The Kona Ice truck chugged north on South Potomac on Wednesday afternoon and turned left into the parking lot in Dove Valley, arriving as an unsurprising hallmark of the end of the Broncos’ summer practices — but arriving with surprising timing.
Sean Payton nixed the final day of Broncos minicamp Thursday, a sign that Denver’s staff has seen all they need to see before players re-enter the building in late July to tug on actual gear. And Payton has been quick to remind reporters, throughout weeks of summer practices, that it’s tough to properly evaluate one’s roster while playing in shorts and T-shirts.
“I think all of us are anxious,” Payton said Wednesday, “to get to where we’re in pads.”
Denver’s organized team activities and subsequent minicamp this June, though, still set in motion a horde of training-camp storylines that’ll have key parts to play in the Broncos’ 2026 outlook. The Post observed two full OTA and two full minicamp practices across the past three weeks, which provided first looks at new receiver Jaylen Waddle and new play-caller Davis Webb’s offense in early 11-on-11 periods.
With that in mind, here are seven things The Post learned from the Broncos’ summer program.
1. Davis Webb has yet to dip deep into his bag
Remember the screens? Sick of them yet? They’re still around. This is still Sean Payton’s ballclub, after all, even if Davis Webb is his new play-caller.
“It’s the Broncos’, right?” Payton said Wednesday, when asked if this was his offense or a combination of he and Webb’s.
The quick game will forever be a staple of Payton-led offenses, and it won’t go away under Webb. It just has to get better. Bo Nix led the NFL last year in passing attempts of under 10 air yards (432), and finished 27th in yards per attempt on such throws. That’s not good enough to run back. In that vein, the Broncos’ offense under Webb found its most offensive success throughout summer practices by attacking the defense with weapons in the flat and in the short-to-intermediate range in the middle of the field.
New receiver Jaylen Waddle is already playing a considerable part there. Waddle had more yards after the catch with the Dolphins in 2025 — even in a down season in Miami — than any Broncos wide receiver not named Troy Franklin.
“You just can’t replace speed,” Nix said Tuesday, on Waddle. “Thatap just what he brings to the table.”
2. Jahdae Barron will compete at outside cornerback
Payton confirmed this point-blank to reporters in the first week of OTAs, but weeks of practice have only underlined this further. After the Broncos took him in the first round of the 2025 NFL Draft with no actual pressing need for a cornerback, Barron lost a training-camp competition for the starting nickel job with Ja’Quan McMillian in last year’s training camp. A year later, and Barron is poised to challenge Riley Moss at outside CB2 come July.
That could have direct ramifications for who Denver decides to pay between McMillian and Moss, who will both be free agents after the 2026 season.
“It seems like he’s wise beyond his years, going into his second year,” star cornerback Pat Surtain II said Tuesday, of Barron.
3. Rookies Tyler Onyedim and Jonah Coleman can — and probably will — play right away
The Broncos’ first two picks of their 2026 NFL Draft class have looked more than the part. The 6-foot-3, 292-pound Onyedim is wearing No. 98 in Denver, the number vacated by John Franklin-Myers, and is poised for immediate rotational snaps at Franklin-Myers’ former boundary-end slot on the defensive line. He has drawn rave reviews inside the building, and has been hard to miss outside of it, with several reps through OTAs and minicamp either bursting through the line of scrimmage or fitting a run gap.
Coleman, meanwhile, has been heavily involved in the Broncos’ passing game. He’s flashed the open-field burst to be a threat on screen passes and choice routes out of the backfield, and has clear enough stockiness to chip rushers on obvious passing downs.
“He’s put together well,” Payton said, in early June.
4. There could be a QB2 battle brewing
Backup Jarrett Stidham has had his moments — including a beautiful ball to Courtland Sutton up the seam on the final day of minicamp Wednesday — but largely has looked like the same quarterback who struggled at times to get the ball out in January’s AFC Championship loss. QB3 Sam Ehlinger, meanwhile, has at times ran the offense smoother in team periods and continues to flash sneaky athleticism.
Stidham remains the team’s 18th-highest-paid player in terms of average contract value, and led the way in quarterback reps with Nix limited through the offseason program. But in Ehlinger’s second year in Denver’s system, he could push Stidham for the backup job in training camp on sheer performance.
5. It’s obvious why ILB Jonah Elliss will not be a reality
This is a compliment, actually. Elliss has stuck at outside linebacker through the offseason because he’s simply “doing too well outside,” as Payton said during OTAs. He hasn’t played inside at any point in team periods, despite Payton’s declaration in March that Elliss could shift there. It’s only taken a couple weeks for reporters to see why.
On Wednesday, Elliss broke off a lightning-quick spin move for a would-be sack and the day’s defensive highlight. He had another eye-catching pass-rush rep on the first day of minicamp Tuesday, too. It’s difficult for offensive lineman to adequately protect without pads, but Elliss’s sheer speed off the ball has been impossible to ignore.
6. The Broncos love the UFL, for demonstrated reason
The Broncos plucked one key reserve out of the UFL in 2024 with edge rusher Dondrea Tillman, and are trying for two more in former St. Louis Battlehawks Hakeem Butler and Sean Fresch Jr. Both wasted zero time acquitting themselves to an NFL practice field. Cornerback Fresch had a highlight pass-breakup Tuesday and receiver Butler pinned a pass down the sideline against a defensive back’s back for a ridiculous catch Wednesday.
The 6-foot-5, 242-pound Butler was a two-time Offensive Player of the Year in the UFL, and has shown why in just two days in a Broncos jersey. His natural fluidity is impossible to teach at his size, and he has a real shot to force Payton and the Broncos’ staff to make some tough decisions in camp.
7. Some receiver in Broncos camp will get snapped up elsewhere after roster cuts.
After trading for Waddle, the Broncos suddenly have too many standouts at receiver for too few roster spots. Denver only activates five receivers on gameday, with its current quintet of Waddle-Courtland Sutton-Troy Franklin-Pat Bryant-Marvin Mims Jr. all but set. That will likely leave veteran Lil’Jordan Humphrey, Butler and a host of undrafted rookies competing for practice-squad spots.
Former Nebraska and Kentucky receiver Dane Key has stood out from that group of undrafted pass-catchers in summer workouts, with good speed in space at his 6-foot-3 frame and a handful of chunk catches. Some standout will inevitably get left on the chopping block.
