Locked On Broncos - Daily Podcast On The Denver Broncos - Two Denver Broncos UDFAs Who Could Be DIAMONDS in the Rough

Starting point is 00:00:00 The offseason program is the perfect time for undrafted players to make a name for themselves. And I've got two Broncos country that you need to be keeping your eyes on. You are locked on Broncos. Your daily Denver Broncos podcast. Part of the Locked on podcast network, your team every day. Denver Broncos are set to hit the field as a team for their first OTA session on the field next week. And we got to talk about some of the diamonds in the rough on the roster. the undrafted rookie free agents, those players who could be maybe really nice fines for this Denver Broncos team that has a rich history of finding undrafted players and turning them into, if not solid contributors, maybe even starters on this team.

Starting point is 00:00:49 I'm going to give you two names to look out for on today's episode of the show in Broncos Country. I want to say, we appreciate you so much for tuning in checking out lockdown Broncos rocking with us every single day right here on the lockdown podcast network, the number one, Sports Podcast Network. My name is Sarah Bedinger. And I want to tell you about two undrafted rookies that I think could be worth earmarking, putting an asterisk next to their name, memorizing their number throughout the course of this offseason because ultimately we know that the Denver Broncos rich tradition of undrafted free agents. It hasn't stopped even as the roster has gotten better. Even with some of the best teams in franchise history, undrafted free agents find a way to make it. and I don't think this year is going to be any different.

Starting point is 00:01:35 We've talked about some of the usual suspects, right? We've talked about Tori and York, who was the team's most expensive undrafted free agent. But I want to start off today's discussion by talking about the third most expensive free agent, the Bronco signed after the draft, Nebraska linebacker, edge rusher, hybrid safety, whatever you want to call him, Desan McCullough. Very, very interesting prospect, starting all the way back at his journey, at the college level where he committed to play at Ohio State,

Starting point is 00:02:06 flipped his commitment to Indiana, and wound up being an honorable mention all Big Ten player as a true freshman. Get this, 49 total tackles back in his freshman season, six and a half tackles for loss and four sacks. So Desan McCullough was productive from the time that he hit the field at the college level. And I think what's really fascinating about him is he almost gives that positionless, He's listed as an outside linebacker for the Broncos, and I think that you're going to see him working with the past rushers.

Starting point is 00:02:40 As we know, Jonah Ellis kind of making that switch to the inside linebacker position, the Broncos want to maybe re-fortify their depth off the edge. I think Desan McCullough at $265 grand and guaranteed money, which is the third most this year, would have been the most really ever for the Broncos for a defensive guy, if not for guys like Tori and York and Tyler Miller on this year's roster. man, he is somebody that this team coveted. I remember reading reports about the Broncos sending scouts to Nebraska games this past year.

Starting point is 00:03:10 I know Desaun McCullough was one of those guys who took a pre-draft visit to come and see the Broncos. So this is somebody that their staff really believes in. They put in the legwork towards recruiting him to come as an undrafted free agent. And there are reasons why he was undrafted, right? Because you don't see necessarily a positionless player at the college level unless they just have, outrageous productivity. You don't always see those guys heavily prioritized by NFL teams. So the college journey for Desan McCullough took him from Indiana, then to Oklahoma,

Starting point is 00:03:44 where he played what they call the Cheetah position, a hybrid linebacker slash safety sort of role. And I think what you see there, and especially in that type of defensive scheme, is the ability of a player who is just so ultra athletic and so big that you don't want him playing too far off the ball because he can impact the game at the line of scrimmage and behind the line of scrimmage. And you saw that consistently. He goes to Indiana, to Oklahoma, where he spends a couple of seasons. He finishes out his collegiate career at Nebraska, where you just saw him constantly moving around the defensive formation once again. And I think that's what makes

Starting point is 00:04:23 him so fascinating is that he can come off the edge. He can play off the ball. He looks like he's going to be really effective on special teams at the next level. But when I started watching some of his stuff, especially at Nebraska, what I saw was immediately just explosiveness and playing with instincts. I mean, this guy attacks the line of scrimmage like his life depends on it. And that doesn't mean that he necessarily makes every play behind the line of scrimmage. I mean, quite frankly, I think his, you know, overall statistics at the college level, they don't necessarily stand out.

Starting point is 00:04:58 They're not necessarily going to make you say, wow. how did this guy go undrafted? I mean, you look at the numbers. He had 49 tackles his freshman season. That was the most he ever had. His six and a half tackles for loss in his freshman season, those were the most he ever had. So as he gets over the, you know,

Starting point is 00:05:14 the Oklahoma years where he played just 17 games in two seasons, he combined for six tackles for loss in those two seasons. At Nebraska this past year, five tackles for loss, just 21 total tackles, two sacks. So you kind of get the idea that, okay, this is somebody who absolutely has the talent, but the production doesn't quite match the talent.

Starting point is 00:05:35 You can see those flashes when you put on the Nebraska games from last season. You can see the flashes when you watch him at Indiana or you watch him at Oklahoma, but where does he project at the next level? I think the Broncos want to see him play a pass rush role. They like to call these guys pressure players, right? And that's what they call Drew Sanders coming out. That's what I think they would call somebody like,

Starting point is 00:05:59 Jonah Ellis. There's pressure players who can impact the game from a number of different positions. And in today's NFL, you want guys like this who have that type of elite athleticism. And Desan McCullough has elite athleticism among linebackers, a 9.45 on the RAS scale. So that means that he's testing in the 94th and above percentile in terms of his athletic traits, size, speed, explosiveness, quickness, where he really, shined was in the explosiveness department and short area quickness really good three cone time four five nine in the 40 r dash 36 inch vertical jump so those numbers are there just when you see this guy and the thing that really stands out and what you see pop off on the screen when you watch him

Starting point is 00:06:47 play is the length that he has i mean he has nearly 34 inch arms and that really plays into his advantage no matter what position he's playing he's six foot five listed at two four 40 probably played closer to 230 at the college level just based on he looks really lean out there. So he's probably adding some weight to try and play off the edge or maybe play a bit of a hybrid role at the NFL level. But that's why I think he's somebody to watch this off season is because he does have that length, the explosiveness, the hustle and the type of effort that is really going to stand out on a snap to snap basis. He's going to absolutely pop off the screen when you see him coming off the edge.

Starting point is 00:07:28 And I think that's going to be fun to watch in the preseason. I think it's going to be intriguing in training camp when he's going up against some of these backup offensive linemen as well. So Desan McCullough, a undrafted free agent out of Nebraska, definitely worth watching for the Broncos this offseason, kind of a hybrid player, kind of an intriguing defensive weapon, defensive chess piece, if you will. A guy on the offensive side of the ball that I want to talk about as well is somebody that I haven't heard anybody talking about, but amongst the Broncos undrafted free agents,

Starting point is 00:08:01 this guy was the highest paid skill player that they brought in among those undrafted players. We're going to talk about Joseph Manjack coming up on today's bonus episode, Lockdown Broncos. Today's episode of Lockdown Broncos is brought to you by Ruggiat. The NHL playoffs are here where every shift matters. Every moment is intense and the pressure is at its highest. And unfortunately, I know Aves fans, the Aves crumbled big time under the pressure. pressure getting swept by the Las Vegas Golden Knights, but you know what? There'll be brighter days ahead, right?

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Starting point is 00:10:56 it might go to Joseph Manjack, an undrafted free agent-wide receiver out of TCU, who another player, like many in rookie classes nowadays, had a very interesting journey at the college level, starting off at one school, bouncing around to a couple of different places, and now ultimately ending up in the Mile High City. I'm going to tell you what's so interesting about him on today's bonus episode of the show, but once again, I want to say thank you to all you every dayers out there

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Starting point is 00:11:46 Joseph Manjack obviously has a cool name. You know, let's just point out the elephant in the room here. but ultimately that's not what we're talking about today. What we're talking about today is what this guy can do as a football player. And I found him really fascinating as once again, you follow the money. You kind of look at the Denver Broncos undrafted class this year. And they spent a lot of money on defensive guys and offensive linemen. Their top six guys on the undrafted free agent list in terms of guaranteed money.

Starting point is 00:12:13 There's only two offensive players in it. And the two offensive players are linemen, right? So when I got past that point, I noticed something interesting. The Broncos signed four different wide receivers as undrafted free agents this year, and the one who got the most guaranteed money was Joseph Manjack. So that really piqued my interest. I'm kind of wondering, okay, it's still a relatively minimal amount, right?

Starting point is 00:12:37 80,000 in terms of total guarantees. But why did the Broncos give Joseph Manjack more than anybody else? So you start digging into this guy's tape from his college days, and you start to see the number one trait that stands out about Joseph Manjok is the ability to make difficult catches, contested catches, and make it look relatively easy. And this guy just looks like a football player and a old school throwback in so many different ways. What stands out really right away, you watch this guy, and I'm sure we'll see pictures and photos of him at OTAs.

Starting point is 00:13:12 He does not wear any gloves. He does not wear any additional equipment beyond, you know, the shoulder pads, the helmet. and all the other traditional stuff. He doesn't add any sleeves. He doesn't have any wristbands. He doesn't have any gloves. He has none of that. He just, I mean, that's, you know, unique in today's football world where you see somebody

Starting point is 00:13:31 like that who he kind of abides by that old school mentality of, hey, you're not blaming the gloves for a dropped pass. So go out there and catch it with your bare hands. And I think that's kind of a fun thing. You just don't see very often anymore. but it wouldn't be a great trait if he was dropping passes. And he's simply not doing that. He caught everything.

Starting point is 00:13:54 When you watch this guy, the ball comes his direction, and he makes every single play. It's really fun to see. He makes one-handed catches. He makes difficult contested catches in tight coverage near the sideline. He has great ball control and body control near the sideline. He does an excellent job of timing his, you know, route stem where he's kind of selling like he's going a block and then he'll all of a sudden release and get downfield. I think he's just got that kind of savvy football awareness that you really don't see

Starting point is 00:14:25 from a lot of collegiate guys. Now, when it comes to the production, once again, just like with Desan McCullough on the defensive side, you're not really going to see, hey, man, this, this really pops off in terms of his numbers that he's putting up. Like his best year that he had at the college level was in 2023 with Houston, where he caught 46 passes for 577 yards and six touchdowns. He had 44 catches this past season at TCU for 579 yards, three touchdowns. He threw a couple passes over the course of his collegiate career, but he started off at USC,

Starting point is 00:15:01 and then he transferred to Houston, played for Dana Holgerson for a handful of years, and then goes to Texas Christian for his final season at the college level. So like I said, he's kind of jumped all over the place, and he did a lot of different things. at the college level. I mean, it was fascinating to see when you talk about throwing passes. I mean, he threw at least one pass every year for the last three seasons, had a touchdown pass back in 2023. So he's kind of got that football savvy that I think is going to be ideal for a practice squad type of player. And somebody that I'm certain, like when Sean Payton tells the scouts and all those, you know, the people in charge of

Starting point is 00:15:39 these different regions and he's saying what he wants them to be looking out for, it's that football IQ that really stands out the most. When you watch Joseph Manjack, it's just that, man, he just feels reliable. It feels like even though you don't call on his number a ton, when you do call on his number, he's going to respond and he's going to make a play. So I think you see that plenty. When you watch him at TCU at Houston, he's somebody who kind of just felt like he could be trusted in a lot of different ways. And so that's what really excited me about him. I mean, There's not a ton of volume out there. But again, in the athletic department, he did a really good job.

Starting point is 00:16:19 8.49 on the RAS scale, obviously, not necessarily blowing anybody away, but really, really good numbers. I mean, a 451 at 6, 297 pounds. It's not the best, but it's not bad. 36.5 inch vertical jump, 4.15 in the short shuttle. And it's 6.8 for a second three cone drill is where he really stood out in terms of the elite categories of where he tested. So that short area quickness, the ability to create separation,

Starting point is 00:16:49 the ability to find soft spots against zone coverage, and the ability to make plays in tight contested coverage. I think with his hands, I mean, literally speaking, he's not going to be wearing gloves. So I think this guy is going to stand out right away at the start of OTAs with his ability to make difficult catches,

Starting point is 00:17:07 to be a consistent threat for the backup quarterbacks when he gets opportunities. to be out there on the practice field. And I think once again, you want to put an asterisk next to this guy's name. I mean, just a playmaker and somebody who grew as a player over the last handful of years and somebody that I think the Broncos have been eyeing for a really long time. They sent Ronald Curry to talk with him at his pro day. They've had multiple meetings with him in the pre-draft process.

Starting point is 00:17:34 This wasn't a, you know, something that, hey, we got high marks on this guy and he happened to fall out of the draft. This is somebody that they've been targeting. And so you see that. in the financial investment, and you see the reasons why when you watch him play. So I'm excited about this pickup in particular. I think Joseph Manjack is going to quickly sort of be one of those, you know, offseason OTAs training camp darlings for, you know,

Starting point is 00:17:58 everybody's looking out for that Cinderella story. Everybody's looking for the diamond in the rough. I think this is one of those guys for the Denver Broncos, but Broncos country, let me know what you think about this year's undrafted free agent class. A couple of more gems to consider here in Deson McCullough and Joseph. Manjack, and we'll see how they fare. Broncos are going to get on the field next week for OTAs,

Starting point is 00:18:17 and we'll see if they can start making plays already, maybe less so in terms of the past rusher, but maybe more so in terms of Joseph Manjack. Don't be surprised. You hear his name, you start seeing it all over Twitter. I think he's going to make some plays. I think he's going to impress right away, but Broncos country,

Starting point is 00:18:32 appreciate you once again for tuning in today. And every day, and we'll catch you on the next episode of the show.

Locked On Broncos - Daily Podcast On The Denver Broncos - Two Denver Broncos UDFAs Who Could Be DIAMONDS in the Rough

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