Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to another abbreviated post Rockies edition of Broncos Country tonight.
Filling in as your solo host tonight, you've got me
Zach Seegers covered for Benjamin Albright and Nick Ferguson a
little bit of a disappointing Rockies game, but it feels
like they're getting at least a little bit better. And
(00:23):
to be fair, that's you know, winning a taller than
Danny DeVito contest. But it's at least a step in
the right direction now. Although they are, you know, losing
close now. There's the old saying. First you lose big,
then you lose close, then you win close, then you
win big. It's good they're at least losing close now,
but they need to start lucking into some of these
(00:45):
wins here or there, because the opportunity was here.
Speaker 2 (00:49):
Tonight, they fell into a three to zero hole.
Speaker 1 (00:52):
But then once the Mets reliever came in, Ryan McMahon
hits an RBI double.
Speaker 2 (00:58):
In the six makes it three to one.
Speaker 1 (01:00):
Sam Hilliard, who they just called up, a former Rocky
of course, but just called up rejoining the majors, hits
a homer solo shot makes it three to two, but
then right back in the eight thinning, they let Francisco Lindor,
who's been a nightmare for the Rockies in recent years,
hit a solo shot of his own that bumps the
lead back to two and Rockies could not score after that.
(01:23):
But there should be noted they left six runners stranded
on the bases tonight. They were hitting the ball just fine,
just couldn't string it together. Mets, meanwhile, only left three
runners stranded. So you know, there's your gap in a
victory or at least pushing it to extras.
Speaker 2 (01:41):
There if the Rockies were able to get a little
more and you.
Speaker 1 (01:44):
Know, the season's lost, of course, but I mean barring
an absolutely unbelievable turnaround, but you know, they could still
at least avoid some horrific history. And I think that's
what Rockies fans need to root for at this point.
Speaker 2 (02:02):
Unfortunately, at least.
Speaker 1 (02:03):
There's something to root for, but it's it's a pretty
dismal thing at that. Right now, the Rockies are on
pace to have the worst win percentage since the eighteen
ninety nine Spiders, with one five to four win percentage,
and that's the only other team who's been worse in
the entire history of the MLB dating back to eighteen
(02:26):
eighty six.
Speaker 2 (02:28):
They're also on pace.
Speaker 1 (02:29):
You know that back then they didn't play one hundred
and sixty two games in a season, So they're on
pace for the most losses ever by any baseball club.
They're on pace for the third fewest wins ever, at
a little under twenty seven, it would be third worst.
One team had twenty I think that's also the Cleveland
Spiders there, and then another team had twenty four back
(02:52):
in eighteen ninety. They also right now, they're fifty seven
games into the season, three left until the nice round
number of sixty. If they don't win out over these
final three games, which would push them to twelve and
forty eight, they will have the worst sixty games start
(03:14):
in MLB history, dating all the way back to eighteen
eighty six. Even if they go two and one, they're
going to be tied for that not so illustrious honor.
They have to win out over these not win out,
you know, the rest of the season, but win out
over these final three games. Two against the Red Hot Nets,
(03:34):
one against a more beautiful Marlins team.
Speaker 2 (03:37):
But you know, the Marlins are.
Speaker 1 (03:38):
Looking at their schedule and see the Rockies coming up
and are circling out as a w So if the
Rockies don't win out against those three games, they are
going to be forever at the bottom of.
Speaker 2 (03:48):
The barrel through sixty games.
Speaker 1 (03:51):
And to some of this might seem like old hat.
They were just there for fifty games. No, no, no,
they were bad. It was bad, but it was the
worst fifty games start since eighteen ninety five. There were clubs,
you know, even if it was pre Right Brothers.
Speaker 2 (04:05):
But there were clubs who had had a worse run.
You know, a team called the Cleveland Spiders.
Speaker 1 (04:11):
I don't know if there's any sports team that's been
named the Spiders in the last fifty years. But nonetheless,
there was a club that was at least worse through
fifty unless they went out three to zero. You can't
say that anymore about the sixty game marks, so hopefully,
you know, I do think they're playing better baseball. I've
been running a lot of the Rockies games for US
(04:31):
over here, following them closely as a result, and I
think they're playing better baseball recently, but they got to
start having it payoff in the wins column. Good to
see Kyle Friedland have a good game today though. Anyways,
let's get into some Broncos news. It's great that we
have the Broncos kind of as a as a positive team.
(04:53):
You know, we haven't gotten to be this optimistic about
an upcoming Broncos season since you know, twenty twenty two,
and even then it was all projection, you know. And
this Nate Hacket guy seems exciting. This Russell Wilson thing
seems exciting. This is, you know, building on a proven
foundation that just made it to the playoffs with Sean
(05:13):
Payton and bow Nicks, and so I think you've got
a real solid reason to be hopeful this season or
this summer in a way that Broncos fans probably haven't
gotten to experienced since the summer of twenty fifteen before
they won the Super Bowl. You know, even twenty sixteen,
coming off that Super Bowl, it was like, eh, I
(05:34):
don't know, Mark Sanchez, you got some real hope here?
And I think, yeah, I think everyone in Bronco's country
is optimistic about bo Nicks at least continuing to look
like a quality starting quarterback. I don't think people are
worried about the Mac Jones drop off or anything though
that is a possibility. You know, Patriots fans weren't expecting
(05:56):
mac Jones to completely fall off after he won of
the Year or after his great rookie season.
Speaker 2 (06:03):
You know, Mayfield's turned it around.
Speaker 1 (06:04):
That Browns fans weren't expecting what ended up happening to him.
Goff went from being a disastrous rookie to having a
great rest of his rookie contract, back to being disastrous,
back to being great again.
Speaker 2 (06:15):
So you never you never know.
Speaker 1 (06:16):
You don't want to put the cart before the horse,
or you know, count mixing my idioms up that count
chickens before they hatch.
Speaker 2 (06:28):
Nonetheless, I think there's very.
Speaker 1 (06:30):
Few reasons to feel pessimistic about bo Nicks's outlook, and
I think there's a good number of reasons to think
he could explode this upcoming season. He has demonstrated throughout
his collegiate career and into his first year in the
pros a great aptitude for growth, and I really think
(06:51):
that's a skill that doesn't get enough discussion.
Speaker 2 (06:54):
The ability to.
Speaker 1 (06:57):
Take to coaching and then implement it in a game
is absolutely a skill. Drew Locke, you know, I think
applied himself plenty hard, you know, in these off seasons
and in practice and whatnot. Has all the you know,
god given talent you'd want in a quarterback prospect.
Speaker 2 (07:14):
He's not Josh Allen, but he's got more than.
Speaker 1 (07:17):
Enough to be a top ten, maybe even top five
starting quarterback in the league.
Speaker 2 (07:22):
He's more physically talented than Bo.
Speaker 1 (07:24):
He never really sniffed what bo Nicks offered this past year.
Speaker 2 (07:30):
I don't even have to qualify he never sniffed it.
Speaker 1 (07:35):
And he also, you know, played I think he has
the record for most SEC starts in a collegiate career.
So he was another guy very experienced in college, comes
into the NFL.
Speaker 2 (07:44):
You know, got then there's you know, some.
Speaker 1 (07:46):
Up and downs or switching in and out of the starter.
But he got two three years in Denver, and it
just it could not click for.
Speaker 3 (07:56):
Bo.
Speaker 1 (07:56):
Nicks was a And really you look at Drew Lock's
fresh year of Missouri his senior year of Missouri, the.
Speaker 2 (08:02):
Prospect profiles are nearly identical.
Speaker 1 (08:04):
Great talent, you know, needs to work on his consistency,
there's some bad footwork he needs to clean up.
Speaker 2 (08:08):
Frankly, same scouting report he has right now.
Speaker 1 (08:11):
And then you look at bow Knicks, no player in
last year, no quarterback, maybe even no player in last
year's draft class grew as much from the start of
their crew legiate career to the end of their collegiate
career than bow Knicks. It's a Joe Burrow like story,
and he's not that was not that level of prospect
coming out. But Joe Burrow, you know, went from being
(08:35):
a walk on at or you know, being this backup
at Ohio State and struggling to win a starting job
against like JT.
Speaker 2 (08:43):
Barrett and whatnot.
Speaker 1 (08:45):
Turns around, goes to LSU and has the greatest season
we've seen from a collegiate player. That that type of
growth and development is meaningful, and bo Nix has demonstrated
that throughout his college career.
Speaker 2 (08:55):
Goes to the pros and we had.
Speaker 1 (08:57):
Been and Ryan lad you know this time last year saying, oh,
I don't know, hey, it's Rockie Mini camp, it's OTAs.
It doesn't look great right now, They're probably gonna be
Sidham or Zach Wilson starting the season. And then by
the time fans were showing up for training camp, this
guy looks great. This guy's had in you know, some
of the best practices we've seen from a Broncos quarterbacks
(09:20):
since Peyton Manning, like this guy in Teddy Bridgewater probably
the best practice quarterbacks since Peyton Manning. So the hype
started to build. The preseason, Oh, we looked a little frazzled.
You know, there's a feet aren't great, there's a little
sensitive to pressure.
Speaker 2 (09:35):
By the final preseason game, it was like, this guy looks,
let's go. Let's go. First NFL game.
Speaker 1 (09:41):
You've got Adam Marceletta in the booth, Oh, knowing his
throws just as they leave his fingers because they're such
obvious interceptions. And by the end, you know, he's going
toe to toe against Mahomes in Arrowhead, He's going toe
to toe with Joe Burrow in a shootout in Cincinnati.
(10:01):
That level of growth we all saw it, you know,
in that Week six game against the Saints, Week seven
against the Panthers, we all saw it.
Speaker 2 (10:08):
And that ability to grow is huge.
Speaker 1 (10:10):
Now he's having a full off season in the same
offense with largely the same weapons, continue to build that chemistry.
He talked this week during his media availability about how
huge it is for him now to you know, in college,
they don't really call plays or deliver those play calls
in the same way as they do in the NFL.
You know, during his tenure, they had the sandwich boards
(10:32):
and there wasn't a lot of calling out the plays
at the line. That was an awkward adjustment for him
last year. This year, he talked about how he doesn't
even have to think about it and how meaningful that
is because as a quarterback, you don't want to have
to think about, oh, what's this guy doing, what that guy?
What's that guy doing on this play? How you know,
what's my audibles? What are you You don't want to
(10:53):
have to be juggling all that as you come up
to the line of scrimmage. You want to have that
all filed away, easily accessible, and just come up to
the line. What's the defense giving me to diagnose it
and go for that? Now you can go to your
arsenal of options and pick the right one. And that's
how the greats like Tom Brady and Peyton Manning have
(11:13):
done it. Bo Nick's talking about the game slowing down
for him in that sense, I think is pretty meaningful.
Speaker 2 (11:21):
Another meaningful aspect.
Speaker 1 (11:23):
Right, we've already gone over how he's demonstrated an ability
to grow pretty regularly throughout his football playing career. I
don't know what he was doing in high school, but
at least college pro. This is going to be the
first time since high school where he's having consistent coaching.
(11:46):
He's had a different offensive coordinator, having to learn a
different offense every single year of his collegiate career, every
single Yeah, and then you know he goes to the PROS.
One year in the Pros, that's a whole new offense
and Sean radically different than anything he was doing in college.
Speaker 2 (12:02):
Every year he's tried.
Speaker 1 (12:04):
To play football on a big stage, you know, whether
it be the SEC or Pac twelve or now the NFL,
He's had to start from an offensive foundation of zero.
He's had to suspend, you know, the first half of
all those seasons, laying the offensive foundation for you know,
where are we going to go from here? This is
the first time since high school when you know, you
(12:26):
have to think his football IQ. His ability to process
these things mentally or implement him into his game was
much different, much lesser than it is now since first
time since high school where he's getting to, you know,
build on the film room sessions he had with Sean
Paydon last year it's not from zero having to relearn
(12:46):
how to do all that. They already speak the same language,
they're on the same page, and they can go, Okay,
this is where.
Speaker 2 (12:54):
We were last year. How do we take that next step?
Speaker 1 (12:56):
How do we get this team ready to you know,
not only have it a good story they made the playoffs,
but start winning some playoff games and being a scary team,
a contender even in the AFC. Speaking of some year
two breakouts, Sean Payton also highlighted Troy Franklin today as
(13:18):
a guy who could see a big year or two.
He compared him to Marvin Mims in that sense. Marvin Mims,
of course, broke out last season halfway through that sophomore campaign,
and Peyton, you know, wasn't saying, hey, we're going to
save that till the second half of the season, but
said he thinks Troy Franklin could have a similar ascension
(13:39):
this year, as you know, they they figure out how
to better use him and he meshes with the offense better.
Speaker 2 (13:45):
Some of that.
Speaker 1 (13:45):
Meshing, you know, him learning NFL stuff is probably true
that that's going to be a lot easier for him
this season.
Speaker 2 (13:52):
As we just discussed with Bo.
Speaker 1 (13:55):
But you know, it doesn't seem like the reason Troy
Franklin struggled last year was a misunderstanding from the coaching
staff of how to utilize him, or you know, him
being lost out there on the field. The plays were
there to be made, right, he was getting opened downfield plenty.
He just wasn't finishing him. He was dropping the ball.
(14:19):
Now again, maybe year two, the pressure of being in
the NFL is a little lesser. You're you're more used
to the routine, and maybe the catches come as a result.
But that is one thing that caught my eyes because
Marvin Mims, you know, he broke out in year two
because it took him a second to figure out, Okay,
how are we going to use this guy? How are
(14:40):
we going to maximize this talent? Because he's got some
very special skills. How do we get that implemented into
this offense where it's benefiting us and he's not just
you know, this special teams guy, or you know, even
if he remains a gadget guy, how can we make
that a substantial part of our offensive diet. That's not
(15:01):
really the hold up with Troy Franklin, right, you know,
maybe his role gets a little bigger. That could maybe
be one thing, but we saw it last year. He
is a vertical deep threat. With his frame, how light
of a body he is, you don't really want him
working over the middle. You don't want him being even
a guy like DK Metcalf where it's like, hey, let's
hit this guy on a slant.
Speaker 2 (15:22):
He's got crazy.
Speaker 1 (15:23):
Speed and you know he can just take that ball,
get a runway and go. That's not going to be
really Troy Franklin because the arm tackles, the lighter contact
can trip him up.
Speaker 2 (15:33):
You don't want him trying.
Speaker 1 (15:34):
To create after the catch that's not as fast as
he is. That's probably not going to be his game.
His game as going to be taking the top off
the defense, and we saw he was special at it
last year. Look at the advanced metrics on you know,
downfield separation, he's at the top of the leak. He
looks like an elite downfield target in that regard. There's
(15:56):
something there. It's just can he finish the place. And
you know, unfortunately for Peyton, I don't know if that's going.
Speaker 2 (16:04):
To be up to Payton.
Speaker 1 (16:04):
I don't think that's going to be up to Bonex either.
I think that's going to just be Troy Franklin finishing
the place that weren't getting finished a season ago. But
they're there for him, and if he does it, I
think we could talk about a guy having a bigger
leap from twenty twenty four to twenty twenty five than
any other member of the Denver Broncos because that vertical ability,
(16:25):
that explosive ability, especially from the boundary where Franklin will
probably play a lot, would be game changing for this offense.
It's something they could so desperately use a little more speed,
a little more verticality. That's not just sudden go dunk
on a guy, but that's probably going to have to
come from either Men's or Franklin taking a big leap
(16:46):
in their development. If Franklin can just catch the ball
more consistently, that would go a large.
Speaker 2 (16:52):
Way towards bridging that gap.
Speaker 1 (16:58):
More news about this exciting young core Jeff Legwald projected ESPN.
Jeff Legwald projected, in an article talking about some of
the biggest contract standoffs currently happening in the NFL right now,
projected that Nick Benito's average annual value will probably come
out to about twenty four point five million. Now, that
(17:25):
definitely seems pricey for Benito, a guy who has only
looked like that level of pass rusher for a single season.
But it's probably a good deal for the Broncos. They
should probably do it. And I think I'm in the
minority here. I think a lot of people feel a
little gun shy because of the risk associated. And who
(17:46):
can blame Broncos country after how bad the rust thing went.
Speaker 2 (17:49):
But that risk goes both ways.
Speaker 1 (17:52):
It's not just well, if we sign this guy and
he's bad, whoo, that's a lot of wasted money. The
way more teams are wasting money nowadays. Isn't that you
can get out of those situations, generally speaking pretty easily.
The russ was in albatross with costing teams money. Now
look at the Cowboys, look at the Bengals. Is dragging
(18:15):
their feet in these negotiations.
Speaker 2 (18:18):
And heaving it high. Oh I don't, I don't know.
Speaker 1 (18:20):
He kind of looks elite, but let's get one more
year to really make sure.
Speaker 2 (18:25):
And then they look elite yet again.
Speaker 1 (18:28):
And now you're you're stuck with in an exorbitant price
when you could have had a great player on a deal,
and those surplus value contracts are so incredibly valuable. You know,
you signed Nick Benito to twenty five million, maybe you're
a year you're feeling a little anxious about it for
one year maybe, and then you'll look up you look
(18:48):
at the pacecale. Oh wow, we're huh we're paying him
half with Abdual Carters making from the Giants. Oh that's
I mean, he's way better than half as good as
Abdual Carter's. That's a of surplus money. Right, everyone is
familiar with the value of the rookie quarterback contract, right,
that's the value of surplus money. The Cowboys could have
(19:11):
had Dak for forty five million, fifty million. Instead he's
all alone at sixty million because they let themselves get
backed into a corner where Dak had all the negotiating leverage.
Like let's say the Bronco signed Bonito to this contract
that that legwall's suggesting around twenty five million a year,
(19:34):
and he looks bad. It looks bad one year in woof,
this was poor allocation of resources.
Speaker 2 (19:42):
You know, the oh man, he looks.
Speaker 1 (19:46):
Way where he looks like twenty twenty three, Nick Benito,
he took a huge setback. You know, you can maybe
use him as a pass rusher, but that's it. Okay,
So that's a player that probably should be making ten
million dollars a year. He's making twenty five. That's not good. Well,
you know what what happens if Nick Benito has another
great season and the Broncos weight around, Well, now they're
going to be paying a guy they could have had
(20:07):
for twenty five million forty million annually, if not forty five,
because he's gonna go hey, no, the four last year
was forty Now it's now it's forty one.
Speaker 2 (20:16):
Now it's forty two.
Speaker 1 (20:18):
And to George Patent Payton's credit and the rest of
that front office, the Broncos have done an awesome job
ever since. You know, the Russell Wilson and Randy Gregory
bungles of creating really wisely structured contracts that are good
deals for the players but are also giving the team
a lot of security and some escape hatches if they
(20:39):
need them. And you think they could probably do the
same with Benito, right, if they're able to build in
team flexibility and some escape routes with Patrick Certan or
Quinn Minors, right, you think they'd also be able to
do so with Nick Benito, who has had a great
(21:00):
stretch through his rookie contract, but also it hasn't been
on the level the same level of those other two guys.
The risk goes both ways, I think is a very
important lesson to remember when talking about these contracts.
Speaker 2 (21:14):
And again, with the.
Speaker 1 (21:16):
Cap rapidly exploding, the great players aren't hitting free agency anymore.
Every NFL team, for the like save the Saints and
the Browns and teams in really bad spots, most of
every NFL team has all the cap space they need,
especially with these you know, manipulation tactics and restructuring and
all that, have all the money they need to retain
(21:38):
pretty much every player they want. Right we went into
this offseason, WOA, Broncos are probably gonna have to say
goodbye to DJ Jones.
Speaker 2 (21:45):
Hey, look at that.
Speaker 1 (21:46):
They found a way to keep DJ Jones and also
bring in Evan Ingram and two other big free agents.
In ufongan green law, you can find the money to
do what you want to do. It's much harder to
find good players than it is to come up with
that money.
Speaker 2 (22:01):
So lock up the good player now. If it's a
bad deal.
Speaker 1 (22:04):
The Broncos will be able to get out of it
and go elsewhere. You know, if the player ends up
being great and you give him that, you know you
miss out on the discount, have to give him a
big deal to keep him around. Well, there's no backing
out of that, right because, Okay, we've got a great
player on a on a high level contract. That's a
that's a good problem to have. But you could have
(22:26):
had him on a cheap contract. You could you could
be getting an annual discount those fifteen million dollars a year.
Speaker 2 (22:32):
That's like two quality starters.
Speaker 1 (22:33):
You could help bone Nix out with little more depth
of receiver, little more depth of tight end or running back,
or a little sprinkled around all three.
Speaker 2 (22:44):
It's a meaningful difference. And I think you know, there's
always risk involved.
Speaker 1 (22:49):
I think there's much greater risk with letting Benito play
this season then there is with locking them up now,
especially because we think about the player we're talking about here.
Benito was orderline unplayable in twenty twenty two. They did
not want to get that guy on the field because
he was not ready against the run in particular, but
(23:10):
the pass rushing chops weren't even there. Twenty twenty three,
he you know, wasn't getting Defensive Player of the Year votes,
but he was leading the team in pass rush productivity,
which is, you know, a person at pass rush metric
leading the team in pressure rate and in past rush
win rate, leading the team in sacks.
Speaker 2 (23:27):
Right, what if he takes a leap half.
Speaker 1 (23:32):
As large as the leap he's taken these last two
off seasons, he's going to be contending for first team
All Pro. And not to say he's going to take
that level of leap, but his trajectory is pretty obvious,
and it is it's as steep upwards as darn near
any player in the league. That's the guy who's valued
(23:52):
you want to bet on crashing and a sizable, you know,
dang near twenty million dollar bet you want to bet
on that guy crashing seems like a poor money choice.
I think the Broncos Zach Allen two, Sutton two even.
But Nick Benito, who I think has been the most
hotly debated one, don't sleep on him.
Speaker 2 (24:12):
He should be locked up as well.
Speaker 1 (24:18):
John Franklin Myers, a guy who probably won't get locked up,
hasn't shown up to the first week of OTAs, but
his agent has said via Mike Cliss that, hey, this
is nothing out of the ordinary. John Franklin Myers has
missed OTAs each of the last several seasons. Now should
be noted that when he was with the Jets, he
was unhappy with his contraction.
Speaker 2 (24:38):
When he was with the Broncos last year, he wanted
his contractor worked and whatnot.
Speaker 1 (24:42):
So I don't think that necessarily negates the point that
he probably could use we're reworking of his contract, but
nonetheless not out of the norm for him, and his
agent also clarified that he will be back for the
mandatory portion of Mini Camp. I'm curious to see how
(25:04):
this heats up once the mandatory stuff starts going, because
Franklin Myers has been very vocal, you know, making a
point of tweeting about it and getting in you know,
Broncos media replies about.
Speaker 2 (25:16):
Hey, I need a contract too, and whatnot.
Speaker 1 (25:21):
So it's clear he's he's willing to push for it
and make things a little uncomfortable, but he's also being
a good sport right now. How long will that last though,
because I think it's pretty clear that Broncos aren't gonna
give him what he wants.
Speaker 2 (25:37):
They already showed out a lot of money for DJ Jones.
Speaker 1 (25:40):
They're gonna be given Zach Allen a lot of money
here pretty shortly, and then they're gonna have to do
the same for you know, some of these pieces on
offenses they start coming up too. Oh, Jonathan Cooper, that's
the other one they paid on the defensive front. That's
a very expensive defensive front to invest in John Franklin
(26:01):
Myers as well, you know, and I think you could
see the makings of that when the Broncos draft Hugh
Robinson and Savion Jones with those middle round picks. That's them,
I think, starting to backfield to get ready for an
eventual JFM departure. So even though things are cordial and friendly, now,
how long is that going to last? And on the
(26:25):
other end of the spectrum, which I think is all
the more interesting because of the John Franklin Myers end
of it, Courtland Sutton has been at OTAs. I think
that's pretty notable because last year he wasn't in a
very similar contract situation. Except now Courtland Sutton has you
(26:47):
would think would be even more upset because we're another
year into the future. He still is waiting on that contract,
that that reworked contract, and he's a pre agent after
this season, so he's really gonna want that security if
this is going to be his last big payday.
Speaker 2 (27:02):
To a point Ben was making on koa Sports.
Speaker 1 (27:04):
Earlier, what happens if he gets injured this season? Heaven forbid,
that last big payday probably gets sliced in half. You know,
especially considering he's already had a serious injury and that
he's going to be coming up on thirty here, he
probably doesn't want to get back on the field until
he has some insurance for that last bite at the apple. Nonetheless,
(27:31):
he's been there at OTAs again when he wasn't last year.
It is hard to see that and not think that
things are in a better place now, a much better
place maybe even than.
Speaker 2 (27:43):
They were a year ago.
Speaker 1 (27:44):
That's pretty important because Suns twenty twenty four was the
most productive season we've seen from a Broncos receiver since
the Marius Thomas in twenty fifteen. The connection with Bonix
was real, and you don't want to do the inverse
of what the Dolphins or you know, the Bengals did.
I think are two great examples guys who ricky quarterbacks
(28:08):
that are young quarterbacks. I should say that weren't necessarily
terrible early on, but they were struggling to find their footing.
And then you get Jamar Chase for Joe Burrow, you
get Tyreek Hill for Tua Tyer Biloe, and then Sons
not on those guys levels, but you get them a winner,
like a rep winner, where hey, I'm maybe the play
(28:28):
call is broken on this play, maybe I'm wrong, Maybe
the offensive line's wrong on this play. Maybe the designed
reach is wrong on this play, he ran the wrong route. Whatever,
I can throw it to that guy and he can
make me right. And that's what Courtland Sutton offers. Also
an incredibly intelligent veteran. I love Devon Vleet, but he's
(28:48):
still just in his second year of pro ball. And
as old as he is, that's not because he was
playing a lot of college. It was because he was
a missionary. I don't know if you want to throw
all that on him at one where you have to
be on the at the right place, at the right
time every single snap, because our quarterback is so reliant
(29:10):
on you, Like I love Marvin nim So, he hasn't
proven to be a real deal down in, down out
receiver Evan Ingram's nice, but if you're swapping outside and
for Ingram, you're probably at the end of the day
making this cast a little worse for Bonis in year two.
And again it's not the direction you want these things
to be going. You know, one day, if things go well,
(29:31):
Bonix is going to be on a sixty million or
seventy million dollar contract, then maybe you'll have to pare
down the options around him and trust him to elevate.
But he's still getting his feet under him. You know,
why start stripping away weapons. It just doesn't make sense
to me. You know, even if you have to pay
(29:53):
a little bit of a premium for such I would
worry about how many years we're going. But you know,
even if it's like a two year deal, three ye
deal or whatever, and you're paying him a little above
market value, maybe something in the twenties the upper twenties, even.
Speaker 2 (30:07):
It would be a little uncomfortable.
Speaker 1 (30:09):
But just you know, everything comes down to getting that
franchise quarterback right. The Broncos country has seen it firsthand
over the past several years, darn near decade.
Speaker 2 (30:19):
All comes down to getting that quarterback right.
Speaker 1 (30:22):
Who cares about, you know, a little cap discomfort in
twenty thirty when also the caps exploding sevested probably won't
even be a problem. It's just you know, pat on
the quarterback, protect him, insulate him. And that's not just
the offensive line, it's weapons too. You don't want to
rattle his confidence on that front.
Speaker 2 (30:44):
Another guy who's finding his footing.
Speaker 1 (30:46):
Last little ota note of this segment, Sean Payne said
he has a clear vision for Drew Sanders at linebacker.
Sounds like he'll be, you know, getting some rotational play
here as a bit of a pressure player. You know,
these these pass rushing inside linebackers are a bit.
Speaker 2 (31:04):
In vogue now.
Speaker 1 (31:05):
We've saw Zach von have a lot of success with
that with the Eagles this past season, earned him a
big contract, and it seems like the Broncos are looking
to get Drew Sanders on the field in that role.
Speaker 2 (31:16):
And I think that's honestly really smart.
Speaker 1 (31:19):
One, they're finally settling him at one position, led him,
you know, get comfortable there and figure that out. But two,
they're minimizing the mental workload on his off ball linebacker reps.
You know, that's the quarterback of the defense. It's an
incredibly mentally taxing position. Drew Sanders, as we know, is
a pretty broad player. They're giving him that support by
(31:44):
you know, having him mainly run forward, operate as a
pass rusherim simplify those reads for him, and I think
it could be the secret that turns his career around
and finally has him live up to that third round
pick value.
Speaker 2 (32:00):
Coming up next, we're going to be talking to.
Speaker 1 (32:03):
Bree Mesis I Believe in Broncos, and let's talk Broncos
about some more Ota notes, how we feel about the
Denver Nuggets going forward, considering how good the Oklahoma City
thunderlook and the big trade in the NFL. Today gets
(32:23):
time for some more post Rockies Broncos country. Tonight, We've
got a very special guest joining us over on the
koa Common Spirit Health heartline or hotline here with Brimestis
of Believe in Broncos and let's talk Broncos.
Speaker 3 (32:42):
Brie.
Speaker 2 (32:42):
How's it going tonight?
Speaker 3 (32:45):
Oh my goodness, it's a wonderful night. Not so much
for the Rockies, but the sunset. I don't know if
you could see it from where you were, it was beautiful.
I'm living it up in the spring in Colorado.
Speaker 2 (32:55):
We've got a gorgeous view here at the station.
Speaker 1 (32:57):
I've got to say, I feel like my phone camera
never does it justice. But if you look up north
and you get like this great angle at the mountains
and you can see like the rows of mountains going
back aways, that it gets all like hazy and misty
and it looks like a Bob Ross painting or something.
Speaker 2 (33:15):
I love it. It was a gorgeous sunset tonight.
Speaker 3 (33:19):
Yeah, it definitely was. Thank you for having me on.
I'm happy to be here.
Speaker 1 (33:22):
Yes, of course, thanks so much for joining me, Brie.
I always love talking ball with you. I'm curious, I saw,
I'm believe in Broncos. This week you had the great
Luca Evans from the Denver Post. What's standing out to
you right now from some of this early OTA reporting
as the Broncos get back onto the field.
Speaker 3 (33:41):
You know, there's been a lot of excitement simply because
football is back. Right We're one hundred days out from
the NFL start, and there's a lot of rumbling in
Broncos country because we've been highly anticipating some sort of
off season coverage. I don't care if it's a hip
film or if it's simple audio clips from some of
the interviews that have been going on, But when I
think are so key takeaways from OTAs specifically this week,
(34:02):
because he's got the defense with just honestly, I was
having this conversation earlier that you could compare this Bronco's
defense on paper to probably second to the Eagles, and
then everyone else is in the dusk, Like that's how
confident that I feel with these new additions actually, speaking
of Tellinoia Hufanga and Drake Greenlaw and just the myriad
(34:23):
of talent that's been brought on here and newly acquired
safety A Songga had quickly become a vocal leader in
the secondary. Right, he's got aggressive play style, he's experienced,
and he's leading an entirely new dynamic to this team.
And I think not only with this mentorship but just
being a long stame veteran's going to benefit the younger
players on this defense, one that was already one of
(34:43):
the best in the league in twenty twenty four. I
loved his comment about quote unquote free violence, right because
it really got me thinking about what we're about to
see from him this season, and also as former teammate
because he touched on green Law also joining the team,
and I feel like there's somewhat of a bonded pair,
not only on and off the field, which leads me
to believe that there's a lot of excitement because those
(35:06):
two individuals chose to come to the Denver Broncos simply
because of the trajectory that not only Boon Nicks is on,
but Sean Payton is on. So I not only about
kind of what the defense is. It's brimming, it's brimming
with excitement. But there's a lot of enhancements that the
Broncos have done this off season, and we can get
into all of the different positions that I think what's
(35:28):
really promising is the enhancements at the tight end position
with Evan Ingram right, there's high hopes in the Bronco
country and the narrative it is really rife with excitement
in this moment because the new the tight end in
town has made his debut and you can call them
all the different nicknames that you want to, whether it's
a joker or just Evan Ingram the great right, he
(35:50):
provides the Broncos with the dynamic pass catching option, and
I think The story this off season and heading into
OTAs is what does boon Nicks have at his arsenal
at his hand? What are the new weapons in town?
I think that's what's really got most of Bronco's Country
in Denver as a whole kind of in it tizzy
as there led to believe that there's more to expect
(36:10):
out of his offense than what we saw last season.
Speaker 1 (36:14):
Yeah, I think the offense, it's interesting because it's running
back a lot of the same supporting cast.
Speaker 2 (36:19):
They really didn't lose.
Speaker 1 (36:20):
Anyone on offense outside Javonte Williams, and they added to
it with r. J.
Speaker 2 (36:25):
Harvey and Evan Ingram and Pat Bryant. But I do think.
Speaker 1 (36:28):
Bronco's country was maybe hoping for a bit more of
a splash, maybe that first round pick going offense, maybe
a larger free agent spending spree on offense. I'm curious.
Bonnicks was very complimentary of his new weapons this week
with Evan Ingram and r. J. Harvey, But how do
you feel Pat Bryant too this offense? How improved do
you think this offensive supporting cast is for bo Nicks
(36:51):
going into year two or do you think it's more
or less what he had last year.
Speaker 3 (36:55):
Well, he made a lot of positive contact and not
just reaching out to his new teammates, but really trying
to get to understand what makes them tick, what motivates them.
And I was really anticipating the leadership from him in
year two. But I don't think I was expecting the
team to be as hungry for it, right, because these
(37:17):
are all professionals, they're grown men. They're coming on to
a team, this is their job. But honestly, I think
I've discounted the importance of how bonis and how he
really controls the team. He's captaining the ship by being
excited to include Evan ingram on what he adds onto
what they already have. Bo basically saying, you know, I
(37:39):
think it will be good for us. It seems like
a very innoculous comment, but I think he's really excited
because he's talking about RJ. Harvey continuing to impress. Right,
he does a good job in the backfield. It's hard
to tell, you know, in shorts and a T shirt.
I know, our good friend Joey Richards lets us know
the quick guys are going to look good on the
field or in OTAs, But just wait until the real
(37:59):
season and happens. But I think R. J. Harvey goes
out there and he shows you that his quickness in
his hands, those are the things that Sean Payton was
looking for to add in those weapons, because it all
centers around what Bonis is good at. If you stockpile
exactly what your quarterback needs to be successful, you're putting
him into the ideal circumstances. So I think Bonix is
(38:21):
just as thrilled with the decisions to onboard those individuals
as they are to be in Denver, and I think
that's a perfect marriage to at least ensure the same
amount of success they saw in twenty twenty four. Right,
we have heightened our expectations here in Broncer's country. We
almost feel like we're out of the weeds now and
it's about keeping pace. If they can be a ten
(38:42):
win team again this season, I think they're in a
good spot now.
Speaker 1 (38:48):
To try and stay in that good spot, to try
and keep those expectations high, they're going to have to
retain some of these talented pieces that are coming up
for contracts going into next year.
Speaker 2 (38:57):
I mean, you know, I'm not the biggest.
Speaker 1 (38:59):
Fan of him, but Alex Singleton, You've got John Franklin Myers,
You've got Zach Allen, Nick Benito, Cortland, Sutton. I'm curious
just you know, not that you have to rank all
six of those guys.
Speaker 2 (39:10):
Who do you think are the top?
Speaker 1 (39:12):
You know three priorities between Sutton, Allen, and Benito. I
imagine those will be your three. But how do you
rank those guys? How do you think they fall? How
worried are you about you know, a potential Nick Benito gamble.
Speaker 3 (39:27):
You know, I've been really high on Jonathan Franklin Myers,
and I think that that's one that's going kind of
by the wayside of less important to Broncos country. I'm
not sure if it's necessarily because he's being underrated. So
I want to throw JFM out there is extremely important.
I want to throw Nick Beonnito out there, and I
(39:48):
want to put Courtland soon in those conversations. Right, we
know Nick Benito's contract in his projected price tag is
going to be pretty bold. Right, It's not unreasonable though,
especially because the Bronco's probably believe as much as I
do that he's just scratching the surface of his potential.
You had a breakout season in twenty twenty four, and
he was a major contributor as to why Denver led
(40:09):
the league in facts. That kind of production at a
premium position like Ed Rusher, it comes with a premium
price tag. And I feel like, because you don't get
the ownership of a fifth year option because he was
the second round pick, that you have to make that
claim to him now otherwise you risk losing him all
together to another team that swoops in with some monster offer,
(40:30):
and then you're going to be kicking yourself because you
didn't just pay up front. And I think they need
to avoid the bidding more there. I think with Jonathan
Franklin Myers, I prefer the situation continues to remain low key.
But if the Broncos truly believe in building through the trenches,
you don't let a guy like JFM walk because the
relentless energy he brings, all the versatility and he's a
(40:52):
problem for offenses. That's how you ensure continued success for
bon Nix. You have to make sure that you defense
is taken care of because the happier they are, the
happier your offense is going to be. And then it
really just dwindles down the courtland soon an additional contract
with a guy who has been extremely vocal about him
(41:13):
wanting to end his career here in Denver. We know
what he brings to the Broncos, and you can argue
tier one, Tier two's the wide receiver one all you want,
but I don't think there's a whole lot of hesitation
when you say you want that type of receiver of
finishing their career in Denver. I think it all bodes
well for the negotiations that we're still talking about it
and he's showing up to OTAs because last year it
(41:35):
was not a similar conversation. He was absent, and I
feel like him showing up is good news for where
he's at. I think the real question lies in what's
the market offering right The implications in twenty twenty five
means if the Broncos had norths of twenty mil to
keep them, they're going to be able to retain that
type of talent, And I think it just it can't
(41:56):
go under the radar how important his chemistry with bo
Nicks is for the continued development of your franchise quarterback.
When you flew all of those together, I think that's
rather important. Although I'm curious, Zach, where would you put
Alex Singlepin in your ranking of those six?
Speaker 1 (42:12):
I mean, do you even have to ask? It's it's
I mean, it's last. I would I might put him,
you know, not in the top two if you're ranking
linebackers currently on the team. I need to see a
little more from him.
Speaker 3 (42:24):
But Drew Sanders is the answer there?
Speaker 2 (42:27):
Then I think he.
Speaker 1 (42:28):
Might just be And man, Bree, it's showing off your
great host, Chops, even as the guest.
Speaker 2 (42:34):
Your team me up perfectly here.
Speaker 1 (42:36):
I'm going to throw three guys at you that are,
you know, being talked a lot about as breakout candidates.
I'm curious which one you would bet on, which breakout
you think is most likely going to happen? All right,
Troy Franklin going into year two, Audrick estimate going into
year two, Drew Sanders going into year three.
Speaker 2 (42:54):
Though you know one of those is kind of red
shirt because of injury.
Speaker 1 (42:57):
Who out of that bunch do you think as the
best breakout campaign in twenty twenty five?
Speaker 3 (43:05):
You know, I like where you're leading with that. I
could see Drew Sanders getting it done simply because there's
like this unrequited love where Sean Payton, George Payton, they
all think he's a starting caliber inside linebacker and he's
finally healthy. Right. It's all the clear indications that his
defined role plus health equal success in profit, right, but
(43:28):
he needs to see serious naps for that to happen.
I think the better bet for all of Broncos Country
is to lean into the idea that Troy Franklin is
putting it altogether right is rookie campaign. It was a
little bit of a slow start heading in and adjusting
to the speed of the NFL. A lot of those
deep ball drops really clouded some of the flashes he
(43:49):
had late in the season. And he's got the built
in chemistry with b Nix, And I know we're all
about instant gratification here in Broncos Country, but I think
you got to give a little bit more time because
I think that connection is going to start to click
here in year two. He could be a really sneaky
breakout guy. And I love how you keep that up
because a player of his caliber, the reason he was
(44:09):
scouted the way that he was, it's not just outside
of you know, consistent routes and cleaning up drops, He's
got the familiarity, he's got a full season under his belt,
and now he's got a full off season. So the
expectations are super high for Troy Franklin. But I think
he's got it all set up where you have the
most to gain, right, a very frustrating first year plus
(44:32):
a deal breaking second year. He really could be the
difference maker that makes this offense just that more elite.
Speaker 1 (44:39):
I'm with you, I think he could really be a
game changer. They need that boundary option to pan out.
Maybe it could be him. Last minute for you here,
I'm going to switch tracks to the Nuggets. If OKC
dominates in the NBA Finals, they cruise passed the Pacers
or the Necks, will you feel.
Speaker 2 (44:55):
More hopeful about the Nuggets?
Speaker 1 (44:57):
Or will the primary feeling be pain considering how close
they seemingly are to win it winning it?
Speaker 2 (45:03):
Will you feel glass half full?
Speaker 1 (45:05):
Hey, they're close to winning this whole thing, or dang,
they missed another opportunity with Jokich.
Speaker 3 (45:12):
On a personal level, Zach, you know exactly how frustrated
I've been with this Denver Nuggets team. But as the
conference finals wind down, I think it's really hard not
to witness without this gut punching reality that the Denver
Nuggets were right there. It's going to see for a
very long time, and it actually might hurt more of
OKC makes quick work of the eaves because it shows
(45:35):
how close the Nuggets really were in a roller coaster
year to winning another title. And when you say that,
you're like, yes, but they didn't. They got as far
as they did on an interim coach, They had injuries,
turmoil in the organization, and they pushed the number one
seed the seven games. So I want to be wholeheartedly
not a homer in this instance, but Nicola Jokich was
(45:57):
just a phenom this season, and I think you'd have
high hopes for this entire series even if you didn't
feel like they were exactly there. If a few things
were to break differently for this team, maybe they had
better shooting one night, or they had fewer turnovers the next.
I think could be prepping for the finals. So it's painful,
(46:18):
but it's also helpful. And I think this still provides
an idea here for the Nuggets Nation that the windows
still wide open. I think the core is still good enough,
but it also has to be realistic about who you
actually consider as the core of the Denver Nuggets, and
if anything, I think that's run by the Oklahoma City
Thunder really should light a fire under the front office
(46:41):
to reload and come back even stronger next year. I'm
in paying as a Nuggets fan, and I hope that
the Pacers come away with it all right like that
would just be such a fun storyline for anyone who
loves the sport of basketball. I'm just sad that the
Nuggets aren't still in it.
Speaker 2 (46:57):
Me too, Breed, me too.
Speaker 1 (46:59):
Well, thanks for you at least a little bit of
optimism there to close us out once again.
Speaker 2 (47:03):
Talking with Brimsis.
Speaker 1 (47:05):
You can find her on Twitter at bre Masis three
ZHO three, or on the Let's Talk Broncos podcast or
on the belief In Broncos podcast. Make sure you're listening
to all those one of the best in the biz. Brie,
thank you so much for giving me some time tonight, No.
Speaker 3 (47:18):
I appreciate it. Have a great rest of your evening
and enjoy your weekend.
Speaker 2 (47:21):
Zach youtubeer you hope to see you soon.
Speaker 1 (47:25):
Once again, that was bre Macedis joining us again of
Let's Talk Broncos.
Speaker 2 (47:30):
Believe in Broncos.
Speaker 1 (47:31):
Check her out on YouTube on wherever you listen to podcasts.
Great Broncos Mind always love talking Broncos with her, arguing
about Alex Singleton with her.
Speaker 2 (47:42):
Make sure you're checking that out. Last little fun bit.
Speaker 1 (47:46):
Of news I'll hit on right before we get out
of here tonight, before I hand it over to Benjamin
Albright and Ryan Edwards for some more Broncos country tonight.
Sam Ellinger, the replacement for Zach Wilson, has taken the
jersey number four.
Speaker 2 (48:06):
On the roster.
Speaker 1 (48:07):
Now, it really is fairly inconsequential, but might mean something
for A. J. Harvey, who's seemingly, given that social media
video with him and Sean Payton's daughters, seemingly is pushing
for a single digit jersey, ear least some sort of
change from thirty seven, which he currently has. Number four
was the last single digit option available for Harvey. So,
(48:30):
you know, barring some cuts, barring some moves, and there
aren't really any obvious ones in that top ten or
you know, in that selection of numbers, he might be
on the outside looking in. He might be stuck with
thirty seven or some other less desirable number for his
rookie year. Nonetheless, think that is going to be one
of the most exciting players to watch. Excited to see
(48:56):
the Eastern Conference Finals wrap up tomorrow night. That should
be a great ending to our I I shouldn get
ahead of myself the Game six of the Eastern Conference Finals.
Hopefully that wraps up on for the Pacers, but if not,
we'll see Game seven. Always love a good game seven.
Thank you everybody for stopping by catching some of the
Broncos Oka's news with me. Want to listen to more
(49:19):
to me? You can also catch me over on the
Let's Talk Broncos podcast. So next time everybody, you're listening
to KOA eight fifty am ninety four to one f
Welcome to another abbreviated post Rockies edition of Broncos Country tonight.
Filling in as your solo host tonight, you've got me
Zach Seegers covered for Benjamin Albright and Nick Ferguson a
little bit of a disappointing Rockies game, but it feels
like they're getting at least a little bit better. And
(00:23):
to be fair, that's you know, winning a taller than
Danny DeVito contest. But it's at least a step in
the right direction now. Although they are, you know, losing
close now. There's the old saying. First you lose big,
then you lose close, then you win close, then you
win big. It's good they're at least losing close now,
but they need to start lucking into some of these
(00:45):
wins here or there, because the opportunity was here.
Speaker 2 (00:49):
Tonight, they fell into a three to zero hole.
Speaker 1 (00:52):
But then once the Mets reliever came in, Ryan McMahon
hits an RBI double.
Speaker 2 (00:58):
In the six makes it three to one.
Speaker 1 (01:00):
Sam Hilliard, who they just called up, a former Rocky
of course, but just called up rejoining the majors, hits
a homer solo shot makes it three to two, but
then right back in the eight thinning, they let Francisco Lindor,
who's been a nightmare for the Rockies in recent years,
hit a solo shot of his own that bumps the
lead back to two and Rockies could not score after that.
(01:23):
But there should be noted they left six runners stranded
on the bases tonight. They were hitting the ball just fine,
just couldn't string it together. Mets, meanwhile, only left three
runners stranded. So you know, there's your gap in a
victory or at least pushing it to extras.
Speaker 2 (01:41):
There if the Rockies were able to get a little
more and you.
Speaker 1 (01:44):
Know, the season's lost, of course, but I mean barring
an absolutely unbelievable turnaround, but you know, they could still
at least avoid some horrific history. And I think that's
what Rockies fans need to root for at this point.
Speaker 2 (02:02):
Unfortunately, at least.
Speaker 1 (02:03):
There's something to root for, but it's it's a pretty
dismal thing at that. Right now, the Rockies are on
pace to have the worst win percentage since the eighteen
ninety nine Spiders, with one five to four win percentage,
and that's the only other team who's been worse in
the entire history of the MLB dating back to eighteen
(02:26):
eighty six.
Speaker 2 (02:28):
They're also on pace.
Speaker 1 (02:29):
You know that back then they didn't play one hundred
and sixty two games in a season, So they're on
pace for the most losses ever by any baseball club.
They're on pace for the third fewest wins ever, at
a little under twenty seven, it would be third worst.
One team had twenty I think that's also the Cleveland
Spiders there, and then another team had twenty four back
(02:52):
in eighteen ninety. They also right now, they're fifty seven
games into the season, three left until the nice round
number of sixty. If they don't win out over these
final three games, which would push them to twelve and
forty eight, they will have the worst sixty games start
(03:14):
in MLB history, dating all the way back to eighteen
eighty six. Even if they go two and one, they're
going to be tied for that not so illustrious honor.
They have to win out over these not win out,
you know, the rest of the season, but win out
over these final three games. Two against the Red Hot Nets,
(03:34):
one against a more beautiful Marlins team.
Speaker 2 (03:37):
But you know, the Marlins are.
Speaker 1 (03:38):
Looking at their schedule and see the Rockies coming up
and are circling out as a w So if the
Rockies don't win out against those three games, they are
going to be forever at the bottom of.
Speaker 2 (03:48):
The barrel through sixty games.
Speaker 1 (03:51):
And to some of this might seem like old hat.
They were just there for fifty games. No, no, no,
they were bad. It was bad, but it was the
worst fifty games start since eighteen ninety five. There were clubs,
you know, even if it was pre Right Brothers.
Speaker 2 (04:05):
But there were clubs who had had a worse run.
You know, a team called the Cleveland Spiders.
Speaker 1 (04:11):
I don't know if there's any sports team that's been
named the Spiders in the last fifty years. But nonetheless,
there was a club that was at least worse through
fifty unless they went out three to zero. You can't
say that anymore about the sixty game marks, so hopefully,
you know, I do think they're playing better baseball. I've
been running a lot of the Rockies games for US
(04:31):
over here, following them closely as a result, and I
think they're playing better baseball recently, but they got to
start having it payoff in the wins column. Good to
see Kyle Friedland have a good game today though. Anyways,
let's get into some Broncos news. It's great that we
have the Broncos kind of as a as a positive team.
(04:53):
You know, we haven't gotten to be this optimistic about
an upcoming Broncos season since you know, twenty twenty two,
and even then it was all projection, you know. And
this Nate Hacket guy seems exciting. This Russell Wilson thing
seems exciting. This is, you know, building on a proven
foundation that just made it to the playoffs with Sean
(05:13):
Payton and bow Nicks, and so I think you've got
a real solid reason to be hopeful this season or
this summer in a way that Broncos fans probably haven't
gotten to experienced since the summer of twenty fifteen before
they won the Super Bowl. You know, even twenty sixteen,
coming off that Super Bowl, it was like, eh, I
(05:34):
don't know, Mark Sanchez, you got some real hope here?
And I think, yeah, I think everyone in Bronco's country
is optimistic about bo Nicks at least continuing to look
like a quality starting quarterback. I don't think people are
worried about the Mac Jones drop off or anything though
that is a possibility. You know, Patriots fans weren't expecting
(05:56):
mac Jones to completely fall off after he won of
the Year or after his great rookie season.
Speaker 2 (06:03):
You know, Mayfield's turned it around.
Speaker 1 (06:04):
That Browns fans weren't expecting what ended up happening to him.
Goff went from being a disastrous rookie to having a
great rest of his rookie contract, back to being disastrous,
back to being great again.
Speaker 2 (06:15):
So you never you never know.
Speaker 1 (06:16):
You don't want to put the cart before the horse,
or you know, count mixing my idioms up that count
chickens before they hatch.
Speaker 2 (06:28):
Nonetheless, I think there's very.
Speaker 1 (06:30):
Few reasons to feel pessimistic about bo Nicks's outlook, and
I think there's a good number of reasons to think
he could explode this upcoming season. He has demonstrated throughout
his collegiate career and into his first year in the
pros a great aptitude for growth, and I really think
(06:51):
that's a skill that doesn't get enough discussion.
Speaker 2 (06:54):
The ability to.
Speaker 1 (06:57):
Take to coaching and then implement it in a game
is absolutely a skill. Drew Locke, you know, I think
applied himself plenty hard, you know, in these off seasons
and in practice and whatnot. Has all the you know,
god given talent you'd want in a quarterback prospect.
Speaker 2 (07:14):
He's not Josh Allen, but he's got more than.
Speaker 1 (07:17):
Enough to be a top ten, maybe even top five
starting quarterback in the league.
Speaker 2 (07:22):
He's more physically talented than Bo.
Speaker 1 (07:24):
He never really sniffed what bo Nicks offered this past year.
Speaker 2 (07:30):
I don't even have to qualify he never sniffed it.
Speaker 1 (07:35):
And he also, you know, played I think he has
the record for most SEC starts in a collegiate career.
So he was another guy very experienced in college, comes
into the NFL.
Speaker 2 (07:44):
You know, got then there's you know, some.
Speaker 1 (07:46):
Up and downs or switching in and out of the starter.
But he got two three years in Denver, and it
just it could not click for.
Speaker 3 (07:56):
Bo.
Speaker 1 (07:56):
Nicks was a And really you look at Drew Lock's
fresh year of Missouri his senior year of Missouri, the.
Speaker 2 (08:02):
Prospect profiles are nearly identical.
Speaker 1 (08:04):
Great talent, you know, needs to work on his consistency,
there's some bad footwork he needs to clean up.
Speaker 2 (08:08):
Frankly, same scouting report he has right now.
Speaker 1 (08:11):
And then you look at bow Knicks, no player in
last year, no quarterback, maybe even no player in last
year's draft class grew as much from the start of
their crew legiate career to the end of their collegiate
career than bow Knicks. It's a Joe Burrow like story,
and he's not that was not that level of prospect
coming out. But Joe Burrow, you know, went from being
(08:35):
a walk on at or you know, being this backup
at Ohio State and struggling to win a starting job
against like JT.
Speaker 2 (08:43):
Barrett and whatnot.
Speaker 1 (08:45):
Turns around, goes to LSU and has the greatest season
we've seen from a collegiate player. That that type of
growth and development is meaningful, and bo Nix has demonstrated
that throughout his college career.
Speaker 2 (08:55):
Goes to the pros and we had.
Speaker 1 (08:57):
Been and Ryan lad you know this time last year saying, oh,
I don't know, hey, it's Rockie Mini camp, it's OTAs.
It doesn't look great right now, They're probably gonna be
Sidham or Zach Wilson starting the season. And then by
the time fans were showing up for training camp, this
guy looks great. This guy's had in you know, some
of the best practices we've seen from a Broncos quarterbacks
(09:20):
since Peyton Manning, like this guy in Teddy Bridgewater probably
the best practice quarterbacks since Peyton Manning. So the hype
started to build. The preseason, Oh, we looked a little frazzled.
You know, there's a feet aren't great, there's a little
sensitive to pressure.
Speaker 2 (09:35):
By the final preseason game, it was like, this guy looks,
let's go. Let's go. First NFL game.
Speaker 1 (09:41):
You've got Adam Marceletta in the booth, Oh, knowing his
throws just as they leave his fingers because they're such
obvious interceptions. And by the end, you know, he's going
toe to toe against Mahomes in Arrowhead, He's going toe
to toe with Joe Burrow in a shootout in Cincinnati.
(10:01):
That level of growth we all saw it, you know,
in that Week six game against the Saints, Week seven
against the Panthers, we all saw it.
Speaker 2 (10:08):
And that ability to grow is huge.
Speaker 1 (10:10):
Now he's having a full off season in the same
offense with largely the same weapons, continue to build that chemistry.
He talked this week during his media availability about how
huge it is for him now to you know, in college,
they don't really call plays or deliver those play calls
in the same way as they do in the NFL.
You know, during his tenure, they had the sandwich boards
(10:32):
and there wasn't a lot of calling out the plays
at the line. That was an awkward adjustment for him
last year. This year, he talked about how he doesn't
even have to think about it and how meaningful that
is because as a quarterback, you don't want to have
to think about, oh, what's this guy doing, what that guy?
What's that guy doing on this play? How you know,
what's my audibles? What are you You don't want to
(10:53):
have to be juggling all that as you come up
to the line of scrimmage. You want to have that
all filed away, easily accessible, and just come up to
the line. What's the defense giving me to diagnose it
and go for that? Now you can go to your
arsenal of options and pick the right one. And that's
how the greats like Tom Brady and Peyton Manning have
(11:13):
done it. Bo Nick's talking about the game slowing down
for him in that sense, I think is pretty meaningful.
Speaker 2 (11:21):
Another meaningful aspect.
Speaker 1 (11:23):
Right, we've already gone over how he's demonstrated an ability
to grow pretty regularly throughout his football playing career. I
don't know what he was doing in high school, but
at least college pro. This is going to be the
first time since high school where he's having consistent coaching.
(11:46):
He's had a different offensive coordinator, having to learn a
different offense every single year of his collegiate career, every
single Yeah, and then you know he goes to the PROS.
One year in the Pros, that's a whole new offense
and Sean radically different than anything he was doing in college.
Speaker 2 (12:02):
Every year he's tried.
Speaker 1 (12:04):
To play football on a big stage, you know, whether
it be the SEC or Pac twelve or now the NFL,
He's had to start from an offensive foundation of zero.
He's had to suspend, you know, the first half of
all those seasons, laying the offensive foundation for you know,
where are we going to go from here? This is
the first time since high school when you know, you
(12:26):
have to think his football IQ. His ability to process
these things mentally or implement him into his game was
much different, much lesser than it is now since first
time since high school where he's getting to, you know,
build on the film room sessions he had with Sean
Paydon last year it's not from zero having to relearn
(12:46):
how to do all that. They already speak the same language,
they're on the same page, and they can go, Okay,
this is where.
Speaker 2 (12:54):
We were last year. How do we take that next step?
Speaker 1 (12:56):
How do we get this team ready to you know,
not only have it a good story they made the playoffs,
but start winning some playoff games and being a scary team,
a contender even in the AFC. Speaking of some year
two breakouts, Sean Payton also highlighted Troy Franklin today as
(13:18):
a guy who could see a big year or two.
He compared him to Marvin Mims in that sense. Marvin Mims,
of course, broke out last season halfway through that sophomore campaign,
and Peyton, you know, wasn't saying, hey, we're going to
save that till the second half of the season, but
said he thinks Troy Franklin could have a similar ascension
(13:39):
this year, as you know, they they figure out how
to better use him and he meshes with the offense better.
Speaker 2 (13:45):
Some of that.
Speaker 1 (13:45):
Meshing, you know, him learning NFL stuff is probably true
that that's going to be a lot easier for him
this season.
Speaker 2 (13:52):
As we just discussed with Bo.
Speaker 1 (13:55):
But you know, it doesn't seem like the reason Troy
Franklin struggled last year was a misunderstanding from the coaching
staff of how to utilize him, or you know, him
being lost out there on the field. The plays were
there to be made, right, he was getting opened downfield plenty.
He just wasn't finishing him. He was dropping the ball.
(14:19):
Now again, maybe year two, the pressure of being in
the NFL is a little lesser. You're you're more used
to the routine, and maybe the catches come as a result.
But that is one thing that caught my eyes because
Marvin Mims, you know, he broke out in year two
because it took him a second to figure out, Okay,
how are we going to use this guy? How are
(14:40):
we going to maximize this talent? Because he's got some
very special skills. How do we get that implemented into
this offense where it's benefiting us and he's not just
you know, this special teams guy, or you know, even
if he remains a gadget guy, how can we make
that a substantial part of our offensive diet. That's not
(15:01):
really the hold up with Troy Franklin, right, you know,
maybe his role gets a little bigger. That could maybe
be one thing, but we saw it last year. He
is a vertical deep threat. With his frame, how light
of a body he is, you don't really want him
working over the middle. You don't want him being even
a guy like DK Metcalf where it's like, hey, let's
hit this guy on a slant.
Speaker 2 (15:22):
He's got crazy.
Speaker 1 (15:23):
Speed and you know he can just take that ball,
get a runway and go. That's not going to be
really Troy Franklin because the arm tackles, the lighter contact
can trip him up.
Speaker 2 (15:33):
You don't want him trying.
Speaker 1 (15:34):
To create after the catch that's not as fast as
he is. That's probably not going to be his game.
His game as going to be taking the top off
the defense, and we saw he was special at it
last year. Look at the advanced metrics on you know,
downfield separation, he's at the top of the leak. He
looks like an elite downfield target in that regard. There's
(15:56):
something there. It's just can he finish the place. And
you know, unfortunately for Peyton, I don't know if that's going.
Speaker 2 (16:04):
To be up to Payton.
Speaker 1 (16:04):
I don't think that's going to be up to Bonex either.
I think that's going to just be Troy Franklin finishing
the place that weren't getting finished a season ago. But
they're there for him, and if he does it, I
think we could talk about a guy having a bigger
leap from twenty twenty four to twenty twenty five than
any other member of the Denver Broncos because that vertical ability,
(16:25):
that explosive ability, especially from the boundary where Franklin will
probably play a lot, would be game changing for this offense.
It's something they could so desperately use a little more speed,
a little more verticality. That's not just sudden go dunk
on a guy, but that's probably going to have to
come from either Men's or Franklin taking a big leap
(16:46):
in their development. If Franklin can just catch the ball
more consistently, that would go a large.
Speaker 2 (16:52):
Way towards bridging that gap.
Speaker 1 (16:58):
More news about this exciting young core Jeff Legwald projected ESPN.
Jeff Legwald projected, in an article talking about some of
the biggest contract standoffs currently happening in the NFL right now,
projected that Nick Benito's average annual value will probably come
out to about twenty four point five million. Now, that
(17:25):
definitely seems pricey for Benito, a guy who has only
looked like that level of pass rusher for a single season.
But it's probably a good deal for the Broncos. They
should probably do it. And I think I'm in the
minority here. I think a lot of people feel a
little gun shy because of the risk associated. And who
(17:46):
can blame Broncos country after how bad the rust thing went.
Speaker 2 (17:49):
But that risk goes both ways.
Speaker 1 (17:52):
It's not just well, if we sign this guy and
he's bad, whoo, that's a lot of wasted money. The
way more teams are wasting money nowadays. Isn't that you
can get out of those situations, generally speaking pretty easily.
The russ was in albatross with costing teams money. Now
look at the Cowboys, look at the Bengals. Is dragging
(18:15):
their feet in these negotiations.
Speaker 2 (18:18):
And heaving it high. Oh I don't, I don't know.
Speaker 1 (18:20):
He kind of looks elite, but let's get one more
year to really make sure.
Speaker 2 (18:25):
And then they look elite yet again.
Speaker 1 (18:28):
And now you're you're stuck with in an exorbitant price
when you could have had a great player on a deal,
and those surplus value contracts are so incredibly valuable. You know,
you signed Nick Benito to twenty five million, maybe you're
a year you're feeling a little anxious about it for
one year maybe, and then you'll look up you look
(18:48):
at the pacecale. Oh wow, we're huh we're paying him
half with Abdual Carters making from the Giants. Oh that's
I mean, he's way better than half as good as
Abdual Carter's. That's a of surplus money. Right, everyone is
familiar with the value of the rookie quarterback contract, right,
that's the value of surplus money. The Cowboys could have
(19:11):
had Dak for forty five million, fifty million. Instead he's
all alone at sixty million because they let themselves get
backed into a corner where Dak had all the negotiating leverage.
Like let's say the Bronco signed Bonito to this contract
that that legwall's suggesting around twenty five million a year,
(19:34):
and he looks bad. It looks bad one year in woof,
this was poor allocation of resources.
Speaker 2 (19:42):
You know, the oh man, he looks.
Speaker 1 (19:46):
Way where he looks like twenty twenty three, Nick Benito,
he took a huge setback. You know, you can maybe
use him as a pass rusher, but that's it. Okay,
So that's a player that probably should be making ten
million dollars a year. He's making twenty five. That's not good. Well,
you know what what happens if Nick Benito has another
great season and the Broncos weight around, Well, now they're
going to be paying a guy they could have had
(20:07):
for twenty five million forty million annually, if not forty five,
because he's gonna go hey, no, the four last year
was forty Now it's now it's forty one.
Speaker 2 (20:16):
Now it's forty two.
Speaker 1 (20:18):
And to George Patent Payton's credit and the rest of
that front office, the Broncos have done an awesome job
ever since. You know, the Russell Wilson and Randy Gregory
bungles of creating really wisely structured contracts that are good
deals for the players but are also giving the team
a lot of security and some escape hatches if they
(20:39):
need them. And you think they could probably do the
same with Benito, right, if they're able to build in
team flexibility and some escape routes with Patrick Certan or
Quinn Minors, right, you think they'd also be able to
do so with Nick Benito, who has had a great
(21:00):
stretch through his rookie contract, but also it hasn't been
on the level the same level of those other two guys.
The risk goes both ways, I think is a very
important lesson to remember when talking about these contracts.
Speaker 2 (21:14):
And again, with the.
Speaker 1 (21:16):
Cap rapidly exploding, the great players aren't hitting free agency anymore.
Every NFL team, for the like save the Saints and
the Browns and teams in really bad spots, most of
every NFL team has all the cap space they need,
especially with these you know, manipulation tactics and restructuring and
all that, have all the money they need to retain
(21:38):
pretty much every player they want. Right we went into
this offseason, WOA, Broncos are probably gonna have to say
goodbye to DJ Jones.
Speaker 2 (21:45):
Hey, look at that.
Speaker 1 (21:46):
They found a way to keep DJ Jones and also
bring in Evan Ingram and two other big free agents.
In ufongan green law, you can find the money to
do what you want to do. It's much harder to
find good players than it is to come up with
that money.
Speaker 2 (22:01):
So lock up the good player now. If it's a
bad deal.
Speaker 1 (22:04):
The Broncos will be able to get out of it
and go elsewhere. You know, if the player ends up
being great and you give him that, you know you
miss out on the discount, have to give him a
big deal to keep him around. Well, there's no backing
out of that, right because, Okay, we've got a great
player on a on a high level contract. That's a
that's a good problem to have. But you could have
(22:26):
had him on a cheap contract. You could you could
be getting an annual discount those fifteen million dollars a year.
Speaker 2 (22:32):
That's like two quality starters.
Speaker 1 (22:33):
You could help bone Nix out with little more depth
of receiver, little more depth of tight end or running back,
or a little sprinkled around all three.
Speaker 2 (22:44):
It's a meaningful difference. And I think you know, there's
always risk involved.
Speaker 1 (22:49):
I think there's much greater risk with letting Benito play
this season then there is with locking them up now,
especially because we think about the player we're talking about here.
Benito was orderline unplayable in twenty twenty two. They did
not want to get that guy on the field because
he was not ready against the run in particular, but
(23:10):
the pass rushing chops weren't even there. Twenty twenty three,
he you know, wasn't getting Defensive Player of the Year votes,
but he was leading the team in pass rush productivity,
which is, you know, a person at pass rush metric
leading the team in pressure rate and in past rush
win rate, leading the team in sacks.
Speaker 2 (23:27):
Right, what if he takes a leap half.
Speaker 1 (23:32):
As large as the leap he's taken these last two
off seasons, he's going to be contending for first team
All Pro. And not to say he's going to take
that level of leap, but his trajectory is pretty obvious,
and it is it's as steep upwards as darn near
any player in the league. That's the guy who's valued
(23:52):
you want to bet on crashing and a sizable, you know,
dang near twenty million dollar bet you want to bet
on that guy crashing seems like a poor money choice.
I think the Broncos Zach Allen two, Sutton two even.
But Nick Benito, who I think has been the most
hotly debated one, don't sleep on him.
Speaker 2 (24:12):
He should be locked up as well.
Speaker 1 (24:18):
John Franklin Myers, a guy who probably won't get locked up,
hasn't shown up to the first week of OTAs, but
his agent has said via Mike Cliss that, hey, this
is nothing out of the ordinary. John Franklin Myers has
missed OTAs each of the last several seasons. Now should
be noted that when he was with the Jets, he
was unhappy with his contraction.
Speaker 2 (24:38):
When he was with the Broncos last year, he wanted
his contractor worked and whatnot.
Speaker 1 (24:42):
So I don't think that necessarily negates the point that
he probably could use we're reworking of his contract, but
nonetheless not out of the norm for him, and his
agent also clarified that he will be back for the
mandatory portion of Mini Camp. I'm curious to see how
(25:04):
this heats up once the mandatory stuff starts going, because
Franklin Myers has been very vocal, you know, making a
point of tweeting about it and getting in you know,
Broncos media replies about.
Speaker 2 (25:16):
Hey, I need a contract too, and whatnot.
Speaker 1 (25:21):
So it's clear he's he's willing to push for it
and make things a little uncomfortable, but he's also being
a good sport right now. How long will that last though,
because I think it's pretty clear that Broncos aren't gonna
give him what he wants.
Speaker 2 (25:37):
They already showed out a lot of money for DJ Jones.
Speaker 1 (25:40):
They're gonna be given Zach Allen a lot of money
here pretty shortly, and then they're gonna have to do
the same for you know, some of these pieces on
offenses they start coming up too. Oh, Jonathan Cooper, that's
the other one they paid on the defensive front. That's
a very expensive defensive front to invest in John Franklin
(26:01):
Myers as well, you know, and I think you could
see the makings of that when the Broncos draft Hugh
Robinson and Savion Jones with those middle round picks. That's them,
I think, starting to backfield to get ready for an
eventual JFM departure. So even though things are cordial and friendly, now,
how long is that going to last? And on the
(26:25):
other end of the spectrum, which I think is all
the more interesting because of the John Franklin Myers end
of it, Courtland Sutton has been at OTAs. I think
that's pretty notable because last year he wasn't in a
very similar contract situation. Except now Courtland Sutton has you
(26:47):
would think would be even more upset because we're another
year into the future. He still is waiting on that contract,
that that reworked contract, and he's a pre agent after
this season, so he's really gonna want that security if
this is going to be his last big payday.
Speaker 2 (27:02):
To a point Ben was making on koa Sports.
Speaker 1 (27:04):
Earlier, what happens if he gets injured this season? Heaven forbid,
that last big payday probably gets sliced in half. You know,
especially considering he's already had a serious injury and that
he's going to be coming up on thirty here, he
probably doesn't want to get back on the field until
he has some insurance for that last bite at the apple. Nonetheless,
(27:31):
he's been there at OTAs again when he wasn't last year.
It is hard to see that and not think that
things are in a better place now, a much better
place maybe even than.
Speaker 2 (27:43):
They were a year ago.
Speaker 1 (27:44):
That's pretty important because Suns twenty twenty four was the
most productive season we've seen from a Broncos receiver since
the Marius Thomas in twenty fifteen. The connection with Bonix
was real, and you don't want to do the inverse
of what the Dolphins or you know, the Bengals did.
I think are two great examples guys who ricky quarterbacks
(28:08):
that are young quarterbacks. I should say that weren't necessarily
terrible early on, but they were struggling to find their footing.
And then you get Jamar Chase for Joe Burrow, you
get Tyreek Hill for Tua Tyer Biloe, and then Sons
not on those guys levels, but you get them a winner,
like a rep winner, where hey, I'm maybe the play
(28:28):
call is broken on this play, maybe I'm wrong, Maybe
the offensive line's wrong on this play. Maybe the designed
reach is wrong on this play, he ran the wrong route. Whatever,
I can throw it to that guy and he can
make me right. And that's what Courtland Sutton offers. Also
an incredibly intelligent veteran. I love Devon Vleet, but he's
(28:48):
still just in his second year of pro ball. And
as old as he is, that's not because he was
playing a lot of college. It was because he was
a missionary. I don't know if you want to throw
all that on him at one where you have to
be on the at the right place, at the right
time every single snap, because our quarterback is so reliant
(29:10):
on you, Like I love Marvin nim So, he hasn't
proven to be a real deal down in, down out
receiver Evan Ingram's nice, but if you're swapping outside and
for Ingram, you're probably at the end of the day
making this cast a little worse for Bonis in year two.
And again it's not the direction you want these things
to be going. You know, one day, if things go well,
(29:31):
Bonix is going to be on a sixty million or
seventy million dollar contract, then maybe you'll have to pare
down the options around him and trust him to elevate.
But he's still getting his feet under him. You know,
why start stripping away weapons. It just doesn't make sense
to me. You know, even if you have to pay
(29:53):
a little bit of a premium for such I would
worry about how many years we're going. But you know,
even if it's like a two year deal, three ye
deal or whatever, and you're paying him a little above
market value, maybe something in the twenties the upper twenties, even.
Speaker 2 (30:07):
It would be a little uncomfortable.
Speaker 1 (30:09):
But just you know, everything comes down to getting that
franchise quarterback right. The Broncos country has seen it firsthand
over the past several years, darn near decade.
Speaker 2 (30:19):
All comes down to getting that quarterback right.
Speaker 1 (30:22):
Who cares about, you know, a little cap discomfort in
twenty thirty when also the caps exploding sevested probably won't
even be a problem. It's just you know, pat on
the quarterback, protect him, insulate him. And that's not just
the offensive line, it's weapons too. You don't want to
rattle his confidence on that front.
Speaker 2 (30:44):
Another guy who's finding his footing.
Speaker 1 (30:46):
Last little ota note of this segment, Sean Payne said
he has a clear vision for Drew Sanders at linebacker.
Sounds like he'll be, you know, getting some rotational play
here as a bit of a pressure player. You know,
these these pass rushing inside linebackers are a bit.
Speaker 2 (31:04):
In vogue now.
Speaker 1 (31:05):
We've saw Zach von have a lot of success with
that with the Eagles this past season, earned him a
big contract, and it seems like the Broncos are looking
to get Drew Sanders on the field in that role.
Speaker 2 (31:16):
And I think that's honestly really smart.
Speaker 1 (31:19):
One, they're finally settling him at one position, led him,
you know, get comfortable there and figure that out. But two,
they're minimizing the mental workload on his off ball linebacker reps.
You know, that's the quarterback of the defense. It's an
incredibly mentally taxing position. Drew Sanders, as we know, is
a pretty broad player. They're giving him that support by
(31:44):
you know, having him mainly run forward, operate as a
pass rusherim simplify those reads for him, and I think
it could be the secret that turns his career around
and finally has him live up to that third round
pick value.
Speaker 2 (32:00):
Coming up next, we're going to be talking to.
Speaker 1 (32:03):
Bree Mesis I Believe in Broncos, and let's talk Broncos
about some more Ota notes, how we feel about the
Denver Nuggets going forward, considering how good the Oklahoma City
thunderlook and the big trade in the NFL. Today gets
(32:23):
time for some more post Rockies Broncos country. Tonight, We've
got a very special guest joining us over on the
koa Common Spirit Health heartline or hotline here with Brimestis
of Believe in Broncos and let's talk Broncos.
Speaker 3 (32:42):
Brie.
Speaker 2 (32:42):
How's it going tonight?
Speaker 3 (32:45):
Oh my goodness, it's a wonderful night. Not so much
for the Rockies, but the sunset. I don't know if
you could see it from where you were, it was beautiful.
I'm living it up in the spring in Colorado.
Speaker 2 (32:55):
We've got a gorgeous view here at the station.
Speaker 1 (32:57):
I've got to say, I feel like my phone camera
never does it justice. But if you look up north
and you get like this great angle at the mountains
and you can see like the rows of mountains going
back aways, that it gets all like hazy and misty
and it looks like a Bob Ross painting or something.
Speaker 2 (33:15):
I love it. It was a gorgeous sunset tonight.
Speaker 3 (33:19):
Yeah, it definitely was. Thank you for having me on.
I'm happy to be here.
Speaker 1 (33:22):
Yes, of course, thanks so much for joining me, Brie.
I always love talking ball with you. I'm curious, I saw,
I'm believe in Broncos. This week you had the great
Luca Evans from the Denver Post. What's standing out to
you right now from some of this early OTA reporting
as the Broncos get back onto the field.
Speaker 3 (33:41):
You know, there's been a lot of excitement simply because
football is back. Right We're one hundred days out from
the NFL start, and there's a lot of rumbling in
Broncos country because we've been highly anticipating some sort of
off season coverage. I don't care if it's a hip
film or if it's simple audio clips from some of
the interviews that have been going on, But when I
think are so key takeaways from OTAs specifically this week,
(34:02):
because he's got the defense with just honestly, I was
having this conversation earlier that you could compare this Bronco's
defense on paper to probably second to the Eagles, and
then everyone else is in the dusk, Like that's how
confident that I feel with these new additions actually, speaking
of Tellinoia Hufanga and Drake Greenlaw and just the myriad
(34:23):
of talent that's been brought on here and newly acquired
safety A Songga had quickly become a vocal leader in
the secondary. Right, he's got aggressive play style, he's experienced,
and he's leading an entirely new dynamic to this team.
And I think not only with this mentorship but just
being a long stame veteran's going to benefit the younger
players on this defense, one that was already one of
(34:43):
the best in the league in twenty twenty four. I
loved his comment about quote unquote free violence, right because
it really got me thinking about what we're about to
see from him this season, and also as former teammate
because he touched on green Law also joining the team,
and I feel like there's somewhat of a bonded pair,
not only on and off the field, which leads me
to believe that there's a lot of excitement because those
(35:06):
two individuals chose to come to the Denver Broncos simply
because of the trajectory that not only Boon Nicks is on,
but Sean Payton is on. So I not only about
kind of what the defense is. It's brimming, it's brimming
with excitement. But there's a lot of enhancements that the
Broncos have done this off season, and we can get
into all of the different positions that I think what's
(35:28):
really promising is the enhancements at the tight end position
with Evan Ingram right, there's high hopes in the Bronco
country and the narrative it is really rife with excitement
in this moment because the new the tight end in
town has made his debut and you can call them
all the different nicknames that you want to, whether it's
a joker or just Evan Ingram the great right, he
(35:50):
provides the Broncos with the dynamic pass catching option, and
I think The story this off season and heading into
OTAs is what does boon Nicks have at his arsenal
at his hand? What are the new weapons in town?
I think that's what's really got most of Bronco's Country
in Denver as a whole kind of in it tizzy
as there led to believe that there's more to expect
(36:10):
out of his offense than what we saw last season.
Speaker 1 (36:14):
Yeah, I think the offense, it's interesting because it's running
back a lot of the same supporting cast.
Speaker 2 (36:19):
They really didn't lose.
Speaker 1 (36:20):
Anyone on offense outside Javonte Williams, and they added to
it with r. J.
Speaker 2 (36:25):
Harvey and Evan Ingram and Pat Bryant. But I do think.
Speaker 1 (36:28):
Bronco's country was maybe hoping for a bit more of
a splash, maybe that first round pick going offense, maybe
a larger free agent spending spree on offense. I'm curious.
Bonnicks was very complimentary of his new weapons this week
with Evan Ingram and r. J. Harvey, But how do
you feel Pat Bryant too this offense? How improved do
you think this offensive supporting cast is for bo Nicks
(36:51):
going into year two or do you think it's more
or less what he had last year.
Speaker 3 (36:55):
Well, he made a lot of positive contact and not
just reaching out to his new teammates, but really trying
to get to understand what makes them tick, what motivates them.
And I was really anticipating the leadership from him in
year two. But I don't think I was expecting the
team to be as hungry for it, right, because these
(37:17):
are all professionals, they're grown men. They're coming on to
a team, this is their job. But honestly, I think
I've discounted the importance of how bonis and how he
really controls the team. He's captaining the ship by being
excited to include Evan ingram on what he adds onto
what they already have. Bo basically saying, you know, I
(37:39):
think it will be good for us. It seems like
a very innoculous comment, but I think he's really excited
because he's talking about RJ. Harvey continuing to impress. Right,
he does a good job in the backfield. It's hard
to tell, you know, in shorts and a T shirt.
I know, our good friend Joey Richards lets us know
the quick guys are going to look good on the
field or in OTAs, But just wait until the real
(37:59):
season and happens. But I think R. J. Harvey goes
out there and he shows you that his quickness in
his hands, those are the things that Sean Payton was
looking for to add in those weapons, because it all
centers around what Bonis is good at. If you stockpile
exactly what your quarterback needs to be successful, you're putting
him into the ideal circumstances. So I think Bonix is
(38:21):
just as thrilled with the decisions to onboard those individuals
as they are to be in Denver, and I think
that's a perfect marriage to at least ensure the same
amount of success they saw in twenty twenty four. Right,
we have heightened our expectations here in Broncer's country. We
almost feel like we're out of the weeds now and
it's about keeping pace. If they can be a ten
(38:42):
win team again this season, I think they're in a
good spot now.
Speaker 1 (38:48):
To try and stay in that good spot, to try
and keep those expectations high, they're going to have to
retain some of these talented pieces that are coming up
for contracts going into next year.
Speaker 2 (38:57):
I mean, you know, I'm not the biggest.
Speaker 1 (38:59):
Fan of him, but Alex Singleton, You've got John Franklin Myers,
You've got Zach Allen, Nick Benito, Cortland, Sutton. I'm curious
just you know, not that you have to rank all
six of those guys.
Speaker 2 (39:10):
Who do you think are the top?
Speaker 1 (39:12):
You know three priorities between Sutton, Allen, and Benito. I
imagine those will be your three. But how do you
rank those guys? How do you think they fall? How
worried are you about you know, a potential Nick Benito gamble.
Speaker 3 (39:27):
You know, I've been really high on Jonathan Franklin Myers,
and I think that that's one that's going kind of
by the wayside of less important to Broncos country. I'm
not sure if it's necessarily because he's being underrated. So
I want to throw JFM out there is extremely important.
I want to throw Nick Beonnito out there, and I
(39:48):
want to put Courtland soon in those conversations. Right, we
know Nick Benito's contract in his projected price tag is
going to be pretty bold. Right, It's not unreasonable though,
especially because the Bronco's probably believe as much as I
do that he's just scratching the surface of his potential.
You had a breakout season in twenty twenty four, and
he was a major contributor as to why Denver led
(40:09):
the league in facts. That kind of production at a
premium position like Ed Rusher, it comes with a premium
price tag. And I feel like, because you don't get
the ownership of a fifth year option because he was
the second round pick, that you have to make that
claim to him now otherwise you risk losing him all
together to another team that swoops in with some monster offer,
(40:30):
and then you're going to be kicking yourself because you
didn't just pay up front. And I think they need
to avoid the bidding more there. I think with Jonathan
Franklin Myers, I prefer the situation continues to remain low key.
But if the Broncos truly believe in building through the trenches,
you don't let a guy like JFM walk because the
relentless energy he brings, all the versatility and he's a
(40:52):
problem for offenses. That's how you ensure continued success for
bon Nix. You have to make sure that you defense
is taken care of because the happier they are, the
happier your offense is going to be. And then it
really just dwindles down the courtland soon an additional contract
with a guy who has been extremely vocal about him
(41:13):
wanting to end his career here in Denver. We know
what he brings to the Broncos, and you can argue
tier one, Tier two's the wide receiver one all you want,
but I don't think there's a whole lot of hesitation
when you say you want that type of receiver of
finishing their career in Denver. I think it all bodes
well for the negotiations that we're still talking about it
and he's showing up to OTAs because last year it
(41:35):
was not a similar conversation. He was absent, and I
feel like him showing up is good news for where
he's at. I think the real question lies in what's
the market offering right The implications in twenty twenty five
means if the Broncos had norths of twenty mil to
keep them, they're going to be able to retain that
type of talent, And I think it just it can't
(41:56):
go under the radar how important his chemistry with bo
Nicks is for the continued development of your franchise quarterback.
When you flew all of those together, I think that's
rather important. Although I'm curious, Zach, where would you put
Alex Singlepin in your ranking of those six?
Speaker 1 (42:12):
I mean, do you even have to ask? It's it's
I mean, it's last. I would I might put him,
you know, not in the top two if you're ranking
linebackers currently on the team. I need to see a
little more from him.
Speaker 3 (42:24):
But Drew Sanders is the answer there?
Speaker 2 (42:27):
Then I think he.
Speaker 1 (42:28):
Might just be And man, Bree, it's showing off your
great host, Chops, even as the guest.
Speaker 2 (42:34):
Your team me up perfectly here.
Speaker 1 (42:36):
I'm going to throw three guys at you that are,
you know, being talked a lot about as breakout candidates.
I'm curious which one you would bet on, which breakout
you think is most likely going to happen? All right,
Troy Franklin going into year two, Audrick estimate going into
year two, Drew Sanders going into year three.
Speaker 2 (42:54):
Though you know one of those is kind of red
shirt because of injury.
Speaker 1 (42:57):
Who out of that bunch do you think as the
best breakout campaign in twenty twenty five?
Speaker 3 (43:05):
You know, I like where you're leading with that. I
could see Drew Sanders getting it done simply because there's
like this unrequited love where Sean Payton, George Payton, they
all think he's a starting caliber inside linebacker and he's
finally healthy. Right. It's all the clear indications that his
defined role plus health equal success in profit, right, but
(43:28):
he needs to see serious naps for that to happen.
I think the better bet for all of Broncos Country
is to lean into the idea that Troy Franklin is
putting it altogether right is rookie campaign. It was a
little bit of a slow start heading in and adjusting
to the speed of the NFL. A lot of those
deep ball drops really clouded some of the flashes he
(43:49):
had late in the season. And he's got the built
in chemistry with b Nix, And I know we're all
about instant gratification here in Broncos Country, but I think
you got to give a little bit more time because
I think that connection is going to start to click
here in year two. He could be a really sneaky
breakout guy. And I love how you keep that up
because a player of his caliber, the reason he was
(44:09):
scouted the way that he was, it's not just outside
of you know, consistent routes and cleaning up drops, He's
got the familiarity, he's got a full season under his belt,
and now he's got a full off season. So the
expectations are super high for Troy Franklin. But I think
he's got it all set up where you have the
most to gain, right, a very frustrating first year plus
(44:32):
a deal breaking second year. He really could be the
difference maker that makes this offense just that more elite.
Speaker 1 (44:39):
I'm with you, I think he could really be a
game changer. They need that boundary option to pan out.
Maybe it could be him. Last minute for you here,
I'm going to switch tracks to the Nuggets. If OKC
dominates in the NBA Finals, they cruise passed the Pacers
or the Necks, will you feel.
Speaker 2 (44:55):
More hopeful about the Nuggets?
Speaker 1 (44:57):
Or will the primary feeling be pain considering how close
they seemingly are to win it winning it?
Speaker 2 (45:03):
Will you feel glass half full?
Speaker 1 (45:05):
Hey, they're close to winning this whole thing, or dang,
they missed another opportunity with Jokich.
Speaker 3 (45:12):
On a personal level, Zach, you know exactly how frustrated
I've been with this Denver Nuggets team. But as the
conference finals wind down, I think it's really hard not
to witness without this gut punching reality that the Denver
Nuggets were right there. It's going to see for a
very long time, and it actually might hurt more of
OKC makes quick work of the eaves because it shows
(45:35):
how close the Nuggets really were in a roller coaster
year to winning another title. And when you say that,
you're like, yes, but they didn't. They got as far
as they did on an interim coach, They had injuries,
turmoil in the organization, and they pushed the number one
seed the seven games. So I want to be wholeheartedly
not a homer in this instance, but Nicola Jokich was
(45:57):
just a phenom this season, and I think you'd have
high hopes for this entire series even if you didn't
feel like they were exactly there. If a few things
were to break differently for this team, maybe they had
better shooting one night, or they had fewer turnovers the next.
I think could be prepping for the finals. So it's painful,
(46:18):
but it's also helpful. And I think this still provides
an idea here for the Nuggets Nation that the windows
still wide open. I think the core is still good enough,
but it also has to be realistic about who you
actually consider as the core of the Denver Nuggets, and
if anything, I think that's run by the Oklahoma City
Thunder really should light a fire under the front office
(46:41):
to reload and come back even stronger next year. I'm
in paying as a Nuggets fan, and I hope that
the Pacers come away with it all right like that
would just be such a fun storyline for anyone who
loves the sport of basketball. I'm just sad that the
Nuggets aren't still in it.
Speaker 2 (46:57):
Me too, Breed, me too.
Speaker 1 (46:59):
Well, thanks for you at least a little bit of
optimism there to close us out once again.
Speaker 2 (47:03):
Talking with Brimsis.
Speaker 1 (47:05):
You can find her on Twitter at bre Masis three
ZHO three, or on the Let's Talk Broncos podcast or
on the belief In Broncos podcast. Make sure you're listening
to all those one of the best in the biz. Brie,
thank you so much for giving me some time tonight, No.
Speaker 3 (47:18):
I appreciate it. Have a great rest of your evening
and enjoy your weekend.
Speaker 2 (47:21):
Zach youtubeer you hope to see you soon.
Speaker 1 (47:25):
Once again, that was bre Macedis joining us again of
Let's Talk Broncos.
Speaker 2 (47:30):
Believe in Broncos.
Speaker 1 (47:31):
Check her out on YouTube on wherever you listen to podcasts.
Great Broncos Mind always love talking Broncos with her, arguing
about Alex Singleton with her.
Speaker 2 (47:42):
Make sure you're checking that out. Last little fun bit.
Speaker 1 (47:46):
Of news I'll hit on right before we get out
of here tonight, before I hand it over to Benjamin
Albright and Ryan Edwards for some more Broncos country tonight.
Sam Ellinger, the replacement for Zach Wilson, has taken the
jersey number four.
Speaker 2 (48:06):
On the roster.
Speaker 1 (48:07):
Now, it really is fairly inconsequential, but might mean something
for A. J. Harvey, who's seemingly, given that social media
video with him and Sean Payton's daughters, seemingly is pushing
for a single digit jersey, ear least some sort of
change from thirty seven, which he currently has. Number four
was the last single digit option available for Harvey. So,
(48:30):
you know, barring some cuts, barring some moves, and there
aren't really any obvious ones in that top ten or
you know, in that selection of numbers, he might be
on the outside looking in. He might be stuck with
thirty seven or some other less desirable number for his
rookie year. Nonetheless, think that is going to be one
of the most exciting players to watch. Excited to see
(48:56):
the Eastern Conference Finals wrap up tomorrow night. That should
be a great ending to our I I shouldn get
ahead of myself the Game six of the Eastern Conference Finals.
Hopefully that wraps up on for the Pacers, but if not,
we'll see Game seven. Always love a good game seven.
Thank you everybody for stopping by catching some of the
Broncos Oka's news with me. Want to listen to more
(49:19):
to me? You can also catch me over on the
Let's Talk Broncos podcast. So next time everybody, you're listening
to KOA eight fifty am ninety four to one f
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