most underrated piece of this offense, the equation overall. Jonah Coleman, we're expecting great stuff from him at some point. We're not expecting him to carry the ball. 20 to the game, though. RJ Harvey, we're expecting him to continue to take a leap as both a runner and a receiver. But I think we're all sort of more so expecting him to be the past catching back for this. Denver Broncos team. But with J.K. Dobbins, he's that guy who right away this season can give you the balance

Starting point is 00:06:02 that you so desperately need on that side of the ball to help unlock everything else. And just like you said, it's having Jalen Waddle split out into the slot that's going to allow for Dobbins to have those opportunities against fewer players in the box. And what did we see most improved, in my opinion, during the preseason compared to last year, Cody, perimeter blocking, blocking from the tight ends, blocking on pole plays. running from under center. Those things were drastically improved throughout the course of the three games in the preseason that has me excited for week one.

Starting point is 00:06:34 Well, I can't say what it is here on this show because then that would be me violating my credential terms in terms of what I, what I'm saying. But I'm telling you, you're going to see certain things from the Broncos running back room offensively this upcoming season that we have not seen with this unit since Sean Peyton has gone here. Can I especially be exciting? I don't know. Because then my reaction, my reaction might give it away, bro.

Starting point is 00:06:58 All right. You know, that's easy. Well, you know, because I've told you off the record. True. You're just going to have to wait and see. You just got to wait and see what comes out of that here. But I'm also excited, too, because you do mention Jonah, right? Like for Jonah, I think the expectation is for JK to be that primary guy.

Starting point is 00:07:15 But I would not be shocked if Jonah Coleman is the guy who gets the second most amount of touches at the running back position specifically in terms of carries, right? not snaps, but I'd say in terms of carries, RJ is still going to carry the football. I think, just from my own observation, what I think the Broncos will do, I think you can use JK and a collection of Jonah on third down situations like where Tyler Bade was in last year. You can run the football. And if defenses are tired, you know what you can do? That's where RJ can come in and not only just run the football, maybe get to the outside perimeter,

Starting point is 00:07:47 but it gets into that matchup out of the backfield where, you know, people don't talk about the 12 plus touchdowns that are. RJ had last season. Like RJ had some struggles in the run game. But the Broncos, once again, and you said this earlier, and I'll reiterate it, the Broncos did not believe it was a running back issue. They believed it was a scheme issue. And it's tougher.

Starting point is 00:08:06 It's tougher. And for RJ, what he had, and he's still a developing runner in today's NFL. But that's a lot for him to kind of pick up on. And he still rattle off some special plays, like the one against Jacksonville, where he's running through contact. RJ can still do that. RJ knows the playbook a lot more now. But RJ's going to be that weapon out of the backfield.

Starting point is 00:08:23 that true joker, so to speak. And I know people hate that term, but guess what that's what it's called. It ain't going to hurt your ears. It ain't, you know, it's not going to cause any harm to you. But that's what it is. And RJ's the one guy in this roster that I think has that actual designation and to that. So I think they are going to find a way to use three backs this season. And it should help the Broncos run game take off this year.

Starting point is 00:08:46 And if it does, it opens up so much for this team that when we talk about they had the potential to be a Super Bowl contender, we think that they are. This is what's going to help them achieve that this upcoming season, having that run game. That is the difference. In Broncos country, let us know your thoughts here on Denver's run game, what Sean Payton's comments were and collectively how you envision this running back room kind of playing out out here in the regular season. But coming up next, Riley Moss, Jayquan Macmillan could be two players, maybe even Brandon Jones,

Starting point is 00:09:12 that could help continue carrying on a tradition that usually has taken place around September 4th, which happens to be today. What might that be? We'll get into that here on today's episode of the show. Broncos Country. Today's episode of the show was brought to you by our friends over there at Prize Picks. Football is finally back and that means Sundays are about to get a whole lot more interesting because every week brings on new matchups, breakout players, big time performances and plenty of storylines to follow with your favorite teams and teams all across the NFL. And if you like getting even more engaged with the players and stats that you're watching, there's a new way to make game day more exciting for you. Prize Picks is bringing out its best offer yet for kickoff. New users who sign up can get $150. in lineups if they win their first $5 lineup and price picks is now available nationwide. With prize picks, you're building daily fantasy

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Starting point is 00:10:20 Download the app today and use code locked on NFL to get $150 instantly in lineups. If you win your first $5 lineup, prize picks run your game. The Denver Broncos might have a little September 4th tradition brewing, which means Broncos country, you better keep your eyes peeled today to find out if anything is going to happen. Once again, we're going to tell you all about it and why Riley Moss, Brandon Jones, maybe Jaquan, Macmillan stand to benefit from this newfound tradition.

Starting point is 00:10:48 And Cody, I love to put on the tinfoil hat. You already know this about me. I consider myself an amateur detective in certain instances. I love a good detective style show or who done it mystery type of show. And I kind of found this fascinating. I was thinking to myself after training camp got over, after the preseason got over, hey, the Broncos haven't re-signed anybody. They opened up all this cap space.

Starting point is 00:11:14 And we've kind of gotten used to them at least making a deal or two, either during training camp, during the preseason, or right before the start of the regular season. So I started doing a little research here, right? And I looked and I was like, when did Pat Sertan sign his contract extension with the team? It was September 4th, 2024. When did Nick Benito sign his contract extension with the team?

Starting point is 00:11:39 It just so happened to be September 4th, 2020. So then I started wondering, hmm, who could sign on September 4th, 2026? If anybody, I wanted to start the, bidding with Riley Moss and here's the reason why. Those two guys that I mentioned, Pat Sartan and Nick Benito, were the two top draft picks from George Payton's first two draft classes with the team, 2021, 2022.

Starting point is 00:12:04 And I feel like Riley Moss has emerged as the best pick that they made from the 2023 NFL draft, which includes Marvin Mims, you know, a couple of other guys. But Marvin's probably the only other one extension worthy. But to me, George Payton, I think he's going to want to keep his top draft picks from each class if he possibly can, which to me puts Riley Moss in the driver's seat to carry on this potential September 4th tradition. Yeah, I think it's very possible. If it were up to me, I would have Riley Moss paid right now for the Broncos. So what you're telling me is we should be expecting to do a bonus episode of the show here later on today, maybe. Maybe that's the case.

Starting point is 00:12:41 And watch us. As we're recording this obviously on Thursday morning, watch it just all of a sudden happen before, you know, once we're done with this whole show, we have it all scheduled out to go for Friday, man, that would be crazy. But I could see it. I mean, two years in a row, that has been the trend here for them specifically. You know, Riley is that guy. If you're looking at the contract guys, the draft guys, part of me also wonders, too, like would the Broncos do that with a guy like Brandon Jones or do you feel like that would be more of an in-season one? Because I feel like the pecking order right now, who are the guys whose contracts are expiring on this team? Riley, Jayquan, Evan Ingram, Ben Powers. Those are four names right now. And Brandon Jones, five. Those are the five guys

Starting point is 00:13:19 who I would say if you had to look at bringing back like your priority free agents, those are the five guys that you would have to primarily worry about. I think you can look at Ben Powers and say like you're probably not going to give him that in season. And you know, if he plays really well, maybe it's at the end of the year. Maybe he does get an extension or they just go to the future after the season. Maybe this is the last year, Garrett Bowles has his dog next to him. But Riley makes the most sense in this situation, I would agree. And I think it's going to be probably a little bit of a split topic from people watching

Starting point is 00:13:49 or listening here today because I think once again, Riley is a very polarizing figure amongst Broncos country. There are a lot of people who think he's really great. There's a lot of people, and we certainly see it a lot in our comments. So like he's mid, he's average. He's not a good cornerback.

Starting point is 00:14:02 I really disagree with that notion. And a lot of it's like, well, look at all the past interference calls. I don't care about that, right? Like, yes, Riley had 10 penalties last year. You can objectively say about four or five of those were subjective. And it's like, nah, that probably shouldn't have been called. And then you get the other ones.

Starting point is 00:14:19 where it is valid. It's like, yes, but you know what? Pastor Tan also had some holding and defensive pass interference calls against him last year. Nobody talks about him because he's PS2. But because it's Riley Moss who plays opposite of PS2, who has a larger volume of targets, the microscope I feel on Riley is far more unfair than probably anybody else on the defensive side of the ball.

Starting point is 00:14:39 I think so too. I think honestly, you have to afford young players opportunities to kind of fail forward a little bit as well. And I know that the pressure is on because the Broncos are, contending right now, which makes everything wrong that a player does super amplified. A quarterback throws an interception. It's the end of the world. If a running back fumbles, get him off my team.

Starting point is 00:15:00 If a receiver is continually dropping passes, get him off my team. But we know that's not the Broncos philosophy. They stick through some tough times with their guys. And I think with Riley, what really proved to me that he's potentially contract extension worthy is the fact that they didn't put his job up for grabs whatsoever. this offseason and they had every opportunity to do so didn't they they got a first round pick waiting in the wings and they've said that the vision i mean vance joseph said it and i know vision can change but vance has said that they envisioned him playing outside so you would think going into this off season if they didn't have an

Starting point is 00:15:36 intention of potentially extending riley moss that you know hey put his job up for grabs and make him compete for it make him go out there and earn it. I still think there's a chance that you could wait to the end of the season or until after. And right before free agency, you could franchise tag Riley Moss. But do you really want to get to that point? I mean,

Starting point is 00:15:55 do you really want to get to the point of saying like, okay, well, we waited too long, but in every other instance, we got out ahead of the market, right? In every other instance, we bet on our player because how many years as a starter did Nick Benito have before he got his extension? I think it was two.

Starting point is 00:16:12 Pat Sertan obviously had proven himself, to a very high level. But when he got his extension, he went out on one defensive player of the year. When Nick Benito got his extension, he finished fourth in defensive player of the year voting. And now I think you put that same leap of faith toward Riley Moss, and you say, all right, this guy led the NFL and passes broken up last year.

Starting point is 00:16:32 We know he struggled with penalties. We're going to put our faith in the player. And we're going to believe that he can be what we envision him becoming. So I just think there's every reason to give him that contract now instead of later. I'm with you too because the Broncos also have a very interesting decision. And I would say scenarios presenting them next year, at least when you talk about free agency and you're looking at the guys who are free agents. But I also think if you look at the financial overview for Denver, even with everything

Starting point is 00:16:59 kind of sat as it is right now, that the Broncos don't do anything. Going into next year, they're anticipated to have around $14 million in cap space, which is around 24th in the NFL according to Spot Track. And you look at the cap hit scenario. We already know Cortland Sutton, Jaylon Waddle. 28, 27 million between those two guys. That's high. You know the highest cap it next year?

Starting point is 00:17:19 It's Nick Benito at 32 million, which is, that's what's popping up right there. That kind of threw me off guard when I saw that because like, all right, now are they going to find a way to like give Nick a big signing bonus and then all of a sudden change that? Like, if you're the Broncos and you want to create salary cap flexibility going into next season, it is wise to maybe extend a guy like Riley Moss now because that lowers his overall cap it. And if I'm looking at it correctly, where he's at, like, I don't. think he's projected to make too much. I think around 14, 15 million per year is probably where

Starting point is 00:17:48 his price tag is going to be for a cornerback to that that's probably as good as it's ever going to get, right? That's, that's fair because there might be a team out there that would pay him CB1 money. I don't know where it would be, but that certainly is a possibility. And you mentioned the franchise tag here, at least in 2026. I don't know what 2027 is going to be yet. The franchise tag value for corners is $21.1 million. Could this be the year the Broncos and they haven't used it. Gosh, when was the last time you used it?

Starting point is 00:18:15 Justin Simmons, the last time that they used, the franchise tag was on Simmons, that this could end up being the first year. The Broncos end up having to use that on a player. And Riley would have to do that. And that would be a placeholder because I think they would do a deal. But that's the risky run.

Starting point is 00:18:28 If Riley plays really well, Sarah has four or five interceptions, then his price tag shoots up to the point where I don't think he can come back. Well, and ESPN just dropped an article earlier this week talking about guys like Joey Porter Jr., of the Steelers, Christian Gonzalez of the Patriots, as well as I think DJ Turner of the Bengals,

Starting point is 00:18:48 and talking about those three guys as kind of being the next in line for big money deals at corner. George Payton has consistently made himself look like a genius by getting out ahead of these markets. And so this is just the strategy that you want to have as a GM to get out ahead of deals. Now, does that mean the player always makes you look smart? No, but I think in most cases,

Starting point is 00:19:10 the extensions the Broncos have handed out, have made them look pretty darn smart. But I think also you have to remember that this is a culture thing as well. This is what George Payton said he wanted to do from the moment he was hired. Draft, develop, get guys to second contracts. Well, Riley Moss fits all those criteria, right? He was drafted by the team. They traded up to get him in 2023.

Starting point is 00:19:32 He's developed in this defense, in this system. And now you get him to that second contract. He posted on Instagram, Cody. I know I texted you after he posted this. and ultimately probably could mean nothing, right? Because you were just saying, hey, he's excited about the upcoming season. But for Riley Moss to post something out of the blue,

Starting point is 00:19:51 I think he said, like mile high, mile high, ain't ready or something like that. I can't remember what it said. But I was like, what could this mean? You just never know what's boiling or bubbling beneath the surface. And I hope for the Broncos sake, like if, yeah, Riley has a big season, it's going to, there's going to be a big time tax.

Starting point is 00:20:10 And you already have the opportunity to get. out ahead of it. I say why not? Yeah, why not, Broncos Country? Let's know your thoughts here. Do you think Riley Moss is going to carry on the tradition here of the September contract extension signing by the Denver Broncos. Coming up next, we're going to go through our expectations for the outside linebacker room while Jonathan Cooper is out. And it's the perfect opportunity for Jonah Ellis to showcase he can be the guy opposite of

Starting point is 00:20:31 Nick Benito going forward. Today's episode of the show was brought to you by Kowshi before season even kicks off. Everyone's making predictions. Who wins the division? Who makes the playoffs? Who's lifting the trophy? At the end of the season, and on Kaushi, America's number one prediction market platform, you can trade those predictions in a live market.

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Starting point is 00:21:15 18-plus only. Restrictions and eligibility requirements apply. Event contract trading involves risk and may not be suitable for all investors. Kau-Shee products are not available in all jurisdictions, prices, values, and available markets may differ from those mentioned. For more information, see Kauci.com slash regulatory. Nick Benito was the top dog for the Debra Broncos at Outside Linebacker, and Jonathan Cooper was the second in command here with him on the commissioners exemplless and facing a long-term suspension. the Denver Broncos are going to get an opportunity to take a look at Jonah Ellis, Hugh Robinson, and Dandre Tillman a little bit more.

Starting point is 00:21:47 Shout out to all the everydayers out there in Broncos country. Thanks for making us your first listen here on the lockdown podcast network, your team every day also the number one sports podcast network in the country. We appreciate you so much for rocking with us. Sarah, let's talk about the outside linebacker because here on Monday night football, we are going to get our first look at Nick Benito and Jonah Ellis as the top two guys it outside linebacker against the Kansas City Chiefs and Patrick Mahomes. And we also get to see the depth rotation of Dondre Tillman and Q Robinson, who Evan

Starting point is 00:22:15 Egram just the other day said himself, if I had to pinpoint one player who surprised me the most this training camp, it's Q Robinson. And the reason he said that he said, when we're lining up and going against Q, I'm telling myself there, I've really got to lock in because Q, Q is fast, he's strong. But man, he's got length. Like his arms and his wingspan are unbelievable, Sarah. And Evan said, I really had to lock in when going up against him. So we're going to see the Broncos pass rush potential future going forward here with these guys.

Starting point is 00:22:45 And also on top of that, looking at the Broncos outlook financially, not knowing what the Jonathan Cooper situation is going to bring going into 2027. Cooper has the seventh highest cap hit next season at $17.5 million. So going to be very interesting to see what kind of plays out obviously from the league, from his whole situation. But this is the Broncos audition right now to really. see Jonah Ellis, a guy that they believe is one of their best players defensively. They want to see them on the field. They're going to get that. I believe this is what's called a Wally Pip potential situation, isn't it, Cody,

Starting point is 00:23:18 where you have a player who's out for whatever reason and they have a chance to get replaced in the interim. I do believe Jonah Ellis and Q Robinson, not to sell Dondre Tillman short, but I believe Jonah and Q are good enough to Wally Pip Jonathan Cooper while he's on the commissioner's exempt list and potentially facing a suspension. I think just what you said. I mean, the speed, the athleticism, the explosiveness, the length, the strength. Q Robinson in particular, I mean, kind of shocked me on a number of occasions with his

Starting point is 00:23:50 closing speed on the quarterback. It really popped against Drake May and the Patriots, which, I mean, that was just an impressive rep from Q Robinson. I think we kind of keep pointing back to when we talk about him. But then in the preseason, he actually got called for a penalty. I can't remember what quarterback he was chasing now if it was Tyrod Taylor of the Green Bay Packers, but he got called for a penalty for his whole weight falling on the quarterback.

Starting point is 00:24:14 And it was like, I mean, he was shot out of a cannon while he was chasing the quarterback. And typically you feel like the quarterbacks have the angle. They might have like in Tyrod Taylor's case, he's got some speed. So they might have the angle and the speed advantage over an edge rusher like that. But Q Robinson is able to close so fast on the. the quarterback that it almost makes him intimidating.

Starting point is 00:24:39 I would think, I mean, coming at you like that, it's like the boogeyman coming after you in your nightmares. It's like, I can't, I'm stuck in quicksand. No matter how fast I think I'm running, I'm not running fast enough. So I'm really excited for him to get extended reps because what? He played six games last year in the regular season and then a little bit in the playoffs. We need more Q Robinson reps. And Jonah Ellis, I feel like, is the unsung potential breakout candidate of this team as well.

Starting point is 00:25:06 super athletic. But what we've seen from Jonah in the past when he's at his best, man, that guy can dominate off the edge in a variety of different ways. Problem is he's not been healthy. He hasn't been able to be at full strength. But when he's at full strength, I mean, shoot, he's a dog out there off the edge.

Starting point is 00:25:24 So I just think if anybody in Brockett's country is worried whatsoever about the edge group without Jonathan Cooper, I think these guys will ease those worries rather quickly. Yeah, I agree. And look, I always felt like coming into the season two before anything ever happened with Cooper off the field. I always felt like, okay, how is Denver going to manage getting Q Robinson time this upcoming season, right? You have Benito, you have Cooper, you have Jonah, you have Dondre. And Dondry's proven himself.

Starting point is 00:25:51 Like, Dondre has some bragging rights because he was tied for the team lead in interceptions last season, folks. And he had really good return skills from that on those two picks that we saw from him. But the thing that I'm also looking at is like, all right, do you keep five? outside linebackers active on game day? Do you rotate all five in? I was like, man, that's going to be hard. So there was always this situation presenting itself. It's like, how did the Bronco was manage this to get Q on the field more?

Starting point is 00:26:15 And that's what led to the ultimate Jonah maybe getting some off ball linebacker reps, which at this point, considering, you know, I think the concerns that we have, I wouldn't be, I wouldn't mind that. Like if there was like a break glass in case of emergency situation and that was something you ran into with an injury, all right, get Jonah some more reps there, in my opinion. Like do you have flexibility? and then maybe you start Q Robinson next to Nick Benito if that happens. I'm not trying to get ahead of myself here.

Starting point is 00:26:40 But I'm saying playing out. I'm seeing the numbers. I'm like, the numbers, Mason, what do they say? That's where I'm at. So that was always a challenge. And now to your point, it does give the Broncos an extended look at Jonah, who you mentioned being fully healthy. This is the healthiest offseason he's had so far coming into the NFL.

Starting point is 00:26:57 I'm excited about it. He looks bigger. He looks faster. He looks stronger. We've seen a great training camp from him. We've seen a great preseason from him. Now, how does that translate within the context of the regular season? I'm very curious for that because you're probably not going to play him on special teams

Starting point is 00:27:11 as much. And he was one of Denver's better special teams players. So that's maybe where you see the numbers crunch at safety. You have to add additional guys at certain positions just so you can account for maybe the loss of Jonah on special teams who was a core four guy in the eyes of Darren Rizzy. So more expectations for those guys to be playing. Now, something with Q Robinson. Now, obviously, this past week, he's been on the side field.

Starting point is 00:27:30 He returned to practice on Wednesday. he did position drills and then he went back to the side field. So the hope is that going into next week, he's fully healthy. He's ready to rock and roll for this Broncos team ahead of Monday night football. Because I think when Jonah is the starter, I do think the first man up in that rotation is going to be cute. But then the way that they do it, Sarah, and we've seen this before. Nick and Jonah are going to come off.

Starting point is 00:27:53 Hugh and Dondry are going to go on. And one thing that Sean had said is there really is no drop off. Like with our front, the defense that we play, we're playing more guys at the outside line. We're rotating guys more at outside. outside because of our front. We're able to do that. That is a blessing.

Starting point is 00:28:07 That's hard to find in today's NFL. Yeah, it really is. And it speaks to the team's depth, but also just the readiness of those guys to rotate in. I mean, there were a few times last season that I can't remember specifically off the top of my head, but you would sit there right before a play and you would be like, wait, why is 92 and 52 out there in this situation and not 15 and zero, right?

Starting point is 00:28:29 meaning like your backups are on the field in a key third down situation or a key goal line situation or key red zone situation. Like the Broncos don't just bring these guys out like, you know, a hockey team changes, what is it called shifts or whatever it is? I'm so bad with hockey stuff guys. I mean, I'm terrible. But I know what it is because I watched the mighty ducks back in the day and I know they do a line change or whatever it is. So it's not like the Broncos just do the line change and it's like, hey, at the beginning of a drive, it's going to be. these guys. No, it's in key situations as well. So they trust these guys to not only get the job done on early downs or just to keep the starters fresh. They trust them situationally. They trust them in

Starting point is 00:29:10 moments. And I think that's a big deal over the course of the long haul of a season because they're ready whenever their number is called to make a play in any of those situations. That's why selfishly, I don't want Vance Joseph to get a head coaching job. I want him to stay here in Denver because I think what he's done with this system, with this scheme, the personnel that they've acquired and they've kind of put together here. I think it works so well here for Denver. And I think it'll be hard for anybody else to come in and run his defense, right? Like, you think if Vance gets a head coaching job, you think, like, you don't want to change the defensive scheme because he leaves, right? So how do you, how do you maintain that? Maybe that is where it's like guys like Jamar

Starting point is 00:29:47 Kane or Robert Livingston. Like, if Vance does get a head coaching job, which he deserves it, by the way. So me saying I selfishly hope he doesn't is only because I want him to stick here in Denver to keep this defense running what they are. That's a good problem to have, man. And we'll see where things are at here with this team as things unfold here. But the expectations for the outside linebacker room, even with Cooper out, I don't think they've changed one bit. I think there's natural skepticism that people may have saying,

Starting point is 00:30:13 okay, can it be just as impactful if Cooper's not out there? I think it can. I think Jonah can. I think Q certainly can. And we're fixing to find out. There's a good friend Gary Kuwie, I always used to say. But with that said, Broncos Country. that I'll wrap up today's episode of the show the next time you're going to see Sarah and

Starting point is 00:30:27 unless there's a Riley Moss or a free agent extension contract signing here on the September 4th. It's been George Payton's tradition. You'll see us on Monday for a brand new episode of the show where we're going to start getting into our previews for the week. We'll be officially one week away from Monday night football. We're excited about that. Make sure you stay tuned here. Lockdown Broncos.

Starting point is 00:30:45 We'll see you that.

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