Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
B to an all brightening Ferguson Grant Smith here with you.
Five six six nine zero is the text line. Lot
of good texts coming in there. We'll get to some
of that stuff a little bit later. The shot door
Center stuff, we'll get to that here in just a
little bit as well. First things first, oging around to
the can't we costro a hotline? Though, I'll bring on
our good buddy Ryan Michael at the Ron Michael On Twitter,
(00:20):
contributor at the Pro Football Hall of Fame and football
analyst over there for the European League of Football. Ryan,
How you doing, buddy? Did we lose him? I'm here? Oh,
there we go, Ryan? How you doing, buddy? Doing well?
Are you no? You know we're doing pretty good. Here's
basking in the warmth that is the post drafts must glow.
(00:40):
I guess you were pretty high on the class of
twenty twenty four after that draft ended. If I remember correctly,
you had Bo Nix is one of your top rated
quarterbacks there as well. With the twenty twenty five NFL
Draft in the books, how are you feeling about this
year's class?
Speaker 2 (00:58):
You know, it's tough to compete with the twenty twenty
four class, because as you had mentioned, I had bo
Nick's as the second quarterback on my board. That meant
that he was the second best player in the draft.
So to get him where we got him, I was
pretty jazzed about that last year. You might be surprised
to know that I'm pretty optimistic about the twenty twenty
(01:19):
five draft class. I'm feeling pretty good. And you know,
I think if half or a third of the players
draft that ended up being starters, that's a good thing.
There's no sure thing in the draft, and so the
idea of grading classes that haven't seen the football field
is always a little bit silly. Can't blame anybody for
being interested in it. I've partaken that myself. But we
(01:39):
have a long way to go so far, on paper,
I'm more excited than most.
Speaker 3 (01:43):
Well, Ryan, last year the Broncos in the draft, they
went offense defense with the first two picks.
Speaker 1 (01:49):
This year they swapped it.
Speaker 3 (01:50):
They went defense offense, And today Baron was one of
those guys that most people were surprised. Were you surprised
and what are you think of Baron as a guy
being the first pick for the Broncos.
Speaker 2 (02:05):
I was definitely surprised. I think a lot of folks,
including myself, were thinking we would go running back, but
I don't think anybody anticipated a player of Baron's caliber
dropping as far as where we were in the draft,
and so I'm excited about the pick. And as a
former defensive back, Nick, I'm sure you can appreciate. You know,
Jade Barron is a player who has great diversity in
(02:27):
terms of where you can line him up. Texas lined
him up all over the field last year. You could
play him as a corner, in the slot, as a safety,
and I think what he's going to bring to an
already strong secondary is exactly the way that I would
want to tackle building this roster. I think I talked
about it a little bit a few weeks ago. When
(02:48):
you look to the strengths of the football team, obviously
our secondary and our pass rusher the two things that
stood out. Knowing that regression is a very real thing
and we set the bar very very highlight last year,
I love the fact that we're adding depth to one
of the most important positions on the defense. I love
the pick.
Speaker 1 (03:07):
Tyler Ryan Michael at the Ryan Michael on Twitter earlier
this week. Excuse me, I talked a little bit about
the size knocks on on R J. Harvey. It's funny
on Twitter you see these people talking about he's small,
he's small. No.
Speaker 3 (03:21):
R J.
Speaker 1 (03:21):
Harvey, Sure, he's not small. I mean the guy's five
a two oh five. He's built. He's built like Aaron Jones.
He's not built like Julia McLoughlin, who he outweighs by
like twenty pounds. I think it's just a bit ridiculous
the way that people try to frame that. We got
a running back, perhaps not as early as people may
be expected, but what kind of role do you see
(03:43):
Hardy playing in Sean Pagnon's offense. I like the pick too.
Speaker 2 (03:48):
And you know, as far as the height doesn't matter
nearly as much at the running back position as it
does at the quarterback position. And as you noted, he's
built at two oh five, I think he can put
on a little bit of bo During the offseason, Alvin
Kamara was just two inches taller, he weighed two hundred
and fifteen pounds, so he still cut of that same
kind of mold. And he comes to Denver with a
(04:10):
very impressive NCAA resume, and he produced over one thousand
yards from scrimmage the last three years in a row,
and over the last two he averaged one thousand, seven
hundred and forty nine yards per season, and he scored
forty two total touchdowns from scrimmage over the last two years,
even averaged six point eight yards per carry. And you
(04:30):
look at the abysmal production for le Broncos backfield last
year in terms of yards per carry, that's the number
that has to jazz you. He averaged six point five
over his entire college football career, fourth in college football,
and rushing touchdowns twenty two, fourth in college football and
total touchdowns from scrimmage twenty five. I think he is
our most likely option for running back one. I expect
(04:52):
him to see a lot of carries on first and
second down. I think what we'll be able to do
with him as far as in the receiving game is
going to dictate just how many snaps he gets. In
the college he hauled in six to one passes for
seven and twenty yards four touchdowns, not mind blowing receiving production.
The average eleven point eight yards perception, which is a
good figure. So I think it's a good value pick
(05:14):
where we got him.
Speaker 3 (05:16):
So the Broncos last season, they booked I think sixty
three sacks, which is a franchise history mark for the team.
As far as sacks are concerned, you got John the Cooper,
Nick Benito, a young Jonah Ellis who shows some promise
last year. But the Broncos decided in the third round
with that second third round pick to go get another
(05:36):
edge player with Savion Jones. Do you think that this
was a good move for them and how should this
impact them moving forward as far as having that group
of edge.
Speaker 2 (05:44):
Rushers, you know, for the same reasons. And I'm excited
about Baron in the first round, I'm excited about Jones
in the third round. You know, I would say in
the four to three he would line up as the
SENSEI end, Like I said, an edge rusher, right, an
aggressive pass rusher. Well, I think could really make some
place for us on third downs. And again we had
(06:05):
arguably the best pass rush in franchise history last year
that bar has said pretty high. And as I said,
regression is a real thing. Injuries do happen. So I
like what George Peyton did in terms of assembling a
roster by adding to strengths, we already had. As we
remember what life was like when Riley Moss was out
(06:25):
of the lineup. We could have sure us a really
strong corner in that situation, and now we're adding depth
along the pass rush. I love that pick. It's exactly
the way that we should be building a football team.
Speaker 1 (06:37):
Timer Ryan Michael at the Ryan Michael on Twitter. Shdarth Sanders,
who I think was largely responsible for a rating spike
in the latter days the draft this year was a
quarterback that some projected to be a first round pick
slid into the fifth round. Has a chance to be
I believe the first fifth round quarterback to win a
(06:58):
football game since Mark Burnella. Don't hold me to that,
but I could be wrong on that. But when you're
scouting quarterbacks, how do you look at a prospect like
you door? I compared him to Teddy Bridgewater. I said,
you know, I think that's kind of what he looks
like to me as far as is coming into the league.
But what did you have and what did you think
of that slide?
Speaker 2 (07:18):
Yeah, I don't think that that's a bad comparison. I've
also heard people compare him to Kenny Pig. I had
a second round grade on Shudor, and unfortunately, the vast
majority of quarterbacks drafted outside the first round, really outside
of the top ten, but especially out of the first round,
do not go on to become productive longtime starters. And
(07:39):
when you think of the exceptions to the rule in
even somewhat recent history, whether it's Russell Wilson in Seattle,
Tony Romo, and Dak Prescott in Dallas, Tom Brady in
New England, what they all have in common is they
step into situations where they're supported by a tremendous roster
and oftentimes also a very strong coaching staff. I had
(07:59):
a second round where on Shador and what that means,
And I can't speak for NFL teams obviously, I know
I'm not the first person to express this point of view.
If they did not view him as a first round
caliber prospect, if they were viewing him more realistically in
the second to third round, what that means is they
know there's a high probability that he's going to be
(08:21):
a bust. And when quarterbacks struggle, especially a guy like Shador,
who has a very famous dad, right, pretty vocal guy,
has been tremendous things for the Colorado Football program, So
it's a bit of a mixed bag. And I think
the concern is should Shador struggle early, which is something
that's very likely for most hung quarterbacks, especially those taken
(08:42):
outside of the first round. You don't want any sorts
of issues in the media. And maybe those fears are real,
maybe they're imaginary, but I think to me that explains
the slide all the way down to the fifth round,
because I think any reasonable person can agree Shador Sanders
is a much better football player than where he was drafted.
But if he's going to either be a backup quarterback
(09:04):
or a potential starter, who may struggle. I think those concerns,
whether the real or imaginary, explained why he sleep.
Speaker 3 (09:10):
So far with the draft, free agency now in a
rearview mirror, and now the Broncos have got their pigs.
Speaker 1 (09:19):
Now we got to wait for.
Speaker 3 (09:21):
Veteran mini cams, training cam and.
Speaker 1 (09:23):
All of those things.
Speaker 3 (09:25):
I mean, what should the expectations be for Broncos country
for twenty twenty five.
Speaker 2 (09:32):
That's a good question. You know, last year ten and
seven exceeded all expectations. I believe Vegas had us at
five and a half win, so it was a tremendous season.
If I'm being critical, I have to acknowledge the fact
that I believe we only beat two teams to the
winning record, Tampa Bay and I don't really count Kansas
City in the regular season FINALEUS So along the theme
(09:54):
of regression, it wouldn't be unusual to see a team
with just one ten under those circumstances drop nine eight
seven wins. Somewhere in that ballpark. What I can say
is this, if we book that trend sewn Peyton actually
coaches a team that moves forward as opposed to taking
a step backwards, I think it's going to do wonders
(10:16):
for his legacy. If bon Nicks develops into a top
ten quarterback in year two, which I think he has
all of the potential in the world to do, Sean
Payton's legacy booms. If our top three defense from last year,
instead of sliding backward, stays in the top five, even
what that would do for Vance, Joseph and George Payton legacy.
(10:37):
There's so much to look forward to. It's not going
to be easy. What our expectations should be is to
be somewhere in that ballpark. I would say of eight
nine ten eleven wins. Whether we're moving a little bit
backward or a little bit forward remains to be seen,
But as far as what I'm seeing so far in Paperneck,
I'm very happy with the way to be drafted this year.
Speaker 1 (10:58):
Roy Michael. Michael, what was your favorite moment of this
draft and what was that moment when you were like, oh,
we should have had him.
Speaker 2 (11:08):
You know, I'm going to say seeing Drede barn fall
all the way down to us and taking him is
something that I wasn't anticipating at all, but it's something
that I was very excited about because you don't necessarily
need to spend a first round draft pick on a
running back if you can provide that player where the
situation is favorable. So you know, R. J. Harvey is
going to be walking into a situation where you had
(11:29):
the second or first best rookie quarterback, a guy who's
a borderline top ten quarterback, potentially a top five offensive line,
a top five defense. It's a fantastic situation for a
second round talent who played so well in college. I
was almost equally as excited to get him in the
second round. So both two of those really really good
(11:50):
to see.
Speaker 3 (11:51):
You know, the conversation during the off season and during
the regular season is often built and shaped around the
quarterback position. Last year, when the season ended, there was
a debate whether Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson, or Grant's favorite
hero Jobert. Well, you know which one of those guys
(12:13):
like the best quarterback in the NFL. Now we move
into twenty twenty five, Josh Allen now has the MVP
Trophy in your mind, who coming into this twenty twenty
five season is the best quarterback in the NFL?
Speaker 2 (12:28):
Lamar Jackson and I don't even have to hesitate before
giving that answer. Obviously, both Joe Burrow and Josh Allen
are fantastic. Those are your top three? Did you look
at Lamar as a guy who led the league in
adjusted net yards per attempt last year by a country
mile at nine point three eight. Jerreed Golf was actually
second at eight point zero six. Josh Allen third seven
(12:48):
point ninety six. He was one completion for one yard
away from breaking Matt Ryan's single season record for the
highest passer rating in NFL history. If you combine the
regular season in the postseason, and that's speaking nothing to
the magic that he does with his legs. I think
the fact that Lamar Jackson has played MVP caliber football
for the last two years back to that first team
(13:10):
All Pro selections. People are going to point to the
disappointing finishes for Baltimore in the postseason, but as you know,
football is the ultimate team sport, and in my opinion,
given what we saw, especially last year, from Lamar Jackson,
he's the best player in the NFL until he isn't.
Along the theme of regression, it'd be awfully difficult to
do so three years in a row. Brett fav is
(13:32):
the only quarterback in NFL history to win three consecutive
First Team All Pro selections, but Lamar's best quarterback in football?
Speaker 1 (13:40):
Tyler Ryan Michael Hey, the Browns drafted Dylan Gabriel and
should do our Sanders. What do you think of that strategy?
Do you think either one of them stands a chance
of unseating elite Joe Flacco.
Speaker 2 (13:54):
You know, it's always a good thing to have options,
and when you're looking at draft picks towards the middle,
you're not necessary necessarily throwing away a lot of capital.
There's enough quarterbacks in that locker room with Potentially, you've
got to believe that somebody's at least going to be
an average starter. I think Shador will sell more jerseys
than anybody else, But it's not necessarily the worst strategy.
(14:14):
I think when Sanders dropped as far as he did,
there's such a value in that draft pick.
Speaker 1 (14:19):
We got to make a move. Well, Ryan, we appreciate
it as always and look forward to talking to you
next week.
Speaker 2 (14:29):
Good guys have a great name, absolutely.
Speaker 1 (14:30):
Ryan Michael. Let you Ryan Michael on Twitter, contributor at
the Pro Football Hall of Fame and an analyst and
then on the coaching staff there at the European League
of Football with the Prague Lions.
Speaker 3 (14:42):
Prague Lions progue seemed like it would be a lovely
place to visit.
Speaker 1 (14:48):
Well, maybe if the Broncos play that game in Germany,
maybe I'll swing by Prague.
Speaker 3 (14:52):
Well, I guess the schedule comes out with May fourteen.
Speaker 1 (14:54):
Yeah, good, about two weeks to schedule be out. We
should well know here a couple of days in advance,
but should be out right that time. And from what
I understand, it really is up to the Atlanta Falcons
at this point. If the Falcons want to play in Germany.
Then it's gonna be them. If they don't, then it'll
be us. So that's that's really for for that. Why
wouldn't they want to play in Germany? Well, why would they?
Or wouldn't they? They own the territorial rights, you know,
(15:15):
the same way the Broncos own like the rights in
Mexico or whatever. The Falcons are one of the teams
for Germany, so they have right a first refusal of that. Gosh,
I hope it's the Falcons. I want the German vacation.
I don't want to wake up at four a m.
Speaker 3 (15:31):
You were all business worthy lines my job description.
Speaker 4 (15:36):
Ben is thinking, Okay, that trip to Germany gonna get Germany.
Maybe we'll have it October bet Fest. I'm just saying, yes,
I'm just I'm just saying, is that a thing?
Speaker 1 (15:49):
What farguen? Isn't that that's something?
Speaker 3 (15:51):
Right?
Speaker 1 (15:52):
I have no idea. We're gonna have to look that
one up on the break the FCC. I don't know.
That's no. I mean that's you know.
Speaker 3 (16:00):
I think I heard it years ago in a both
wagon commercial. Yes, it's not a bad word.
Speaker 1 (16:07):
It is not. Why are you looking at me with
a very condescending look, because we're about to find out
during the break broughtos Country Night back after this, Hey
Tonight with all Brian Nick Ferguson grat Smith here with
you five six, six, nine zeros of text line you
guys want to get involved in the conversation. Thanks to
(16:28):
Ryan Michael for joining us in the last segment, Rick
Lewis for joining us in the six thirty segment. If
you missed any part of that, you go to Broncos
Country Night dot Com, slash podcast or which podcast, Apple iTunes, Spotify,
the totally free Ausoman Redesigned iHeartRadio app where you get
to take it for Granted podcast as well. New episode tomorrow,
New episode tomorrow. Who's there? Who's our guest?
Speaker 5 (16:47):
We're doing a compilation episode of a bunch of different
guests I think ten recently that uh just had some
wise words to say that I loved and went back
and clipped those up. So we've got one from big Al,
our former colleague Alfred Williams, and a couple other former
guests of just lessons and things that people said that
(17:07):
just stuck with me.
Speaker 1 (17:08):
It's like like a Seinfeld one hundred episode and you're
doing the montage, the clip montage, right, all right, I
can dig it. I can dig it five six, six,
nine zeros and text line. We did get some texts
coming in and we'll we'll get to those in a second.
We're gonna be breaking other Broncos draft class. It's our
first full show since, uh, since the draft obviously, so
we'll get a chance to get into that, Bryan says Ben.
(17:29):
Johnny Manziel started eight games in the NFL.
Speaker 3 (17:33):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (17:34):
There's another radio host in town that says, shud Or
will not start eight games in the NFL. What is
you're over under for his number of starts? Well, I
think you'll start more than eight games. I just do.
Johnny Manziel pushed Johnny Manziel out of the NFL and not,
you know, not anything else. I mean, he probably would
(17:54):
have had a chance to start some games. Not that
Johnny Manziel was highly effective in the NFL or anything.
He wasn't, but you know, it was one of those
things that his behavior off the field was what did
Johnny Manziel And you know, on top of everything else,
you know, Kyle Shanahan didn't want him, and he was
the OC at the time of the Browns. He couple
(18:17):
that with the Billy Vegas stuff that he did. Do
you remember that with the mullet and all that. Yeah,
you know, Johnny Manziel pushed Johnny Manziel out there. Shador Sanders,
I mean, whatever you think of him. I mean, the
floor is higher than Johnny Manzel for sure. I suspect
they'll start more than eight games in his career. I
suspect they'll start more in eight games this coming season.
When you look at that that roster there in Cleveland,
(18:39):
Deshaun Watson is not going to be playing any games.
So that leave four other quarterbacks Dylan Gabriel, Joe Flacco,
Kenny Pickett, and shad Or Sanders. And out of those four,
I mean, honestly, Chador is probably the best fit for
what they want to do.
Speaker 5 (18:52):
So how do you sorry, So, how do you make
sense of the Browns taking Dylan Gabriel before Shador Sanders
If you think Shudor is going to start more games
than any other quarterback on that roster.
Speaker 1 (19:07):
I mean, I think one of those was the coach
in the GM and one was the front you know,
one was the owner. But at the same time, I
think the NFL's mostly a meritocracy. You know, you get
out there on the field and if you're able to play,
most of the time, you're gonna be the guy playing. See.
I love how you phrased that the.
Speaker 3 (19:25):
NFL is a meritocracy most of the time.
Speaker 1 (19:30):
There are times where guys get past. You know, they're
certainly coach's favorites or lease fat as you well know.
I've seen a lot.
Speaker 3 (19:36):
I've seen a lot with everything I've done within the league,
and it is what I would say about Johnny Manzel.
Johnamanzel came into the league with a lot of red flags,
and those red flags were overlooked. They ended up biting
the Browns in the backside. But just think about it,
Johnny Manziel made Kyle Shanahan. Kyle Shanahan resigned because he
(20:01):
could not deal with the unprofessionalism of one Johnny Manzel.
And when you look at Shador's position that he's in
right now, and the question was how many was it?
Speaker 1 (20:12):
How many games he was going to start? The Yeah,
the question was specifically that Manzell started eight games in
the NFL, and this other person around town apparently said
that that Shador will not start eight games in his
NFL career.
Speaker 3 (20:26):
I think there's a strong possibility that Shadoor will And
the reason I say that is because he's with the
Cleveland Browns. I mean, when I play, no one wanted
to go to Cleveland because they said, well that's where
careers go to.
Speaker 1 (20:40):
Dot They still say that.
Speaker 3 (20:41):
Okay, also too, you look at one organization that has
somewhat of a CBS kind of receipt.
Speaker 1 (20:51):
List of quarterbacks.
Speaker 3 (20:53):
The Browns have that, so we know at some point
Shardor is going to be thrust into the lineup. And
knowing as though you have Kitty Pickett, who I think
Kenny is in his fourth year and he's been on
three teams, you have old Man Flacco, Deshaun Watson who's
not going to play, and right now would I would
dare to say, Sir Dor's competition is Dylan Gabriel. If
(21:17):
he can beat him out, I think the odds are
greater for him to start eight games.
Speaker 1 (21:22):
Yeah, I think so too, And like I said, I
think it's more likely he starts more than eight games
this year. Then he doesn't start eight games, you know,
in his career. As far as that kind of stuff goes,
I mean, what did you think of the slide? I mean,
because as we were watching this, I didn't expect them
to go in the first round. Once you got into
day two, I was like, all right, maybe somebody takes
a chance here. For me. Really, once he got past
(21:46):
the first ten picks in like the fourth round, then
I was like, all right, this is starting to get
a little little ridiculous here. I mean even Matt Leiner
or Matt Barkley went in the first ten picks the
fourth round.
Speaker 3 (21:57):
Yeah. I remember sitting if you and Ryan and we
were watching this as Chador continued to fall, and when
we were sitting there and saying, Okay, well, if this
is gonna take place, it's got to take place on
day two. And Cleveland at that point had two picks,
thirty third and the thirty sixth pick, And.
Speaker 1 (22:18):
Then when it didn't happen there, it was like, okay.
Speaker 3 (22:19):
Well maybe it's the Saints. And then it didn't happen there,
and we were discussing like, well, where was he going
to go? And then it's like, was he gonna slip
into the third round? That I think it was the
eighty first and eighty third pick, when Pittsburgh still was
one o'clock and I said, man, if.
Speaker 1 (22:36):
He slips past that, could.
Speaker 3 (22:38):
We be looking at a situation where he may not
get drafted at all. And that was kind of an
eerie ought to know that a guy who in twenty
twenty four, right after CU their record wasn't that greater
than the season. But still there were still talks about
cam Ward and Shador Sanders being the two quarterbacks that
(23:01):
were gonna be taken to see him slip that far,
it was, it was baffling.
Speaker 1 (23:05):
And then now with that taking place.
Speaker 3 (23:08):
Looking at social media, there were so many narratives and
ten four had theories being injected too the conversation, like
as to why that he was sliding, and some chose
to use racism as as as one of the reasons.
And I said, you know what, I'm not going there.
I'm not gonna take the conversation there that what doesn't
(23:29):
seem to make sense.
Speaker 1 (23:30):
Cam Ward went number one overall, Jaylen Milroe got drafted
in the third round exactly, So that doesn't that excuse
does not line up too.
Speaker 3 (23:37):
It doesn't line up, but it does set up for
a set of individuals who are looking to be feisty
about anything because now at that point there was no
more logic because logic had gone out the window for
a lot of us, like well, why is this drastic
slide and why is Chador falling? As far as and
then that allowed individuals to plug certain gaps that they
(23:59):
couldn't feel with things that were in the back of
their mind that it's probably untrue.
Speaker 1 (24:04):
Yeah, it's well, you mean, you know, that's how that
stuff goes. People can't fill in the gaps on something
in life, and they use magic to fill it. You know,
I just know this thing, you know that that must
be it, rather than seeking it. I think it was
a combination of things. I don't think. I think it's
On the one hand, I think should do or you know,
I mean, the the internal evaluations on him may not
quite have been as high as as people at home.
(24:25):
I think there is the looming specter of you know,
the shadow of his dad there, and the attention that
he commands and creates and brings with him. You know.
I think some of it was he did bomb some interviews,
you know, I mean, but who amongst us has never
bombed an interview before?
Speaker 3 (24:40):
You know what? I was thinking about this today, and
once again I don't know if any of this is
true what I was thinking, but we did hear his
dad talk about, you know, where he wanted his son
to go, and that's fine. Every parent wants their child
to do to do well. So I don't have a
problem with Coach Prime, you know, saying that, And I'll
have a problem with Coach Prime building the brand and
(25:00):
putting his son, both Travis.
Speaker 1 (25:02):
In a position to succeed.
Speaker 3 (25:03):
But I think maybe they came in a little too hot,
and maybe some people didn't really like that. But the
way I look at that band is that if you
were afraid that Coach Prime had a larger megaphone, then
you that's a big problem, man, because once a kid
goes into an organization, your property of their organization right now,
(25:27):
all the communication flows through them and not his dad.
If his dad wanted to say something on social media
after the game, let him do that, because guess what,
we do that when we break down games, and fans
do it all the time.
Speaker 1 (25:39):
So what's the difference. The difference is. I mean, even
my social media following, which I have like the largest
in Denver, and even that is not nearly as powerful
as Deion Sanders. I say Denver Sports me even that
is not nearly a figure. So so you're telling me
if I get on there, like I call punch Shermer,
punch Shermer to his face. Like, if I get on
there and do that, it doesn't mean it play fire
(26:00):
in somebody. But if Dion Sanders gets out there and
jin's it up and you got somebody in the NFL's
and off, it'sive cordator. They had a bad game, They're
on thin ice already. Dion's word. I mean, it's the
power of verbal community. He brings a mob with him,
he brings a mob of fans with him. He has
a large fan base. That's the business and stuff. You
(26:23):
just said yourself.
Speaker 3 (26:23):
You have the largest social media following and then in market, but.
Speaker 1 (26:27):
It's fractional compared to Dion Sanders.
Speaker 3 (26:30):
But steel, okay, people still can Well we've seen people disagree.
Speaker 1 (26:34):
With you at different points.
Speaker 3 (26:36):
But at the same time, you are afraid that Deon
Sanders is gonna say something.
Speaker 1 (26:43):
I'm not afraid of it. You, of course there are.
I know for a fact, I had I had dinner
with a coach at the combine and he's like, man,
am I really putting myself in that spot when I'm
already on shaky ground, you know, like we're probably gonna
get run out at the end of the year. You said,
Am I really putting myself in that spot with that?
If I don't absolutely one believe that this kid's a guy,
(27:06):
But you you're putting himself in that spot anyway, as
a coach or as a GM selecting any player. I
agree with you, don't argue with me. I'm just telling
you what they said. It's like, I agree with you.
I think you can't. I think you can't coach out
of fear. You can't coach for what the media and
the fans and dads are gonna say. You got to
coach for you and do what you're gonna do and
and believe that that's going to be successful.
Speaker 3 (27:26):
So I don't know who this person you had dinner with,
but that just seems I.
Speaker 1 (27:29):
Mean, you do not there.
Speaker 6 (27:30):
But that's kind of I've got to solve. Don't you
think I agree with you again? Because because you're you're
preparing for a failure outcome instead of a success outcome.
Speaker 1 (27:41):
That's crazy.
Speaker 3 (27:41):
You're afraid of coach prime, but you're not afraid of
the media in your market, Yeah, and what they may say.
Speaker 1 (27:48):
Right, and so that that's that's not like for me,
I'm like, that's nuts. I'm like, man, if you're coaching,
if you're coach, if you're if you're drafting players, or
you're coaching, for what the media and fans are gonna
be when you go to be joining them. Yeah, that's
what I was always so like, if you make any.
Speaker 3 (28:04):
Decisions based on what the fans are telling you, more often.
Speaker 1 (28:08):
Than you think, they like more often than you think.
There are teams that do that. Bad teams, but there
are teams that do that.
Speaker 3 (28:13):
And that's and that's the crazy thing about it. You like,
I know that that is the way that some of
those individuals actually think, and in my opinion, that's why
they make so many mistakes. You worried about all the
outside noise, Like be Carroll told me when I when
I did a coaching internship in Seattle. This was right
(28:34):
after the Seattle Seahawks beating the Broncos or embarrassed them
at MetLife, and I said, I need to go in
that organization to see what Pete is doing. How is
he coaching, how is he getting his player fired up?
And I sat down with Pete and he told me, say, look,
when he first got into coaching, he followed the trends
of every coach that came before him, and then he
(28:56):
realized every coach has hired as coach to be fired,
so he.
Speaker 1 (29:00):
Might as well just do it his way.
Speaker 3 (29:02):
So I mean, I don't understand all this fear and
apprehension because distractions are all around us in the league.
So you just can't say, well, this guy because he's
a Hall of famer, he has a mic in front
of him, or we're terrified of what he's going to say.
It criticizes if his son doesn't.
Speaker 1 (29:16):
Have a lot of success, that's terrible. I agree with awful.
I agree with you, and I think again, I think
a lot of people make their decisions based on the
wrong inputs. You you just got to do you. You you
got into this thing because you had a vision, You
had a belief in yourself, and you you believe that
you are the person to bring this team to excellence,
whatever your your role in the machine is. And if
(29:38):
you're suddenly pivoting off that to try to avoid getting
fired by avoiding somebody on social media, or there's going
to be a you know, a talking head that's going
to be on TV or whatever. Do you think any
six any basketball coaches are really worried what Steven A.
Smith is saying about him on Fresh Pizza or whatever
they call that show now Fresh Pizza, whatever it shows
called the Stage. It's just yeah, you know, yeah, that
(30:00):
one screaming expenses on there. You know. Do you think
there's any basketball coach I think really worried about that? No?
Speaker 3 (30:08):
No, okay. So here's what NFL teams need to do.
Right the individuals who you spoke to and you had
dinner with, all they need to do right now is
hire Bill Belichick's.
Speaker 1 (30:19):
Girlfriend, right, Hi, Bill Belichick's girlfriend.
Speaker 3 (30:23):
All of this goes away. You can sign anyone that
you want, but you hire her, everything goes away. What
did you think about the prank call? I thought the
prank call was stupid, It was insensitive and the fact
that just think about it, if my son did something
that put me on blasts, embarrassed me and embarrassed our
family name and oh, by the way, got me fined
(30:45):
hunter k oh oh, there's gonna be some furnishing moving
because come on, man, what are you doing?
Speaker 1 (30:52):
Obviously this kid.
Speaker 3 (30:53):
I would like to say he didn't think about it,
but he did, right, he knew what he was doing.
Speaker 1 (30:59):
These were from the Falcons. Well, it was unintentional. Well,
so to reset the story, Jeff Ulbridge, who's the defensive
coordinator of the Falcons, was emailed. A lot of coaches
were emailed the new numbers, the updated numbers for these
prospects in the draft. And that was on his iPad.
And he had his iPad there at the house and
his son got on that iPad and fished that number out,
(31:23):
along with several others, Tyler Warren, I believe, and several others.
And they were crank calling prospects, tell them they were
going to have to wait longer, whatever else, pretend to
be gms and is if that wasn't bad enough. And
I say, his kid, he's a twenty one year old,
he's a man. Twenty one years old, you're a man.
(31:44):
As I said, I said, they were recording it. They
put their faces on video.
Speaker 6 (31:49):
Stupid, like this is already stupid, but you're like stupid, stupid,
but you don't video the crime.
Speaker 1 (31:55):
Dude.
Speaker 3 (31:56):
I'm gonna push back a bit on this, especially with
the unintentional and getting his father's ad pad. Working in
the NFL, you have, it's a lot of security and before.
Speaker 1 (32:06):
You open So did you open your iPad?
Speaker 3 (32:09):
You got to put in a security code, right, that's.
Speaker 1 (32:11):
Attached to each individual. Yep. Where did the sign get
the code from? I either guessed it or borrowed it.
You know, he guessed it. Did his dad have been
taped it on the refrigerators though? Those? Well, I know
of a guy who's got one of those iPads that
has the security code taped. Come on, come on, what
are we doing. But at the same time, Colbritz came
(32:33):
out and apologized and he's getting fined one hundred thousand dollars.
Think about your kids real quick. If one of your
kids swipe something off your iPad, got on tried to
make himselves famous on TikTok about it, and he got
you fined one hundred grand. Well, I'm a light up
one hundred grand worth of that.
Speaker 3 (32:48):
Backside, Hey man, we're having a conversation. His son is
twenty one, and most people keep referring to from oh,
he's a young kid.
Speaker 1 (32:55):
Young men.
Speaker 3 (32:57):
So if my son did that, I'm gonna cut you
off a honey k right, pay for your own college yourself.
Speaker 1 (33:06):
You paid me back cut off, cut off college.
Speaker 4 (33:10):
You couldna need that degree to go get a job
to pay me back over the.
Speaker 1 (33:14):
Next twenty years.
Speaker 3 (33:15):
You see, here's what my father would do. He would
be pissed, he would rant, scream or whatever, but he
would tell me he wants one hundred k back.
Speaker 1 (33:23):
And he wants interested. Yeah, just like your s A
T S. Yes, yeah, still play hot. Yeah the juice,
the juice is running, man, I would like you care
it would be no end to the field. I'm like
you in it. And then you got one. This was
(33:44):
all famous on TikTok jeez, get all the way the
mess out of here. So so he went by for
all the wrong reasons. Yeah, man. Then he posted that
uh that apology and somebody somebody ran somebody ran it
against a I. It was an AI generated apology. Did
you see this? What was it? Yeah, Broncos cuts your
date back after this
B to an all brightening Ferguson Grant Smith here with you.
Five six six nine zero is the text line. Lot
of good texts coming in there. We'll get to some
of that stuff a little bit later. The shot door
Center stuff, we'll get to that here in just a
little bit as well. First things first, oging around to
the can't we costro a hotline? Though, I'll bring on
our good buddy Ryan Michael at the Ron Michael On Twitter,
(00:20):
contributor at the Pro Football Hall of Fame and football
analyst over there for the European League of Football. Ryan,
How you doing, buddy? Did we lose him? I'm here? Oh,
there we go, Ryan? How you doing, buddy? Doing well?
Are you no? You know we're doing pretty good. Here's
basking in the warmth that is the post drafts must glow.
(00:40):
I guess you were pretty high on the class of
twenty twenty four after that draft ended. If I remember correctly,
you had Bo Nix is one of your top rated
quarterbacks there as well. With the twenty twenty five NFL
Draft in the books, how are you feeling about this
year's class?
Speaker 2 (00:58):
You know, it's tough to compete with the twenty twenty
four class, because as you had mentioned, I had bo
Nick's as the second quarterback on my board. That meant
that he was the second best player in the draft.
So to get him where we got him, I was
pretty jazzed about that last year. You might be surprised
to know that I'm pretty optimistic about the twenty twenty
(01:19):
five draft class. I'm feeling pretty good. And you know,
I think if half or a third of the players
draft that ended up being starters, that's a good thing.
There's no sure thing in the draft, and so the
idea of grading classes that haven't seen the football field
is always a little bit silly. Can't blame anybody for
being interested in it. I've partaken that myself. But we
(01:39):
have a long way to go so far, on paper,
I'm more excited than most.
Speaker 3 (01:43):
Well, Ryan, last year the Broncos in the draft, they
went offense defense with the first two picks.
Speaker 1 (01:49):
This year they swapped it.
Speaker 3 (01:50):
They went defense offense, And today Baron was one of
those guys that most people were surprised. Were you surprised
and what are you think of Baron as a guy
being the first pick for the Broncos.
Speaker 2 (02:05):
I was definitely surprised. I think a lot of folks,
including myself, were thinking we would go running back, but
I don't think anybody anticipated a player of Baron's caliber
dropping as far as where we were in the draft,
and so I'm excited about the pick. And as a
former defensive back, Nick, I'm sure you can appreciate. You know,
Jade Barron is a player who has great diversity in
(02:27):
terms of where you can line him up. Texas lined
him up all over the field last year. You could
play him as a corner, in the slot, as a safety,
and I think what he's going to bring to an
already strong secondary is exactly the way that I would
want to tackle building this roster. I think I talked
about it a little bit a few weeks ago. When
(02:48):
you look to the strengths of the football team, obviously
our secondary and our pass rusher the two things that
stood out. Knowing that regression is a very real thing
and we set the bar very very highlight last year,
I love the fact that we're adding depth to one
of the most important positions on the defense. I love
the pick.
Speaker 1 (03:07):
Tyler Ryan Michael at the Ryan Michael on Twitter earlier
this week. Excuse me, I talked a little bit about
the size knocks on on R J. Harvey. It's funny
on Twitter you see these people talking about he's small,
he's small. No.
Speaker 3 (03:21):
R J.
Speaker 1 (03:21):
Harvey, Sure, he's not small. I mean the guy's five
a two oh five. He's built. He's built like Aaron Jones.
He's not built like Julia McLoughlin, who he outweighs by
like twenty pounds. I think it's just a bit ridiculous
the way that people try to frame that. We got
a running back, perhaps not as early as people may
be expected, but what kind of role do you see
(03:43):
Hardy playing in Sean Pagnon's offense. I like the pick too.
Speaker 2 (03:48):
And you know, as far as the height doesn't matter
nearly as much at the running back position as it
does at the quarterback position. And as you noted, he's
built at two oh five, I think he can put
on a little bit of bo During the offseason, Alvin
Kamara was just two inches taller, he weighed two hundred
and fifteen pounds, so he still cut of that same
kind of mold. And he comes to Denver with a
(04:10):
very impressive NCAA resume, and he produced over one thousand
yards from scrimmage the last three years in a row,
and over the last two he averaged one thousand, seven
hundred and forty nine yards per season, and he scored
forty two total touchdowns from scrimmage over the last two years,
even averaged six point eight yards per carry. And you
(04:30):
look at the abysmal production for le Broncos backfield last
year in terms of yards per carry, that's the number
that has to jazz you. He averaged six point five
over his entire college football career, fourth in college football,
and rushing touchdowns twenty two, fourth in college football and
total touchdowns from scrimmage twenty five. I think he is
our most likely option for running back one. I expect
(04:52):
him to see a lot of carries on first and
second down. I think what we'll be able to do
with him as far as in the receiving game is
going to dictate just how many snaps he gets. In
the college he hauled in six to one passes for
seven and twenty yards four touchdowns, not mind blowing receiving production.
The average eleven point eight yards perception, which is a
good figure. So I think it's a good value pick
(05:14):
where we got him.
Speaker 3 (05:16):
So the Broncos last season, they booked I think sixty
three sacks, which is a franchise history mark for the team.
As far as sacks are concerned, you got John the Cooper,
Nick Benito, a young Jonah Ellis who shows some promise
last year. But the Broncos decided in the third round
with that second third round pick to go get another
(05:36):
edge player with Savion Jones. Do you think that this
was a good move for them and how should this
impact them moving forward as far as having that group
of edge.
Speaker 2 (05:44):
Rushers, you know, for the same reasons. And I'm excited
about Baron in the first round, I'm excited about Jones
in the third round. You know, I would say in
the four to three he would line up as the
SENSEI end, Like I said, an edge rusher, right, an
aggressive pass rusher. Well, I think could really make some
place for us on third downs. And again we had
(06:05):
arguably the best pass rush in franchise history last year
that bar has said pretty high. And as I said,
regression is a real thing. Injuries do happen. So I
like what George Peyton did in terms of assembling a
roster by adding to strengths, we already had. As we
remember what life was like when Riley Moss was out
(06:25):
of the lineup. We could have sure us a really
strong corner in that situation, and now we're adding depth
along the pass rush. I love that pick. It's exactly
the way that we should be building a football team.
Speaker 1 (06:37):
Timer Ryan Michael at the Ryan Michael on Twitter. Shdarth Sanders,
who I think was largely responsible for a rating spike
in the latter days the draft this year was a
quarterback that some projected to be a first round pick
slid into the fifth round. Has a chance to be
I believe the first fifth round quarterback to win a
(06:58):
football game since Mark Burnella. Don't hold me to that,
but I could be wrong on that. But when you're
scouting quarterbacks, how do you look at a prospect like
you door? I compared him to Teddy Bridgewater. I said,
you know, I think that's kind of what he looks
like to me as far as is coming into the league.
But what did you have and what did you think
of that slide?
Speaker 2 (07:18):
Yeah, I don't think that that's a bad comparison. I've
also heard people compare him to Kenny Pig. I had
a second round grade on Shudor, and unfortunately, the vast
majority of quarterbacks drafted outside the first round, really outside
of the top ten, but especially out of the first round,
do not go on to become productive longtime starters. And
(07:39):
when you think of the exceptions to the rule in
even somewhat recent history, whether it's Russell Wilson in Seattle,
Tony Romo, and Dak Prescott in Dallas, Tom Brady in
New England, what they all have in common is they
step into situations where they're supported by a tremendous roster
and oftentimes also a very strong coaching staff. I had
(07:59):
a second round where on Shador and what that means,
And I can't speak for NFL teams obviously, I know
I'm not the first person to express this point of view.
If they did not view him as a first round
caliber prospect, if they were viewing him more realistically in
the second to third round, what that means is they
know there's a high probability that he's going to be
(08:21):
a bust. And when quarterbacks struggle, especially a guy like Shador,
who has a very famous dad, right, pretty vocal guy,
has been tremendous things for the Colorado Football program, So
it's a bit of a mixed bag. And I think
the concern is should Shador struggle early, which is something
that's very likely for most hung quarterbacks, especially those taken
(08:42):
outside of the first round. You don't want any sorts
of issues in the media. And maybe those fears are real,
maybe they're imaginary, but I think to me that explains
the slide all the way down to the fifth round,
because I think any reasonable person can agree Shador Sanders
is a much better football player than where he was drafted.
But if he's going to either be a backup quarterback
(09:04):
or a potential starter, who may struggle. I think those concerns,
whether the real or imaginary, explained why he sleep.
Speaker 3 (09:10):
So far with the draft, free agency now in a
rearview mirror, and now the Broncos have got their pigs.
Speaker 1 (09:19):
Now we got to wait for.
Speaker 3 (09:21):
Veteran mini cams, training cam and.
Speaker 1 (09:23):
All of those things.
Speaker 3 (09:25):
I mean, what should the expectations be for Broncos country
for twenty twenty five.
Speaker 2 (09:32):
That's a good question. You know, last year ten and
seven exceeded all expectations. I believe Vegas had us at
five and a half win, so it was a tremendous season.
If I'm being critical, I have to acknowledge the fact
that I believe we only beat two teams to the
winning record, Tampa Bay and I don't really count Kansas
City in the regular season FINALEUS So along the theme
(09:54):
of regression, it wouldn't be unusual to see a team
with just one ten under those circumstances drop nine eight
seven wins. Somewhere in that ballpark. What I can say
is this, if we book that trend sewn Peyton actually
coaches a team that moves forward as opposed to taking
a step backwards, I think it's going to do wonders
(10:16):
for his legacy. If bon Nicks develops into a top
ten quarterback in year two, which I think he has
all of the potential in the world to do, Sean
Payton's legacy booms. If our top three defense from last year,
instead of sliding backward, stays in the top five, even
what that would do for Vance, Joseph and George Payton legacy.
(10:37):
There's so much to look forward to. It's not going
to be easy. What our expectations should be is to
be somewhere in that ballpark. I would say of eight
nine ten eleven wins. Whether we're moving a little bit
backward or a little bit forward remains to be seen,
But as far as what I'm seeing so far in Paperneck,
I'm very happy with the way to be drafted this year.
Speaker 1 (10:58):
Roy Michael. Michael, what was your favorite moment of this
draft and what was that moment when you were like, oh,
we should have had him.
Speaker 2 (11:08):
You know, I'm going to say seeing Drede barn fall
all the way down to us and taking him is
something that I wasn't anticipating at all, but it's something
that I was very excited about because you don't necessarily
need to spend a first round draft pick on a
running back if you can provide that player where the
situation is favorable. So you know, R. J. Harvey is
going to be walking into a situation where you had
(11:29):
the second or first best rookie quarterback, a guy who's
a borderline top ten quarterback, potentially a top five offensive line,
a top five defense. It's a fantastic situation for a
second round talent who played so well in college. I
was almost equally as excited to get him in the
second round. So both two of those really really good
(11:50):
to see.
Speaker 3 (11:51):
You know, the conversation during the off season and during
the regular season is often built and shaped around the
quarterback position. Last year, when the season ended, there was
a debate whether Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson, or Grant's favorite
hero Jobert. Well, you know which one of those guys
(12:13):
like the best quarterback in the NFL. Now we move
into twenty twenty five, Josh Allen now has the MVP
Trophy in your mind, who coming into this twenty twenty
five season is the best quarterback in the NFL?
Speaker 2 (12:28):
Lamar Jackson and I don't even have to hesitate before
giving that answer. Obviously, both Joe Burrow and Josh Allen
are fantastic. Those are your top three? Did you look
at Lamar as a guy who led the league in
adjusted net yards per attempt last year by a country
mile at nine point three eight. Jerreed Golf was actually
second at eight point zero six. Josh Allen third seven
(12:48):
point ninety six. He was one completion for one yard
away from breaking Matt Ryan's single season record for the
highest passer rating in NFL history. If you combine the
regular season in the postseason, and that's speaking nothing to
the magic that he does with his legs. I think
the fact that Lamar Jackson has played MVP caliber football
for the last two years back to that first team
(13:10):
All Pro selections. People are going to point to the
disappointing finishes for Baltimore in the postseason, but as you know,
football is the ultimate team sport, and in my opinion,
given what we saw, especially last year, from Lamar Jackson,
he's the best player in the NFL until he isn't.
Along the theme of regression, it'd be awfully difficult to
do so three years in a row. Brett fav is
(13:32):
the only quarterback in NFL history to win three consecutive
First Team All Pro selections, but Lamar's best quarterback in football?
Speaker 1 (13:40):
Tyler Ryan Michael Hey, the Browns drafted Dylan Gabriel and
should do our Sanders. What do you think of that strategy?
Do you think either one of them stands a chance
of unseating elite Joe Flacco.
Speaker 2 (13:54):
You know, it's always a good thing to have options,
and when you're looking at draft picks towards the middle,
you're not necessary necessarily throwing away a lot of capital.
There's enough quarterbacks in that locker room with Potentially, you've
got to believe that somebody's at least going to be
an average starter. I think Shador will sell more jerseys
than anybody else, But it's not necessarily the worst strategy.
(14:14):
I think when Sanders dropped as far as he did,
there's such a value in that draft pick.
Speaker 1 (14:19):
We got to make a move. Well, Ryan, we appreciate
it as always and look forward to talking to you
next week.
Speaker 2 (14:29):
Good guys have a great name, absolutely.
Speaker 1 (14:30):
Ryan Michael. Let you Ryan Michael on Twitter, contributor at
the Pro Football Hall of Fame and an analyst and
then on the coaching staff there at the European League
of Football with the Prague Lions.
Speaker 3 (14:42):
Prague Lions progue seemed like it would be a lovely
place to visit.
Speaker 1 (14:48):
Well, maybe if the Broncos play that game in Germany,
maybe I'll swing by Prague.
Speaker 3 (14:52):
Well, I guess the schedule comes out with May fourteen.
Speaker 1 (14:54):
Yeah, good, about two weeks to schedule be out. We
should well know here a couple of days in advance,
but should be out right that time. And from what
I understand, it really is up to the Atlanta Falcons
at this point. If the Falcons want to play in Germany.
Then it's gonna be them. If they don't, then it'll
be us. So that's that's really for for that. Why
wouldn't they want to play in Germany? Well, why would they?
Or wouldn't they? They own the territorial rights, you know,
(15:15):
the same way the Broncos own like the rights in
Mexico or whatever. The Falcons are one of the teams
for Germany, so they have right a first refusal of that. Gosh,
I hope it's the Falcons. I want the German vacation.
I don't want to wake up at four a m.
Speaker 3 (15:31):
You were all business worthy lines my job description.
Speaker 4 (15:36):
Ben is thinking, Okay, that trip to Germany gonna get Germany.
Maybe we'll have it October bet Fest. I'm just saying, yes,
I'm just I'm just saying, is that a thing?
Speaker 1 (15:49):
What farguen? Isn't that that's something?
Speaker 3 (15:51):
Right?
Speaker 1 (15:52):
I have no idea. We're gonna have to look that
one up on the break the FCC. I don't know.
That's no. I mean that's you know.
Speaker 3 (16:00):
I think I heard it years ago in a both
wagon commercial. Yes, it's not a bad word.
Speaker 1 (16:07):
It is not. Why are you looking at me with
a very condescending look, because we're about to find out
during the break broughtos Country Night back after this, Hey
Tonight with all Brian Nick Ferguson grat Smith here with
you five six, six, nine zeros of text line you
guys want to get involved in the conversation. Thanks to
(16:28):
Ryan Michael for joining us in the last segment, Rick
Lewis for joining us in the six thirty segment. If
you missed any part of that, you go to Broncos
Country Night dot Com, slash podcast or which podcast, Apple iTunes, Spotify,
the totally free Ausoman Redesigned iHeartRadio app where you get
to take it for Granted podcast as well. New episode tomorrow,
New episode tomorrow. Who's there? Who's our guest?
Speaker 5 (16:47):
We're doing a compilation episode of a bunch of different
guests I think ten recently that uh just had some
wise words to say that I loved and went back
and clipped those up. So we've got one from big Al,
our former colleague Alfred Williams, and a couple other former
guests of just lessons and things that people said that
(17:07):
just stuck with me.
Speaker 1 (17:08):
It's like like a Seinfeld one hundred episode and you're
doing the montage, the clip montage, right, all right, I
can dig it. I can dig it five six, six,
nine zeros and text line. We did get some texts
coming in and we'll we'll get to those in a second.
We're gonna be breaking other Broncos draft class. It's our
first full show since, uh, since the draft obviously, so
we'll get a chance to get into that, Bryan says Ben.
(17:29):
Johnny Manziel started eight games in the NFL.
Speaker 3 (17:33):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (17:34):
There's another radio host in town that says, shud Or
will not start eight games in the NFL. What is
you're over under for his number of starts? Well, I
think you'll start more than eight games. I just do.
Johnny Manziel pushed Johnny Manziel out of the NFL and not,
you know, not anything else. I mean, he probably would
(17:54):
have had a chance to start some games. Not that
Johnny Manziel was highly effective in the NFL or anything.
He wasn't, but you know, it was one of those
things that his behavior off the field was what did
Johnny Manziel And you know, on top of everything else,
you know, Kyle Shanahan didn't want him, and he was
the OC at the time of the Browns. He couple
(18:17):
that with the Billy Vegas stuff that he did. Do
you remember that with the mullet and all that. Yeah,
you know, Johnny Manziel pushed Johnny Manziel out there. Shador Sanders,
I mean, whatever you think of him. I mean, the
floor is higher than Johnny Manzel for sure. I suspect
they'll start more than eight games in his career. I
suspect they'll start more in eight games this coming season.
When you look at that that roster there in Cleveland,
(18:39):
Deshaun Watson is not going to be playing any games.
So that leave four other quarterbacks Dylan Gabriel, Joe Flacco,
Kenny Pickett, and shad Or Sanders. And out of those four,
I mean, honestly, Chador is probably the best fit for
what they want to do.
Speaker 5 (18:52):
So how do you sorry, So, how do you make
sense of the Browns taking Dylan Gabriel before Shador Sanders
If you think Shudor is going to start more games
than any other quarterback on that roster.
Speaker 1 (19:07):
I mean, I think one of those was the coach
in the GM and one was the front you know,
one was the owner. But at the same time, I
think the NFL's mostly a meritocracy. You know, you get
out there on the field and if you're able to play,
most of the time, you're gonna be the guy playing. See.
I love how you phrased that the.
Speaker 3 (19:25):
NFL is a meritocracy most of the time.
Speaker 1 (19:30):
There are times where guys get past. You know, they're
certainly coach's favorites or lease fat as you well know.
I've seen a lot.
Speaker 3 (19:36):
I've seen a lot with everything I've done within the league,
and it is what I would say about Johnny Manzel.
Johnamanzel came into the league with a lot of red flags,
and those red flags were overlooked. They ended up biting
the Browns in the backside. But just think about it,
Johnny Manziel made Kyle Shanahan. Kyle Shanahan resigned because he
(20:01):
could not deal with the unprofessionalism of one Johnny Manzel.
And when you look at Shador's position that he's in
right now, and the question was how many was it?
Speaker 1 (20:12):
How many games he was going to start? The Yeah,
the question was specifically that Manzell started eight games in
the NFL, and this other person around town apparently said
that that Shador will not start eight games in his
NFL career.
Speaker 3 (20:26):
I think there's a strong possibility that Shadoor will And
the reason I say that is because he's with the
Cleveland Browns. I mean, when I play, no one wanted
to go to Cleveland because they said, well that's where
careers go to.
Speaker 1 (20:40):
Dot They still say that.
Speaker 3 (20:41):
Okay, also too, you look at one organization that has
somewhat of a CBS kind of receipt.
Speaker 1 (20:51):
List of quarterbacks.
Speaker 3 (20:53):
The Browns have that, so we know at some point
Shardor is going to be thrust into the lineup. And
knowing as though you have Kitty Pickett, who I think
Kenny is in his fourth year and he's been on
three teams, you have old Man Flacco, Deshaun Watson who's
not going to play, and right now would I would
dare to say, Sir Dor's competition is Dylan Gabriel. If
(21:17):
he can beat him out, I think the odds are
greater for him to start eight games.
Speaker 1 (21:22):
Yeah, I think so too, And like I said, I
think it's more likely he starts more than eight games
this year. Then he doesn't start eight games, you know,
in his career. As far as that kind of stuff goes,
I mean, what did you think of the slide? I mean,
because as we were watching this, I didn't expect them
to go in the first round. Once you got into
day two, I was like, all right, maybe somebody takes
a chance here. For me. Really, once he got past
(21:46):
the first ten picks in like the fourth round, then
I was like, all right, this is starting to get
a little little ridiculous here. I mean even Matt Leiner
or Matt Barkley went in the first ten picks the
fourth round.
Speaker 3 (21:57):
Yeah. I remember sitting if you and Ryan and we
were watching this as Chador continued to fall, and when
we were sitting there and saying, Okay, well, if this
is gonna take place, it's got to take place on
day two. And Cleveland at that point had two picks,
thirty third and the thirty sixth pick, And.
Speaker 1 (22:18):
Then when it didn't happen there, it was like, okay.
Speaker 3 (22:19):
Well maybe it's the Saints. And then it didn't happen there,
and we were discussing like, well, where was he going
to go? And then it's like, was he gonna slip
into the third round? That I think it was the
eighty first and eighty third pick, when Pittsburgh still was
one o'clock and I said, man, if.
Speaker 1 (22:36):
He slips past that, could.
Speaker 3 (22:38):
We be looking at a situation where he may not
get drafted at all. And that was kind of an
eerie ought to know that a guy who in twenty
twenty four, right after CU their record wasn't that greater
than the season. But still there were still talks about
cam Ward and Shador Sanders being the two quarterbacks that
(23:01):
were gonna be taken to see him slip that far,
it was, it was baffling.
Speaker 1 (23:05):
And then now with that taking place.
Speaker 3 (23:08):
Looking at social media, there were so many narratives and
ten four had theories being injected too the conversation, like
as to why that he was sliding, and some chose
to use racism as as as one of the reasons.
And I said, you know what, I'm not going there.
I'm not gonna take the conversation there that what doesn't
(23:29):
seem to make sense.
Speaker 1 (23:30):
Cam Ward went number one overall, Jaylen Milroe got drafted
in the third round exactly, So that doesn't that excuse
does not line up too.
Speaker 3 (23:37):
It doesn't line up, but it does set up for
a set of individuals who are looking to be feisty
about anything because now at that point there was no
more logic because logic had gone out the window for
a lot of us, like well, why is this drastic
slide and why is Chador falling? As far as and
then that allowed individuals to plug certain gaps that they
(23:59):
couldn't feel with things that were in the back of
their mind that it's probably untrue.
Speaker 1 (24:04):
Yeah, it's well, you mean, you know, that's how that
stuff goes. People can't fill in the gaps on something
in life, and they use magic to fill it. You know,
I just know this thing, you know that that must
be it, rather than seeking it. I think it was
a combination of things. I don't think. I think it's
On the one hand, I think should do or you know,
I mean, the the internal evaluations on him may not
quite have been as high as as people at home.
(24:25):
I think there is the looming specter of you know,
the shadow of his dad there, and the attention that
he commands and creates and brings with him. You know.
I think some of it was he did bomb some interviews,
you know, I mean, but who amongst us has never
bombed an interview before?
Speaker 3 (24:40):
You know what? I was thinking about this today, and
once again I don't know if any of this is
true what I was thinking, but we did hear his
dad talk about, you know, where he wanted his son
to go, and that's fine. Every parent wants their child
to do to do well. So I don't have a
problem with Coach Prime, you know, saying that, And I'll
have a problem with Coach Prime building the brand and
(25:00):
putting his son, both Travis.
Speaker 1 (25:02):
In a position to succeed.
Speaker 3 (25:03):
But I think maybe they came in a little too hot,
and maybe some people didn't really like that. But the
way I look at that band is that if you
were afraid that Coach Prime had a larger megaphone, then
you that's a big problem, man, because once a kid
goes into an organization, your property of their organization right now,
(25:27):
all the communication flows through them and not his dad.
If his dad wanted to say something on social media
after the game, let him do that, because guess what,
we do that when we break down games, and fans
do it all the time.
Speaker 1 (25:39):
So what's the difference. The difference is. I mean, even
my social media following, which I have like the largest
in Denver, and even that is not nearly as powerful
as Deion Sanders. I say Denver Sports me even that
is not nearly a figure. So so you're telling me
if I get on there, like I call punch Shermer,
punch Shermer to his face. Like, if I get on
there and do that, it doesn't mean it play fire
(26:00):
in somebody. But if Dion Sanders gets out there and
jin's it up and you got somebody in the NFL's
and off, it'sive cordator. They had a bad game, They're
on thin ice already. Dion's word. I mean, it's the
power of verbal community. He brings a mob with him,
he brings a mob of fans with him. He has
a large fan base. That's the business and stuff. You
(26:23):
just said yourself.
Speaker 3 (26:23):
You have the largest social media following and then in market, but.
Speaker 1 (26:27):
It's fractional compared to Dion Sanders.
Speaker 3 (26:30):
But steel, okay, people still can Well we've seen people disagree.
Speaker 1 (26:34):
With you at different points.
Speaker 3 (26:36):
But at the same time, you are afraid that Deon
Sanders is gonna say something.
Speaker 1 (26:43):
I'm not afraid of it. You, of course there are.
I know for a fact, I had I had dinner
with a coach at the combine and he's like, man,
am I really putting myself in that spot when I'm
already on shaky ground, you know, like we're probably gonna
get run out at the end of the year. You said,
Am I really putting myself in that spot with that?
If I don't absolutely one believe that this kid's a guy,
(27:06):
But you you're putting himself in that spot anyway, as
a coach or as a GM selecting any player. I
agree with you, don't argue with me. I'm just telling
you what they said. It's like, I agree with you.
I think you can't. I think you can't coach out
of fear. You can't coach for what the media and
the fans and dads are gonna say. You got to
coach for you and do what you're gonna do and
and believe that that's going to be successful.
Speaker 3 (27:26):
So I don't know who this person you had dinner with,
but that just seems I.
Speaker 1 (27:29):
Mean, you do not there.
Speaker 6 (27:30):
But that's kind of I've got to solve. Don't you
think I agree with you again? Because because you're you're
preparing for a failure outcome instead of a success outcome.
Speaker 1 (27:41):
That's crazy.
Speaker 3 (27:41):
You're afraid of coach prime, but you're not afraid of
the media in your market, Yeah, and what they may say.
Speaker 1 (27:48):
Right, and so that that's that's not like for me,
I'm like, that's nuts. I'm like, man, if you're coaching,
if you're coach, if you're if you're drafting players, or
you're coaching, for what the media and fans are gonna
be when you go to be joining them. Yeah, that's
what I was always so like, if you make any.
Speaker 3 (28:04):
Decisions based on what the fans are telling you, more often.
Speaker 1 (28:08):
Than you think, they like more often than you think.
There are teams that do that. Bad teams, but there
are teams that do that.
Speaker 3 (28:13):
And that's and that's the crazy thing about it. You like,
I know that that is the way that some of
those individuals actually think, and in my opinion, that's why
they make so many mistakes. You worried about all the
outside noise, Like be Carroll told me when I when
I did a coaching internship in Seattle. This was right
(28:34):
after the Seattle Seahawks beating the Broncos or embarrassed them
at MetLife, and I said, I need to go in
that organization to see what Pete is doing. How is
he coaching, how is he getting his player fired up?
And I sat down with Pete and he told me, say, look,
when he first got into coaching, he followed the trends
of every coach that came before him, and then he
(28:56):
realized every coach has hired as coach to be fired,
so he.
Speaker 1 (29:00):
Might as well just do it his way.
Speaker 3 (29:02):
So I mean, I don't understand all this fear and
apprehension because distractions are all around us in the league.
So you just can't say, well, this guy because he's
a Hall of famer, he has a mic in front
of him, or we're terrified of what he's going to say.
It criticizes if his son doesn't.
Speaker 1 (29:16):
Have a lot of success, that's terrible. I agree with awful.
I agree with you, and I think again, I think
a lot of people make their decisions based on the
wrong inputs. You you just got to do you. You you
got into this thing because you had a vision, You
had a belief in yourself, and you you believe that
you are the person to bring this team to excellence,
whatever your your role in the machine is. And if
(29:38):
you're suddenly pivoting off that to try to avoid getting
fired by avoiding somebody on social media, or there's going
to be a you know, a talking head that's going
to be on TV or whatever. Do you think any
six any basketball coaches are really worried what Steven A.
Smith is saying about him on Fresh Pizza or whatever
they call that show now Fresh Pizza, whatever it shows
called the Stage. It's just yeah, you know, yeah, that
(30:00):
one screaming expenses on there. You know. Do you think
there's any basketball coach I think really worried about that? No?
Speaker 3 (30:08):
No, okay. So here's what NFL teams need to do.
Right the individuals who you spoke to and you had
dinner with, all they need to do right now is
hire Bill Belichick's.
Speaker 1 (30:19):
Girlfriend, right, Hi, Bill Belichick's girlfriend.
Speaker 3 (30:23):
All of this goes away. You can sign anyone that
you want, but you hire her, everything goes away. What
did you think about the prank call? I thought the
prank call was stupid, It was insensitive and the fact
that just think about it, if my son did something
that put me on blasts, embarrassed me and embarrassed our
family name and oh, by the way, got me fined
(30:45):
hunter k oh oh, there's gonna be some furnishing moving
because come on, man, what are you doing?
Speaker 1 (30:52):
Obviously this kid.
Speaker 3 (30:53):
I would like to say he didn't think about it,
but he did, right, he knew what he was doing.
Speaker 1 (30:59):
These were from the Falcons. Well, it was unintentional. Well,
so to reset the story, Jeff Ulbridge, who's the defensive
coordinator of the Falcons, was emailed. A lot of coaches
were emailed the new numbers, the updated numbers for these
prospects in the draft. And that was on his iPad.
And he had his iPad there at the house and
his son got on that iPad and fished that number out,
(31:23):
along with several others, Tyler Warren, I believe, and several others.
And they were crank calling prospects, tell them they were
going to have to wait longer, whatever else, pretend to
be gms and is if that wasn't bad enough. And
I say, his kid, he's a twenty one year old,
he's a man. Twenty one years old, you're a man.
(31:44):
As I said, I said, they were recording it. They
put their faces on video.
Speaker 6 (31:49):
Stupid, like this is already stupid, but you're like stupid, stupid,
but you don't video the crime.
Speaker 1 (31:55):
Dude.
Speaker 3 (31:56):
I'm gonna push back a bit on this, especially with
the unintentional and getting his father's ad pad. Working in
the NFL, you have, it's a lot of security and before.
Speaker 1 (32:06):
You open So did you open your iPad?
Speaker 3 (32:09):
You got to put in a security code, right, that's.
Speaker 1 (32:11):
Attached to each individual. Yep. Where did the sign get
the code from? I either guessed it or borrowed it.
You know, he guessed it. Did his dad have been
taped it on the refrigerators though? Those? Well, I know
of a guy who's got one of those iPads that
has the security code taped. Come on, come on, what
are we doing. But at the same time, Colbritz came
(32:33):
out and apologized and he's getting fined one hundred thousand dollars.
Think about your kids real quick. If one of your
kids swipe something off your iPad, got on tried to
make himselves famous on TikTok about it, and he got
you fined one hundred grand. Well, I'm a light up
one hundred grand worth of that.
Speaker 3 (32:48):
Backside, Hey man, we're having a conversation. His son is
twenty one, and most people keep referring to from oh,
he's a young kid.
Speaker 1 (32:55):
Young men.
Speaker 3 (32:57):
So if my son did that, I'm gonna cut you
off a honey k right, pay for your own college yourself.
Speaker 1 (33:06):
You paid me back cut off, cut off college.
Speaker 4 (33:10):
You couldna need that degree to go get a job
to pay me back over the.
Speaker 1 (33:14):
Next twenty years.
Speaker 3 (33:15):
You see, here's what my father would do. He would
be pissed, he would rant, scream or whatever, but he
would tell me he wants one hundred k back.
Speaker 1 (33:23):
And he wants interested. Yeah, just like your s A
T S. Yes, yeah, still play hot. Yeah the juice,
the juice is running, man, I would like you care
it would be no end to the field. I'm like
you in it. And then you got one. This was
(33:44):
all famous on TikTok jeez, get all the way the
mess out of here. So so he went by for
all the wrong reasons. Yeah, man. Then he posted that
uh that apology and somebody somebody ran somebody ran it
against a I. It was an AI generated apology. Did
you see this? What was it? Yeah, Broncos cuts your
date back after this
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