I. Entering the NFL

On April 26, 2018, the Broncos began building their rookie class by selecting edge rusher Bradley Chubb with the fifth-overall pick in the NFL Draft. Over the next few days, they added a number of experienced and talented players to their draft class and then signed their college free agents — including, most notably, Phillip Lindsay.

Bradley Chubb: "I remember as I was leaving [Denver] we drafted Courtland. As I was at the airport, we drafted Courtland. Then I was on the plane and had the notification on my phone for Royce [Freeman], then [Isaac] 'Ike' [Yiadom] and the next day we got DaeSean [Hamilton] and [Troy] 'Fum' [Fumagalli] and Josey [Jewell] and Dave [Williams] and Sam [Jones] and Keishawn [Bierria]. … I'm texting them, Congratulations, I can't wait to get up here with you guys. … It was just one of those things where we all came in and we were all so close.

"We would be with each other from 7 [a.m.] to 6 [p.m.] every day pretty much, having rookie meetings, having extra special teams meetings, having extra position meetings. And then we would see each other all the time. I feel like that's what really got us all close. We were all just joking around with each other, always. We all have good personalities and all want to win, too — we had the same mindset and happened to get close."

Phillip Lindsay: "I didn't get drafted or anything like that, so for me it was … I mean, I had to make the team. So my mentality was, Be fearless and just go out there and makes plays. For everybody else, I think we just jelled together because we all had that mentality that we wanted to come in and prove ourselves. We didn't just think that we were all that and we were ready to play. We wanted to learn from the vets; we listened to them and we just tried to contribute with them and make plays for each other."

Courtland Sutton: "Man, rookie minicamp, [Lindsay] came out and was flying around. And then OTAs, I think that was a really big time that I really started to realize, This dude No. 2 is out here working his butt off. And then we got to training camp, and it just kept going. He didn't slow down at all. And I think that's when I started to realize, like, Man, Phil's gonna be able to be something and do something special."

BC: "He was just zooming past everybody. Nobody could touch him, nobody could do this, nobody could do that. Everybody was like, Who is No. 2? We figured it out."

PL: "They were making plays [too]. That's what camp's about. It's about standing out. That's how you make the team. That's how you get on the field, and that's how you showcase that you deserve to be on the field all the time."