Gonna run right out to the Kate Wait Commons spare hotline. We're going a
guy, Cody Rourke. Cody, how you doing this evening? I'm good,
gentlemen. How are you doing doing? Doing pretty well? Trying to
recover anyway. I've had the feather flu for the last couple of days.
Yeah, my voice is already starting to go. You know, we're halfway
through the show. The voice is already starting to go. So it's gonna
be an adventure. But you else, maybe I'll come out on the other
side sounding like Adam Schefter knowing my luck, if side like Adam Sandler,
But you know whatever, that's that's live. Cody. We saw a little
bit earlier today Drew Sanders toward the Achilles. I don't know how big the
plans were for him per se, but that does put a little thing in
special teams, where he made most of his bread and butter last year.
Yeah, he appeared in seventeen games last year, played a majority of repsolent
linebacker. And I think the thing that everyone was wondering this offseason is where's
he going to play? Because we were told by Sean at the NFL Scout
and combine that that they're still gonna work. They're gonna talk with Drew on
figuring out where you know, he's gonna play this season, and so we
expectulate is he gonna stay to edge? Is he gonna move back to inside
linebacker? Well, I think you know now knowing the information now, this
injury happened before the NFL Draft, and obviously with Denver going with Jonah Ellis
seventy six overall, kind of makes it seem like they had plans for Drew
to be an outside linebacker and maybe because that fell through, it's all right,
hey, we're gonna get a young guy. Anyways, we might as
well get this guy. Obviously they had him high on their board, so
obviously a blow there. But now it's the outside linebacker rotation is going to
be Jonathan Cooper, Baron Brown and more than likely going to start. And
you can see Nick Potito and Jonah Ellis rotating in off the edge, and
you know, one of these guys gonna have to step up and play some
special teams. I'm not sure if it's gonna be alist or if they're gonna,
you know, maybe get a guy that they can, you know,
maybe have five guys there, you know, kind of what they did last
year, and that fifth guy play a lot of special teams this upcoming season.
I'm very curious to see what they decided to do from here. So
with the idea that Colton Sutton may not be participating in team OTAs, who
does this open the door for as far as some of the young wide receivers
on the team. Oh, I mean there's a handful of guys. Nick,
you know this as well as anybody around this time the year. When
you have a niney man roster, you're gonna have like fifteen or sixteen wide
receivers, fifteen or sixteen corners and safeties. Uh, you know, I
think a receiver everyone's going to be focusing on Marvin Mims, who has been
Sean Payton has told us he's gonna have a future role this year. But
I think fans are excited. They're keeping an eye on Troy Franklin into Bon
Bayley. Obviously there's two draft picks in this year's draft, but I think
a lot of people are overlooking Jalen Virgil a little bit. Look, there's
Brandon Johnson, who's still returning to the mixed look Jordan Humphrey signed a one
year deal. Philip Dorpsett still on this roster here, But I think Jalen
Virgil is a guy that is I think was on track with the three man
roster last year, had that game against forty and I are suffered the injury
right before halftime and had the torn meniscus, had surgery missed all last year,
he was on track to make the fifty three man roster. And with
the new return rules, part of me has been wondering, is Sean Payton
if he's really going to feature Marvinmims more on offense? Is he going to
take him away from kick You're gonna have him that punt return exclusively, get
him away from kick return and maybe put a guy like Jalen Virgil back there.
That's something I've been thinking about. But that's who I'd have my own.
I'd have my Jalen Virgil. Bously David Sills. The fit obviously is
maybe in under the radar name to watch. Sean Payton. I know really
likes him. So it's a loaded room right now, and there's a multitude
of guys that are gonna be getting a lot of reps here. Yeah,
looking forward to seeing how that shakes out. Talking with Cody Rourk myle High
Sports, another area that has a little bit of a log jam is the
running back room. Gavonte wasn't quite one hundred percent last year, but he
certainly had serviceable productivity. He got muj A p Ryan returning, although he
looks like a casualty just based on the money you drafted on your custome.
Julia McLoughlin kind of showed out last year. Blake Watson, he gave a
huge chunck of change to for a UDFA and then Tyler Batty as well.
How do you see this running back room shaken out? Yeah, that's a
great question. I mean, as you mentioned, I think the odd man
out when you look at it financially is Samaj p Ryan and looks Samaj.
I think while he was very, very impactful for Denver in the passing game
last year, didn't do much for them in terms of the rushing department.
I mean, Denver's rushing offense last year struggled anyway. So regardless of the
situation, the circumstances, Jilil McLaughlin was really the only guy who had a
lot of flash and a lot of dazzle to him at the you know,
in the run game there, but even that kind of you know, shortened
a little bit toward the end of the season. He went through some ups
and downs himself. I think the idea here for Sean has to really built
this running game. I think Gavante is going to have a better year this
year. I think he's going to you know, be more comfortable. He's
got more time, obviously to recover the fact that he made it back from
his injury he had two years ago. In the manner in which he did
to be ready for the start of training later was impressive in and of itself.
So what is the top guy there? I think? And then obviously
I think you're going to see an open competition here. I think you're gonna
see obviously Oddrick estimate I think is going to be a guaranteed, you know,
roster guy here. He's going to compete a little though. I think
jalilga mean, Sean Payton has hinted at, you know, potential big plans
for Jolil dating back toward the end of last season, how they wanted to
do more. Obviously knows his work and I think he knows the system,
so he's got a little bit of an advantage. And but then that's where
you have guys like Blake Watson who's gonna be chomping at the bit to try
to make the roster as well. So I mean, ideally I see it
playing out, I think it'll be if they carry three guys. I think
it's gonna be Givonte, think it's gonna bejer Will, and I think it's
gonna be oddroc estimated with the hope to getting one of those other guys like
a Tyler Bady or Blake Watson on the practice squad. Last year, we
didn't see a lot of Riley Moss. So as he looks forward to this
season, what do you think we can expect for him? Because I know
right now he's pills him then as being a guy behind ya Kwan McMillan.
But more importantly, I mean, how can he take his game to the
next level? And what can we really expect for him? You know this
season, Well, there's gonna be a lot of competition for that other cornerback
spot on the outside here. But you know something I wrote about a mile
High Sports and I'm to talk about on tomorrow's lockdown Broncos was you know,
you look at the cornerback room, there's Riley there. Obviously, the expectations
were pretty high for Riley Moss. They traded up to the third round to
get him. Obviously they alongside in the third round and Drew Sanders in the
twenty twenty NFL Draft. Obviously, the core muscle surgery threw a lot of
stuff off because there was going to be that competition between the he and Tomorray
mathis his injury force le Broncos really bringing Fabian Moreau at tomorrow suffered an and
creator in training gap last year and then Shabbium Moreau ended up, you know,
starting at the midwady point of the season after Damori had his struggles and
it was benched a little bit there. So for Riley, I think the
expectation has just come scalthy during training camp and compete. My knowledge and what
I believe with Jim Leonard, especially with how he has the safety philosophy going
is Hey, it doesn't matter who's playing the post safety of the box safety.
Every safety needs to know both of those roles on the field on the
defensive side of the ball. And I think him getting the passing game coordinator
title is going to be a little bit of a bigger deal than most people
are making mention of. And I also think the same is going to apply
at the cornerback spot. If you play on the outside, you need to
know how to play on the inside. If you play on the inside,
you also know you need to know how to play on the outside. I
think Dever's got more competition volume right now at cornerback. I think you're going
to see a lot of guys in the mixers Levi Loss, Riley Moss,
Tomorray Mathis, JaJuan McMillan, art green and undrafted rookie for from last year.
I think is going to be a little under the radar name to watch
during training camp this year. There's Reese Taylor's just a handful of guys obviously,
Chris Abrams, Drain and Sean Payton, you know, deemed and kind
of gave the designation as a flex inside outside guy. I think you're going
to see competition all across the world. I don't think anything's really set and
zone right now outside a PS two's job, and I think we're going to
see him move around and play a lot more press man this year, which
I hope is the case and I know he hopes is the case as well.
To Cody Roarke from my I Sports Locked On podcast, Cody, were
you surprised at what felt like an utter lack of attention to the offensive line
this offseason? I mean, you signed Matt Pert for whatever that's worth,
Sam Mustafer, you know it was a third string center, but and you
drafted Nick Corgiulio and glorious mustache and mullet aside which he has sent shaved.
It just does not feel like I mean, you were basically returning your starting
vibe outside the center position. You let Cush walk, so it's gonna be
Wattenberg, Forsyth, there must fur there at the center position. But it
felt like there there was just no attention paid to the offensive line this offseason.
Yeah, I think it was a little bit of a risky gamble.
I mean, all circumstances considered, with never having to move on from Justin,
obviously Lloyd going elsewhere, obviously having to deal with the contract ramifications of
the Russell Wilson you know release there. I think there's just so much,
but you know, you look at it I think we're all worried and we're
wondering because Garatbol is going to be a cap casualty because you know, obviously
he's going to account for I think twenty million towards the cap this year in
his final year. So I think we are all wonder them. He's never
going to release him? Are they going to try to extend him? Well,
they haven't extended him, but they haven't released him. So it seems
like, hey, he's going to be going into twenty twenty four as the
starter. But Denver doesn't really have any long term optics at the tackle position.
I mean, obviously there's Demontre Jacobs who they like, who's been able
to develop a little bit on the practice squad. Alex Polchowski who made the
fifty three man last year. They like him. They have a couple of
other guys. They got the guy Crumb out of Wyoming who's going to be
in the mix to compete as well. But I really think that, Okay,
you're going to have Ben powers. You hope he plays better than he
did last year. I think that's going to be where the team is literally
a confidence. They think he's going to bounce back. Right guard Quinn Miners,
obviously considered one of the best guards in all the football right now,
is due for a big time pay day. You just paid Mike mcglinch.
You didn't have the greatest year, needs a bounce back year himself. Definitely
some uneasy at the offensive line position, but I do think that I think
Alix Forstyth is going to be the guy. You know, all signs point
to it in terms of how Sean Payton has talked about him. He's smart,
he's been able to red shirt this and you know all of last year.
And it also helps there you have given snaps to the guy who you
think, who everyone thinks is going to be the starting quarterback week one and
bow Nick. So to me, I think it was a little bit of
a gamble and if it pays off, and then you know, Sean and
George are gonna look like geniuses. If the offensive line struggles and they lose
guys due to the injury and the offensive line is a turnstile like it was
a couple of years ago, then everybody's going to say, and how come
you didn't address the offensive line? I mean, dever, when they addressed
their major needs first obviously this year, but you know, the offensive line
I think was definitely a gamble on their behalf in terms of what they have
hadn't done at that position group Quodamy Zach Wilson was traded here to Denver.
There was a lot of conversation where some fans really didn't like this move.
I look at it entirely different. But you tell me what you think.
Do you think with Zach Wilson's experience in this league, both up and down,
do you think there's anything that he can provide to bow Nicks that would
make him a better quarterback in than year one? Uh? You know,
I'm not sure. I'm not sure if there's a you know, anything he
could do to make boo better quarterback. I think competition actually is gonna make
everyone better. I mean, obviously, I think the advantage he has he's
got more starts than Jeris Didham and Boenick in the NFL have a combined Let's
say, you know, a guy like Boonex is more overall experience dating back
to when he played at college. Obviously, between Auburn and Oregon, he's
played in a lot of big games. He's ahead of the curb. I
think mentally and obviously from a maturity standpoint than most of these other guys are,
but also look at it from the standpoint too, Zach is trying to
come into a situation where he's trying to rebrand his image a little bit.
I think a great mission. Maybe we can look at, you know,
Josh Dobbs, for example, last year, what do we see from training
camp in the preseason end up getting traded? He ended up getting traded at
the trade deadline to the Minnesota Vikings. Maybe Zach Wilson can find himself in
a situation like that, or Jeris did him for example. I think you
can look at both of those guys dinner. But Zach's looking to rebrand his
image a little bit. A lot of people I've seen are saying, like,
it's Sean Payton, is you know, can Sean Payton fix him?
It's not Sean Payton's job to fix him. It's Zach Wilson's job to fix
the issues that he's done from a mechanical standpoint, But it's Sean Payton's job
as the coach to create an environment around his quarterbacks, including Zach Wilson,
that allowed them to thrive in the best way possible, and you know,
at the end of the day, it's going to be on Zach to be
able to make the right reads, the right decisions. And obviously we'll see
if that pans out here. But I just think overall, you have the
experience factor. If I had to give a bold perdition today, gentlemen,
I think all who's going to be the starter week one? And I think
Zach Wilson's going to be the backup this year with Jars to them going elsewhere.
That's that's interesting and sort of dovetails with my next question, and that
is is that if the bow Knicks is not the starter week one one,
is that a massive disappointment. I don't think so. I think so much
depends on Okay, do we feel like he's ready yet? And look,
I think Sewn ultimately is going to know. I haven't feeling that. Shawn's
like, you know what, regardless, like we took the chance on this
guy. He's never done this before, taking a first round quarterback. I
think you are going to see him go with them. If he doesn't,
I don't think that means that both's not going to play at all this season.
I think and so hey, right now, we're going to see where
we're at right now, there's some things that we need to adjust on and
in terms of maybe getting you fully ready to be able to be the starter
at some point, you could see a situation where it's one of those midseason
handleffs, or you know, early on in the season Week one. I
mean, he's going to play on the road in Seattle, hostile territory.
He's played in an atmosphere just like that, though when they played the Washington
and I never seemed to really bother him. Obviously, the NFL is a
different level of competition. I wouldn't think it's a disappointment, though. I
think that when bo is ready to play, we'll see him, whether that's
right away or whether that's at some point this season. Well, we know
for any rookie player at any position is always tough, but it's just seems
to be a little more a little more tougher playing a quarterback position, especially
playing here in Denver when you're following so many great quarterbacks like for Sean Payton
setting up Boonix. If he is the starter to come Week one against the
Seattle Seahawks on the row, what do you think kind of that is the
best way to kind of set him up for success. You know, the
I'll set well, you got to hope that Courtland Sutton's still involved with the
team at that point. You know, obviously we're all monitoring that situation.
I think Denver's far better with Courtland than they are without him. And I
also think they're here healthy going to That's the main thing. Can the Broncos
get through preseason? Can they get through training camp healthy without losing any key
stars. That's obviously something well knocking on wood for here, but I think
ideally to help a young guy out, he gets the start week one,
come out and run the football, have an established run game there with Javonte
Williams and however, you know, whatever the rotation may be at that point,
and then if it, can the defense play better than they have and
then they did last year. I mean, that's obviously the big big question
that we have going forward. It if they can do those things. I
think Bo's gonna have some success early on. But I think that's how you
put him in a position to succeed. Cody. We we appreciate it as
always, Cody Roar, Thanks appreciate you guys have a go one yep,
Cody Roark My Eye Sports Locked On podcast