And Denver now looks to regroup after a 34-20 loss to Jacksonville that washed away an 11-game win streak, with plenty of good and bad mixed in.

Here is The Denver Post’s stock report from the afternoon.

Stock up

John Franklin-Myers’s value: With every play he makes, Franklin-Myers continues to price himself out of a range that the Broncos haven’t seemed interested in investing in anyway. Still — no change here — the Broncos haven’t initiated a conversation with his camp on any contract extension. And suddenly, Franklin-Myers looks poised to earn upwards of $20 million per year on the open market come the spring. The Dolphins’ three-year, $64 million extension with 30-year-old defensive tackle Zach Sieler last offseason could be a strong reference deal, as Franklin-Myers is one year younger and has one fewer sack (14.5 to 15.5) over the past two seasons.

This is a double-edged sword, though, because the prospect of losing Franklin-Myers becomes a tougher pill to swallow with each passing week. He racked up two sacks against the Jaguars on Sunday to set a career best with 7.5 on the season, and his relationship with Zach Allen is symbiotic in the heart of Denver’s defensive front. The Broncos could theoretically move enough money around after the season to re-sign Franklin-Myers, but that’d be a heck of an overall monetary investment in this defensive line. Time will tell.

RJ Harvey, learning: The full scope of Harvey’s responsibilities — as a second-round rookie RB — continues to grow in Sean Payton’s offense. For one point, the 24-year-old is now officially tied at 13th in the NFL (next to Lions wideout Amon-Ra St. Brown) in touchdowns, and first overall among rookies. His first year in Denver has been an unequivocal success, even as Harvey has had obvious growing pains in the NFL with vision and hitting inside lanes.

Even more cause for optimism is his growth in pass-protection. Harvey’s now handling more reps there than at any point in his rookie season, a few games after stepping into the No. 1 RB role with J.K. Dobbins out. The technique still needs work at times, but Harvey isn’t missing assignments and is hitting rushers when they need to be hit.

Technique is still developing, but rookie RB RJ Harvey's (12) recognition in pass-pro has come a long way. Here's a few reps of that last night.

Key moving forward is trust w/Bo Nix. Seems (especially in last clip) Nix gets hurried when Harvey picks up rush.

— Luca Evans (@bylucaevans)

One major key for this Broncos offense across the next few weeks and into the playoffs: quarterback Bo Nix and Harvey need to develop trust in such situations. Nix almost always hurries his throws when a blitz comes Harvey’s way, regardless of whether the rookie RB picks it up capably or not.

Que Robinson: Here’s a major silver lining of an all-around stinker of a defensive performance Sunday against the Jaguars. Interestingly, Denver saw enough in Robinson’s development to elevate him even with its full complement of outside linebackers available. And Robinson more than paid the faith: one pass batdown, two quarterback hits, one fantastic read of a Trevor Lawrence keeper on a five-yard loss. Robinson’s developing fast enough that the Broncos might have to make some tough decisions heading into the next couple of offseasons on reserve OLBs like Jonah Elliss and Dondrea Tillman.

Duck Squad: After long stretches of shakiness in the deep passing game between Nix and wideout Troy Franklin, the two have officially clicked. It came much too little and too late, but Nix deposited a 48-yard bomb perfectly in Franklin’s hands. It was the kind of deep timing that hadn’t shown up for months between former Oregon teammates, and a welcome sign for the stretch run.

After a couple of games with shaky hands, Franklin quietly leveled up across his past two games, catching 10 of his 11 targets for 151 yards. Denver needs that confidence to spill into January.

Stock down

��𲹱��ٳ�:��Yikes. In the span of about 15 seconds Sunday, the Broncos announced tight end Nate Adkins was out with a knee injury, lost practice-squad safety Delarrin Turner-Yell to a knee injury, and saw outside linebacker Elliss head to the sideline medical tent. It’s that time of the year.

Rookie wide receiver Pat Bryant was released from the hospital after a truly scary late-game scene Sunday night. The important news: Bryant appears to have avoided truly serious injury, and is in the concussion protocol. The not-so-good news: The Broncos may miss one of their most important receivers for the stretch run. Linebacker Dre Greenlaw also hurt his hamstring late against the Jaguars, a brutal development with safety Brandon Jones already on injured reserve. Denver’s beginning to be stretched thin.

Defensive communication: This Broncos defense didn’t slump Sunday for any lack of talent or sheer effort. But when Vance Joseph’s unit has problems, it’s almost always communication-related. Heavy doses of match coverage take heavy doses of mental discipline, and the Broncos were outmaneuvered a few too many times by Jacksonville.

Take one 20-yard catch-and-run by a Jaguars receiver on a third down in the fourth quarter. Lawrence checked into a play pre-snap, which Broncos middle linebacker Alex Singleton and nickel Ja’Quan McMillian sniffed out. McMillian, who was blitzing, gestured back at his would-be matchup — Washington — lined up in the slot. But safety P.J. Locke and cornerback Riley Moss both went with Jaguars receiver Jakobi Meyers deep, and Washington ended up wide-open.

Singleton gestured rapidly and barked at his teammates after the play. It won’t be a happy week of film review for this defense.

These are kinds of defensive miscommunications will have to digest on tape.

Q3 — Alex Singleton (49) + Ja'Quan McMillian (29) can see read's coming for Jags' Parker Washington. Clearly Riley Moss/P.J. Locke get mixed up on back-end. Singleton barks at them after play.

— Luca Evans (@bylucaevans)

Nik Bonitto and Jonathon Cooper: After a blistering start, the Broncos’ dynamite outside-linebacker duo has slowed in recent weeks. Bonitto — two pressures on 18 pass-rush snaps — as “ass.” Cooper, meanwhile, has been solid against the run but has only accounted for one sack in his last six games. If Denver wants to regain its defensive mojo and snap the all-time sack record, this pair needs to get going.

Denver’s AFC seeding chances: Well, Sunday certainly made the rest of this Broncos season interesting. Not only did the Jaguars climb within a game of Denver in the AFC standings, but the Broncos now sit tied (with the advantage of a tiebreaker) with the New England Patriots at 12-3 atop the AFC. The Broncos have to take on a rolling Justin Herbert and the 11-4 Chargers in Week 18. The Patriots have… the 3-12 New York Jets and the 6-9 Miami Dolphins left on their schedule.

Denver controls its destiny. Win out, and they get the No. 1 seed and a playoff bye. But that’s an awfully tough destiny to control.

On Saturday, the club activated starting left guard Ben Powers off injured reserve for Sunday’s game against the Jacksonville Jaguars. It’ll mark Powers’ first game action since he suffered a biceps tear late in Week 5’s win over the Philadelphia Eagles, as Denver now has three regular-season games to fully integrate Powers back into the fold before the playoffs hit.

After opening Powers’ 21-day window to return off injured reserve last week, Powers had two weeks of limited participation in practice before being upgraded to a full participant Friday. The Post reported last week that Powers was positioned to return in Week 16.

Reserve Matt Peart originally replaced Powers at left guard, but suffered a season-ending ACL tear in Week 6. Alex Palczewski has stabilized the Broncos’ offensive line since switching from tackle to guard for eight straight starts, and will now slide back into a reserve role with Powers’ return. Head coach Sean Payton made clear this week, though, that the Broncos won’t immediately rush Powers back into playing all full four quarters.

“Understand, there’s always that transition period,” Payton said Friday. “So we’re never going to throw someone in there for 65 (snaps). There’s a transition period for anybody who’s coming off an injury like that.”

The 29-year-old Powers has been a staple of Denver’s offensive line since signing as a free agent in 2023, starting all 34 games in 2023 and 2024. He was authoring one of the strongest starts of his career as a pass-blocker in five games this fall before sustaining the biceps tear.

Other moves. With starting safety Brandon Jones down for at least four weeks after the Broncos placed him on injured reserve, the club’s elevating a longtime veteran off the practice squad for his first game action of the season: safety Delarrin Turner-Yell.

It’s been a long, long road back to NFL reps for Turner-Yell, a 2022 fifth-round draft pick who played in 16 games in 2023 and recorded 34 tackles. Turner-Yell saw his 2024 season wiped out by an ACL tear, however, and has spent the entire 2025 season on the team’s practice squad.

He could see some special-teams snaps against the Jaguars Sunday, particularly as the Broncos will miss linebacker Justin Strnad (out with an ankle injury) and downgraded key special-teamer Karene Reid to out. Reid, who’s been on injured reserve since early November, was a full participant in practice this week, but Denver didn’t have any open space on its 53-man roster without making a corresponding move.

Denver is also elevating QB3 Sam Ehlinger for the second straight game.

All around the high school junior, postgame festivities buzzed Wednesday night on the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium turf.

More than 100 players and coaches milled around, found their people, gathered into groups for photos and then dispersed. Players from St. Thomas Aquinas High in South Florida and the London-based NFL Academy introduced themselves, talked about a wild game just completed and what a night it had been in the massive stadium.

Gamble laughed with teammates and took in the scene.

Then, through the crowd, he spotted the man he’d been looking for.

Big Nik.

That����ap Nik Bonitto, collector of an ever-growing list of descriptors, hardware and status.

A St. Thomas Aquinas alumn himself. Broncos outside linebacker. $106 million man. Budding superstar. Early defensive player of the year frontrunner. And the best pass-rusher on the planet, according to his teammates.

None of that, though, is why Gamble was so happy to see Bonitto on a chance encounter 4,500 miles from Fort Lauderdale.

“���’s basically an idol to me,” Gamble told The Denver Post.

Bonitto’s been that for Gamble, his self-described “godbrother,” for many years.

Much more recently, the Broncos pass-rusher has become many things to many people.

That����ap what happens when your star takes off like a rocket ship.

It can be disorienting. Foundation-shaking. Path and process-diverting.

It can be just straight-up mind-boggling.

Just three years ago, Bonitto came here as a wayward Broncos rookie. He logged his first sack at Wembley Stadium and celebrated so hard everything “went black,” he said with a laugh this week. Then he returned to having minimal impact, losing playing time and confidence in concert, and wondering exactly how his career might shift out of neutral.

Now, on his return to London, full-circle moments abound.

On Wednesday, Bonitto talked with teammates about that first sack while sitting on a franchise record-tying streak of three straight games of multiple sacks.

He found out he’d been named AFC defensive player of the week for the first time after racking up 2.5 sacks against Philadelphia in Week 5.

Then he got in a car after a day’s worth of practice and meetings, arrived at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, walked into the building past a massive photo of himself adorning a wall, down a tunnel and onto the field where his alma mater was playing a football game.

“Life’s definitely changed a little bit,” Bonitto told The Post, “but my approach is still the same.”

‘Big Nik’

Bonitto’s not wild about the spotlight.

���’s not averse to it. He just doesn’t seek it.

Put him on a field full of high school players, though, and he’s right at home.

After STA held off the NFL Academy, 41-38, on Wednesday night, Bonitto and teammates Jonathon Cooper and Delarrin Turner-Yell casually chatted and took photos with anybody who approached them.

“It����ap been real cool, just knowing that I was in their shoes once,” Bonitto said. “I would see all the older guys going off to college and doing great things. I would think, ‘Damn, I want to be like that.’ So just trying to lead in that way and show them that it����ap possible because it very much is for them.

“They have all the talent and the tools necessary to do what they want to do.”

Four-star outside linebacker , over the summer. When he did, Bonitto reached out and congratulated him.

“It����ap inspirational, first off,” Norman said. “And it����ap showing what I can be and what lies ahead of me.”

Gamble and Bonitto go back much further than that.

Their dads were close friends. Bonitto’s father, Vince, is Gamble’s godfather. Gamble’s dad is Bonitto’s godfather.

When Bonitto was a senior in high school, his parents “separated for a bit,” he said. So he and his dad moved in with the Gambles.

Bonitto was doing then what Gamble is doing now: Playing high school football at a high level and sorting through college options. Gamble is considered a four-star prospect in the 2027 class and holds offers from the likes of Miami, Florida, Florida State, Ohio State, Penn State, Texas A&M and many others.

“That����ap my guy since I was real young,” Bonitto said. “Obviously, he’s younger than me, but just being able to know him and then see him grow into where he’s at now, being in high school and getting all these offers and stuff, it’s pretty cool.”

Bonitto’s grown, too, even since the last time they saw each other last summer.

“It����ap kind of cool seeing somebody I grew up in the same house with become one of the projected defensive player of the year candidates,” Gamble said. “It����ap really crazy. But at the end of the day, he’s still just Nik Bonitto in my eyes.

“… I don’t see him as a superstar like everybody sees him. I see him as one of my big brothers. It����ap cool that he has all these accolades, but I still see him as ‘Big Nik.’”

Humble and humbled

Gamble’s not alone.

While the rest of the world might see Bonitto as one of the NFL’s up-and-coming stars, seemingly everybody in Bonitto’s world sees him as just about anything but.

Presented with the notion that Bonitto is arriving at true star status recently, Broncos defensive line coach and former OU assistant Jamar Cain agreed, but with a twist.

“My daughter always says, ‘Nik’s been my favorite player for years, Dad. So I don’t see him as that,’” Cain said. “And for me, it����ap wild because I don’t see him as a superstar either. I remember him as a 17-year-old kid that we damn near wanted to kick off the team at Oklahoma.”

Back then, Bonitto arrived at college as a teenager who had a lot to learn. About discipline, about going to class, about how to be a good football player and also a good teammate.

He also had a lot of work to do physically.

“I would always joke with Nik in college, like, ‘Bro, you cannot be 200 pounds and not have abs,’” longtime trainer and mentor Javon Gopie said. “He wasn’t a super chiseled guy. He was just a guy. Most people who saw him then wouldn’t have thought much.”

Bonitto blossomed into a high-quality college player and a likely Day 2 dFL Draft pick. He told scouts and general managers, who largely worried about his size and ability to play against the run, that he wanted to win Super Bowls and someday don a gold jacket at the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Broncos general manager George Paton and company were thrilled to land him at No. 64 overall in the second round of the 2022 draft, but Bonitto started his career slowly under a doomed Nathaniel Hackett-led coaching staff.

“When he was a rookie here, I was still coaching in college and we’d talk periodically,” Cain said. “He’d call and I’d pull up his film and I’d be like, ‘Bro, what the (heck) are you doing? You look awful.’ It����ap, like, embarrassing. I told him, like, ‘I feel embarrassed I told the Broncos to (freaking) take you. You look awful.’”

Midway through the season came the sack in London. Two days later, Denver traded star edge rusher Bradley Chubb.

Dominoes started slowly tipping.

Bonitto had arrived in Denver thanks to one of the picks acquired in the Von Miller trade. The first-rounder Chubb netted helped the Broncos land the rights to head coach Sean Payton.

He brought a culture of discipline, and he also hired Cain.

“When I first got here in the spring (of 2023), I was like, ‘Dude, this is not the player that I know,’” Cain said. “So it was him just building confidence. I remember having a conversation with George when I first got here about when Nik was at Oklahoma, it took like two years for him to get comfortable in his skin and comfortable in the environment. Once he got comfortable, he took off. That����ap what happened in Year 3 here. Once he got comfortable in his environment, he took off.”

‘All-time high’

Bonitto’s on-field exploits are obvious at this point.

He leads the NFL with seven sacks, 1.5 more than anybody else, and the most by a Broncos player ever through the first five games of a season.

���’s terrorizing tackles with speed, anticipation and savvy, but he’s also playing the run better than at any point in his career.

Teammates and coaches are asked on a weekly basis to try to find some new way of describing what Bonitto is doing, and at this point, simplicity does the job best.

“If he gets a one-on-one, he’s winning,” defensive tackle Zach Allen said.

Payton? “���’s a super pass-rusher.”

“You know his game has developed when he can go out there and just say, ‘I’m going to make a play’ and he makes it,” reigning NFL Defensive Player of the Year Pat Surtain II said. “It����ap just that easy now.”

There are plenty of reasons for the ascension. Bonitto’s bigger and stronger. ���’s developed his pass-rush repertoire. ���’s become a student of the game, internalizing opposing quarterbacks’ cadences and searching for tackles’ tendencies.

But there’s a more basic factor, too.

“His confidence is just at an all-time high right now, man,” Gopie said. “I love it for him. I don’t think it had to do with anything outside of himself. I don’t think there were any external factors that needed to motivate him. ���’s just confident.”

No more Costco

The explosion of attention and a fresh $100 million-plus extension will change life for a 26-year-old.

Fast.

“He used to be able to go to Costco,” Cain said. “Now he can’t go to Costco.”

Those closest to Bonitto, though, don’t see any change in the person.

“He hasn’t changed — he’s become more of a professional, but he hasn’t changed at all,” his running mate Cooper said. “I can’t say enough good things about him, honestly. ���’s a brother, and he’s somebody I’ve been rooting for since he got in this league. We’ve grown together and we’ve created this bond together and everything he’s getting, all the accolades, I couldn’t be more proud.”

Surtain experienced something similar a year ago.

He had already been a first-team All-Pro, but in 2024 he was named defensive player of the year and became a bold-face name in the league. What followed, as he described it, was his busiest offseason to date.

“I think it����ap natural once you play good, you get that recognition and you get that certain amount of status,” Surtain said. “There’s a way how to handle it. You just keep being yourself, be humble about it and understand that all of this is based on your play.

“The way he’s transcending, he’s going to be even more popular as things go on. His approach is just to be humble about it and to give it back toward his play.”

Toward his play and toward his people.

Bonitto , following several Broncos luminaries like Surtain, Miller and Justin Simmons.

He decided during a busy week amid a long road trip to go see Gamble and his high school play.

“It����ap literally priceless. It really is,” longtime STA coach Roger Harriott said. “You can’t put any value on that. It����ap worth beyond currency. ���’s somebody that others look toward and for them to have a direct connection and feel his presence, knowing that he wore the same uniform and came from the same area, it����ap an inspiration to these young men to think that somebody who walked the same hallways and is from their community is having an unbelievable experience.

“That����ap what allows other people to evolve and do extraordinary things.”

Bonitto himself is evolving and doing extraordinary things.

His first and second London trips are separated by three years, 28.5 sacks and what must feel like an Atlantic Ocean of change.

His high school days are not that far in the past, and yet he’s already become a symbol for what����ap possible.

���’s a household name, and yet he’s also still just Big Nik.

“All the stuff I’ve done and accomplished so far has been really cool,” Bonitto said, “But there’s so much more out there for me and for this team that we’re still trying to accomplish.”

Hooks is a country man, through and through. Texas-born. Southern-made. And in all his 25 years of coaching, Mims stands alone. Different than anyone, Hooks marveled. The gait, all big feet and long legs, is lethally effortless.

Ever run behind a horse, Hooks asked? You can try. You can huff and puff until your lungs scream. Still, the horse will look like it’s trotting.

“Then you look,” Hooks described, “and it’s pulling away from you quickly. It’s like — ‘It’s just jogging, though!'”

“That’s Marvin.”

Eventually, Hooks realized he needed to just let the kid run “the Marvin way,” as he puts it. But at first, Hooks didn’t quite understand him. Many didn’t. Mims would house a bag of potato chips and a Gatorade and then turn on the burners. And Hooks would yell at him because he just made it look too easy.

Years later, Mims lounged on a bench bordering the Broncos’ practice facility in July. He chuckled when told of Hooks’ initial frustrations.

“It’s something that’s like — every coach, everybody says,” Mims said with a grin. “‘You don’t look like you’re moving.’

“Until you go out there and really see. And it’s like, ‘Marvin’s runnin.’ ”

In Year 3 in Denver, Marvin’s finally running. The former Oklahoma wideout has never quite needed a tap. He’s just needed his coaches to loosen the reins. He quickly dashed to All-Pro status as a returner in his first two years with the Broncos, but he was generally stuck with a handful of posts and go-balls in a limited route tree. Then, head coach Sean Payton came to him in November in Kansas City with an idea to stick him in the backfield, and Mims’ world opened up.

This year, his role as a receiver is more “well-rounded,” Mims described. It needs to be. At all of 23 years old, he’s suddenly the second-most experienced Bronco in a young wideout room.

Hooks, this offseason, has been trying to get Mims to understand: He’s the guy, now. The “last of the Mohicans,” as Hooks put it, in a room that’s seen a revolving door behind Courtland Sutton at WR2 from Jerry Jeudy to Josh Reynolds. Mims racked up 503 receiving yards and six touchdowns in his second year after a late-season surge. Hooks believes he’ll be a 1,000-yard receiver in 2025.

“He’s not even that type of person with numbers,” Hooks said. “He just wants more than what he’s had before. And I know right now, he wants a lot more than he had before.

“Not, like, OK, a little bit, percentage-wise. Like, ‘Nah. I’m ready to be the man now.’ So that����ap what he’s been preparing for, physically and mentally.”

He’s looked it during training camp. For two years in Denver, as Mims said, he didn’t run most of the routes he’s running now. Comebacks. Corners. Drags. End-arounds. Both a complete receiver and a gadget weapon, all in one.

It’s similar to how staff at Lone Star High used Mims back in high school, setting the single-season state record for receiving yards as a senior in Texas. Lone Star head coach Jeff Rayburn remembered, had a “Marvin Rule.” He’d run 17 yards on a route instead of 15, his feet moving too quickly for regular timing. So, the Rangers would add 2 yards to the depth of any route he ran.

“He just runs so effortlessly,” Rayburn said. “He just glides.”

Effortlessness, though, implies a lack of effort — a perception he’s fought against for years. At Oklahoma, Mims was the latest in a long lineage of Sooner wideouts who carried themselves like a dude, because they were. He came in a year after CeeDee Lamb left. Lamb followed in the footsteps of Marquise Brown before him. And Brown followed Dede Westbrook before him.

Five-star talent after five-star talent. Mims was expected to come with flash.

That just “wasn’t me,” Mims shrugged.

“I’m not like a hoo-rah guy,'” Mims smiled. “I’m not going to post a lot on social media, all that stuff. I’m just go to class, go to meetings, go to practice, do all you do.

“And I feel like at OU, that����ap when they got on me most about it. That����ap when it was more of, like, a weird thing.”

He racked up 1,083 yards as a junior at Oklahoma and was picked by the Broncos in the second round of the 2023 draft. Still, he came out of college with , a perception he’s been fighting ever since. He was asked to run slants and choice routes as a Sooner, Rayburn defends. He’s been asked to run deep in Denver or get his hands on returns.

Now, Mims has officially been starting at the Z, as Broncos wideouts coach Keary Colbert has told Hooks. And Hooks has been trying to instill a certain “swagger” in his pupil.

“It’s funny,” Mims said, “because he’s been trying to get that outta me since, like, college.”

It’s never quite taken, because Mims blows past defenders with the urgency of a turtle despite the speed of a hare. Mims, though, feels it coming. You could “see the confidence” when he started getting touches midseason in 2024, as general manager George Paton said a few months back.

When he first arrived in Denver, Mims recounted, Broncos safety and former OU teammate Delarrin Turner-Yell issued a warning to staff and DBs alike on the wideout’s cool gait. Don’t fall for that. That dude’s moving.

There is nothing to control, now. The limits on his game are gone. There is only the horse, trotting free.

“Once he catches the ball, I look at those first three steps,” Hooks said of offseason work with Mims. “When he gets upfield. I can see, sometimes receivers, they have a pep in their step.

“When you know you’re the man, you look different. That top horse moves different. Different than anybody.”

Receivers drafted under Sean Payton

A number of wide receivers popped in their second year under Broncos head coach Sean Payton, but it took Mims until the second half of his second season to truly break out. Will that burst carry over into Year 3? Mobile users, tap here to see the chart.

They were in Florida, hopping from park to park and then jumping fences in search of an open patch of grass. They found it at St. John XXIII Catholic Church in Miramar. It was more loose rock than anything. But it was something.

Bonitto was heading into his third year as an edge rusher at Oklahoma, and he was eager, but Gopie was baffled as he watched him run through drills.

������,��Gopie recalled thinking, this dude does not move full speed. Nothing he does is full speed.

Bonitto always had an innate ability to get to quarterbacks. He came to Oklahoma as a four-star gem. But there was some immaturity, as former OU linebackers coach Brian Odom put it.

Until those first couple of months, when Bonitto flipped a switch.

Once a week in Miramar, Gopie would stand four yards away and bring up a couple of players at a time from a core group of trainees. Gopie would stick his hand out and twitch his knee, the sign to go. Whoever burst out of their stance first and slapped his palm won the rep.

, a 2024 first-round pick, was there. So was , the No. 17 pick in 2025.

Nobody ever beat Bonitto.

“He won every single time,” Gopie said. “Every day, every single time. It wasn’t even a question.”

Seven years ago, Bonitto was a redshirt afterthought at Oklahoma who could have been “just another freshman,” as Odom said. Seven years and a second-team All-Pro nod with the Broncos later, those same coaches marvel at one of the more incredible year-over-year ascents they’ve seen. The kid who once weighed 210 pounds soaking wet is now a shade under 250. The kid who had raw speed is now a whirling blend of power and finesse.

And the man who once doubted his own frame has adopted a new moniker.

“I always joke around — I’m, like, the top dog in there,” Bonitto told The Denver Post in July. “And then I was like, ‘You know what? Cool name would be Bloodhound.’

“I kinda just get on ’em about that,” Bonitto said. “Just trying to … push everybody, work the hardest in there.”

Could anyone, a few years ago, have expected this? Bonitto, the hardest worker in the room? Bonitto, rounding into one of the great edge rushers in the NFL? Bonitto, the “Bloodhound,” racking up 13.5 sacks at age 24 and hunting for more?

“No,” Odom responded. “Not at all.

“But that’s what makes this story so unique.”

Under the old regime at Oklahoma and defensive coordinator Alex Grinch, staff sometimes referred to a player as an “anti-fatigue guy” — someone who struggled to push through the point of fatigue.

Bonitto was an anti-fatigue guy.

One day in their freshman year at Oklahoma, Bonitto and teammate Delarrin Turner-Yell were running through conditioning drills. A strength coach told Turner-Yell, he remembered, that they’d dole out additional punishment if they caught someone putting their hands on their hips.

At one point, Bonitto put his hands on his hips. He was tired. So Turner-Yell walked past and slapped Bonitto’s arms down.

“He was the type of guy that����ap like, ‘Get me to Saturday, I’ll make my plays and we’ll go from there,'” recalled Turner-Yell, now Bonitto’s close friend and teammate in Denver. “Didn’t even care about practice during the week.”

After Bonitto redshirted his freshman year, a new defensive staff came in under Grinch in 2019. They didn’t know much about Bonitto. They knew he was highly recruited. They expected him to flash.

“The first, maybe, impression,” Odom said, “it wasn’t good.”

In Bonitto’s first season under the new regime, Grinch dropped him into coverage on over a quarter of his snaps to protect his body. He weighed 225 then, and staff felt he lacked the strength to mash for a full game against 300-pound linemen.

“The big thing for him was, how long do you fight to stay same as?” Grinch said. “How long do you fight to simply be the athlete that runs around people?”

So Bonitto fought to change. Oklahoma staff, sensing Turner-Yell could pull something from him, assigned the two as weight-room partners. Then-OLBs coach Jamar Cain, now Denver’s defensive-line coach, had plenty of “tough conversations” with Bonitto, as Grinch put it. And Bonitto sought out Gopie.

The biggest issue, Gopie sensed, was Bonitto’s confidence. His frame sometimes held him back. It also gave him the flexibility to plant and change direction in the tiniest of split-second windows, unimaginable for most behemoths at his position. He needed, as Gopie reflected, to believe what he did worked.

Bonitto believed it in that parking lot back in Florida.

“It did take him some time to figure out what he did best,” Gopie said. “But, man, I’ll tell you — once he did, the rest is history.”

Sometimes, the now-25-year-old Bonitto will go back and watch tape of his early days at Oklahoma.

“I be looking at him like, he’s terrible,” Bonitto smiled while sitting on a bench in July.

“But I also like that guy, and I appreciated him,” he continued, a few words later. “Just because he kinda has helped me through my time in the NFL, too.”

Bonitto increased his pressures every single year he was at Oklahoma, and has increased his pressures every single year as a Bronco, culminating in last season’s All-Pro leap in Year 3.

Entering a contract year, Bonitto’s poised to become one of the highest-paid pass-rushers in the league. The money, though, is shoved to the back of his mind. As more attention swung his way last year, he started getting chipped more frequently by bodies flashing out of the backfield. He says he left plays on the field in 2024, so he spent his offseason watching tape of peers like the Giants’ Brian Burns, the Texans’ Will Anderson Jr., and the Steelers’ TJ Watt, studying how they attacked chip-blocks.

Everyone — from Turner-Yell to defensive coordinator Vance Joseph to Broncos edge Jonathon Cooper — suggests Bonitto hasn’t approached his ceiling. His fourth season as a Bronco now brings a confluence of factors. He’s still explosive. He’s the heaviest and strongest that Gopie, or EXOS trainer Rich Pruett, has seen him. And he’s learning to play chess.

This offseason, a few years after St. John’s, brought another breakthrough: finesse. Bonitto and Gopie spent a heap of time dissecting his successful initial rushes and then drilling subsequent countermoves that look the same to an offensive lineman in their approach. Set up what looks like a speed-rush, then pivot to a different angle.

“I think we’ll see a lot of spinning out of him this year, a lot of inside moves,” Gopie said. “And then from there, once he starts to win inside — it����ap going to be very spooky. Because when somebody like him keeps you off balance, it����ap not gon’ be fair.”

Bonitto wants to keep “stacking years,” as he put it. A long way, now, from the parking lot.

“We still haven’t seen the best of Nik Bonitto yet,” Gopie said.

Top-producing NFL outside linebackers, 2024

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Sean Payton is right there with you.

The third-year Denver head coach acknowledged as much Thursday, and he considers it a good problem to have. In fact, he spoke with a sense of curiosity and excitement as he outlined just how tightly contested the battle for roster spots is in Denver’s backfield.

“Here’s the deal: You’re right where I’m at, and we don’t know yet,” Payton said of the battle. “If you recall, at the start of training camp, I said we’re all going to know (in a few weeks). And I hopefully am going to be right, but we all don’t know yet, and it����ap still a very competitive spot.

“… We’re not there yet, but the good news is we still have 10 or 11 days, and hopefully we can get there and we’ll all know.”

Payton talks about Harvey and Dobbins as clear pieces to Denver’s backfield puzzle. Last week against San Francisco, Harvey handled most of the early down work, and Dobbins was primarily the third-down back.

Dobbins is going to play extensively on third downs because he’s clearly the Broncos’ best pass protector. That means the question for him is how far beyond that work his role extends.

After those two, Jaleel McLaughlin has the most experience and is the most accomplished of the rest. Is he a sure thing? Payton on Thursday made it sound like he’s still competing for a role and roster spot along with Tyler Badie, Audric Estime and Blake Watson.

The Broncos, Payton said, could keep four backs, but there are conversations across the rest of the roster. Want to keep an extra back? What about a third quarterback? Or an extra defensive lineman in a deep, talented group?

Given that almost none of Denver’s starters are playing Saturday night vs. Arizona (7:30 p.m., KUSA-9), the game will represent a chance for bubble players to get extensive playing time.

So, here’s a closer look at the running back race and three other position battles to watch.

Running back

Payton had specific, considerable praise for Badie on Thursday. To be fair, he was asked a question about the former Missouri back, but Payton’s insight was still interesting.

“���’s someone who has really good football IQ,” Payton said. “���’s a little bit more experienced. ���’s been here, but that doesn’t equate to anything. ���’s good in the protections. When the fronts move around, he’s a good receiver. …

“He can play in the two-minute, and we activated him late in the year for a playoff game. There’s some savviness to his game. Before he got hurt, he had a little bit of success. So I like the player. I like coaching him.”

The protection part is perhaps most noteworthy. After Dobbins, Badie might be Denver’s best pass protector. That alone doesn’t guarantee a roster spot, but it does come into play because teams need a couple of backs who can protect, and also because of Dobbins’ extensive injury history.

Each of the other three has also done good things, and they’re all different shapes and sizes.

“You guys can do the math. Hopefully (Saturday) we’re getting a ton more exposure,” Payton said. “That����ap one of those position groups of like, ‘Let����ap find the argument for Tyler. Let����ap find the argument for Audric, let����ap find it for Jaleel.’ You’re rooting for all of them.”

Wide receiver

On paper, this looks like a clean six-man room. Those players: Courtland Sutton, Marvin Mims Jr., Troy Franklin, Devaughn Vele, Pat Bryant and Trent Sherfield Jr.

Last year, Denver cut veteran Tim Patrick after a productive camp, so a surprise somewhere is possible.

Payton’s bullish on his receiver depth, too, and said Thursday he wouldn’t be surprised if somebody on Denver’s camp roster ended up on another team’s 53-man to start the season.

Michael Bandy’s been a practice squad regular, and the coaching staff trusts him. A.T. Perry might have pushed harder for a roster spot, but he’s still just getting ramped up after starting camp on the PUP list. Each of Denver’s undrafted rookies — Joaquin Davis, Jerjuan Newton, Courtney Jackson and Kyrese Rowan — has had bright spots during camp. Davis, in particular, is a player to dream on given his size (6-foot-4, 195 pounds), speed and leaping ability.

Defensive line

Every year is a little different, but the Broncos started last year with six defensive linemen.

This year, six would probably mean getting rid of a promising player who was on the roster last year.

Start with Zach Allen, D.J. Jones, John Franklin-Myers, self-proclaimed “sixth man of the year” Malcolm Roach and rookie third-rounder Sai’vion Jones. That leaves a potential battle between Eyioma Uwazurike and Jordan Jackson for a sixth spot.

It����ap not impossible to take all seven. The name of the game is finding “the right 53,” Payton always says, and retaining as much talent as possible. But that’s a big number for a team that plays primarily three or even two down.

Safety

The Broncos are set on the top line with Brandon Jones and Talanoa Hufanga, while P.J. Locke provides a ton of experience as a third. After that … well, we’ll see.

Devon Key’s played the most defense for Denver among the rest of the group, but his strong suit is special teams. JL Skinner is a good one on special teams, too. Keidron Smith has also been on those units, while Delarrin Turner-Yell was solid on special teams before an injury cost him all of 2024. Sam Franklin signed as a special teams ace this spring.

Special teams work is going to factor heavily here, but there are other roster considerations. Do the Broncos feel good about going much beyond four or maybe five, given their depth of talent at other spots? Could the group get pinched to take an extra DL, corner or another position?

This will be an area ripe for surprise and is tough to peg without knowing exactly how new special teams coordinator Darren Rizzi sees the group’s capabilities.

The Broncos dropped their first depth chart on Wednesday ahead of this week’s preseason game with San Francisco, and, predictably, every single rookie on the roster was slotted last at their position group. There are no takeaways to be made there. Bo Nix was , after all, and current RB6 RJ Harvey isn’t actually the sixth-lowest on Payton’s backfield totem pole.

Still, there are a number of interesting takeaways from Wednesday’s groupings — namely at wide receiver. Second-year receiver Troy Franklin has put together a stellar camp, but he’s still listed as a second-team WR behind Marvin Mims Jr., who’ll have a shot at a true breakout in his third season in Denver.

“The depth of our receiver room is something that isn’t talked about enough, and I think it����ap a really strong thing for us going into the season,” Mims said last week.

Second-year RB Audric Estime, meanwhile, is still stuck behind Jaleel McLaughlin in the backfield. On defense, inside linebacker convert Drew Sanders, who’s rehabbing a torn tendon in his foot, is listed as a third-team ILB behind Alex Singleton and Justin Strnad.

Here’s the full layout of the Broncos’ first depth chart of 2025:

OFFENSE

�ϵ�:��Bo Nix, Jarrett Stidham, Sam Ehlinger

���:��J.K. Dobbins, Jaleel McLaughlin, Audric Estime, Tyler Badie, Blake Watson, RJ Harvey

���:��Michael Burton

�¸�:��Courtland Sutton, Devaughn Vele, Trent Sherfield Sr., Pat Bryant, Courtney Jackson

WR: Marvin Mims, Troy Franklin, Michael Bandy, Joaquin Davis, Jerjuan Newton, Kyrese Rowan

�շ�:��Evan Engram, Adam Trautman, Nate Adkins, Lucas Krull, Caleb Lohner, Caden Prieskorn

����:��Garett Bolles, Matt Peart, Frank Crum, Marques Cox

����:��Ben Powers, Calvin Throckmorton, Will Sherman

��:��Luke Wattenberg, Alex Forsyth, Joe Michalski

���:��Quinn Meinerz, Nick Gargiulo, Clay Webb

���:��Mike McGlinchey, Alex Palczewski, Xavier Truss

Defense

�ٷ�:��Zach Allen, Jordan Jackson, Matt Henningsen

�ٷ�:��John Franklin-Myers, Eyioma Uwazurike, Sai’vion Jones, Kristian Williams

����:��D.J. Jones, Malcolm Roach, Jordan Miller

������:��Jonathon Cooper, Jonah Elliss, Andrew Farmer II

������:��Nik Bonitto, Dondrea Tillman, Garrett Nelson, Que Robinson

������:��Alex Singleton, Justin Strnad, Drew Sanders, Karene Reid

������:��Dre Greenlaw, Levelle Bailey, Garret Wallow, Jordan Turner, J.B. Brown

���:��Pat Surtain II, Damarri Mathis, Quinton Newsome

���:��Riley Moss, Kris Abrams-Draine, Jaden Robinson, Joshua Pickett

N���:��Ja’Quan McMillian, Reese Taylor, Jahdae Barron

��:��Talanoa Hufanga, P.J. Locke, JL Skinner, Delarrin Turner-Yell

��:��Brandon Jones, Devon Key, Keidron Smith, Sam Franklin Jr.

Special teams

��:��Wil Lutz

��:��Jeremy Crawshaw

L��:��Mitchell Fraboni

����:��Marvin Mims Jr., Jaleel McLaughlin, Tyler Badie, Courtney Jackson

�ʸ�:��Marvin Mims Jr., Michael Bandy, Courtney Jackson

Since December 2023, the Broncos’ 2022 fifth-round pick has been working his way back from a torn ACL suffered during a game against the Chargers. He finally returned to practice late last October — but wasn’t activated from injured reserve. His reward for a year and a half of tribulation? A scrap for a roster spot in a loaded secondary.

Call it like it is, as he told The Denver Post on Tuesday.

“All of us can’t stay here,” Turner-Yell said. “So, I feel like whichever, whatever happens, we’ll all go and we’ll all succeed, just because we had so deep of a camp.”

That applies well beyond the Broncos’ secondary. This is the deepest training camp roster Sean Payton’s had in his three seasons in Denver. A number of veterans could find themselves on the bubble when roster cuts come in late August, and three preseason games on the horizon will decide battles at several positions.

Here’s The Post’s first stab at a Broncos 53-man roster projection entering the week of their first preseason game against San Francisco:

OFFENSE (25)

Quarterback (2)

���dz����:��Bo Nix, Jarrett Stidham

In the mix: Sam Ehlinger

Bubble consideration: There are tremendous vibes with this group, between Nix chasing Stidham in drills and all three throwing their hands up like Mii characters when they hit the intended pocket in net-toss drills. Ehlinger, though, might be hard-pressed for a roster spot after an uneven start to camp. The Broncos did take three quarterbacks last year, but with the amount of depth and upside at skill-position spots, they could cut back here in 2025.

The call: Nix and Stidham.

Running back/fullback (4)

���dz����:��J.K. Dobbins, RJ Harvey

In the mix: Jaleel McLaughlin, Michael Burton, Audric Estime, Tyler Badie, Blake Watson

Bubble consideration: Boy, where to begin? Payton has repeated throughout the offseason that nobody will know how this room shakes out until the preseason kicks off. Just look at McLaughlin, who staff thought was a nice practice-squad rookie in 2023 before he popped in the preseason. Estime seemed like he could wind up on the chopping block after the Broncos signed Dobbins, but the second-year power back has put together a run of good days. The key factor here is Burton, who didn’t crack the initial 53-man roster in 2024 but ended up playing in all 17 games with elevations from the practice squad. Here’s betting Payton plays his cards similarly this year.

The call: Dobbins, Harvey, McLaughlin, Estime.

Wide receiver (6)

���dz����:��Courtland Sutton, Marvin Mims Jr., Troy Franklin, Pat Bryant

In the mix: Devaughn Vele, Trent Sherfield, Michael Bandy, Joaquin Davis, Courtney Jackson, Jerjuan Newton, Kyrese Rowan, AT Perry

Bubble consideration: It’s strange to not have Vele as a lock after a 41-catch rookie season, but he hasn’t quite flashed the same as the Broncos’ young Mims-Franklin-Bryant triumvirate in camp. He’s still probably too valuable to the room and too much of a 6-foot-5 Payton ideal to cut. Sherfield has made plays throughout camp and might end up playing a large number of snaps this year as both a special-teamer and blocking receiver. That makes the choices here fairly clear-cut, even as Davis, Jackson, Newton and Rowan have all authored standout July moments.

The call: Sutton, Mims, Franklin, Bryant, Vele, Sherfield.

Tight end (4)

���dz����:��Evan Engram, Adam Trautman

In the mix: Nate Adkins, Lucas Krull, Caleb Lohner, Caden Prieskorn

Bubble consideration: Engram’s arrival has shaken up this group substantially, and there’s not much room for a heap of pass-catching tight ends beyond him. Adkins brings inherent value as a blocker/receiver/fullback/ST guy. From there, the battle is between Krull and the rookie Lohner. Krull led the Broncos’ tight ends in catches last year, but Lohner, for all of his football inexperience, has made more plays in camp.

The call: Engram, Trautman, Adkins, Lohner.

Offensive line (9)

���dz����:��Luke Wattenberg, Ben Powers, Quinn Meinerz, Garett Bolles, Mike McGlinchey, Matt Peart, Alex Palczewski

In the mix: Centers Alex Forsyth and Joe Michalski; guards Nick Garguilo, Calvin Throckmorton and Will Sherman; tackles Marques Cox, Frank Crum, and Xavier Truss

Bubble consideration: This is quite literally the same group as last year, and it’s tempting to just toss out the exact same names that kicked off the Broncos’ 53-man in 2024. Beyond the Wattenberg-Powers-Meinerz-Bolles-McGlinchey starting quintet, Peart and Palczewski have continued to establish themselves as the key next men up at tackle. Forsyth is Wattenberg’s natural backup, so he’s set for the roster again. That leaves Crum (who surprisingly made last year’s initial roster as an undrafted rookie) and Garguilo to duke it out with some youngsters. If Denver wants more guard depth, though, they’d likely lean Garguilo.

The call: Wattenberg, Powers, Meinerz, Bolles, McGlinchey, Peart, Palczewski, Forsyth, Garguilo.

DEFENSE (25)

Defensive line (6)

���dz����:��Zach Allen, John Franklin-Myers, D.J. Jones, Malcolm Roach

In the mix: Matt Henningsen, Sai’vion Jones, Garrett Nelson, Jordan Jackson, Eyioma Uwazurike, Kristian Williams, Jordan Miller

Bubble consideration: There is plenty of continuity on this front, too. This will likely shape up as a three-man battle for two spots between third-round rookie Jones, second-year Jackson and 2022 fourth-rounder Uwazurike. Jackson cracked the initial 53-man roster fairly easily last year and played a sizeable rotational role, but this might be a tougher proposition. Uwazurike’s had a standout camp, and Sai’vion Jones could be the eventual replacement for any of the Allen-Franklin-Myers-Roach core that the Broncos don’t extend.

The call: Allen, Franklin-Myers, D.J. Jones, Roach, Sai’vion Jones, Uwazurike.

Outside linebacker (5)

���dz����:��Nik Bonitto, Jonathon Cooper, Jonah Elliss, Dondrea Tillman

In the mix: Andrew Farmer, Que Robinson

Bubble consideration: Pretty straightforward here. Elliss has too much upside to cut, and Tillman has been — in the words of Cooper — balling throughout camp. The Broncos took only four here on their initial 2024 53-man roster, but Robinson might force their hand. The fourth-round rookie missed the last couple of days of camp but flashed throughout offseason work. He carries special teams upside, too, which hits on two birds with one stone.

The call: Bonitto, Cooper, Elliss, Tillman, Robinson

Inside linebacker (5)

���dz����:��Dre Greenlaw, Alex Singleton, Levelle Bailey

In the mix: Justin Strnad, Drew Sanders, JB Brown, Karene Reid, Jordan Turner

Bubble consideration: With the Broncos’ recent rash of injuries here, this is likely the most interesting and unpredictable room on the roster. Singleton and Greenlaw have both been banged up during camp, and Sanders will be out upwards of a month. That will create some interesting gymnastics, though, as the Broncos probably wouldn’t want to slap Sanders with an IR designation. They may take five here with Strnad or Turner, the latter of whom has shone as an undrafted rookie out of Michigan State.

The call: Greenlaw, Singleton, Bailey, Sanders, Strnad

Cornerback (5)

���dz����:��Jahdae Barron, Ja’Quan McMillian, Riley Moss, Pat Surtain II

In the mix: Kris Abrams-Draine, Mario Goodrich, Damarri Mathis, Quinton Newsome, Joshua Pickett, Jaden Robinson, Reese Taylor

Bubble consideration: The Broncos brought in five CBs last year, but the amount of positional flexibility in this room would let them shave here. Barron and McMillian are competing for the starting nickel job, but both — particularly Barron — can play outside. Mathis, Taylor, Abrams-Draine and Newsome have all battled for second-team reps throughout camp, but Abrams-Draine carries the higher upside after a couple of standout performances in 2024.

The call: Barron, McMillian, Moss, Surtain II, Abrams-Draine

Safety (4)

���dz����:��Talanoa Hufanga, Brandon Jones

In the mix: Sam Franklin Jr., P.J. Locke, JL Skinner, Delarrin Turner-Yell, Devon Key, Keidron Smith

Bubble consideration: How much do the Broncos value special-teamers? Franklin is the pivot point here. He’s a free-agent signee who likely won’t contribute much in the secondary but could be a key part of Darren Rizzi’s unit. Key, Locke, Skinner and Smith all made last year’s initial roster, but as Turner-Yell himself said, they all aren’t making it here. Locke played the second-most snaps of any Broncos defender in 2024, but keep an eye on him throughout preseason. He’s in a backup role, and Denver would save over $4 million in cap by cutting him.

The call: Hufanga, Jones, Locke, Key

SPECIAL TEAMS (3)

���dz����:��Jeremy Crawshaw (P), Wil Lutz (K), Mitchell Fraboni (LS)

In the mix: No one

Bubble consideration: Unless there’s an injury and the Broncos bring back Matt Haack or Zach Triner from the cutting-room floor, there’s no competition here. Cut-and-dry. Man, can Crawshaw boot, by the way.

The call: Crawshaw, Lutz, Fraboni

Did not practice: Physically Unable to Perform list — WR A.T. Perry (foot/ankle). Out — RT Mike McGlinchey.

McGlinchey left practice after stretching Thursday and wasn’t out there Friday, though he was spotted after practice. Head coach Sean Payton said the Broncos’ starting right tackle would likely be back to participating Saturday or Monday, but didn’t elaborate on what����ap kept McGlinchey out.

Perry was on hand for practice but “still has some work to do,” Payton said earlier this week, before he’s cleared to get into the action.

Newcomer impact

An easy place to start: Tight end Evan Engram. Payton said it was the team’s first third-down installation day of camp and, not surprisingly, the Broncos’ new tight end was heavily involved. ���’s got good feel for coverage and already has developed rapport with quarterback Bo Nix. Engram’s got the ability to stretch the field up the sideline and the seam, but also to be an easy target underneath defenses.

“I feel really at home in this offense and I feel like my strengths are being used at the highest level,” Engram said Friday. “It����ap also challenged me to be sharp with my tools, be sharp on my details and the little things I need to clean up and get better at. It challenges me every single day, the different ways they’re planning to use me and also just the mentality they have and I want to have in the run game as well, to make that entire thing universal.”

Top Plays

Darts: Nix delivered one of the best throws of the day in the second half of practice during a team setting. He was on a dead sprint to the right and fired a dart back across the middle to rookie Pat Bryant, who was working across the field. It����ap the kind of throw you’d better be sure about in a game, given the propensity for bad outcomes throwing back across the body.

Turnover time: Second-year inside linebacker Levelle Bailey created the first turnover of training camp when he snatched a ball that tight end Lucas Krull had bobbled along the sideline. Later in practice, Bailey ripped another ball away from Krull for a PBU. Bailey’s had a flair for the dramatic this summer. He ended a practice earlier in the offseason program with a pick, too. There are a bunch of players vying for reserve and special teams roles behind Alex Singleton and Dre Greenlaw. Bailey’s off to a good start.

Thumbs Up

Catching on: The Broncos’ young receiving corps had a really good day. All of Bryant, Troy Franklin, Devaughn Vele and Marvin Mims, Jr. had solid moments. Bryant and Franklin each jumped out several times, including a long touchdown pass from Jarrett Stidham to Franklin that likely would have been a sack. Still, Franklin ran right past Denver’s secondary, including safety Devon Key. Later, he beat first-round pick Jahdae Barron over the middle.

Thumbs Down

Slipped away: On the other end of Bailey’s highlight reel, Krull can’t let a defender take two different catch opportunities away from him. His calling card is his ability in the receiving game, but the roster’s going to be tougher to crack this year with Engram, Adam Trautman, Nate Adkins and rookie Caleb Lohner among the candidates at tight end. Letting a reserve linebacker make essentially the same play on you twice is a rough start for Krull, whom the Broncos counted on for regular playing time a year ago.

Odds and Ends

• Payton noted Friday that running backs J.K. Dobbins and RJ Harvey have been getting most of the work with the No. 1 offense, but said he’s interested in seeing what the rest of the group has, too.

“I want to see these other guys the same way,” Payton said. “We’ll see how it goes once we get into the preseason.”

• Safety Delarrin Turner-Yell, who hasn’t played in a game since injuring his knee at the end of the 2023 season, got beat by Engram one snap and then rebounded on the next to break on the ball and deflect a pass to Trent Sherfield Jr. Turner-Yell was a quality special teams player in 2023 and could end up being in the bubble conversation as camp unfolds.

• Undrafted rookie receiver Jerjuan Newton made a terrific catch down the sideline in traffic on a deep ball from Sam Ehlinger.

• The pads haven’t even come on yet and already when the Broncos go 11-on-11, defensive lineman Malcolm Roach can be heard from a long distance away. The defense has plenty of guys that can chirp, but none like Roach.

“There’s an optimism and a positive energy with him,” Payton said. “You find yourself, maybe it����ap a hot day, but he just has that energy and adds a lot to a room. It����ap kind of contagious. You feel his presence and sometimes you hear him before you see him. I don’t mind that with him.”

They had plenty to talk about Friday, too. The defensive front has been disruptive on a daily basis and they’re undoubtedly excited for the pads to come on Monday.

• One sneaky good battle through camp could end up being rookie defensive lineman Sai’Vion Jones and whether he can push Jordan Jackson and others for reps in the Broncos’ defensive line rotation.

On the roster (3): Wil Lutz (PK), Jeremy Crawshaw (P), Mitch Fraboni (LS)

How many on the 53? Three.

Most impactful offseason move: Firing coordinator Ben Kotwica and hiring Darren Rizzi. Plus drafting Crawshaw in the sixth round.

The Broncos were good overall under Kotwica, but head coach Sean Payton thought they needed to get better. So he let Kotwica go after the season and eventually reunited with Rizzi. The long-time New Orleans special teams coach was the Saints’ interim head coach for the final eight games but didn’t get the permanent job there.

In the punting department, Denver got decent production the past two years from Riley Dixon — he did a good job of keeping punts out of the end zone and allowing a terrific coverage unit to make plays — but he had stretches where he didn’t hit the ball consistently. Denver took a swing in the draft by landing Crawshaw out of Florida. The Australian has a booming leg and spent the offseason program sending high spirals into orbit. There’s no question on the leg. The question will be executing the way Rizzi wants and helping Denver continue the run of good punt coverage it enjoyed under Kotwica.

Biggest question to answer in camp: How does Crawshaw adjust to Lutz and the Broncos’ field goal operation?

Crawshaw was a good holder at Florida, but the pressure will ramp up at the NFL level. Lutz has been among the NFL’s most consistent kickers the past two years, making 89% of his field goal tries since arriving in Denver. All of those kicks, of course, came with Dixon holding. The group spent the offseason working with Zach Triner as the long snapper while Fraboni recovered from offseason surgery. As training camp gets going, though, the Fraboni-Crawshaw-Lutz trio will get plenty of work in nailing down their rhythm.

Battle to watch: There isn’t one among the specialists, so let����ap go to the broader coverage and return groups. It����ap going to be interesting to see how Rizzi wants to prioritize the back half of the roster. ���’s got a bunch of players to work through at positions like inside linebacker — veteran Justin Strnad and four young players behind the starters — and safety, where even after jettisoning Tanner McCalister, the Broncos have Sam Franklin, Delarrin Turner-Yell, JL Skinner, Devon Key and Keidron Smith behind the top trio. Franklin and receiver Trent Sherfield Jr. were signed this offseason to be special teams workhorses and that����ap part of the reason Strnad is back, too. Who else is going to make himself indispensable?

Under the radar player: Fraboni.

Just a quick bit of long snapper love. Fraboni latched on with the Broncos in late 2022 and hasn’t looked back since Payton got hired as head coach. He proved a solid option over the past two years and this spring was rewarded with a three-year deal. It����ap essentially the league minimum each season, but it came with a $600,000 signing bonus, too, and a total of $1.7 million in guarantees (signing bonus and 2025 base salary). At a position where teams often try to promote competition, that����ap real confidence in your guy.