Denver Broncos Inside Linebacker Race HEATS UP as Taurean York, Jordan Turner Chase FINAL SPOT

We're looking at off-ball linebacker.

Right now, it seems like there's an evident four players who are roster locks on Denver's 53.

You got your two starters in Alex Singleton and Justin Strnad, and then behind those guys, you've got Kareeme Reid, who made the 53-man roster last year, and you've got Red Murdoch, the seventh-round draft pick, taken last in the NFL draft.

Mr.

Irrelevant.

He's got a very important part here for Denver's defense in terms of where he can develop and what he can eventually become.

And on top of that, could be a special teams contributor immediately.

But Denver has typically carried five off-ball linebackers over the course of the last handful of seasons, and that could be the case here once again.

So if that is the case, who is that last spot potentially going to? That's why the Broncos here in Friday's game against the Minnesota Vikings, they will have their eyes on undrafted rookie free agent linebacker Torion York, who played at Texas A&M last season, and Jordan Turner, who's a second-year player who impressed the Broncos last season, and even down the stretch in the regular season of 2025, ended up playing some snaps defensively and even playing a handful of special team snaps for Darren Rizzi.

And that's what ultimately is going to determine who is that fifth linebacker if Denver chooses to go that path, which that is the expectation right now.

Torion York has flashed here in the NFL preseason in terms of his ability to fill run gaps quickly, play his run fits, and also have the dynamic ability to be able to cover a little bit more effectively at the off-ball linebacker position.

He's learning the Mike and the Mo position, but he offers value as a Mo, which is a weak side off-ball linebacker, and also has the ability to play as a dime cover linebacker as well.

So that's where Denver can view him.

Plus, he can play special teams for the Broncos immediately in 2025.

But so can Jordan Turner.

Jordan Turner is viewed more as a Mike linebacker, which is the strong side inside linebacker here inside of Vance Joseph's defense, and then can also play special teams.

He does have the proven body of work for Darren Rizzi in regular season mode and performance from last year.

So that's where this competition's gonna boil down to when the Broncos take on the Vikings.

And I'm sure that these guys are gonna see a little bit more of J.J. McCarthy in this game this upcoming Friday.

But the one thing I'd say to pay attention to here, how does Torion York and Jordan Turner play specifically when they're on defense? And every time the Broncos go out on kickoff or on punt coverage, I want you to look for numbers 42 and numbers 55.

Darren Rizzi had talked about the importance of some of these guys.

If you're gonna make the 53-man roster, you have to be able to contribute on special teams.

They have two guys that they really like.

And I think that whoever performs the best in this game specifically on the special teams side of the ball in combination with good defensive play, that will be the guy that maybe gets that fifth and final spot here at off-ball linebacker, if that is the path the Broncos choose to go with.

So there's that part.