Locked On Broncos - Daily Podcast On The Denver Broncos - STEP UP: Denver Broncos PLAYMAKERS Must Be Better For Bo Nix in 2026

Starting point is 00:00:00 Last season, the Denver Broncos had too many drops by their playmakers that impacted Bow Nix. That has to change in 2026. You are Locked on Broncos, your daily Denver Broncos podcast. Part of the Locked on podcast network, your team every day. Happy Tuesday, Broncos country. Cody Rourke, Sarah Bedinger here for another episode of the show brought to you by our friends over there at Fandul. Right now, the biggest stage in world soccer is here and let there be goals on Fandu. We'll visit Fanduil.com to get started.

Starting point is 00:00:36 Now, as we talk about the Broncos, if they're going to make it back to the AFC championship game, this is the second installment of our new series that we're doing here on the show. Well, they're going to need their playmakers to step up. We'll talk about how the Broncos, young core wide receivers, including Marvin Mims, Pat Bryan, and Troy Franklin must take yet another leap forward here

Starting point is 00:00:54 this upcoming season. We'll also tell you why Jalen Waddle is the thermostat for the entire offense and how that could change everything in 2026. We're going to kick things off by bluntly. saying it. Broncos playmakers, they need to catch the ball when it's thrown their way. Too many drops last year. Sarah, I think everybody can agree last year. The Broncos, they led the NFL, 43 total drops last season. And it was in just wide receivers. It was collectively amongst receivers, tight ends, running backs. It was not simply good enough from Denver's playmakers last season.

Starting point is 00:01:25 And it left a lot of meat on the bone. Yeah, and that's not what you want for a young quarterback, right? Obviously, when Bo Nix is in his formative years, his developmental years, has a to have these throws and these plays wiped off the table. I mean, it's really unfortunate. And it's led to this sort of disconnect, I think, between what we believe the Broncos offense can be and what it has been, right? So 43 drops by pass catchers last season. That was the second most in the NFL behind only the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Starting point is 00:01:54 And I think we all can agree watching the Jaguars, especially in the second half of last season, you didn't really notice their drops nearly as much as you did for the Denver Broncos. And we saw it kind of pronounced in big moments of games, right? And from their top down, like it wasn't necessarily the secondary players at this position who were dropping passes. It was the primary, you know, targets and weapons are dropping these passes. And so I think that's the most difficult part of this to swallow is.

Starting point is 00:02:22 And I think part of it is too, Cody, there's like this discussion point that gets brought up every time the drops get brought up of, well, but Cortland Sutton also made a lot of big plays. Well, but Troy Franklin also made a lot of big plays. Yes, that's true. And it's not that you can't ever drop the ball. Nobody's sitting here saying, hey, you have to be perfect every single season. Like you can't drop a single pass. But there's just far too many of these, especially in critical moments. And I think that's where these receivers have really let this Broncos, Sean Peyton talked about it after the season too, didn't he? Cody. I mean, he was fuming a little bit about this. And right after the season was over, like way too many dropped.

Starting point is 00:03:02 passes. This was an area of emphasis. They bring in a new receivers coach, Ronald Curry. You bring in a new wide receiver one, Jalen Waddle. I mean, there's just a lot going on here that indicates the Broncos understand, hey, this isn't just a developmental issue in terms of these players. Like, they're not figuring it out. This is a personnel thing that we have to, you know, improve this unit from the top down. Yeah.

Starting point is 00:03:25 And look, I also think at times there's a difference between, you know, you're in a tightly contested situation, the ball hit your hands, and you can't corral it on the way down. I understand that's probably going to be more common. It's the concentration drops. It's the, hey, there's not an defender within one to two yards of you. You're dropping this or you're having a hard time tracking it down the sideline when Bow's throwing it where it needs to be.

Starting point is 00:03:45 And that's not to just absolve Bo and say, hey, Bo didn't have some bad throws that led to some drops. He certainly did. And according to our friends over there, the pro football reference, Bo Nix had a 15.9% bad throw percentage. Now, obviously, we know Bo led the NFL in throwing attempts last season with 612 throws. 93 throws were graded as

Starting point is 00:04:04 bad throws. 15.9%. That's not necessarily too bad, but some of the drops that you're seeing here from the leaders. I mean, Cortland's son, Evan Ingram, they were tied for the lead with eight drops apiece. RJ Harvey coming in at second with seven drops. Troy Franklin had four drops, which was a reduction of what we saw

Starting point is 00:04:20 from him, obviously his rookie season. Tyler Bade, four drops. And then Pat Bryant, three drops, pretty sure-handed for the most part with PB. But your top playmakers coming up and having some of these moments where you're dropping a pass. I know Cortland had a couple of drop passes. There were probably two plays that we saw where he dropped a wide open touchdown. I even think that Dallas Cowboys game was a prime example that Bo Nix might have had five

Starting point is 00:04:43 passing touchdowns in that game if it wasn't for a drop here or there. But part of it also goes back to what you said was Sean Payton. Sean was not happy or pleased with the way the receivers were being coached to catch the football. And he made it an emphasis after the AFC championship game to come out there and highlight exactly how you're, you're supposed to catch the ball. And then three hours later, wide receiver coach Kerry Colbert, fired. They bring in, obviously, Curry, who's done, I think, done a tremendous job. And I even want to throw a little bit of an honorable match.

Starting point is 00:05:11 And I like the addition of Willie Sneed as an offensive quality control coach who's working with those wide receivers, veteran guy, has worked his tail off, obviously, through his NFL career and is now jumping into the coaching world there. And players seem to really like Willie Sneed so far from what I have seen at these practices. So it is about just going through and saying, hey, we do these. things really well. But if we are going to take the next step as a team, we want to win a Super Bowl, we want to get back to the AFC championship game. Well, this is what we have to do. And it's going to go through this whole coaching shift change at that wide receiver position.

Starting point is 00:05:44 And now the standard is going to raise a little bit for these guys. No excuses this year. When the ball is thrown your way, the Broncos, they got to find a way to haul it in. Too many drops over the last two years have led us to saying, like, what if they would have held on to it in this play? What if they would have held onto it on this play? No more what if. It's time to go do the dang thing. Yeah, exactly. 75 combined drops between the last two seasons, Cody. So 43 this past season, which was second worst in the NFL.

Starting point is 00:06:09 And then last year, they had 32. So that was good for the sixth worst in the NFL. And I just, I mean, you look at those numbers right there. That's just not what you want. Not, I mean, obviously, nobody wants dropped passes. You want an efficient offensive operation from the top down. And certainly when you throw the ball more than any other team, you might be, I guess, bound to drop the ball more than other teams as well.

Starting point is 00:06:34 But for the Broncos, it wasn't just the drop percentage is also high, right? That's part of the problem right there is it's not just, you know, you're throwing the ball a lot, so you're going to drop the ball a lot. The drop percentage is also high. And that's not good. And again, for your quarterback, when he's in his formative years and he's putting the ball on spot, you can't have these lapses. and it extended into not just dropped passes,

Starting point is 00:07:01 but then not being in the right place at the right time. Remember Bo's rookie season, I mean, Troy Franklin, and he could not get on the same page at all. And so there was just, I think just issues all across the board for the Broncos in the passing game. Even though that is their bread and butter, that's sort of the offensive identity, right?

Starting point is 00:07:18 Is, hey, figure out a way, like, we're going to throw the ball. We're going to throw the ball 600 plus times. They've done that. You have to have guys who can capitalize on that. If you're going to air it out, if you're going to be, you know, throwing the ball that many times a season, you have to have guys who capitalize on the opportunities that they're given. It's not just making the tough catches, it's making the easy ones.

Starting point is 00:07:40 Those are typically the ones that you see these receivers dropping. Yeah, and look, there were only five players that had more drops than Evan Ingram and Cortland Sutton last season. Number one, Jameson Williams of the Detroit Lions, 12 total drops last year, former friend Jerry Judy of the Cleveland Browns. He had 10 drops last season. Amon Rasey Brown had 10 himself. And then Brian Thomas of the Jacksonville Jaguars, he had 10. Rookie Emeka Ekbuka had nine total drops last season.

Starting point is 00:08:10 Then it goes Cortland, Evan. They're tied with Cedie Lamb, Tett McMillan and Mason Taylor of the New York Jets for the most overall drops last season. Travis Kelsey right behind them with seven. Christian McCaffrey with seven. So some top names that you see in this list with the drops, which I think when you look at it's like, all right, you know, drops, they're not discriminatory for like you mentioned secondary players. Usually it is your guys who are going to see a higher volume of targets. You know, you want to have a, you know, a higher catch percentage than just 50%. You need to catch a majority that come your way.

Starting point is 00:08:43 But I imagine, too, some of the Broncos are working on here. And so much of it is just continuing to get that chemistry with Bow Nix down pat, not only with just Cortland, not only. only with Evan Ingram, but getting this whole entire core nucleus together. One thing that should open things up for this Broncos offense, that should help them get back to the AFC championship game. It's going to be Jalen Waddle. We'll tell you why he's the thermostat for this offense. You're on today's episode of the show.

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Starting point is 00:10:21 Jayland Waddle is the thermostat. He's the missing piece. He's the tide to raise all boats in the harbor. He is the game changer the Denver Broncos needed. Just like Bo Nick said, he brings an element of explosiveness that previously this offense didn't have. We're going to talk about why Jalen Waddle is the thermostat and what that means on today's episode of the show. But Broncos country, we appreciate you so much for tuning in rocking with us every single day here, locked on Broncos.

Starting point is 00:10:46 And you know what? You can get your Denver Broncos fix completely ad free by joining the Everydayer Club today. check out the seven-day free trial right now and get closer to the Broncos without any of the interruptions check out the link in the show notes or go to lockdown broncos. That supercast.com. Cody, let's break this down. Jalen Waddle as the thermostat. Let's explain what we're meaning by that because obviously, you know, there's that analogy gets

Starting point is 00:11:11 thrown out there just like a lot of others. What do we mean by when we say Jalen Waddle is the thermostat here for the Broncos offense? Well, I think primarily, look, we all know. Thermostats can work one of two ways. You can make it colder, you can make it hot. I think in this instance, and what Davis Webb, because this is really where we got the phrase, he's the thermostat, was from Davis Webb, who said that outright. When we had our first opportunity to talk to him as a new offensive coordinator here for your Denver Broncos, he said, Jalen, he's everything. He's everything. He's a playmaker. He's a game changer. He's the thermostat.

Starting point is 00:11:40 And this is the type of thing that I think Davis meant by that. He's the one that is going to turn the heat up for everything else. Like his dynamic, his ability. And look, I've seen it at OTAs. I've seen it at minicamp, just how he's used and the threat that he possesses. It does change the way a defense normally will look at you offensively and your personnel. You may try to throw this counter, but Jalen Waddle, he might be the guy like, hey, if you want to blitz us, guess what? We're going to number 17.

Starting point is 00:12:05 We're going to get the ball in his hands because he can do things in space that not many people do. And that's not to say the Broncos don't have any explosive players. Cortland, we all know, is an explosive player. Marvin is explosive. Troy Franklin's explosive. Pat is explosive. but they're all explosive at different ways. Whereas I look at Jalen, and I'm curious for your thoughts on this,

Starting point is 00:12:23 because we've watched tons of tape on Jalen. I look at Jalen as an all-around explosive threat that he just has something that nobody else does, the ability to stop on the dime, the ability to beat outside coverage of a corner is lined up outside and it's trying to protect the sideline. It doesn't matter. He's going to run that speed bend out as quick as he can and still be there. I've seen him beat many cornerbacks in the NFL in the last two seasons on that specific route.

Starting point is 00:12:48 whereas the Broncos have not had anybody to do that. That's going to open up a new dynamic in this offense. So to me, he's going to be the thermostat that you're going to turn it up when you need something. You need a big play. You're going to turn it up to number 17's way. Yeah, and that's where the Broncos, they paid up to get that, right? A first round pick, a third round pick in this year's draft. And they kind of really have said multiple times, like we didn't feel like we could get anybody

Starting point is 00:13:12 with that, you know, that first round pick that we had that was anywhere near the caliber of this guy. And that's exactly what he is. I mean, he's a star player. I know he's never made a Pro Bowl. I know he's kind of maybe you could say been in the shadow of Tyree Kill a little bit there in Miami. But at the same time, he's always kind of been in a group of receivers where, you know, at Alabama, they've got one five star after another. And in Miami, you're playing alongside Tyree Kill.

Starting point is 00:13:40 Now in Denver, things are different because you're the guy who, man, you're the best separator on the team. You're one of the best offense creators now on the team. And I'm glad that Jalen doesn't necessarily view himself that way because Cody ultimately, you put that kind of pressure on yourself. I mean, it's okay to understand that the team paid a huge price to get you. But I think with Jalen, it's been a different situation throughout his football career, right? I mean, at Alabama, it's not like he was another face in the crowd, but you got a lot of really good players there.

Starting point is 00:14:11 And in Miami, you're playing on not necessarily the best team in the league and you've got Tyree Kill. And so the pressure is not necessarily the same as it is in Denver. We've mentioned this throughout the offseason. In Denver, you are that guy who's expected to be the thermostat. You are that guy who's expected to be the final piece to take this Denver Broncos team back to the Super Bowl and win the Super Bowl. That's a different level of pressure, I think, on Jalen Waddle, but I think he's ready for that because he's that type of playmaker at the receiver position. You can line him up inside. You can line him up outside. And he can beat any type of of corner in any type of way.

Starting point is 00:14:47 What did Bo Nick say? I mean, this guy, his cuts at full speed. I mean, it's basically like he doesn't, there's no wasted movement. There's no wasted time. He's, he's able to create separation because he's so fluid as an athlete, as a route runner, and he's so experienced now at this point that man, he's graduated to that next level where he could become not just a, but the missing piece for the Broncos, but he could become kind of like maybe one of the better receivers this team has had in recent

Starting point is 00:15:15 memory. We say something all the time about like the Broncos, Bo Nix, you know, having an easy button. Cortland Sutton, Bow Nix, that's the easy button. Well, now does that also translate to the Broncos having two easy buttons because of what Jalen does from a size differential compared to Cortland? Like there's two different aspects in which those guys are feared by defenses that those guys are going to try to figure out how do we take this away from Denver's offense? And it's going to be very hard because now all of a sudden Denver can run the football. Well, now, you know, you have to worry about play action. But here's the thing.

Starting point is 00:15:47 You want to try to stop the run if you're a defense and you want to load the box up. Well, guess what? Now you got the guys who are going to be the man beaters. You're going to have a guy in Jalen Waddle who can be his own beaters. Almost like the pressure cooker, right? At a certain point, you know things already. Like when you go to hit that release button and goes, that's Jalen Waddle for you. You mentioned like the big plays.

Starting point is 00:16:04 And the one thing I, you know, I liked about watching his tape. I did for the Every Dare Club earlier this off season. I did a film breakdown on Jalen Waddle in Miami, what he's going to bring to the table. And I go through, and if you miss that, go check it out here, Broncos country. But the thing is, is he steps up in big time games. Now in 2025, he took on a little bit more of the wide receiver one rule after Tyree kills injury. But he even exploded a little bit more. He had a little bit more production.

Starting point is 00:16:29 Yes, defense has tried to focus on him, but it still didn't matter. Finish the season with 910 yards. He averaged 4.2 yards per catch, six touchdowns, which tied the second most he's had in an NFL season in his young career so far. And then the other thing I would say you look at it is who he has. he's gone against. The competition, five catches on six targets against the New England Patriots in week two for a touchdown and 68 yards. You look at the Buffalo Bills, that first matchup in week three, five catches 39 yards, a touchdown in the red zone. I remember that one. He beat the DB clean inside and luckily Tuo was able to connect, you know, with him on a throw right

Starting point is 00:17:03 there. But then you go to another game where they beat the Buffalo Bills later on that season, 30 to 13, five catches, 84 yards and one touchdown as the primary guy for that offense. And that was the number one passing defense in the NFL this past season. He's gone up against some of the best guys in the NFL. And he's won those matchups too. I think adding him to this dynamic with Bow Nix, with Cortland, with the wide receivers, Pat Bryant, Troy Franklin, Marvin Mims in this run game.

Starting point is 00:17:33 Now Davis Webb now calling plays. Like on paper, let's go through best case scenario. The Broncos, for the first time, in a long time, have a top five offense in the NFL. It's been a while. The last time they had anything close to top five, I believe it was the 2013 season, or the number one ranked offense in the NFL. There's a very real possibility here that Jalen Waddle's edition, because of what it does,

Starting point is 00:17:55 because it opens everything up for the offense and the passing game, the run game, and if everything goes right, guys stay healthy. This is the best offense on paper that the Broncos have had in a long time. And this has been an offense since Bo Nix has come in that's gotten better and better each year. We'll talk about now going into year three. man, it's exciting to me because Jalen Waddle certainly can be that guy that changes the temperature of the entire game because of his explosive playability. And Davis Webb also said that, you know, he was in Buffalo when they traded for Stefan Diggs going into Josh Allen's third NFL season and how critical. We all witnessed that, right?

Starting point is 00:18:32 We all saw Josh Allen in his first two years. Oh, this guy's pretty good, right? The Broncos got beat by him, I think, a time or two during those first two years even. but it wasn't until Stefan Diggs got there that Josh really took that step into the elite quarterback category. Like he showed some stuff over those first two years, just like Bo Nix has shown some stuff over his first two years. But you get a player like this who could be a quarterback's best friend. That's what we're talking about getting with Jalen Wattle is this guy could be your quarterback's best friend. Like he could be that guy that eats up target after target after target just because he's always going to be finding ways to get open.

Starting point is 00:19:08 And when defenses try to double cover him, and then you got your other good friend over there, Cortland Sutton on the other side. So Jalen Waddle having that type of impact on Bo Nix, I think is what excites me the most about this trade is the fact that just like when we begged for the Broncos to finally go after a quarterback, now you've been begging,

Starting point is 00:19:29 okay, go get Bo Nix a weapon. Go get him a real playmaker who can impact what defenses do on every single snap. That's what Jalen Waddle, can do. That's what he, that's what he's been throughout his career. He dictates what coverages are. He dictates what defensive back is moving around the formation. He's that good. And that's what excites me the most is having that potential of what Josh Allen got from Stefan Diggs. Now Bo Nix's getting that from Jalen Waddle. Well, and obviously 3,200 yards for him in five years with the Miami Dolphins. Bo Nix is a better quarterback than Tua and should be better for

Starting point is 00:20:05 Jailun Waddle than Tua was and not to take any shots at Tua. I'm just saying in the context of the situation, I think that Bo Nix is a better quarterback will be far more consistent than Tua was in the passing game there. And here's another thing that also stands out. In Jalen's five seasons in the NFL, his overall average passer rating when targeted, 96.9. If that helps Bo Nix, man, everything's going to be so exciting here for this team going forward to the Broncos. They can get back to the AFC championship game. If Jalen Wado can be the addition that they brought him into B, I'm coughing about it.

Starting point is 00:20:38 I'm excited about it. Broncos Country should be as well here. But if the Broncos are going to make it back to the AFC championship game, they're not going to just need the help of Cortland Sutton and Jail Waddle. They're going to need their younger, wide receivers to take yet another step forward this upcoming season. Broncos Country, today's episode of the show, was brought to you by our friends over there at Fandu. The biggest stage in world soccer is here. And every match feels like it has the potential for a memorable moment.

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Starting point is 00:22:03 We've talked about playmakers fixing their drop issues. We've talked about how Jalen Waddle is the thermostat. But now it's time to shift our focus to the other guys here behind Cortland Sutton and Jalen Wattle, starting off with Troy Franklin, who obviously, Sarah, he went into the off season talking about some big time goals. I want to double my statistical production from what I did last year. When you look at the stats, you look at the numbers. Troy stepped up in a big way last season, 65 catches, 709 yards for him and six touchdown. So if he wants to double that, he's talking about 100 plus catches, 1400 yards, 13 potential touchdowns for him. on the upcoming season.

Starting point is 00:22:39 I like the ambition. But now with Jalen Waddle being added into the mix, is that realistic for Troy? I think that there's an opportunity for him to have an even bigger impact this upcoming season with the addition of Jalen. But I'm curious for your thoughts. After the Waddle edition, do you see Troy reaching his goal of 12 to 13 touchdowns, 1,400-something yards?

Starting point is 00:23:01 Is it doable inside of this offense with the addition of Waddle? Well, you mentioned, Cody, that 2013. Broncos team and I don't even think they had that many receiving yards from, you know, multiple guys. But certainly you do love the idea from Troy here that he wants to be that type of player. And I think that he can be like we saw last year, you know, in certain games, it was like, man, the Broncos, they're featuring Troy. I remember Indianapolis. Remember Green Bay.

Starting point is 00:23:29 I remember Kansas City. When they're featuring him and he's getting 70, 80 plus yards, man, you're kind of just wondering, why can't they do this all the time? You know? And so I think with Troy, he's probably thinking the same thing. Like, why can't I just do this all the time? Or why can't I just maximize my targets every single week? I think it's realistic to believe that Troy could end up being third on the team and targets and yards, barring injury, right?

Starting point is 00:23:56 I mean, obviously, we expect everybody to be healthy. It's probably going to be Waddell and Sutton somewhere at the top. And then Franklin, Angerome, Bryant would kind of see where those guys land in that mix, but I think Troy can be even more effective on a per target basis and per game basis, quite frankly, because it felt like there was games where, man, he's just not, he's not existent out there. We don't see. We're not getting anything from him. And that was kind of the story for the Broncos receivers too many times over the last couple of seasons is you get a big game from him one week and then the next week or two, three weeks go by and you're like, hey,

Starting point is 00:24:31 what happened to Troy Franklin, how they used him in this game? You could tell, the Broncos were trying to have it more frequently last year with Troy, but I think he can be just as impactful. And I still think with the contract situations beyond this year, I still think Troy is going to be a big part of this offense. And I don't think he's going anywhere. But I want to see him create even more separation. I want to see, you know, more dial up the play for Troy to get deep downfield and see if you can get that chemistry going again. Utilize the full arsenal of his skill set. Don't just try throwing him these tunnel screens and call it, you know, well, he got 10 targets today.

Starting point is 00:25:07 Look, yeah, you threw him four tunnel screens and none of them worked. I mean, that was kind of how it felt at times last year as well. So I want to see more vertical routes from Troy and more after the catch opportunities that are, you know, deeper down the field than a tunnel screen. You know what I want to see with Troy Franklin and when the Broncos come out in 11 personnel folks, which means they have one running back, one tight end for those that don't know what 11 personnel is. In those sets, you usually have three wide receivers on the field. I want to see Cortland Sutton, Troy Franklin, Jalen Waddle. And I want to see it to where, let's say maybe Troy's on one side of the field,

Starting point is 00:25:39 Jalen's on the other, but having both of these guys attack different depths of the middle of the field for bone nicks. And then maybe that does leave you with the one-on-one for Cortland. Or it's like, hey, the safety's cheating down on this side here. The backside nickel is looking to see who's coming across. Oh, Cortland's one-on-one. Okay, now we're going to throw it deep to Cortland. Or, hey, the safety is climbing over the top to help with the corner who's playing Cortland underneath. Well, now you got Troy attacking the, you know, 10 to 15. You got Jalen attacking 20 yards

Starting point is 00:26:08 and it's putting the other safety in the linebacker in a bind. I think that that lineup scenario with these three guys, I think it can work. Now, do I think that Troy's going to have a hundred catches this season? I don't think so. I think we could very well see a season for Troy, though, or he does hit a thousand yards. I could see him hitting a thousand yards because of what you just mentioned about maybe being used downfield more. I think that's going to be a huge element of his game. But I think that's going to be made possible, probably more so, because of Jalen Waddle. Now, if you focus on Troy, Jalen's going to eat, you focus on Jalen, Troy's going to

Starting point is 00:26:45 eat. You want to find a way to have balance within this offense. And that's going to open these up for guys like Pat Bryant, Marvin, Mims, too. But I think primarily from what I've observed, if the Broncos come on 11 personnel, it's going to be Cortland, Jalen, Troy, as those primary three guys, if we're talking, talking about target share a wide receiver. I see it being that. And that's not necessarily a bad thing. I really like it. But now, let's get into our conversation now about Pat Bryan. I don't think a lot of people are talking about Pat Bryan as much as they should this upcoming season.

Starting point is 00:27:13 We found out obviously in the off season. Denver, their background work on him was very extensive in the pre-draft process last season for Denver. He had 31 catches as a rookie 370 yards, one touchdown. Yes, we acknowledged the three drops earlier. But he proved to be a clutch player. He proved to be down the stretch, a guy the Broncos wanted to get going from the very first series offensively in the playoffs against Buffalo. Then he had the concussions. That obviously created some concern. He's fully healthy. He's in a good spot right now. Pat Bryan is also in a position to be very sneaky good with Jalen, with Troy, with Cortland ahead of him. It doesn't mean that he's not going to play. I just think it means his role might open up a little

Starting point is 00:27:52 bit more because of who they have at wide receiver. And we also know that Pat subscribes to the of, you know, if you block, you get the rock, right? So he definitely lives by that and he plays like that. He plays with that level of physicality. There was a lot of, you know, contests, I suppose you could say when he was drafted last year because, well, he doesn't run the fastest 40-yard time or he doesn't have the most explosive metrics out there. But when you watch him play, I mean, he was running wide open all the time at Illinois

Starting point is 00:28:23 because, man, he just knows how to get open. He gets open really well against his own coverage. He creates after the catch. He's very savvy in that regard. So there's just a lot of things that he does so well that I think you look at him from a coach's perspective. And you would say, hey, this guy's kind of the coach's dream. And so I wouldn't be surprised, Cody, if guys like Ronald Curry and Willie Sneed kind of pounding the table for Pat Bryant to get on the field more because he does do all those little things well. And when you can trust the guy to do the little things well, you know that you can rely on him when you say, hey, we're calling number 13 on this play.

Starting point is 00:28:58 you better be ready and he's going to be ready. And I think you can expand his, you know, in the red zone, you can expand his work. You can expand his work as a drive starter. You can expand his work as, you know, inside outside. I mean, there's so many different ways. So I can't help but wonder, do we see Pat really contending for that third wide receiver job within the offense? As the season goes along, does he prove himself to be one of the most reliable players that the Broncos just say, we can't take this guy off.

Starting point is 00:29:27 That's kind of what he became late last season. He wasn't involved until that Dallas game, and we all saw what kind of impact he can make, even getting an opportunity as a vertical threat. So then down the stretch of the season, he's getting featured in the offense. I feel like that's going to be one of those things that this team builds on in 2026.

Starting point is 00:29:46 Well, and I think another reason, another name to throw out here, a final one, Marvin Mims. A big reason the Broncos made it to the AFC championship game last year, his clutch catch, that he had against the Buffalo bills that ultimately helped the Broncos win that game. Then he goes off and he catches a big 40-plus yard pass downfield against Christian Gonzalez. Marvin Mims is also going to be a very important ingredient here to the Broncos offense this upcoming season.

Starting point is 00:30:09 And we're hoping with Davis Webb, his utilization increases in different ways. But I'm also excited the Broncos, if they wanted to, sir, they could get creative with both he and J. Lottal in specific matchups, specific personnel groupings, if they get a certain look on defense. And when you put Marvin and Jalen on a linebacker, what can you do with that? You can do a lot of fun things. I'm excited to see Marvin. I think it's going to be a little bit of the missing ingredient. Your quick thoughts here on Marvin and obviously what he can do to help the Broncos get back

Starting point is 00:30:40 the AFC title game in 2026. I think we all just want to see more of Marvin Mims, don't we? That's really the thing right now. And I know that's what we're talking about these guys. it can be hard to envision that. It can be hard to see how that's going to happen or what Davis Webb might do. But like you said, I mean, maybe we see different versions of this offense with Marvin somewhere in the backfield. Or maybe, you know, I don't know what, what maybe it's matchup based.

Starting point is 00:31:04 Maybe you go up against a team that has slower corners and you say, hey, let's let's have a track meet against these guys and expose their lack of speed. So I think it could be matchup based for Marvin this season. But at the same time, I think just get him a higher volume of targets in general. general and make a concerted effort to get him involved in the weekly game plan. Yeah, 37 catches last year, 322 yards. That's not enough considering in 2024. Marvin legitimately had six touchdowns down the stretch here for the Broncos and proved to be a weapon that the Broncos desperately needed.

Starting point is 00:31:36 And he can help them in a big way, especially if they want to win a Super Bowl, Marvin is going to be a big key for an AFC title game push as well. But Broncos, country, out of wrap up episode two of our getting back to the AFC championship game series. episode three drops tomorrow where Sarah and I, we're going to tell you the Broncos, they got a Super Bowl caliber defense. They have the secret sauce.

Starting point is 00:31:53 How can they piece it all together to get Denver back to the AFC championship game? We'll break it all down on tomorrow's episode of the show.

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