02-21-24 Hour 2 of Broncos Country Tonight

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Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Welcome back to it Broncos Country tonight. Benjamin Albright, Nick Ferguson, Grant
Smith here with you five six sixtynine zeros text line. Let's get right
to the NFL six pack. Itis time for the NFL six pad.
I'm gonna trade a last year aninsight and insight information you can't find anywhere
else. No. Six the topsix NFL headline. What sports betting is

(00:22):
big business, always has been,and now that it's legal in thirty eight
states and the District of Columbia,the money keeps going up and up.
I had a Greenberg of ESPN dotcom the nation the nationwide handle part of
the American Gaming Association is one hundredand nineteen point eight four billion dollars.
That is a twenty seven point eightpercent increase over the twenty twenty two numbers.

(00:43):
For the proof that the House alwayswins. Revenue increased by forty four
point five percent to a record tenpoint nine to two billion. Next year,
of course, could set new recordswith more than twenty three billion,
and betting projected just on the SuperBowl. It's unclear where the ceiling would
be and the course the house keepson winning here, but it looks like
gambling is here to stay. Nick. I know you are not a sports

(01:07):
gamler, but how do you feelabout sports in general being framed around a
lot of the sports betting? Well, then that has been happening for so
many years. It's only now comingto the forefront where it's becoming legal in
so many different places. And thereare people who have before this had offshore

(01:30):
betting accounts, but now they cando it legally, So it's not going
to change. And when we lookat sports as a whole and over or
across all professional sports, everyone's nowgetting involved in some form of fantasy something,
and that's kind of the gateway intoit. That's that first step of

(01:51):
walking into it. And right nowthere's so much revenue that's out there it's
hard to overlook it and just dropit. Like, you know what,
I see what Ben is doing.I'm not gonna get involved, right,
I see it. I know whatyou're doing, Ben. And every once
in a while, I look,I look, I look real hard,
and I was like, you know, I'm not I'm not gonna do it.

(02:12):
I'm not gonna do it. I'mnot gonna as I get involved,
gonna lose something, right, Yes, exactly, that's fair enough. I
it's interesting to me how everything isframed through the lens of sports gambling to
win the next two stories and thesix pack gonna be framed through that phraseology
as well. And I'll get youthat just a second. But fascinating to
me exactly how much of that isand the house winning by that much.
That's that's not surprising to me atall. But one hundred and twenty billion

(02:34):
dollars twenty big illegal games. AndI was one of those people who had
the offshore accounts. If you're gonnasay billion, you got to do it.
The awesome powers go for you.You feel you what? Yes,
with the picky race, we almostgot creantive, correct, there almost a
little smart cout, that's all wegot. Two my little bells are the
betting favorites to keep Stefan Diggs?Will Diggs be a member of the Bills

(02:59):
in twenty twenty four of these sportsbook has Buffalo as the favorite to keep
in DraftKings sports Book as the Billsat minus three hundred to retain Digs if
not he Chiefs and Texans are plusone thousand. Pats, Cowboys Bears and
Ravens plus twelve hundred Panthers, sixteenhundred Falcuts plus two thousand coach Cardinals Giants
twenty five hundred. Diggs has aneighteen point five million dollars salary to cap
number twenty seven point eighty five fourmillion for twenty twenty four. He's traded

(03:23):
before June first, cap charch shouldbe thirty one million dollars. He could
be released with a post June onedesignation or traded after June first with a
cap charge being eight point eight fournine and twenty two point two and twenty
twenty five. Four years ago,he wanted out of Minnesota, got his
wish last year to the offseason.There was some kerfuffle that he would want
it out, but it was justmathematically impossible with the money. Do you

(03:43):
think Stefan Diggs moves his way outof Buffalo after what felt like a down
year for him. Absolutely, firstand foremost, you just look at statistically
how he and Josh Allen have notbeen on the same page. And I
know that Stefan Digg has been prettymuch upset with the early exits by the
Buffalo Bills with so much potential forthis team, and then just kind of

(04:08):
the factor in just the frustration part. I mean, every player wants to
win ball games, but it justhasn't really worked out for Stephan Diggs in
Buffalo. Maybe it's time to takeyour talents elsewhere, and teams started calculating
age and how much you're making.Those never are great things for players,

(04:30):
And sometimes a change of scenery doesn'tplayer well. And I would like to
see ooh, because you're oh wow, almost said this. I'm gonna say
it anyway, because you're imagine StefanDiggs in Kansas City. I mean,
if he's chasing a ring, thatmight be and he would probably be willing
to take less money to do that. I feel like he was a better
fit in Baltimore, but you knowwho knows three well, speaking of players

(04:55):
that might be a fit in Baltimore, the Ravens are the betting favorite to
sign Derek Henry tight jurning back DerekHenry Willson be a free agent or early
betting of odds just he could beheaded to Baltimore. Ravens have the shortest
odds to be the team in playfor Henry to start the twenty twenty four
season at plus one seventy five.Obviously, Lamars the player makes Ravens offense

(05:15):
go. But if they add abetter running back, take some of the
Lodolph Jackson, Henry could be theplayer that go with At age thirty,
Henry's in the same player he wasa few years ago. But some team
is sure to sign him in thehopes they can retain him. Getting back
to twenty nineteen twenty twenty four,we let the NFL and rushing two consecutive
years, while the Ravens are theshortest odds up next to the Cowboys,
the Eagles, and the Texans behindthat. Do you think Derek Henry is
a fit for any of those teams? Yes he is, but is he

(05:39):
The better question is is he thebest fit, especially for teams like Baltimore.
And you would think so because ofthe bruising style of one Derrick Henry.
But there is another back, twoother backs who I think would fit
Baltimore perfectly, Josh Jacobs being oneof those backs, and Sakuan Barkley.
Because what you want you what youwant from your back is not just the

(06:01):
bruiser mentality down here running that's great, but you want your running backs to
be multifaceted, be able to catchballs out of the backfield, and sak
One and Josh Jacobs definitely would giveBaltimore that aspect to the run game that
they don't currently have. Yeah,I think it's gonna be an interesting free
agency with a lot of these runningbacks because you have so many talented running
backs out there now, and yougot teams that have a little bit of

(06:24):
money too. Chicago's got plenty ofroom. You know, even Nick Chobb
might end up getting cut and getin getting put out there on the on
the market. So there might besome there might be some real talent out
there at the running back position,uh, in this particular free agent class.
Or Justin Field says, I'm tiredthe ale to talk. I just
want it to be over Bear's quarterback. Justin Field's future with the teams one

(06:46):
of the big questions heading into thestart of the NFL off season. Yeah,
some intrigue to the situation by unfollowingthe team on Instagram. Recently,
now Fields explained that he did thatduring an appearance with his Bears teammate Equmania
Saint Brown and Lions wide receiver I'mon Rossa Brown on their Saint Brown Bros.
Podcast Feels ask why people take socialmedia so seriously instead of course,
he wants to remain with the Bears. The Bear excuse me, While noting

(07:08):
that it's not up to him.The Bears have the first overall pick and
obviously Trey Fields in order to takeanother quarterback with that selection, he said,
I still mess with the Bears.I'm trying to take a little break.
I have follow the Bears and theNFL. I'm not just trying to
have football on my timeline. TheBrothers continue to press Fields, and he
said he wants football off his screenduring an upcoming vacation. He's tired of

(07:29):
hearing the talk about whether the Bearsshould trade or keep him. Whatever happens
happens. If it was me,I would just, I don't know,
put Twitter or Instagram away and notworry about it while I'm on vacation,
rather than just, you know,taking the steps to unfollow somebody and not
see it or whatever the heck.You know your explanation was here, Are
you buying Justin Field's explanation? Yeah, I do, because just think about
it. If you're a player thatis in the topic of conversation, and

(07:51):
Ryan Poles is trying to make afranchise, making decisions. I either keep
you on his team or raid youand go and drive your air parent in
Kawid Williams. And whether you're athome or whether you're vocate and on vacation,
you don't want to constantly hear yourphone digging with news and you're following

(08:13):
the Bears so that that information it'sgonna be on your feet and you're gonna
get it from every notifications. Look, but you can do that. But
this bill is just another option thathe decided to do. Like and if
the Bears a considering that, Imean, and the idea is, how
can you get mad? If theBears are considering that, which we know
that they are, and they mostlikely will trade him, why can't he

(08:33):
as a player decide, you knowwhat, I want to unfollow you,
because you've already determined that you're readyto unfollow me. Yeah, and that's
for me. I just I'm like, why are you giving these weirdo explanations
so we know why it is thatyou're you don't want to see all this
stuff because you know what's coming,and just go from there. I guess
you're playing the game. You know, I don't know. But if to
me, if I'm going on,like I don't have notifications on my phone,

(08:54):
like all those apps and tweets andall those all those things that you
now, I don't get a singleone of those. I get a notification
if I can a text message,a phone call or an email, and
that's it. But you are visitingall Bright, he's justin fields. Team
is looking to trade him. Yeah, unless you know something I don't know.
Well, I'm just saying everybody hasall these notifications set up on their
phone and all that kind of stuff. I'm so dulled, like I don't
want to when I want to golook at that, I'll go look at

(09:15):
it. I don't want that invadingmy life. So I turned all those
notifications off. I don't have anyof that stuff on my screens. That's
hard, man, that's hard.That's hard. It's ask any teenager right
now, can you go without yourphone for a week? If I lose
their mind, that's find out whatI got to do. Go without a
week my phone without a week whencome back from the combat, I'll do
it. I go without my phonefor a week. No no no,

(09:35):
no, no no no. Ifyou go go go go meet, I'm
more killed. I have to record, I have to do interfusion, like
yeah, see we come back soyou can watch, so you guys can
observe. I don't want to.I can say that the building out there
and you wouldn't know, Like come, okay, okay, we'll do.
We'll see if I can do aweek. What are you saying, I'm
not giving up mine the under Yeah, I see, no five, I'll

(09:56):
speaking of Kayleb Williams, he's enteringthe NFL without agents. It's right,
Caleb Williams going it alone. Listof draft eligible players and their agents published
by the NFLPA on Wednesday does notinclude former USC quarterback Williams. They're sending
a couple of texts. That hasbeen confirmed. He has not hired an
agent. He apparently does not planto do so. Multiple players have opted

(10:18):
out in recent years and try torepresent themselves. Some do pretty good on
their own, getting deals, likeBobby Wagner. There said not Ravens quarterback
Lamar Jackson, whose long term dealwas delayed by the fact he was handling
his own contract, ultimately got agood deal from the Ravens, although arguably
probably could have done better job ofleveraging other teams trying to sign him in
order to push that price up,Williams had the opportunity to fight fire with
fire by handling things himself. Agentsusually work on your behalf to launch the

(10:43):
kinds of attacks on of the playersthat agents will launch an effort to jockey
their clients up. Caleb woms gonnahave to deal with all that stuff on
his own. Might not matter sincehe's people go number one, but we'll
see if that holds over the nextcouple of months. What do you think
about Caleb Williams going to the draftwithout hiring an agent. I like the
idea because he takes this in consideration. How many players have acted almost as

(11:05):
their own agents now in college footballthrough nil deals, right, I mean,
because you know how much your work, you know your value, you
know how much a team is intoyou, So you know how much you're
gonna get from being the first roundoverall pick. You already know that information.
You can hire someone to just kindof negotiate on your behalf on an
hourly salary, but you don't haveto give them all your money. That's

(11:28):
why think about when Lamar Jackson saidthat he wasn't going to have an agent
and Baltimore were just trying to pushhim to the side, thinking that they
were going to bully him. Atthe end of the day, Lamar Jackson
ended up winning because his mom representedhim right. So Caleb Williams can take
a page out of that book.And oh, by the way, guys
talk, who's gonna say that Lamar. Caleb didn't call Lamar to figure out

(11:50):
how he and his mom did it, so he doesn't really need it.
But the league loves to have agentsrepresenting players, and agents want to represent
players because if we get to apoint where top players start cutting out agents,
that's gonna be a problem for thoseguys. So we're gonna hear so
many things negative about Caleb Williams andhis decision, just like we heard about

(12:13):
Lamar. But if you can keepall that money in your pocket, I
say, do it. Yeah.I mean it's not the MAXI and ag
can make his three percent anyway,and the rookie deals are already slotted,
So like for me, I don'tknow, I would probably hire it.
I mean, if you're going numberone, that's one thing. But if
you're not going number one, youprobably hire an agent just just to handle

(12:33):
us. Of the agents usually comeout of pocket to pay for your training
fees and all that kind of stuff. Now Katle Williams has that money because
of the Nil deal, and maybethat changes the landscape on this and maybe
an unintended consequence of all this thatwe haven't really discussed, probably need to
discuss right here on the show comingon it. Maybe that's what we'll do.
We'll get I'll get a couple ofagents lined up, we'll get it.
We'll get some good discussion going onthis. And they kind of figured

(12:54):
out. But I I don't know, Like I've never I always see like
guys, I'm gonna save money onthe agent or whatever, and I'm like
a lot of the guys that I'veseen try to do it on their own
and have costed themselves money on thecontract. Okay, but those guys are
probably not top players. No,you can only do that if you are
in that top five and had thatkind of clout. I mean, by
Wacker did a great job for too, and an applause to him. But

(13:16):
there's I've seen guys that negotiated throwdeals I'm like, bro, you save
three percent on the agent fee andcost yourself fifteen percent on the market.
Hey, Lamar Jackson saved himself alot of money three percent. But again,
he probably could have gotten the Ravensto go higher if he got an
agent out there batting him up toother teams. I don't think Lamar Jackson,
we are complaining right now. They'reeating good. They go white and

(13:37):
the tiers away. Bills Well,no podcasts with Nick Saban, but Bill
Belichick is going to hit the lecturecircuit and his year away from coaching,
he's gonna keep himself busy. OnTuesday, Nebraska announced Belichick will serve as
a guest speaker. It's Sanuel Exsodo'sfootball clinic. I say for five and
six. It's unclear whether Belichick willdo more of this is the off season,

(13:58):
but he has the time and alittle to talk football. It's a
good way to stay in the gameand uh well, waiting for a chance
to return to coaching next year,and obviously it's a it's a good little
payday. The speaking circuit is manypeople believe Belichick. Willever, we also
have immediate job this coming season.An ideal way to make him more relatable
to fan bases that either will andwon't want them to coach their favorite teams.
In twenty twenty five, would yougo see Bill Belichick as a guest

(14:20):
lecturer and what amount of money wouldyou pay to do so? Ooh,
I would love to see him speak, but just pay one hundred dollars a
ticket. I'll pay a hundred wouldpay one thousand dollars a ticket? Nope,
I'm out. Okay, five hundred, No, two hundred, no,
one hundred one dollars nope. Okay, So one hundred dollars is the

(14:41):
living. That's fine. Now weknow what the number is. Okay,
go yeah, I mean I havenot to pay a couple hundred bucks to
see to see Bill Belichick talk.But I'm bring to pay a five hundred
bucks a ticket, But I dolike one hundred. I'd do like a
dinner, you know kind of thing, you know, like what a dour
play I do that. Well,listen, man, if I'm alost to
spend over one hundred dollars, Iwant to see leaves the coach gave me
a little more energy. I meanthe fact that his football knowledge is going

(15:03):
to be phenomenal. But give mesome energy. I don't want you know,
yes, I put you know,tomato sauce. You know my pasta,
don't I know? Give me something, say something, say with some
energy. Sandwich your chest. Tomatosauce on your pasta. Maybe the second
worst food crime you've had this week. After ordering your steak extra well done,

(15:24):
I extra well done, ashes,you like to just put ashes in
your mouth. You just say,that's not what I said. That's not
what I said. I mean yougot some great responses that on as well.
Just get some some some coal,throw some lighter fluid on it,
throw a mat, spark it up. Once it heats up to the hot
temperature, pull it off and putit with the side of gallic mash potato.

(15:46):
No, I'm not doing that.Rocous cut your today rolls on after
this. Welcome back to it,Broncos Country Tonight, Benjamin Albrighten, Nick
Ferguson, Grant Smith, here withyou, five six sixty nine year olds.
Text line got a couple of greattexts on here. Get to those
here a little bit. Steptuosa's Nickand his ash steak. That what's gonna

(16:07):
be around for a while when wecontinue to put together the T shirt shop.
I like my steak well done iswhat we need to get a fresh
shirt drink sure for Nick, GeorgeShorey gonna go at the top of the
Opera Football Focus get a chance totalk to him. Rumors abound that Drew
Locke might be head of the Raidersby the way reuniting and it feels so
good with rich S Gangarello, Okayquarterbacks coach. I don't know what that's

(16:32):
gonna happen. It's just rumors outthere. I mean, when you think
about it, it's you know whatI wouldn't be opposed to if I'm a
Raiders fan, And I know itsounds kind of ridiculous based on how Drew's
team with the Broncos ended. Well, you look at the potential of Drew,
how he improved under the Seahawks.But also I'll say this, I

(16:53):
don't think I this Gangarella, Drewreceived a fair shake here in Denver.
Let's be totally honest, because onceagain, you have to be patient with
your quarterback. And I don't thisis me on the outside looking in.
I don't think either guy got thepatience and the support that they both equally
deserved. Rich Gangarello was interesting tome. I thought he was. I

(17:17):
think he's a quarterbacks coach. Ithink it's very tops out. I think
that's what he is because I've seenit as an offensive coordinator. The Broncos
were pretty good on the script underGangarello, minus that stupid tight end reverse
they opened the season with. Yeah, I mean, but has one.
Everybody's got one of those plays andyou're eager to run it, and yeah,
anyway, but they were pretty goodon the script. In terms of
scoring, they were all right onthe script. Is when they got off
the scripts that they just they couldnot scored him. But he had no

(17:40):
natural feel for calling a game,And I think that ultimately is just you
know, it's just kind of whatTHEYD me in you you look at him,
and it was kind of the samething at Kentucky. Will Levis was
down there the Liam callin and movedon to the Rams. Gangrello took over.
Zeals See Kentucky, you could kindof see agains a situation where they're
good on the script, but afterthat he just didn't have an actual feel
for uh, for games and andwhat to call. And so you know,

(18:03):
I think he tops out of thecourt. He looks like a guy
develops quarterbacks pretty well. I meanhe made his name as the guy who
you know, found and developed NickMullins. Here it was Drew Locke.
You know, he kind of developedDrew lock they had he was thrust into
action, and those five games hehad, you know, he looked pretty
good. You know, he's beentutoring obviously Caleb Williams recently, so developing
quarterbacks has always kind of been hiscalling card. It might be his calling

(18:27):
card, but I'll still say thisat the end of the day, and
I truly believe this, it's abouthaving a support system. I mean,
just think about it. I mean, Vic Fangio didn't even refer to him
in his time here, and youknow by his name, I think he
was just what the offensive coordinated.I mean, that says a lot about

(18:47):
what the level of respect was forRich Gangarello and the fact that he's worked
with Caleb Williams. If Caleb Williamscomes to the league, no matter where
he's drafted, and I know,oh, the first year is always going
to be a struggle for every guy, especially at quarterback. And he starts
to flourish and prosper You cannot justlook at Lincoln Riley, but you still

(19:10):
have to go back to the teachingand development by one Rich Gangarello. Yeah,
I look, and not to bogussegment down with to Witch Risch Gangerrella.
But it's funny. We're talking aboutPJ. Carlossimo and during the break
you and I were in the LATrust pretty well thing. Carlos SMO got
a start as a head coach atWagner, took him from an independent into

(19:32):
a conference school before moving on toSeaton Hall. Rich Gangarello was the offensive
coordinator at Wagner before the San Franciscoforty nine ers hired him to be their
quarterbacks coach in twenty seventeen. Sothere's a little symmetry there for you.
Well, one guy didn't get chokedout, Well, one guy choked on
the field. And I'm just kidding. I don't I don't mean it,

(19:52):
Rich, I'm sorry, I thinkthat. Uh, you know, it's
interesting. I mean the Raiders,uh in two thousand and nine. Gagarella
was an offensive quality control coach backthen, so he is Raiders history there,
and maybe that's you know, maybethat's what that is. But we'll
see. I I was looking atthis thing today and you and I we're
going over some things to the show. How far away are the Broncos from

(20:14):
being back in contention for playing forbig playoff games? I mean we're talking
about TV. Has you made theplayoffs as it made the playoffs since the
Super Bowl? It's been almost tenyears. The Broncos are distanced away from
making the playoffs. And the reasonwhy I say that, all you have

(20:37):
to do is look at the teamsthat are in the AFC. Right,
So in order to get into theplayoffs, you're looking at seating itself.
Right, So where is it rightnow as it stands that the Broncos are
creeping into the playoffs? Because firstand foremost, you got to get out

(20:59):
of your division. Looking at theteams that are in your division. Obviously
you have Kansas City, right.The Broncos approved that they could defeat the
Chiefs with great defensive play, turnthe ball over, and good play from
the quarterback position. And Russ wasa part of them. So where do
you go from there? And yougot to think about this. Look at

(21:21):
the AFC West Houston and Jacksonville.The Colts are going to be back.
And then the Titans showed, youknow, hey, listen with Will Levis,
there's some hope there, how muchwe really don't know. And then
you got Baltimore Cleveland with Deshaun Watson. We don't know what's going to happen.
And with Pittsburgh, who's going tobe their quarterback? To be Russ?
Okay, if Russ is their quarterback, they're going to be competitive.

(21:45):
And because when you think about MikeTomlin, it's not a lot of times
Mike Tomlin has not had appearance inthe playoffs. And then you think about
Joe Burrow in the Cincinnati Bengals.Then oh, by the way, let's
not forget the East. You gotBuffalo, the Dolphins, the Jets,
Aaron Rodgers coming back. The onlywild card is New England. We don't
know what they're gonna be. Sothe fact of saying that the Broncos,

(22:07):
how far away they are from theplayoffs, that's kind of fun looking at
those teams, and a lot ofthose teams have what they have, great
coaching, good personnel, they playdecent defense, and established quarterback and established
quarterback and yeah, I mean that'sthe thing I don't think that that's the
other part of this. I thinkin the internet speculation about trading up for

(22:27):
a quarterback or you know, cashingall in for a quarterback is okay.
So you got that, So whatlook around? Look around at the rest
of the league. This is nota this roster after this year and the
gutting that's about to happen, likethis is not a roster that's set up
to be competitive right away, dude. I mean you mentioned that we're gutting

(22:48):
your roster. I mean that's gonnatake a toll. So that means that
you're playing with guys on one yeardeals and you're playing with a lot of
rookie experience, a lot of thepositions, and you're trying to stay competitive
in the AFC West. Not theAFC has a conference, but the West.

(23:10):
That's gonna be really difficult. Look, my hope is that somehow the
Broncos can actually piece some things togetherand be competitive. But right now,
the playoffs are not in the mindset. It's about fielding a team being minus
twenty five million against the cap andtrying to be competitive. That's to be
the mindset. Yeah, and it'sgonna be tough. I mean, it's

(23:33):
gonna be tough for them to competealready, and you're putting your tie on
one hand behind your back with thatmuch dead cap space in an effort to
try to squeeze through a season.It's gonna be rough for the Broncos this
year. I mean, I sincerelyhope we find a way to feel the
competitive football team and get out therechallenge for the playoffs and all that kind
of stuff. But certainly the Broncosare not going to be a team that's
favored for the Super Bowl at allby any stretch of the imagination. You

(23:56):
know, I hope they shocked theworld to do that, but it,
you know, it seems unlikely atthis point. And that's the thing.
You look around and like, okay, you got the quarterback. Well wait
a minute, now, let's lookaround at all these other teams. Is
whatever quarterback that you're going to get, does that make you better than who?
Does it make you better than Mahomesthe Chiefs? No, it might
make you better than New England possiblymaybe the Raiders. No, No hold

(24:21):
on, now, I mean we'veseen the Raiders. They're just been beating
the Broncos up for a while,Yes, and they did it with Aid
O'Connell exactly. So that's not that'snot a given. So that's what I'm
let's start with the micro. Let'sstart with this the division. Does it
make you better than Kansas City orthe Chargers? No? No, And
the Chargers are going through their owngut and rebuild. They're they're over the
cap, but they got for draftpicks and a new coach and Jim Harbaugh,

(24:45):
who's you know, kind of gota proven track record. Oh,
by the way, they got aestablish quarterback. Yes, and they have
their quarterback under contract, right,So that's an athlethotic. All you have
to do is go into some ofthose other guys ask them to restructure their
deals. So if we're if we'rewe're being honest here, at best,
go get the quarterback. At best, there's the third team in the division
right now. At best they mightbe fourth, Okay, segod argument,

(25:07):
let's just say the third at best, the third one in their own division.
So then we start looking around theAFC. Like you just brought up,
they're not cracking the top four.You know, if the bye week
beats them from the AFC North,the Steelers the Ravens, the Bengals,
the Browns are all better teams thanthe Denver Broncos. Right now, Does
this go back to what Thomas Demetrovsaid about winning football games, which specific

(25:30):
quote, well, the idea ofjust winning nine coaches that are just trying
to get nine games to hang outof the I don't know, but I'm
saying I'm looking around right now,and I'm looking at the at the teams
you mentioned the East. Obviously you'vegot the Bills and the Dolphins already,
Jets getting into the fray. IfRogers stays healthy in New england's a wild
card. And then you look atthe AFC south of Texans. The Jags

(25:52):
have got Trevor Lawrence. If youever get the defense figured out. The
Titans are probably a bit of amess this season, but you know the
Colts, so they get Anthony Richardsonback to gonna be right back in the
think of it too. You're lookingat you, You might be you might
have free teams in the AFC thatyou're better than, maybe at best.
See while everyone would look to countthe draft in April, I'm gonna start

(26:12):
piecing together things come next month.Because when you start putting those veteran players
on your team. That's gonna changea lot. Because if Baltimore is able
to get a Derrick Henry or JoshJacobs or Saquon Barkley, what does it
do for them? And oh,by the way, when you look at
Kansas City, they're not gonna haveanother down year as far as their receivers

(26:33):
dropping a massive amount of footballs.You're not gonna have that again. So
once again, it's about creating somewhatof a roster and the short term that
you're saying saying to your fan base, Look, we may not win nine
games. Hell, you might notwin eight, but will the team be

(26:56):
competitive? Now, that's something thatyou can sell because if the team is
losing by a field goal by apoint, then some fans will be willing
to accept that and embrace it andsay the team is moving in the right
direction. And whatever quarterback the Broncosdo take. Now that quarterback, let's

(27:17):
just say we'll have some experience soyou can say rolling into twenty twenty five,
now the Broncos will be set andmaybe you don't see to say return
on your investment. Let's look atit like that. ROI into twenty twenty
five. That's what I've been advocatingfor. Let's trade back, Let's move
some of that into twenty twenty five. Let's see if we can get some

(27:40):
building block pieces in this draft,you know, and let's continue to build
this thing out to where we're goingto have a competitive, sustainable franchise going
forward, instead of continuing to dowhat we do, which is trade all
that capital for it for an answerquarterback that turned out out to be the
answer, or at least not withthis coach. Even more assets for this
coach, and now the cupboard isbare, We're over the cap, we

(28:06):
can't resupply and reload through the draft, and we're sitting here with too many
holes to fill and not going tobe competitive. Why not let's just take
a flyer on this year, buildback up the draft capital, roll it.
Like you said in the twenty twentyfive, try to get the best
pieces we can this year to buildsomething going forward. You know what.
You know, I'm gonna take itback to you know, Sean Payton being

(28:27):
in New Orleans and using some ofthat New Orleans frame of mind. Right,
Let's make this twenty twenty fourteen andthat modo being like gumbo, because
gumbo is a mixture of so manydifferent things. And let's just say you
have a bevy of leftovers and youdon't know what to do with them.

(28:48):
Hey man, you build your root, you throw it in a stew,
and you eat it just like that, and then it's delightful collectively together.
Its opposed to being independent of oneanother. That's what the Broncos are going
to have to do. They haveto take somewhat of a Gumbo type of
approach. You're not going to hita home run in twenty twenty four,
so so don't try to do it. The idea is I'm using a whole

(29:11):
bunch of sports metaphors here just tokind of make sure that Broncos fans get
the point right. No home runs. We're going to keep the ball in
the park, and we're just gonnamove our base runners around the horn.
That's kind of the thing. Imean. Would it be great to hit
a home run and say, bythe Broncos got their quarterback of the future,

(29:32):
what else are you doing with theteam? Well how much? Let
me let me dovetail off that alittle bit, beause I want to come
back to you know how to buildthis thing out properly, and we get
into that. George Srrey's going tojoin us at the top of the hour.
But the other part of this is, you know, you talk about
moving, you know them are playingsmall ball, as it were. But
here's here's my question. Okay,let's let's say the Broncos do draft the

(29:55):
quarterback. Let's say let's say draftingmen twelve. Yeah, let's say they
take it. Let's say they takeJJ JJ McCarthy somehow gets through the top
ten and lands in your lap attwelve and you take him. How much
pressure is there going to be onto start him right away even if he's
not ready. Oh if, it'sgoing to be an immense amount of pressure
because the Broncos fans have seen whatStidham can do in two games, They've

(30:22):
seen what Stadham can do with twogames with the Patriots, what Steadam could
do with two games with the LasVegas Raiders. And by the standard that
the team is trying to get backto, that is not going to be
enough. That is not going tobe enough to be maybe justin herberts right
or a Trevor Lawrence or a CJ. Stroud so yes, it's going to

(30:47):
be pressure to start JJ because ifyou're taking a quarterback at twelve, fans
want to see that guy, right, Fans were pressuring the Broncos here,
just start Chad Kelly, a misterirrelevant when case Keenum was the starting quarterback,

(31:07):
and if you went out to practiceany of those years or that year,
I guess any of those practices,you would clearly see that Chad Kelly
was not ready to play in theNFL. It was, you know it
was. But the fan base,I mean they were literally booing case Keenum
at halftime of a game and cheeringChad Kelly coming out and taking a kneel

(31:29):
down. This fan base has somepressure, some unrealistic expectations. It's the
pressure that they placed all these kindsof things, and a guy like McCarthy
probably not gonna start much. Yearone might be a Mahomes type situation.
And the thing about Mahomes is Mahomesplayed four years and got all those reps.

(31:51):
McCarthy's still a young guy, probablyneeds a little bit more seasoning.
You're drafting based on potential. Well, with the Broncos having that pick in
the first round, twelfth overall,and say, for the sake of this
conversation, they choose JJ, theydon't pick again until the third round.

(32:14):
They have a total of six picksand this year's draft, So that means
as though, if you want togo that direction to say, get your
quarterback of the future right now,that you think and suffer the sacrifice of
the twenty twenty fourth season looking forwardto twenty twenty five, you might be
able to sell me on that,but you definitely are going to have to

(32:35):
hit on these other picks. Andall we already talked about the idea of
the Broncos being ranked thirty third asfar as their draft picks from last year,
which I think is a little ridiculous. But once again, some of
your picks, whether they play intwenty twenty four, they better be ready
to go in twenty twenty five.And if you're saying okay, listen,
twenty twenty five is the year.That's the year that the Broncos have their

(33:00):
quarterback. A lot of these rookieguys that didn't play that much this year
and in twenty twenty five they're goingto be ready to go. Once again,
you might be able to sell meon that because now there is somewhat
of a plan, and I knowin order to build something up, you
have to destroy it. That's howlife works, right, There's kind of

(33:20):
like a conception, growth and thedebt. Right, that's the process of
it. So if you're telling methat the Broncos are at the point of
conception, right, you might beable to sell that to me, but
you have to give me a planthat I can truly get behind based on
what you do in this draft withlimited draft capital. If you're going to

(33:40):
stay at twelve Wells and I thinkthat's the thing. I mean, if
you take the quarterback there, you'resuggesting that that is the plan. If
you take for instance, JJ McCarthy, you're suggesting that this is our plan.
We're building around this, and thisis our plan, and it's you
know, we talk about the chiefsituation and we'll get into that a little
bit. We got your Shorey comingin next. But it's a little bit
different because the Chiefs were a preformed team and the number one offense in

(34:02):
the league with Alex Smith have aHoltz jump right into that after a year's
seasoning. It's a little bit differentsituation here where you're trying build something for
the ground up Broncos Country. Nowto be back with georgehore We right after this