Locked On Broncos - Daily Podcast On The Denver Broncos - WRAPPED: Denver Broncos Bo Nix' SHINES in Limited Action as Minicamp Concludes

Episode Date: June 18, 2026

Denver Broncos quarterback Bo Nix helped the team wrap up mandatory minicamp by shining in some limited action during Wednesday's final practice before the team takes a break ahead of training camp. N...ix received a bulk of the reps in 7-on-7 and threw a touchdown on his very first pass. Cody Roark and Sayre Bedinger break down Nix's upgraded participation status, how Red Murdock, Evan Engram, Jahdae Barron, Jonah Elliss and others stood out and more from the Broncos final day of minicamp.   Cody Roark is a credentialed beat reporter for Mile High Sports and covers the Broncos daily in person. Sayre Bedinger is the site expert for Predominantly Orange. Both bring Broncos Country the most in-depth and objective coverage of the Denver Broncos.   WANT MORE DAILY DENVER BRONCOS CONTENT? For all of the latest Denver Broncos news today --   Follow & Subscribe on all Podcast platforms 🎧 https://lockedonpodcasts.com/podcasts/locked-on-broncos/   Locked On NFL League-Wide: Every Team, Fantasy, Draft, & More 🎧 https://lockedonpodcasts.com/leagues/nfl/   📲 Cody Roark Twitter / (https://twitter.com/codyroarknfl) 📲 Cody Roark Instagram / (https://instagram.com/codyroarknfl) 📲  Sayre Bedinger Twitter / (https://twitter.com/sayrebedinger)   Everydayer Club   If you never miss an episode, it’s time to make it official. Join the Locked On Everydayer Club and get ad-free audio, access to our members-only Discord, and more — all built for our most loyal fans. one 📲 https://lockedonbroncos.supercast.com/   TEXT LINE: Support the show and interact with us on Denver Broncos rumors, News, Game Previews, Q&A's, and more. 📲 https://joinsubtext.com/c/lockedonbroncos 📲 TEXT: (720) 580-5759   📢 Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors! Rugiet Get 15% off your treatment → https://rugiet.com/lockedonnhl Rugiet. Performance medicine for men.   Odoo Great organizations win because operations matter. And that’s why you should get Odoo. Try for free today at https://Odoo.com/lockedon.   FanDuel Today's episode is brought to you by FanDuel. From the opening whistle to the final kick, Let There Be Goals on FanDuel. Visit https://FANDUEL.COM to get started now.   Square If you’re starting a business, or running one that deserves better tools, Square helps you sell, manage, and grow without slowing down. Right now, you can get up to $200 off Square hardware at https://square.com/go/LockedOnNFL.   Indeed Listeners of this show get a $75 Sponsored Job Credit to help give your job the premium placement it deserves at http://Indeed.com/podcast.   FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN) Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

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Starting point is 00:00:00 The Denver Broncos wrapped up mandatory mini camp on Wednesday, and Bo Nix went out with a bang. You are locked on Broncos. Your daily Denver Broncos podcast. Part of the Locked On podcast network, your team every day. What's happening in Brockos country? Cody Rourke, Sarah Bedinger here. Today's episode of the show is brought to you by our friends over there at O-D. Great organizations win because operations matter, and that's why you should get O-D. try for free today. Odo.com slash locked on.
Starting point is 00:00:32 That's OD OO.O.com slash locked on as we break down the Broncos putting the final touches on mandatory minicamp, wrapping things up after just two days of practice. And now they go into the off season ahead of training camp with a lot of things to be excited about. I'll go through some key storylines as to how the Broncos run game can improve going into this upcoming season. Mike McGlenshey gave us some great insight into that. And on top of that, several key players stood out in the final practice, including Hakeem Butler, Red Murdoch, the Bronco seventh round linebacker. We'll highlight what we saw offensively, defensively from the final day of mandatory
Starting point is 00:01:07 minicamp. We're going to kick things up by talking about Bo Nix, two days in a role of seeing him on the field and his participation status upgraded from position drills to some 7 on 7 here. Sare, once again, I think that was one of the questions we kind of threw out after yesterday's episode after we got to see day one. Could we see Bo Nix do seven on seven? I was just putting it out there hypothetically. And the next day here, obviously on Wednesday, we saw that.
Starting point is 00:01:32 And I tell you what, Boa look pretty sharp so far in his first throw that we got to see in a team structured like environment. Well, Cody, I mean, we know from what Bo said that he could be a full go if the team wanted him to be, right? That's what he said, just the first day of practice. But that was the hope was that we would see progression in some way, not that the Broncos would be trying to hide him or that there would be something going on or that it would be lingering. or anything like that. I think that the timetable that was given early in the off season, obviously changed when he had the second procedure for the bone spur. And, you know,
Starting point is 00:02:07 I love somebody put, I can't give credit because I don't remember who said it, but somebody was like, hey, the Knicks have already proven that they have no problem with the spurs. So Bo Nix, no problem with the spurs. He's back on the practice field.
Starting point is 00:02:19 I love that one. So whoever came up with that, you got to take credit for it because that was a good one. But that's clever. I agree, Cody. I've only seen clips going around from practice, but he does look. just looks really sharp.
Starting point is 00:02:30 The throw that I saw to Troy Franklin. I mean, it was obviously just, he's throwing the ball around. He's not like he's like in game speed or anything like that. But he does, he just looks sharp and he continues to exude that level of confidence that I think you really want to see from a franchise QB entering their third NFL season. Yeah, and obviously what the Broncos are posting out there. That's when the quarterbacks are throwing routes on air with the wide receivers here. But I'll say what was more impressive in terms of what we saw from Bow, day one in practice.
Starting point is 00:02:58 Position only drills, group work with the running backs, the wide receivers. Did that obviously here during Wednesday's practice, but we got to see him actually participate in seven-on-seven. He and the offense against the Broncos defense. We're talking about PS2, Riley Moss, Alan Oufanga, Nick Benito, Jonah Ellis, the perceived starting Broncos defense in some red zone seven-on-seven work. And here's a thing, Bo, he got four reps.
Starting point is 00:03:23 Everybody else, every other quarterback, Debra's got four right now. Bo got four reps, Stidham got two, Ellinger got two, and then Sawyer Robertson got two reps as well. Bo in those four plays there, his very first throw of us seeing him in a kind of team structured environment, touchdown pass to RJ Harvey to open things up. So once again,
Starting point is 00:03:41 opening things up with the only like real throwing sample size we've seen from Bo where there's competition, there's a threat of the defense making a play on the football. Both throws a touchdown, which, hey, I like that. I'll take that all day. And then on the next two passes, he connected with Marvin Mims.
Starting point is 00:03:56 He connected with Troy Franklin on a play. And then he had a pass. I was intended for Cortland Sutton. That fell incomplete. But three or four for Bo here, and we're not really getting into the deep. We're going to chart every throw that's made. But just for the context of Bo doing a little bit more,
Starting point is 00:04:09 that's kind of where we were at there. Bo threw a touchdown. Jared Stidham threw a touchdown as well in seven-on-seven. And Sawyer Robertson did as well to Lord Jordan Humphrey. The only guy who didn't throw a TD in the Red Zone 7-on-7 was Sam Ellinger at this point. But let's kind of keep the focus here on Bo, to your point about him saying that he,
Starting point is 00:04:28 could be full go if they wanted to. This was just, I think the Bronco was a way of saying, hey, we're going to give him a little bit more because what we ended up finding out after practice, there was only going to be two days of work. And we saw the last day. So there is no practice here today on Thursday as a team now fully enters the off season. There's this low period between now and training camp. And look, I think for Bo to have the small samples, he did and to make a play like that and have a couple of throws where you can just say, okay, I got the confidence in doing that. Well, now we're going to see him unleashed in team drills once the first day at training camp again. So I think that's a huge step, ultimately in the right direction.
Starting point is 00:05:03 Well, and I think as you've mentioned before, too, there's plans for Bo to stick around in Denver and have some throwing sessions with his teammates. And I think that's really exciting. I know Sean talked about it at his press conference that not everybody's expected to stick around, but he knows that some guys will. He didn't reference Bo in particular. But, you know, I think get his feet wet like this, get that fire burning a little bit, especially because we know he's got the chip on his shoulder after having to miss the AFC championship game. This was his first, like you said, team on field work since that moment. So it is a momentous practice in that regard and the fact that Boe was back out there with
Starting point is 00:05:40 his helmet on with his teammates, even though seven on seven, I think a serious catalyst for him going into the off season to know that he wasn't just taking a small step forward by being out there on the practice field in a hoodie and a hat, but that he was out there for seven on seven after kind of working his way up from individual seven on seven. And we also found out that Sean Payton plans on the starters playing basically the same in the preseason as what we've seen in the past. So roughly 20-ish snaps in two of the games. And that probably does mean that Bo will be right.
Starting point is 00:06:15 I mean, I assume that Bo is going to play in the preseason then. So I think what we see here from this progression point forward is Bo throwing sessions in Colorado, not sure that we're going to get footage of that. because I don't think we really ever do, but I would love to. I know we'll be starving for that kind of stuff here. Any day now, Broncos country, just longing for on-field football content. But then you get to training camp in the late period of July and the preseason. And all of a sudden, man, it's going to be like Bow never left.
Starting point is 00:06:44 And I think he's going to be playing with that chip. Like I said, after having to miss that AFC championship game, you know, you can feel it coming from him, Cody, that he just, I mean, he knows there's a lot at stake with, I mean, winning games, obviously. but he also even talked about the contract situation when he met the media, a lot going on for Bowden this season. And it's all good stuff too, which I'm glad about it. Like for him to be able to clear the air and set the record straight on his own accord,
Starting point is 00:07:09 I think is very important. I also liked how he mentioned too, you know, every time he suffered an ankle injury, he's come back to win games. And he's come back to win a state championship in high school. He's come back to win a lot of games at the college level. You know, and I think the same thing is going to apply here. I mean, I think people forget after his rookie year. Not only did he have three transatlons,
Starting point is 00:07:26 process fractures in his back, but he also had an ankle procedure after his rookie season, a cleanup procedure that nobody, I think, remembers. And he came back and the Broncos ended up winning 14 games. So now dangerous Boe Nix, ankle brand new, like nothing ever happened. You know, I like it. We're in a very fun time here in Broncos country, but Bo's obviously going to get plenty of work in. And now the fact that Denver's not going to be holding any joint training camp practices, I think speaks a little bit of volumes as well to it because last year, Denver had a joint practice with Arizona. Bow and the starters really didn't even play in that game specifically.
Starting point is 00:08:00 So now I think we're going to see three games of action for Bo Nix and the starters in the preseason, which I think will be very good considering you open up on the road. AFC West Divisional matchup Monday night football against the Kansas City. She's done getting any much higher stakes than that. So Broncos country, you know, we're going to have you covered every single step of the way. Obviously, good news for Bo Nix upgrading his participation to seven on seven and looking sharp in the process there. the Broncos go forward. But coming up next, we're going to go through some standouts on the
Starting point is 00:08:29 defensive side of the ball here. Red Murdoch specifically make as a place. Jonah Ellis also making a standout play on the afternoon. We'll go through everything you need to know from day two of Broncos minicamp here on the show. Today's episode, Lockdown, Barracos is brought to our friends over there at Ruggia throughout the NHL finals. Every shift matters. Every moment is intense and everything comes down to execution when the pressure is at its highest. And just like athletes must be ready to perform when the puck drops. A lot of guys want that same sense of readiness and confidence and their own lives too. And that's where Ruggiat comes in.
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Starting point is 00:10:51 The Denver Broncos are done with mini-camp. We won't see them on the field until training camps. So it was the last chance for players to make an impression, and we're going to tell you who did exactly that on today's episode, Locked on Broncos and Broncos Country. We want to say we appreciate you so much for tuning in, rocking with us every single day, especially here during the offseason,
Starting point is 00:11:08 so much fun to break down all these standout players, diamonds in the rough. And if you want your Denver Broncos daily fix uninterrupted, check out the Every Day or Club today. What you're going to get is a seven-day free trial to go ahead and give it a shot. I mean, just try it out and see what you think, seven days, ad free lockdown Broncos, get your daily Denver Broncos fix, completely ad free,
Starting point is 00:11:29 locked on Broncos.supercast.com. Link will be in the show notes as well. Cody, let's break down some of the standouts. I know you tease the couple of them. Where do we want to start here? I mean, I know you mentioned Jonah Ellis. You mentioned Hakeem Butler. You've got the handy dandy notebook ready.
Starting point is 00:11:46 Man, that really speaks to me, too. I mean, even the swirls on the top of that notebook, Cody, the way that notebook is laid out. I grew up with that Steve on Blue's Clues having the notebook just like that. So when you reference the handy-dandy notebook, I mean, it hits home. It hits home for me. Let's maybe start on the defense. I think we went through Bow Nix and segment one. Let's start on the defensive side.
Starting point is 00:12:07 You mentioned Jonah Ellis made a standout play. Let's start there. What did you see from Jonah that stood out at this minicamp practice? I mean, once again, the relentless pressure that you're getting from him, just how fast he is off the line of scrimmage. I'd say maybe his first step has gotten a little bit quicker. And it goes back to what we were talking about all the scenarios after Sean Payton said, it's going to get some snaps at off ball. And we're seeing him training doing pass rush or reps that.
Starting point is 00:12:30 We're like, wait a minute. Like, what's going on here? Well, it turns out that, you know, that has paid dividends. But obviously, without pads, it's so hard for the offensive tackles, I think, to have to deal with pass rushers like Nick Benito, Jonah Ellis, Dondray Tillman, Q Robinson. But there was one play in particular where Jonah Ellis, he's lined up on the outside opposite of Nick Benito, and he's rushing upfield.
Starting point is 00:12:51 and he just gets the offensive tackle to commit to thinking that he's going outside, and he hit one of the cleanest spin moves to get an inside rush and a path to the quarterback that I've seen. I was like, man, in a real game, like the quarterback, if that happens, if that translates with the pads, quarterback's in trouble there. Jonah Ellis has been so sharp so far, and I think he's going to be our premier player to be watching off the edge opposite of Nick Benito once training camp rolls around. There's a lot of excitement in the building.
Starting point is 00:13:20 I know that the team is very high on Jonah, and this is going to be a very big year for him. Very strong offseason to start. Great way to wrap up mandatory minicamp too with another flashy performance from him. Well, I know you also mentioned that Mr. Irrelevant Red Murdoch has continued to make an impression here this offseason. Now that he's been drafted, his draft status really doesn't matter.
Starting point is 00:13:42 I mean, sometimes it does when guys are seventh-th round picks. You try to sneak them through waivers, things like that. But Red Murdoch filled arguably one of the teams, biggest positions of need or a question mark in the NFL draft. They just waited to the last pick of the draft to take him and they got a steal there. I think everybody is kind of on the same page with that. But what did you see from him that maybe he's kind of putting some feet to that label
Starting point is 00:14:07 of being a draft steel this year? Yeah. Once again, it's just certain things that, you know, it's like, all right, can he do this when the pads come on? Like you're seeing just the reactiveness. Like the, and I think for linebackers in these drills where you don't have the pads and you can't actually make contact with guys as much as that position normally would entail. But how is he reacting to certain things?
Starting point is 00:14:26 You know how the Broncos always show that double A gap, walk up the linebackers type look. Guys are either blitzing, both guys are dropping back or one guy's blitzing, one guy's drop it back. Like Vance Joseph has been creative and I've been watching Red Murdoch, Turie and York, those guys in situations like that. When Vance puts those guys in those situations, I like to see how they react to formation. You know, if the offense kills the play, does it change maybe their approach? You see the instincts with red. You see that he reads the guard, which is the linebacker's primary responsibility first to get his read step. He reads the guard and he knows run past
Starting point is 00:15:03 quickly. I mean, you could tell that this guy's played a linebacker. It's almost like he's a naturally born linebacker here for what we say at the college level. But now you're seeing him play fast at the NFL level. Can he do the same thing when the pads come on? There was one play in particular, and I can't tell Broncos country what type of play that it was, but he's walked up, he's reading, and all of a sudden, once the ball snapped, he knew exactly what was happening. He got to the part where the ball was going to be, and if it was a real game scenario, he would have cleaned the clock of, you know, the player there offensively, and it would have been a big time stop for a loss, maybe even a forced turnover if it ultimately played out that
Starting point is 00:15:39 way in a real game scenario. Just liking how fast he's playing, how he's reacting. he and he and york together that's going to be a fun preseason and training camp duo to watch and they're going to have i think a lot of eyes on them there but i would say red was another standout and i even got to tip uh you know some flowers here to jade bear and some more team reps for him two days in a row there was one play where he was covering dain key downfield uh on a throw and had tightly contested coverage and ended up being a knockaway he played it perfectly and i know he got some love from sean payton after practice as well just about the instincts that he has and
Starting point is 00:16:13 certainly on that play you saw it. I love that. I think that's huge for him to have a really just continue to build this offseason, right? For today, that's what you want to hear about. That's what you want to see is, man, he's making progress every single day. He's making it hard for them to keep him off the field. I think that's the biggest thing. Speaking of Dane Key, I mean, Cody, it sounds like the wide receiver depth on this Broncos roster is kind of flexing here early. I know this is one of those areas of the off season where you really can get a decent look at receivers. I mean, Sean says the closer you are to the ball, the tougher it is to evaluate.
Starting point is 00:16:50 Well, wide receiver is, you know, the furthest away from the ball, right? So you get a pretty decent opportunity to evaluate those guys. Then Dane Key, I've seen his name come up a number of times. You have mentioned him to me. I've heard about obviously now Hakeem Butler multiple times. This is now the second day in a row you're bringing him up after he signs from the UFL. sounds like Pat Bryant, Marvin Mims. The depth that ride receiver is nicey.
Starting point is 00:17:15 It's got me feeling nicey after minicamp. And Marvin's catching passes from every quarterback, you know, which is nice. And we know, Sean, historically, they like to rotate in guys constantly, you know, in different reps, different quarterbacks. You know, they believe in the reps. Every rep matters there. Marvin, you mentioned Evan. Evan has obviously still been a focal point of it. It was more featured during Wednesday's practice.
Starting point is 00:17:35 But Hakeem Butler had a play against Amari Harvey. me just working downfield. Amari was in great coverage, tightly contested in phase. And it was one of those moments where your hand is on the hip. Both guys are looking for the football. Hakeem Butler goes and gets his hands on it. Harvey is bringing his hand through to try to bring the ball out and knock it out. And then Hakeem just kind of rips it away. I mean, it was just kind of one of those who wants it more type of things. And Hakeem, obviously, he was on the receiving end of that one, making a big play. So I think for him coming off, you know, the UFL stint where he's offensive player of the year,
Starting point is 00:18:08 for that league specifically led the league in receiving yards. It just goes to show that, hey, the Broncos can have a lot of competition at wide receiver going at a training camp. And unfortunately, there's not a lot of spots on the active roster. So guys are trying to compete for practice squad opportunities here as well. And it's not to diminish it.
Starting point is 00:18:26 It's just, I think, a testament to where the Broncos are right now with their wide receiving group that they currently have, five guys. And I'd even say six with a little Jordan Humphrey. He has had a tremendous offseason so far himself. One thing that I've also seen as well is the Broncos, they obviously didn't pick until the third round of this year's draft, but their top two picks, Tyler O'Neadem, Jonah Coleman, seems like those two guys on either side of the ball are primed to play pretty substantial roles on the team this season. I mean, we know O'Neum could be competing for even a starting job. Jonah Coleman might not be there yet, but man, it sounds like he's getting pretty heavily involved and is impressive. and a natural. So what are you seeing from the top two picks?
Starting point is 00:19:11 Do you agree with what I'm kind of seeing as well? Like, hey, these rookies, they can play. Yeah, look, Oneedum is getting opportunities rotating in with every unit, which I think is a good sign for him. How does he work with this guy right next to him? How does he work with, you know, this guy? How does he work when he's inside versus playing defensive end? Like, you're getting all of these looks here.
Starting point is 00:19:30 And once again, like for, I think for that position specifically, the pads are going to matter. The pads are going to tell us a lot more than what we've seen so far. but you see the flashes, you see the quickness with Jonah. He is going to have a role. I'm excited to see what that truly looks like on how it expands. Even Sean said, you know, when it comes to like feeding backs or historically, he's always said it's, you know, he could feed two.
Starting point is 00:19:49 It's generally hard to feed three. He says, I don't think about this stuff in June. I think once we get to the season, then that could change or adapt from there. So I think Jonah is going to be in line for some snaps, how much I'm not sure. But I like what I've seen from him out of the backfield as a pass catcher from time to time. I like what we see from him as a runner. when the pads come on, though, that's going to tell us a lot more about this running back room,
Starting point is 00:20:10 which also, Sarah is filled with talented guys. Jolil McLaughlin's not going to go down without a fight. Tyler Badegh's not going to go down without a fight. I think it's going to be harder for guys like Cody Schrader, you know, unfortunately to kind of make a dent with those other two guys that I just mentioned kind of in the mix.
Starting point is 00:20:24 They're behind J.K. and RJ and obviously Jonah. Yeah, and I think that I heard the Broncos even worked out a UFO running back. I can't remember the name. So if somebody in the comments has that, It's interesting. I mean, at this point in the year, you obviously have a 91 player roster if you're the Denver Broncos. So you have ultimate flexibility to do those things. But, I mean, shoot, it might be one of those position groups where they're saying, hey, like, you know, what are we missing here?
Starting point is 00:20:50 What are we looking for here? What kind of players do we want to take a shot on if they're available? So the competition is going, like you said, going to heat up. I think offensively, too, the Evan Ingram development this offseason is one that's worth monitoring for sure. No, and I think that plays into what we're going to be talking about coming up next here, especially when it comes to the Broncos offense, mandatory minicamp is over and now all I shift to Trenicamp toward the end of July. And we're going to go through some of the biggest storylines to follow going into Trenicamp, including Evan Ingram's usage. He'll also be a stock
Starting point is 00:21:22 up player that we're going to be talking about here in tomorrow's episode of the show. But more importantly, Mike McGlenshey shared some insight as to how the Broncos can improve in the run game. And it's not necessarily all physical. We'll dive into that here on today's episode of the show. Indeed is the sponsor of today's episode of the show. Workplace chaos. It can show up fast. The problem is that finding the right candidate can take a lot more time than most businesses can afford. And that's where indeed sponsored jobs comes in handy because Indeed sponsor jobs that help you reach candidates who actually fit what you're looking for based on the skills, the experience and the location. And finding the right person can make all the difference, whether it's building a business or building a winning team.
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Starting point is 00:23:02 podcast network in the country also where you know it's your team every day we appreciate you so much broncos country sir let's dive into the run game first from mike mcgletche then we'll get into evan ingram and and his utilization inside the offense you know we all know and this has been a talking point from sean payton ever since the a fc championship game ended there was a clear drop off and run game production after jk dobbins went down but i think internally the organization and sean also understands well if jk were to go down that can't be our excuse we still have to find a way or on the football. I thought Mike McGlinchy, when we talked to him at the podium here on Wednesday, I thought he gave a great insight. And he said so much of it is there were some things that,
Starting point is 00:23:40 you know, they had to figure out as to, you know, what worked, what didn't work. Things are going to be a lot different, especially the new play caller. But more importantly, he said, it's really just getting the run game going is going to require all 11 players on offense. Bo, at the line of scrimmage, getting the right check in place, the offensive line, identifying their assignments and obviously blocking the right guy. And also for tight ends, it's being multifacet, being able to be effective in the past catching game, but also the blocking game. And for the wide receivers, it's going out there and blocking those extra support guys that the defense is trying to load up on the box. He said, really, it's an attitude thing here.
Starting point is 00:24:14 And I'd say the Broncos attitude from a perception standpoint, it certainly has shifted since the last time we've seen them on the field. Now the pads, once again, they're going to do the talking. They are. And they have the great opportunity of going up against that defensive line every day in practice and just not having to really go against a worse defensive line. If I could say that all throughout the season. I know maybe the LA Rams have something to say about that. But certainly when you look at last year's team and the run game and the lack of consistency in the run game, it was, it felt like, man, the Broncos, they get a ton of credit for, you
Starting point is 00:24:49 know, run block win rate or pass block win rate or things like that. But we don't really see them dominate a ton in the running game at the line of scrimmage. I think that's that attitude element that that what you're talking about. That's the way that I perceive it is that attitude that like, hey, we own this line of scrimmage. And if you're going to try to stop us running the ball, you're going to look stupid doing it. That's kind of the attitude and mentality that I want to see them take because we know
Starting point is 00:25:14 that they're fast, they're athletic, they're physical. I know that you don't want to pin it all on one guy, but I don't even know that I'd pin it on J.K. Dobbins going down, Cody. How about Ben Powers going down and missing as much time as he did? the Broncos average, I think, like 30 more yards rushing per game when Powers was in. But again, it can't necessarily all hinge on just one guy.
Starting point is 00:25:35 You've got to be able to have that as part of your offensive identity. And we've seen teams do that. Teams can weather the storm and still run the football. You've got to have that balance. I'm glad they're aware of it. Maybe it is just as simple as keep it simple, right? I mean, maybe that's really what they need to figure out how to do. Yeah, and there's nothing wrong with that.
Starting point is 00:25:55 I think last year, too, one of the major wrinkles that got thrown in was the introduction of the outside zone scheme. And maybe you can make arguments. Did the Broncos have the personnel to successfully run the outside zone scheme consistently, right? Which is predicated on tight ends, offensive linemen pre-snap. They're identifying. We have a landmark we have to get to in order to sill off this blocker. And then you have to hope that, you know, you get to those spots, your running back reads it perfectly. There's just so much that can go wrong when you talk about 11 moving pieces in terms of,
Starting point is 00:26:25 of being in unison trying to get the offense to work. If the defense comes out in a certain front and disrupts it, I mean, your run game is going to suffer. And especially on first down, like you want to be able to have on first down the ability to get four or five yards, right? And then all of a sudden now you have a second and six, a second and five. It makes everything so much more manageable. Penalties were also an issue at times for the Broncos as an offensive unit last year
Starting point is 00:26:47 where false start brings you back five yards. Now it's first and 15. It changes everything. So I'd say about being smarter. being faster, getting the tempo going from time to time is going to be a benefit, I think, to help in this run game get going specifically, but also some things that Davis Webb plans to do as a play caller that we didn't see too much of last season. And Sarah, I'll tell you this, I think the motion game is going to make an appearance here
Starting point is 00:27:11 in this Broncos offense. And look, from a defensive coordinator standpoint, I'm a former defensive coach. Motion at times, often at times we call it as coordinators window dressing, but you have to respect it. And when you have players like Marvin Mims, Jalen Waddle, you got guys like, like RJ Harvey, you have to respect the motion because it can change and set things up, you know, at a way at the NFL level that didn't necessarily quite compute the same way at the, you know, at the college level or the high school level, it is different at this level
Starting point is 00:27:37 of the game. And I think that's a big thing for obviously to monitor as we go throughout the training camp. Well, and one thing sort of has a domino effect on the other, right? I mean, you get up to the line of scrimmage really late in the play count or the play clock. All of a sudden, you not, you just have to kind of read the defense as fast as you can. You don't even really have time for pre-snap motion. And I can't remember at what point of the season it was last year, but I do remember seeing something that the Broncos had either the lowest or one of the lowest rates of pre-snap motion of any team in the league.
Starting point is 00:28:07 And it wouldn't surprise me if the reasoning for that is because they were one of the latest teams breaking the huddle, getting up to the line of scrimmage, constantly changing personnel. So with a streamlined overall approach offensively, you really feel like they can utilize something like that. And I know it seems rudimentary. It seems, you know, elementary, whatever word you want to use there. But man, that really, that can be something that does help unlock. We've talked about even the presence of Jalen Waddle upgrading the running game because you have to, what, respect. Like that was the word that you just use. You got to respect Jalen Waddle. He's on the field. He could blow the top off. Bo Nix just said, hey, it's first and 10. We're 60-some-odd yards away from the end zone. He can end a drive in one play. So defenses have to respect him from every point of the field.
Starting point is 00:28:56 And because of that now, you have the flexibility to be able to use that pre-snap motion, really dictate the way defenses play you and get them on their heels instead of attacking and running at you, challenging you, just basically taunting you, saying run if you can, throw past us if you can. We're going to stack the box and we're going to keep two safeties deep. So we take away two things that you feel like are your greatest strength. you've got to beat us in the middle of the field. This is going to open up the entire field, I think, for the Broncos offense. And it opens things up, I think even for a guy like Evan Ingram as well,
Starting point is 00:29:31 who I think will be used a little bit in the motion game. I mean, when you can motion a guy like Evan, and let's say you draw the isolated matchup against a bigger, slower inside linebacker. If you catch him in man coverage, well, that linebacker might have to cheat out. You might capitalize on certain matchups that you want there. And that's what the motion game can certainly do. It can not only give you coverage indicator as to what the defense is in, but then now you can start.
Starting point is 00:29:52 identifying based on that coverage matchups we can exploit and it allows you to be more creative and that's something i'm excited to see and certainly evan ingram has been a featured part of the offense so far in the three weeks of practice we've been able to see which is a promising sign and that's going to be one of the bigger things to follow here going to training camp is do they maintain that when the pads come on that's a that's a six million dollar question if i'm going to call sean peyton himself but with that said broncos country that i'll wrap up today's episode of the show for all you every dayers out there tomorrow show we're going to talk about three players who significantly rose during the offseason program.
Starting point is 00:30:25 Evan Ingram is one of those guys. Red Murdoch's another. We'll tell you exactly what they did and how that projects going into training camp. On tomorrow's episode, Lockdown Broncos.

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