07-22-25 Hour 1 of Broncos Country Tonight with Zach Segars

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to so more Late Night Broncos Country tonight after
the Colorado Rockies game, once again filling in for Ben Albright,
It's Zack Segers. Training camp is right around the door
and football is almost upon us. With that in mind,

(00:20):
last week, we took a look at the biggest storylines
to watch for in training camp this season. What fans
should be wary of keeping an eye on in terms
of media reports, but also just when you're there. If
you're able one of the lucky few who scored tickets,
what should you keep your eyes peeled for when you're
in attendance. Well, in case you missed the episode, you

(00:41):
could always find the podcast wherever you listen to podcasts
and on the Broncos Country Tonight feed. You can also
find it over in Koaclorado dot com, or if you
prefer articles I've gone in depth on that same topic
in article form over on Koaclorado dot com. You can
find that under the Denver Broncos tap so check that
out too. Tonight, we'll be finishing up that many training

(01:03):
camp preview by looking at the biggest battles that will
be getting sorted out at training camp this summer. First though,
Let's take a look at the biggest Broncos stories of
the week so far, and there are a handful that
either you know, are very obviously big stories or kind
of tangentially affect the team. Let's start with the biggest
one first. Courlan Sutton seemingly is reporting to camp. This

(01:27):
is according to a Mike Cliffs tweet from the media
barbecue today. While the media was there waiting for press
conferences and the barbecue event and whatnot. Again, per the
mic cliss tweet, Courland Sutton walked right by the media
and was spotted by everyone. This means, you know, he's
obviously at the facility. He's maybe holding in, but potentially
we haven't had a media witnessed practice, so we don't

(01:50):
know how much he's participating, but he at least is there,
which you know, relative to how some of these situations
are going Trey Hendrickson Shamar Stewart up in Cincinnati being
the most obvious we want, but it's good to see
that they're at least still negotiating. They're still talking, trying
to work something out, and hopefully they're able to work
something out. You know, after this season, the Broncos are

(02:14):
it's wide open. You know, right now they have a
pretty clear number one option, but if Sudden leaves after
this season, they really don't have a clear answer there,
and I don't think that's where you want Bonnix to
be entering the third year of his development. And it's
also hard to find those guys right they're not available. Really.
People have learned from the aj Brown trade and they're

(02:35):
not going to trade away a young superstar receiver. Again,
you typically have to draft them pretty high, and the
great ones are not hitting the free agency market. You know.
That's how Christian Kirk excuse me, gets wildly overpaid by
the Jacksonville Jaguars. So you know, even if you eventually
maybe want a more elite number one option, I think
you got to hold on to Sudden until that presents itself.

(02:58):
Because right now, he you know, has a clear connection
with bo Nix, is a safety blanket with his ability
to win at the catch point and Instill's confidence in Nicks.
I don't think you want to take that away until
there is a clear upgrade that presents itself, and that
just has not shown up yet, so you know, it
does have to be within reason. He's nearing that thirty cliff,

(03:20):
that that age thirty cliff that receivers often experience, and
you know, you don't want to be on the hook
with too many guarantees with that in mind, but you know,
if you can maybe help him out with a larger
upfront salary to just get it done, I think it'd
be huge to have him there for camp this year
and just for the season in general. You know t
Higgins or Brandon Auk, receivers that had a good chemistry

(03:44):
established with their quarterback had slower starts to last season,
largely as a result of holding out from camp. And
you know, those guys had multi year connections with their
respective quarterbacks. Sutton's only been with Knicks for one year.
So I want to keep building that chemistry. Don't want
that to get messed up. Benny Nick Benito, speaking of
contract negotiations, Nick Benito, this is the other one that

(04:05):
directly affects the Broncos. At his youth football camp, said
that negotiations are also ongoing with him in the Denver Broncos.
I think this is tremendous news for the team and
they should really look to wrap this up, get it done.
Everyone focuses on the risk associated with what if you
sign Nick Bondito and his play drops off, you know,

(04:27):
and now you're on the hook for X amount of
dead cap you know, probably something if it really went horribly,
maybe something like fifteen twenty million in dead cap, And
then that's a risk. I think the greater risk is
being stuck between a rock and a hard place, where WHOA,
Now we either have to pay this guy forty million
dollars instead of when we could have had twenty five million,

(04:49):
because that's that dead cap hit. But it doesn't just
hit the one year, it's hitting year after year after year.
And you know, if you don't want to pay that
hefty price, then you're letting a very, very talent to
young piece who aligns perfectly with this franchise's championship window
right now. You know, they're building towards twenty twenty six,

(05:10):
twenty seven, twenty eight, those should be Benito's prime seasons.
It would seem foolish to let him out the door
right then. So the cost is on either end, and
again I think the risk is greater, more costly, more
problematic on the side of not paying him now letting
him play, and then what if he has another good year.

(05:30):
If you pay him now, it's going to be probably
around twenty five million dollars. That's totally fair if you
look at the market, and with the cap rapidly shooting up,
it won't be too prohibitive. Also, you can manipulate these contracts.
We've seen Bronco's ownership do it well in recent years
where they're not mortgaging their future, but they're also able

(05:52):
to pro rate the signing bonus out, keep those cap
hits low, allow them to infuse the roster with as
much talent as possible. I think you just knock it
out now, and you know, if he ends up being
an overpaid a designated pass rusher, that sucks, but it's
also not the end of the world. You know, you

(06:12):
can live with that for a couple of seasons, cut
the contract and then move on. For an example about
how this can go, look no further than the Patzertan
and Quinn Minors deals. Right those got signed. They looked
great at the time of signing, and in the years
since they've only looked better and better and like a
better and better deal. Nick Benito's contract will age that

(06:35):
same way. And I know a lot of people will say,
but Quinn Miners and Certan were more proven commodities, They
were safer gambles. That's true, but guess what the team
knows that Nick Benito's agent will argue against it. But
guess what he's aware of that too, that Nick Benito's resume.
Isn't that if Patrick sir Tan when Certan was at
the negotiating table, it's not going to be if the

(06:58):
Broncos front office was able to win negotiations or you know,
land on a team friendly result, maybe that's the better
way to put it. Land on a team friendly result
in negotiations with Patrick Sirtan and Quinn Minors when they
had much less leverage to get it to that team
friendly end result. Why wouldn't they be able to do

(07:21):
that with Pnito? The Russell Wilson and the Randy Gregory
mistakes loom large. But over these past two seasons, the
front office has been on a hot streak of creating
really team friendly extensions or deals to free agents that
have just aged really, really well. And you know it's

(07:41):
not just well, these players are still playing well. You
knew they were going to play well. Of course they
aged well because part of the reason those contracts looked
so good even in the moment of signing, was that
the Broncos built in some escape patches. You know, if
something horrible happened with Sirtan or something horrible happen with
Quinn Miners, they would have been able to get out

(08:02):
of those contracts just a couple of years into them.
A couple three years into them might be a little painful,
but you know, they wouldn't be completely trapped in either
of those deals. And so once again, if they were
able to negotiate in those insurance options into those deals
with guys who are much more proven and could much easier,

(08:27):
could much more easily argue, Hey, why are you putting
that in our deal? We've proven ourselves we deserve more
guarantees or guarantees to be pushed more into the back end,
et cetera, et cetera. Why couldn't they argue that against
Nick Benito. Now, maybe Nick Benito just plays hardball, and

(08:47):
maybe Quinn Minors and certain where, but this also applies
to even like the Jonathan Cooper contract. You know, I
just I think the front office is demonstrated they'll be
able to get Nick Benito on a relatively team friendly deal.
So with that in mind, and again also his trajectory.
Year one was rough for Nick Benito. People forget that now,
but it was rough. Year two, you saw flashes of brilliance.
He was leading the team, and you know the advanced

(09:09):
pass rush metrics, like you know, pass rush productivity rating,
which is kind of a catch all number for how
many sacks, pressures quarterback hits for you creating on a
per snap basis, led the team in that led the
team in pass rush win rate that second year, right,
But the classic stats, the pressures, the sacks weren't there,
part because he wasn't playing a lot of snaps. And
then last year it all came together. He's taken large

(09:32):
steps in his development every single year, and now are
we just anticipating in a year four it's going to
crater in the other direction. It's absolutely possible. Don't get
me wrong. You know, the worst case scenario could happen,
but that doesn't seem like the most likely outcome. It
seems like a pretty unlikely outcome. It seems like the
more likely outcome maybe not that he's in the defensive

(09:53):
Player of the Year race again, but that he takes
another step in his development and continues to solidify himself
as one of the best as rushers in the league.
That seems like the more likely outcome if you consider
what Nick Benito has done up until this point. And
if he does that, guess what you're looking at thirty
five million. You're looking at forty million a year instead
of twenty five and that is you know, think of

(10:15):
that as a ten million dollar cap charge every single year.
That adds up, That adds up in a way that
is much more damaging than pay Nick Bonito. Now he
winds up shockingly cratering, and then you have to cut
him in a year or two's time, you know, and
that would be a nightmare scenario. Still would not be
as costly as the alternative, which is waiting and seeing
that also boasts a lot of risk. Last little bit

(10:39):
here in the news column. Josie Jewel cut by the
Carolina Panthers today. Noah Fant was cut by the Seattle
Seahawks yesterday. Should the Denver Broncos consider a potential reunion
or sorry, excuse me, was cut on Sunday? But should
the Broncos consider a reunion there at all? I think

(11:02):
and the joke jual Ones more complicated, but I think
it should definitely be on the table. Tight End linebacker
are probably the two rooms that could most use a
veteran body. You know, at running back, you got that
with JK. Dobbins. Now I don't think you've looked at another.
Even if there are some questions in that room, You've
got some young pieces you like, and you know the

(11:22):
addition of j I just don't think you do more
there but linebacker and tight end as we'll get to.
We'll get to linebacker in the battle section next segment.
But tight end I mean very concerning outside Evan Ingram,
and Evan Ingram isn't even like your true tight end.
He might wind up playing more in the slot than
he does at tight end. No offense. He's another receiving

(11:45):
first guy like Evan Ingram, but he's a larger body,
he can take more of those inline reps, and he's
a limited blocker. But I think the gap between him
and Adam Troutman isn't that severe. Like Adam Troutman, I
think is a subpar blocker right, and he doesn't offer
the receiving threat that Pant does, So I think Fant
could be a really appealing option to you know, win

(12:08):
Ingram's off the field because maybe you want a larger
body in there. Fant could help, you know, solve that
problem for you without sacrificing the receiving ability or going
to such a downgrade as in my opinion you'd be
going to with Troutman. Again, Fan is maybe a slightly
worse blocker, or he is he's a slightly worst blocker.

(12:29):
But if you're only bringing at a point, okay, Troutman's
out here, we know he's going to be blocking. Or
if he is going out for a route, who cares.
We don't have to respect it. With Fant, you at
least have to respect the concept of him going out
for a route. And I think that is enough to
maybe level the playing field in terms of how much
they can each respectively impact the run game. Josie. The

(12:51):
same thing at linebacker right, big need bind Drake Greenlaw,
Alex Singleton probably good to start, but he's coming off injury.
Big question marks there. Jewel could just raise the floor.
You know, He's another option that helps ensure that you
know things aren't going to drop out on you. Then
you're just going to be a terrible, terrible, terrible unit.
He's another functional body you can add to that room. Now,

(13:14):
the problem there is he's still reportedly he's still experiencing
concussion symptoms from a week sixteen injury. That's very scary. Obviously,
we're talking, you know, seven and a half months of
dealing with that. You know, maybe he never even plays again.
It seems like this was in part him stepping away

(13:34):
from the team and then the team just kind of
it seems like kind of a mutual party of ways,
an amicable divorce. So he probably isn't looking to get
right back with another team. But if I were the Broncos,
i'd monitor this situation. If he recovers well, which you know,
fingers crossed either way, he recovers well and he's open
to returning to Denver, I would absolutely give it a look.

(13:57):
Can plug and play and just you know, it's as
an insurance insurance option in case of injury, which Singleton
and green Law both have injury concerns. I think that
makes a lot of sense. Or if it's you know,
on the upper end to compete maybe with Singleton for
a starting spot, that should be considered. He came in
under vance Joseph, so the defense should be something he
can pick up relatively easily. That's that's another one that

(14:20):
intrigues me. All right, let's before we go to break here,
get into I think the first battle, maybe the first
to two battles here. I'm excited to watch number seven.
We're you know, at number seven, we'll talk about that
linebacker three spot. It's pretty easy to pencil in Singleton

(14:41):
and green Law as the starters. They would be pretty
surprising at this point if that isn't where we land.
But number three linebacker is very much up in the air,
you know, Lavelle Bailey, the UDFA is still around. And
then you've got the two favorites for that role justin
Sirnad who filled it last year, entered the starting lineup
when Singleton got injured, and Drew Sanders, who's finally healthy

(15:04):
and settled in that linebacker position. I think this is
an interesting battle, a fascinating battle for a few reasons.
Right one, because of the injury concerns with the starters,
this player is probably going to start some games at
the very least, they're probably going to see some meaningful
playing time in some second halves. As a result of
an injury. Again, hopefully it doesn't happen. But of the backups,

(15:26):
this is a position where they're more likely to play
than most. On top of that, there really is no
clear answer. Sirnad was fine last year as a backup.
He kind of got torched down the stretch, but overall
he filled in admirably. For Singleton, there was not much
of a drop off there, but there are some clear
limitations in his game and those really flared up down
the stretch. Drew Sanders is a very exciting prospect and

(15:49):
he hasn't put it together yet, but does he finally
do so? Here? Like this is a pretty clear runway
for Drew Sanders in the second to last season of
his rookie deal. Is he going to run with this role?
You know it's there for the taking. Can he grab
it and run with it? I think that's going to
say a lot about where his NFL career goes moving forward,

(16:09):
you know? And then of course can Lavelle Bailey the
dark horse in this all, can he surprise and maybe
he ends up stealing that spot and he'd be another
option that maybe gives the Broncos some upside for the future.
I think that's all we can get to here. Don't worry, though,
we'll get to the rest of my top seven training
camp battles to watch for the Denver Broncos after the break.

(16:31):
You're listening to Broncos Country tonight. We're coming up on
eight fifty KOA ninety four to one FM eight fifty am.
Go back to some more late night Broncos Country tonight
after a Colorado Rockies game yet again filling in for

(16:52):
Benjamin Albright and Nick Ferguson. It's x Segars. Just got
a fresh article up over on the KOA website looking
at the biggest storylines to watch for in training camp.
We've got training camp right around the corner, so right
now is the perfect time to wrap up our little
training camp previews and whatnot. So check that out over
on the website. Great article for you if you'd rather

(17:14):
listen to it. I did it in podcast form on Friday.
Check that out in your podcast feeds wherever you listen
to Broncos Country tonight. Last segment we looked at, you know,
some of the biggest well really some of the biggest
news affecting the Broncos in terms of negotiations with Corland Sutton,
with Nick Benito, and maybe the potential of a Josie
Jewel or a Noah Fant reunion. Then we looked at

(17:38):
what I ranked as the seventh biggest. We've got a
top seven list here for the rest of the show.
Number seven I listed that linebacker three battle, which is
maybe why you would consider adding Josie Jewel into the fray.
I think that'll be a very important one. You know,
you've got the injury concerns with the starters, no clear
answer behind them. And then also it'll be a great

(17:58):
referendum on you know, where's Drew Sanders right now? Is
he maybe one step closer to living up to that
potential or you know, does it go to the incumbent
Drew or sorry to the incumbent Justine or not, meaning
you know, maybe Drew Sanders it isn't going to live
up to that pre draft pedigree. Going to number six here,
sixth most important training can't battle for you to keep

(18:20):
an eye on if you either go to attendance or
you're just looking at the updates from your favorite analyst.
Safety number three. This has become a more and more
heavily used position. You're seeing more and more NFL teams
used three safeties at a time. The Broncos even did
it some last year. But you know, it's going to
be interesting to see if they'll be able to do
it this year. Considering the injuries in the room, you

(18:42):
have PJ Locke coming back from pretty devastating back injury,
had to undergo a spinal fusion surgery that no NFL
player has undergone before. Now that means that does not
mean he can't come back from it. It just means
we haven't seen it before, we don't know, sample size
isn't big enough, and we will, you know, find out
with PJ lock with everyone else, how possible it is

(19:06):
to come back from such a procedure. If he comes
back and he's the same old PJ. Lock, hey, that's great.
This problem kind of gets solved. But again, this is
a serious surgery, a serious injury he's trying to recover from.
There's a chance that even if he does come back,
he's not the same guy. And in that instance, who
steps up into that third safety role And you know,

(19:26):
not only for the luxury of this kind of niche
third safety position, but Brandon Jones, the Broncos got him
so cheap because of his injury history. Unto Vanga, the
Broncos got him so cheap because of his injury history.
Hopefully they both stay healthy, but if either one misses time,
which has plenty possible, someone's going to have to step up.
If it's PJ Lock, you feel fairly good about that
because and you know he's the same old self. You

(19:48):
feel good about that because before taking over the starting
job last year, he was kind of that spot filling
guy at safety for the Broncos, and he performed that
role admirably. If he's not ready to go, is it,
you know, j L. Skinner, Does this open the door
for him? Or or dt Y you know, do they
have to go back to Devon Key, which really went
poorly last season. I think that's going to be very interesting.

(20:09):
If it's Devon Key, that says a lot about j L.
Skinner right now, right that says a lot about PJ
Lock and his recovery from injury. That says a lot
about dt Why's future with the team, and the fact
that you know, maybe there isn't one. All of that
I think is very fascinating and something you absolutely have
to watch. For this go round number five on my list,

(20:30):
and now we're getting into starting positions here. One nice
thing about the Broncos roster being so good is you
don't have a see of you know, starting camp battles.
These five though, these are all going to be starting positions,
starting with again nickel cornerback can John A. Barron supplant
Jaquan McMillan. You know, at face value, hey, one guy's

(20:50):
an undrafted free agent. One guy's a first round pick,
as simple as that. But I don't think it should
be and I don't think it will be. Jqwan McMillan
is one of the best starting nickelers, one of the
best nickel corners in the league. You know, he's probably
not in the top five, he might not even be
in the top ten, but he's in the top fifteen, sixteen.
He's in the top half of the league. He is

(21:12):
better than most in that role. I think he gets
picked on a lot because he's got Patrick's or Dan
and Riley Moss out there. You know, you have to
throw at someone, and he drew the sword straw there.
He was the weakest of the coverage options. Part of
the reason I think Baron was the selection for the Broncos.
But he is a solid piece in that secondary and
one that won't be replaced just as a given. You know,

(21:35):
this isn't a problem area where I don't know, you
had Jared Stidham starting games for you last year you
drafted b Nicks. Yeah, you know, we can have a
camp battle, but it's going to be Bonix in that spot.
You know, even if it's not week one, because he
needs to learn the game, it's going to be Bonux
sooner rather than later. I don't think that's necessarily the
case with Baron. One, he can do other things in

(21:56):
the secondary. Maybe it isn't supplanting Jay Kwan McMillan ultimately.
And two again, McMillan's not a problem area. You don't
necessarily have to give rid of this guy or you know,
have to look for a youth replacement. You could, again
hypothetically slow play Baron if you wanted to, let you know,
allow him to learn all these different roles all at

(22:16):
once and kind of you know, don't give him too
much all at once, allow him to learn it all
on the bench, and then you can kind of piece
meal him a role as as opportunity becomes available as
people get injured throughout the season. I don't think that's
what happens. I think he probably wins the battle, But
him winning that battle will be an important data point
for us to all see of hey, Baron's coming along nicely.

(22:38):
He is now the Stardi nickel and that will also
open up what happens with McMillan. Can the Broncos trade
him for draft capital, you know? Or do they want
the depth of another nickel corner? Do they trust Chris
Abram's drain or someone else to pick up the slack
there or again, do they feel they have to keep
McMillan around, not only for dime sets, but so they're

(23:00):
protected against injury On the other side, Going to offense,
that's where we find our number four battle. Also in
the slot. I think this is the fourth most important
camp battle. What happens with all the Broncos slot options.
Marvin Nims came on strong last year, but he came
on strong last year as a slot receiver. Once he

(23:22):
started getting more snaps on the inside, his production skyrocketed.
So you probably want him to use to be used
primarily there at least that unless he takes a big
step forward in his development? Is it Devon Valley? He
saw a lot of work in the slot last year?
Is kind of that large slot? Is it him? Or
does Pat Bryant kind of maybe beat him out for

(23:42):
that role and it's Pat Bryant getting the majority of
looks in the slot ahead of a Mims, ahead of Vala.
Is it maybe even Evan Ingram? I know something Albright
has talked about a lot on the show is Evan
Ingram is almost more of a receiver than a tight end.
And there's a lot of truth to that. He's going
to be lined up, you know how wide at times
and sometimes in the slot. Does he wind up being

(24:04):
the primary slot receiver as a guy who offers you
probably comparable, if not better blocking than what Litil Jordan
Humphrey offered. No, he's not a great blocking tight end,
but relative to receivers, he's plenty passable, and he's a
much better receiving threat than a Lil Joor Humphrey. Does
he end up kind of filling that role or does
Troy Franklin come out of the blue and take a

(24:25):
big leap and realize all his talent and potential And
maybe it's him as that primary slot option. It really
could be anyone right now, though it's a bit of
a logjam. I think you have, you know what, five
competent names for that role. Who does it end up being?
You know, because because all of them I think come

(24:45):
with some drawbacks. Right If it's Valet, are you maybe
hampering Bryant's development and vice versa there? If it's Mims,
what's the negative effect? What's the effect like on the
run game? If it's Ingram, does that mean you're playing
Adam Trautman for more step for more snaps than a
Devon Valet for a Marvin Mims. I think you're not
getting your best weapons on the field. Then that comes
with some problems. You know. If it's Troy Franklin's silar

(25:09):
to the Mims one, what does that do to the
run game? So I think that's going to be very
interesting and tell us a lot about the Broncos offense
this season and not just market What do you expect
from these young weapons? Is Bryant ready to go now
as a meaningful contributor? Or you know, can Mims takes
a massive leap in his play. I think that'll be

(25:30):
more to do with our next battle here. But it's
going to say a lot about the young weapons on
this team. It's going to say a lot about the
direction of the offense. With Sean Payton primary slot, I
think that's going to be such a great competition. So
many quality players too going at it in that one.
I can't wait to see that one. The battle for

(25:51):
the starting Z receiver slot. This will be the boundary
receiver opposite Courtland Sutton. Sutton's the X. We know he's
locked down that spot. That's really the only thing we
do know about the receiver room. That and maybe the
top six candidates for a roster spot or the only
cemented details here who can win that primary receiver job

(26:13):
opposite of Gorland Sun. Once again, this has some wide
ranging implications, and this is the one that I think
will really be telling regarding Marvin Mims. If Mims can
grab that Z receiver spot, it is massive. He'd be
kind of filling that Brandon Cook's role. We've seen work
so well in the Sean Payton's in Sean Payn's offense

(26:33):
before the Robert Nietchum role, He's typically had your kind
of dirty work X receiver or a larger slot receiver
and then a Z that can just take the top
off the defense, serve as your field stretcher, your vertical threat,
clear everything out for those intermediate and underneath th ruts
that Sean Payton loves to use, and every now and
then pop for a big play. Mims realizing his ability

(26:57):
to do that not just from the slot but on
the outside is massive. We saw it get better from
the slot last season. But it's easier to win on
the slot. You can be kept off the line of scrimmage,
which limits the corner's ability to be physical with you.
You don't have to worry about the sideline being used
against you, right, Cornerbacks often pinch pinch you off against
the sideline, kind of use that as an extra defender

(27:19):
to their advantage. In the slot, you've got a two
way go right, it's easier to kind of get past
that coverage off the release. So although Mims was having
success there last year, it's not a given he's going
to be able to translate that success to the outside.
And him translating that success to the outside is very important. Right.

(27:39):
We just looked at that log jam in the slot.
There's five quality players competing for snaps there, that's going
to be difficult to you know, give everyone the reps
they need to develop or to just contribute to the offense.
If he's pigeonholed in that slot role, it's going to
be hard for him to take the leap in twenty

(28:00):
twenty five that I think so many Broncos fans want
him to take. He can't impact the run game, at
least as a blocker in the same way. You know,
I guess Troy Franklin's in a similar bucket, But the
other three guys he's competing with for slot snaps who
can help the run game more than he can. And
that's a very important aspect for your slot player, especially

(28:21):
in Sean Paygon's eyes. That's something we know he values
a lot. So if he's stuck as a slot receiver,
that means he's probably only getting snaps in obvious passing situations. However,
if he can prove he belongs outside, he's maybe getting
you know, the second most snaps of any receiver, behind

(28:43):
only Courtland Sudden. Not only that, it opens up a
ton of playing time for all the other slot options,
it clears that logjam up a ton. Even if you
know the result isn't Mims. Though, even if Mims doesn't win,
this outside receiving job could be very interesting. I think
the Lay is probably the next man up. It would
be incredibly telling for us about his development too if

(29:06):
he locks that up ahead of Mims. You know, he's
an older player, but he does have some immense athletic potential.
Maybe he can turn into a more every down player.
Mims and Bryant than Maybe and Evan Ingram kind of
trade off responsibilities in the slot and they can all
give you something a little different any way it plays out.
I think it's going to be very interesting. Again, just

(29:27):
tell us a lot about what the offense looks like
this season. The second biggest positional battle to watch or
second most important positional battle to watch in training camp
this year, in my opinion, is going to be the
boundary cornerback spot opposite Sartin. It's a lot of reflections
on either side of the ball out here. You know,

(29:48):
it's nickel corner, it's a lot receiver, it's the outside receiver,
it's outside corner, it's linebacker's running back, which we'll get
to here in a second. I think boundary corner is
going to be fascinating to watch, because yeah, I already
talked about the Johday Baron of it all. You know,
this will be another referendum or a barometer, however you

(30:08):
want to view it on how good is Johday Baron
right now? Right? Okay, he's good enough that when we're
in nickel defense, we're in a sub package. We got
to get him on the field. He's proven he's better
than ja Quon McMillan. Right, that'll be step one. Step
two is is he so good? We have to make
sure he's on the field for base defense looks too
and for that he's going to have to compete with

(30:30):
Riley Moss at outside corner. And also, this isn't that
crazy a concept. It's what the Chiefs do with Trent McDuffie,
who's drafted at twenty two, similar spot to Baron, viewed
as the best nickel in his class, but maybe couldn't
play outside. His problem was length. But the Chiefs have
played him outide and he's a very good outside corner.

(30:50):
He's an elite nickel and a very good outside corner.
If John A. Baron follows that career trajectory, that's an
amazing outcome for him. Broncos country should be very happy
that is he ready for that role right now, We'll
see Moss is going to put up a lot of fights,
So can he beat him out there? If he does,
what does that mean for Moss's contract situation? This will

(31:10):
be the second to last year of his rookie deal.
If he's just a bit player going into the final
year of his rookie deal, I mean, the Broncos sign
him for cheap, is he going to be bothered and
maybe want to walk? And then the Broncos have to
cross that bridge. So that element of it is interesting,
on top of us getting to find out how much
confidence the staff has in Baron at this point in

(31:31):
his career. And then finally, if Moss wins, how does
that impact Baron's defensive role? Again, I think this is
a guy who you spend a top twenty pick on.
You want to get him on the field a lot.
How are you going to do that if he loses
that battle for in base defense that is and I

(31:51):
think one solution might be and I know they've said
they don't see him as a safety, but maybe him
losing that battle changes things because if they feel good
about moving him to safety. Tauna Hufanga played some linebacker
for the forty nine ers and some special packages. You
could maybe have him in base defense looks, move to
that safety spot and then move Hufanga to linebacker. This

(32:13):
would lessen the concern about the safety depth. It would
also lessen the concern about the linebacker depth. All in one.
Those are two of the battles we touched on earlier
in this exercise. So even if he loses that competition
to Moss, I think it could result in the Broncos
solving some of their defensive woes. Last, but not least here.

(32:33):
Everyone probably saw this coming from a mile away. It's
probably what you're all excited to watch that running back battle.
Is it going to be JK. Dobbins? Is it going
to be RJ. Harvey? And the implications of this battle
are massive, you know, unlike a receiver or cornerbacker anywhere else,
this is a battle for who your top guy in
the room is and it is wide open right now.

(32:55):
Plus run game, the rushing attack is maybe the Broncos
largest offseason concerned the achilles heel of last year's squad
that they most needed to address This is going to
determine how well they were able to address that, How
good is JK. Dobbins, how good is RJ. Harvey right,
and how good they are. That will impact obviously the

(33:16):
run game, that will impact Boenix's development, That will impact
how good the offense is as a whole, and that
of course is going to have a major impact on
how far the Denver Broncos can go this year. This
is maybe the single largest X factor, you know, lingering
questions still on the Broncos roster. You know, outside of
does bo Nicks have a sophomore slump or something to

(33:37):
do at the quarterback position? Who is playing running back?
And how good of a running back are they? And
it's not only wide open at the top, it's wide
open all the way through the practice squad guys, right,
estimate McLaughlin. Not all these guys are practice squad guys,
you know, estimate McLaughlin. Depth guys on the roster, they're
going to be battling for a spot. And then you've
got Watson and Batti battling for a roster spot, battling

(34:00):
for baby a spot on the practice squad. It is
going to be an all out battle Royale and I
just cannot wait to see how it pans out. Hope
you all enjoyed this late night little look at the roster.
We'll be talking more about some big Broncos news in
the next segment, so stay tuned to for some more
Broncos country tonight on KOA eight fifty am ninety four

(34:22):
one FM.