Drive Time - Know The Enemy: Denver Broncos

road in the Rocky Mountains with the Denver Broncos. And to help us do that is Eric Dlala of Denver Broncos dot Com. What are the expectations out in Denver for Drew Lock all those offensive additions? How do Von Miller and Bradley Chubb compliment one another? Who's the biggest unsung star on the team? All of that and more on this Friday, July the third edition of the Drive Time Podcasts. And I'm pretty excited for this edition of the No the Enemy series. We've taken a look now

at the Patriots, Bills, Jaguars. We're gonna get to all thirteen opponents on the Miami Dolphins schedule. We also have written content taking a look at some of the analytics and inside football stats up on Miami Dolphins dot com for each of these opponents. We have October's opponents up now live on the website. We had September I think it was last week, so go check that out Miami

Dolphins dot Com. But I'm pumped to talk about this Broncos team because I find them one of the more fascinating outfits in the entire NFL with the off season they had surrounding Drew Lock with all those weapons. I was a huge Jerry Judy fan of Alabama kJ Hamler at Penn State. He was one of the guys at the scouting combine that every big ten defender you talk to said he was the toughest guy they faced on saturdays in college. Noah Fan was a big fan of

his game out of Iowa two years ago. And then maybe even the best out of that entire bunch of NFL talent is the NFL proven Courtland Sutton, who had a very similar year last year to the Vante Parker with the numbers. But I won't waste any more time here talking about this team without our guest. Let's go ahead and bring in the Broncos expert from Denver Broncos dot Com Eric D. Lala and writing Shotgun now Here on the Drive Time podcast is our Week six Dolphins

at Broncos the October eighteenth game. Are correspondent for that game, Eric D. Lalla, He covers the Broncos for Denver Broncos dot Com. Eric, Welcome in man Hey, Thanks so much for having me. We're excited about having you on the podcast here. And I've always wanted to go to Denver myself, actually being a West Coast native, it never happened for me, but now I get my chance here in October. Is

that the best time of year to go out to Denver. Yeah, I love that time of year, that September October weather starting to get a little bit crisp the u The leaves are changing up on the up in the mountains, so people who head up there for a day trip you can see some pretty spectacular fall colors. Uh. Still, it'll be nice during the day at empower Field a mile high, and it could get a little crisp by the time we're leaving the press box that night. But yeah,

that's just a great time of year. To be here. It's one of those areas where you can have snow one day and then like seventy degrees the next day. So it's always a coin toss as far as what you'll get. But you know, I've also looked at some of the Broncos um just trends, and it seems like they tend to win a lot of those early season home games. So I'm happy that it's it's October, but I guess it could be better for weather in September. But again, the on field product for the visiting team

maybe a little bit better chance in October. Eric, we are in a crazy time right now. How has it been for you covering the league, covering this team during all of the coronavirus and and everything going on right now? How you've been doing with work and everything. Yeah, it's been interesting. You know. I think when we left in mid March, Um and Joe Ellis, the Broncos president CEO,

said everybody needs to work from home. I think we all, like everybody thought this is gonna be a couple week thing. But uh, now going on month for or whatever it is.

You know, we've covered free agency from home, the draft from home, he's the zoom press conferences kind of seemed like second nature by now, But I think, like everybody, we're eager to see what training camp is gonna look like, what the start of the season is going to look like, and not just from a football standpoint, but how are we going to be able to get content to the fans, because it's it's going to be a unique season, and

so hopefully there's some cool opportunities to show the differences and give fans a good look at that. And you mentioned training camp. We're just less than one month away from the start of training camp. Some alterations of the preseason schedule, and the Hall of Fame Game, of course,

has been canceled. And last year the Broncos were in that Hall of Fame game, and I remember that Drew Lock played early in that game and got a lot of reps in that game, and Vic Fangio came out afterwards and just basically said he's not ready to play yet his first game as an NFL player, But then he made a big jump when he got into the

lineup in December. And I want to know from someone that was their first hand throughout the year, that saw a rookie quarterback growth from that first preseason game all the way till the end of the season when the Broncos offense improved by five and a half points per

game when he entered the lineup. What was it about that experience for him to help him grow into that role And what do you think about Drew Locks prospects now heading into your number two Yes, So for those who don't know, I mean, he was drafted in the second round, came out here, and I think was overwhelmed by the playbook to start off, just because it's such a different experience than what he had at Missouri and where they're holding up signs, it's a you know, it's

a hurry up offense there. They're using numbers and letters instead of these long, complicated play calls and a lot of NFL offenses used. Um. I think what impressed me first was his work ethic, because day one he said, this is a lot of you know, I'm barely breaking the huddle. Went home that night and it's been I think three or four hours just practicing in the mirror these play calls. Then recorded himself practicing the play calls, would listen to those on the bus on the way

to the facility. So I think that's where people noticed first, was that the work ethic was there, and that was a big thing because you know, a few years ago the Broncos took Paxton Lynch in the first round and he for whatever reason and it was never able to take advantage. And there is this perception in Denver that part of that was motivation, part of that was work ethic, and I don't think there's any concern there Withdrew And so for me, that checked a big box on day

one that he was in Denver. Um. Like you said, it was a little bit rocky early on. It didn't play well in the Hall of Fame game. Granted, you know, he wasn't getting that many nows because he was competing for the backup role at that point with Kevin Hogan. Joe Flacca was the clear starter at that point. He was a little bit better. The following week against Seattle. I thought he was really strong. Let a eight to ten place scoring drive in his third preseason game, and

then he gets hurt. He gets sacked, hurts his thumb on his throwing hand is out essentially for the next ten weeks, and like you mentioned Vic Fangio said, Hey, you know you're you're a picture right now. You're not a quarterback. You're throwing the ball hard, You're not a

Union card carrying quarterback. I mean, Vis got all these sayings, but he also said that time off really helped Drew because he could take a step back, he could do all this virtual reality stuff that the Broncos have and many other NFL teams utilize, but he could get a

good feel for the playbook. And so I think there was concern that, you know, he was going to come back from this long layoff Week thirteen against the Chargers, who had a top ten defense last season, and then it was going to be ugly, and he threw two touchdowns in the first half. I mean, he really used

that time to his advantage mentally. And so moving forward to this year, after he threw seven touchdowns three picks last year, completed nearly six of his passes, I think there's reason to believe that even without an in person offseason program, as he's trying to learn offensive coordinator Pat Shermer's system, that some of those habits, uh that work ethic, that that's going to go a long way into making

sure he can take a step forward. And I think, Travis, my sense is that there's Drew is not going to be worse than he was last year. And so I think what you saw last year is a pretty good baseline, and that was you know, if you average out his numbers, it's like thirty yards twenty two touchdowns, it's like twelve picks or something like that. I don't think he's going

to be any worse than that. And I know we'll get to this, but because of all the weapons on offense, even if Drew is just average, I think those numbers are gonna be inflated anyway, just because of the talent. But you know, if he takes a step forward, I'm not suggesting he's gonna be the next Mahomes or Lamar Jackson or Carson Wentz, but you look at these year

two quarterbacks. I do think Drew can put himself in the conversation if he you know, maybe he throws for four thousand yards and twenty seven touchdowns and at least that proves then that he's the long term guy here in denver Um and then you can keep moving forward, because that's been the issue with roster building since is that every year when you're trying to find a quarter back, you can't build around them and you end up using a first round pick on a quarterback when you could

use that on an impactful defensive player, skill position or offensive lineman. And so if Drew is a guy, and I think you'll show that this year that he is, things look brighter for not just this year, but the foreseeable future. It really benefits the team when you can find that quarterback outside of the general you know, top five, top ten type of picks stuff. You get a quarterback in the second round, like you mentioned, you get the salary,

you know, relief. That way, you also get to add other premium spots or premium resources to the rest of the roster. I like the idea you talk about there with kind of pro rating the rookie season numbers, because you talk about twenty two touchdowns twelve picks. That's that's what you want your rookie quarterback to be able to do, to show that you can take care of the football and produce that way in big time numbers and elevate

the offense the way Drew Lock did last year. I have a couple of comments for you here, Eric, because I love some of the notes you mentioned about him being a picture not a quarterback just yet. My goodness, that guy can drill the football and really rip those tight seams and and make some big time throws that way. He's always been that way since he was back at Missouri.

You also mentioned the weapons that he has around him, and we'd be remissed if we didn't dive into that next here, because you got Courtland Sutton, who went crazy last year and had a big breakout season. Noah Fan, for my money, is one of the top athletic tight ends in the NFL once he gets a little more acclimated, a little more seasoning. And then you go out and add my personal favorite receiver in this year's draft class,

and Jerry Judy you get kJ Hamler. I mean, it's it seems to me like they really, like you mentioned, because of the identification of having this quarterback, they believe in that they can go ahead and make these aggressive

moves to surround him with that talent. And I'm curious to ask you how this kind of place between John Elway and Vic Fangio, because typically you might see a defensive coach say we want to go more on the defensive side of the ball, but they went all in on the offense with Judy and Hamler and getting Melvin Gordon. What is it about this receiving corps that really helps benefit Drew Lock and can take his game to the next level. Yeah, A big part of it is a

receivers all do something a little bit different. You've got Courtland Sutton, who's that jump ball type of guy, big possession receiver UM, A guy I think Drew luck will still look to on third down. You know, had an insane target share UM last season when Drew got in there for his final five starts. How do you know he's he didn't have all that many games where he had more than four or five catches, but he's he's

a four catch, eight yard type of guy. I'll be interested to see if that if he can kind of increase that catch number a little bit this season. But you've got him there. You've got Jerry Judy, who we've heard again and again about his route running, about his ability to look the ball in. You know, he's not going to drop passes. He can catch a short ball and take at the distance um. Nick Saban told us that he thinks he's going to be best in the slot,

but can also play outside as well. Then you've got k J. Hamler from Penn State, and he's a guy that the strategy of the draft was interesting because when le Broncos took Jerry Judy at fifteen, nobody in the league thought they were going to double up and go receiver again in the second round. Maybe in the third round, maybe in the fourth round, but not in the second. And so when they took k J. Hamler and they got a guy that could take the top off of

the defense. He's going to challenge those safeties. And so those three receivers each do something different. And then Noah fans because of his size and speed that combination right there. He can catch a short crossing round and take at the distance. Um He's had had a few hundred yard games last year. Let all rookie tight ends, said a bunch of Broncos franchise rookie tight end records. So he's

a guy really excited to see. But I think when you take all of those guys, and then you add the receiving ability of Philip Lindsay and Melvin Gordon, there's almost too many options for teams to stop if all goes well, and we have to see if that translates to the field. But I think the biggest thing for the Broncos is the last few years they haven't had

a lot of depth. You know, Emmanuel Sanders and da Marius Thomas when they were both out in teen, you had a young Courtland Sudden, a young days Shawn Hamilton's and a young Tim Patrick and those were your options.

And obviously Cortland's developed into this Pro Bowl player. But I think the fact now that Courtland can miss a game and you still got Judy and Hambler and Fant, you know, that makes things easier for lock uh and hopefully is the difference between a six and ten, seven and nine type keys in and maybe nine and seven,

ten and six. It's kind of like looking on the mirror on the other side of the football and if you just remove the fandom from this, your Broncos or Dolphins fandom, whichever side you may be on for this drive time podcast here with Eric da Laala of Denver Broncos dot Com, is that the Dolphins really went hard on the secondary and really made that an area of depth.

So just from a pure football standpoint, I can't wait to watch the way this Dolphins defensive backfield matches up with all the options the Broncos have their at Drew Locks disposal. Now, you mentioned the addition in the in the backfield of Melvin Gordon from the Chargers. He makes the jump in division there and joins Philip Lindsay, who I think is one of the more underrated backs in

the NFL. So continuing that theme of adding depth and making yourself, like you said, flexible with game plans, but also the ability to replace a starter if he goes down for a game or two. What's the workshare load load gonna look like they're in that backfield between Gordon and Lindsay, who's the starter, Who's gonna get more carries? Yeah? You know I would. I would view it more as a touch situation instead of carries, um, just because I could see a situation where they both get the same

amount of carries. But maybe Melvine Gordon's on the field a little bit more, uh you know in third down, so maybe he gets some of these swing passes out of the backfield, some of these checkdowns. Um, you know, I would look at the playing time, maybe in the sixty to seventy percent range for Gordon and Philip Lindsay getting the rest of that. But Philip Lindsay has been doubted for a really long time. You know, he wasn't drafted, it wasn't highly recruited going to Colorado. UM, people didn't

know that he was going to make this roster. Ended up making a Pro Bowl. He's the only undrafted player in NFL history to rush for a thousand yards in each of their first two seasons. And he said repeatedly, you know, he hasn't talked to the media a whole lot this offseason, but on Twitter, you know he wants this job, and I think it's clear that he, you know, he appreciates what Melvin Gordon could bring, and that's, you know, someone by the goal line that's going to find a

way in the end zone. Gordon has eight touchdowns in each of his last four seasons. Only got in the

league with that amount of rushing touchdowns. But I think Lindsay is gonna make his case here in training camp, and so that's kind of one of the battles I'm more interested to see is everyone expects Melvin Gordon to be the starter, but Philip Lindsay has proved time and time again that he wants that role, and so you know, maybe it's not a done deal yet, but I do think fighting guest today that Melvin Gordon will probably get the share in the targets, sharing the carries um and

it's interesting people view Philip Lindsay is kind of a speedy guy, but he's a between the tackles runner. He just uses that speed to get through these gaps, whereas Melvin Gordon is more likely to blow through the gap and you know, break a couple of tackles. I think if you keep Lindsay in that eat to tend carry range, some of that explosiveness that he showed in year one will probably come back a little bit. Because he had

fewer big runs last season. It seemed like towards the end of the year maybe some of the workload kind of war on him a little bit. So it'll be interesting to see how they balance those guys. But I'd expect Melvin Gordon and Lindsey to both play a really big role. I'm glad you mentioned the misperception of Philip Lindsay's playing style because he's one of the more unique backs that I've seen recently, and that's probably a big reason why he did go undrafted, because he was a

production machine there in college at Colorado. Because he's so high cut, his legs are cut, so high high waisted guy. I just I love watching the way he plays, the mentality he plays with. I'm curious, though, Eric, did he ever move out of his parents house? He did? He did? I think he plays in his own uh and as doing well so, but you know it's a contract here for Philip Lindsay too, so he's got sent to approved. You know, Melvin Gordon has this two year deal. But

you know, teams can get out of these things. So both of these guys want to prove that they're worth big money. And that would be a fan competition to watch it certainly will be. I love that. I think it was an East sixty story they did on Philip Lindsay staying at home, helping his parents out around the house.

Colorado guy through and through. Now Now, as far as offensive production, it seems like in today's NFL there's an embarrassment of riches at running back, at receiver, even at quarterback these days, with Cam Newton getting his contract recently, but you're only as good as your offensive line up front. And that's where I want to go now and talk about this Broncos offensive line. You've got former Dolphin Juwan James,

who missed a decent portion of last season. I'm curious to know about how he affects where Dalton Risner plays. Is Rachner going to be a guard full time? Where does Lloyd Cushionberry figure in? Is Garrett Bowles still in the fold? Breakdown this offensive line force if you can. Eric, you know, let's start in the middle with that interior offensive line, because I think this group has a chance to be really good and you know, also has a chance to spend a few ars together, which is rare

in the NFL. You've got Dalton Risener at left guard, who played every single started every single game there last year as a rookie. Uh you know it was a p w F A all excuse me, p f w A all rookie team member there at left guard. Just a really impressive player, strong guy, you know, didn't get dominated in any matchup really, even though he saw some tough guys like Chris Jones from the Chiefs. At center. You've got Lloyd Cushionberry, the rookie from l s U

who kind of fell to the Broncos in the third round. Um, there were, you know, all these mocks. Maybe he was gonna go in the second round, ended up being there at eighty three. I believe for the Broncos, I would think he would start on day one. He's a start and smart, instinctive guy. Hat Shermer said the other day that you know, he's been really impressed by cushionberries work ethic, by's intelligence, how much he's been able to grasp of

the system. Again, some of that's gonna have to do with how much time do they get on the field and camp before the first game. And then Graham Glasgow at right guard, who came over from the Lions, signed a four year deal, has allowed one sack over the last two seasons. He's really good in past protection and serviceable in the run game as well. You know, if Cushion Berry is not ready, they could put Glasgow at

center and move somebody maybe to right guard. Um, but I think that group of three there in the interior is pretty set. Then you look at the tackles and to me, that's kind of maybe the biggest question mark on the entire roster because you've got Jowan James, you signed in this massive contract ahead of the twenty nineteen season.

He barely plays it all. He gets hurt in the first game against Oakland, comes back a little bit against the Colts, and gets hurt very quickly in Week eight when they bring him out for a Week fourteen, I believe against Houston, he plays in the first half and then doesn't play. And it was an odd situation because Vic Fangio throughout the year was kind of like, well, he's close, We're getting closer, could be this week, and

it just never really materialized. And Joan eventually revealed that he just never felt structurally comfortable with how his knee was hold up. Um. But while in Denver, all the conversation is about is it gonna be Former first round pick Garrett Poles and left tack was struggled so much with holding penalties, has led the league in those types of calls over the last three years. Versus Elijah Wilkinson, an undrafted guy out of Massachusetts that played in Juwan

James's place at right tackle. So that's kind of the talk of the town in terms of competition but I actually have more concerned about right tackle because I've seen Garrit Bowls play. He has not missed a game during his entire three years with the Broncos. He's going to be available. You know. If he has a holding penalty every couple of games, that's okay. But he doesn't allow sacks, doesn't allow the quarterback to get hit, which is something

Elijah Wilkinson did struggle with. He allowed quite a few sacks in his time at right tackle last year. Well, one of those guys is gonna work out. But to me, you spent all this money on Juwan James. He's supposed to be this premier player, this Pro Bowl type player.

We've got to see him play. Uh, you know, he's got to be in the lineup for this Broncos offense to work as well as it needs to, because if he's not their right tackle, and then you've got maybe a little bit of back and forth the left tackle with Wilkinson and Balls. It doesn't matter how good Drew Lock is, It doesn't matter how good Jerry Judorquel and Sudden or No a Fan or any of these guys are. If those two tackle positions don't get solved. This team

isn't going to score that many points. Yeah, the more we talk about this offense, Eric, I'm more intrigued by it because I love the way it's constructed with the idea you mentioned Graham Glasgow and Lloyd Cushionburry and how they might figure in at two of the starting spots. But it also kind of gives you some leniency in terms of who might play center because you do have Glasgow's experience there and it's so important to have that

communication and experience at that position. Also fortunate enough to get Cushionberry in that spot where some folks might have thought he could have been a first round level talent. So just a really intriguing offense. And I'm kind of convincing myself more and more that I'm a quasi Broncos fan this year as we go along this podcast. And one of those reasons is I am such a big fan of the guy they brought in on the defensive line,

injury rel Casey. I thought he was long one of the most underrated players in the entire National Football League, just dominating every single year on the inside for the Titans. There who else figures into this defensive line rotation alongside Casey there, because you've got some guys replaced. Derek Wolfe has now gone Darell Casey. What's the rest of that lineup look like on the defensive line. Travis was interesting because the defensive line, Uh, the cupboard was kind of

bear going into free agency. You know last year's starters, he had Shelby Harris, Derek Wolfe, Adam got this kind of like Purcell fit in there, but Percell was a restricted free agent. Going into this year, Shelby Harris and Derek Wolfe were both unrestricted guys and it was kind of a chance at all three of them were going to be gone a tender. Purcell with the second round tender,

so he's back. Shelby Harris sits on the market for a long time, end up doesn't get doesn't end up getting what he thinks he's going to, and signs back with Denver for a year on a super team friendly deal. And he's a guy that you know. I think he had five and a six and a half sacks last year, an impressive number, but he's not a high volume sack guy.

But he batts passes all the time. I think he leads the league in that category, really impressive at getting his hands up when he can't get there on the rush. So he was a big piece. But like you mentioned Darrell Cacy and the way that kind of all unfolded, the Broncos were in hard for DJ Reader, and when he ended up signing a big deal with Cincinnati, there was kind of a sense of, you know, externally for me, man, they just missed out on a big piece. I would

have really helped this team. And then all of a sudden you find out you're sending a seventh round pick to Tennessee for Jarell Casey, who needs that salary dump to clear some room. And it's like, man, this is too good to be true. You've got a five time pro bowler that still has something left. Uh, you know, is he gonna play here for five more years? It seems unlikely, but it wouldn't surprise me if you've got to three good years out of him for a seventh

round pick. And with Von Miller and Bradley Chubb on the outside, who are going to demand so much attention, it finally gives the Broncos this solid interior rusher that they've kind of missed in the last few years. So I think a starting lineup of Shelby Harris, Mike Purcell and Darrell Casey as possible. It depends if they want to play Casey at tackle or end. I don't think that's quite clear yet. Another guy to know Travis on thatline is Draymond Jones, three and a half stacked last year,

a third round pick from Ohio State. He kind of came on at the end of the year, was a defensive Player of the Week after the Week sixteen game against the Lions when he had an exception. Uh, So I think they're trying to push him for more playing time and he could be a five to seven sad

guy this year. So they've got enough depth there. Christian Comington they brought in as a freeze, and from the Cowboys to Marcus Walker, a former second round pick from Florida State who hasn't quite panned out but will battle for a roster spot. So there's some guys in there, but you know, Casey is far and away the best player in that group, I think. And if there's one thing John Elway has done in Denver, it's it's bringing

in veterans that can contribute right away. We saw it in the Peyton Manning Super Bowl years and one of the main part parts of that defense was DeMarcus Ware And you mentioned Bradley Chubb and Von Miller. That's kind of a good transition here to the edge rusher position in the linebacker position. Now, Von Miller is still one of the top three or four pass rushers in the

entire NFL. For my money, I think you'd be remissed to find folks who disagree with that, if if at all, And he had a little bit different production last year, but he's got Bradley Chubb coming off an injury to return. How do those two guys complement each other? And what is the entirety of the this Broncos linebacker corps look like? Yeah, well,

I mean at the outside position. And Chubb was healthy two years ago as a rookie, he and von combined for twenty six and a half sacks, which I think was it either led all duos or was second by half a sack. I think it's possible the Chiefs Chris Jones and um trying to think who would have been there then, but I think they were possibly you know, a sack ahead. But I mean bradle Chubby twelve sacks as a rookie. He broke Vaughan's franchise rookie sack record. Um,

he did it differently. He's more of a power guy, a bowl rush. Um, he'll push you over, while Vaughan's kind of that speed agility. He's got that dip. He calls it the ghost move, where he dips under you before you can even touch him. I mean, that's what we saw in Super Bowl fifty against Cam Newton and so together, I still think Vaughan has the capability to get to double digit sacks at fourteen and a half

in when playing with Bradley Chubb. But to me, I kind of expect Bradley Chubb to lead this team in sacks just because how motivated he has been to come back from this injury. He showed his talent. Uh in. Something that impressed me too is Vaughan has always kind of his sack numbers have trailed off a little bit towards the end of seasons, whereas Bradley's numbers in kind

of picked up a little bit. And so it wouldn't surprise me if you know, maybe he's in that fifteen to six teen range and maybe Vaughan's in the twelve to thirteen range, but both really good players. If they're able to stay healthy. With Jarrell Casey's interior rush, it wouldn't surprise me to see this Broncos defense, you know, the top five and sacks maybe lead the league in sex. I mean, they're going to end up being as dominant

defensively as they've been since. And we'll get to the secondary in a second, I'm sure, but that's kind of the concern. But as far as ed rushers go, they're set there. They've got some good depth with Jeremiah tATu Um there and then Malik Read, an undrafted player who came on last year. Inside linebacker wise, I think there's

probably more questions. You've got Alexander Johnson who emerged last year as a really good player, UH and former five time Pro Bowler L Wilson, who played for the Broncos, thinks he's got the makings of an All Pro. Just has the physicality you want, the sideline to sideline speed they plays in pass coverage. But he's a bigger guy, and so I think the Broncos still need to find UH that linebacker that can cover a tight end can cover a running back out of the backfield right now.

That guy's Todd Davis, who's been there for several years, has been a starter for the last three. I believe, uh In Todd's a tackle machine, but he's not what you would probably hope for in pass coverage. And so I think if the Broncos, you know, they drafted Justin Stern had at a wake Forest, maybe he can step in there a little bit and help out. But otherwise that's kind of one of the questions I have is when you go up against Travis Kelsey, how do you

stop him? Because that's the and I know we're talking about the Dolphins and the Broncos here, but in a bigger picture, since when you face those big time tight ends, what do you do. In the last couple of years, linebacker has not been the answer for the Broncos, and that that does translate well to the Dolphins too, because we have a really athletic Marvel and Micah Sikey on the roster here that can cause some problems up the scene. Caught a bunch of touchdowns towards the end of the

year last year. It really came on strong in his second season I just want to continue this theme real quick about my newfound Broncos fandom that I wasn't even aware of until this podcast. But you know, von Miller did those old Spice commercials for so long. They were my favorite commercial on TV. Was were some of those Von Miller commercials. Then you've got Bradley Chubb, who I fell in love with Throughout the draft process. I used to take these videos of draft players and say, here's

why I liked them. And there was a clip of Bradley Chubb after he had gotten bumped very slightly after a play there at South Carolina in college, and he like flopped backwards and rolled around in the end zone and act like he just got ran over by a truck. It was hilarious. The guy's full of personalities. I'm sure you well know you mentioned the secondary there. Eric, Let's go ahead and move back to the final position group here.

Lots of change back there. Another player I was a big fan of, Chris Harris, is now out a j boy in. How does that impact the type of coverage and type of defense they want to play in that secondary for Denver? Yeh? I mean this, This secondary played man for so long when Wade Phillips was here, and then Joe Woods took over for and after he left for l A. And that's really what they did when the No Fly Zone as they called themselves, with t J Ward, Darry and Stewart, Chris Harris keep to leave

Bradley Roby. I mean, they played man and press man a lot, and they made players on the ball. And and Vic Fangio is more of his own guy, and he wants to put these cornerbacks in position to make plays again. And that's where I think a J. Boyer fits in really nicely. He came over for a fourth round pick this offseason from Jacksonville. I loved that move before free agency starts, because I mean, you guys were able to pick up Byron Jones. You had some other

cornerback options on the market. But the issue if you wait till free agency is that you know one or two of them are gone real quick, and now you have to either overpay or you're just stuck without a top option. And so I love John Elway going out spending a fourth round pick on a guy like a J. Boyer who still has got a couple of years left on his contract, has played at a Pro Bowl level in kind of filling that need before free to see

even the game. I mean, I was impressed by that boy had six six picks in so he has that knack for making plays on the ball, which the Broncos really need. They haven't forced enough turnovers the last few years. The rest of the cornerback position is a little bit of a question mark for me. Bryce Callahan is expected

to be a starter. He was as good as any nickel cornerback in the league with Chicago, but then broke his foot at the end of the year, reaggravated it in training camp ahead of last season, and just he was never able to get on the field. I mean, we talked about John James kind of the stop and start nature of his season. Kellyan and play a single snap, and so he's supposedly healthy now he said he's ready to go, but we have no idea where he's gonna

fit in. I mean, Vic Fangio has said this is a guy that can play outside cornerback, but we've just never seen it, and he's not a big guy, and so I would expect him to still end up in that slot position, and then the Broncos have to find a third cornerbacks and how they've got options on their roster, guys like third round Michael O j. Moodia from Iowa, Davante Bosby, Deavante Harris, Isaac Yadam third Thick from a couple of years ago. But one of those guys is

gonna have to grow up really fast or else. When you play teams with multiple options, you're not gonna have answers, um And maybe one of those answers, Travis, is you turn to your safeties, because I do think that, you know, we talked about Bradley Chubb and Vondemoller, we talked about Quoton Sudden and Jerry Judy, but between Kareem Jackson and Justin Simmons, I mean, that could be one of the

best safety duos in the league. Justin Simmons a second team All Pro last year and had seven fifteen pass breakups, which was ten more than the season before. I mean, he's just an impressive player that's rising up the ranks

among safeties in the league. Has been Franchise tag. I think we'll find out here within the next week and a half what's gonna happen with that, Whether he's gonna play on the tag or sign a long term deal, and hopefully it's the latter, because he's a guy that Walter Payton Man of the Year, has done everything right, has made plays and gotten better and better, and uh, you know, he's that ball hawking free safety. Cream Jackson is a hard hitting guy. Laid out DeAndre Hopkins last

year in Houston. Together they make a really good pair. But yeah, I think that third cornerback position and then left and right tackle, if they can financers there, this roster is pretty solid. Those are holes that those aren't places where you want those things to show up. And maybe it's one of those situations where you play a little more big nickel and bring a third safety onto

the field. I mean, you can find that. That's the thing I like about the modern day NFL game is it's not just about we have to have this week side linebacker and play him here. We have to have this corn you know, you can just you can just put your best five in a position group on the field in today's NFL and just match up that way.

But then again, I guess a zone defense maybe it's not as easy there in Denver, and maybe you covered this question for me here already on the podcast, Eric, but I want to know who is the most unsung player on the Broncos roster that people aren't talking about. Maybe even two years ago it was Justin Simmons. But I think that ship has sale because that's one of

the best safeties in the NFL. Like you mentioned, who was the next guy that we're going to hear about in a year or two on this Broncos roster that no one's talking about right now? Yeah, I'll give you one for each side of the ball. And you know, I do think before I get to that, I don't think Cortland Sutton gets enough attention even though he was a pro bowler. Um, he's not talked about right now in the same conversation with the DeAndre Hopkins and Julio Jones. Uh,

you know he's getting close to that. So before I kind of name these two players, but I think Noah Fant is one obviously a first round pick, but I think he's about to have a breakout year. You look at some of the members that a Travis Kelsey and George Kittle, Rob Gronkowski that they posted in their first year, very similar to what Noah Fan did his in his first year last year, so really wouldn't surprise me if he gets up in the eaty catch range at nearest

a thousand yards. Um you know, has eight nine touchdowns. I mean, I think he's a Pro Bowl type player. And then I know I mentioned Alexander Johnson briefly at inside linebacker. He's a guy that was outside of football for so long because of legal issues and is now playing and is just so athletic. Was a first round type talent. Um. You know, it takes a while to get to the Pro Bowl because it's in part of a popularity contest, you know, how well do people know you.

But he's a guy that I think you're talking about two or three years from now. He's going to be getting a big contract. He's going to be, you know, a household name in Denver, and I think if you know football, people will see how talented he is as a linebacker. And Eric, you mentioned a couple of the week spots there you might be concerned about heading into training camp, and I would assume that's part of your

answer from my final question for you. Here, we've got Eric D. Lala of Denver Broncos dot Com here on the Drivetime podcast. The Broncos make the playoffs this year. If oh, I mean it's Drew. I mean, if Drew is good, that's really Oh there is to it. I mean, it's a tough schedule. I think ESPN s the Broncos with the toughest schedule in the league. Um, you've got to play the NFC South, so you've got home games

against the Saints of the Bucks. You've got to go on the road on Thursday Night Football to play the Jets, and you've got to go on the road to play the Patriots, who now look a lot tougher. There's not a game on the schedule that I think you can guarantee you win for you know, in some teams when you look at the schedule, as you can do right, They're gonna have to win the games that they have

to win. And I know that sounds kind of simple and maybe obvious, but they have to be able to beat the Chargers team with either Tyrod Taylor or Justin

Herbert at quarterback. And the way that all happens is if Drew Lock is able to take that next step, if he is not as good as he was last year, or if he falls off or you know, for whatever reason, he doesn't take that next step, then all these resources you've invested with Jerry Judy and Graham Glasgow and Lloyd Cushionberry and kJ Hamler and even some of the defensive moves with Darrell Casey. I mean those are wasted to some extent if Drew isn't able to live up to

the pressure that he now faces. And make no mistake, it's in the off season of Drew Lock. They've done everything to help him. They put in a position to succeed, They've empowered him, but now he's got to go do it, and so he faces some of that pressure. You know, you can't throw these interceptions and put the defense in a bad situation. Um. But I think if he's able to progress like we expect and like I think he will, the Broncos are gonna be good enough to score twenty

five points a game. And now the defense isn't on these short field situations around the field for thirty forty minutes. Uh And even though the schedule is tough, I think that's gonna lead to better football and put you in a position where you can win nine, ten, eleven. If you're being really generous games, um, and I think we saw the poise from Drew last year that shows he's

up to the challenge. But I mean, hey, he had everything you can ask for in terms of an offseason in it and now you know, now it's sister to do it. It's exactly right. I think if nothing else, you have to give the Broncos credit for making the conviction that the idea to go out and just attack this offseason to make it Drew locks football team. I love when teams do that with their young quarterbacks. He is Eric delaala uh Denver Broncos dot com. You can

find him on Twitter at Eric da Lalla. Eric, we really appreciate it, man, Thank you so much and go enjoy the rest of your vacation. Sir, Hey, thank you and the way he goes. Eric de la la of Denver Broncos dot Com taking a preview at the October eighteenth game scheduled in Denver. It's a four oh five

Eastern kickoff Week number six. We have preview the Patriots, Bills, Jags, and now the Broncos will get the Seahawks and Niners the Week four and five opponents here coming up here very shortly got plenty of other interviews on the hopper for the Know the Enemy series Again, go check out the Miami Dolphins dot com piece the October Opponents up there night right now on the website. As for today's podcast, that is going to be my time. I'm a happy

Fourth of July weekend to everybody out there. In the meantime, please be sure to subscribe to the podcast on Apple, podcast, Spotify, tuned in, wherever you get your podcast from. Go ahead and leave us a rating, leave us a review, give me a follow on Twitter. It's at Wingfield, NFL. Follow the Dolphins at Miami Dolphins, check out the fish Tank and the audible podcast, and of course Miami Dolphins dot com. I'll be there a second Caroline. Until next time, fins up.