Jon Gruden names Malcolm Roach his Gruden Grinder

Gruden's Grinders is the segment for guys who were never handed anything. An undrafted defensive tackle from Texas fits about as well as anyone could.

Jon Gruden

@BarstoolGruden

This week's Gruden Grinder is a Denver Broncos... MALCOLM ROACH!! Keep grinding, Malcolm. We are loving watching you dominate!! @foxone

Look at how Roach got here. He went undrafted out of Texas in 2020 and signed with the Saints, then spent 4 seasons in New Orleans as a rotation guy who never became a full-time starter. Denver brought him over in 2024 on a 2-year deal, and Sean Payton, his old coach from New Orleans, kept finding snaps for him. Last season the Broncos gave him a 3-year extension with $14 million in total guarantees. Nobody hands that to a guy unless he grinds for it.

Then came Sunday. On November 1 the Chiefs had 4th-and-goal with 4 seconds left. A false start had already pushed them back from the 1 to the 6. Jonathon Cooper got pressure and Roach brought down Mahomes to end the game. Denver had rallied in the 4th quarter to get there and won 28-24, and Roach made the play that finished it.

It wasn't a one-off, either. He has 3.5 sacks through Denver's first 8 games, which is a lot for a guy whose reputation was built on stuffing the run. That's what the segment is about: a guy who does the dirty work snap after snap and then shows up for the biggest snap of the game.

Gruden being the one to hand out the honor matters too. Around Barstool he's become a constant, from the Wake Up Barstool recaps to the Internet Invitational, where he spent time talking ball with Johnny Manziel and Jason Williams. Riggs said on Fore Play on 10-27 that meeting him still doesn't feel normal.

Fore Play Podcast

@ForePlayPodcast

“That's Jon Gruden. He's a man's man. He's an NFL coach.” – Riggs

0:40

A guy like that doesn't hand out praise to just anyone. Undrafted, passed over, signed twice by the same coach, and now the guy who ended a Chiefs comeback. Keep grinding, Malcolm. The Broncos have had a lot of help on defense from a guy most people outside Denver couldn't have picked out a month ago.