Locked On Broncos - Daily Podcast On The Denver Broncos - TOUGH: Denver Broncos 53-Man Roster Prediction Forces Difficult Decisions

Starting point is 00:00:00 NFL training camp is a gauntlet. And that's why we are taking a guess at the Denver Broncos 53 men roster for 2026, who survives. You are locked on Broncos, your daily Denver Broncos podcast, part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. What's happened to Braco's country, Cody Rourke, Sarah Brediger here for another episode, Locked on Broncos. Today's episode is brought to you by Fandu.

Starting point is 00:00:30 Join all the action, Fandu.com, to play daily dingers and make your free pick on who, hitting a homer this MLB season. We're going to take a little bit of a guess as to what the Denver Broncos 53 man roster will look like. And it was tough putting this together. We'll go through where we were caught up in terms of the numbers game, certain positions, certain outside circumstances that may be influenced how this roster was

Starting point is 00:00:52 initially a bill. We'll talk about why the Broncos defense certainly has the numbers advantage compared to the offense. But we'll also highlight why the Broncos offense is loaded with a lot of key guys who were starters last season, including a brand new, exciting edition. in Jalen Waddle. Sarah, this was tough putting together because every single position preview you and I have done so far leading up to training camp, we've kind of given our prediction as to how many players the Broncos keep at that position and who they keep.

Starting point is 00:01:21 And of course, just as typical practice always goes, sometimes you go a little bit over the count. When I was looking back and I was trying to put this together for us, I was like, man, we can't keep this guy that I predicted. We can't keep this guy that Sarah predicted because now we're all. over the roster. We might cut the long snapper and the kicker in order to make it work. But let's start on the offensive side of all. I don't think there's any question here that we're going with two quarterbacks on the Broncos 53. I think so, right?

Starting point is 00:01:48 And the question is, is who's the second quarterback? Because we know that Bo Nix is going to be QB1. So is it Jarrett Stidham or is it Sam Ellinger for that second spot? Well, we've got Sam Elinger taking over the second spot. That does seem to be a little bit of the prevailing thought coming out of OTAs. coming out of mini-camp is that Sam Ellinger might take over that backup quarterback position after what we saw last season in the AFC championship game from Jared Stidham, which that's a tough, tough draw, right? I mean, not only do you get basically one of what,

Starting point is 00:02:19 two days that it snowed there in Denver this year and the worst snowfall possible and the worst environment possible. The Broncos had so many home games with immaculate weather in every month of the season. And then, of course, when Jared gets his opportunity in the AFC title game, which already is high stakes is just a ridiculous pressure-filled moment, then ultimately it goes wrong. And now you start to kind of think, well, who is truly the better backup option for Bo Nix? And stylistically speaking, Sam Ellinger is much more similar, I would say, right, Cody, in terms of his playing style.

Starting point is 00:02:56 We saw it in the preseason last year. He's kind of got that gamer mentality. He's got the ability to run with the ball. Not that Jarrett doesn't, but Sam. Ellenger is just a little bit different in that regard. His playing style is different. Jared is much more of the pocket passer. So it's going to be interesting because Davis Webb has been with both of these guys

Starting point is 00:03:15 since the beginning of their time in Denver. But Jared has been around longer than even Bo Nix. So there's relationship equity there. He's got the salary cap hit of roughly $8 million, I think it is. So there's a lot of layers to this discussion that ultimately kind of led us to this point with Sam Ellinger taking QB2. And I think with where, With where the Broncos are at roster-wise this year, there is no way you can justify keeping three quarterbacks because you need other spots at other positions.

Starting point is 00:03:42 And maybe, maybe running back is one of them. We've got them keeping four running backs here on the 53. You got J.K. Dobbins, R.J. Harvey, Jonah Coleman. And I think also number four, Jillo McLaughlin, that was kind of my selection. I feel like you could probably poke holes in this. You could probably debate it a little bit. I do feel like out of everybody else, Jalue McLaughlin probably has a better advantage over Tyler Biday. and you and I were talking off air and you made a great point.

Starting point is 00:04:07 But they definitely did play more special team snaps, but we didn't see anything really from him in the return game. And in the other aspects of special teams, we didn't really see him going down there and making plays. So maybe it is an opportunity to open things up. I just know that Sean Payton, running back coach Lou I, Annie, they love Jilil McLaughlin. And it's going to be hard for Jal to see the field unless there's really an injury.

Starting point is 00:04:29 But Denver, from an insurance standpoint, they want to keep four guys. Now, Jalilil is going to have the opportunity, I think, as well, if he knows he's not going to get playing time. Maybe Jalil will say, hey, I want to go play somewhere. And maybe the Broncos will give him that. But right now, four running backs on the 53 is kind of a tough realm in terms of where we're at right now. Yeah, and I think this is one of those positions where you can really say, hey, we have the flexibility to make a difficult decision here or to maybe pitch somebody like Jalil on joining the practice squad initially like other veterans have done in the past. right? Because you've already given him his contract for this off season. You've already given him whatever his guarantees are.

Starting point is 00:05:08 So now it's just a matter of you put him on the practice squad initially and you kind of make the same promise that you did for, like, is Jalilil really above where Sam Ellinger was last year or Lil Jordan Humphrey even? I mean, I think you could make the argument that little Jordan has made more contribution to this team over the last two years than Jalil has. And so I would say he's not above it. And if you need that flexibility in the roster, definitely you could say that fourth running back spot. But the top three, Cody, those are set in stone, right? I mean, no doubt. J.K. Dobbins, R.J. Harvey and obviously Jonah Coleman, the rookie coming in, we expect those three guys to be the top dogs at the position and to be the focal points of the running back position barring injury.

Starting point is 00:05:53 And if there's an injury, well, we've seen Jalil. Tyler Bade, those guys haven't really stepped up the way that we hoped for. So I wonder if the Broncos will even be scouring. We'll see if Cody Schrader, what he can do during the preseason, things like that. But will they scour the waiver wire a little bit here to see for a practice squad player potentially? I'll be interested to find out, but I don't disagree that they could keep four. Yeah, I mean, it's tough. But here's a thing, that fourth guy more than likely going to be a game day and active on Sundays,

Starting point is 00:06:23 unless there's an interim. I mean, that's just kind of the numbers game. You know, we can have a whole other conversation about, why the NFL should make it to where like if you're on the active roster, you know, there probably shouldn't be like this inactive list. Like, in my opinion, you're on the active roster. You should be able to be active on game day. I don't know.

Starting point is 00:06:38 That's a subject for another day here. But I mean, this is where we're at six spots right now here to open up just between quarterback and running back. Now we get to wide receiver, which was, I felt like it was pretty interesting. But you did mention a guy a little Jordan Humphrey. If you want to play the numbers game with three running backs, well, maybe you can leave room for six wide receivers here. But instead, we're going with five guys.

Starting point is 00:06:58 guys here at wide receiver. Cortland Sutton, Jalen Waddle, Troy Franklin, Pat Bryant, Marvin, Mims. Pretty easy to come up with this determination here. If the Broncos want to have, I'd say, a really good and really good deep wide receiver room, this is the group that's going to do it. Five made the most sense to me. You can make the argument for six, but based on the numbers game, we've already been playing.

Starting point is 00:07:18 And what's going to be played with the offensive line coming up, five seems to be the sweet spot here for Denver at Whiteout. It does feel like it's going to come down to either. four running backs or six receivers, doesn't it? I mean, with the way that things are structured right now, and not to say that those are both guarantees, either way, because the tight end room is also going to complicate the discussion with the two rookies that are coming in,

Starting point is 00:07:42 as well as some of the other guys who could, you know, favorites of the coaching staff. And so we'll talk about that in a bit, but wider receiver, you're right, Cody. You could easily make the case for six guys right now, with Lil Jordan Humphrey probably being at the top of that list in terms of the guys who are right at the roster, bubble, but we also know this team loves Michael Bandy.

Starting point is 00:08:01 They brought him back on another one-year contract. So he'll probably be going to the practice squad once again. But at the same time, he showed some stuff when he got on the field last year. Not necessarily as a punt returner, but as a wide receiver, he did. And so now you've also brought in Hakeem Butler, who factors into the discussion. I mean, we've talked about how Devin Key's brother, Dane Key, was making some plays at OTAs in a mini camp. So the conversation, I think, while it's easy to say, this is the top five at receiver right now, I think that's something that you could say, hey, this is a group we know we can

Starting point is 00:08:36 go into the regular season. They're going to be good. They give us multiple different skill sets. We feel like we can truly feature these five guys in the offense and have success. That is, I think, real. I think that's true. And I also think that there's a chance that you could look at, you know, this position as once again, Again, this has been the position where there's been a surprise roster move the last two seasons. So is there another one in the works this year? I don't know. But there's guys at the back end of this depth chart that make it.

Starting point is 00:09:05 So it's, okay, yes, there's a drop off after Marvin Mims or whoever you deem to be the fifth best receiver on the team. But after that drop off, there are a number of guys who have made plays and who are interesting. Like Butler is interesting to me. Key is very interesting to me. Colby Katzis, we want to see him return. kicks in the preseason. He's interesting to me. So there's a lot of guys that bring that intrigue, but is there sealing the practice squad? That's the tough part to know right now. Yeah, and the numbers game ultimately for the

Starting point is 00:09:34 active roster makes it so hard at this position specifically for those guys to go out there and make a dent. It almost has to be undeniable at this point. And it's hard. It's hard considering what we've seen from Troy and from Pat, the excitement with those guys. Marvin obviously entering last year, like, it's hard to imagine any of those guys behind. them going out there and just standing out to a point where it's just like, wow, we can now bump this guy up to this spot. It's going to be tough, but that's what we're going to be paying attention to once training camp rolls around all the practices, all these guys. We'll break it all down here. But coming up next, Broncos country, we're going to take a look at the tight end room and

Starting point is 00:10:10 the offensive line, two positions that are going to be very interesting to rounding out the Broncos offensive side of the ball on our 53-man roster prediction. We'll break all that down here on today's episode of the show. Matt Derry here from the Lockdown Lions podcast. You know, life insurance is one of those things you don't really think about until you have a reason to. For me, it really hit home when my father passed away over 20 years ago. You start thinking less about yourself and more about the people who depend on you, making sure they're taking care of no matter what. That's why I like ethos. They make getting life insurance simple. It's 100% online, no doctor visits, no needles, none of that. You can get a quote in seconds, apply in just a few minutes

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Starting point is 00:11:18 The tight end position not only complicates the 53-man roster discussion, but could give us a big clue as to some. potential scheme changes for the Broncos here in 2026. We're going to talk about that and make our final predictions for the defense, the special teams, and talk about where we really struggled putting this together. Broncos Country. There's no perfect brackets.

Starting point is 00:11:38 There's no perfect 53-man rosters ever. I've never seen one, Cody. It's much easier than a perfect bracket, but it's impossible to do nonetheless. And so Broncos Country, we're going to do our best. And we want to hear from you as well. But we also want to say thank you to all of you that make us your first listen of the day every single day.

Starting point is 00:11:55 It finally feels like Cody, we can truly say we've not only rounded third base, but we're getting ready for a collision course with the catcher. And we're going to touch home plate here soon. The offseason is going to be over. But definitely the tight end position, as we've already gone through, two quarterbacks, four running backs,

Starting point is 00:12:12 five receivers. I think the tight end position complicates the discussion a little bit because you've not only drafted two guys in 2026, you drafted Caleb Loner last year. You also brought back both Nate Adkins and Lucas Crowell. You've got Adam Troutman on a three-year deal. Evan Ingram is back. So there's a lot of names at this position, not necessarily a ton of clarity.

Starting point is 00:12:35 I'm fascinated by what the roster decisions at tight end, especially what we have here in our predictions, could mean in terms of a total shift of offensive philosophy going forward. Yeah, and I think when we look at it right now, you and I are already sold on, like, hey, Evan Ingram, Adam Troutman, those guys are Evan Ingram, Adam Troutman, those guys are evident roster locks. I even think you and I've discussed Justin Jolie is a roster lock, in our opinion.

Starting point is 00:12:58 Where the competition really is going to be is for that fourth and final spot here. Now, obviously, I've got Nate Adkins listed here as a fifth option, but that's kind of like a branch extension of the running back position. And here's my justification for it, right? We've got Ingram, Troutman, Jolie, and I think you and I both agreed, hey, Dallin Bentley probably going to be that guy.

Starting point is 00:13:18 Mike Clis of Nine News just put together his recent preview for the training camp and obviously looked at the tight end room and mentioned Dallin Bentley kind of in the same light as Devon Vela. It's like, hey, this is a guy who, you know, shined out in the offseason program. Could be the guy who if he stands out during training camp could be a very similar guy. It's a seventh round, former Utah guy making Denver's 53-man roster. So there's that. But then I also factored in Nate Adkins here.

Starting point is 00:13:45 And I want Brockco's country to listen to me on this one, right? Because we also, when we talked about running backs, we did not include fullback. I've got Nate Atkins kind of as this full back, tight-in hybrid guy because he's not yet a vested veteran. Now, bear with me here. The Broncos have the ability to bring Adam Prentice back immediately onto the practice squad because he is a vested veteran. So that was kind of my line of thinking is that it just allows him to have flexibility

Starting point is 00:14:09 from a numbers game. And Prentice would be one of those guys that Sean Payton say, hey, like, from our roster standpoint, we need to do this. Are you good with it? He's probably going to say, absolutely, I'm fine with it. Like, of course he wants to make the 50. but he may just start out the season on the practice squad. So flexibility number standpoint.

Starting point is 00:14:27 Sarah, the tight end position is ultimately going to be very interesting to see how these other guys emerge. Now, for us to say Dallin Bentley as a seventh round rookie is going to come in and win that final spot, he's going to have to go out and prove it because you got Lucas Crowell, who's been with the team since 2023. You got Caleb Loner who's obviously stepping into his second year in the NFL. And really for him, Trini Camp is going to be the first time outside of rookie mini-com. camp, we actually see him on the football field. So what does that translation look like?

Starting point is 00:14:56 And what does it look like in the preseason, ultimately for him? That's going to be a big determining factor. But I think we're in a good spot here when it comes to the tight end position. If it's this group of guys here for Denver, and they obviously have to use the tightens a lot more in the passing game than they did in 2025. Right. They were top 10 last year in terms of this is what I meant by earlier when I said the scheme or philosophy change. They were top 10 in the NFL last year in 11. personnel usage, bottom 10 of the NFL in multi-tight-end personnel usage, which obviously didn't

Starting point is 00:15:28 feel like that because of how many times we saw multiple tight ends out on the field, but certainly you feel like if you're keeping five tight ends or even a hybrid player like Adkins on the roster, that you're going to ramp up the 12 and even 13 personnel looks. And that's why you keep those top four guys for sure, but especially Atkins as a fifth guy, because he also plays and is a kind of a guarantee on special teams. I think on the offensive line, Cody, you have to keep nine guys. I think that's where the Broncos are at right now, is they're not only thinking about the present,

Starting point is 00:15:59 which is the most consistent starting five in the NFL over the last three years, just this group of guys that obviously has been together since most of them, 2023, and with Wattenberg, it's been since 2024, right? So it's not like these guys have been together for a while, but now you start forward think a little bit with, Cage Casey coming in as the potential heir apparent to Ben Powers at left guard. We know Alex Palteschi and Frank Crum are sort of guarantees, in my opinion, as the top reserves on the offensive line.

Starting point is 00:16:32 And Alex Forsyth has also started for you the last two years on multiple occasions. So you're going to meet him back. Those top nine guys, I think, are kind of no-brainers, in my opinion. Well, this is where I was like looking at it from the numbers game, right? You know, you're going to have a couple of offensive linemen that are extra active. for game day. But like for me, the Broncos view Cage Casey as a guy who can play Center, right? They even said, Sean Payton has made the mention of it about Center. That's where I'm like, you know, Alex Forsyte has contributed. Like when Alex has started, Alex has been good at Center when he said to step in for Luke Wattenberg.

Starting point is 00:17:06 Could or possibly Cage Casey make the Broncos, you know, kind of open up some competition for foresight there to say like, hey, we like you, but we drafted this guy, you know, pretty high. We also understand we drafted you, Alex, but your contract. is coming up, we might have to get a little bit of a look at Cage Casey. I think there will be competition maybe between he and Cage Casey for the backup center job, possibly. We know he'll be a backup option alongside Paucheschi behind Ben Powers. It makes things very interesting. I think that's where you kind of get into the numbers game.

Starting point is 00:17:35 Do you carry eight? Do you carry nine? That was really tough, you know, when I was looking at it, when you were trying to piece this together. So obviously, Broncos Country, make sure you share your thoughts with us here on today's episode of the show. Let's transition to one of the defensive sides of the ball here as we continue on. our roster prediction. Now, from a number standpoint, Sarah, where we're at right now, after highlighting all the offensive players, we are, if I'm not mistaken, we are at 25 total players on offense.

Starting point is 00:18:00 Seems about right. So what does that look like for the defensive side of all? Let's start off here at safety. We got them keeping five safeties. And this was tough, Sarah, because you and I have done episodes where like typically you carry 11 dbs. This is the year, based on these predictions, they carry 10 total dbs. Obviously, Talano, Hufanga, Brandon Jones is your starters. Devin Key is at third guy, J.L. Skinner. And then we got rookie Miles Scott beating out veteran at Tyson Anderson because of special teams and where he's at from a developmental standpoint. That's where we're at now with safety. I had such a hard time just making the justification for six guys here. Yeah, let's also make it clear too that it's possible that somebody like Tyson Anderson could be

Starting point is 00:18:44 higher on the depth chart than Miles Scott and yet doesn't make the 53 man roster because the Broncos utilize those exceptions for the practice squad. And I guarantee you with guys like you mentioned before, Adam Prentice being one of them, Tyson Anderson possibly being another, that these guys were told when they came in, hey, we might do this at the beginning of the year, but you'll be active against,

Starting point is 00:19:07 you know, whoever we play week one. We know now it's Kansas City. So Tyson Anderson might be on the game day roster in week one as a special teams guy, where Miles Scott might be an inactive. player and we'll just kind of have to wait and see what that looks like because that's where I think you can stash players like Bentley. You can stash players like Miles Scott.

Starting point is 00:19:29 The Broncos have to be able to do that. Even if you have such a deep roster, you have to be able to keep guys that you believe have developmental potential to contribute to your team. And you can use the exceptions with the veteran players that can go to your practice squad as a means of making sure those spots on your roster are available. so you don't have to IR somebody for a ding that they get in the preseason or whatever or you don't have to try and sneak somebody through waivers. This is how a team like the Broncos is going to protect the prospects they like the most

Starting point is 00:20:01 is by keeping them on the roster initially, but maybe having them lower on the depth chart than other players. Yeah, and that's going to factor into the rest of our defensive positions as well because there were some tough decisions and there were some circumstances on the outside. We had to consider when we made this, How many outside linebackers will the Denver Broncos keep alongside Nick Benito? We'll break it down to much more. You're on today's episode, Lockdown Broncos.

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Starting point is 00:22:19 That's Fanduil.com to play daily dingers and make your free pick on who's hitting a homer. Play ball and swing for the fences on Fandul, an official partner of the MLB. The Denver Broncos outside linebacker room has some interesting decisions coming up when it comes to the 53 man roster and Jonathan Cooper's situation puts them in a little bit of a predicament here. Brockos country, let's break down Denver's outside linebacker room in terms of the 53. Sarah and I were kind of juggling back and forth thinking about it from. from a roster flexibility standpoint, looking at the other positions highlighted offensively, position depth that we need here for other positions on the defensive side of the ball.

Starting point is 00:22:54 And it's a very interesting decision. They've typically carried five. But right now in this system, we got them carrying four outside linebackers. There's an asterisk next to Jonathan Cooper's name, not knowing whether he'll end up on the commissioner exempt list, whether he'll end up suspended or whatnot. But if that is the situation here, Nick Benito, Jonah Ellis, Dandre Tillman, and Q Robinson headlined the Broncos pass rush group, and all four of those guys will be game day active.

Starting point is 00:23:21 That's where things were tough just because of the number standpoint, right? Because we could have easily slotted in somebody else at that fifth spot. That's what was tough about this position specifically. Yeah, because part of the Broncos identity is bringing waves of pass rushers and really utilizing all of these guys. I know Hugh Robinson only appeared in, what, six games before the playoffs last year. So he was kind of put on ice last season. but having that fifth guy available somewhere, I think it will be essential.

Starting point is 00:23:49 So whether it's on the practice squad or the 53, you've got to figure the Broncos are going to work to keep five guys off the edge. Now, the Jonathan Cooper discussion is really unfortunate going into camp, Cody, because ultimately you would like to just be able to say, hey, this edge group, it's a no-brainer. Once again, they've got these five guys. But also, it could provide the way for the Broncos to finally get Jonah Ellis onto the field more. Q Robinson onto the field more. And we both believe not just because we're manifesting something positive after the, you know, negativity of the Jonathan Cooper news.

Starting point is 00:24:23 But I think we all agree, including the Broncos, that Ellis needs to be on the field more. Q Robinson needs to be on the field more. They're too talented to be on the sideline. And I think the upside in the pass rush department is still tremendous with both of those guys. So whether the Broncos have four or five off the edge, depending on Cooper situation, depending on what happens with guys like Drew Sanders, Johnny Walker Jr., Desaun McCullough, plenty of guys, right? So we'll see what happens.

Starting point is 00:24:52 And I think that it's ultimately going to be one of the most fun competitions to watch because there's some talent there from those guys that aren't really known or even Drew Sanders, who's a third round pick from the 2023 class. The defensive line, Cody, I do think, is rather straightforward. I mean, the top six guys, I don't think we would see any drama there. I just don't. With two third round picks in the last two drafts, Savion Jones, Tyler O'Needem,

Starting point is 00:25:18 those guys are probably going to be competing for snaps right away. You kind of mentioned that Enioma Uwazerike was doing a little bit more on the interior defensive line during the offseason program as opposed to playing defensive end. So maybe we see more of Malcolm Roach at defensive end while these young guys continue to come along. But I'll be interested to see what that rotation looks like early on in training camp. I think the top six guys, though, pretty well set in stone.

Starting point is 00:25:42 Yeah, I mean, you can make arguments for other guys, but just the numbers crunch. And that's what it really boils down to doesn't justify you carrying seven guys at this position. Plus, you'll have plenty of flexibility, as we've talked about. You could store three or four defensive linemen onto the practice squad. And there's a couple of guys who've already been on your roster for the last handful of years that would probably be well suited to knowing your system. The event of an injury, well, now it's just plug and play with those guys. Let's go to linebacker, off ball linebacker here. We got Denver keeping five guys here.

Starting point is 00:26:12 This is also one of those ones where I could see Denver keeping four just because of the numbers crunch, not because they don't want to keep five. But I think if they value maybe one position more than the other, there might be four guys here and then they may go somewhere else at another position. But then obviously, you know, we're going to look at Alex Singleton, Justin Sternat as your two starters. We've got Red Murdoch making the roster, Jordan Turner making the roster. And of course, undrafted rookie Frasiant Tori in York.

Starting point is 00:26:38 We've got him making the roster as well as that fifth line. backer option. And look, a lot of these guys at these positions were breaking down in the back end, they have to become key special teams contributors. And I would say at linebacker specifically with Murdoch, with Turner and York, you're going to get really good special teams guys out of that. So I like a lot about what we're at with linebacker right now. Hopefully everyone in this room to stay healthy. Let's go to corner though. This is where things were interesting. You know, when we talked about corner Sarah, I had Reese Taylor being that six guy because of the numbers and how we've kind of put this together.

Starting point is 00:27:09 I couldn't do that. And I know that would make Reese Taylor mad like because Reese also felt like he should have got a 53 spot last year. I think he had great arguments for it. But the numbers crunch here too much. Sartan, Riley Moss, Jayquan, Jekwon, Jadae, Chris Abrams, Drain. Pretty easy to predict that as the five corners here for Denver's roster, which really puts it at now you got 25 players on offense. You got 25 players here on defense.

Starting point is 00:27:33 And, of course, the hardest position to evaluate here. who the heck do you keep on special teams, man? This was the mind-boggling one. Like, ah, you know, we really struggled on Will Lutz and Jeremy Crosh. All jokes aside, I think Mitchell Forbony versus Luke Basso is going to be a fun training camp position battle to watch here. Because, I mean, from a cost standpoint, Mitchell Forbony is making a little bit more. Bassos not too far behind him. But you never hear anything from Forbony.

Starting point is 00:28:00 Like, you never see any mistake from him. And that's obviously a good thing. If your long snappers not being mentioned, pretty good thing. but this was a pretty difficult 53 men roster to round out because we did leave off some very talented guys on the active roster. Yeah, you want to make sure that you have the perfect combination of guys who can contribute now, guys that you're rewarding for earning their spot over the last handful of years who have been developing in your system, players who set the example, players who are good for your locker room. I think that's what makes this a really difficult 53 because it's easy for us to sit here and say, well, you know, like for instance, Jared Stidham is going to lose the backup job potentially to Sam Ellinger.

Starting point is 00:28:42 It's easy to put that on paper, but how difficult is that for the players on the team who are so tight-knit? Like, I think part of the discussion there is like if Jarrett doesn't make the roster, does that mean that he has to be traded and not just cut? you know so i think there's a lot of layers to all these position group discussions and we know training camp is not only going to sort things out but maybe even further complicate this because yeah it's not like we have a bunch of major upsets on this 53 man roster this is a pretty like pretty clear cut like these are the guys the broncos have invested in there's not a lot of huge like shocks on our 53 like i would say there let's let's see what happens even with the unexpected when it comes to this 53-man roster because we don't know what trades could be made,

Starting point is 00:29:33 what injuries could happen, what undrafted guys could step up, what players who were on the practice squad last year could step up. I mean, that's the fun of training camp and the preseason is that we're going to get to find all that stuff out. So this is the very much the initial 53-man roster projection. And I think that I think we did a pretty good job here in terms of this was the team the Broncos went into the season with. I think it's a Super Bowl winning team.

Starting point is 00:29:57 I agree with you. I think it gives them their best opportunity at going out there and competing for a championship. There's going to be a lot of tough obstacles and challenges along the way. But you know what? The road to the Super Bowl is never easy here. Broncos Country, share with us as well. As you're tuning into lockdown Broncos, show with us your 53-man roster predictions. We'd love to see it.

Starting point is 00:30:15 We'd love to react to some of the best ones for all you every day or is tomorrow's episode of the show. Sarah and I, we're going to sit down and we're going to share our own predictions for the Broncos season. What is their record going to be? We're going to go through each game. we think they're going to win, which games that we think could end up being losses. Where do the Broncos finish? We have to tune into tomorrow's episode of the show to find out.

Locked On Broncos - Daily Podcast On The Denver Broncos - TOUGH: Denver Broncos 53-Man Roster Prediction Forces Difficult Decisions

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