Locked On Broncos - Daily Podcast On The Denver Broncos - Red Murdock is a VERY RELEVANT Pick for Denver Broncos

Starting point is 00:00:00 The Denver Broncos had Mr. Irrelevant in this year's NFL draft, and that guy might be the most relevant of it all because he might be the biggest still defensively in the draft. 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? I'm Cody Ork. Join as always by Sarah Bedding, or not today's bonus episode of the show.

Starting point is 00:00:30 We're highlighting Mr. Irrelevant, Red Murdoch, linebacker out of the the University of Buffalo. He was a tackling machine at Buffalo, but there's traits that could mean he could end up being a little bit of a gem. And maybe the defense is still the draft here for the Broncos. We'll talk about all that here on today's show. Sarah, let's dive into our conversation here on Red Murdoch. Now, of course, being picked last in the NFL draft, you get the title, Mr. Irrelevant. And the irony of that is that that player is never really irrelevant. I think everyone's always trying to find a gem at that position more recently in the NFL history, I believe Brock Purdy is the last guy to be a big name guy for the 49ers.

Starting point is 00:01:09 Obviously, they're starting quarterback. It's different when you talk about defensive players, though, because the Broncos, as we've looked and we talked about in the buildup, they're always looking to upgrade their depth at this position. Well, Red Murdoch is a player who has really high upside as the Broncos are going to strike those high upside traits in this year's draft. He could end up being a little bit of a steel in comparison to maybe some other players in this year's NFL draft.

Starting point is 00:01:34 Cody, the Broncos might be a midseason Halloween party and a Woody costume away from having one of the more successful Mr. Irrelevant picks in recent NFL memory. Real ones remember Chad Kelly, Swag Kelly days. So you never know. The vacuum. The vacuum could have been Brock Purdy before Brock Purdy was Brock Purdy. If only he had been a bit more honorable like Sheriff Woody truly is. But all joking aside, Broncos country, I love the red. Murdoch pick. I think that, you know, this is a guy, Cody, who is a, like you said,

Starting point is 00:02:09 tackling machine, very, very physical, 17 career forced fumbles at the collegiate level, showed off his loyalty to Buffalo, not as a, hey, I'm, I'm loyal to a fault, but because he wanted to stick with the team that, you know, he started with and continue on what he was building there. And that loyalty, I think really matters. Second team, All-American this past season at Buffalo. And, you know, 360 plus tackles is not easy to do. And so I just think that this guy has all of the traits that you look for in terms of, man, one of my favorite scouting notes was from Dane Bruegler, Cody. It said that he understands the geometry of the game of football because he's not necessarily out there running a 4-4 or a 4-5,

Starting point is 00:02:52 and he's still able to take the proper angle to get to the ball carrier with force and get the ball out. And he's good at it. He's very good at it. And not just one year was he good at. at it. He's been good at it every single year that he's played at the college level, punching that ball out and being a force at the second level. I just think, man, there's, you can't make guarantees, especially with seventh round picks, but I would say, man, if I'm, if I'm betting on anybody, it's Red Murdoch there at Mr. Irrelevant. He's got a chip on his shoulder too. You know, one of the things we talked about, we jumped on a conference call with him right after he was drafted and he was just saying, you know, he's,

Starting point is 00:03:31 he's always willing to just, he's got a chip on a shoulder. He's banking on himself. that, you know, he never once really thought about the fact, like, what if I go undrafted? He says, you know, I just knew that I was going to land somewhere. And wherever I land, I'm going to give it my best. And I'm going to go make the most of that opportunity. You know, the high upside traits is what George and Sean said that they like on players. And this year certainly was a draft class to go and take a chance on a couple of those guys. While Red Murdoch may not have a chance to play right away,

Starting point is 00:03:56 and we'll dive into how we project him to play in Denver specifically on defense, He might have a chance to play right away on special teams and could have his impact felt there, but led the NCAA with 17 forced fumbles throughout his career. It's an NCAA record. That right there is crazy. But when you watch him on tapes there, and I've got film of his games that I've been going through with the All 22, he knows where the football is, right? Let's say he's supposed to plug inside and let's say a running back is running it to the outside.

Starting point is 00:04:24 He knows how to take the right angle to sweep underneath to still go and make the play. A lot of teams don't get big plays on him in that regard where he's, he can develop, I think is a little bit more in past coverage. But the way that the University of Buffalo utilized him was kind of this Swiss Army knife because there are times that he's lining up obviously at outside, I mean, not outside, off ball linebacker and he's blitzing, he's reading his keys. Then there are a time situationally where they'll put him off the edge. So he's kind of like this tweener, so to speak, about, hey, I can play off ball.

Starting point is 00:04:53 I can also get on the outside edge there. I think it was because of his ability. If teams were trying to run to the outside situationally, they wanted to put their best player there because he would take that away. And certainly he did just that. 39 and a half total tackles for a loss behind the line of scrimmage throughout his career. You mentioned the loyalty there at the University of Buffalo. He had multiple offers from bigger schools to go play and go start on scholarship elsewhere. He wanted to stay. He didn't want to go in the transfer portal and go play anywhere else. There's a lot to be said for that type of

Starting point is 00:05:26 character that a player like that has. And I'm excited to see maybe how he fits here with the Broncos going forward. And look, Broncos Country coming up next, Sarah and myself, we're going to sit and we're going to dive into the Broncos linebacker depth. How can he play right away as a rookie, even if it's not on the defensive side of the ball? Broncos Country today show is brought to you our friends over there at Ruggie. The NFL draft has come and gone. And you know what? The NFL draft was a place where preparation meets opportunity and every decision matters. But it's all about being ready when your moment comes. And the same mindset applies off the field too. And that's where Ruggi it comes in. Rugi offers treatments designed to help you feel ready.

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Starting point is 00:07:40 A great tackler like Red Murdoch who plays with violence can have more value than just on the defensive side of the ball, especially in today's NFL. Man, that kickoff coverage, the punk coverage, pop the ball loose a couple of times on special teams. Cody and I are going to break down how Red Murdoch is going to get on the field in 2026 for your Denver Broncos here on today's bonus episode of Lockdown Broncos. Broncos Country. We appreciate all you every day or so much for rocking with us. And thank you so much.

Starting point is 00:08:05 If you've signed up for the Every Dayer Club, it means the world to Cody and I. We want to invite you to do so if you haven't done so already. There's an ad-free version of the show every day. Tons of draft content on there. Cody's got the all-22 of this incoming rookie class. So you can expect a deep dive on Red Murdoch at some point. But we appreciate you. Check out the link in the show notes for that.

Starting point is 00:08:24 Lockdown Broncos. dot supercast.com. And Cody, the kickoff game in today's NFL necessitates headhunters like Red Murdoch. I mean, this guy with 17 forced fumbles and 44, this is a crazy note on him, he had 44 more tackles than the next closest guy over the last two years of FBS production. He is exactly what you need on kickoff and punt coverage to go out there and headhunt and go get that ball out and create big turnover plays on special teams. And Darren Rizzy's probably really excited about this pick

Starting point is 00:09:00 because I imagine they're envisioning a role for him right away that, hey, our ideal situation, like best case scenario here is situational player maybe for us defensively, but this guy will play special teams right away. That's kind of how Karen A Reed made the 53-man roster was because he could play special teams. I think Red Murdoch, no disrespect to Corinne Reed. I think Red Murdoch is a better foot. football player, but maybe what hurt Red and the whole process is playing at the University of Buffalo,

Starting point is 00:09:27 right? You imagine if he was playing for a team like Texas or even NC State, Texas A&M, Florida. If he was playing for one of those teams, he probably would have been a third, fourth round pick, potentially. It just depends. Sometimes the school gets a negative rep because you're not playing as high level of competition. So I'm curious to see maybe how that adjustment is for Red, but the thing about it when you watch him on tape, this guy is a true football player. And for Darren Rizzy on kickoff, I already imagine, hey, we got a role for him right there. Punt team, we got an envision role for him there. Return team, we got an envision role for there because he's going to go find a guy and he's going to block.

Starting point is 00:10:01 That's where I think you have the ideal possibility of Mr. Irrelevant being able to play as a rookie here in 2026, not so much defensively because of Alex Singleton, Justin Sternad, and even Jonah Ellis maybe being ahead of him right now. But I guarantee you, he's going to probably be that four deep guy. maybe if they carry five on their active roster, which they typically do, he might be that fourth or that fifth guy. And there's nothing wrong with that because if he's playing on game days on special teams, to me, that's a huge success considering where he was taken. That's a huge W.

Starting point is 00:10:30 And like you said, I mean, Mr. Irrelevant in this year's draft was maybe the most relevant position for the Broncos going into this class. I know our good friend Mike Cliss over there at 9 News mentioned that the Broncos had a number of linebackers on their radar when those top six targets at pick 62. So it's not like Red Murdox. is necessarily a fallback plan. You can call it that if you want to, but I think he's a really good alternative option

Starting point is 00:10:54 to going up and get somebody at the top of this draft class. You get somebody later on who is going to have that chip on his shoulder, who can play special teams and who I think can provide you with more trustworthy depth at the linebacker position. Like you said, Cody, the other guys that Broncos have brought in. I think it's fair to say they all have question marks about at the collegiate level. They just don't have the type of production and body of work. that you see from Red Murdoch when it comes to, you know, like we talked about,

Starting point is 00:11:22 taking those angles, knowing the geometry of football, having that vision as a linebacker, taking on blocks, being physical, wrapping up and not letting guys down. Another asset that's in his favor in a big way, he has massive hands. Like that's the Broncos went after the guys who have the big hands in this draft. Well, how does that help a linebacker? Because guys can't escape his grip. Like when he gets the grip, it's a vice grip. So he brings people down.

Starting point is 00:11:45 He doesn't miss tackles. he doesn't let guys lose. I think that's huge for providing depth of what this team needs. Like you're always one injury away, right? You're always one injury away from blank. And you have to consider that when it comes to the draft. So that's where I think you're maybe putting a little bit of extra pressure on a guy who's a seventh round pick, the last pick of the draft.

Starting point is 00:12:04 But at the same time, I think he kind of will embrace the pressure from even the fan base, not saying he cares about that or listens to that. But when it comes to saying, hey, we expect this guy to play. well, I think he's going to embrace that. And I think he's going to be a valuable depth option for this team sooner rather than later. Well, I can't wait to get finished. I've seen I'm compiling clips right now from all the film that I have on Red Murdoch. And I'll put that together for the everydayer club, all the all access folks there here for

Starting point is 00:12:34 Locked on Broncos. You can see that. But one thing that stands out about him is when he attacks downhill, I know Sean Peyton might have a little bit of big, what do you know about attacking downhill? Real ones are going to understand that one. Shout out to my guy, Luca. but he does a really great job of striking with his hands and his ability to shed and make a play. Gosh, that stood out to me almost instantaneously when watching his film because, you know,

Starting point is 00:12:56 linebackers, their first key is to read the guard and my reading run. Okay, now I got to get, if it's run, this guard pulled, like it's all about getting to your run fit. He does that, but when he meets a blocker, an offensive lineman, he strikes with his hands first. Sometimes people strike with their chest or their shoulder, and then that takes them out of the play. he goes up he shoots his arms violently attacks sheds makes the tackle inside of so much contact inside of traffic and congestion there in the trenches he has a nose for the football i i want to say like you know we talk so much about alec singleton anywhere the football is number 49 is right there right with red murdoch this dude is like the football is there he's a magnet to the football

Starting point is 00:13:38 whatever it is there and then some and you can see it he's got the flash he's got the his ass. You know, it's like when you heat up a pan, Sarah, and all of a sudden, you, you know, you go to put like your oil in it and then you go and you put whatever, like your chicken, your ground before me. I know we're going into a culinary school right now. You hear the sizzle. He looks the part and he also sounds the part. He is the sizzle, right? There's a saying that some people will buy a steak for, you know, just like the price, he says, but a lot of times people will enjoy the steak for the sizzle. I mean, he is the sizzle and you can enjoy it as well. He is an absolute dog. I'm excited to see what he can do here. And right now, we're talking about what we

Starting point is 00:14:18 hope he can be. He's got to go out there and prove it. He does. And I think he will. I think that'll be, obviously, you don't want to necessarily make any guarantees of any draft pick, of course. But the Broncos have really done a great job of identifying guys who fit their program well, who can come in without the pressure. I know we have an episode coming out about that on Tuesday when we're talking about all the defensive picks, Cody, right? So it's an opportunity for these guys to come in, learn to play a role right away to get up to speed as quickly as possible because opportunity is what they've got right now. Even one of the best rosters in the NFL, the linebacker position for the Denver Broncos

Starting point is 00:14:55 is an area of opportunity for a seventh round pick for an undrafted free agent. There's depth needed, depth wanted guys who could step up. That's what the Broncos need right now. And so how will Red Murdoch meet this opportunity? Is he going to take it on like he does, you know, those guards coming out and take and, you know, just hands on right away. Or, you know, are we going to see a guy who looks like a seventh round pick and Mr. Irrelevant out there?

Starting point is 00:15:19 I think we're going to see the former. And I think he's going to play really well. I think he's going to respond. And like you said, he's a ball magnet. It's like a great shooter in basketball, right? I mean, that's a trait that translates when you can play with instincts and you can attack the football. Just it's in his nature. His name is Khalil, but he goes by red.

Starting point is 00:15:39 I mean, I don't know if there are many players in these. This year's draft that had as much of an awesome name as Red Murdoch. Like that dude just sounds like a linebacker name. That guy sounds like he belongs in the National Football League. And ultimately, it'll be up to him to see if he can showcase that to the rest of the world as he went Mr. Rowe. And could he be the next gem here for the Broncos. We believe he could be the still of the draft defensively if things work out in the vision,

Starting point is 00:16:02 which we may be perceived for him. But there's a lot of work that needs to be done between now and then for that to happen here. Broncos country, thanks for rock with us here on today's bonus episode show. Sarah and I, we got you covered. and we take a look at the Broncos defensive draft picks from the 2026 NFL draft that we forecast what they look like in those position rooms next season.

Locked On Broncos - Daily Podcast On The Denver Broncos - Red Murdock is a VERY RELEVANT Pick for Denver Broncos

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