Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Short show post Rockies edition.
Speaker 2 (00:02):
Rockies get the dub three to two over the Cincinnati Reds,
surging forward to a twenty two and seventy two record
on the season.
Speaker 1 (00:12):
We're only fifty games apart on the win loss. We
can do this. Seekers, we can do this.
Speaker 3 (00:21):
They they're turning it around. You just got to get
hot at the right time. The correct answer is we
cannot do this. But hey, hey, they got the win.
We got to celebrate the wins when when you can
get them. Jake Bird gets the win, moves to three
and one on the season. Only pitch the inning had
two hits, one run, one earned, one walk, one strikeout.
Her Mon Marquez pitched beautifully through six innings, five hits,
(00:43):
one run, one earned, three walks, eight strikeouts, did allow
that home run, though one may one inning pitch got
the hold, his fifth had a strikeout.
Speaker 2 (00:52):
Victor Vodik gets his second save of the season, had
an inning pitch to hit all out. It was that
double to lead off, a walk and then three strikeouts.
Speaker 1 (00:59):
The walk was intentional, by the way.
Speaker 2 (01:02):
Rocky six hits on the game, three which came from
Ryan McMahon, got the only homer that the Rockies had
as well. Ryan Ritter got a hit. Jordan Beck Mickey
Montiac got hits as well. Rockies walked four times. Two
of those were Horter Goodman, who did wind up scoring
a run over on the other side for the Cincinnati
(01:23):
Reds eight hits for the Reds. Everybody got a hit
except for Austin Hayes and TJ.
Speaker 1 (01:28):
Fridel.
Speaker 2 (01:30):
You did have a home run from Marte third basement there.
Chase Burns had a start for the Reds, got no
decision six innings, pitch four hits, two runs to earned,
did have ten strikeouts. Scott Barlow pitched an inning of
scoreless ball and struck out the side.
Speaker 1 (01:47):
Tony Santellion had the loss for the Reds.
Speaker 2 (01:52):
He moved to one and three on the season, and
in he pitched two hits, one run, one earned, one walk,
three struck out and Lion Richardson pitched in for the
Cincinnati Reds as well. Rockies uh got down one nothing
after Mark they homeward in the third. Brian McMahon answered
back top of the fourth with a two run shot,
(02:12):
scoring Migueltolia Michael Tolia. Bottom of the seventh, the Reds
came back tied it back up at two to two,
but the Rockies answer right back in the eighth Asar
Hunter Goodman scored on the wild pitch to get it
to three to two, and that is the final. Rockies
cover the one and a half obviously since they won,
(02:33):
and Uh the under it as well. So I think
that means, like what Dave and I tie for the
or Dave David beat me for show me the money
for the week.
Speaker 1 (02:42):
I didn't see the way you all picked on the Dave.
Speaker 2 (02:45):
And I were the only ones that had the under
and uh, Nick and Ryan had the over, and I
think they both.
Speaker 1 (02:50):
Had the reds, So I think Dave and I.
Speaker 2 (02:53):
I don't know.
Speaker 1 (02:53):
I think a quests figured it out. Either David I
tie or Dave one. I'm not sure.
Speaker 2 (02:57):
I'm not sure which which one that was, because Ryan
and Nick were one game ahead of us, but they
got both of them wrong and we got them right.
Speaker 3 (03:02):
So it means I think you guys tied for first.
Speaker 1 (03:06):
I said, either of you won. Yeah, we'll have to
figure uh figure all that out. Five six six nine
zero is the text line.
Speaker 2 (03:14):
We got an FL six pack coming up at the
bottom of the air. We'll get you a news and
Traffic Break then with Jody Jordan Lots going on in
the world of sports today, the Quarterback Series.
Speaker 1 (03:26):
I don't know if you watched any of this so far.
Speaker 3 (03:29):
Yeah, I'm through like the first episode now, or I
think I'm halfway through the second one.
Speaker 2 (03:33):
He certainly seems like Kirk Cousins is longing to go
back to the Vikings.
Speaker 1 (03:40):
You know.
Speaker 2 (03:40):
He was pretty straightforward about feeling this led by Atlanta
with their draft plans, saying, if I'd known they were
going to take a quarterback earlier, I would have stayed
in Minnesota, where theylready told me they were going to
take a quarterback early.
Speaker 1 (03:53):
But you get you get into this thing.
Speaker 2 (03:55):
And there's one where he's relaxing at his home with
his uh, his wife, Julie, and he invokes a metaphor
for his feelings about moving on from the Vikings in
twenty twenty four, saying, quote, I heard somebody describing it
as when you see somebody dating the person you used
to date in high.
Speaker 1 (04:11):
School or college, You're like, I used.
Speaker 2 (04:13):
To throw to Jordan Addison and Justin Jefferson, and now
someone else.
Speaker 1 (04:16):
Is doing that. That's interesting.
Speaker 3 (04:19):
Yeah, it was, it was, and I'm not surprised. I mean,
I think in the moment he put a pretty good
public face on it, but of course it was uncomfortable.
You know, it was well reported that he was out
in Minnesota because he wanted a multi year commitment. He
says as much in this show as well, verifying that part.
And then the Falcons clearly, you know, didn't make that
(04:41):
multi year commitment because they drafted Michael Pennox and now
we are in this situation. I started to feel bad
bad for Kirk Cousins because he's gotten his bag, But
I don't know, it does feel like he I do
feel like he was misled and wound up in a
fairly rough situation where now he's going to be a
back up for twenty twenty five. It's teams and not
(05:02):
get to play, and you know, that's wasting one of
his final playable years when he could probably start for
a team like the Browns.
Speaker 2 (05:09):
Cousins went on delving into his Week fourteen game during
the twenty twenty four season, when is Atlanta Falcons traveled
to face Minnesota for the first time since he left
in free agency, and Kirk said, I was asked by
the broadcasting group for the game, what about Atlanta made
you want to leave Minnesota? And I said, that question
is the wrong question. I didn't want to leave Minnesota.
There was nothing about anywhere that made me want to
leave Minnesota. We wanted to be in Minnesota, but it
(05:31):
became clear that we were going to be there year
to year, and that's what we didn't want. So at
that point we said, all right, we need to look elsewhere.
If that's our only option, then we'll be back. And
when we said, well, we looked around, father, there's an
opportunity that we have loger commitment. Would you be interested
in giving us that longer commitment? They said no, we're
good with our offer. And I said, okay, well you
made my decision easy. So there's plenty to unpack in
(05:52):
the series for all three participants, Kirk Cousin, along with
Detroit Lions quarterback.
Speaker 1 (05:57):
Cherry goff Sin State Bengals Joe Burrow.
Speaker 2 (05:59):
I don't think anything overshadows the many layers of regret
and career derailment that the Cousin's storyline brought to the table.
Speaker 1 (06:08):
It's a storyline.
Speaker 2 (06:09):
He clearly softened a bit when he offered the opportunity
to speak about signing a four year, one hundred and
eighty million dollar contract with Atlanta before watching the Falcons
shockingly draft Panics with the eighth overall pick in the
draft just weeks after he'd committed to the organization. Cousins
said he felt misled when the draft day stunner unfolded,
and that would probably be a diplomatic phrase.
Speaker 1 (06:31):
Everything that I've heard.
Speaker 2 (06:33):
From talking to those close to Cousins is that the
more accurate descriptor, and more acidic, is that he was
lied to. He signed in Atlanta believing he was going
to be the unquestioned starter who absolutely wouldn't need to
worry about a creeping first round rookie waiting in the wings,
and then that's exactly what happened. Now we have the
(06:54):
missing nuance to how the twenty twenty four season unfolded,
which saw Cousins suffer in our mission Week ten against Saints,
fallow by spiral of clearly injured play, lost of arm strength,
he was pressing to dig himself out of a hole,
and then finally coming to one of the worst periods
of his career that led to a demotion when he
likely should have taken a sustained period to rest his
elbow rather than try to hold his job against the
(07:16):
Pennis takeover. And there's a lot of layers in here
to illustrate the complexity of navigating the career of a
mid thirties quarterback who's trying to squeeze everything out of
his remaining years. We've certainly seen that up close and
personal here in Denver, but with Cousins, a cascading set
of circumstances presented themselves, putting him in a position to
have one of the worst cases of buyer's remorse as
(07:37):
a free agent and now entering the twenty twenty five
season wanting to be somewhere else, but also trapped by
the very same guaranteed salary that he requested.
Speaker 1 (07:48):
That the Falcons still owing.
Speaker 2 (07:52):
Without doing a play by play of the Netflix series,
here are some of the most important points to the
Cousins shared the laid out. He believed the Vikings were
honest about their plans the twenty twenty four free agent negotiations,
which they told him included a limited commitment and drafting
young quarterback to groom, and that led him to lean
into the Falcons opportunity, which he clearly now thinks is
a scenario where they lied to him about his intentions
(08:13):
to do the same thing as the Vikings. He regretted
leaving the Vikings once the Pennex pick was made, with
multiple instances where both he and his wife framed Minnesota
is a place they never wanted to leave. Once Cousins
was in the saddle as Atlanta starter and with Pennix
behind him, is standing on the death chart remained on
his mind so much so that when he suffered and
(08:34):
that throwing arm injury against the Saints of we ten
and debatingly should have sat down for the best of
the team, he instead pushed himself to stay in the
lineup out of fear of losing his job. At one point,
Cousins even references reading a book from Sains legend Drew
Brees that espoused the notion of never letting a backup
quarterback even get on the field out of the sheer
(08:54):
fear of losing your job. Taking into a wider context,
it's not hard to surmond his Cousins very likely should
have sat down with his injury and instead kept himself
in the lineup to limit the potential of losing his
starting job.
Speaker 1 (09:07):
The Netflix series goes on to present.
Speaker 2 (09:09):
A pretty real representation of what can happen with quarterbacks
who play with injuries. Cousins' limitation set the stage for
some turnovers, gaffes, and set the stage for him pressing
to reverse his plummet, which inevitably made things worse and
then began to infect his confidence and decision making. In turn,
Atlanta's quarterback decisions suddenly became more justifiable. Cousins was playing
(09:32):
the worst football of his career thanks to a combination
of health, pressure, decisions, and confidence. And this is how
one hundred and eighty million dollars quarterback loses his job
to a rookie. Now you can suggest this is what
the Falcons created when they drafted Pinnix. They signed a
veteran to a massive deal, gave him an in house
problem to worry about that ultimately impact his thinking effectively.
(09:53):
You could argue Atlanta put Cousins into a position that
he had to worry more about than his starting job
than whether his in injury adversely up back to the team.
Speaker 1 (10:04):
And the way you could being put.
Speaker 2 (10:05):
Into that position, Cousins shows his own football mortality as
a starter over what it might have been best for
the Falcons when he suffered the injury. It's interesting and
it's going to be fascinating to watch that play out
the season because if Penick stumbles, what is the leash there?
Or even if we're watching training camp, if Cousins is
back to being healthy and blowing the doors off Penis
(10:26):
in training camp, do you reverse course?
Speaker 1 (10:29):
I guess you could. I don't at that point.
Speaker 3 (10:34):
Maybe you play him in the preseason and hope you
can drum up trade value so you're then able to,
I don't know, flip him for something worthwhile later on,
But I.
Speaker 1 (10:46):
Don't know.
Speaker 3 (10:47):
I think you got to roll with Pedix at this point.
He showed you some promise at the end of last season,
and I think reversing course right now would be doing
what like Vic Fangie did with Teddy Bridgewater, except a
year early, like right after Drew Locke has that twenty
nineteen debut, coming in in twenty twenty and immediately sitting
(11:08):
to him behind a veteran that you knew was really
going nowhere. It seems a little early for that. I
think you just hold on for Cousins, or hold on
Cousins and hope someone gets injured. And you can maybe
flip him for a draft pick or something when when
someone gets desperate.
Speaker 2 (11:24):
Maybe that's going to be one of those things that
Bear's paying attention to. Not a lot of people pay
attention to the sports semmis, but ESPN's dan Orlowski apparently
had some feelings going into this year's show. During an
appearance on SI Media with Jimmy Traino, the former NFL
quarterback provided an unusually candid walkthrough of his emotions when
(11:45):
he lost outstanding personality slash studio analyst to future coworker
Charles Barkley back in May. He wasn't happy, say quote,
of course, I was furious. I was like, man, I
really believe that I've had a strong run here. I
believe I've separated myself. I think pride in that, and
I know who I was going up against the greats
(12:06):
of the great So I was like, I feel very confident.
I really did. And so when Charles want I texted him.
I have no business having Charles Barkley's number, by the way,
but I do. So I texted him and I said
something along the lines of will you stop winning? And
he responded back to the laughing emoji face. You know,
it's a team effort, and so that would bothered me.
Barkley with the award for the sixth time in his
broadcasting career, beating out Orlovski, Nate Burleson, Ryan Clark, and
(12:29):
Kirk kirk Street. Borolowski was the only nominee who has
not previously won the award. He said originally he didn't
want to go to the award, but after the nominations
came out due to concerns about going zero for three,
but he was convinced by his wife and ESPN, and
after Barkley won, he said, I immediately to my wife
like a child, said I want to go home.
Speaker 1 (12:50):
I just is it? Why would you think? Why would
you think you're beating Charles Barkley, who so sports him.
He's who cares. Just like this movie we get the
cbas or whatever. Ryan and I were one of those things.
So you know, I don't even know where they are. Yeah,
that's one thing.
Speaker 3 (13:04):
I agree with that point, But also, just man, you
lost to Charles Barkley.
Speaker 1 (13:09):
Like I I think Dan Orlovsky's.
Speaker 3 (13:11):
Fine, But you know this sounds like brock Purty being
upset he lost the MVP to Patrick mahomes like, man,
that's tough. I'm sorry to hear that, but I I
don't have a ton of sympathy like you. Out of
those names, he's fourth at best, maybe fifth, I don't know.
I yeah, man, I hate to break it to you,
but you're just you shouldn't have gotten your hopes up.
(13:34):
That's a weird thing to be upset about. Five six
sixty nine Zero's text line, You guys want to get
involved in the conversation, Let's do an NFL six.
Speaker 1 (13:49):
It's time for the NFL six pad.
Speaker 2 (13:52):
I'm going to drink a lot of year insight, insight
information you can't find anywhere else.
Speaker 1 (13:58):
I know, the top six headlines.
Speaker 3 (14:02):
What starting off with another check in on the NFL
Top one hundred players list. Since we last checked in,
players eighty four through eighty one have been revealed. Christian
Gonzalez comes in at eighty four, Cam Hayward comes in
at eighty three, Jerry Judy is the eighty second player,
(14:22):
and Trent McDuffie is ranked eighty first. Do you think
Jerry Jerry Judy deserves his spot in the top one hundred,
that being eighty second overall? And who do you think
is the most or what is the most surprising ranking
you've seen so far?
Speaker 2 (14:36):
Yeah, Jerry Judy even in the top one hundred is obscene.
I don't get that at all. That's entirely weird. The
idea that Jerry Judy is a better player at his
position than Zach Allen is that his is.
Speaker 1 (14:51):
Nuts. I don't even know what to do with that.
Speaker 2 (14:54):
Jerry Judy had three games last year where he went
over one hundred yards. Out of the twelve hundred and
twenty nine yard that he had, two hundred and thirty
five of them came against Denver in that Jameis Winston
shootout game in primetime.
Speaker 1 (15:06):
I think that one really helped him out.
Speaker 2 (15:07):
Apparently, because the rest of the season he had most
of his games were around sixty yards. He had several
games where he was held under twenty or thirty. Let's see,
like I could look at this game log here, let
me pull it up. He had twenty five, seventy three,
twenty seven, seventy two, sixteen, thirty five, eighteen seventy nine,
seventy three, two eighty five to thirty five, sixty four
(15:28):
one eight, twenty ninety four, sixty three. He's just wildly consistent,
and he beat up on injured or bad defenses. If
you look, I mean Denver's that was when they had
all the injuries. And then if you look back at
he got one hundred and forty two against New Orleans,
who was terrible last year. So, I mean, this is
I don't even understand why Jerry Judy's on the list.
He had four touchdowns whole year.
Speaker 1 (15:49):
Four. He ranks ahead of Lad McConkey. It's crazy.
Speaker 3 (15:53):
Drake London, another receiver, rateshead of He's ahead of Levonte David,
Sam Laporta, Creed Humphreys. This is Bates. You mentioned that
doing this?
Speaker 1 (16:02):
Who's doing this list of the players the top hundred players? Stupid?
James Cook, Andrew van Ginko.
Speaker 3 (16:07):
We were talking about you had a lot of friends
that got the get they got to vote. It must
have been a lot of Browns, and I guess former
Broncos teammates getting balanced.
Speaker 1 (16:15):
Jeremie Tussel.
Speaker 3 (16:16):
He's ahead of Christian Gonzalez, Cam Hayward, which which is
crazy to me.
Speaker 2 (16:20):
Yeah, that's I mean, that's just stupid, absolutely stupid.
Speaker 1 (16:26):
I don't.
Speaker 2 (16:29):
I can't even begin to get it. He had his
catch percentage on the year was sixty two percent. Like
he's great for him, yeah, wow for him, but it
just it was not good. I mean, I don't I
don't even know. He's not a top one hundred player.
I don't know where I would rank him in the
in the receivers, but somewhere probably in the forties or fifties.
Speaker 1 (16:49):
Yeah, and this makes me think, do you.
Speaker 3 (16:52):
Will's Quillan sid make the top one hundred or the
top eighty At this point I kind.
Speaker 2 (16:57):
Of made based on the numbers he should.
Speaker 1 (17:00):
He should, but lads at one hundred.
Speaker 2 (17:03):
Yeah, having Jerry Judy ahead of Lad McConkie is stupid.
I mean, like, I just flat out like I'm not
even trying to be I'm not even trying to be funny,
but it's stupid.
Speaker 1 (17:14):
Tred McDuffie's one of the best cornerbacks in the.
Speaker 3 (17:16):
League top five easy, and he's right next to Jerry Judy.
Speaker 1 (17:20):
It's it's wild to me. Yeah, I don't even know
what to do that next next story hurt my brain.
Two more rankings for you.
Speaker 3 (17:30):
ESPN released their Tight Ends list today again. This is
their annual position rankings they do based on sourced responses
from coaches, scouts, executives from around the NFL. Evan Ingram
did not make the top ten, but he did appear
as an honorable mention. I can give you the whole
(17:50):
list to refer to here in a second. But do
you think he's a snub and where do you think
he ranks this time next year?
Speaker 1 (17:57):
I do not think he's a snub. Where would I
put Evan Ingram?
Speaker 2 (18:03):
Well, I'd put him behind Brock Bauers for sure, Trey McBride,
Travis Kelcey, John hus Smith, trying to think other tight ends.
I'd put him behind for sure, George Kittle, he'd put
him behind there. He probably put him behind zach Ertz,
Hunter Henry. Then you start to get into that tier
that he'd be in with like Friarmouth, Kiseki, all those guys.
Speaker 3 (18:24):
That's where you probably put Evan Ingram. He ranked ahead
of zach Ertz. Actually interesting there their top ten. Just
to give it to you, Rock Bowers came in at
number one, un seeding Travis Kelsey, which was interesting. We
had George Kittle committed at number two, Sam Laporta at
number three, Trey McBride at number four. I thought he'd
(18:46):
maybe be number two or at least a little higher
than four. Travis Kelcey is all the way at number five.
No one ranked Travis Kelcey higher than four, and some
people even had him completely outside the top ten.
Speaker 2 (18:58):
I mean that's about right. He only averaged a half
a catch. They just peppered him with targets last year.
Speaker 3 (19:03):
Mark Andrews comes in at six. Yeah, TJ Hawkinson at seven,
Isaiah Likely at eight. Meeting the Ravens have two of
the top eight tight ends per this list, Dallas Goddard
at nine and David and Joku at ten. The honorable
mentions where Dawden Kincaid, Pat Fryarmouth Hunter, Henry Evan, Ingram
cole Comet, Jake Ferguson and John Hugh Smith.
Speaker 1 (19:23):
Yeah. Well Smith should be higher on that list.
Speaker 2 (19:25):
But beyond that, yeah, I mean that's beyond that. That's
that's a pretty good list. I'm not too bad about
that one. I don't seems was opposed to putting Jerry
Judy in the top one hundred players in the league, and.
Speaker 3 (19:35):
I think Kelsey deserves to drop at least that far.
He just hasn't beat He helps the Chiefs but he's
like a late stage Jason Witten at this point where
he's a reliable set of hands.
Speaker 2 (19:44):
And yeah, he still knows how to find the sauce
spot in zone even if he isn't, you know, explosive.
That Jerry Judy thing still blows my mind because if
you're saying that Jerry Judy is eighty second best player,
then you're claiming that he's a top five wide receiver
in the league.
Speaker 3 (19:56):
Yeah, and even if it's wide receiver loaded, he you know,
he has to be a top ten guy top It
makes no sense to me. Three last set of rankings
for you here. ESPN also released their safety rankings and
the Broncos also had some mentions. Here, no one in
(20:16):
the top ten, but you have Brandon Jones finishing as
an honorable mention and Talanoa Hufanga finishing with votes. There's
the third category also receiving votes. Talanoa Hufanga falls into
that bucket.
Speaker 1 (20:33):
Are you surprised that.
Speaker 3 (20:35):
Neither Broncos safety made the list and which do you
think had the stronger case to be included.
Speaker 1 (20:41):
I'm not surprised neither of them made it.
Speaker 2 (20:45):
I don't know Brandon Jones, I thought played really well,
but he's just overshadowed by other big names in the defense.
Speaker 1 (20:51):
You know, I think that the biggest thing for the Brandon.
Speaker 2 (20:53):
Jones aspect of it is to say the Broncos lost
one of the best safeties they've ever had in Justin's Simmons,
and almost no one noticed because Brandon Jones played that well,
you know, like if you think about it from that perspective.
But I'm not surprised when you got guys like Kirbie
Joseph Savior, McKinney, CJ. Garner, Johnson, Caleb Bullock, Jesse Bates, Samanni.
(21:18):
I mean, you got so many great safeties in the
league right now, the idea that they would be in
the top ten.
Speaker 1 (21:23):
Did they get honorable mention at least?
Speaker 3 (21:25):
Yes, Brandon Jones was an honorable mention and then tala
Noah Hufunga a little behind that in the also receiving
votes category. I could see Hufanga shooting way up this list.
You know, he was what just two years removed from
second team All Pro nods, so clearly has some people
that think pretty highly of them and can see them
have a bounce back. Here the top ten list as
(21:45):
these scouts, coaches executives have it. Kyle Hamilton at number one,
No real surprise there, Brian Branchett to Savior, McKinney at three,
Jesse Bates at four, Kirby Joseph at five, Irwin James
at six, Antwine Winfield seven, Buddah Baker at eight, Minka
Fitzpatrick at nine, and Julian Love at ten. Honorable mentions
(22:06):
Javon Holland, Brandon Jones, c J. Gardner, Johnson, Travon Morigg
and Kaylan Bullock also receiving votes. Justin Reed, Jalen Petrie,
Kyle Dugartano Hufanga, Grant Delpit, and Quentin Lake.
Speaker 1 (22:19):
That sounds about right.
Speaker 2 (22:20):
I mean, you know none of them are have eye
popping numbers in any of the major categories.
Speaker 1 (22:26):
That sounds about right when you do it like that.
Speaker 2 (22:30):
Four.
Speaker 3 (22:34):
Aiden Hutchinson told CBS's Ryan Wilson that his leg is
quote exactly where it needs to be d quote a
head of training camp as he rehabs from the fractured
fibula injury he suffered last year. What are your expectations
for Aiden Hutchinson in twenty twenty five and where do
you think the Lions rank among the NFC's contenders after
all their losses.
Speaker 2 (22:55):
Well, I think they're going to have a difficulty reloading.
You know, anytime you lose both coordinators, you lose a
lot of continuity. They've got a lot of talent on
that roster that's certainly going to help them out. You know, Hutchinson,
That defensive line is pretty tough starting forwards Aydon Hutchinson,
DJ Reeder, Alie McNeil, and Marcus Davenport.
Speaker 1 (23:15):
That's a that's a pretty sound front.
Speaker 2 (23:17):
Four UH and they've got some guys that can uh
that can rotate through UH as as well. It really
it just comes down to what new defensive coordinator Kelvin
Shepard is. You know it's gonna do. I think Hutchinson,
if he can stay healthy, is in for a big season.
I mean, he's a pretty good pass rusher over there
at the end, and they've got great players around him,
(23:37):
so it's not like you could just consistently double him
up because you've got so many good players on that
front that that's sort of an impossibility. So, you know,
I think I'll have a good season. I think the
Lions would be a good football team. I just I
don't think this is their year. As you know, you
usually you take a step back when you replace coordinators,
and uh that that probably will happen here.
Speaker 3 (23:58):
I feel like I'm surprisingly more concerned about the offense
than the defense. The defense was so beat up last
year that now if they even have average injury luck,
I imagine the infusion of talent might cancel out losing Aaron
Glenn to some extent. Whereas the offense, I worry about
Jared Goff behind an offensive line that I think is
(24:19):
no longer a top three unit in the league.
Speaker 1 (24:22):
It might not even be top ten. When you look at.
Speaker 3 (24:24):
An interior, that's Christian Mahogany and Graham Glasgow at the
two guard spots. You know, Glasgow several years removed from
even him when he was tailing off towards.
Speaker 1 (24:35):
The end here in Denver.
Speaker 3 (24:36):
And then Brookie Tate Ratledge at center, who I mean
I liked as a prospect, But that's expecting a lot
to try and replace Frank Rag. Now there's lots of
turnover there upfront. I don't know if they're ready to
manage that and still maintain their presence as an elite
offensive line.
Speaker 1 (24:53):
Yeah, I mean you know, Penny Sewell.
Speaker 2 (24:54):
And Taylor Decker. You're not worried about Glasgow's played well
for him last year. He's played well on that interior,
so I'm not too worried about him even over there
at the right guard. But yeah, Christian Mahogany at the
left guard and Tate Ratline is the unknown at the
center position.
Speaker 1 (25:07):
And that really was what made that offense go.
Speaker 2 (25:09):
They made significant investments with rag down all that kind stuff.
They made significant investments in the line. They kept building
that line up, and that allowed Jared Golf to have
the time to be able to dissect and get and
find guys like I'm on Ross, Saint Brown, Jameson Williams,
John Morton taking over the offensive coordinator.
Speaker 1 (25:23):
They're gonna be interesting to see how that goes.
Speaker 3 (25:25):
Yeah, I just I'm worried about the Graham Glasgow of
it all. I really he has played well for him
last year, but last year he had you know, an
altro on either side of him. Now he's playing with
a rookie on at least on one side.
Speaker 1 (25:36):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (25:37):
Five forty nine Ers fullback Kyle Yuschek told the athletics
Fick to fur that Christian McCaffrey looks incredible, healthy and explosive.
Is this just standard pre training camp pipe we hear
with players coming back from injury or do you think
CMC will have a big year in twenty five twenty
(25:57):
twenty five?
Speaker 1 (25:58):
And how good do.
Speaker 3 (25:59):
You think this San Francisco forty nine ers can be
if he isn't back to his previously elite for him.
Speaker 1 (26:05):
Well, they need him to be back.
Speaker 2 (26:06):
I mean that offense is missing players. You don't have
Debo anymore. Brandon I Yu's probably starting the season on
the pup. Who knows how long he'll be out. You know,
George Kittle was banged up last year. You're hoping he
gets back to for him, you just paid you know,
Brock Purty, So that'll be you know, but I think so,
I mean, he doesn't obviously have a whole lot of
wear in terror from last year. I mean, he was injured,
(26:27):
but not a lot of wear in terror. Body might
be a little bit fresher coming into you know, coming
into camp this year. So I would buy uh yus
check saying that, you know they, I mean, this is
a team that's gonna want to and gonna have to
run the football. They just do not have a lot
of weapons in the passing game. They drafted Pierce all
and obviously he looked all right, But I mean Juwan
(26:49):
Jennings has hit or miss. DeMarcus Robinson. They brought in
from the Rams, Jordan Watkins. They drafted most of the
rest of these guys that they've got on here are
a bunch of nobodies that you know that have never
really played or are freshly drafted. So they just do
not have a lot of weapons at wide receiver. And
then on the defensive side of the ball, I mean
they're replacing a lot. They got two rookies on the
offensive line, Michael Williams and Alfred Collins.
Speaker 1 (27:12):
You know the linebackers. Obviously they're gonna be missing green Law.
Speaker 2 (27:15):
And now they've got the winners back there. You know,
Mustafa at the safety is hurt. They already lost Tofonga.
They brought in Trey Brown to be the slot corner
from from Seattle.
Speaker 1 (27:28):
Like that. That defense, this guy is a new look defense. Now.
I don't me wrong.
Speaker 2 (27:32):
I love Robert Salah and I think he'll absolutely have
them playing it, you know, to the best of their ability.
Speaker 1 (27:38):
But that's a lot of new personnel.
Speaker 2 (27:40):
And I don't know that the Niners are really poised
to be what people think they might be or what
they usually are, you know, year in the year out.
I think Arizona's gonna step up in the division, and
I think Seattle and the Niners are going to struggle.
And I think that it'll be Arizona the Rams that
finish the top of the NFC West.
Speaker 3 (27:56):
I think I agree with you. This feels like a
reloading year for San Francisco. I know you give some
fantasy advice in season. Where would you feel comfortable taking
Christian McCaffrey in a PPR fantasy draft?
Speaker 2 (28:08):
I mean, you take him in the first round, you
take him the first or second round. You know, you
kind of have to just just give him how much
they're going to ride him if he's if he's healthy
and available.
Speaker 1 (28:18):
So back to the first round though not like top five.
You're not taking a number one.
Speaker 2 (28:22):
No, I'm taking Derrick Henry, you know, number one. I
mean he's going to continue to get the body isn't
wearing down.
Speaker 1 (28:29):
He's he figured out.
Speaker 2 (28:30):
How to run out of the shotgun after the first
couple of weeks last year, and you know, having Lamar back,
there's always going to open up running lanes for him.
So you know, Derek Henry is somebody I'm always probably
going to take early. But h McCaffrey, I wouldn't find
you know, seven or eight nine somewhere back in there,
just depending on what the scoring is, if it's a
quarterback weighted or not. If if quarterbacks aren't scored as much, Yeah,
you probably take him in the top ten.
Speaker 1 (28:49):
Six.
Speaker 3 (28:52):
Last one for you here the Chicago Bears extended GM
Ryan pulls through twenty twenty nine today. Do you think
this was the right called by Bears ownership? And will
the Chicago Bears make the playoffs this season?
Speaker 1 (29:05):
Well, I think it's what you had to do.
Speaker 2 (29:08):
You kind of have to in order to do because
it aligned him with the contract with Ben Johnson.
Speaker 1 (29:13):
Right. It's another another line is this is what you
what you have to do.
Speaker 2 (29:17):
The moves that they made all off season, the upgrades
on the offensive line and drafting all those those offensive replacements.
I mean to me, this is what you do. You
you go ahead and give them the contract, bup and say, okay,
you you built this thing.
Speaker 1 (29:31):
Out how you wanted. You got the guy in there.
You wanted all that kind of stuff. Here we go.
Speaker 2 (29:36):
You know, you brought in Joe Toney, Drew Dolvin, Joda
Jackson for the interior line. You brought in Zachias Devin
Duverne at receivers.
Speaker 1 (29:46):
You you you.
Speaker 2 (29:47):
Brought in you drafted Colston Loveland at tight end, and
then you brought in uh, Grady Jarrett and THENDO O
dango on on defense. They brought in a lot of pieces,
and so I think there are big, big expectations for
(30:09):
the Bears this year. I'm not one hundred percent sure
that I think they're as good as maybe some other
people do, but that division to me is.
Speaker 1 (30:19):
Very up for grabs.
Speaker 2 (30:20):
You got a Minnesota team that's gonna be starting a
rookie quarterback, a Green Bay team that I don't think
is as good as people think they are, the Bears
who are who are untested at this point. We'll see
what they grow into here. Uh, and then Alliance team
that's got, like we just talked about, you know, lost
their offensive and defensive coordinator. They're kind of starting over philosophically,
so it's gonna be That's another division that you know,
(30:41):
people say it's tough we'll see who's tough coming out
of it. Obviously, the Vikings defense is pretty good, and
you know, we've we've seen what Green Bay does on
offense year in year out. You know, those kinds of things.
I don't know at the end of the day. I mean,
Chicago's probably a flirt with a wildcard type team, which
is a gigantic step up from where they were agreed.
Speaker 3 (31:00):
I just there are a few things that give me pause.
That Jonah Jackson trade feels weird to me. He was
benched by the Rams last year. I wonder if he'll,
you know, be healthy enough to really fix the Bear's
problems there. And then Ben Johnson came from an embarrassment
of riches at running back in Detroit and now he's
working with DeAndre Swift, Roshawn Johnson and Kyle Mnungai. I
(31:22):
wonder if he's going to be able to have his
offensive vision come to fruition with that talent. It gives
me a bit of flashbacks to Brandon Staley getting that
Chargers job, and it's like, can he recreate this without
Jalen Ramsey and Aaron Donald And you know, wasn't able
to Ultimately.
Speaker 2 (31:41):
Yeah, Dennis Allen's a pretty good defensive coordinator and he'll
provide a lot on the defensive side of the ball,
but the afise the offense is going to be interesting.
I mean, you get Deckland Doyle, our former tight ends coach,
paired up there with Ben Johnson who's never been a
head coach before, and it's anytime you anytime you do that,
you put together a staff that lacks experience, executive experience,
(32:03):
or experience at those positions, and the offensive side of
the ball for the Bears is certainly looks that way.
Always gives me pause. That was the same thing when
Hackett got hired of Mansion. Man.
Speaker 1 (32:13):
There's there's not a lot of experience on this staff.
I'm a little worried about that, and sure.
Speaker 2 (32:17):
Enough they had to bring in Daddy and Jerry Rosberg
to manage the clock and find people with experiences to
limp through that season. That's one of those things you
when you when you hire a coaching staff, you've got
to have a couple of pieces that has some experience
because you come into this thing learning, you're learning on
the job, You're doing things you've never done before, and
things are going to fall through the crack and you've
got to have people there to be able to backstop
(32:38):
you and catch those things and you know, and pick
up the slack when you know something slips through the
cracks for you.
Speaker 1 (32:45):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (32:46):
Dennis Alan is one of my favorite hires of this cycle.
I just he's such a good defensive coordinator, not a
good head coach, but a really really sharp defensive court
all right.
Speaker 2 (32:53):
He's getting the Wade Phillips Seal of approval. Yeah, and
great with defensive backs too. I think you can get
let them work with that.
Speaker 3 (33:00):
I go Bears secondary and they should be really, really
nasty this year.
Speaker 2 (33:03):
Yeah, hopefully the Bears secondary won't just be standing around
during hail Mary passing attempts this year.
Speaker 1 (33:08):
I doubt you'll see any of that, So Dennis, I'll
clean that up.
Speaker 3 (33:11):
He's off the Sean Payton tree, taunting the crowd, watching
your your back is turned to the play.
Speaker 2 (33:17):
Is there's the other team hail marys you to win.
And that began a streak where I believe the Bears
lost every game after that.
Speaker 3 (33:23):
Yes, that's that's in the Leon Let Jim Marshall Hall
of Fame for like all time NFL gas that I
think that one's going to live in infamy for a
long time.
Speaker 1 (33:33):
Yeah, that was.
Speaker 2 (33:33):
And for those who don't know, you go back and
watch that play. Jane Daniels through that hail. Mary the
corner from the Bears was sitting there jawing at the
crowd and missed his assignment there and this guy went
on the score of the touchdowns.
Speaker 1 (33:44):
Just just absolutely ridiculous. Guys. Listen to Broncos country tonight
Speaker 2 (33:48):
Right here on k Waife four one FM News Talk Sports.
Short show post Rockies edition.
Speaker 2 (00:02):
Rockies get the dub three to two over the Cincinnati Reds,
surging forward to a twenty two and seventy two record
on the season.
Speaker 1 (00:12):
We're only fifty games apart on the win loss. We
can do this. Seekers, we can do this.
Speaker 3 (00:21):
They they're turning it around. You just got to get
hot at the right time. The correct answer is we
cannot do this. But hey, hey, they got the win.
We got to celebrate the wins when when you can
get them. Jake Bird gets the win, moves to three
and one on the season. Only pitch the inning had
two hits, one run, one earned, one walk, one strikeout.
Her Mon Marquez pitched beautifully through six innings, five hits,
(00:43):
one run, one earned, three walks, eight strikeouts, did allow
that home run, though one may one inning pitch got
the hold, his fifth had a strikeout.
Speaker 2 (00:52):
Victor Vodik gets his second save of the season, had
an inning pitch to hit all out. It was that
double to lead off, a walk and then three strikeouts.
Speaker 1 (00:59):
The walk was intentional, by the way.
Speaker 2 (01:02):
Rocky six hits on the game, three which came from
Ryan McMahon, got the only homer that the Rockies had
as well. Ryan Ritter got a hit. Jordan Beck Mickey
Montiac got hits as well. Rockies walked four times. Two
of those were Horter Goodman, who did wind up scoring
a run over on the other side for the Cincinnati
(01:23):
Reds eight hits for the Reds. Everybody got a hit
except for Austin Hayes and TJ.
Speaker 1 (01:28):
Fridel.
Speaker 2 (01:30):
You did have a home run from Marte third basement there.
Chase Burns had a start for the Reds, got no
decision six innings, pitch four hits, two runs to earned,
did have ten strikeouts. Scott Barlow pitched an inning of
scoreless ball and struck out the side.
Speaker 1 (01:47):
Tony Santellion had the loss for the Reds.
Speaker 2 (01:52):
He moved to one and three on the season, and
in he pitched two hits, one run, one earned, one walk,
three struck out and Lion Richardson pitched in for the
Cincinnati Reds as well. Rockies uh got down one nothing
after Mark they homeward in the third. Brian McMahon answered
back top of the fourth with a two run shot,
(02:12):
scoring Migueltolia Michael Tolia. Bottom of the seventh, the Reds
came back tied it back up at two to two,
but the Rockies answer right back in the eighth Asar
Hunter Goodman scored on the wild pitch to get it
to three to two, and that is the final. Rockies
cover the one and a half obviously since they won,
(02:33):
and Uh the under it as well. So I think
that means, like what Dave and I tie for the
or Dave David beat me for show me the money
for the week.
Speaker 1 (02:42):
I didn't see the way you all picked on the Dave.
Speaker 2 (02:45):
And I were the only ones that had the under
and uh, Nick and Ryan had the over, and I
think they both.
Speaker 1 (02:50):
Had the reds, So I think Dave and I.
Speaker 2 (02:53):
I don't know.
Speaker 1 (02:53):
I think a quests figured it out. Either David I
tie or Dave one. I'm not sure.
Speaker 2 (02:57):
I'm not sure which which one that was, because Ryan
and Nick were one game ahead of us, but they
got both of them wrong and we got them right.
Speaker 3 (03:02):
So it means I think you guys tied for first.
Speaker 1 (03:06):
I said, either of you won. Yeah, we'll have to
figure uh figure all that out. Five six six nine
zero is the text line.
Speaker 2 (03:14):
We got an FL six pack coming up at the
bottom of the air. We'll get you a news and
Traffic Break then with Jody Jordan Lots going on in
the world of sports today, the Quarterback Series.
Speaker 1 (03:26):
I don't know if you watched any of this so far.
Speaker 3 (03:29):
Yeah, I'm through like the first episode now, or I
think I'm halfway through the second one.
Speaker 2 (03:33):
He certainly seems like Kirk Cousins is longing to go
back to the Vikings.
Speaker 1 (03:40):
You know.
Speaker 2 (03:40):
He was pretty straightforward about feeling this led by Atlanta
with their draft plans, saying, if I'd known they were
going to take a quarterback earlier, I would have stayed
in Minnesota, where theylready told me they were going to
take a quarterback early.
Speaker 1 (03:53):
But you get you get into this thing.
Speaker 2 (03:55):
And there's one where he's relaxing at his home with
his uh, his wife, Julie, and he invokes a metaphor
for his feelings about moving on from the Vikings in
twenty twenty four, saying, quote, I heard somebody describing it
as when you see somebody dating the person you used
to date in high.
Speaker 1 (04:11):
School or college, You're like, I used.
Speaker 2 (04:13):
To throw to Jordan Addison and Justin Jefferson, and now
someone else.
Speaker 1 (04:16):
Is doing that. That's interesting.
Speaker 3 (04:19):
Yeah, it was, it was, and I'm not surprised. I mean,
I think in the moment he put a pretty good
public face on it, but of course it was uncomfortable.
You know, it was well reported that he was out
in Minnesota because he wanted a multi year commitment. He
says as much in this show as well, verifying that part.
And then the Falcons clearly, you know, didn't make that
(04:41):
multi year commitment because they drafted Michael Pennox and now
we are in this situation. I started to feel bad
bad for Kirk Cousins because he's gotten his bag, But
I don't know, it does feel like he I do
feel like he was misled and wound up in a
fairly rough situation where now he's going to be a
back up for twenty twenty five. It's teams and not
(05:02):
get to play, and you know, that's wasting one of
his final playable years when he could probably start for
a team like the Browns.
Speaker 2 (05:09):
Cousins went on delving into his Week fourteen game during
the twenty twenty four season, when is Atlanta Falcons traveled
to face Minnesota for the first time since he left
in free agency, and Kirk said, I was asked by
the broadcasting group for the game, what about Atlanta made
you want to leave Minnesota? And I said, that question
is the wrong question. I didn't want to leave Minnesota.
There was nothing about anywhere that made me want to
leave Minnesota. We wanted to be in Minnesota, but it
(05:31):
became clear that we were going to be there year
to year, and that's what we didn't want. So at
that point we said, all right, we need to look elsewhere.
If that's our only option, then we'll be back. And
when we said, well, we looked around, father, there's an
opportunity that we have loger commitment. Would you be interested
in giving us that longer commitment? They said no, we're
good with our offer. And I said, okay, well you
made my decision easy. So there's plenty to unpack in
(05:52):
the series for all three participants, Kirk Cousin, along with
Detroit Lions quarterback.
Speaker 1 (05:57):
Cherry goff Sin State Bengals Joe Burrow.
Speaker 2 (05:59):
I don't think anything overshadows the many layers of regret
and career derailment that the Cousin's storyline brought to the table.
Speaker 1 (06:08):
It's a storyline.
Speaker 2 (06:09):
He clearly softened a bit when he offered the opportunity
to speak about signing a four year, one hundred and
eighty million dollar contract with Atlanta before watching the Falcons
shockingly draft Panics with the eighth overall pick in the
draft just weeks after he'd committed to the organization. Cousins
said he felt misled when the draft day stunner unfolded,
and that would probably be a diplomatic phrase.
Speaker 1 (06:31):
Everything that I've heard.
Speaker 2 (06:33):
From talking to those close to Cousins is that the
more accurate descriptor, and more acidic, is that he was
lied to. He signed in Atlanta believing he was going
to be the unquestioned starter who absolutely wouldn't need to
worry about a creeping first round rookie waiting in the wings,
and then that's exactly what happened. Now we have the
(06:54):
missing nuance to how the twenty twenty four season unfolded,
which saw Cousins suffer in our mission Week ten against Saints,
fallow by spiral of clearly injured play, lost of arm strength,
he was pressing to dig himself out of a hole,
and then finally coming to one of the worst periods
of his career that led to a demotion when he
likely should have taken a sustained period to rest his
elbow rather than try to hold his job against the
(07:16):
Pennis takeover. And there's a lot of layers in here
to illustrate the complexity of navigating the career of a
mid thirties quarterback who's trying to squeeze everything out of
his remaining years. We've certainly seen that up close and
personal here in Denver, but with Cousins, a cascading set
of circumstances presented themselves, putting him in a position to
have one of the worst cases of buyer's remorse as
(07:37):
a free agent and now entering the twenty twenty five
season wanting to be somewhere else, but also trapped by
the very same guaranteed salary that he requested.
Speaker 1 (07:48):
That the Falcons still owing.
Speaker 2 (07:52):
Without doing a play by play of the Netflix series,
here are some of the most important points to the
Cousins shared the laid out. He believed the Vikings were
honest about their plans the twenty twenty four free agent negotiations,
which they told him included a limited commitment and drafting
young quarterback to groom, and that led him to lean
into the Falcons opportunity, which he clearly now thinks is
a scenario where they lied to him about his intentions
(08:13):
to do the same thing as the Vikings. He regretted
leaving the Vikings once the Pennex pick was made, with
multiple instances where both he and his wife framed Minnesota
is a place they never wanted to leave. Once Cousins
was in the saddle as Atlanta starter and with Pennix
behind him, is standing on the death chart remained on
his mind so much so that when he suffered and
(08:34):
that throwing arm injury against the Saints of we ten
and debatingly should have sat down for the best of
the team, he instead pushed himself to stay in the
lineup out of fear of losing his job. At one point,
Cousins even references reading a book from Sains legend Drew
Brees that espoused the notion of never letting a backup
quarterback even get on the field out of the sheer
(08:54):
fear of losing your job. Taking into a wider context,
it's not hard to surmond his Cousins very likely should
have sat down with his injury and instead kept himself
in the lineup to limit the potential of losing his
starting job.
Speaker 1 (09:07):
The Netflix series goes on to present.
Speaker 2 (09:09):
A pretty real representation of what can happen with quarterbacks
who play with injuries. Cousins' limitation set the stage for
some turnovers, gaffes, and set the stage for him pressing
to reverse his plummet, which inevitably made things worse and
then began to infect his confidence and decision making. In turn,
Atlanta's quarterback decisions suddenly became more justifiable. Cousins was playing
(09:32):
the worst football of his career thanks to a combination
of health, pressure, decisions, and confidence. And this is how
one hundred and eighty million dollars quarterback loses his job
to a rookie. Now you can suggest this is what
the Falcons created when they drafted Pinnix. They signed a
veteran to a massive deal, gave him an in house
problem to worry about that ultimately impact his thinking effectively.
(09:53):
You could argue Atlanta put Cousins into a position that
he had to worry more about than his starting job
than whether his in injury adversely up back to the team.
Speaker 1 (10:04):
And the way you could being put.
Speaker 2 (10:05):
Into that position, Cousins shows his own football mortality as
a starter over what it might have been best for
the Falcons when he suffered the injury. It's interesting and
it's going to be fascinating to watch that play out
the season because if Penick stumbles, what is the leash there?
Or even if we're watching training camp, if Cousins is
back to being healthy and blowing the doors off Penis
(10:26):
in training camp, do you reverse course?
Speaker 1 (10:29):
I guess you could. I don't at that point.
Speaker 3 (10:34):
Maybe you play him in the preseason and hope you
can drum up trade value so you're then able to,
I don't know, flip him for something worthwhile later on,
But I.
Speaker 1 (10:46):
Don't know.
Speaker 3 (10:47):
I think you got to roll with Pedix at this point.
He showed you some promise at the end of last season,
and I think reversing course right now would be doing
what like Vic Fangie did with Teddy Bridgewater, except a
year early, like right after Drew Locke has that twenty
nineteen debut, coming in in twenty twenty and immediately sitting
(11:08):
to him behind a veteran that you knew was really
going nowhere. It seems a little early for that. I
think you just hold on for Cousins, or hold on
Cousins and hope someone gets injured. And you can maybe
flip him for a draft pick or something when when
someone gets desperate.
Speaker 2 (11:24):
Maybe that's going to be one of those things that
Bear's paying attention to. Not a lot of people pay
attention to the sports semmis, but ESPN's dan Orlowski apparently
had some feelings going into this year's show. During an
appearance on SI Media with Jimmy Traino, the former NFL
quarterback provided an unusually candid walkthrough of his emotions when
(11:45):
he lost outstanding personality slash studio analyst to future coworker
Charles Barkley back in May. He wasn't happy, say quote,
of course, I was furious. I was like, man, I
really believe that I've had a strong run here. I
believe I've separated myself. I think pride in that, and
I know who I was going up against the greats
(12:06):
of the great So I was like, I feel very confident.
I really did. And so when Charles want I texted him.
I have no business having Charles Barkley's number, by the way,
but I do. So I texted him and I said
something along the lines of will you stop winning? And
he responded back to the laughing emoji face. You know,
it's a team effort, and so that would bothered me.
Barkley with the award for the sixth time in his
broadcasting career, beating out Orlovski, Nate Burleson, Ryan Clark, and
(12:29):
Kirk kirk Street. Borolowski was the only nominee who has
not previously won the award. He said originally he didn't
want to go to the award, but after the nominations
came out due to concerns about going zero for three,
but he was convinced by his wife and ESPN, and
after Barkley won, he said, I immediately to my wife
like a child, said I want to go home.
Speaker 1 (12:50):
I just is it? Why would you think? Why would
you think you're beating Charles Barkley, who so sports him.
He's who cares. Just like this movie we get the
cbas or whatever. Ryan and I were one of those things.
So you know, I don't even know where they are. Yeah,
that's one thing.
Speaker 3 (13:04):
I agree with that point, But also, just man, you
lost to Charles Barkley.
Speaker 1 (13:09):
Like I I think Dan Orlovsky's.
Speaker 3 (13:11):
Fine, But you know this sounds like brock Purty being
upset he lost the MVP to Patrick mahomes like, man,
that's tough. I'm sorry to hear that, but I I
don't have a ton of sympathy like you. Out of
those names, he's fourth at best, maybe fifth, I don't know.
I yeah, man, I hate to break it to you,
but you're just you shouldn't have gotten your hopes up.
(13:34):
That's a weird thing to be upset about. Five six
sixty nine Zero's text line, You guys want to get
involved in the conversation, Let's do an NFL six.
Speaker 1 (13:49):
It's time for the NFL six pad.
Speaker 2 (13:52):
I'm going to drink a lot of year insight, insight
information you can't find anywhere else.
Speaker 1 (13:58):
I know, the top six headlines.
Speaker 3 (14:02):
What starting off with another check in on the NFL
Top one hundred players list. Since we last checked in,
players eighty four through eighty one have been revealed. Christian
Gonzalez comes in at eighty four, Cam Hayward comes in
at eighty three, Jerry Judy is the eighty second player,
(14:22):
and Trent McDuffie is ranked eighty first. Do you think
Jerry Jerry Judy deserves his spot in the top one hundred,
that being eighty second overall? And who do you think
is the most or what is the most surprising ranking
you've seen so far?
Speaker 2 (14:36):
Yeah, Jerry Judy even in the top one hundred is obscene.
I don't get that at all. That's entirely weird. The
idea that Jerry Judy is a better player at his
position than Zach Allen is that his is.
Speaker 1 (14:51):
Nuts. I don't even know what to do with that.
Speaker 2 (14:54):
Jerry Judy had three games last year where he went
over one hundred yards. Out of the twelve hundred and
twenty nine yard that he had, two hundred and thirty
five of them came against Denver in that Jameis Winston
shootout game in primetime.
Speaker 1 (15:06):
I think that one really helped him out.
Speaker 2 (15:07):
Apparently, because the rest of the season he had most
of his games were around sixty yards. He had several
games where he was held under twenty or thirty. Let's see,
like I could look at this game log here, let
me pull it up. He had twenty five, seventy three,
twenty seven, seventy two, sixteen, thirty five, eighteen seventy nine,
seventy three, two eighty five to thirty five, sixty four
(15:28):
one eight, twenty ninety four, sixty three. He's just wildly consistent,
and he beat up on injured or bad defenses. If
you look, I mean Denver's that was when they had
all the injuries. And then if you look back at
he got one hundred and forty two against New Orleans,
who was terrible last year. So, I mean, this is
I don't even understand why Jerry Judy's on the list.
He had four touchdowns whole year.
Speaker 1 (15:49):
Four. He ranks ahead of Lad McConkey. It's crazy.
Speaker 3 (15:53):
Drake London, another receiver, rateshead of He's ahead of Levonte David,
Sam Laporta, Creed Humphreys. This is Bates. You mentioned that
doing this?
Speaker 1 (16:02):
Who's doing this list of the players the top hundred players? Stupid?
James Cook, Andrew van Ginko.
Speaker 3 (16:07):
We were talking about you had a lot of friends
that got the get they got to vote. It must
have been a lot of Browns, and I guess former
Broncos teammates getting balanced.
Speaker 1 (16:15):
Jeremie Tussel.
Speaker 3 (16:16):
He's ahead of Christian Gonzalez, Cam Hayward, which which is
crazy to me.
Speaker 2 (16:20):
Yeah, that's I mean, that's just stupid, absolutely stupid.
Speaker 1 (16:26):
I don't.
Speaker 2 (16:29):
I can't even begin to get it. He had his
catch percentage on the year was sixty two percent. Like
he's great for him, yeah, wow for him, but it
just it was not good. I mean, I don't I
don't even know. He's not a top one hundred player.
I don't know where I would rank him in the
in the receivers, but somewhere probably in the forties or fifties.
Speaker 1 (16:49):
Yeah, and this makes me think, do you.
Speaker 3 (16:52):
Will's Quillan sid make the top one hundred or the
top eighty At this point I kind.
Speaker 2 (16:57):
Of made based on the numbers he should.
Speaker 1 (17:00):
He should, but lads at one hundred.
Speaker 2 (17:03):
Yeah, having Jerry Judy ahead of Lad McConkie is stupid.
I mean, like, I just flat out like I'm not
even trying to be I'm not even trying to be funny,
but it's stupid.
Speaker 1 (17:14):
Tred McDuffie's one of the best cornerbacks in the.
Speaker 3 (17:16):
League top five easy, and he's right next to Jerry Judy.
Speaker 1 (17:20):
It's it's wild to me. Yeah, I don't even know
what to do that next next story hurt my brain.
Two more rankings for you.
Speaker 3 (17:30):
ESPN released their Tight Ends list today again. This is
their annual position rankings they do based on sourced responses
from coaches, scouts, executives from around the NFL. Evan Ingram
did not make the top ten, but he did appear
as an honorable mention. I can give you the whole
(17:50):
list to refer to here in a second. But do
you think he's a snub and where do you think
he ranks this time next year?
Speaker 1 (17:57):
I do not think he's a snub. Where would I
put Evan Ingram?
Speaker 2 (18:03):
Well, I'd put him behind Brock Bauers for sure, Trey McBride,
Travis Kelcey, John hus Smith, trying to think other tight ends.
I'd put him behind for sure, George Kittle, he'd put
him behind there. He probably put him behind zach Ertz,
Hunter Henry. Then you start to get into that tier
that he'd be in with like Friarmouth, Kiseki, all those guys.
Speaker 3 (18:24):
That's where you probably put Evan Ingram. He ranked ahead
of zach Ertz. Actually interesting there their top ten. Just
to give it to you, Rock Bowers came in at
number one, un seeding Travis Kelsey, which was interesting. We
had George Kittle committed at number two, Sam Laporta at
number three, Trey McBride at number four. I thought he'd
(18:46):
maybe be number two or at least a little higher
than four. Travis Kelcey is all the way at number five.
No one ranked Travis Kelcey higher than four, and some
people even had him completely outside the top ten.
Speaker 2 (18:58):
I mean that's about right. He only averaged a half
a catch. They just peppered him with targets last year.
Speaker 3 (19:03):
Mark Andrews comes in at six. Yeah, TJ Hawkinson at seven,
Isaiah Likely at eight. Meeting the Ravens have two of
the top eight tight ends per this list, Dallas Goddard
at nine and David and Joku at ten. The honorable
mentions where Dawden Kincaid, Pat Fryarmouth Hunter, Henry Evan, Ingram
cole Comet, Jake Ferguson and John Hugh Smith.
Speaker 1 (19:23):
Yeah. Well Smith should be higher on that list.
Speaker 2 (19:25):
But beyond that, yeah, I mean that's beyond that. That's
that's a pretty good list. I'm not too bad about
that one. I don't seems was opposed to putting Jerry
Judy in the top one hundred players in the league, and.
Speaker 3 (19:35):
I think Kelsey deserves to drop at least that far.
He just hasn't beat He helps the Chiefs but he's
like a late stage Jason Witten at this point where
he's a reliable set of hands.
Speaker 2 (19:44):
And yeah, he still knows how to find the sauce
spot in zone even if he isn't, you know, explosive.
That Jerry Judy thing still blows my mind because if
you're saying that Jerry Judy is eighty second best player,
then you're claiming that he's a top five wide receiver
in the league.
Speaker 3 (19:56):
Yeah, and even if it's wide receiver loaded, he you know,
he has to be a top ten guy top It
makes no sense to me. Three last set of rankings
for you here. ESPN also released their safety rankings and
the Broncos also had some mentions. Here, no one in
(20:16):
the top ten, but you have Brandon Jones finishing as
an honorable mention and Talanoa Hufanga finishing with votes. There's
the third category also receiving votes. Talanoa Hufanga falls into
that bucket.
Speaker 1 (20:33):
Are you surprised that.
Speaker 3 (20:35):
Neither Broncos safety made the list and which do you
think had the stronger case to be included.
Speaker 1 (20:41):
I'm not surprised neither of them made it.
Speaker 2 (20:45):
I don't know Brandon Jones, I thought played really well,
but he's just overshadowed by other big names in the defense.
Speaker 1 (20:51):
You know, I think that the biggest thing for the Brandon.
Speaker 2 (20:53):
Jones aspect of it is to say the Broncos lost
one of the best safeties they've ever had in Justin's Simmons,
and almost no one noticed because Brandon Jones played that well,
you know, like if you think about it from that perspective.
But I'm not surprised when you got guys like Kirbie
Joseph Savior, McKinney, CJ. Garner, Johnson, Caleb Bullock, Jesse Bates, Samanni.
(21:18):
I mean, you got so many great safeties in the
league right now, the idea that they would be in
the top ten.
Speaker 1 (21:23):
Did they get honorable mention at least?
Speaker 3 (21:25):
Yes, Brandon Jones was an honorable mention and then tala
Noah Hufunga a little behind that in the also receiving
votes category. I could see Hufanga shooting way up this list.
You know, he was what just two years removed from
second team All Pro nods, so clearly has some people
that think pretty highly of them and can see them
have a bounce back. Here the top ten list as
(21:45):
these scouts, coaches executives have it. Kyle Hamilton at number one,
No real surprise there, Brian Branchett to Savior, McKinney at three,
Jesse Bates at four, Kirby Joseph at five, Irwin James
at six, Antwine Winfield seven, Buddah Baker at eight, Minka
Fitzpatrick at nine, and Julian Love at ten. Honorable mentions
(22:06):
Javon Holland, Brandon Jones, c J. Gardner, Johnson, Travon Morigg
and Kaylan Bullock also receiving votes. Justin Reed, Jalen Petrie,
Kyle Dugartano Hufanga, Grant Delpit, and Quentin Lake.
Speaker 1 (22:19):
That sounds about right.
Speaker 2 (22:20):
I mean, you know none of them are have eye
popping numbers in any of the major categories.
Speaker 1 (22:26):
That sounds about right when you do it like that.
Speaker 2 (22:30):
Four.
Speaker 3 (22:34):
Aiden Hutchinson told CBS's Ryan Wilson that his leg is
quote exactly where it needs to be d quote a
head of training camp as he rehabs from the fractured
fibula injury he suffered last year. What are your expectations
for Aiden Hutchinson in twenty twenty five and where do
you think the Lions rank among the NFC's contenders after
all their losses.
Speaker 2 (22:55):
Well, I think they're going to have a difficulty reloading.
You know, anytime you lose both coordinators, you lose a
lot of continuity. They've got a lot of talent on
that roster that's certainly going to help them out. You know, Hutchinson,
That defensive line is pretty tough starting forwards Aydon Hutchinson,
DJ Reeder, Alie McNeil, and Marcus Davenport.
Speaker 1 (23:15):
That's a that's a pretty sound front.
Speaker 2 (23:17):
Four UH and they've got some guys that can uh
that can rotate through UH as as well. It really
it just comes down to what new defensive coordinator Kelvin
Shepard is. You know it's gonna do. I think Hutchinson,
if he can stay healthy, is in for a big season.
I mean, he's a pretty good pass rusher over there
at the end, and they've got great players around him,
(23:37):
so it's not like you could just consistently double him
up because you've got so many good players on that
front that that's sort of an impossibility. So, you know,
I think I'll have a good season. I think the
Lions would be a good football team. I just I
don't think this is their year. As you know, you
usually you take a step back when you replace coordinators,
and uh that that probably will happen here.
Speaker 3 (23:58):
I feel like I'm surprisingly more concerned about the offense
than the defense. The defense was so beat up last
year that now if they even have average injury luck,
I imagine the infusion of talent might cancel out losing Aaron
Glenn to some extent. Whereas the offense, I worry about
Jared Goff behind an offensive line that I think is
(24:19):
no longer a top three unit in the league.
Speaker 1 (24:22):
It might not even be top ten. When you look at.
Speaker 3 (24:24):
An interior, that's Christian Mahogany and Graham Glasgow at the
two guard spots. You know, Glasgow several years removed from
even him when he was tailing off towards.
Speaker 1 (24:35):
The end here in Denver.
Speaker 3 (24:36):
And then Brookie Tate Ratledge at center, who I mean
I liked as a prospect, But that's expecting a lot
to try and replace Frank Rag. Now there's lots of
turnover there upfront. I don't know if they're ready to
manage that and still maintain their presence as an elite
offensive line.
Speaker 1 (24:53):
Yeah, I mean you know, Penny Sewell.
Speaker 2 (24:54):
And Taylor Decker. You're not worried about Glasgow's played well
for him last year. He's played well on that interior,
so I'm not too worried about him even over there
at the right guard. But yeah, Christian Mahogany at the
left guard and Tate Ratline is the unknown at the
center position.
Speaker 1 (25:07):
And that really was what made that offense go.
Speaker 2 (25:09):
They made significant investments with rag down all that kind stuff.
They made significant investments in the line. They kept building
that line up, and that allowed Jared Golf to have
the time to be able to dissect and get and
find guys like I'm on Ross, Saint Brown, Jameson Williams,
John Morton taking over the offensive coordinator.
Speaker 1 (25:23):
They're gonna be interesting to see how that goes.
Speaker 3 (25:25):
Yeah, I just I'm worried about the Graham Glasgow of
it all. I really he has played well for him
last year, but last year he had you know, an
altro on either side of him. Now he's playing with
a rookie on at least on one side.
Speaker 1 (25:36):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (25:37):
Five forty nine Ers fullback Kyle Yuschek told the athletics
Fick to fur that Christian McCaffrey looks incredible, healthy and explosive.
Is this just standard pre training camp pipe we hear
with players coming back from injury or do you think
CMC will have a big year in twenty five twenty
(25:57):
twenty five?
Speaker 1 (25:58):
And how good do.
Speaker 3 (25:59):
You think this San Francisco forty nine ers can be
if he isn't back to his previously elite for him.
Speaker 1 (26:05):
Well, they need him to be back.
Speaker 2 (26:06):
I mean that offense is missing players. You don't have
Debo anymore. Brandon I Yu's probably starting the season on
the pup. Who knows how long he'll be out. You know,
George Kittle was banged up last year. You're hoping he
gets back to for him, you just paid you know,
Brock Purty, So that'll be you know, but I think so,
I mean, he doesn't obviously have a whole lot of
wear in terror from last year. I mean, he was injured,
(26:27):
but not a lot of wear in terror. Body might
be a little bit fresher coming into you know, coming
into camp this year. So I would buy uh yus
check saying that, you know they, I mean, this is
a team that's gonna want to and gonna have to
run the football. They just do not have a lot
of weapons in the passing game. They drafted Pierce all
and obviously he looked all right, But I mean Juwan
(26:49):
Jennings has hit or miss. DeMarcus Robinson. They brought in
from the Rams, Jordan Watkins. They drafted most of the
rest of these guys that they've got on here are
a bunch of nobodies that you know that have never
really played or are freshly drafted. So they just do
not have a lot of weapons at wide receiver. And
then on the defensive side of the ball, I mean
they're replacing a lot. They got two rookies on the
offensive line, Michael Williams and Alfred Collins.
Speaker 1 (27:12):
You know the linebackers. Obviously they're gonna be missing green Law.
Speaker 2 (27:15):
And now they've got the winners back there. You know,
Mustafa at the safety is hurt. They already lost Tofonga.
They brought in Trey Brown to be the slot corner
from from Seattle.
Speaker 1 (27:28):
Like that. That defense, this guy is a new look defense. Now.
I don't me wrong.
Speaker 2 (27:32):
I love Robert Salah and I think he'll absolutely have
them playing it, you know, to the best of their ability.
Speaker 1 (27:38):
But that's a lot of new personnel.
Speaker 2 (27:40):
And I don't know that the Niners are really poised
to be what people think they might be or what
they usually are, you know, year in the year out.
I think Arizona's gonna step up in the division, and
I think Seattle and the Niners are going to struggle.
And I think that it'll be Arizona the Rams that
finish the top of the NFC West.
Speaker 3 (27:56):
I think I agree with you. This feels like a
reloading year for San Francisco. I know you give some
fantasy advice in season. Where would you feel comfortable taking
Christian McCaffrey in a PPR fantasy draft?
Speaker 2 (28:08):
I mean, you take him in the first round, you
take him the first or second round. You know, you
kind of have to just just give him how much
they're going to ride him if he's if he's healthy
and available.
Speaker 1 (28:18):
So back to the first round though not like top five.
You're not taking a number one.
Speaker 2 (28:22):
No, I'm taking Derrick Henry, you know, number one. I
mean he's going to continue to get the body isn't
wearing down.
Speaker 1 (28:29):
He's he figured out.
Speaker 2 (28:30):
How to run out of the shotgun after the first
couple of weeks last year, and you know, having Lamar back,
there's always going to open up running lanes for him.
So you know, Derek Henry is somebody I'm always probably
going to take early. But h McCaffrey, I wouldn't find
you know, seven or eight nine somewhere back in there,
just depending on what the scoring is, if it's a
quarterback weighted or not. If if quarterbacks aren't scored as much, Yeah,
you probably take him in the top ten.
Speaker 1 (28:49):
Six.
Speaker 3 (28:52):
Last one for you here the Chicago Bears extended GM
Ryan pulls through twenty twenty nine today. Do you think
this was the right called by Bears ownership? And will
the Chicago Bears make the playoffs this season?
Speaker 1 (29:05):
Well, I think it's what you had to do.
Speaker 2 (29:08):
You kind of have to in order to do because
it aligned him with the contract with Ben Johnson.
Speaker 1 (29:13):
Right. It's another another line is this is what you
what you have to do.
Speaker 2 (29:17):
The moves that they made all off season, the upgrades
on the offensive line and drafting all those those offensive replacements.
I mean to me, this is what you do. You
you go ahead and give them the contract, bup and say, okay,
you you built this thing.
Speaker 1 (29:31):
Out how you wanted. You got the guy in there.
You wanted all that kind of stuff. Here we go.
Speaker 2 (29:36):
You know, you brought in Joe Toney, Drew Dolvin, Joda
Jackson for the interior line. You brought in Zachias Devin
Duverne at receivers.
Speaker 1 (29:46):
You you you.
Speaker 2 (29:47):
Brought in you drafted Colston Loveland at tight end, and
then you brought in uh, Grady Jarrett and THENDO O
dango on on defense. They brought in a lot of pieces,
and so I think there are big, big expectations for
(30:09):
the Bears this year. I'm not one hundred percent sure
that I think they're as good as maybe some other
people do, but that division to me is.
Speaker 1 (30:19):
Very up for grabs.
Speaker 2 (30:20):
You got a Minnesota team that's gonna be starting a
rookie quarterback, a Green Bay team that I don't think
is as good as people think they are, the Bears
who are who are untested at this point. We'll see
what they grow into here. Uh, and then Alliance team
that's got, like we just talked about, you know, lost
their offensive and defensive coordinator. They're kind of starting over philosophically,
so it's gonna be That's another division that you know,
(30:41):
people say it's tough we'll see who's tough coming out
of it. Obviously, the Vikings defense is pretty good, and
you know, we've we've seen what Green Bay does on
offense year in year out. You know, those kinds of things.
I don't know at the end of the day. I mean,
Chicago's probably a flirt with a wildcard type team, which
is a gigantic step up from where they were agreed.
Speaker 3 (31:00):
I just there are a few things that give me pause.
That Jonah Jackson trade feels weird to me. He was
benched by the Rams last year. I wonder if he'll,
you know, be healthy enough to really fix the Bear's
problems there. And then Ben Johnson came from an embarrassment
of riches at running back in Detroit and now he's
working with DeAndre Swift, Roshawn Johnson and Kyle Mnungai. I
(31:22):
wonder if he's going to be able to have his
offensive vision come to fruition with that talent. It gives
me a bit of flashbacks to Brandon Staley getting that
Chargers job, and it's like, can he recreate this without
Jalen Ramsey and Aaron Donald And you know, wasn't able
to Ultimately.
Speaker 2 (31:41):
Yeah, Dennis Allen's a pretty good defensive coordinator and he'll
provide a lot on the defensive side of the ball,
but the afise the offense is going to be interesting.
I mean, you get Deckland Doyle, our former tight ends coach,
paired up there with Ben Johnson who's never been a
head coach before, and it's anytime you anytime you do that,
you put together a staff that lacks experience, executive experience,
(32:03):
or experience at those positions, and the offensive side of
the ball for the Bears is certainly looks that way.
Always gives me pause. That was the same thing when
Hackett got hired of Mansion. Man.
Speaker 1 (32:13):
There's there's not a lot of experience on this staff.
I'm a little worried about that, and sure.
Speaker 2 (32:17):
Enough they had to bring in Daddy and Jerry Rosberg
to manage the clock and find people with experiences to
limp through that season. That's one of those things you
when you when you hire a coaching staff, you've got
to have a couple of pieces that has some experience
because you come into this thing learning, you're learning on
the job, You're doing things you've never done before, and
things are going to fall through the crack and you've
got to have people there to be able to backstop
(32:38):
you and catch those things and you know, and pick
up the slack when you know something slips through the
cracks for you.
Speaker 1 (32:45):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (32:46):
Dennis Alan is one of my favorite hires of this cycle.
I just he's such a good defensive coordinator, not a
good head coach, but a really really sharp defensive court
all right.
Speaker 2 (32:53):
He's getting the Wade Phillips Seal of approval. Yeah, and
great with defensive backs too. I think you can get
let them work with that.
Speaker 3 (33:00):
I go Bears secondary and they should be really, really
nasty this year.
Speaker 2 (33:03):
Yeah, hopefully the Bears secondary won't just be standing around
during hail Mary passing attempts this year.
Speaker 1 (33:08):
I doubt you'll see any of that, So Dennis, I'll
clean that up.
Speaker 3 (33:11):
He's off the Sean Payton tree, taunting the crowd, watching
your your back is turned to the play.
Speaker 2 (33:17):
Is there's the other team hail marys you to win.
And that began a streak where I believe the Bears
lost every game after that.
Speaker 3 (33:23):
Yes, that's that's in the Leon Let Jim Marshall Hall
of Fame for like all time NFL gas that I
think that one's going to live in infamy for a
long time.
Speaker 1 (33:33):
Yeah, that was.
Speaker 2 (33:33):
And for those who don't know, you go back and
watch that play. Jane Daniels through that hail. Mary the
corner from the Bears was sitting there jawing at the
crowd and missed his assignment there and this guy went
on the score of the touchdowns.
Speaker 1 (33:44):
Just just absolutely ridiculous. Guys. Listen to Broncos country tonight
Speaker 2 (33:48):
Right here on k Waife four one FM News Talk Sports.
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