When linebacker Jordan Turner wasn’t selected in the 2025 NFL draft out of Michigan State, he was surprised. When he wasn’t immediately offered a contract to sign as an undrafted free agent, he was bewildered.

Turner had to attend the Broncos’ rookie minicamp two weeks after the draft as a tryout player. It was after three days of workouts that he finally got an NFL contract offer.

The inside linebacker ended up on Denver’s practice squad to start last season and finished the year on the 53-man roster. And two weeks ago, he got word that he had made the Broncos’ 53-man unit for this season.

“It’s just a testament to having faith and just to keep on growing,’’ Turner said of how far he has come. “It’s another chapter of overcoming adversity for me. Everybody’s got their own story.”

It wasn’t as if Turner was a slouch in college. He was a solid player at Wisconsin from 2020-23, which included being MVP of the Guaranteed Rate Bowl in his third season. Turner then transferred to Michigan State in 2024 and was made a captain for his final college season.

But when the draft came around, Turner’s phone didn’t ring. And when it rang after the draft, it wasn’t what he wanted to hear.

“It was all tryout offers,’’ Turner said.

So Turner headed to Denver’s rookie minicamp in May 2025 with something to prove.

“I wasn’t going to leave with any regrets,’’ he said. “I came in prepared to work my butt off and just show the type of player I am.”

The Broncos were impressed and signed him to the 90-man offseason roster. He was waived before the start of the season but then signed to the practice squad.

Come Week 8, he was elevated to play in an Oct. 26 home game against Dallas.

“It was a blessing,’’ he said. “I ain’t going to lie. I still remember the day. I cried. I called my parents. My first NFL game was really thrilling and we beat the Cowboys up (44-24). So that was exciting and my family was there to see it.”

Things continued to get better last season for Turner. After having used up his three allowed elevations, he was signed to the 53-man roster on Dec. 13, his 24th birthday.

Turner ended up last season playing in seven regular-season games, getting just 23 snaps on defense but 117 on special teams. He appeared in both of Denver’s playoff games, getting 36 snaps on special teams.

Turner missed the first two weeks of training camp this season while on the non-football injury list with a condition he declined to discuss. And he sat out the team’s first preseason game Aug. 14 at Atlanta.

But Turner ended up doing enough in the final two preseason games and in practices. He learned on the Aug. 30 cutdown day he had made the grade.

“I’m grateful that my coaches would believe in me to the point they trust me to be on the 53,’’ he said. “My goal is just to help the team in whatever role they give me.”

Behind starters Alex Singleton and Justin Strnad, the Broncos have two reserve inside linebackers on the 53-man roster in Karene Reid and Jordan. It remains to be seen if one or both will be active in Monday night’s regular-season opener at Kansas City.

Regardless of whether Turner takes the field at Arrowhead Stadium, he already has proved plenty to his teammates.

“He’s steadily progressed and worked on his game and gotten better and better over the last year and a half, and he deserves to be on the roster,’’ Strnad said. “He’s shown he has great physicality and I think he is able to communicate and get people lined up.”

And to think Turner had to go the tryout route last year before any team would sign him.

“I think it’s crazy,’’ Strnad said. “I don’t know what people are looking at. I never watched him in college, so I can’t speak on his college tape. But it would surprise me that he never got (an immediate) look.”

Nobody was more surprised than Turner. But take a look at him now.

Lutz seeks 100th straight

Wil Lutz is aiming for the century mark.

If he converts his first extra point this season, it will be the 100th straight made by the Broncos kicker.

“That’d be cool,’’ Lutz said of hoping to reach the milestone Monday. “Obviously, knock on wood.”

Lutz has the longest active extra-point streak in the NFL and is approaching the NFL record for most made in a row at the current distance. The NFL in 2015 moved extra points from being 20-yard to 33-yard attempts. Since then, the longest streaks have been Justin Tucker making 112 in a row for Baltimore from 2015-18 and Tyler Bass hitting 104 straight with Buffalo from 2020-22.

Lutz is third on that list at 99. He also made 99 in a row from 2019-20 with New Orleans before faltering in his first attempt to hit the century mark.

Lutz was traded by the Saints to the Broncos before the 2023 season. He last missed an extra point at Buffalo on Nov. 13, 2023.

“I take a ton of pride on extra-point performance,’’ he said. “A game can be changed by one point.”

Now, Lutz needs one point for 100 straight.

“I think obviously it’s a really cool stat,’’ he said.

What I’m hearing

—Cord Sandberg was the backup quarterback to Bo Nix at Auburn from 2019-20. Now he’s in his first season as a volunteer assistant at Pinson Valley (Ala.) High School, where the Broncos quarterback once starred.

“It’s a small world, teammates at Auburn and now I’m at his old stomping grounds,’’ said Sandberg, a Florida native who played minor league baseball for six seasons before enrolling at Auburn in 2018. “When I texted Bo to tell him (about the job), he thought it was pretty neat.”

Not only was Sandberg with Nix in college, he also was the Auburn backup in 2018 to current Broncos second-string quarterback Jarrett Stidham.

—Safety Tycen Anderson said he will be the gunner for the Broncos on special teams. He had that role with Cincinnati in 2023 and 2024 before moving to punt protector in 2025.

“It’s like riding a bike,’’ he said. “It’s something I’ve been doing for a while now. Now I’m getting back to all the fundamentals of the position and nuances of the position that I took a year off from it. So it’s pretty fun getting back out there.”

What I’m seeing

—Safety Taylor Rapp is excited to join the Broncos now that he has ironed out some personal issues. The eight-year veteran signed Aug. 20 before being released Aug. 26 due to what he said was “some personal family stuff going on.” He then was signed to the practice squad last Monday.

“It’s good to be a part of a team that you know has got it all on paper,’’ Rapp said. “Obviously, last season was last season and they got to prove it again, but obviously it’s good to be a part of a team that’s been there, that knows how to get there and is ready to take the next step.”

Rapp played for the Los Angeles Rams from 2019-22 and Buffalo from 2023-25. He was lost for the season with a knee injury suffered in Week 6 of 2025 but said his health is now fine.

—In 2023, Broncos receiver Marvin Mims Jr. was a rookie who averaged 26.5 yards per kickoff return and brought one back 99 yards for a score. That seems to him like a long time ago.

“It was kind of weird thinking I even did the old kickoff return in the NFL,’’ Mims said of the NFL changing kickoff rules in 2024. Mims was a Pro Bowl kickoff returner his first two seasons but not last year. Yet he is plenty confident entering Monday’s opener.

“The biggest thing is to give the offense the best field position possible to start the drives,’’ he said.