The adrenaline of a 33-30 overtime win over Buffalo began to fade Saturday evening, but so much more sat right there for the Broncos offensive lineman to consider.

The week ahead. The AFC Championship Game at Empower Field. A trip to the Super Bowl on the line.

As Forsyth pulled out of the stadium, however, he went the wrong way.

Road closed ahead. Standstill traffic.

He sat with his thoughts. Then his phone buzzed.

A group message lit up with a text from a friend.

Bo Nix broke his ankle. Out for the season.

Forsyth assumed his friend had bad information.

“I figured it was one of those fake football accounts,” he told The Denver Post this week. “I was like, ‘Nah, I think you got fooled.’”

Forsyth had just seen Nix in the postgame training room. The third-year center has ankle issues himself, missed 16 snaps Saturday and was evaluated again after the game. He talked with Nix, a teammate in Denver for two years and at the University of Oregon in 2022, briefly about the game while waiting around the X-ray room.

“I didn’t think anything of it,” Forsyth said. “I’ve played with Bo since Oregon, so I know when something’s wrong. I couldn’t tell or anything.”

Nix didn’t yet know he’d broken a bone in his right ankle, though he suspected something was wrong. He didn’t yet know he’d have surgery less than 72 hours later. That there was no way he could continue playing this year.

It all turned out to be true. Forsyth’s friend was right.

Teammates and coaches found out in myriad ways.

Offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi was driving home with his son, who told him. He, too, thought bad information must have somehow spread.

Lil’Jordan Humphrey was on his way to the parking lot when a teammate told him.

“It broke my heart a little bit,” said the wide receiver, who hours earlier hauled in a touchdown from Nix against the Bills.

Fellow quarterbacks Jarrett Stidham and Sam Ehlinger were in the training room with Nix while he was evaluated and the imaging was done. They each described the moments that followed as “devastating.”

Head coach Sean Payton, his team scattered to the wind, decided to announce the news to reporters right away Saturday night. He did so because he knew the injury wouldn’t stay quiet until a Monday morning team meeting, but in the process, he also seized an opportunity to set an immediate tone.

Payton didn’t just say Stidham would be fine. He pushed his chips to the middle of the table right away.

“Just watch,” he said defiantly of his No. 2. In the days since, Payton’s confidence has sometimes veered toward bravado.

Part of that really is about belief in Stidham. Much of it, though, is because Denver is not scrambling this week trying to figure out how to approach life without Nix. Really, Payton and the Broncos front office have spent the past three years assembling a team and an operation built for this exact moment. Now comes the biggest stress test to date on the biggest stage yet.

‘Hurricane proof’

Payton often talks about identifying players who are “hurricane proof.”

He attributes the metaphor to legendary University of Alabama football coach Nick Saban.

“Toughness really is not necessarily about physical, but the mental and how much you can take,” Payton said earlier this season. “And (Saban) likened it to hurricane windows. You can get the 139s, the 150s or the 189s. Obviously, if you go up, they cost more.”

Finding the right players, Payton said, is “finding the 189s.”

In November, Payton implored reporters to pick a Super Bowl team. Any of them. They all go through storms.

“They come every season,” Payton said then, providing an ominously accurate forecast.

Denver at the time had just lost running back J.K. Dobbins to a foot injury. All-Pro corner Pat Surtain II was out with a pectoral strain, too. That����ap bad weather, to be sure, though Denver had won seven straight and would ultimately run that streak out to 11.

Stunningly losing your quarterback 60 minutes from the Super Bowl isn’t a squall.

It’s the eye wall of a Category 5.

Payton, however, thinks his team will come out the other side Sunday still standing.

He built the Broncos that way.

“It starts with really the right type of DNA that you’re bringing in,” he said in November. “You’re bringing in these guys with grit, toughness, football I.Q.. Generally speaking, those are hard-weathered players that can withstand the storms that come in our league.”

Hard and dark times

When Payton arrived in Denver in early 2023, he promised players on the roster one thing: The past did not matter. Everybody would be evaluated on what he, his staff and the front office saw with their own eyes going forward.

Some talented players didn’t last more than the first season, like 2020 first-round receiver Jerry Jeudy.

Some who’d been leaders under previous coaches did not work for Payton, like guard Dalton Risner and safety Justin Simmons.

Others, though, found their way through the chaff and into the light.

One example: 2023 undrafted rookie Jaleel McLaughlin. The North Carolina native spent part of his childhood in and out of homelessness. He played Division II and then FCS football. His pre-dawn workouts became the stuff of legend.

Payton liked the tape. He loved the rest.

“I heard the report on how he arrived at being a candidate to be in the NFL,” Payton said. “Then the question was, ‘Is he good enough?’ That question has been answered.”

Talent and traits matter. There is a performance baseline that is required to make it in the NFL. But to Payton, once that line is satisfied, grit is a differentiating factor.

That����ap how nickel Ja’Quan McMillian, undrafted in 2022, went from early bench player for Payton to starting nickel to now one of the premier slot men in the game.

Defensive coordinator Vance Joseph, this week, acknowledged to The Post that McMillian doesn’t hit the physical thresholds Denver sets for defensive backs.

“He’s undersized,” Joseph said. “He’s fast but not really fast. But he was always tough and smart and the ball always found him. That����ap his best trait. Having him here for three years, you watch him and how much he’s overcome, first with his physical traits. But he’s so tough mentally and he’s so smart.

“When things get hard and dark, he’s at his best. You need guys like that. Sometimes you have guys who are really, really good athletes, they’re the perfect profile, but when things get tough, those traits go away.”

The Broncos prioritize players like McMillian and McLaughlin. They, like everybody, need elite talent and they have it in Surtain, OLB Nik Bonitto, DT Zach Allen, RG Quinn Meinerz and others. But they’ve managed to collect high-end players who are “like-minded,” as Allen describes it, and then fill in the roster based on a willingness to sacrifice on talent or traits for players they believe fit their mental mold.

“Sean’s done a good job of finding players like that,” Joseph said. “Guys who love football. Guys who just earn their way. Our defense is full of them. Malcolm Roach has earned his way. Not a profile guy by any means. Undersized for a defensive lineman. But just tough, smart and the energy is so positive every day.”

The Grit Lab

Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote in his 1841 essay, “Self-Reliance,” that “an institution is the lengthened shadow of one man.”

If the Broncos’ football operation is an institution, Payton casts the shadow.

He is obsessive about winning. “Maniacal,” he’s said multiple times, about any detail he deems as being even remotely potentially impactful to that cause.

That does not mean everything he does is right, that he handles every situation with aplomb or that those tendencies can’t sometimes get in his own way.

What it does provide, though, is clarity.

Once a goal is set forth, it does not go back to the shelf. Once a standard is set, it cannot be lowered.

The wrench turns only one direction.

In 2023, Payton’s first year, he said he’d be “pissed” if the Broncos didn’t make the playoffs.

The next year, he stiff-armed any notion that carrying $53 million in dead salary cap from Russell Wilson’s contract and playing a rookie quarterback should dampen expectations for his team. He reminded everyone about those dead cap charges after Denver made the playoffs, but never used them to head off a potential step back because he never believed a step back would come.

“When you have like-minded people, excuses aren’t going to be an option,” Allen said. “That����ap why the past two years have been so good is because we’ve been able to bring in like-minded people. Guys really, genuinely enjoy spending time with each other and the more time you spend here, the better you’re going to be.”

Players can sharpen skills, get stronger or become more familiar with schematics, to be sure. But they can also learn to become grittier. More hurricane-proof.

Payton said as much Thursday, citing , a psychology professor at the University of Pennsylvania and the author of the 2016 book, “Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance.”

“Obviously, it����ap something that I think is learned to some degree,” Payton said. “It����ap not like, ‘Oh, I was just born with grit genes.’ It can be developed.”

It can be developed, Duckworth contends, not just in individuals but in organizations.

Duckworth, who teaches a course at Penn called “Grit Lab,” hasn’t worked with Payton previously but she’s been rooting for Denver in the playoffs because she is friends with — and has received research funding from — Broncos owner Carrie Walton-Penner.

In 2018, Duckworth co-authored an article and wrote that “restlessness with the status quo and an unrelenting drive to improve” are fundamental to organizations with grit and that, “clarity around high-level goals can be a competitive differentiator.”

Payton believes that in Year 3, his Broncos have all of that.

The next challenge

Ultimately, none of this may matter Sunday against the Patriots.

Nix’s loss is a big one, no matter how resolved the rest of the group is.

The gambling company Circa Sports earlier this week installed New England as a 5.5-point favorite and its risk manager, Jamey Pileggi, determined the Broncos would have opened as 1.5-point favorites had Nix not been injured.

That’s a 7-point swing. Ten of Denver’s wins this year have been by that margin or less. Six of the NFL’s 10 postseason games thus far have been, too.

The Patriots matched Denver’s 14 regular-season games and have dominated the Los Angeles Chargers and Houston so far in the playoffs.

Amazingly, only a Week 1 loss to Las Vegas, the worst team in football, produced the tiebreaker that put this game in Denver rather than Massachusetts.

Head coach Mike Vrabel’s team is balanced, explosive and led by quarterback Drake Maye, a 2024 NFL Draft classmate of Nix’s who authored an MVP-contending season.

They’re good. They’re favored. Most expect they’ll win.

What had become clear over the course of 12 one-score wins, though, is that the Broncos do not rattle easily.

What has crystallized in the hours and days after Nix’s injury is that they will not rattle even in the aftershock of one of the most surreal post-game emotion swings a group could endure.

Certainly, if the Broncos bow out, players and coaches will wonder what might have been. They will remember the year they had such a golden opportunity and when it changed just that fast, so close to the finish line.

Right now, though, Payton is betting he’s built a fortress impenetrable to such thoughts as long as there is still an opponent ahead.

“Anything that����ap like, ‘imagine if we had this,’ that never crosses anybody’s mind,” Allen said.

Payton showed up Monday morning for a team meeting, the first time the group had been together since Nix’s injury, and told them that Sunday would be determined not by how Stidham played, but by how everybody else did.

He projected confidence, just like he did Wednesday when he implored Broncos fans to be loud and said they’d have “plenty of time to rest after this one. Two weeks.”

From the first days of training camp this year, Payton talked about this team as one that could make a championship run. He didn’t guarantee it, but he said he wanted the group to be comfortable thinking and talking in those terms.

For as much as the earth moved beneath the Broncos’ feet in the hour after Saturday’s win, the reality at hand Sunday did not.

Two teams are left in the AFC. One of them is going to the Super Bowl.

Payton, seemingly, hasn’t even considered the possibility of the Broncos not being that team. His lengthened shadow envelops the locker room entirely.

“He just knows what he’s got,” Humphrey said. “He knows what kind of coach he is, he knows what type of players he has in this locker room and he doesn’t think it matters what the situation is.

“We can go out there and handle business.”

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Broncos-Bengals series: Denver is 22-12 against Cincinnati. The Bengals, though, pulled out a 30-24 overtime win in one of the most thrilling games on last year’s schedule after head coach Sean Payton opted to play for OT following a late Denver scoring drive rather than hunt for a game-winning two-point conversion.

In the spotlight: Pat Surtain II and the Broncos will face a J.B. under center. Not the one they’re used to.

In January 2022, the prelude to his year-long sabbatical before becoming a Bronco, head coach Sean Payton made clear to Peter King that he quite liked a certain Bengals quarterback nearly as much as Josh Allen or Patrick Mahomes.

“I love Joe Burrow,” Payton told King. “I just trust the other guys to run it better. But that����ap like, I like vanilla and pistachio, you like butter pecan. All good choices.”

If Burrow is butter pecan ice cream, then what’s Jake Browning? Plain yogurt?

The Broncos are well-acquainted with Burrow by now, and not in a good way. The Pro Bowl QB torched them in last year’s December overtime loss. But Burrow is sidelined for weeks after toe surgery, and the Broncos will see Browning in his stead on Monday night, a longtime backup who capably filled in for Burrow over seven starts in 2023.

Through two games, Browning’s been one of the worst quarterbacks in the NFL, with the second-worst QB rating (67.1) in the league among qualified quarterbacks. He made enough plays in relief of Burrow in Week 2 to crunch out a win over Jacksonville. He threw two picks in Week 3 as the Bengals got crushed 48-10 by Minnesota.

Still, take Cincinnati’s passing game for granted at your own risk. Last year’s December matchup tanked the Broncos fanbase’s perception of CB2 Riley Moss, after Bengals No. 2 wideout Tee Higgins went off for 11 catches, 131 yards and three touchdowns. And Ja’Marr Chase, the league’s No. 1 WR in perception and payday, just caught 14 balls for 165 yards against the Jaguars in Week 2.

The guy delivering the ball to Chase and Higgins, though, is substantially different and changes the Bengals’ high-powered attack. The two wideouts landed a combined $276 million in extension money this offseason, but they caught a combined six passes for 65 yards against the Vikings.

“We couldn’t find a great rhythm to be able to get those guys the ball enough,” Bengals head coach Zac Taylor said Monday.

The question, now, is how the Bengals try to get those guys in rhythm against the Broncos and reigning NFL Defensive Player of the Year Pat Surtain II. A dissection of Burrow and Browning’s attempts in 2025 reveals two slightly different approaches: Browning has thrown substantially more over the middle (37.3% of his attempts) than Burrow (19.4%), as the Bengals have taken fewer shots to the sideline with their backup quarterback.

Chase has played a decent percentage more in the slot across the past two games than he did in Week 1 with Burrow, too. The Bengals could line him up there more frequently against the Broncos to try to get him away from Surtain and get some easier underneath looks for Browning.

This will be another statement game for Moss, too. He’ll undoubtedly find himself lined up opposite Higgins often on Monday, and Cincinnati can’t afford to only send two targets for a second straight week to a receiver worth nearly $30 million a year.

Who has the edge?

When Broncos run: The Bengals run defense has been just fine this year, ranking near the middle of the pack in effectiveness through three games. Second-round pick Demetrius Knight is a promising inside linebacker. His LB mate Logan Wilson is a steady veteran. But Broncos RB J.K. Dobbins is rolling right now, tied for eighth in the NFL in yards per carry, and is currently the steadiest part of an unsteady Denver attack. Edge: Broncos

When Bengals run: Jake Browning for Joe Burrow is actually �ڲ�����from the Bengals’ biggest problem on offense right now. Through three games, starting RB Chase Brown has 47 carries for … 93 yards. As a team, Cincinnati’s currently dead last in the NFL at a revolting 2.4 yards per carry. The Broncos run defense has been gashed up the middle at times the last two weeks, but the Bengals haven’t shown an ability to challenge anyone on the ground. Edge: Broncos

When Broncos pass: Here’s where things get tricky. Bo Nix has been the worst starting quarterback in the NFL when under duress — at least, by the numbers — through three games this season. The Bengals, however, blitz less often than any other team in the league and largely rely on nickel-heavy schemes. Cincinnati hasn’t allowed a single deep completion (over 20 yards) to any team. The Bengals also give up the most yardage on intermediate throws (between 10-19 yards) in the league. Nix, on the flip side, currently has the worst rating in the league on intermediate throws among 31 qualified NFL quarterbacks. Fascinating! Edge: Even.

When Bengals pass: Jake Browning currently stands alone in leading the NFL in picks with five, and has thrown 47 fewer passes than any of the guys who’ve thrown four. Edge: Broncos

Special teams: Bengals punter Ryan Rehkow is leading the NFL in yards per punt through three games, but kicker Evan McPherson struggled at times last year, finishing 6 of 12 on kicks longer than 40 yards. The Bengals also haven’t shown much in the return game. Edge: Broncos

��Dz����󾱲Բ�:��Denver committed 10 penalties against the Chargers last week, several of which were back-breaking or momentum-shifting. You’re not in a great place with discipline if you’re drawing flags for offensive offsides and neutral-zone infractions on punt defense. But the Bengals have a horrid ground game and couldn’t feed the ball consistently to their two best playmakers against the Vikings, and got walloped for it. Sean Payton’s game-calling was decidedly above-average last week, too. Edge: Broncos

Tale of the tape

By the numbers

22%: Percentage of red-zone snaps against the Bengals’ defense that have gone for a touchdown in 2025.

1: Fourth-quarter carries Broncos running back J.K. Dobbins got in last week’s loss to the Chargers.

6.1%:��Percentage of snaps the Bengals stack the box (eight or more defenders), second-lowest in the NFL.

6.7:��Yards per catch for Marvin Mims Jr. this year, down from last year’s mark of 12.9.

50%:��Bengals WR Tee Higgins’ catch rate, down from 67% in 2024.

21: Quarterback pressures by Broncos OLB Nik Bonitto, the highest in the NFL through three games.

X-factors

Broncos: WR Marvin Mims Jr. Where has Mims’ long-awaited breakout been in Year 3? The multidimensional receiver has caught just six passes through three games and has taken just a handful of snaps in the backfield, after emerging as a hybrid weapon in Sean Payton’s offense last year. Denver could use another passing-game threat to take the pressure off Bo Nix, and Mims’ coming-out party last year came against the Bengals: eight catches for 103 yards and two touchdowns in December.

Bengals: S Jordan Battle. After the Chargers’ Derwin James Jr. was named the AFC Defensive Player of the Week for his work against the Broncos, Denver faces another highly productive and versatile safety in Battle. The Alabama product has two picks and leads the Bengals with 23 tackles entering Monday night’s matchup. This Cincinnati defense has been mediocre overall, but Battle offers legit playmaking potential from the secondary.

Post predictions

Parker Gabriel, Broncos beat writer: Broncos 28, Bengals 13.

Wins and losses are all that matter in the NFL. But early in the season, that measuring stick can be a noisy one. Cincinnati is 2-1, but is also quite bad by almost every metric. The Broncos are 1-2, and while their warts are obvious, they’re also in many ways a pretty good team. If Joe Burrow were playing, this could have shaped up to be a barnburner a la December along the Ohio River. Instead, this lines up well for Sean Payton’s team to get in rhythm offensively and take the ball away defensively.

Luca Evans, Broncos beat writer: Broncos 31, Bengals 10.

This Cincinnati team is ��������right now — just look at the tale of the tape above. They can’t run well. They can’t pass well. They don’t rush the passer well, or much at all. In a primetime game at home, this is the perfect environment for Sean Payton’s group to round into form and for quarterback Bo Nix to quiet an increasingly loud group of doubters. Expecting a blowout.

Troy Renck, columnist: Broncos 30, Bengals 18.

The Broncos offense doesn’t do anything particularly well. And the Bengals are just unwell. The health of Joe Burrow has again jeopardized a season because the Bengals refuse to invest in a line to protect him. So, the Broncos get a get-right game. Their frothing defense is ready to show it can finish against Jake Browning. Only Akili Smith would have been a better matchup. This sets up as a night for the Broncos to figure out who they are offensively — feed J.K. Dobbins — while sacking Browning repeatedly.

Sean Keeler, columnist: Broncos 27, Bengals 17.

The Burrow Bowl is now The Burro Bowl, as both QB1s in this game have played like donkeys as of late. (So much for Monday Night Football marketing.) At least Cincy’s bringing old pals Dalton Risner, Noah Fant and Samaje Perine back to town, so that’s fun. Watching this secondary try to cover Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins won’t be. Fortunately, the Bengals rank sixth among NFL offenses in sack rate allowed, which means a lovely night of watching Nik Bonitto turning Empower Field into Casa Bonitto again.

While I think it would be a cool story to draft Bo Nix‘s adopted brother , do you think that it would be a beneficial move for the Broncos? He seems to be a much smaller version of Marvin Mims Jr., and I think Troy Franklin is due for a lot more targets next year. I just don’t know how much he would add to the offense.

— Owen, Fort Collins

Hey Owen, thanks for writing and for getting us going this week. The Broncos drafting Tez Johnson would be, unequivocally, a really cool story. The Nix family considers him one of their own. They call him their adopted son and brother. He and Nix are inseparable. Nix was up there last month for Oregon’s pro day to watch Johnson and several other former teammates.

Johnson’s a fun watch, too. He’s electric in the open field. But… yeah, he’s really small. He checked into the combine at 5-foot-10 and 154 pounds. And he ran 4.51 seconds in the 40-yard dash. Mims, by comparison, was 5-11 but 183 pounds — 29 pounds heavier! — and ran 4.38 in the 40. Interestingly, Johnson’s 10-yard split was quicker than Mims’ despite the slower overall time. Franklin was 6-2 and 176 and ran 4.41 in the 40.

We know Payton prefers big wide receivers as a baseline. He likes to say that it����ap not that he dislikes small receivers, just that small receivers have to walk on water. A receiver Johnson’s size would have to be really, truly special to be an impact player in the NFL. Someone will give him a shot. It would make for quite a story if that someone was the Broncos.

We’re talking about needing additional tight ends or running backs or wide receivers. Do we have a strong enough backup QB in case Bo Nix goes down?

— Tilman Adair, Denver

Hey Tilman, thanks for writing in. The Broncos really like what Jarrett Stidham brings to the table. That����ap why they signed him for another two years after he played through his previous two-year deal. Would the Broncos be in trouble if Nix missed a big swath of the season? Most likely — though the defense believes it can carry the team regardless of situation. But that����ap not unique in the NFL.

In the interim since you submitted this question, the Broncos have also agreed to sign Sam Ehlinger to a one-year deal. Payton’s talked about wanting to constantly be in the quarterback development business, both with his starter and with the reserves. Ehlinger will get a chance to work with Payton, quarterbacks coach Davis Webb and a room that got along really well last year. The way the rules work now with being able to have the emergency third quarterback not count against your gameday active list, there’s more incentive to keep three quarterbacks on your 53-man roster.

If the Broncos coaches watched ASU nearly pull off an upset of Texas in their bowl game due to ‘s terrific play (he single-handedly nearly won the game) when he wasn’t vomiting on the sidelines they would see the tailback that they seek, don’t you think?

— Gary Mason, Aztec, N.M.

Hey Gary, I wrote in last week’s mailbag about how Skattebo checks a lot of boxes the Broncos look for at running back. This week at the owners meetings in Florida, we heard Payton and Paton draw a clear delineation between first- and second-down backs and guys that can play all three downs. Skattebo’s got the receiving ability to play on third down and he’s also got the kind of toughness and demeanor coaches love.

The flip side, if you want to call it that, is he reportedly ran in the mid-4.6s for the 40-yard dash at his pro day. Probably not a big surprise, but that kind of number might keep him from being a true premium prospect. It might even give some teams pause about whether he can really carry a week-in, week-out load and create enough big plays for an NFL team. But the tape is the tape. He’s hard to tackle, he plays with an edge and he’s got real versatility.

I’d love to see the Broncos be aggressive and draft all offense to start off with in this year’s draft, North Carolina’s , Ohio State’s and LSU’s getting the call, heck, throw in Utah State’s or the Sun Devils’ Cam Skattebo!

What are the chances Denver adopts such an idea? This year’s draft is so deep you’d think they’d trade back once or twice to acquire a few more picks to round out the roster. I’d be happy with Ollie Gordon II or Devin Neal, too! It’s crazy how many great backs there are this year. Despite that, picking up JK Dobbins on a one-year prove-it deal makes sense.

We all know they need a new center. What about moving over Quinn Meinerz to center and bringing back Dalton Risner? If not that, maybe draft Tate Ratledge or Jared Wilson out of Georgia to solidify that O-line. I think our defense is set, but we need more depth on the line (Omarr Norman-Lott or Deone Walker?).

I’d love to see at least a couple of fresh new faces at linebacker (Jack Kaiser) or Kobe King? Sebastian Castro or Caleb Ransaw in the late rounds addressing the safety position would be ideal!

— Dennis Moore, Fruita

Dennis has been grinding the tape and is so, so ready for the draft. Love the excitement. It is indeed a fun time of year. Don’t even know where to start with this.

It does seem like there’s the potential for the Broncos to make a run on offensive players in the draft. That����ap because of the depth at tight end and running back in the draft class plus the interesting set of mid-round receivers and offensive linemen but also because of the attention the Broncos gave the middle of their defense in free agency. We’ll see if Henderson’s there at No. 51 and Taylor at No. 85. I’d be a bit surprised if both of those happened.

Speeding through the rest: No on Risner returning or Meinerz moving to center. The Broncos have Luke Wattenberg and Alex Forsyth in the middle and if they’re going to do anything, they’ll probably try to get some young talent in the pipeline. That����ap good planning in case this is Wattenberg’s final year in Denver or they decide to move on from Ben Powers after 2025.

Agree with you about mining linebacker and safety, too, though we’ll see if the Broncos think they’re getting good value there. Maybe the running back class is so good that they take one on Day 2 and another flavor on Day 3. Not impossible they find a veteran running back still, but Payton made it pretty clear this week that wasn’t a priority, calling the free agent crop “pretty lean” from a talent perspective.

Hey Parker! With the draft right around the corner, it’s an exciting time to see what the pundits are predicting the Broncos do with the 20th pick. I know that the RB class is quite deep in this year’s draft but I’m personally hoping the Broncos don’t mess around and just take North Carolina back Omarion Hampton with the 20th pick as opposed to taking a back in the later rounds. What’s your take on what the Broncos might do at this point in the game?

— Rick Tout, Wilmington, N.C.

Hey Rick, thanks for the note. Very interesting this week in Florida to hear Paton, quite specifically, say he thinks there are running backs to be found in this draft from the second through the sixth rounds. Conspicuously absent: The first round. Now, the draft is only a few weeks away and that means it����ap smokescreenin’, subterfugin’, lyin’ season for every team in the league. Maybe the Broncos are trying to coax Hampton down to No. 20. Maybe they like Ohio State’s TreyVeon Henderson, who has some late first-round buzz, enough to take him there or enough to trade back a few spots and hope he’s there in the mid-20s. .

What����ap interesting is there are three spots I keep coming back to as it pertains to the first round: Running back, tight end and defensive line. But those three positions also have depth, so they could address any of them on Day 2 as well. I still think if the right tight end or defensive lineman is there at No. 20, that would be difficult to pass up.

Now watch them take a corner or an edge or something.

If you’re the Broncos, you’re hoping Ole Miss quarterback Jaxon Dart goes in the top 19 picks in addition to Cam Ward and Shedeur Sanders and, probably, that several offensive linemen and corners get picked. Push the talent at other spots toward No. 20.

In your opinion, which AFC West team has done the best job so far in signing free agents, extending its own players and overall roster management? And if not the best, where do the Broncos rank?

— Ed Helinski, Auburn, N.Y.

Hey Ed, thanks as always for the question. It����ap a good one. It strikes me that Denver and Vegas have probably been the most active overall. Kansas City’s had to rework its offensive line and has set about doing that. The Chargers had some tough decisions to make but are still in good shape.

Denver on paper has done a really nice job of addressing needs in free agency and retaining D.J. Jones. They lost a couple guys they wanted to keep and were in the mix for a handful of free agents who went elsewhere like tight end Juwan Johnson, but that����ap part of life this time of year.

All that said, I do think the Raiders have done a good job this offseason and not just on the roster front. Hiring Pete Carroll brings instant credibility and then pairing him with GM John Spytek and having the Tom Brady influence, too, makes for an interesting front office. Then trading for Geno Smith and getting Maxx Crosby to commit to a big extension are both solid moves.

At the beginning of the offseason, it felt like they were teetering. But the waters are calmer now, they’ve got their quarterback and a cornerstone defensive player and a Super Bowl champion coach. Oh, and Brock Bowers. They’ve got a ways to go, but the bet here is they won’t be a pushover with Carroll at the helm.

The Broncos offense had so many issues for so long — like seven years — it feels weird to say this out loud: They only have two problems. They need a dynamic running back and a pass-catching tight end. Even coach Sean Payton admits it.

The order doesn’t matter. They require better. And these two positions are musts if the Broncos want to unseat the Kansas City Chiefs.

This brings us back to Loveland. He is the most realistic tight end target with the 20th pick. Penn State’s Tyler Warren will be a Saint or a Colt. And the Broncos are not moving up — and shouldn’t.

So if Loveland is not the pick, then what? There is one name that will stick to the Broncos like lint on washed clothes: Oregon’s Terrance Ferguson.

The Broncos desperately need a playmaker. Which is why they should leave the second round without one. You heard me.

Stay wise, remain prudent. It carries risk, but will be well worth it beyond the Local Kid Makes Good headline.

The plan is not scared. Please. It is nuanced. Sign Saints free agent Juwan Johnson next week for three years and  $30 million — guarantee $18 million over first two seasons — and then take North Carolina running back Omarion Hampton with the 20th pick and Ferguson with the 85th selection in the third round.

It seems boring. But it is actually bold. A Bo-nanza. And it marries need with value.

As he first did as a four-star recruit out of Heritage High School in Littleton, Ferguson opened eyes at the NFL combine. At 6-foot-5, 247 pounds, he clocked a position-best 4.63 seconds in the 40-yard dash with a 39-inch vertical. He was a tornadic frenzy of athleticism.

Or as NFL and college football analyst Ryan Harris put it, “He is a dude.”

Ferguson made a lot of money, cementing himself as a second-day pick. Second day. Just not second round. With Harold Fannin Jr., Elijah Arroyo and Mason Taylor available, Ferguson will be there in the third.

And then there’s this. He knows Bo Nix. Well.

In two overlapping seasons at Oregon, Ferguson caught 11 touchdowns from Nix. They formed a bond. They remain close. So much so that when Ferguson is back in his home state of Colorado he hangs out with his former quarterback.

“Whenever I get a chance, I go and see him… have lunch or something. Bo and I talk a lot,” Ferguson said. “It’d be really cool (to reunite with him). Bo’s one of my best friends, and I still keep up with him today. To be able to be with a guy that you played with before and a great guy like that, it’d be amazing.”

Terrance knows Bo. But even Bo knows this is not a reason to draft him. Recent history suggests caution. Remember when Missouri’s Drew Lock and Albert Okwuegbunam were going to be a thing? Lock struggled to stay in the lineup and the next big block Albert O throws will be a Lego.

Nix and former Oregon star Troy Franklin didn’t exactly click last season, either. It took until the playoff game for them to connect on a deep ball, something not lost on the coaching staff.

But Ferguson, whose football journey is defined by faith, family and friendships, makes sense.

“He’s a legit prospect. The Oregon staff raved about him,” said Big Ten Network analyst and former Broncos tight end Jake Butt. “They blew half of the teams out on their schedule and had other playmakers. If he was on a different team he would have had a lot more targets.”

Ferguson is a strong route runner, has the instincts to find the soft underbelly of a zone defense and wins 50-50 balls (Nix needs someone else to do this besides Courtland Sutton).

“Travis Kelce is a big one for me (to model game after) because I feel like I have a similar wiggle at the top of my routes that he does,” Ferguson said.

He could have a similar wiggle to Jason Kelce and it would improve the Broncos’ tight end room.

Ferguson has coveted physical traits. But his film shows he was not physical enough. He need not be a road grader, but becoming a serviceable blocker is necessary to stay on the field.

“I think I’m still a good blocker at the point of attack, but there is still a lot of untapped potential,” Ferguson said. “I’ve been working on that over the years so that’s something that jumps out to me (that must be improved).”

Self-awareness is necessary to play for Payton. He is not big on repeated mistakes, questionable effort, excuses or injuries. Ferguson is reliable, only missing games last season because of an emergency appendectomy.

This isn’t some Hallmark Channel script. The Broncos are intrigued. They met formally with Ferguson for 20 minutes in Indianapolis.

“Growing up in Denver, everyone is a Broncos fan. I watched the Broncos and being able to be in the room with those guys and the head coach, Coach Sean Payton… (was special),” said Ferguson, who did not attend many Broncos games because they were too expensive. “I also grew up with Saints fans so it was kind of a surreal moment for me. Just a true blessing.”

The Broncos have a franchise quarterback they are motivated to help. Despite the whining of critics, we have not seen the best of Nix. Until he gets better weapons around him, his evaluation remains incomplete.

The Broncos like Ferguson. He can help. And if they really want him, they should follow the plan and wait to take him.

You can draw a line from that Christmas Day game to Sunday. Win, and the Broncos are in the playoffs. Penner rescued the Broncos by hiring Sean Payton. He established a culture and created accountability, but as Denver sits on the doorstep of its first postseason appearance since 2015, questions persist about Payton’s mindset.

The Broncos reached this position because they set a single-season sack record, boast the favorite for Defensive Player of the Year in Patrick Surtain II and have a quarterback in Bo Nix who has been at his best when it matters most.

But what about their coach? He deserves credit for getting the Broncos here, but are we sure that he is a walking mismatch on the sidelines anymore?

He was when the season began. He convinced a team of kids and castoffs that they could defy expectations, becoming the singular voice in their heads.

He is the unquestioned compass. But is it fair to ask for better? Heck yeah.

Payton has raised questions with his waffling down the stretch. Against the Chargers, he remained unnecessarily aggressive before halftime after a 3-yard loss on a completion to Javonte Williams. The Chargers did not call time out, and the Broncos — let����ap be real — were not driving 50 yards in 17 seconds to set up a field goal with a horizontal passing attack. But they pushed forward, prompting the Chargers to stop the clock and, after a bad penalty by Tremon Smith, cash in three points on the first converted free kick since 1976.

The explanation from Payton was simple: You always look to score. Stay aggressive. Grrrrr.

So what happened last Saturday? A clenched fist was the choice against the Chargers, but courage vanished against the Bengals. Payton elected not to go for the two-point conversion to win the game in regulation.

Analytics offered equal support for either choice, but Payton’s decision was remarkable because of who he is. He admitted this week he second-guessed it. A tie would have clinched a playoff berth, and he indicated that figured into his choice. That would have made sense on most Sundays, but the idea that the Broncos could play even with Cincinnati’s Joe Burrow for 10 minutes seemed incredibly optimistic, if not delusional.

The Broncos should have won with a first down on their last possession, but the fallout from the game is that Payton was not comfortable following his gut.

He needs to figure out who he is and settle back in. The Broncos are not good enough to win without him providing an edge on the headsets. He did that multiple times at Cincinnati with well-designed passing concepts and, at one point, talking an official into calling an illegal shift.

The Broncos need that guy. They cannot have him run hot and cold. There is no easing his burden. He signed up for this hazmat project, cleaning up the nuclear mess left by Hackett.

But recent results have raised eyebrows. Payton is too good, too experienced to have his acumen be the first thing questioned after losses.

In fairness, he is in a tough spot, one unique in his career. He has never coached a rookie quarterback or had an offense with so little room for error. It has left him too dependent on Nix, with Payton falling into the trap of believing the kid is Drew Brees. With Brees, there was only one speed. Hurry, hurry, hurry.

That mindset does not mesh with the Broncos’ current personnel. Laugh at the Pro Bowl selections if you wish — Zach Allen’s snub was a travesty — but it revealed a sobering truth: The Broncos did not have a single offensive skill player make fifth alternate in the voting by fans, coaches and players.

They lack playmakers at tight end and running back, and they need a No. 1 receiver — Is it too soon for me to bring up Tee Higgins again as I did in October? — to pair with Courtland Sutton.

It has left Payton conflicted. He has plays he knows will work, but he doesn’t have the players to execute them. And in the absence of a trustworthy run game — he has not had a single 100-yard rusher since he took over in Denver — he leans too heavily on Nix.

Per Next Gen Stats, Nix ranks seventh in dropbacks this season with 610, second most among rookies to Chicago’s Caleb Williams. Out of 17 quarterbacks with 500-plus dropbacks, only Williams, C.J. Stroud and Aaron Rodgers have lower expected points added (an advanced statistic to measure how well a team performs on a play-to-play basis) than Nix.

Payton knows Nix can handle responsibility. But if you look at those around him, it is not a fair ask.

When Payton is in his bag, the Broncos look like a playoff team, crushing the entire NFC South and rallying past the Browns and Colts.

When he’s not? The Broncos are incapable of beating a good team.

Payton was brought in to give the Broncos a fresh start. He has succeeded. Now, he needs to recalibrate. These are not the Saints. There is not one simple solution: be aggressive or be passive.

The answer with this team lies in the in-between, and luckily for Payton, he has another chance to show he understands this by delivering his most significant victory Sunday.

That meant many changes to the roster, but two constants emerged over his first and second offseasons: Invest in the offensive line and don’t be afraid to get rid of the franchise’s old guard or big names.

The Broncos went big in free agency in 2023, landing Mike McGlinchey and Ben Powers right away. They went deep on cuts to those who had been around longest or made the most, from kicker Brandon McManus to guard Dalton Risner and eventually safety Justin Simmons, quarterback Russell Wilson and receiver Jerry Jeudy.

For most of that time, they left Garett Bolles in limbo.

The veteran left tackle and 2017 first-round draft pick played a premium position and did it well. But he also watched as many teammates were unceremoniously let go. He watched as some others earned contract extensions as Payton and general manager George Paton zeroed in on how — and with whom — they wanted to set the franchise’s foundation.

Bolles appeared to be caught between the early cuts and the must-keeps.

He came within four regular-season games and a potential playoff run of free agency for the first time in his career.

But ultimately, he earned the tag he’d worked to convince Payton he was worthy of: Foundational player.

The Broncos made that official when they signed the 32-year-old Bolles to a four-year contract extension Thursday worth $82 million that comes with $42 million guaranteed and ties him to Denver through the 2028 season.

“I had to prove myself,” Bolles said Thursday. “It was a new coaching staff and I knew Coach Payton and he has a certain way about players and certain offensive schemes and I had to adjust some things over the years.

“It always takes a little bit for people to love me and to fall in love with me, but I just have to trust that process and the good Lord always had a plan for me and it was for me to be here in Denver.”

For most of Bolles’ tenure, it looked like this might not happen at all. Denver could have extended him in the spring or even added void years to soften his $20 million salary cap hit, but instead left him to play out the final year before free agency.

Talks finally ramped up after the Broncos’ Week 13 Monday night win against Cleveland, and perhaps fittingly so. Bolles controlled All-Pro edge rusher Myles Garrett for the second straight season.

“My agent was keeping me in the loop here and there but I knew I had to play good football to get it,” Bolles said.

He’s done that. And in the process, he’s put himself in position for something even rarer than working from the periphery into the core of Payton’s vision for the future of this team. He’s set himself up to potentially be a Bronco for life.

“I didn’t want to go anywhere else,” Bolles said. “I could have. I could have hit free agency and earned more money or whatever it is. I never cared about money. I care about a legacy. I think legacy speaks volumes about the type of man. I wanted to create a legacy here.”

As the team finished practice Thursday, the group circled up as usual and Bolles’ extension was announced. The news drew roars.

In the locker room afterward, teammates spoke glowingly about his dedication and his level of play.

“I’m so happy for GB and his family,” right tackle Mike McGlinchey said. “It����ap so well deserved and obviously he’s having an unbelievable year. You’ve seen his growth under this staff and under this new group here and the steps he’s taken to become the player he is have been awesome. And he got rewarded for it.”

Now the entire Broncos offensive line is under contract through the 2025 season and all but center Luke Wattenberg are through at least 2026. That doesn’t mean the group will necessarily remain intact the entire time, but it sets Denver up to have continuity on its front line.

“I haven’t had consistency here,” Bolles said Thursday. “It����ap new coach, new offensive line coach, new left guard, new quarterback. It����ap just gone on and on and on. You can’t win games doing that and I think Coach Payton understands that. He’s been around this league a long time and it starts with the offensive line.

“The more consistency you have up front, the better you play.”

Denver’s got that now. The unit is playing at a high level. Bolles is seventh and McGlinchey 11th among tackles in  while center Luke Wattenberg (No. 2) and guards Quinn Meinerz (No. 7) and Ben Powers (No. 11) are all among the top 11 in the metric among interior offensive linemen.

As a group, they regularly top analytic models regarding pass blocking and in ESPN’s team win rates they check in No. 1 against the pass-rush and No. 5 in run blocking.

This is what Payton set out to build when he arrived. A team built from the inside out. He just didn’t know early on whether Bolles was part of the long-term solution.

The Broncos left tackle, like he’s done many times in his life and in his NFL career, worked until he had convinced anybody who needed convincing.

“I continue to prove myself. I’ve never been the guy — my whole life I’ve always had to prove people wrong,” Bolles said. “I think that����ap my attitude and I think that����ap what makes me successful is I have that extra edge to want to be great and work hard.”

“I wanted to win the game. But I’m not gonna be a sore loser and be like, ‘Man, I hate that they’re gonna win,'” Risner, pride of Wiggins and the former Broncos guard, told me after his boyhood team rallied for a 21-20 win over his new one, the Minnesota Vikings. “No, no.

“Good for them, bro.”

Revenge game? Nah. Like Von Miller, Risner keeps referring to the Broncos in the present tense, even if that “present” was ages ago. Old habits. First loves.

“Dude,” and ex-Kansas State star continued, “I told all my teammates after the game, ‘Good for you guys. Keep doing your thing.’

“We didn’t win a lot when I was here. And I hope and I wish them the best. We’re not gonna see them the rest of the year unless it’s in the Super Bowl. So best of luck to them, man. Keep doing their thing and hope my boys stay healthy.”

Revenge game? The 28-year-old Risner went off-script and introduced himself as hailing from “THE Wiggins High School” on NBC’s “Sunday Night Football” telecast.

You can take a dude outta Morgan County. You’ll never take the Morgan County outta the dude.

“I heard a ton of people trying to get my attention, saying, ‘Risner!'” the ex-Bronco recalled after Denver snapped the Vikes’ five-game win streak on another slice of Courtland Sutton sorcery. “But I was like, ‘Man, I need to focus on the game.’ Who knows whether we’re gonna turn around and get the middle finger or turn around (and it’s) someone saying, ‘Hi.'”

Because it ended kinda funny, didn’t it? Risner, a second-round draft pick in 2019, made 62 starts for the Orange and Blue from 2019-22. But the big guy last autumn navigated a star-crossed season at the worst of times — the very end of his four-year rookie contract. Risner tried to power through ankle, back and shoulder problems for much of the ’22 campaign, only to be shelved for the season after straining the UCL in his left elbow against the Chiefs in Week 17.

The Pro Football Focus wonks weren’t kind, either. PFF graded the Wiggins native with a 53.4 run-block rating and a 61.1 overall mark for last season’s efforts, both career lows. Throw in the scuttlebutt with ex-Broncos backup QB Brett Rypien 11 months ago during the Christmas Day Massacre, and all sides probably needed a clean break and a fresh start.

“Playing here for four years, you know it’s (about) business,” Risner continued. “And I knew it was a business trip coming down here.

“On these trips, you either get caught up in tickets and who you’re gonna see, and all that bull (crud), or you just focus on the game. I just want to focus on the game.”

Risner eventually signed a 1-year, $4-millon contract with the Vikings this past Sept. 18, effectively jumping onto a moving train for the chance to work with and Risner’s old assistant OL coach in Dove Valley.

Vikings brass felt good enough about Risner’s ability to get up to speed that they eventually traded the guy ahead of him on the depth chart, Ezra Cleveland, to Jacksonville last month. Over his first 374 snaps with Minnesota, PFF graded the Wiggins native out at a 54.5 overall and a 65.1 on pass blocks.

“We (were) just chopping it up a little bit (after the game), seeing how he’s doing, how his family’s doing,” Broncos center Lloyd Cushenberry said of his old linemate. “It was short, because he had a lot of guys trying to talk to him … he invited me to his wedding. He’s a great guy. I loved playing with him. And I’m happy that everything worked out for him.”

No. 66 in purple, no shock, is fast becoming a cult hero in the Twin Cities. For one thing, if you stick one of those horned helmets on him, Risner looks like he’d have been the perfect pillaging wingman for Viktor the Viking during the Middle Ages. Mr. Wiggins has gushed about the Great White North at every turn and spent off days with the Salvation Army serving meals to locals.

Meanwhile, he’s chasing down the NFC like a man possessed. At Lambeau Field back on Oct. 29, the 6-foot-5, 312-pound Risner hurdled Green Bay’s Rudy Ford to help pick up a fallen teammate at the end of one play. On another, he slid to try to recover a loose ball near the end zone,

And yet those were mere aperitifs compared to what Big 66 pulled off against New Orleans earlier this month. In a sequence that looked like a cartoon fusion of , Risner extended a T.J. Hockenson reception by bull-charging his teammate, . He then punctuated the push by leaning back and firing a wild, martial-arts style kick at no one in particular.

That’s some karate, kid. You learn that move in Wiggins?

“I (had) no idea what (Sunday was) going to be like,” Risner said. “But they welcomed me with open arms, man. This is the NFL. Denver Broncos fans are Denver Broncos fans, so they’re not going to cheer on a Viking.

“But I’m sure they’ve got love for me, deep down. Which is cool.”

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The second-year man has turned the nickel spot from a weakness into a strength for the Broncos and he made a splash again on Minnesota’s first drive of the night Sunday.

McMillian plucked a loose ball out of the air after safety Kareem Jackson forced a fumble on a Josh Dobbs run on the Vikings’ third play of the night.

It’s the second straight game in which McMillian’s recovered a fumble on the opponents’ first series. He stripped Buffalo running back James Cook on the first play last Monday and recovered it himself.

The handy work Sunday night made him the first Denver player since Von Miller in 2015 to recover fumbles in back-to-back games. That’s to go along with an interception and five tackles for loss in the past five games.

Skinner up. Denver rookie safety JL Skinner made the gameday roster for the first time in his career Sunday night against the Vikings.

Skinner, a sixth-round pick out of Boise State, had been a gameday inactive the entire season but was in uniform against Minnesota with safety P.J. Locke (ankle) out.

Skinner and second-year man Delarrin Turner-Yell represented the depth options for Denver behind starters Justin Simmons and Kareem Jackson. Turner-Yell had been the next man up earlier in the season and started two games when Denver had injury issues, but has struggled mightily during his defensive snaps.

Turner-Yell, though, has been a quality special teams player so far this season.

Perhaps the surprise of Denver’s game day inactives was outside linebacker Ronnie Perkins, who had carved out a role as the Broncos’ fourth edge player. He was joined on the inactive list by inside linebacker Ben Niemann, defensive lineman Elijah Garcia and rookies C Alex Forsyth and OLB Thomas Incoom.

Rookie gets shot. First-year cornerback Riley Moss took over as the dime defensive back for the first time this season, taking the spot of cornerback Damarri Mathis, who’d already fell out of the starting lineup.

The Broncos traded up to select Moss in the third round of last spring’s draft, and this signified his first significant action on defense.

���ܲԾ��Dz�.��Sunday night’s game represented a reunion on several fronts. Former Broncos guard and Wiggins native Dalton Risner returned to Empower Field as Minnesota’s starting left guard. He’s coached by another former Bronco, offensive line coach Chris Kuper. Denver, meanwhile, has several front office members who used to work for the Vikings, including general manager George Paton and special advisor to the general manager Kelly Kleine Van Calligan.

Salute to service. As part of the Broncos’ “Salute to Service” weekend, each Denver offensive starter announced before the game ran out of the tunnel with a member of the armed services and an American flag. Right guard Quinn Meinerz stopped partway out and delivered a Mile High Salute.

Busy weekend. A trio of the Broncos ownership group took in the Formula 1 race in Las Vegas late Saturday night as the sport returned to the Sin City.

Limited shareholder Lewis Hamilton, of course, is a seven-time world champion and finished seventh in the race.

CEO Greg Penner and owner Carrie Walton-Penner were also at the race supporting Hamilton.

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Full disclosure: The new gang of idiots up in the Grading The Week offices are Risner fans. More fans of the person than fans of the former Broncos guard as a lineman, but still.

So it kinda threw the idiots for a loop when Risner, pride of Wiggins and a lifetime fan of the Orange & Blue, said this to Minneapolis reporter Darren Wolfson after making his Vikings debut a few weeks back:

“For four years I’ve been a part of a team (where) we didn’t have success. There’s just something different about this place. It starts with the top-down and (coach Kevin) O’Connell, and the way this team is ran, and the locker room, and how we block out the noise, and how we go to work at practice. This team knows how to celebrate too, man. There’s just so many things that are different about here…”

The Purple People Eaters are 4-4. The Broncos are 3-5. How much more different could it be?

Risner finding a new home — B-.

The Vikings visit Empower Field on Nov. 19 to take on the Broncos in one of those games that could swing playoff hopes for either franchise one way or another.

The GTW crew left Risner with no ill will, but we’re starting to think that feeling ain’t mutual. Especially after the former K-State standout and Broncos second-round draftee in 2019 told Twin Cities media that last fall was “the hardest year of my life.”

Keep in mind, this is a man who spent much of 2023 without an NFL contract, as the Broncos let him walk as an unrestricted free agent over the winter. Minnesota stepped in last month to offer him a one-year deal worth $2.25 million guaranteed.

And you know what? Even if though he got publicly chippy with ex-Broncos backup QB Brett Rypien last year as 2022 went off the rails, we’re still kinda happy for the big lug. While Pro Football Focus hasn’t been blown away — his 55.4 overall grade after 152 snaps ranks 54th out of 80 NFL guards — by his early returns in the Great White North, Minny clearly felt decent enough about Risner to ship guard Ezra Cleveland to Jacksonville for a sixth-round pick.

Nuggets’ City Connect uniforms — F.

Hey, the kids who moved into the GTW offices a few months ago like wacky NBA uniforms — and the wackier the better. They might be in the minority among Denverites, but they actually dug those dark red-and-red Nuggets jerseys from a few years back, even though they looked a lot like Hot Tamales candy boxes. Actually, pretty much because they looked exactly like Hot Tamales candy boxes.

But this new City Edition look? The blue on black? No thanks, Nike.

For example, would it be too much to ask to add — oh, we don’t know — a single letter on the jersey itself, sponsor patch aside? It doesn’t necessarily have to say “Nuggets” or “Denver” or “Mile High.” But “5280”? Yeah, we know. Altitude. Thin air. Very distinct.

Love the intent. Too bad it reads like it’s somebody’s iPhone pass code. Or the last four digits of Josh Kroenke’s social security number.

What is the meaning of life? No football this past weekend! I’m going through withdrawal. What do I do, PG?

— A Referee, Greeley

Ref, luckily most of the desert is behind us, and ahead is a cool, glimmering football oasis. Didn’t you watch some college ball at least? Get your fix with some Big Ten slugfests or Colorado knocking off TCU? This week is obviously a huge one in the NFL — we’re off and running Thursday night with Detroit at Kansas City — and here on the Front Range we’ve got quite a weekend double with CU-Nebraska on Saturday in Boulder and Broncos-Raiders on Sunday at Empower Field. Get the living room or tailgate setup primed early. It����ap going to be a fun one. And you know The Denver Post will be out in force at both games, so plenty of coverage coming your way right here.

Being a retired U.S. Marine from Denver, living in San Diego, I see that running back Jaleel McLaughlin is wearing Mike Anderson’s number (38). Would LOVE to see him bring the “Mile High Salute” back when he scores TDs!

— Ron, San Diego

Hey Ron, thanks for writing in! McLaughlin’s been quite a story, hasn’t he? I was intrigued by him when he signed as an undrafted free agent because everybody spoke highly of him and because he ran for 8,000-plus yards in college, but he’s pretty clearly exceeded even the most optimistic expectations so far. Now, let����ap see what he can do with the next step. It’ll be the biggest test yet.

As for his number, he had an interesting story about it this week in the locker room. McLaughlin told reporters that he didn’t pick it but thought about it later and realized he’d worn No. 10 in high school, No. 20 at Division II Notre Dame College and No. 8 when he transferred to Youngstown State. You can have my level of math proficiency and figure that one out. Pretty cool.

He’s already a heck of a story. If he scores touchdowns regularly enough to follow Terrell Davis’ salute or create something of his own, Broncos fans are going to be fully in love very quickly.

Parker, what can we expect from the receiving corps from what you’ve seen? Does Courtland Sutton look like he’s bounced back to the form he had before his injury? And what should we expect from Brandon Johnson and Marvin Mims Jr. this year?

— Mike, Denver

Mike, great question. Matter of fact, I wrote about just that in The Post this week.

Sutton was open and honest earlier in camp about the changes he made to his offseason routine in search of better results. He hasn’t shown the same kind of speed and explosiveness since the torn ACL cost him nearly all of the 2020 season. While he’s had a terrific training camp — if you were ranking every player on the Broncos roster relative to individual situation, I think you’d put him near the top — I’m not sure the top-end speed is ever coming back.

The good news is he doesn’t need it to be a force. He’s in great shape, feels comfortable and confident and is playing big. That����ap what the Broncos really need from him. Go get the ball, give Russell Wilson a big target area to work with. Use that unique size to his advantage. If Sutton can do that, Sean Payton’s going to find a lot of ways to get him the ball.

I was taking a look back at the Broncos’ 2019 draft and hoo-boy, we don’t have a single guy left from that class. Looking back, how would you grade that draft? If Russell Wilson returns to form and we reach the playoffs, do you think trading Drew Lock and Noah Fant justifies us having drafted them?

— Thomas, Lakewood

Alright Thomas, good one to close on. For those of you reading who don’t happen to have the 2019 Broncos draft list either memorized or sitting in front of you, let����ap run it down: R1 (No. 20 overall): TE Noah Fant. R2 (No. 41): OL Dalton Risner. R2 (No. 42): QB Drew Lock. R3 (No. 71): DL Dre’Mont Jones. R5 (No. 156): OLB Justin Hollins. R6 (No. 187): WR Juwann Winfree.

One thing to keep in mind is that rookie contracts for any 2019 draftee were up this past offseason without a) being a first-rounder or b) getting an extension. So this would be the time that a class starts thinning out. However, none remaining from a class of six is still noteworthy.

On production and snaps alone, the Broncos came away with some players from this group. Obviously Dre’Mont Jones played himself into a lucrative second contract. He just signed it with Seattle rather than here after the sides didn’t come to an agreement on an extension. Risner started 62 games at left guard for the Broncos, all but four since getting drafted. The organization thought it could upgrade at that position this spring and signed Ben Powers to a long-term deal. As of this writing, Risner is still looking for work. But he played a whole lot of snaps for Denver over his first contract. It would be hard to call him a bad pick.

As for Fant and Lock, certainly a Wilson bounce-back would make everybody feel better about that trade overall. But the stinger on that deal in retrospect will always be the absolute haul of draft picks they gave up in addition to those two players and defensive lineman Shelby Harris.

The 2020 draft class is maybe more disappointing at this moment. The Broncos found a productive player in first-round wide receiver Jerry Jeudy. He showed enough to convince the Broncos to pick up his fifth-year option for 2024. They’ve also still got third-round center Lloyd Cushenberry as a starter and fifth-round linebacker Justin Strnad as a special teams regular. The rest: KJ Hamler’s been waived with an illness designation for a heart condition (he could return in the coming weeks). The rest of the others are gone, too: CB Michael Ojemudia, DL McTelvin Agim, TE Albert Okwuegbunam, OL Netane Muti, WR Tyrie Cleveland and LB Derrek Tuszka.

Attrition and turnover is the way of life in the NFL, but the best teams find players that they can retain and become the foundation for their rosters. Those John Elway draft misses, combined with the Broncos’ coaching turnover and general manager George Paton’s decisions to unload premium draft capital for Wilson and Payton in successive offseasons, have made that virtually impossible in Denver.

Maybe this is the start of a turnaround on that front. Maybe not.

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