Locked On Broncos - Daily Podcast On The Denver Broncos - SURPRISE: Denver Broncos To TEST Jonah Elliss At Inside Linebacker In 2026

Starting point is 00:00:00 The Denver Broncos have a depth issue at linebacker, but Broncos head coach Sean Payton says Jonah Ellis might be the solution. 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 Roark, joined as always by Sarah Beninger. On today's episode of the show here, Sean Payton, he discussed why the Broncos were patient with their approach

Starting point is 00:00:30 and why they're tuning out the outside noise. Plus, we'll dive into how the Broncos plan to utilize Jalen Waddle, Sean Payton gave us the formula. But we're going to kick things off by talking about Jonah Ellis in a position right now to play a different position in 2026. And what that means for the Broncos defense and the depth at inside linebacker and outside linebacker, Sarah, I mean, obviously he's great hearing from Sean Payton at the AFC coaches breakfast at the NFL annual meetings.

Starting point is 00:00:56 Sean gave us a little bit more than I think that maybe we were anticipating. And then he snuck in there while talking about the roster, or how Jonah Ellis is going to be taking snaps at off ball linebacker this upcoming summer. And I think that there are a lot of different opinions about it. I personally, I think this could be a very underlayer move. The plot thickens for Jonah Ellis, doesn't it? I mean, we've been talking about this off season, how deep the Broncos are off the edge. And we want to see these guys get on the field.

Starting point is 00:01:24 Q Robinson, Jonah Ellis. They've obviously been playing backup roles. Dondre Tillman playing a backup role. The Broncos, I think, realized, Cody, not just how I'm, important it is to add depth at the inside linebacker position, but how important it is to get these players snaps and get these guys on the field. They're just too talented to be on the sidelines. Q Robinson is too good to be a healthy scratch on game days and too much of an asset on special teams. That's true for a number of these guys. So figuring out ways to help them make an additional

Starting point is 00:01:55 impact. That doesn't mean that Jonah Ellis will never be playing off the edge again, but what it could mean is that in certain situations, certain packages, maybe he's lining up in the middle. Maybe he gets a few tips from his brothers, right? Because those guys are all off ball linebackers as well, but also pressure players from that spot. And that's something that it's kind of interesting. The Broncos haven't really figured this out. Vance Joseph hasn't necessarily figured this out of how to take sort of the hybrid player and turn them into what you're kind of envisioning, right? It's like you've got this plan, you've got this idea. And there's a lot of examples of this, right? I mean, you could even look at guys like Baron Browning, who that's kind of a

Starting point is 00:02:35 more recent example, Drew Sanders, although injuries have played into this. But if you go all the way back, too, Cody, I remember Sean Peyton always talks about one of these, those guys who got away sort of stories with somebody named Rob Ninkovich, who kind of a similar like hybrid player defensive end, off ball linebacker, special teams guy. The Saints had him before he became sort of a household name for some of those Patriots Super Bowl teams. And so it's that position. It's that, okay, we feel this tension of he's so athletic he could play off the ball, but he's also so great at pass rushing that he needs to be a pressure player.

Starting point is 00:03:12 Can the Broncos finally figure that out with Jonah Ellis? I think he's got the chops to be able to do it. He does. From an athletic standpoint, he's got all the profile traits that translate really well to play an off ball linebacker. The biggest thing I think in Vance's defense is up here, right? especially at offball linebacker. There are so many moving pieces that you had to account for

Starting point is 00:03:31 outside of just reading your guard to see if it's run past. It's locating guys if you're playing match concepts. It's dropping into your zone if it's also, you know, a zone call there. And it's being able to match up against running backs on the outside. The Broncos like the athleticism of Jonah Ellis. You mentioned it as well. They view him as a pressure player. And with the depth, considering where Denver is at now,

Starting point is 00:03:52 with bringing back Alex Singleton and Justin Sternad, the depth behind those guys was questionable. And they can still add to this in the NFL draft. But saying that Ellis is going to be playing some offball linebacker, this came after the Broncos released Drey Greenlaw. And that's where Sean Payton snuck it in, is that Ellis going to be getting snaps here. When you look at it in terms of RAS,

Starting point is 00:04:11 you and I talk about relative athletic score all of the time here. Now, where he was playing initially, edge defensive end, they had him listed from his athletic testing and his traits there. He had an 8.59 relative athletic score. when you grade out how he performed from an athletic testing standpoint there at his position. That's pretty good.

Starting point is 00:04:32 But when you plug those numbers into off ball linebacker here, it's even better. It's a 9.96 out of 10. So his numbers climb astronomically, whereas he's hurt, like he's graded negatively for his height and his weight at defensive end or outside linebacker in the RAS testing score. He actually grades out great when it comes to off ball linebacker. His explosiveness there. That 9.96 grade, when you factor in agility, this is probably one of the more important traits to have here at linebacker. His shuttle cone, I mean, a shuttle drill that people don't remember.

Starting point is 00:05:04 4.17, that grades out to about a 9.25. His three cone time, Sarah, 6.69, the ability to plant and change directions quickly, that's more important than straight line speed. Jonah has those traits. And you mention it as well, his brothers, they have this hybrid nature to them. I'm sure that when the Broncos approached him about this, I'm sure he was open to it considering that Denver's depth at outside linebacker, man, loaded, you know, with Nick Benito, Jonathan Cooper, Jonah, Dondrey, and Q Robinson.

Starting point is 00:05:35 This very much tells me the Broncos like Q Robinson, want to see more of him. They like Dondre Tillman, but you are going to see a player like Ellis get time at both positions, which I don't think hurts, but I do wonder how he's going to handle the mental process of trying to learn all of this because at offball linebacker, we have to learn so much in terms of the coverage

Starting point is 00:05:55 and your responsibility. It's different than playing outside backer. It is. It's very different. Obviously, I mean, it's two different positions completely. But I think when you have the traits to be able to do it, that's where the Broncos, again, circle back to this idea. You've got to get your most talented guys on the field.

Starting point is 00:06:12 And Jonah Ellis has done an exceptional job of, you know, he's played the quarterback spy role in the past. He's done some stuff on special teams, really good work on special teams. So we know that he knows how to take angles. We know that he's fast enough with his closing speed. We know that he can make plays behind the line of scrimmage. He's a great tackler. I mean, there's so many things that he brings to the table that it just feels right to get him these opportunities to rush from different alignments or to maybe drop into coverage and be another athletic option because a 6.69 in the three cone drill,

Starting point is 00:06:46 Cody. I mean, that's elite change of direction, elite agility. That's wide receiver. type stuff right there. I mean, that's, that's as good as it gets. And for the linebacker position, you have to be able to do that, to change directions on a dime, to be able to stick with athletic tight ends. So I like the idea of Jonah Ellis getting more time on the field just in general. Now, I think there's maybe some validity to the skepticism of can Van Gogh Joseph successfully make this happen? Because he had guys in Arizona that didn't work out with. He had guys in Denver already that it hasn't worked out with. And there's a variety of different reasons why that could be, you know, from Isaiah Simmons to Zayvon Collins, now Drew Sanders, Baron Browning.

Starting point is 00:07:26 So why is it that Jonah Ellis is going to be the one to work out? I think that's a fair question. But I think to me, the answer is really just the football IQ of this player is so high. Like, you said it. You have to be, you have to be effective in between the ears in order to be able to excel at linebacker in the NFL. So Jonah Ellis, he knows the defense. He obviously has been in this defense for a couple of years at this point. He's proven that he can be a weapon for the defense wherever he's lined up. And so I just, I feel good about the idea on paper. Now, execution of that idea. How many snaps do you give him? How much does it take away from how much he plays off the edge? And is he going to look like a fish out of water? Well, you've got two years on his rookie deal to

Starting point is 00:08:13 kind of solidify what do we want to do here. Where do we want to go? Is Jonah, you know, is he even excited about this possibility. And again, how much can he learn from his brothers in a short amount of time? What can they tell him or teach him about making that transition? Because that was really something in Caden Ellis's game that unlocked his full skill set, is playing off the ball while also being that pressure player and sort of marrying those two skill sets. So can the Broncos in their context with Jonah Ellis make that happen? And is this the ticket to unlocking him as a second contract player down the line for this team. And I think the biggest thing, the Broncos have to be patient with this approach, right?

Starting point is 00:08:51 Because it is an adjustment. When you go from playing one specific position from college all the way now through your first two years in the league, going to a new position, we know there is an adjustment period there. We saw it with Drew Sanders. We certainly saw it with Barron Browning, where it was different. He was an off ball guy that transitioned to edge rusher. And you saw the athletic traits.

Starting point is 00:09:10 They're taking those same athletic traits they like off the edge there from Joan and saying, And we hope this translates a little bit more in space. I think you have to be patient. Fans have to be patient with it. I imagine at training camp, you're seeing Sternad and Alex Singleton together. And then the next unit that comes in is going to be Drew Sanders and Jonah Ellis. If Drew can stay healthy, if all these guys can stay healthy for that matter, that's what I'm hoping for here. But is this more so we view Dondre Tillman and Q Robinson very highly?

Starting point is 00:09:38 We still view Jonah very highly, obviously. But we have a bigger need here at this position. Is this why they're experimenting? There's always some risk that's associated with it. But if you're patient with it, I'm not opposed to that. As long as, hey, if it doesn't work out, I don't want the Broncos to just pull the plug on Jonah Ellis. I think he's a great player.

Starting point is 00:09:56 I think he's a great edge rusher for you as well. You don't want to throw the baby out with the bathwater in that situation as well. You don't want to overwhelm that player. And I think that's what happened a little bit with Drew Sanders. And unfortunately, injuries didn't help him with the position switch either. So there's a lot of moving pieces here. Broncos country, curious for your thoughts here on today's show of what you think of Jonah Ellis potentially moving to some offball linebacker, Sean Payton revealed he'll be getting some snaps there this summer.

Starting point is 00:10:19 Let us know here on today's episode of show. But coming up next, Broncos Country, Sean Payton gave us the blueprint for how the Broncos plan to use Jalen Waddon, how it coincides with Cortland Sun. We got the numbers. I don't tell you exactly what that looks like here on today's episode of the show. Broncos Country, today's episode is brought to you, my friends, over there at Robin Hood. What if sports were traded like markets? Now you can put your sports IQ to work in real time with Robin Hood,

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Starting point is 00:11:17 Event contracts are offered by Robin Hood derivatives LLC, a registered futures commission, merchant, and swap firm. Sean Payton revealed a little bit of the potential strategy for how the team is going to use Jalen Waddle, now that he's been acquired in the blockbuster trade with the Miami Dolphins. We're going to tell you what Sean had to say as well as some data that kind of backs up how the Broncos could use him and Cortland Sutton in tandem. and Broncos Country. We appreciate you so much for tuning in today and every single day. All you every day are out there. We appreciate you so much for making this part of your day.

Starting point is 00:11:50 If you haven't already considered doing so, an easy way to support the show is the Everyday All Access Club. A lot of really great stuff happening over there. And we just appreciate you so much Broncos Country for even considering that. It means the world to Cody and I that you listen and that you tune in and that you would support the show in that way. So we appreciate you. And we're excited about the addition of Jalen Wattle.

Starting point is 00:12:12 Obviously, it's really the biggest thing we've had to talk about all offseason. I know, Cody, you've done film reviews. That's up for the Everyday All Access Club as well. But certainly when you talk about usage, you talk about his alignment. How does he fit in with this wide receiver group? And what did Sean Payton have to say at the NFL owner meetings about what the Broncos envisioned for his role? Is it inside? Is it outside? How are they going to be utilizing Jalen Waddle now that he's in orange and blue?

Starting point is 00:12:41 Yeah, according to Peyton. he's going to be used everywhere. He's going to be used outside. He's going to be used inside the slot. And Scott even said they have some speed packages set up for him. So when I'm trying to think what that may look like, I'm imagining Jalen Waddle, Marvin Mims, Troy Franklin on the field together at the same time. That is a field stretching opportunity here. And considering, you know, Jalen with his vertical presence downfield, that creates some nightmares for defenses. Troy can do the same thing. Marvin, as we know, can do the same thing. So how defenses choose to try to play that, I also think Jalen is so elite at running the out route, right? The speed out.

Starting point is 00:13:18 This is a guy who could beat man coverage, zone coverage, even when guys are playing it the right way at the cornerback position. That's a trait. His ability to stop on a dime is one thing that Sean Payton said, his acceleration, his ability to decelerate as quickly as he can. That creates opportunities for everything. And even mention that doing this is going to hopefully open up the run game here. But in terms of usage, Sarah, you and I have talked about this a lot, because Sean Payton has acknowledged this. And I know anytime the Broncos add a receiver, everyone says, well, this guy is going to play X.

Starting point is 00:13:47 He's going to play Z or this guy's only going to play in the slot or this guy can't do that. The Broncos have their wide receivers play every position, right? Cortland, Marvin, Troy, Pat, you name it. They play outside. They play the slot. They play the other receiver on the outside. They've got to be able to move around and play that because Sean loves to take advantage of matchups. So with Jalen, being the type of player that can be this move around piece here, who's going

Starting point is 00:14:10 to play outside, inside, speed packages, whatever than maybe in the back field from time to time. I went and I dug through some numbers through our friends over there at True Media that really kind of told us a story of Jalen Waddle, his time in Miami, but let's compare it to where Cortland Sutton has played here. I've got the numbers. In terms of Jalen Waddle's usage last season with the Dolphins, right wide receiver on the outside, so playing on the outside, on the right side for him, he had 135 routes in 2025, right side outside, left wide receiver, outside, 174 routes in 2025. Now, in the slot on the right side, he had 44 routes and slot on the left side of the

Starting point is 00:14:49 field. He had 49 routes in 2025 here. You look at Cortland Sutton in contrasts there to that. It is unbelievable. Cortland, right outside wide receiver, 223 routes last season, left outside wide receiver, 279 routes. So obviously, a larger portion of what Jalen Waddle saw last season. and in the slot, I think it says at all.

Starting point is 00:15:11 55 routes in the right side slot for Sutton last season, 60 routes on the left side slot for Sutton last season. Obviously, more routes than what we saw from Jalen Waddle there. Now you add Jalen into this mix. Now you can really balance and move these guys around as true chess pieces. That's why I like the addition to having a guy like Cortland and having a guy like Jalen. It's going to open everything up not only for the offense and these guys,

Starting point is 00:15:37 but I also think for other wide receivers that are going to be in whatever roles shot has designated for them. Absolutely, because those numbers that you just shared really prove that those guys can play anywhere. They can line up anywhere. They can produce from anywhere. And man, as you're reading Cortland Sutton's numbers, Cody, I mean, tell me the Broncos led the NFL in pass attempts last season without telling me they led the NFL and past.

Starting point is 00:15:58 That's a lot of routes compared to Jalen Waddle. But I think you can, you can see like the percentages are relatively similar when it comes to where those guys lined up. I think they do just really help strengthen each other in that way. I feel like, like you said, you can exploit matchups way better now because teams primarily would focus on Cortland Sutton. And as the season went along, I think everybody's kind of feeling, well, if it's not Cortland Sutton, it's probably going to be one of their backs because they don't really

Starting point is 00:16:28 feature anybody else regularly in the passing game. So the Broncos just have so much more that they can do with Jalen Waddle out there. And it just makes it makes so much sense, right? I mean, you and I had talked about it, even when the rumors initially came about, just how perfect of an addition he would be to this team for his after the catch ability, the ability to stretch the field vertically to win as a route runner, creating separation, strong hands,

Starting point is 00:16:56 just a bully in the open field after the catch. He does so many things that cause defenses to have to focus on wherever he's lined up. It just opens things up. and it can create new tendencies that nobody's going to be expecting. Like the Broncos, whatever people think the Broncos' offensive identity is in the passing game, it's going to be different this year, like substantially different. And it's just going to create new levels and wrinkles that they can throw at defensive coordinators this season. It's exciting to think about these two guys working together, man.

Starting point is 00:17:26 It really is because Cortland is such a great player when it comes to attacking vertically down the field. I feel like that's just so much more opened up now from whatever a line. it might be, you've opened up a whole new world for these playmakers in your offense. And it's just, it's exciting for Bo Nix, especially Cody, going into year three. I mean, you give him somebody that, you know, offensive from a skill set standpoint, the Broncos have some good players, but they don't have someone who has the skill set necessarily that Jalen Wattle does. Sean and George Payton, both these guys called him one of the most explosive players in the league. And I think when you look at his tape, you see that. You see how he

Starting point is 00:18:04 scares defenses, how he challenges them. And so now when teams are trying to take away Cortland, we have a guy that can beat anybody in Jalen. Now, if defenses try to focus on Jalen, well, Cortland's going to get more one-on-one opportunities where you want to see him win those. I did a film breakdown for the Everydayer Club for Cortland Sutton, how defense has played him on third down.

Starting point is 00:18:22 And you can see at times they're dropping three or four defenders back in zone or when they're playing man, they're playing bracket coverage with a corner and a safety to try to take away Cortland and keep passing down situations. this changes everything for how defenses will try to play Denver. And if you have Cortland and I would say Jalen, excelling in these roles, like I am so curious to see how it opens things up for Marvin when he's used on the field, especially when they put him in the backfield, Troy Franklin,

Starting point is 00:18:49 who was wanting to evolve and grow in his role. Pat Bryant, who we liked what we saw from him, he took on an expanded role down the stretch year for this offense. Denver is going to have a different identity offensively. And sort of the good thing about these guys moving around, when you're not playing predominantly just to one side. I mean, it really changes how a defense tries to game plan for you because you may show something one week on the film or,

Starting point is 00:19:11 hey, maybe Cortland is playing left side, about 60% of the game, right side on the 40%. Well, hey, now let's try to do something. Let's bring a stack formation where Cortland, instead of being the receiver who's off the ball behind the guy, you know, in that stack condensed formation, let's put him as that guy in the slot that's stacked up. He's on the line of scrimmage.

Starting point is 00:19:30 and now you have your different releases with these different routes, depending on who you have alongside you. You can do this in trips. You can do this in twins. And you see that on the film breakdown. Now they have this picket poison approach where, okay, if you cover me, this guy's going to be open. If you cover this guy, I'm going to be open.

Starting point is 00:19:48 This is an opportunity for Denver to completely open up their offense. And Broncos country should be excited on paper. We have a nice vision for what that could look like, but it all has to play out. We all understand that. but this is what the offseason is for. It's getting excited for what can be here for this team. And Sean Payton did a good job of giving us the formula a little bit as to how

Starting point is 00:20:07 Jalen will be used. I think it's going to open things up here for Denver's offense in 2026. But Broncos country, you know, for a long time through the first couple of weeks of free and see, we were all frustrated at the Broncos not doing anything. Sean Payton shared some insight as to why the team had their patient and methodical approach in free agency. Everything that you see now at the NFL, it's marketed. Sean Payton went on the record of saying when you see NFL free agency frenzy he says that's where it's being marketed in the Broncos and Sean don't believe in chaos or the frenzy they believe in being patient they believe in their plan we'll break down what that looks like you on today's show here.

Starting point is 00:20:44 Broncos Country thank you so much once again for tuning in making us your first listen however you choose to do so all you every day is out there means the world to us that you tune in here as we keep you covered throughout the entire off season there's never a day off for the true fan we got you covered here Broncos country sir Sean went through the insight and as to how the Broncos planned their approach for free agency. Now, certainly you and I have done episodes and rightfully so. Like, our job is to cover the team. We were told in the offseason right after the AFC championship game, the Broncos are going to be aggressive. And so far, what we saw initially through the first two weeks wasn't perceived as aggressive, even though behind the scenes the Broncos were working on an aggressive move, right?

Starting point is 00:21:20 So when you factor in all that information and ultimately leads to landing Jalen Waddle, we're excited about that, we're happy about that. I felt like Sean gave us some really great insight as to why the Broncos had the approach that they did. And I think when you look at it, it all starts to make sense a little bit. It does. And first of all,

Starting point is 00:21:38 Sean did not want anybody to call it running it back, right? I mean, he was pretty clear. He's not a fan of that term or that phrase. Yeah, I guess I don't know, whatever, I guess whatever he wants to call it,

Starting point is 00:21:49 I'll start calling it that, but it does seem to me like kind of running it back. But yeah, it's really, okay, what he talked about was this concept of like winning the day when it comes to free agency or, you know, X, Y, or he gave a number of different examples. And you don't have to be the team that spends the most money, right? We've talked

Starting point is 00:22:08 about that on the squad show and differentiating what it means to be aggressive in free agency versus having to like reload your roster, like the Las Vegas Raiders. They went out and they signed just about everybody because they needed to basically rebuild their entire roster. That's not what we said the Broncos needed to do. That wasn't what we were getting a little impatient over. We feel just like the team, like they have a really good roster. So add impact players to that roster or areas of weakness that they identified as running back, tight end and linebacker, now in back to back off seasons, by the way, go make upgrades at those positions as opposed to, you know, I guess we don't say running it back, as opposed to bringing back the players who

Starting point is 00:22:52 started there last year. Because if you said it wasn't good enough last year, why is it good enough this year with the same guys? I mean, I think those are fair questions to ask. And so Sean is talking about, you know, not really wanting to chase what others outside of the building. I believe that's the phrasing that he used.

Starting point is 00:23:08 We cannot chase what others outside the building feel like we should be doing. And I think that's accurate, right? I think that's true. Like you have to be, you have to buy what you're selling, right? You can't just say,

Starting point is 00:23:19 well, the fans wanted us to get Devin Lloyd. So that's why we went and got, nobody's ever said that in the history of the league, right? but the fans also want you to make a big impact move, and you go out and you trade for Jalen Waddle. So in a way, we all shared the same perspective,

Starting point is 00:23:33 like an impact addition was needed, but just the timing of it was not, we weren't privy to that information. So how could we be anything but impatient? I don't think there's really any blame that can go on the fans for being antsy about wanting that impact move to come sooner than later. Yeah, and the one thing he did say to when talking about,

Starting point is 00:23:52 like he brought up specifically, NFL free agency frenzy because when people mention that every year, we get excited because we're going to sit at our desks. We're going to be monitoring who goes where in free agency. What are the Broncos going to do? Sean said here two thirds of the teams in the NFL make the mistake of trying to win the day, win NFL free agency frenzy, win the NFL draft. I think at times you look at the Broncos more recently,

Starting point is 00:24:18 the time where they won the day, won the off season, was going out there and trading for Russell Wilson, right? And the perception of that was, wow, they went out there and they pushed the chips and they won it. It didn't really lead to anything. So that's why the Broncos, they want to subscribe to calm. They mentioned frenzy, chaos. Sean said, those are words that we want to avoid here. He says, we don't subscribe to frenzy.

Starting point is 00:24:40 We want steady, stick with our plan, tune out the noise here. And look, I think it's fair for fans to question the approach at times, especially when there's no movement. It's our job to certainly do that. Does that make us wrong? Does that make the fans wrong in that approach? No. Like, Sean understands we have a job and we only can go off of what we know based on the information, things that are the breadcrumbs that are dropped along the way and action or lack of action thereof. That's where we were talking about things in the first two weeks and people were getting mad at us for how we were reacting. But it's like, all right, we're just doing our jobs in that category there. And behind the scenes, Sean, George, and that organization are doing their jobs.

Starting point is 00:25:22 But one takeaway I had from Sean, Sarah, in this whole process to when he met with the media, he really kind of reiterated that he, George Payton and the Broncos scouting department, they weren't necessarily big fans of this year's free agency class. And it's not necessarily because of talent, but they also reiterated culture fits are very, very important. And it seemed like the Broncos, there were guys that probably didn't fit their culture from what I'm gathering. Yeah, and that's why it's so important to make that trade for a guy like Jalen Wattle, not just a player like Jalen Wattle.

Starting point is 00:25:51 There's a big distinction there. And you had a lot of other fellow players on this team that were able to help in the background research of that trade, right? When Pat Sertan knows him personally or when other players on the team can speak about his, you know, personality and his work habits and how he would fit into the locker room when players can speak to that or when coaches can speak to that. When you have people you can reach out to and say, hey, what is this guy like in terms of his day to day? What does he bring to the table? How would he fit with our current receiver room? I think all those things factor in, right?

Starting point is 00:26:26 And so it's not, I think a lot of people kind of get this confused too. It's not like this group of choir boys either, right? But it's a lot of guys who are team first. And that's difficult to find, isn't it? I mean, it's difficult to find players, you know, 70, at this point, the Broncos have 73 players on the roster, I believe. 73 guys who are at least the majority team at this point really willing to put the team first and do whatever it takes to get this team back to the Super Bowl champion

Starting point is 00:26:54 status that it belongs in. That's what matters to this organization, right? We talked about that in an episode where we were talking about draft prospects, right? We talked about the fact that you get the opportunity to figure out which players are going to be sort of those culture fits. And it changes that train that Sean Payton always talks about, the media hype train that, well, nobody thinks Bo Nix is a good pick at 12 overall. And the Bronner, have been proven correct about their assessment of Bo Nix as a franchise quarterback. RJ Harvey, very few people had him as a second round player. Pat Bryant, very few people had him as a third round player.

Starting point is 00:27:30 So they're willing to kind of go against the grain to say, hey, this guy's a team fit. He's a culture fit. He's about what we're about. And remember, I think it was John Elway who once said, you know, I want players who want to be Broncos. And I do think that stuff matters with a culture that's being built from the top down. are you going to be able to work for the culture? That's important in any workplace, but certainly on an NFL team that has aspirations of winning a title.

Starting point is 00:27:56 And the thing I love about George and Sean, and obviously how they've structured the front office in the scouting department, it is very much about we're doing extensive groundwork on everybody we bring into this building, whether that be a college prospect, whether that be a pro, like our pro scouting department, we want to know that if we're bringing this guy in, that we're actually doing the guys in that locker room a favor by bringing this type of player in. that is where I like the background of George Peyton and Sean Peyton,

Starting point is 00:28:21 loving being boots on the ground, going through and scouting players. That's what matters. I think that's what's helping the Broncos identify these players that maybe everyone's like, ah, I don't know about this guy. They're like, hey, you know what? You can sleep on him. We're not. We know this guy's going to be an impact player.

Starting point is 00:28:36 And I think the proof is kind of in the pudding here for the Broncos in the last handful of years from a draft class standpoint, from the guys they brought in free agency. It's having the patience and the wherewithal to develop a player and go through the growing pains without making a quick decision. Say, you know what, this isn't working. We made the mistake. It's, hey, if we evaluated something wrong in this guy, that's on us.

Starting point is 00:28:55 We're going to acknowledge that. That's the approach that this Broncos team certainly has. And I'm excited for what that means going forward for this team is now the transition for them shifts into draft meetings. Denver picks 60 second overall. And who knows where they're going to go with that pick. But we're going to have you covered every step of the way here. Broncos, country.

Starting point is 00:29:13 I want to say thank you so much for tuning in, making us your first listen. Make sure you subscribe or follow. wherever you get your podcast. If you want to support the show, Sarah said earlier, check out the Everydayer Club. It's in the show notes down below or lockdownbroncos. That supercast.com. I have a film breakdown in there that I uploaded this week of Cortland Sutton

Starting point is 00:29:29 and how defense is played against him on third down. So make sure you check that out here. We appreciate you. As always, Broncos country, Sarah and myself, we're going to be back tomorrow for a brand new episode. Lockdown Broncos. We'll see you then.

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