Locked On Broncos - Daily Podcast On The Denver Broncos - RETURN: Denver Broncos' Bo Nix IS BACK As Minicamp Begins Tuesday

Episode Date: June 15, 2026

Denver Broncos quarterback Bo Nix is back as Broncos minicamp begins on Tuesday. Sean Payton has hinted that Nix will be limited, but could we see him throw at least in 7-on-7 without there being a th...reat of a pass rush element as he gets his first on-field work since ankle surgery? Cody Roark and Sayre Bedinger share three Broncos minicamp storylines including how Nix and the Broncos offense could build more chemistry with Jaylen Waddle and others and whether or not Jahdae Barron could upgrade to participating in team drills this week after improving to 7-on-7 last week.   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://lockedonpodcasts.com/podcasts/locked-on-broncos/   Locked On NFL League-Wide: Every Team, Fantasy, Draft, & More 🎧 https://lockedonpodcasts.com/leagues/nfl/   📲 Cody Roark Twitter / (https://twitter.com/codyroarknfl) 📲 Cody Roark Instagram / (https://instagram.com/codyroarknfl) 📲  Sayre Bedinger Twitter / (https://twitter.com/sayrebedinger)   Everydayer Club   If you never miss an episode, it’s time to make it official. Join the Locked On Everydayer Club and get ad-free audio, access to our members-only Discord, and more — all built for our most loyal fans. one 📲 https://lockedonbroncos.supercast.com/   TEXT LINE: Support the show and interact with us on Denver Broncos rumors, News, Game Previews, Q&A's, and more. 📲 https://joinsubtext.com/c/lockedonbroncos 📲 TEXT: (720) 580-5759   📢 Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors! Rugiet Get 15% off your treatment → https://rugiet.com/lockedonnhl Rugiet. Performance medicine for men.   Odoo Great organizations win because operations matter. And that’s why you should get Odoo. Try for free today at https://Odoo.com/lockedon.   FanDuel Today's episode is brought to you by FanDuel. From the opening whistle to the final kick, Let There Be Goals on FanDuel. Visit https://FANDUEL.COM to get started now.   Square If you’re starting a business, or running one that deserves better tools, Square helps you sell, manage, and grow without slowing down. Right now, you can get up to $200 off Square hardware at https://square.com/go/LockedOnNFL.   Indeed Listeners of this show get a $75 Sponsored Job Credit to help give your job the premium placement it deserves at http://Indeed.com/podcast.   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.

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Starting point is 00:00:00 The city of New York for some reason this weekend was chanting, go Bo Nix. Go Bo Nix. Is it because he's back this week? You are Locked-on Broncos, your daily Denver Broncos podcast. Part of the Locked-on podcast network, your team every day. Happy Monday, Broncos country. Cody Rourke, Sarah Beninger here in today's episode is brought to you by Fandu.
Starting point is 00:00:28 The biggest stage in world soccer is here. Let there be goals on Fandu. Visit Fandu.com to get started. Now as we break down three storylines we have interest in this week as mandatory mini camp begins. We have access to all three practices beginning Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday. Well, should a bear an upgrade from limited participation to full participation this week or everything for this team is mandatory. Plus we'll go through how the Broncos offense is building chemistry right before they head off to a break here for training camp.
Starting point is 00:00:57 We're going to kick things off by talking about the biggest story in Broncos country. Bo Nix is back this week. how much will he do? How much will he not do? The city of New York, obviously chanting his praises. Go Bo Knicks. Go Bo Nix.
Starting point is 00:01:11 I love it, Cody. I was thinking the same thing. You know, as we were watching the Nix win the NBA finals, I'm thinking of myself, man, I love me some Nicks. I couldn't help but root for the Knicks.
Starting point is 00:01:22 Just because, no, I actually did enjoy. I was, this is the first NBA, I know the Nuggets won the finals recently. This is the first NBA finals that I've been really like, hooked, you know what I'm saying?
Starting point is 00:01:34 And not because I don't love the nuggets. I'm a secondhand Nuggets fan for all those listeners of Lockdown Broncos who love the nuggets, but couldn't help but feel a little bit of, you know, the parallel between the New York Knicks and the Denver Broncos. The Knicks, of course, trailed for pretty much the entire NBA finals. I think I saw a stat that said like 76% of the NBA finals in terms of time, they trailed. And wasn't that kind of the story of the Denver Broncos last year?
Starting point is 00:02:01 and I see a lot of the same dog in Jalen Brunson that I see in Bo Nix. Like the game is not over when you can put the ball into Bo Nix's hands. And so I really enjoyed it from that perspective and feel like, man, what a cool thing to see a drought end like that 50, 53 years or something. Pretty crazy stuff. But the matter at hand here is not the fact that New York fans were chanting for Bo Nix. But it is the fact that Bo is going to be back on the practice field this week. And I think that. will remove sort of this dark cloud that lingers over Broncos off season in terms of the
Starting point is 00:02:37 fan base. I think everybody kind of understands. We saw him at the kids camp that he hosted over the weekend. We saw him moving around really well. You see him walking really well. He doesn't look like anything's wrong whatsoever. And so it's now just a matter of getting to see Bo be Bo again and to be reminded that everything is going to be okay, even if he is just a limited participant at mandatory minicamp. Yeah, I think everybody's kind of paying a attention to the footage of Bo at his camp this week. Now, obviously, he did not throw in that camp over the weekend. I think that was just a nice safe precaution because, you know, everyone's going to micromanage, pick apart every frame, whatever may be. So Bo wasn't throwing with kids, but he worked with kids at his camp.
Starting point is 00:03:16 But I think that's the question this week here is how much will Bo do this week? Now, I've kind of been on the premise of saying, like, going off what Sean told Tray Wingo a week and a half ago, saying that, you know, expect to see him. He'll be limited. So usually we know what limited means when we talk about regular season participation. That's just position specific. So I imagine he'll be in team stretch when we get a chance to watch him. He'll be obviously a highly coveted guy that we're trying to shoot with our cameras. So if you like the video reports and my high sports, I'm going to have you covered with that. But then it's going through and working on handing off the ball to the running backs, just going through that relationship, the steps there. And then you go do group work with the
Starting point is 00:03:54 wide receivers on one side of the end zone. So that's one thing that I think we're all looking forward to see him to the point about like your comparison between the New York Knicks, who my wife is a huge fan of because she's from Staten Island. You look at Bonix and the comeback kids, like that narrative you were talking about, just to put it into context of what you're referring to about the comeback kids. Last season, Bo Nix in the fourth quarter led five fourth quarter comebacks, seven game winning drives last season. So you look at him now. He's got eight fourth quarter comebacks in his two-year career, 10 game winning drives so far. Seems a lot like that resiliency that we've seen with, obviously, that New York Knicks team.
Starting point is 00:04:31 But part of me is also one or two. Like, are we going to be surprised? The Sean is going to maybe surprise us a little bit and just say, hey, like, you know, one thing with Bo, because there is not going to be a rush. Could we see both throw in seven on seven this week, right? Because realistically, you're not having anybody rush to quarterback. There's no D line. There's no pass rush.
Starting point is 00:04:51 It's just dropbacks throw the football. to me, I don't think that would hurt. So maybe we do see Bow in seven on seven. At least that would be my hope. Yeah, maybe that will be the case. And I think if Bo has anything to say about it, that, you know, he probably would, right? Because I don't know, I could just tell Cody from looking at, you know,
Starting point is 00:05:07 the quick video clips that we've seen of Bo at OTAs and the pictures of him with the hoodie over his head and a hat already on his head. I feel like this guy barely ever wears hats. Maybe I'm wrong about that. But I feel like wearing a hat because he's like, it's like a sign of, of like I'm sad to have to be standing on the sidelines sort of the thing. He doesn't want you to see his face right now or whatever. But I feel like Bo is chomping at the bit to get back out there.
Starting point is 00:05:33 I saw the videos of him at his youth camp. Like he's getting everybody fired up. Like we know Bo loves the game. And we know that he is hungry based on the letter that he wrote in the Players Tribune to his daughter. And just that he's so eager to get back at it. And so I wouldn't be surprised if he's out there. trying to do even more than maybe the Broncos are expecting. But at the same time, like, if he's good to go, he's good to go.
Starting point is 00:05:59 That's just where we're at with things. And so I'm hopeful that he's able to get back to being himself as quickly as possible. That's really the whole goal, right, is that he's able to be out there to the question that you asked last week at OTAs, you know, the mobility factor. And is he going to be limited in this way? And Sean Payton basically saying absolutely not, there's nothing's going to be limited in terms of his mobility. So we expect that Bo is going to be out there as the difference maker that he is, you know, meant to be that he was kind of destined to be for this team. He's already broken so many molds for the Denver Broncos franchise in terms of statistical categories or, you know, the first drafted quarterback since Tebow to win a playoff game for the team.
Starting point is 00:06:41 And I just think it's so great what he's got before him that he's going to be chomping at the bit, even at a mandatory mini camp to get back out there. So, yeah, rain it in if you need to, Broncos. But man, let Bo go out there and be himself as soon as he possibly can. Yeah, no, you don't want to, I mean, you don't want to jump the gun a little bit, but like, I think you want to get good work in. I think that's for Bo. And obviously, I think with the quarterbacks having recently taken their trip to Cabo, from what I understand, Bo when the Broncos going to break after this week,
Starting point is 00:07:13 a mandatory mini camp is going to be five to six weeks before they have to report back for training camp. I do think that he's going to get in a lot of work here locally. he's probably going to get together with the receivers. They're going to throw. They're not going to take any crazy trips, I don't believe. I think Bo is going to be very much ingrained with continuing to rehab and go through his process. He's going to be fully cleared before we know training camp even happens. It's one thing Sean has said.
Starting point is 00:07:36 And even Sean himself said, too, like, for us, we got to make sure we don't let him do too much. We've got to hold him back because if we just let him do it, he's going to do everything full. He's going to participate fully. So the Broncos kind of that placeholder there of pulling him back in. And I would say to just being limited, even if you're just throwing seven on seven and doing your position drills, I think that's enough. I don't think here in mandatory minicamp, I don't think we need to see Bo doing team drills, especially because with the Broncos pressure, because they're guys like Nick Benito, Dandre Tillman, Q Robinson, guys, we highlighted in OTA recap last week that had been standing out, you don't want to have to have bowl run around unnecessarily right now. Now, I'll say last week when we did see him at practice on the other field, he was doing some. some jogging. So I think for him, he's just conditioning at this point. You don't need to
Starting point is 00:08:26 overdo it here this week. If you are Bo Nix, there's plenty that you're going to be able to do once you're training camp rolls around because when camp rolls around, he's going to have to maneuver around guys like Nick Benito and obviously Zach Allen, the Broncos pass rush and how they plan to send some stuff after them to kind of fluster the offense. And so I think they're going to have some challenges and, you know, kind of presented in front of them. But it's also an opportunity to see Bo start to build some chemistry here with guys like Jalen. Waddle, Justin Jolie, Dallin, Bentley, just getting back in the groove with the guys
Starting point is 00:08:55 throwing to them. That's another thing to Broncos country coming up next. We're going to talk about how the Broncos plan to build chemistry, including not necessarily going away when there is a massive break and what that means for the Broncos offense and how they can get ahead of the curve. Here on today's episode of the show. Today's episode of the show
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Starting point is 00:11:21 Spots or jobs. As we await, what could be the headlines for Denver Broncos minicamp. One of the things we want to hear is that the Broncos offense is building chemistry. Can they do it over three days of practice? We're going to talk about what we want to see, what we want to hear about coming out of Denver Broncos mini camp this week. Broncos country,
Starting point is 00:11:38 thanks so much for tuning in, locking in every single day here, locked on Broncos. We appreciate you so much for making us part of your day. however you choose to do so means the world to us. And you can get your daily Denver Broncos fix, completely ad free by checking out the everyday or club today. Start a seven-day free trial right now.
Starting point is 00:11:54 Get even closer to your favorite team, the Denver Broncos, without the interruptions. Check out the link in the show notes or go to lockdown broncos. That supercast.com. Cody, we want to hear all about how the Broncos offense is building chemistry this week at mini camp.
Starting point is 00:12:08 And certainly when you have the most, you know, I guess this feels like the highest stakes, practices before training camp, right? This is where you've kind of already done a little bit of installation at OTAs, mandatory mini camp. It carries just a little bit more weight, even with the word mandatory. It feels like this is obviously the sendoff for the team before training camp. You want them feeling good about where things are at coming into training camp. And we always know the offense feels like it starts off training camp and even lingering into training camp a little bit behind the
Starting point is 00:12:43 defense. This is an opportunity for the offense to get that chemistry building. And that's exactly what we want to see for these three days of practice. Yeah. And I think it's just a continuation of the Broncos having 100% attendance in their offseason program. I think them being in the meeting rooms together, working out together, like those things matter. Even if Bow hasn't been able to participate, he's been talking with guys like Jalen Waddle, Justin Jolie, especially in the meeting room. But now it's about going out there and getting all that stuff together. It's while the Broncos are having other guys that having, you know, had offseason injuries or surgeries that are working their way back.
Starting point is 00:13:17 Like, for example, Luke Wattenberg, Ben Powers, those guys have not participated in team drills so far. So when you talk about that offensive line, and of course, there's no contact, no physical contact allowed. But how does it work when Alex Paucheske's getting reps there? And when you have another center that's in there as well. Calvin Throckmorton was there, week one, OTAs. We did not see him week two of OTAs there. Have not seen Alex Forsyth yet as he's recovering from something as well. So Gavin Ortega, the undrafted guy's been getting a lot of reps.
Starting point is 00:13:45 And unfortunately, he has not necessarily had some good snaps, at least in last Thursday's practice or a lot of snaps that were low. A couple of them that went on the ground. So not ideal there, but it's allowing him to also get better and working in with different guys in the offensive line. And one thing that's going to help with that chemistry, sir, is the fact that you are rotating guys like Jalen Waddle and you're rotating undrafted guys in to play alongside Jalen Wattle, Cortland Sutton at times just to get reps. this stuff does matter.
Starting point is 00:14:12 But I think who are the guys, if I had to ask you right now, who are the guys that you want to see develop the best chemistry possible here coming into this week and the three days of practice that we do have? Who do you think needs it the most? Well, I think Evan Ingram, you want to continue to hear him building this off season. And I also think the running backs is where I'm interested to find out. I know that they're not going to be breaking any tackles out there. They're not going to be using really too much of the physical element of what they bring to the table.
Starting point is 00:14:38 But how do they mesh when they're, they're rotating in with the top offense and how frequently is that happening, right? Because we know that chemistry between a quarterback and a running back. And certainly that element of the Broncos offense is going to be critical this coming season, whether it's throwing passes to these guys or those guys picking up, you know, and pass protection picking up their guys. I think it's going to be really important for the entire operation to be going. But, I mean, in terms of the chemistry, right?
Starting point is 00:15:09 I mean, how many times have we really seen an issue arise with the Broncos either, you know, running the wrong routes? The Broncos not necessarily having great chemistry with Bo Nix in terms of that. I mean, even Evan is kind of an example of this, right? I mean, last year it was like, well, he's third on the team in targets, but it didn't really formulate into anything over the course of a season. It was just kind of, you know, it just kind of was. And so everything felt forced last year. We want to see these guys really take that next step in just their comfortability. with each other with Davis Webb and maybe that's a big element of the chemistry element of this
Starting point is 00:15:44 whole thing too is that Davis Webb the mad scientist out there the web slinger getting all these guys as the right ingredients on the field at the same time yeah and I think that's how you can build I think chemistry is certain personnel packages now the one thing that I would say is also helping is to what you said earlier about installation the Broncos right now we're in phase one of you know installation their installation phase there that you know they put in when they were having team meetings when lifting weights. Phase one is, hey, these are the things. These are the bread and butter, the foundational pieces of our offense.
Starting point is 00:16:16 And this is part one of installing that. You know, we're going to go through that here in the meetings. But now throughout OTAs, we've seen them kind of go through and begin carrying it out on the field. This is where I think you accelerate that a little bit. Hey, we may be jumping into phase two of our installation from what we first talked about here, trying to get things going here because when we come back for training camp, these are the things that we really need to get down pat in terms of mastery and then everything else will come. It would not surprise me here once against her because you said it earlier.
Starting point is 00:16:45 The defense typically is always ahead and it's easier for them because they're returning the most guys. Denver's returning a lot of guys offensively. But the way offense is and how it's designed, it is easier to play defense and to thrive and to look good versus installing the offense. I mean, that's just the challenge that every offense, I would say, face is kind of going into training camp there. So don't be surprised if Denver gets off to slow starts offensively when we talk about in recap practice or if the defense look better on the day, Sarah, that has been the case for the last, what, handful of years. So that's normal. But are these personnel groups, are they starting to vibe together? I think Ronald Curry has been fantastic.
Starting point is 00:17:25 I think even Willie Sneed, those two guys working with the wide receivers, they have done a really good job so far. I have not seen Johnny Mo yell at the wide receivers negatively as much as I used to see him through it. I think Ronald Curry is really on them about every little detail. And you're seeing it as well and through the way the guys are catching Cortland and other guys catching the ball like this in front versus trying to body catch it. Like that was a big complaint Sean Payton had. It's the reason why Kerry Colbert ended up getting fired. So all this stuff I'd say is a work in progress. It's good signs so far. Can they carry it over? Can they be efficient this week? And more importantly, can they go into training camp with the much needed momentum that you want to go into as well?
Starting point is 00:18:05 kind of building up for, hey, these are where we want to be. Come week two of training camp when we throw the pads on, this is where we want to be. This is what we want to get off to a hot start with. And then ultimately, you've got to carry that over into preseason games. You have to carry that over into week one against the Kansas City Chiefs in the regular season. So the Broncos offense, I think that chemistry is going to be very important. It would not surprise me as well during this break in the layoff.
Starting point is 00:18:27 Don't be surprised if many of the offensive players don't go away. I don't think Bow is going anywhere. I think you're going to see this concerted effort to get guys on the same page, but you don't want to be reckless with the two. You've got to protect yourself, especially when you're away from the football facility. So I'm excited to see what comes of all that. And maybe because of that, maybe we will get a chance to talk to Bo this week at the podium. That certainly would be a nice thing to hear from him himself.
Starting point is 00:18:51 But Broncos country coming up next, we're going to go through our third storyline that we have our eyes on specifically here. Will Jude, Barron, and other Broncos players upgrade from limited participation to full participation, especially as Gidei has a chance to compete for some outside reps at cornerback. Today's episode of the show is brought to you by friends over there at Square. The business platform helping sellers become neighborhood favorites. Whether you're prepared for a busy season or you're managing everyday demand, Square helps keep your business moving forward with everything from payments and online orders to inventory, staff, management, and so much more all in one place
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Starting point is 00:20:04 bringing payments, operations, and insights together in one place, so you're ready for whatever's next. And right now listeners can get up to $200 off square hardware when you sign up at Square.com slash go slash locked on NFL. That's SQUA.com slash go slash locked on NFL. Get started with Square and build a setup that works the way you do. Last week at OTAs, we saw a handful of players upgrade from previous limited participation to full participation as mandatory minicamp rolls around. We expect everybody to be there because the price of not being a mandatory mini camp, I believe it's what, $17,000 fine per day that you miss.
Starting point is 00:20:40 Nobody wants to lose out on that type of money. So expect the Broncos to be fully present there. But I think the bigger question here is, will some guys upgrade from limited participation to full participation? Jada Barron included in that. Thanks to Broncos country for tuning in. Rock it with us, making us your first listen, however you choose to do so here on the lockdown podcast network, the number one.
Starting point is 00:20:59 Sports Podcast Network in the country. Also, it works your team every day. Sarah, let's go into this about Jaday. Jaday's been one of those players for the last two weeks. Week one of OTAs, we got to see him, did not participate in seven-on-seven or team drills, but did individual drills working with the cornerbacks. And now, last week, we saw him upgrade to not only just position drills, but he did some seven-on-seven last week as well here for Denver,
Starting point is 00:21:23 getting some reps both on the outside and inside the nickel. will we see him go to full participation and participate in actual team drills this week? That is the $6 million question. And it's a really important question because ultimately I know that competition will really ramp up at training camp when the pads can come on and we get a chance to see those guys out there in more 11-11 stuff. But I think that look, that's what I'm excited to hear from you and everybody else that's out at practice, Cody, to find out what does that rotation look like for, three consecutive days of practice.
Starting point is 00:21:58 I mean, I don't think the Broncos are going to be trying to conceal a competition if there really is one, right? So if they really believe that Jadae can take over that spot on the outside or if they believe that it's a true open competition, then we are going to see him get probably pretty extensive reps out there. And I don't know what that necessarily means. Like, would they, would they float Riley to the inside? Would they have, I mean, will he just be with the second string at some points?
Starting point is 00:22:24 I don't know. So that's what I'm eager to find out is not just will he upgrade to full, but if he is upgraded to full, then what does that competition look like to them? Because it's been a minute since, I mean, I don't remember the last time they had a true competition on the outside, Cody. Maybe you can remind me how it was during Riley's first year as a starter back in 2024, but I'm pretty sure Riley was kind of like, annoyeded by Sean Payton. I remember an interview with Kay Adams that he did where he was like, hey, Riley Moss is going to be a guy for us. So I don't remember that being like a competition, so to speak. But you tell us, because I don't really remember what was that like?
Starting point is 00:23:03 And have we seen this truly for the Broncos under Sean Payton? Yeah, I would say in Sean's first year. We didn't see it in 2024. It really was Riley the entire time. But in 2023, it was Demari Mathis versus Riley, right? In training camp, right? Demari rolled his ankle in a joint practice against the Rams. And then unfortunately, Riley had core muscle surgery that he had to have.
Starting point is 00:23:26 So, I mean, it was kind of a competition for, you know, a few days until it wasn't for both of those guys. And really was Damari getting, you know, I think the start. And then I'm trying to remember that. I mean, they had to bring in Fabian Moreau, if we recall, like during training camp because of those injuries. So instead of it being one of those guys taking over the starting job, I remember Damari ended up getting benched by Sean. And then Fabian Moreau ended up being the start. or opposite of PS2 the rest of the way in 2023. And Fabian, and that, you know, credit to him.
Starting point is 00:23:54 He actually made some plays for Denver's defense, obviously that season, especially in some of the games. He had an interception of Josh Allen on that Monday night football thriller, which was obviously a nice game. But, yeah, I would say this is the first time. And even then, like, even though the Sean said that Jadé is going to be getting, competing for reps on the outside, I'm not going to believe that really until I see it, Sarah.
Starting point is 00:24:15 Like, until I see Jaday on the field on the outside. opposite of Pat, I'm just saying like, Riley's the guy because Riley has gotten every rep in the important snaps. Like when the first team defense is out there, no one has come in and has moved Riley away. Now granted, Jadae has not participated in these team reps just yet. So when he does upgrade to participating in that, will that change? That's the thing that we're going to be keeping our eye on here this week. Also worth noting last week when Brandon Jones was out with Daddy Duty because he just became a father. Congrats to he and his wife on that, by the way.
Starting point is 00:24:48 it was Devin Key being the first guy up, getting reps alongside Talanoa Hufonga. So it seems very, very clear, at least early on if we're looking at it, that Devin Key's that third guy primarily on the safety position. And then Tyson Anderson has not gotten any reps with the first team guys or anything opposite of Talanoa Hufonga. He's kind of been working with the second and third string guys, but I'd say primarily more so third string. Interesting.
Starting point is 00:25:14 Very interesting development there. What about at the linebacker position? I mean, who's the second group up typically? Or can you even speak to that at this point? I mean, that's something that I'm really interested by because I kind of assume, I think we all assume looking at the depth chart right now that on paper it should be Red Murdoch and Tori in York, but usually it's a seniority type of deal. So who's the second behind Singleton and Sternad right there at linebacker?
Starting point is 00:25:38 It is the seniority approach right now. And I don't think it's going to stay this way for a long time. I truly think, and I think you ask anybody else on the beat, They're going to tell you, like, behind Justin and behind Singleton, it's probably going to be York and it's going to be Murdoch. Those two guys just play so well against one another. But right now, the superiority chain of rotation has been Lavelle Bailey and Corrine Reed and Jordan Turner. Those guys have been getting premier reps. And Jordan Turner, once again, I think, has completely flashed.
Starting point is 00:26:08 And there's times where you're seeing Red Murdoch, Jordan Turner, together defensively, which I liked. Jordan Turner had a great play last weekend, one of the move the ball team periods where I, I forget which quarterback. It was one of Stidham or Ellinger that connected with Lucas Crowell. Crowell was going to secure it, right? I thought he had a pretty good grip, but Jordan Turner came out and punched the ball out, forced it incomplete. He's having a really, really good start so far to the offseason program.
Starting point is 00:26:35 Can all these guys carry that over into when the pads come on and the competition at that position really amplifies? But it seems like if there's really any open competition there, it is for those third and four spots at linebacker. And I think that's probably the one spot where there is a clear cut, wide open opportunity for anybody to step up and take those reps. But primarily Lavelle Bailey has been the first guy behind those guys just because of the seniority chain of command. And I think the two spots on this defense that could be, I don't want to say, up for grabs necessarily because they're not exactly the same. But really, there's one starting job that's available on the whole defense. It's on the defensive line where John Franklin might.
Starting point is 00:27:17 is now vacated. He's gone to the Tennessee Titans. You assume it's going to be Wazareke first up and then followed by Savion Jones, maybe Jordan Jackson, and then Tyler Owen Yetam getting into the mix there. Also off the edge, off the field stuff notwithstanding. Jonathan Cooper is one of those guys working his way back this offseason as well, Cody, from an offseason procedure. So is it Dondray Tillman with the top defense? Is it Jonah Ellis?
Starting point is 00:27:42 I mean, what's the defensive front looking like out there in terms of that pecking order early in the offseason program. Yeah. Great question, too. I would say in terms of defensive end, they have done a little bit more of rotating Savion. Oh, and yet I'm getting those premium reps. Jordan Jackson has been rotating in as well. So there's kind of been three guys. I think any's kind of been more rotating inside a little bit. And part of me is wondering, like Malcolm Roach, I don't know if you saw it at the home run derby where they were, you know, hitting home runs for charity at Coors Field. Malcolm Roach alluded to having a bigger role this
Starting point is 00:28:13 year. So what does that mean? Does that mean that we're going to see Zach and Malcolm Roach, DJ Jones on the field together. Because if any is getting reps inside, it's like, okay, so now when DJ or Malcolm come off, does that mean, or is like Malcolm, is he going to play D-end? Is that where Malcolm's going to, like I, we haven't seen it yet. But part of me is wondering what this bigger role specifically is, or could it be DJ Jones and Malcolm as a nose tackle, but any's been getting some of those interior reps. He's also been getting some defensive end reps.
Starting point is 00:28:42 So the Broncos haven't necessarily tipped their hand on that yet, but it's a combination of those guys. And I would even say it's Jonah Ellis as the number one guy at outside linebacker when the starters are coming off. And obviously, I imagine we'll see how the Broncos approach to the whole Jonathan Cooper situation this week. Obviously, still details evolving in that matter. We won't comment on that until we get clarity on the NFL and clarity from the Broncos on it. But from a football standpoint, Jonah Ellis probably going to get more reps, Dandre and Q. Those guys kind of probably rotate in a little bit more. And then you got guys like Johnny Walker Jr. as well in San McColo, who's obviously getting some reps.
Starting point is 00:29:16 So a lot of moving pieces here for this Broncos team. And maybe we'll get some answers to some of these questions this week. Johnny Walker, Jr. sounds like the name of a character from like Happy Days or something like that. It's something from like the 50s time. Like Johnny Walker Jr., you know, he beats. You sound like my mother's right now. Dang, dang, dang.
Starting point is 00:29:37 Don't tell her I did that impression. Bro. It was, I mean, it was great because she's, you know, she's from Brooklyn. She got that she sounds like Joe Pesci. And so when you said that. Like, you know, my wife and I, we're going to start looking at, you know, having a kid here soon. We've already talked about. We have a boy, we're going to name him Cooper.
Starting point is 00:29:55 Because I just think Cooper is a first name's awesome. And my mother-in-law's like, Cooper. Like, I ain't calling him, Cooper. So it's not her, Cooper because she's so Brooklyn accent there. Like Turner, Cooper, like anything that has an ER, it's a. It's going to be fun, man. But it's been a New York themed episode today, Cody. It's been in New York.
Starting point is 00:30:14 We've had the New York theme kind of running. through. And look, I'm excited about this mini camp, right? I mean, I think this is such a pivotal year for the Broncos. And we talk about chemistry. We talk about competition. This is one team that is right now some of the fewest question marks. Like that's kind of been the theme of the off season, right? is that we haven't really had to do a lot of like, oh, shoot, are the Broncos in trouble here? Are they in trouble? We've been talking about like the backup linebackers and whether or not the high price, Evan Ingram can live up to free agent expectations. And so it's not like the biggest problems to have, but I think that cohesiveness and
Starting point is 00:30:54 everybody taking that next step, taking this team to the next level, man. That's why I'm so excited for mandatory mini camp. I'm with you there. It's fun. We'll have you covered every step of the way here this week. We get access to three straight practices, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday. So you're going to find out everything you want to know, Broncos country about your favorite team before they head off into training camp.
Starting point is 00:31:13 And tomorrow's episode, though, to set up before we get to practice, it's a special episode. Lockdown's been around for 10 years. We're celebrating our 10-year anniversary and also 10 years of Lockdown Broncos. Sarah and are going to share our three favorite moments in the last 10 years since doing locked on and everything else that has to do with your Denver Broncos. Make sure you share with us your top three in the last 10 years as well. We'll break it all down on tomorrow's episode of the show.

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