How Denver Broncos, Bo Nix Can AVOID Sophomore Slump In 2025

How Denver Broncos, Bo Nix Can AVOID Sophomore Slump In 2025

The Denver Broncos have done three things this offseason that will help Bo Knicks avoid a sophomore slump in 2025. We’ll break it all down and much more here on today’s episode of Locked on Broncos. You are Locked on Broncos, your daily Denver Broncos podcast, part of the Locked On Network, your team every day. What’s up, Broncos country? Welcome into another episode of Lockdown Broncos, your daily Denver Broncos podcast, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network. Your team every day. This is the place to be for your Broncos news, content, coverage, analysis, more every single day, all year long. A special shout out to all the everydayers out there in Broncos country. Thanks for tuning in, making us your first listen of the day, however you choose to do so. if not yet and every day or make sure you become one and make us your first listener today by subscribing or following wherever you get your podcast or available on YouTube as well. I’m Cody Ror, Broncos reporter for my high sports. Boots on the ground every day in the valley bringing Broncos country everything that they need to know about their favorite team. And here’s what you’re going to get on today’s jam-packed episode of the show. Mailbag Monday. Broncos country wants to know how Bo Knicks can avoid a sophomore slump. We’ll tell you why the Broncos have three things in place that will help him avoid that this upcoming season. Which Broncos players are in line for a potential Nick Bonitolike jump this upcoming season? And how can the Broncos upgrade this roster or do they even need to before training camp? Is it good enough as is? We’ll dive deep into all that and much more here on today’s episode of the show. So, Broncos country, let’s get right into it right here, right now. I feel like after the NFL draft, we’ve received a lot of questions. I’ve received emails from fans over at mile high sports about how can the Broncos avoid and how can Bo Knicks also avoid a sophomore slump here this upcoming season because usually okay year two in the NFL everyone looks at that and says okay our are defense is going to throw something at this quarterback that he hasn’t seen before and I understand I think it’s a valid question but I also think when we talk about the context of sophomore slumps you have to look at the full big picture Right? Because often the times we look at a sophomore slump, we place the onus solely on the player. And yes, there’s times where, you know, hey, players might run into a wall a little bit as they continue to navigate throughout their journey. They’re going to have some ups and downs. And certainly Bo Nicks, Bo’s going to have a lot of great games in his NFL career. I I believe that. I also know he’s probably have some bad games in his NFL career. Every quarterback does. Patrick Mahomes, Tom Brady did it, Pton Manning did it, right? I think we live so much now in a in a vacuum society with social media, instant gratification, like everything right at our fingertips. If you catch me, like when it comes to Broncos games, I I don’t have that emotional reaction in a sense, but if you watch me tweet about the Nuggets while they’re playing, which sadly they’re bounced from the playoffs, I’m an emotional Nuggets fan. So, I am guilty of that instant gratification tweeting how I feel in the very moment about a bad performance. Uh the Nuggets unfortunately suffered that in game seven. Check out locked on Nuggets for that more. But in terms of like Bicks, yes, he’s going to have some bad games throughout his NFL career, but he’s going to have a lot of good games as well. But the Broncos, in my firm opinion, right, we’ve received this question. It comes in from Calvin. He asked, “How can Boone Knicks and the Broncos avoid a sophomore slump this upcoming season? We saw, you know, people are saying, “Oh, we saw it with CJ Strad last year.” I want to preface this by saying I think CJ Strad, I think I don’t necessarily believe his was like a truly deemed sophomore slump. I think more so the pieces around him weren’t necessarily clear, right? And Bon Knicks had uh you know a lot of pieces around him in terms of you know st offensive playmakers last year that it wasn’t necessarily clear. But for CJ Strad I mean he lost his best receiver Nico Collins for a long portion of time due to a hamstring injury. He comes back then they lose Tank Dell who’s a very important part to what he wants to do. And yes they had an upgraded run game at Joe Mixon but you know the offensive line at times was up and down for uh that Houston Texans offense. Right. So, I think a lot of people are seeing what happened with CJ Stout and they’re asking the question, well, what if that happens to Bon Knicks? I think it’s a valid question. I want to say that. But I’ll give you three reasons why I think that the Broncos have actually done a really good job of putting things in place to where Bo doesn’t necessarily have to deal with a sophomore slump here in 2025. I think first and foremost right now, let’s start off with number one. And this has been a problem with the Broncos organization for many years before Shawn Peyton came. really I think it was Shawn was able to work his magic after that first year there and I was like all right we found it stability that is number one the Broncos right now in these last two seasons under Shawn Payeyton they’ve had stability in terms of the direction in which they’re heading when it comes to roster personnel the way that they’re building it Shawn Peyton’s coaching philosophy here and certainly yes there’s been some missing pieces and certainly in Bo Nicks’s first season we were talking about it the Broncos they were missing some elements that we felt like would have helped Boicks you know Sarah and I have done so many shows here where like Bonix was QB1, RB1. He was also wide receiver one at one juncture of the season. Bo did a lot of stuff last season, you know, with not a lot around him or not a lot of established uh pieces around him. And I think that’s going to change here this season. But what I mean by that, the Broncos having stability around them, you have the same head coach, which is great for a quarterback. I think you look at organizations that go through turnover of head coaches and coordinators, I think that’s problematic. Okay, the Broncos, they’ve had the same head coach, the same OC, the same quarterback coach in place there, which is important for the quarterback position. Now, previously in other years for the Broncos, this was never really a consistent theme for them. Stability, I think, in the coaching staff and the direction which are heading from a roster standpoint. Yes, there’s been a lot of changes to the Broncos front office structure. They’ve lost a lot of key pieces due to executive promotions with other teams around the league, but the Broncos have promoted internally over the past weekend. nine internal hires, two external hires to really kind of build this super kind of powerhouse front office, which we’ll dive into a little bit, you know, tomorrow’s episode of the show here. But for Bo, you have stability from a coaching staff standpoint, from an organizational standpoint, which I think is a great piece to have. That’s the first thing. Number two, I think Bo Nicks has more playmakers around him than he did his rookie season. And right now, it’s still a question mark because some of these other pieces are going to have to prove themselves. You have Courtland Sutton, Bose’s number one guy, his go-to guy. Okay, great. Marvin Mims, who we really saw catch fire in the second half of last season for Denver. He’s still firmly in the mix. Troy Franklin, we know that those guys have that connection going back to Oregon. It didn’t work out as much in his rookie year or Troy’s rookie year between the two, but we saw that really kind of capitalizing that Buffalo Bills playoff game. We know what Troy Franklin can become. So, there’s the piece that’s working there. I even think early on in the season we saw Bo Knicks I mean the first game against Seattle he targeted Devon Vele eight times eight targets eight catches so he’s got this chemistry with Vele but now you go out and you had Evan Ingram and NFL free agency who can be a high volume player move around chess pieces that tight end joker piece that Shawn Payeyton’s looking for you go out and you get RJ Harvey in this year’s NFL draft who I think is going to be dynamic but we still have to see him play right that’s going to be the first thing we like the pick we got to see him play here at the NFL before saying, “All right, this guy’s going to immediately be an impact playmaker for you.” I think he will be. We just have to see it. They go out and they add Pat Bryant, which if you didn’t catch the NFL rookie premiere, if you saw everyone’s doing that reaction drill where they’re trying to catch the the dropping pole, uh Pat Bryant was listed as number one, so he was top of the leaderboard there. Really good skills. Uh obviously you saw him at rookie mini camp. Looks good, right? I think he’s going to be a playmaker here for the Broncos. You don’t believe me? I kind of dove a little deeper into that in last Friday’s episode of Lock on Broncos. So, make sure you go check that out if you missed that. Uh, but I think that Denver added playmaking pieces around Bo Nicks. And I really think the idea here for Shawn Peyton is okay, Bo had a number one guy. We recognized, and Shawn Peyton said this at the Super Bowl to K. Adams, we need a joker. They go out and they get that guy as the must-have. That’s what they got there with Evan Ingram. They go out and they add two pieces at wide, you know, wide receiver, one at running back and Harvey and Pat Bryant. You hope Audrey Guest can take another step forward. We’ll dive deep into him a little bit later on in today’s show, but you have a lot of those same pieces that have been in your system already for a year. They were rookies last year now with Troy Franklin, Devon Vle, these guys are going to get a little bit more run here going forward. So, I think you have pieces around both that goes in and supports point number one that we made about stability. You have stability number one. Number two, you have more playmakers around you for Bon Knicks. Number three, I think Denver has a foundation that Shawn Payeyton has kind of been aiming for since he came in and took over as the team’s head coach. And I remember even when Russell Wilson was here, Shawn Peyton came in and he said the one thing he wants to do is get the run game going. I asked him at the first OTAA practice that we had in his first season about that. And he said, “We really want to get the run game to be a big part of our offense.” And and certainly Javvante was factored in the equation at that point. We didn’t know who Jal Mclofflin was just yet, but there were so many different things that went on. I think with the running back position, I think some offensive line ups and downs and obviously Sean’s first year, some scheme getting adjusted to there that was certainly there. The Broncos believe internally, and I can tell you this, George Payton has told us this, they believe very much in their offensive line, and I think that they have that foundation around him. You have your starters at left tackle, left guard, right guard, right tackle, center. right now maybe the one position on the O line that’s kind of up in the air but you have a solidified offensive line in place here for Bo Knicks and last year there were injuries to Mike McGllinchi and other players where there were some turn turn styles a little bit I don’t even know if I used the right word there were some different guys coming in and out of the offensive line due to some injuries at various points of last season and it didn’t necessarily have the negative impact that we thought it would for a rookie quarterback like Bo Nicks Bo made up for a lot of different things without how smart of a football player he was but Now, they on paper have a hopeful run game with Audrey Esté and R.J. Harvey and a a third running back where there’s going to be extensive competition here in training camp where they believe the run game is going to get going this upcoming season. And if it does, that helps. And on top of that, they go out and they they boosted the defense, which was very good last season, but then you add Taleno Hufanga, you had Dre Green Line to the mix, Jade Baron at quarterback, and you got some really nice depth pieces in the NFL draft. The foundation is there for Bicks to have some success. So, that is the three reasons why I think Bo can avoid a sophomore slump this upcoming season. It’s as much on the team as it is the player as well. Want to know your thoughts here on today’s episode of the show, Broncos Country. As always, we always appreciate you tuning in. But our mailback questions, they’re not done just yet. One member on Broncos country wants to know which player on the offensive side of the ball will have a Nick Bonitolike jump for the Broncos in 2025. We’ll tell you why. Marvin Mims and Troy Franklin, all eyes are on them here on today’s episode. Locked on Broncos. Today’s episode of Lockdown Broncos is brought to you by our friends over there at Skylight Calendar and Broncos country. Say goodbye to sticky notes, scribble plans on the fridge, and overlapping calendar invites. The Skylight Calendar, it’s here to bring clarity to the chaos and help families stay organized without the stress. And this sleek digital display syncs with your existing calendars, Google, Apple, Outlook, and more. making it simple to track appointments, practices, dinners, and reminders all in one easy place. I’ve got my Skylight calendar right behind me here in my office. And the one thing I like about it, I’ve got a wedding coming up in the next month. And of course, there’s some final deadlines that my fiance and I, we have to keep track of. So, I’ve got them imported directly into my Skylight calendar. It’s got reminders. It’s got tasks for me and my fiance that when we open it up and we see it every day, we know what’s coming up without being surprised or without forgetting certain things. And you can do the same thing in your family household. You can assign chores and tasks to your family members so you never miss what’s going on in your busy lives. Right now, Skylight is offering our listeners $30 off their 15inch calendars by going to skylightcow.com/n. Go to skylightcow.com/nfl for $30 off your 15in calendar? That is sky l i g htcow.com/nfl skylight calendars. Which players on the Broncos offensive side of this roster could have a Nick Bonitolike jump in 2025? We That’s one of the questions we got in today’s mailbag episode. We’ll get to here in just a moment. Just want to say thank you once again to everyone in Broncos country. Thank you so much for tuning in, making us your first listen. As always, this is the number one place to be for short, sweet, objective, to the-p point coverage of your favorite team. No hot takes, no clickbait, no fluff. You just get Broncos talk from a realistic standpoint here every single day all year long. We appreciate you so much here, Broncos country. Well, let’s go to our handy dandy mailbag and open up another letter. You know who it’s from. It’s from our good friend over there, Rob. He sends in the question. Last year, we saw Nick Bonito take a huge step and become one of the league’s best outside linebackers. Which offensive player do you think has the best chance to take a Bonitolike jump this year and become dominant at their position? Right. So, I think when we put this into context for Nick Bonito, really his rookie season, there were a lot of questions. There was a lot of uncertainty, especially in the direction which the Broncos were heading under Nathaniel Hackett, uh, and everything, the Russell Wilson trade, the lack of draft picks. There were questions about Nick Bon needed going into 2023. And then we see Nick get an opportunity to play more, start some games even in 2023. And then his production went up. He led the team in tackles for a loss behind the line of scrimmage with I think 14 TFLs in 2023. And this is a guy who didn’t even start a majority of the season for Denver. Start at the beginning of the season there for the Broncos. He was really a rotational role player at that point. And then this year, he started off in 2024 not even as a starter here for the Broncos. It was Jonathan Cooper and it was Baron Browning and then he comes in to lead the team with sacks despite not starting. That right there I think showcased just a massive leap and a massive jump, right? But for Nick, I think a lot of people are forgetting his second year in the NFL where we saw him make such a drastic improvement from his rookie year to his sophomore year and then obviously he made a a bigger leap going into year number three. So I think when you look in the context of it being like a Nick Bonito like jump, okay, you got to think about second, third year players. Well, first off, I’m going to go with one guy who’s a secondyear player that’s obviously going to be in his second season in the NFL this year. That’s Troy Franklin. He’s going to be the first guy I’m going to look at here because I think there’s a couple here offensively when we take a look at where the Broncos are at with some of their young players. Uh, you know, with Troy Franklin, the the one thing that I have always kind of pounded the table for and have kind of just beg Shawn Payeyton in a sense, just like when I’m tweeting or when I’m writing my game recaps or talking about here on the podcast, is all right, we understand Troy. Troy’s got speed to get behind defenses. We saw it in Buffalo. We’ve seen it in various games this year. And yes, he had a couple of drops this season. He only had three drops on the year. You know, I think the drops narrative is something that people are saying like, “Oh, he drops the ball too much.” Yes, he he had three drops and a couple of them were pretty bad drops, but the end of the day, it’s not like he had 10, 12, 13 drops in terms of the volume of targets there. You know, a lot of these were some downfield misses where Bo overthrew him. you know, one game against the Ravens, uh, you know, he had the drop against the Raiders there, understandably, but I want to see the Broncos do more with Troy Franklin than just run the nine route, right? We He can run the fade, he can run vertical, he can try to get past the defense. I want to see him running routes. I mean, from the SL, yes, I want to see him get behind defenses, but I also want to see him stretch the field. I think if you go to the New Orleans Saints game on Thursday Night Football, there are a couple plays that they run to Troy Franklin where he’s backside. He’s running a backside crosser and Bo finds him and he’s getting 12 20 yards, something along those lines. There’s a game against the Las Vegas Raiders on the road. It’s first and 20 for the Broncos. They’re backed up due to a holding penalty. Bo Nicks fires a rip on a dig route inside to Troy Franklin for a 26 yard gain on first and 20. Right. So, you need 20 yards. to get 26 there. That’s what I think pairs well with Bo. He’s kind of got like this balance between, okay, I’m not going to put the ball into harm’s way, but I know where I can take risk. I know where I can be a gunslinger at times. That’s the thing I like about Bo. He’s not reckless with the football. He’s very smart. That’s one reason why the Broncos drafted him. It’s because he protects the football. Troy Franklin can be more than just the onetrick pony of just running a deep ball and then trying to catch it, right? And I also think the same exact thing here for Marvin Mims. Marvin obviously has the speed that scares defenses. Troy Franklin is about three inches, four inches taller than Marvin Mims and has the opportunity to do the same exact thing. I think Troy’s got Marvin Mims like speed. But I think when we’re talking about thirdyear player, I’m also going to be talking about Marvin Mims here. I think that both Troy Franklin and Marvin Mims are going to be in a position for the Broncos where they can have a Nick Bonitolike jump. As a matter of fact, I think you could look at Marvin’s second year in the NFL and look at what he did in the second half of the season, say, “Okay, that was kind of like Nick Bonito’s sophomore year in the NFL. It wasn’t necessarily a hot start. He wasn’t necessarily the feature guy, but down the stretch, he was cooking a little bit.” And you’re like, “Okay, there’s something to work with with this player.” I think for Marvin, that role is only going to expand. They’re going to use him in a variety of different ways. Having Courtland Sutton, that’s great. He’s your number one option. We know that for Bo Knicks, but bringing in a guy like Evan Ingram, that’s going to create some matchup opportunities. Bringing in a guy like RJ Harvey, that’s going to create some matchup opportunities in the passing game because defenses, you’re only allotted certain amount of cover guys, right? And sometimes, like last year, Denver defensively late in the season, they were having moments where teams were just playing zone where they were dropping six, seven defenders back into a zone and the Broncos were still dicing up, right? We’re talking about seven people dropping back into coverage on threeman route concepts, sometimes twoman route concepts because the Broncos had to go a lot of 12 and 13 personnel from time to time. So there’d be guys staying at a block while two guys run routes and vice versa. So Denver still capitalized in those areas despite teams dropping back so many guys in coverage. But now if you’re going to get a lot of pressure, which some teams are going to bring pressure at Denver, try to get after Bo Nicks. Uh that’s where I think Bo can carve you up. You can eliminate the blitz with the quick passing game. Courtland’s a big prominent player of that. Marvin’s a big prominent player of that and these other guys you’ve had. I think Pat Bryant is going to be an underrated player in that role as well in the short to the intermediate passing game. I think that’s where he’s going to eat. But get guys like Marvin Mims and Troy Franklin the ball in space. I think more so Troy Franklin on crossing routes, you know, deep overs. I even think you could do like even the out route concepts there. You can run double moves with him. Marvin is the type of guy where I feel like you can put him in the back field as we saw Shawn Peyton do. You can line him up in the slot. You can line him up on the outside. He can do a little bit of everything. But don’t just run Marvin and Troy on go routes. Don’t run them and and gas them early on here. Open things up. Be methodical. Then that’s where I think the run game coming in. If the Broncos have an improved rushing attack, that’s exactly what will open up those deep shots downfield. Denver didn’t have that threat of a run game last season consistently enough. And they still took shots downfield. Bo Nicks threw some I think the most or the third most passes downfield by a player and people still want to call him a checkdown merchant. It drives me nuts when you can go watch the tape and see for yourself. Bo’s making the smart play. If they’re taking away the deep stuff, you’re supposed to throw it to the checkown guy. You’re supposed to throw it short. But the Broncos didn’t have a guy that was necessarily dangerous and you know getting the ball like let’s say you threw it to a tight end on a checkdown or a running back on a checkdown. Broncos didn’t have a guy that can make guys miss the way that they do now with Evan Ingram, with guys like RJ Harvey. So, I think so much of that will kind of play into the mix here. And I even want to ask this question too because it’s just an unknown right now. Can Audrey Estimate be thrown into this mix? I I think that there’s a chance, right? I I liked what we saw from Audrey in the sample size in which we got to see of him last year late in that Baltimore game, that Kansas City game on the road. There’s just bits and pieces, but the Broncos running back rotation was so inconsistent and up and down. There was never any flow to it. And then obviously, you know, some questions about why he didn’t play in that playoff game. That was more so to, hey, Javvante Williams, Broncos playoff game. They like to match up with Tyler Bedet against Buffalo’s defense. They thought they could have an explosive advantage against. It didn’t work out that way. But Audrey Esme, I think, is a guy to maybe like an honorable mention here in this list. But Troy Franklin, Marvin Mims are the two names I would keep an eye on here for the Broncos to have a Nick Bonitolike jump in 2025. That’s a great question sent in from our friend Rob on our mailbag Monday episode of today’s locked on Broncos. We’re not done yet, Broncos country. We have some more mailbag questions coming your way, including how the Broncos can upgrade this roster that’s already at 90 players before they get to training camp. We’ll debate and discuss that and much more here on today’s episode of the show. No matter what juncture of the off season you’re in, you can still find ways to upgrade your roster. The Broncos, they can look on the offensive side of the ball and the defensive side of the ball. As a matter of fact, all year long, they’re always looking for ways to upgrade their roster. But right now, as they’re preparing for OTAAS and mini camp, is that what Shawn and George Payeyton are looking at so far here going forward? That’s one of the mailbag questions we got in. We’ll debate and discuss here on today’s episode, Lockdown Broncos. Once again, thank you so much, Broncos country, for tuning in and being a part of what we got going on here, Lockdown Broncos. You want objective Broncos coverage every day? This is the place to be. So, let’s get into our mailback questions. We got a couple here. Bronco talk NFL sent in the question. Which position is most likely to be supplemented by a veteran signing late in the offseason? I think this is a great question. It’s a valid one too because I think you know Denver right now as they’re getting into the stages of preparing for OTAAS uh and mini camp which is coming up realistically here in the next week and a half two weeks. So I’ll be at Broncos practice. We’ll provide updates you know here at Lockdown Broncos for you. But when they get on the field and and granted they’re not going to be in pads. They’re not going to be popping each other. There’s not going to be contact, but there’s going to be some competitive periods, uh, which I’m always excited about seeing that they’re going to evaluate everything from individual drills, team drills, groups on air, and they’re going to continue to evaluate the roster. You know, even though the draft has passed, the Broncos aren’t sitting there like, “All right, now we just got to prepare for next college football season and go through that.” And we’ll have our scouts take a look at a variety of different players that are still free agents and see, you know, what teams are doing. There’s yearround work here that the Broncos scouting in front office, their personnel department, they’re constantly doing. Looking at the college game, the pro game, rookie mini camp. You know, you had a bunch of rookie tryyout members there. They’re going to be monitoring every single player that they’ve already had come in the building that have that has tried out. They didn’t necessarily make it to, you know, mini camp or OTAAS, but there’s notes, there’s player profile databases that the organization builds up on that. So, they’re evaluating everything here. So, there’s still a chance that they could maybe look to upgrade or add to this position, whatever it may be, offensively or defensively, going into training camp. And so, to really to kind of answer your question here about which position would most likely be supplemented by a veteran signing late in the offseason, I initially thought tight end would be that position. Certainly, it’s still a possibility. But them drafting Caleb Loner, with them signing uh, you know, Fatheringham, obviously a a veteran in the NFL on the pro tryyout. He impressed, he turned enough heads, they added him to the mix, they released Thomas Yasmin here. I don’t know if tight end’s going to be that position. We look at running back as well, like is that still a position the Broncos could add to? I mean, they’re going to get another look here at Blake Watson, Tyler Bedet, uh, Jal Mclofflin. You know, we know that they like Audrey Estimate. We know that they like Tyler, uh, obviously RJ Harvey. These two guys are, in my opinion, are roster locks, but they’re going to look at Jal, Tyler, Blake, and they’re going to try to make a decision here. Okay, do we need to change anything, right? Could the Broncos maybe sign a veteran running back at this point? Really, the only guys that are available here, JK Dobbins still available? Surprisingly, and Nick Chub at this point. So, for me, I I still think I think the Broncos should stay away from that path. I I know a lot of Broncos fans are uncertain about the running back room really outside of R.J. Harvey. I think the excitement level for Harvey is pretty high in Broncos country right now, but you got to let the rookie grow. You know, I don’t think the expectation he’s going to come in and be an every down back right away. Can he become that? Yeah. Could he establish that role for himself early on? I think there’s a possibility. But why put that label on him right now? Let him come out and camp, let him learn the system a little bit more and and let him learn. He wants to be great. You know, he said he wants to be better than the Alvin Chimeas, you know, the Mark Ingrams, the Reggie Bushes. You know, he doesn’t want to be like the next them. He wants to be R.J. Harvey and he wants to be the next big thing, which I like that. I like the mindset. I like the attitude here. So, running back, I could see it at that position. I I used to think as well, wide receiver, Keenan Allen still being a free agent. Could Denver add a veteran here? I think if anything, uh they they probably could. Is it likely though? Probably not at this point. I think Denver right now, I think that they’re going to go into OTAAS and mini camp here in a couple weeks with the roster intact as is. I think after that they’ll evaluate some of their options and they’ll see what’s going on in terms around, you know, league circles and, you know, is there an injury that pops up for another team? Could that create an opening? Could there be potential trade talks? I mean, sometimes you could see that worked out during training camp, sometimes you can see it worked out during the preseason. I just don’t see it right now. The Broncos going out there and making a veteran signing. And if they did, in my opinion, it would either be a running back with one of the two names that I mentioned with Dobbins or Chub or wide receiver with a guy like Keenan Allen. I think right now they’re very content with the roster that they have and where they’re going. I still think it’s a valid question though, so I appreciate you sending that one in here on today’s episode of the show. Our last one we’re going to get to on our Broncos mailback comes in from our good man DeAndre with a spoon. Always appreciate DeAndre’s comments. Appreciate you, my man. Uh, what position could the Broncos still upgrade if any? This could be a debatable one here. You know, to me, I I still think that maybe the Broncos could add a linebacker, right? You know, with the injury to Dre Green Law, which we know Shawn Payeyton has told us, I was there when he said it, that Green Law is gonna be fine for training camp. Do you still bring in another veteran guy just in case there is a setback in Green Law’s recovery, right? Or an injury pops up. You know, Alex Singleton’s coming off the ACL injury. He’s on on on track to be ready for training camp. He’s making great progress. Do you still add to this room? you know, you you’ve signed an undrafted rookie free agent at, you know, who tried out on a rookie basis and impressed in Jordan Turner out of Michigan State. You got Drew Sanders position, you got Lavel Bailey, you’ve got Kareem Reed, who’s obviously an undrafted guy that they signed. So, you know, you got some bodies at that position, but could you bring in a veteran in the event there is a setback or an injury with either Alex Singleton, Dre Greenlaw? I think that maybe they could still upgrade inside linebacker a little bit. I love where they’re at with edge rusher. I love where they’re at on the defensive line. I love where they’re at in the secondary at corner and a safety. I think they’re in a good spot there defensively. Offensively, I I don’t see another position they could really add to right now that’s going to make a lot of sense as to like upgrading it. But maybe the Broncos have a plan in place, right, with an undrafted guy who Shawn Payeyton and the Broncos seem very high on right now. And I’m not sure if this has anything to do with the center position or potentially left guard here, but with Klay Webb, who had a draftable grade, we’ve discussed this on the show. Shawn Payeyton just acknowledged it at rookie mini camp last week about what had happened with Klay Webb. The lawsuit has since been dismissed after it was ongoing for a handful of years. It was dismissed. Uh so he’s obviously cleared from that. Um, but that obviously held some teams back from drafting him. The Broncos have been very upfront about it and that Webb was upfront about the whole entire situation with them. It does seem like there is a good chance here that Klay Webb maybe gets thrown into the center competition mix potentially here. I I don’t know if that’s going to be the vision for him once we get to OTAAS and mini camp in a couple weeks. I think I’ll have a better idea and understanding. I’ll have a chance to ask Shawn after practice if that’s the case. So, that’s going to be something that’ll be in the back of my mind for when we have that press conference. Uh, or left guard, you know, with Ben Powers, like I said, I think the Broncos, they have stability on the O line. And I think some people have said, you know, Ben Powers can be a little bit more consistent. I think that that there’s some truth to that. But, I like what I like what Ben Powers has done. I think that once again, another year of comfortability, you know, where he’s not banged up. I think that he’s going to be a good fit here in the system. Do the Broncos see Klay Webb as someone who could eventually replace a guy like Ben Powers after this season or is this a guy who can throw his name into the hat of maybe a center competition? Whereas maybe Luke Watenberg, Alex Foresight, maybe it’s not a twoman battle. I mean, the Broncos, they brought in Sam Mustaper, I think last season to compete uh for that center job. And realistically speaking, he didn’t get thrown in with the ones or the twos much at all. it was Watenberg and Foresight, but primarily Watenberg with the ones a majority of training camp in the preseason. So, um, Klay Webb, a name to watch there, maybe at the center or left guard position here for the Denver Broncos. But aside from all that, I I don’t think that there’s a a specific place right now that Denver, like me personally speaking, can upgrade this roster before training camp. But if you agree with me or disagree with me, Broncos country, make sure you let me know. If you feel like there’s a position the Broncos you feel like can upgrade at, hey, make sure you let me know. Shoot me a message on social media. Respond to the socials at Codywork NFL atlockdown Broncos. Send me an email codyhisports.com or reply on uh the podcast. You know, wherever you get your podcast, Spotify, you can comment on episodes now. Apparently, you can comment on YouTube episodes. But make sure you let me know your thoughts here on today’s mailbag Monday episode of the show. But with that said, Braos Country, I appreciate you so much for rocking with me here today. Sarah is going to rejoin me on tomorrow’s episode of the show as we go through the Broncos front office structure. There’s been some changes, a lot of internal hires. Shawn Peyton and George Payton are building a little bit of a powerhouse on the front office structure after losing a lot of key pieces this off season. We’ll debate and discuss that and more on tomorrow’s episode, Locked on Broncos.

The Denver Broncos and Bo Nix are heading into the 2025 NFL season with high expectations, and Sean Payton has done three key things to help Nix avoid a sophomore slump this season. Plus, why are Troy Franklin and Marvin Mims in a position to take a Nik Bonitto-like jump for the Broncos offense.

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.

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