Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
And welcome back to some more post training camp post
Colorado Rockies, Broncos Country tonight. Missed you all last night
up until the very very late night. Excited to be
talking to you all.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Now.
Speaker 1 (00:13):
We have a great show coming up. How about that
Rockies game, though that was not so great. I was
hoping they could build off the momentum from a really
amazing comeback against the Cleveland Guardians last night where it
looked like they had maybe blown the lead and then
they surged back pulled it off in the end. This
(00:34):
time they weren't so lucky. They ultimately, you know, were
even with the Cleveland Guardians down the stretch. Just had
a really rough first three innings where they went and
they fell into a seven to nothing hole and they
were never really able to recover. Scored three runs in
the final three innings to make it a more respectable
ten to four, got a lot of guys on base,
(00:56):
they just kept stranding them unfortunately, but overall a solid
performance from the guys. They are definitely still trending in
the right direction. You know, they're not all of a
sudden a team in the playoff hunt, obviously, but after
a four and twenty four start in May, they're all
the way up to twenty eight and seventy eight, which
(01:17):
again isn't stellar, but does have them right on pace
now with the twenty twenty four Chicago White Sox, who
old the record for worst record through one hundred and
sixty two regular season game season, which again you don't
want to be on pace there, But just a month
and a half ago or so, they were ten games
behind that pace, so trending in the right direction, and
(01:41):
that White Sox team also really closed ice cold down
the stretch. So if the Rockies can continue these games
or even plateau at this point, one would think they'll
be able to avoid history. Though, with the trade deadline
coming up and the Rockies revers reportedly getting a lot
of interest around the league, you know, it seems like
(02:03):
there's potential that any of them could potentially be gone
in the coming weeks, and what does that do to
a Rockies bullpen that's kind of already trying to find
its footing. Rockies will look for the series victory tomorrow
against the Cleveland Guardians. Back here on KOA. Coverage starts
at four. It's amazing we're talking about series victories now
(02:28):
because I remember just I think two weeks ago they
had only had one series win through the entire season,
cleaned up back to back series lost to the Orioles.
But they have a chance tomorrow to win this Guardian Series,
and I would give them three of the last four series,
which again just underlines the turnaround we're seeing from the
(02:51):
Rockies where they're playing like a respectable ball club right now.
Warming has been a great revelation over these past few games.
Wasn't as hot tonight though he did go to a
four and hit in an RBI. He just a home
(03:11):
run streak came to an end. He's now up to
four hundred during his brief three games sint here with
the Rockies and a slugging average of point nine to
three to three. He is cleaning up right now, and
what a fine to promote him. I don't know if
Toglia is going to get his job back, frankly, especially
with Warming, Bernable, Burnable. I think it's Burnable, Warming, Burnable
(03:36):
playing like this. It's this season at this point, obviously,
is just about moments like this for the Rockies. What
can you discover like Hunter good minutes a catcher that's
been a great discovery. Can warming burnable at first base
be another one of those discoveries. Speaking of Toglia, he
(03:56):
went one to four on the day, did get a
run in, did get so low home run shot, So
pretty solid day from him. But still I just I,
you know, maybe he cracks through as the DH but
I feel like that first base job is warmings to
lose right now, with with how hot he's been right
out of the gates. Coming up here at the top
(04:17):
of the hour, we're going to be joined by the
Denver Posts Parker Gabriel. He's been out there at training
camp all week. I've seen him a few times over
these past few days, and he's going to join us
to talk about some Denver Broncos training camp takeaways. You know,
who's shining, who's impressing, who's surprising, who's you know, how's
(04:39):
bo Nix looking, how is the rookie class looking, What
is John A barn looking at? Looking like? All that
and more? Coming up at the top of the hour.
Some breaking news yesterday that we weren't able to talk about,
but it's pretty huge, maybe not for the Broncos, but
the Colorado football scene in general. Was the Dion Sanders update.
(05:03):
Deon Sanders had missed much of the off season with
an undisclosed health issue and had been away from the team.
Ahead of his press conference yesterday, rumors from illegitimate news
sources frankly started swirling about that Prime might be looking
to step away from the team and retire despite signing
(05:26):
his lucrative extension this earlier this offseason. However, that didn't happen.
He did announce that he's been dealing with bladder cancer
and had to have a surgery that removed I believe
his bladder in fuller at least a large chunk of
his bladder in an effort to remove the tumor and
(05:47):
prevent the cancer from coming back. He is now cured
and cancer free, his doctors say, so that's excellent news.
But this is just the latest and a pretty healthy
or maybe un healthy string of serious ailments for the
Colorado head coach. You know, his first year at the
University of Colorado, he really struggled to stand on the
(06:09):
sidelines all game lone because of his feet problems. I
believe it was blood clots in his feet. He's missing
several toes as a result that he had to have amputated,
which I think it goes without saying that's pretty unpleasant
and painful. And even still last season it was better,
but I know he was in quite a deal of discomfort.
(06:31):
And you know, this is a former NFL player who
you know, Dion wasn't the most physical cornerback ever, but
he's seen his fair share of blows and for him
to be really hobbled by the pain he was experiencing
each of these first two seasons with the Buffaloes, you know,
(06:52):
it must be fairly serious. And again now he's having
another serious surgery loss of body part, and I just
I think at this point, especially with his kids now
being out of school, even though the reports ended up
being nonsense, and you know, he's saying he's fully committed
(07:14):
to the Buffalos, I think fans have to wonder how
much longer is he going to be around with the
team that is, And I think that's very dishrdening because
when he signed that contract extension this past you know,
a few months, it seemed like, wow, you know, this
ride's not going to be just a one, two, three
(07:35):
year thing like everyone in the world thought it was.
When he was initially hired as the University of Colorado
head coach. Everyone thought it was either going to be
a disaster or he was going to quickly get hired
away to a larger program, And the contract extension he
signed kind of demonstrated that, No, he's in Colorado for
at least the next few years and you'll probably have
a half decade plus of coach prime as the University
(07:59):
of Colorado head coach. But now with these health scares,
and he's not that old. I believe he's fifty eight
to fifty nine, which you know it's getting up there,
but still that's not There's plenty of NFL and college
head coaches that are older than that. But these health issues,
(08:20):
they're serious, you know, like his ladder surgery is going
to change how he goes to the bathroom for the
rest of his life. How does that operate on game
days or even during a longer practice. You know, is
that something that's that's feasible or something that's a major
hurdle for him. I again, I don't think anyone on
the outside knows the dynamics there, but it does seem
(08:44):
like a potential hurdle in terms of his long term
future with the Buffs and even if it's not this,
I think you have to. No one saw the cancer
scare coming. I think naturally you're worried about, you know,
is there going to be another thing that crops up?
And of course just hoping the best for Coach Prime
(09:06):
and his health. I think no matter if you're a
fan of football, a fan of the bus, a fan
of the Rams, what Jane norvel and Coach Prime are
bringing to the University of Colorado and Colorado States football
programs has been tremendous and something I absolutely don't think
fans should overlook. And it's nice to have competitive college football,
(09:30):
college football that's heading in the right direction back in Colorado,
and I hope both Norvelle and Prime are here for
a long time to keep that going. Last tiny little
tidbit I'll hit on quickly here before we check in
on some news this Nuggets off season. I think everyone
(09:53):
already knew it was incredibly strong. ESPN has in their
gradings of all thirty NBA off seasons, rated it as
the third best off season in the entire association within
a grade, highlighting the Cam Johnson signing or trade rather
and of course the Tim Hardaway junior signing, the Bruce
(10:16):
Brown signing, and the Jonas Valancunis trade, and really, I
think this is the best Nuggets off season of the
Jokic tenure. And you know, of a while. We'll maybe
talk about this more in the next hour here, but
you're going from a team that was really struggling to
even get like a solid seven or eight man rotation
(10:39):
last year, and now I think you feel pretty confident
that there's nine, maybe more playoff pieces here on the
Colorado Buffalo or on the Denver Nuggets, you know. And
plus I think it's even beyond those those depth pieces
because with Valanchounis, you're going to be able to and
(11:00):
you're gonna get an even better version of Nicola Jokic,
probably not statistically more productive, but a better, fresher, healthier
version of Nikola Jokic when the games really start to matter. Hello,
Broncos Country, and welcome back to some more post Rockies
Broncos Country tonight. And now it's time to head over
(11:25):
to the koa Common Spirit health hotline, where we're joined
by Parker Gabriel of the Denver Post. You can find
them over on Twitter at Parker J. Gabriel and all
his writing over at the Denver Post. Parker, how are
you doing tonight?
Speaker 2 (11:39):
I'm doing great. How are you guys?
Speaker 1 (11:40):
Johan doing great? Thank you so much for joining me tonight, Parker.
I just want to start off. Let's get right into
the big news here with Courtland Sutton. How are you
feeling about that Courtland Sutton contract? And are you at
all surprised to see it get done here ahead of
the season.
Speaker 3 (11:58):
Yeah, not surprised the end of the day, I think that,
you know, I mean, Corland Sutton said he always thought
the deal was going to get done.
Speaker 2 (12:08):
It always seemed from the team perspective like it was
it was likely to get done. It's not a sure
bet until it happens. But then when you see where
the number came in, you know, I mean, I don't
know if it's a huge, it's a it looks if anything,
team friendly to me and so like it just it
seemed all along like both sides were pretty comfortable with
(12:29):
where the talks were. Obviously once camp started, you know,
you just weren't quite sure how it was going to go.
But yeah, I mean I think both sides were motivated
to get it done. You know, it happened to the
number that sort of works for everybody at four years
and twenty three million a year in new money, and
you could tell listening to I think both Sean Payton
(12:52):
and Courtland sudden today sort of all the different reasons
why it made sense for both sides to figure this out.
Speaker 1 (12:59):
I fully agree. What do you think about him kind
of filling in as more of a leader with this
deal with what really is outside of him? And I
guess Trent Shirfield an extremely young receiving group.
Speaker 2 (13:12):
Yeah, it's interesting, you know. I talked to Troy Franklin
about this a couple of days ago, actually, and I
just asked them sort of like, what, you know, what
Courtland meant to that room with a bunch of young
guys in it, obviously, And he had a really interesting answer,
I thought, he said. He said, yeah, I don't know
if this is really quite the right word, but he's
like he brings like a sense of security, like not
only in the fact that he's both Nix's go through
(13:34):
target obviously, but you know, Troy was sort of like, yeah,
I mean, if you don't know what to do on something,
you just ask him. And if you don't know how
to do a drill, you just watch him and if
you don't know where to go, you just follow him.
And so that's sort of like all of those young guys,
I think it's sort of like, you know, if all
(13:54):
else failed to do a Cortos and that is you know,
he's a good guy, I think, to to put that
responsibility on. And then not only that, but like that's
an important role when you've got you know, a third
year player and Marvin Mms, who now has been around
the black a couple of times, but then three young
or inexperienced NFL players in Franklin, Devon Bley, and and
(14:17):
then obviously the rookie Pat Bryant.
Speaker 1 (14:19):
And I'm seeing him even you know on some reps
like talking with John Ay Barron or whoever else about
you know how to how to cover him or do
better on the defensive side of things.
Speaker 2 (14:33):
And that's like, I mean, I think that's another like
you just that's experience in the NFL, right, I mean,
that's that's understanding what training camp is for. Of Like, yes,
you want to roast somebody in one on ones and
win your battle, and then you want to talk to
them about you know, why you lean to the outside
before you broke to the post, or how you sift
through traffic in the middle.
Speaker 4 (14:53):
I you know, I heard him like the other day,
like you know, just.
Speaker 2 (14:56):
Talking through like releases and how all the inter he's
of Champaygton's offense, Like there are times when you know
you're going to switch release. Every offense does this, You
switch release and one guy uses the other as a
sort of natural pick and all that, and like that's
just stuff that Horton Sutton's done in this offense for two.
Speaker 4 (15:15):
Years and in the NFL for a long time.
Speaker 2 (15:17):
That these other guys haven't. And so you know, I
mean that's not that's not a fully novel concept. Obviously,
that's what you want from veteran leaders at all kinds
of positions. But you know, the Broncos get that kind
of veteran leadership from him in that receiver room, and
that's critical. You know, it's good for him, it's good
for the other receivers, it's good for both Nicks, like,
it's good for pretty much literally everybody.
Speaker 1 (15:39):
Yeah, and I think you're getting even more of that
this year because he's able to build on top of,
you know what this offense was last year. What the
quarterback was last year, what he knows the quarterback wants
in a way that he's never been able to do
as long as he's been here in Denver.
Speaker 4 (15:56):
For sure, it's the first time he's had the same.
Speaker 2 (15:58):
Quarterback and offensive coordinator two years in a row. I mean,
you know, he had Ruffle for two years, but obviously
you know, one year was with Nathaniel Hackett and then
the next year was with Sean Payton, and I'm sure
there's been a couple other guys in there, but like, yeah,
this is and this goes for I mean, this goes
for Quotland Sudden, it goes for Quinn Minors, that goes
for pretty much everybody who's been around. Is like now
(16:20):
you just have you know, I think even last year
there was a sense of like second year with Sean Payton,
there's some benefit to that. But now going into year
three with with Peyton and the second year with bo Nix,
there's just a level of continuity, a level of information retention,
(16:42):
a level of shameness that they just.
Speaker 4 (16:46):
Almost nobody, especially on the offense, has had in.
Speaker 2 (16:50):
Their careers if they've been in Denver their whole career.
So that part of it is just like and I
think that's like, you know, I'm not saying Quytland Sun
is suddenly going to be a fifteen hundred yard per
year guy. But that's another reason why the deal makes sense, right,
I mean, if there is a thirty year old receiver
out there that has some upside left, it might be him,
just because he keeps himself in such good shape and
(17:13):
because after so much rigmarole in his career, finally he's
in a situation where he's got you know, stability kind
of all the way around him.
Speaker 1 (17:25):
And to that stability, what do you what have you
seen from bo Nick so far in this second training camp?
Does it look like I know, it's kind of hard
to tell in this portion of the offseason, but does
it look like he's maybe taken steps forward in his development?
Are you seeing any signs of that growth in these
early returns?
Speaker 2 (17:44):
Yeah, I think, you know, I think it's it's too
early to say, like, oh man, he's really honed in
on being able to throw the ball, you know, twenty
yards to the opposite hash on a line and to
fit it in this window or that window or whatever.
Speaker 4 (17:56):
Like I think all that.
Speaker 2 (17:57):
Stuff is like you have to go by a little
bit of what you hear, just in terms of, you know,
he talks about being more comfortable in terms of processing
and all of that, and like I think, you know,
the proof will be in the putting on that in
terms of you know, playing on schedule, is there left scrambling?
Speaker 4 (18:15):
Is he does the time to throw come.
Speaker 2 (18:17):
Down a little bit? You know, the release is a
little quicker. Is he more decides with where the ball
is going? And he wasn't like he wasn't bad at
that stuff last year. And sometimes the times throw gets
long because he's at white it can even scramble and
all that. But like, I think he'll be able to
feel as the season gets going, if it feels like
he's playing on time and and you know, on on
(18:39):
the right read like more frequently.
Speaker 4 (18:42):
But right now, to me, the biggest thing is.
Speaker 2 (18:44):
Just what it feels like around there. It's like very
clearly his team. I mean I'm not the first person
to say this, Like you can just tell by the
way he's carried himself, you know, the way the rest
of the team reacts to him. It is like it's
his team, it's his offense, it's his life. Locker room,
and that is like that was not the case at
this time last year. He was trying to win the
(19:05):
job last year and.
Speaker 4 (19:06):
Saying things like, well I better be okay with that.
Speaker 2 (19:08):
If I don't win the jobs, otherwise it won't be
around here very long. Like that's not now. He's like
now he's like getting asked about being in the top
hunter players in the NFL and all this stuff. So
like you know, like it's it's just a different feel.
I think that's the biggest thing right now. And then
the rest of it, you know, you sort of I
think you expect to see the growth, but you know,
(19:30):
some of it is like you want to actually see
it on the field before you sit here and proclaim
in late July like, oh yeah, he's definitely ascending into
the tier of the league right certainly.
Speaker 1 (19:42):
And I mean, to your point, what a difference twelve
months makes. I think another player really benefiting from that
right now is Troy Franklin. He seems like the early
training camp Darling, you mentioned a conversation you had with
him earlier in the training camp process. What have you
seen or heard from him for this first week or so?
Speaker 4 (20:03):
Yeah, he put on he put up five to seven pounds.
Speaker 2 (20:05):
On this offseason is what he told me. So like,
and I think you can see that he's never gonna
look like Courtland Sutton, but like he's a little bit sturdier,
you know, he said, he's you know, he doesn't want
to get too heavy because just you know, guys have
a weight range. They like playing it. But he's put
on a little bit of weight. And then the thing
I think about Troy Franklin is like Bonix put it
(20:27):
really well. Actually last week on Saturday, Bonick said, you know,
Troy's natural skill. The thing that you just can't teach
about him is he just he can run by people
and he can separate and get open.
Speaker 4 (20:39):
But it's hard to do that, especially in the.
Speaker 2 (20:42):
NFL, when your brain is going a million miles an
hour about am I in the right spot? Do I
have the right split? Do I know the route I'm
supposed to run? Do I have to go in motion?
Like there's all of this stuff and it all happens
very fast, and that can be the difference between.
Speaker 4 (20:59):
You know, just playing free and letting.
Speaker 2 (21:01):
Your natural ability take over and like thinking too much.
And so, you know, Trot Franklin told me that he
feels like he's a progress in that he's still trying
to master everything obviously, but I think you see that
with him. And then also you know he's worked hard
on not only understanding how to play outside, but knowing
(21:21):
you know, the slot role, all the different receiver spots,
so that you know he can be used interchangeably through
the formations play out of the slot, play in motion,
play out of the backfield, you know, play out wide,
all that stuff, and so that's like, that's the next
step for him. But I think if you get the
combination of playing faster and having more of the playbook
(21:41):
at your disposal, those are sort of the Those are
like ingredients in the recipe for a breakout season. Like
that doesn't doesn't guarantee it, but I think you sense,
you know that he's he's at least I think, putting
in a lot of work to try to, you know,
put the pieces in place for that kind of year.
Speaker 1 (22:00):
With those pieces starting to come together, you of course
also have the pre existing chemistry with Bonix, even if
it didn't really pay dividends last year. With all those
things coming together, do you think he has a good
chance of kind of emerging as the number two wide receiver.
I think there's a lot of other maybe pass catchers
in the offense, but the number two wide receiver in
that Broncos offense.
Speaker 2 (22:20):
Yeah, that's a good question. I mean, I would I
guess I would. I guess I would put Marvin Mims
in that in that role if you had to pin
me to somebody today. Although, like you know, Veley is
a guy too that you could look up and he
has eighty targets and you're like, oh, yeah, well that
makes sense. He's always open. And so I just I
really think that all four of those guys are still
(22:41):
sort of candidates for that spot. You're talking about Marvin Mims,
Troy Franklin, Devon Valley, and Pat Bryant. You know, Pat
Bryant may not be the number two option like right
out of a gate as a rookie, but you know
he doesn't play like a rookie when you watch him
just in Campbell the other preseason goes. So I think
it's a really good battle for snaps and playing time. Certainly,
Franklin's got, you know, attributes that you can't teach. Marvin
(23:05):
them falls in that category two just at the breakaway
speed and then I think, like, I'm not saying he's
going to be the number two, but when you watch
Trent Sherfield, he's kind of like, I think he's like
twenty twenty five little Jordan Humphrey, where you're gonna look
up at some point during the season and say, yeah,
he's playing like forty percent of the snaps, and he's
(23:26):
been targeted quite a bit, and he's blocks in the
run game and all of that. So I don't know,
there's no guarantee that's going to be his role. But
when Sean Payton says, you know, talks about physical guys
that can block and that can run like that is
a very specific skill set that he wants in his offense,
and I'm not sure they have another guy that does
(23:48):
that quite like he does it. So he's he's He
may not get eighty ninety targets, he may not play
a ton offensively, but I think he's gonna have a
pretty clearly defined role in their offense.
Speaker 1 (23:59):
Yeah, did in a bit of a soup up Lord
Jordan Humphrey. The route he ran against Jay Kuan today
was really impressive. I thought, just just beat him deep
really easily.
Speaker 2 (24:09):
Yeah, I did, and that's like the you know, and
he's he's he's dropped a couple of balls and and
he's never been a big time receiver, but I think
in twenty twenty two he had thirty catches for the Dolphins,
and and he played some in Minnesota. Obviously that receiving
course really good. So he's mostly a special teamer last year,
you know, same group as Justin Jefferson and Jordan Madison
(24:30):
and those guys. So mostly a special teamer last year.
But he's the guy who you know, you get the
sort of core special teams workout of him. But it's
sort of plus that and and like I think souped
up little Jordan Humphrey is kind of is a pretty
good analogy for that of like, you know, he's got
a little little Jordan Humphrey say that last time fast,
and he's got a little bit of the Josh Reynolds
(24:52):
thing where it's like, you know, he can run somebody
off vertical or run the dagger or whatever. And so
that's like, uh, that's a role where where you're not
gonna be the feature guy, you're not gonna be the
number one very often, but you might. He just feels
like that guy that you're gonna look up mid season
and go, that's the guy that's playing a lot more
than I thought he was going to.
Speaker 1 (25:10):
I think that's a great point. And along with the
wide receiver stuff with Courtland Sutton getting his extension, Franklin
being the buzzy camp so far, it seems like the
other big development has been, unfortunately, the rash of injuries
at linebacker. You've got Sanders out for four to six
weeks now with the foot ligament injury. You've got Alex
Singleton out for the next week as he recovers from
(25:31):
surgery on the broken thumb. What have you seen from
the other linebackers in that room? How are you feeling
about that room going forwards with those two guys sidelined
for at least the short term.
Speaker 2 (25:44):
Yeah, I think I think for now they're fine, but
they've sort of like moved into that area where it's like,
if one more guy gets hurt, you start to think, like,
what are they going to do? And for a week
in the camp, that's that's a little bit concerning. But
if they go the next week and Singleton gets back
and he's gonna probably play with the club for a while,
(26:05):
but like you know, if they sort of hold steady
from here and then he's got the club off by
the time the opener, I mean the opener is still
almost six weeks away, So like, if he's got the
club off by then, I mean, I think they're in
fine shape. But you know, in terms of the room
right now, I think there's been a little buzz around
(26:25):
the belt daily. He's made some plays, especially in coverage.
We're just starting to see the padded stuff. But like,
to me, he's been in the mix a lot in
their run periods. It seems like he's competent and sort
of like how he's fitting in the run game and
where he's supposed to be, which you know, for as
much as they liked him last year, I just I
don't know that he was always assignment sound and that's
(26:46):
sort of wife as a rookie in the NFL. So
he ands ernat is a is a pretty good battle.
They're both gonna get a ton of reps and tell
Singleton's back and and sort of like fully back integrated
into practice and their system and all that. So it's
a golden opportunity for Lovell Bailey. Obviously they saw you know,
Justin Sarna can handle some defensive work last year. And
(27:08):
then the three undrafted rookies are interesting. JB. Brown is
an undrafted rookie who I think it's a guy that's
worth keeping an eye on. But you know, if they
get back to a semblance of health, I mean, I
think Drew Sanders, you know, if it's six weeks, he
won't start the season on uninjured reserve, even the four
week deal. If it's more like A or nine, maybe
he would, maybe he wouldn't.
Speaker 4 (27:29):
So like there might be an extra spot a billable there, but.
Speaker 2 (27:33):
There might not be, depending on how it goes. And
so to me, like the JB. Brown, Jordan Turner, you know,
Karen Reid, like those guys are the guys that like
practice squad. But if you can really stand out on
special teams, you've got a chance, and then it should
be a pretty good I'm interested to see all of
those guys play and pre see them once again.
Speaker 1 (27:54):
Speaking with Parker Gabriel of the Denver Post, Parker, last
one for you here, what's been your biggest surprise so
far of camp?
Speaker 2 (28:01):
Oh, that's a good question. Biggest surprise I have to say,
like I have been impressed. Now it's only a couple
asn't pads, so we'll sort of see how it goes
the next week. But like, I'm very interested to see
what the joint practice in San Francisco in the first
preseason game look like for Ke Robinson and Savian Jones.
(28:25):
Jones obviously third round pick, Hugh Robinson fourth round pick,
because when they drafted those guys, you know, Savian Jones
are saying, okay, maybe it did. John Franklin Meyers, their apparent.
You know, he can he can almost like Red Shirty
hear in that defensive line group. Hugh Robinson, I think
he only played three hundred defensive snaps collegially at Alabama, Like,
(28:46):
you know, he's the developmental guy, the special teams guy,
all of this. Like they both looked pretty darn good
so far. It's so early that like you don't want
to get you know, too far out in you know,
in front of your skis. But like those two guys
I think have been guys at physicians that already have
some depth where you're like, if they hit on both
(29:08):
of them, you sort of have this embarrassment of bridges
in the front seven, which of course, you know George
Peyton would tell you can never have enough of those guys.
But those two, those are two guys that I sort
of thought like, well, if they come along slow, that's fine,
and instead they've really flashed, and so that's like you
know that again. I keep saying this like it doesn't
guarantee anything, but to my eye, both of those guys
(29:31):
are off to the type of starts that make you
look around and go like, uh, that looks like a
guy who's one a track to where you know he
might be able to contribute sooner rather than later.
Speaker 1 (29:41):
Can't wait to see them go up against some more contact.
Once again, it's Parker Gabriel. Read all his work over
at the Denver Post. Make sure you're following him as
well over on Twitter at Parker Jay Gabriel. Parker, thanks
so much for the time. I'll see you tomorrow.
Speaker 2 (29:54):
Man, Yeah, you bet seez see it.
Speaker 1 (29:59):
Once again Parker Gabriel. Check him out, one of the
absolute best on the beat. I think he's got such
great analysis for the team. We'll have more training camp
takeaways though, coming up on Broncos Country tonight on KOA.
After this break Broncos Country and welcome back some more
(30:25):
after training camp second day, have padded practices post Colorado
Rockies Broncos Country tonight. At the top of the hour,
I'll do a little bit more of a deep dive
into the Courtland Sutton contract situation. Give you everything you
need to know there about the guarantees and how it
(30:46):
stacks up to the other deals around the league. I
think it's a really excellent deal for the Broncos. Honestly,
I see very very little downside in that contract. This
front office has just been on such a heater. But
I'll get more into that at the top of the break.
Also talk some about the linebacker news and some of
you know. I'll talk to some about my camp observations
(31:09):
as well, but want to get into that sum here.
Last segment. By the way, we had an excellent little
tour through camp with the Denver Post Parker Gabriel. Make
sure you are checking him out wherever you like to
get your Broncos news on Twitter at Parker J. Gabriel
or if you have a Denver Post subscription. His writing
and can't take aways every day there are absolutely amazing.
(31:34):
One thing we talked about was Troy Franklin standing out
and Trent Sherfield as well. And that's the first thing
I want to touch on the Broncos weapons. I think
a lot of fans were worried about that that maybe
the Broncos didn't do enough there. They should have added
a running back or receiver or tight end in the
first round or you know, really made a larger splash
(31:57):
to upgrade the assortment of weapons around bow Nicks. And honestly,
I was kind of in that camp too. It wasn't
a major conserative mind, but I didn't expect the weapons
to be great. What we're seeing in camp right now,
I think is very exciting. You know, Trent Sherfield and
Troy Franklin were probably the bottom two options going into camp.
(32:21):
I think most anyone if they had to stack the
six probably would have had the top six guys, probably
would have had those guys as five and six in
some order with Pat Bryan and fourth, and both have
been so impressive. I mean, Troy Franklin's maybe been the
player of training camp. He looks so much improved to me.
(32:41):
Everything that bothered you about him last year, whether it
was you know, his lack of size and ability to
play through contact. Parker Gabriel in our last segment said
Franklin told him in an interview that he had added
five to se pounds. I was a little surprised the here.
It's only that little. He looks noticeably stock here, so
(33:05):
I and he's just caught every single ball thrown his way.
One might have been out of bounds that you know,
was broken up by a corner, but he fought through
the contact, bob wood it up and caught it. It
was right on the sideline and it was the far sideline,
so hard to know if it's if he got the
two feet down or not. But even staying with the
(33:28):
play that long and having the antai coordination to eventually
secure the catch, it demonstrates growth.
Speaker 2 (33:34):
Right.
Speaker 1 (33:34):
The problem with Troy Franklin last year wasn't that he
didn't know how to keep his feet and bounced. It
was him completing the catch and having a case of
the dropsies. That's not been the case at all in camp.
And you know, so much of that's a mental issue
and pressure, and so we have to see how that
translates to joint practices in preseason games and regular season
(33:56):
games and all that. But you know, when you consider
he was playing some of his best ball down the
stretch last year. He looks like a dramatically better version
of what we saw last year so far in camp.
I think it's very very easy to get excited about that.
And Sherfield Parker Gabriel was kind of talking about him
as this year's little Jordan Humphrey, and I think he's
(34:17):
a much better version of that. You know, in one
on ones today he was going up against Ja Kwan
and I think the video is up on Luca Evans,
another Denver post rider, also a guy doing great work
up on his Twitter. Trent Sherfield torches Jay Kwan just
right down the field. He's got five plus yards of
separation easy when he hauls in the touchdown pass, and
(34:41):
he's got some deceptive speed to him. He's not like
he'll play that little Jordan Humphrey role that larger slot.
He'll do the dirty work. He's a really good blocker,
but he's going to be a much more dynamic receiving threat. Also,
he's got movement skills that Lil Jordan Humphrey just doesn't.
I think he's got better hands as well. He can
(35:02):
run a more diverse route tree, which is huge and
the diversity of skill set is something that I think
is universal across this receiver group. Even the one guy
who I think you could write in pen in a
certain spot, and that's Cortland Sutton is the team's ex
receiver starting X. He's been that for you know, really
(35:24):
just about ever since he came into the league. I
guess the second season he's been their starting X, and
so you can kind of put that in pen. But
even he is, you know, being used in a wide
variety of ways and alignments. You're seeing Marvin Mims, you
know last year who to thrive really had to be,
(35:45):
you know, put into this smaller slot role with some
much more simplistic asks, and he's proving now at camp
you know how much more he can handle having put
on his plate. He's up in all sorts of different places.
He's doing more real receiver stuff than we saw last year.
It's not just go routes and bubble screens and end
(36:08):
to rounds and all that. You're seeing the stuff. You're seeing.
His profile of what he's able to do and what
he can add to the offense really expand dramatically. Pat
Bryant another guy you know who you can move all
over the formation, and you know he could offer you
(36:28):
a lot as a pass catcher, as a red zone threat,
but also as a blocker, as a dirty work guy.
Evan Ingram of course, you know, I know Ryan Edwards
has been banging the drum for him all camping with
good reason. He looks like a game changer out there
for the Broncos offense, you know. And then you had
(36:51):
Sean Payton calling r J Harvey exceptional today. Sean Payton
isn't one to heat praise on anyone except guess maybe
Bo Nicks, and certainly not rookies, which a guy made
the bow Knicks praise last year even more notable. He's
not one to like, not that he's Bill Belichick all
(37:13):
the time, but he's doesn't just he's not Sean McVay
or Mike McDaniel either, you know, where he's just loading
up compliments at every turn. Nate Hackett, you know he's
not one of those guys. He is a more groff personality.
You can't find him calling many Broncos players, definitely not
many rookies over these past three seasons exceptional. And I
think him saying that about r J. Harvey is meaningful.
(37:36):
He looked good today and I really think that tandem
of JK. Dobbins and RJ. Harvey will bring something to
the Broncos backfield they haven't had since the Philip Lindsay
Melvin Gordon days.
Speaker 2 (37:49):
Where R. J.
Speaker 1 (37:49):
Harvey is just so explosive. He's a human bowlling ball,
you know, great juice. But then he's also just run
so low to the ground and is just a body
of muscle. I mean, everyone's talking about the quadzilla stuff
and understandably so, but he's built. You know, he's not
a guy who's sticking skipping whatever other days. You know,
(38:13):
obviously he's doing leg day, but he's not skipping any
of the other days either. He is a round mound
of muscle and I think you have that running a
four to four, maybe a four three forty, and it
could be a lot of fun. I think you're going
to see a lot of explosive plays from him, and
then JK. Dobbins is in excellent counter bounce because he's
just going to keep everything on schedule. You know, not
(38:35):
to say R. J. Harvey's vision is bad. I think
he might be a little boom er bust just because
He's always looking for the big play, which is part
of what makes him so special, part of the reason
he led college football last year in explosive rush rate.
But he is always looking for that big play and
can be a little Boomer bust as a result.
Speaker 2 (38:53):
JK.
Speaker 1 (38:53):
Dobbins, and you see it out there in camp. His
contact balance and vision just provides so such a high
floor where it's especially with this quality run blocking offensive line.
He's almost always going to get what's blocked for him,
and that's almost always going to be at least three
four yards, and sometimes it'll be seven or eight, you know,
(39:15):
and he's, you know, maybe not going to get you
a whole lot more than that all that often, but
he's consistently going to get you what is blocked for.
And Broncos Country knows how strong this offensive line already is.
So I just again the weapons, the way this offense
is coming together, I think has me tremendously excited. Even
bo Nicks, I think is impressing. These past two days
(39:39):
haven't been as good for him. I thought yesterday he
was inaccurate. Today he was a little too reliant on scrambling,
and I don't think you want to see that so
much in these training camp practices. But even still, I
think he's impressing because he's showing I don't want to
say mastery because he probably hasn't mastered yet. There's certainly well,
(40:00):
I assume there's certainly still room to grow, but he's
demonstrating a much more advanced understanding of this offense and
the finer details of it, whether that be you know,
after different reps, pulling receivers aside and you know, talking
about what he wants to see on a given route
(40:21):
or a given combination of routes or whatever, or talking
with the receiver what they want to see from him.
But today, at the line of scrimmage, you see him
using cadence to get the defense to jump. Not enough
to cause a flag. I mean, maybe it could have
been a flaging game, but no flag comes out. They
(40:42):
kept from running the play. But what it did allow
Oenix to do was pick up on what the defense
was doing. He diagnosed the pressure package, stopped everything. Again,
we're far enough away. I don't know if he killed
the play and called an audible or just adjusted the protection,
but either way, Stop went to the line adjusted whatever.
(41:02):
I think he was adjusting the production, but again adjusted
whatever he needed to adjust, drops back, and you have
a successful play immediately following that. I think it was
a downfield throw to Bryant for like ten fifteen yards
and that stuff that he was not doing at least
at a frequent clip last season. And just if he
(41:22):
starts adding those mental elements. He's got all the physical
tools you need. You know, he's not Josh Allen, but
he's got all the gifts you need. And as the
mental stuff starts coming along, he you know, being in
the same offense for the first time since he was
in high school. I think it also is going to
pay dividends, so that's very exciting. Want to touch on
(41:43):
defense a little bit here. We'll get into it more
at the top of the hour. But with Drew Sanders
and Alex Singleton sidelined, I do wonder if the Broncos
should kick the tires on a more experienced veteran. They
had I believe four linebackers, four or five linebackers at
(42:03):
the facility today for tryouts. None of them were signed,
but it was, you know, a collection of UDFA practice
squad level guys. There's some good linebackers still out there
with Juwan Bentley and CJ. Mosley, who you know aren't
the most exciting guys definitely are on the back nine
of their career, but also shouldn't be overly expensive and
(42:24):
would just immediately raise the floor of that room where
you're not relying on Drew Sanders coming back, and you know,
immediately be like, there's a good chance whoever that third
linebacker is for the Broncos is going to have to
start games this year, just considering Singleton and green Law's
injury history. So there's a healthy chance whoever linebacker for
is for the Denver Broncos ends up starting games this year.
(42:46):
And I think you'd feel a lot better if one
of those options was a Jawan Bentley, a CJ. Mosley,
a trusted veteran who you know this elite defense can
keep rolling and not skip a beat just with one injury,
because that could the Achilles heel. As great as this
defense looks, you know, the coverage is a weak link system,
and I mean you saw it with Justin Surnad and PJ.
(43:08):
Lockdown the stretch last year, even Briley moss Off injury.
If you have that one or two week links, the
whole system can collapse. We'll get more into that at
the top of the hour. I think we'll also get
into their injuries in general when we'll see them next,
and some defensive takeaways. I've got a lot of notes
(43:31):
on Jadda Baron and but he had a very, very
impressive practice today. I'll get more into that next stick around.
You're listening to Broncos Country tonight on KOA
And welcome back to some more post training camp post
Colorado Rockies, Broncos Country tonight. Missed you all last night
up until the very very late night. Excited to be
talking to you all.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Now.
Speaker 1 (00:13):
We have a great show coming up. How about that
Rockies game, though that was not so great. I was
hoping they could build off the momentum from a really
amazing comeback against the Cleveland Guardians last night where it
looked like they had maybe blown the lead and then
they surged back pulled it off in the end. This
(00:34):
time they weren't so lucky. They ultimately, you know, were
even with the Cleveland Guardians down the stretch. Just had
a really rough first three innings where they went and
they fell into a seven to nothing hole and they
were never really able to recover. Scored three runs in
the final three innings to make it a more respectable
ten to four, got a lot of guys on base,
(00:56):
they just kept stranding them unfortunately, but overall a solid
performance from the guys. They are definitely still trending in
the right direction. You know, they're not all of a
sudden a team in the playoff hunt, obviously, but after
a four and twenty four start in May, they're all
the way up to twenty eight and seventy eight, which
(01:17):
again isn't stellar, but does have them right on pace
now with the twenty twenty four Chicago White Sox, who
old the record for worst record through one hundred and
sixty two regular season game season, which again you don't
want to be on pace there, But just a month
and a half ago or so, they were ten games
behind that pace, so trending in the right direction, and
(01:41):
that White Sox team also really closed ice cold down
the stretch. So if the Rockies can continue these games
or even plateau at this point, one would think they'll
be able to avoid history. Though, with the trade deadline
coming up and the Rockies revers reportedly getting a lot
of interest around the league, you know, it seems like
(02:03):
there's potential that any of them could potentially be gone
in the coming weeks, and what does that do to
a Rockies bullpen that's kind of already trying to find
its footing. Rockies will look for the series victory tomorrow
against the Cleveland Guardians. Back here on KOA. Coverage starts
at four. It's amazing we're talking about series victories now
(02:28):
because I remember just I think two weeks ago they
had only had one series win through the entire season,
cleaned up back to back series lost to the Orioles.
But they have a chance tomorrow to win this Guardian Series,
and I would give them three of the last four series,
which again just underlines the turnaround we're seeing from the
(02:51):
Rockies where they're playing like a respectable ball club right now.
Warming has been a great revelation over these past few games.
Wasn't as hot tonight though he did go to a
four and hit in an RBI. He just a home
(03:11):
run streak came to an end. He's now up to
four hundred during his brief three games sint here with
the Rockies and a slugging average of point nine to
three to three. He is cleaning up right now, and
what a fine to promote him. I don't know if
Toglia is going to get his job back, frankly, especially
with Warming, Bernable, Burnable. I think it's Burnable, Warming, Burnable
(03:36):
playing like this. It's this season at this point, obviously,
is just about moments like this for the Rockies. What
can you discover like Hunter good minutes a catcher that's
been a great discovery. Can warming burnable at first base
be another one of those discoveries. Speaking of Toglia, he
(03:56):
went one to four on the day, did get a
run in, did get so low home run shot, So
pretty solid day from him. But still I just I,
you know, maybe he cracks through as the DH but
I feel like that first base job is warmings to
lose right now, with with how hot he's been right
out of the gates. Coming up here at the top
(04:17):
of the hour, we're going to be joined by the
Denver Posts Parker Gabriel. He's been out there at training
camp all week. I've seen him a few times over
these past few days, and he's going to join us
to talk about some Denver Broncos training camp takeaways. You know,
who's shining, who's impressing, who's surprising, who's you know, how's
(04:39):
bo Nix looking, how is the rookie class looking, What
is John A barn looking at? Looking like? All that
and more? Coming up at the top of the hour.
Some breaking news yesterday that we weren't able to talk about,
but it's pretty huge, maybe not for the Broncos, but
the Colorado football scene in general. Was the Dion Sanders update.
(05:03):
Deon Sanders had missed much of the off season with
an undisclosed health issue and had been away from the team.
Ahead of his press conference yesterday, rumors from illegitimate news
sources frankly started swirling about that Prime might be looking
to step away from the team and retire despite signing
(05:26):
his lucrative extension this earlier this offseason. However, that didn't happen.
He did announce that he's been dealing with bladder cancer
and had to have a surgery that removed I believe
his bladder in fuller at least a large chunk of
his bladder in an effort to remove the tumor and
(05:47):
prevent the cancer from coming back. He is now cured
and cancer free, his doctors say, so that's excellent news.
But this is just the latest and a pretty healthy
or maybe un healthy string of serious ailments for the
Colorado head coach. You know, his first year at the
University of Colorado, he really struggled to stand on the
(06:09):
sidelines all game lone because of his feet problems. I
believe it was blood clots in his feet. He's missing
several toes as a result that he had to have amputated,
which I think it goes without saying that's pretty unpleasant
and painful. And even still last season it was better,
but I know he was in quite a deal of discomfort.
(06:31):
And you know, this is a former NFL player who
you know, Dion wasn't the most physical cornerback ever, but
he's seen his fair share of blows and for him
to be really hobbled by the pain he was experiencing
each of these first two seasons with the Buffaloes, you know,
(06:52):
it must be fairly serious. And again now he's having
another serious surgery loss of body part, and I just
I think at this point, especially with his kids now
being out of school, even though the reports ended up
being nonsense, and you know, he's saying he's fully committed
(07:14):
to the Buffalos, I think fans have to wonder how
much longer is he going to be around with the
team that is, And I think that's very dishrdening because
when he signed that contract extension this past you know,
a few months, it seemed like, wow, you know, this
ride's not going to be just a one, two, three
(07:35):
year thing like everyone in the world thought it was.
When he was initially hired as the University of Colorado
head coach. Everyone thought it was either going to be
a disaster or he was going to quickly get hired
away to a larger program, And the contract extension he
signed kind of demonstrated that, No, he's in Colorado for
at least the next few years and you'll probably have
a half decade plus of coach prime as the University
(07:59):
of Colorado head coach. But now with these health scares,
and he's not that old. I believe he's fifty eight
to fifty nine, which you know it's getting up there,
but still that's not There's plenty of NFL and college
head coaches that are older than that. But these health issues,
(08:20):
they're serious, you know, like his ladder surgery is going
to change how he goes to the bathroom for the
rest of his life. How does that operate on game
days or even during a longer practice. You know, is
that something that's that's feasible or something that's a major
hurdle for him. I again, I don't think anyone on
the outside knows the dynamics there, but it does seem
(08:44):
like a potential hurdle in terms of his long term
future with the Buffs and even if it's not this,
I think you have to. No one saw the cancer
scare coming. I think naturally you're worried about, you know,
is there going to be another thing that crops up?
And of course just hoping the best for Coach Prime
(09:06):
and his health. I think no matter if you're a
fan of football, a fan of the bus, a fan
of the Rams, what Jane norvel and Coach Prime are
bringing to the University of Colorado and Colorado States football
programs has been tremendous and something I absolutely don't think
fans should overlook. And it's nice to have competitive college football,
(09:30):
college football that's heading in the right direction back in Colorado,
and I hope both Norvelle and Prime are here for
a long time to keep that going. Last tiny little
tidbit I'll hit on quickly here before we check in
on some news this Nuggets off season. I think everyone
(09:53):
already knew it was incredibly strong. ESPN has in their
gradings of all thirty NBA off seasons, rated it as
the third best off season in the entire association within
a grade, highlighting the Cam Johnson signing or trade rather
and of course the Tim Hardaway junior signing, the Bruce
(10:16):
Brown signing, and the Jonas Valancunis trade, and really, I
think this is the best Nuggets off season of the
Jokic tenure. And you know, of a while. We'll maybe
talk about this more in the next hour here, but
you're going from a team that was really struggling to
even get like a solid seven or eight man rotation
(10:39):
last year, and now I think you feel pretty confident
that there's nine, maybe more playoff pieces here on the
Colorado Buffalo or on the Denver Nuggets, you know. And
plus I think it's even beyond those those depth pieces
because with Valanchounis, you're going to be able to and
(11:00):
you're gonna get an even better version of Nicola Jokic,
probably not statistically more productive, but a better, fresher, healthier
version of Nikola Jokic when the games really start to matter. Hello,
Broncos Country, and welcome back to some more post Rockies
Broncos Country tonight. And now it's time to head over
(11:25):
to the koa Common Spirit health hotline, where we're joined
by Parker Gabriel of the Denver Post. You can find
them over on Twitter at Parker J. Gabriel and all
his writing over at the Denver Post. Parker, how are
you doing tonight?
Speaker 2 (11:39):
I'm doing great. How are you guys?
Speaker 1 (11:40):
Johan doing great? Thank you so much for joining me tonight, Parker.
I just want to start off. Let's get right into
the big news here with Courtland Sutton. How are you
feeling about that Courtland Sutton contract? And are you at
all surprised to see it get done here ahead of
the season.
Speaker 3 (11:58):
Yeah, not surprised the end of the day, I think that,
you know, I mean, Corland Sutton said he always thought
the deal was going to get done.
Speaker 2 (12:08):
It always seemed from the team perspective like it was
it was likely to get done. It's not a sure
bet until it happens. But then when you see where
the number came in, you know, I mean, I don't
know if it's a huge, it's a it looks if anything,
team friendly to me and so like it just it
seemed all along like both sides were pretty comfortable with
(12:29):
where the talks were. Obviously once camp started, you know,
you just weren't quite sure how it was going to go.
But yeah, I mean I think both sides were motivated
to get it done. You know, it happened to the
number that sort of works for everybody at four years
and twenty three million a year in new money, and
you could tell listening to I think both Sean Payton
(12:52):
and Courtland sudden today sort of all the different reasons
why it made sense for both sides to figure this out.
Speaker 1 (12:59):
I fully agree. What do you think about him kind
of filling in as more of a leader with this
deal with what really is outside of him? And I
guess Trent Shirfield an extremely young receiving group.
Speaker 2 (13:12):
Yeah, it's interesting, you know. I talked to Troy Franklin
about this a couple of days ago, actually, and I
just asked them sort of like, what, you know, what
Courtland meant to that room with a bunch of young
guys in it, obviously, And he had a really interesting answer,
I thought, he said. He said, yeah, I don't know
if this is really quite the right word, but he's
like he brings like a sense of security, like not
only in the fact that he's both Nix's go through
(13:34):
target obviously, but you know, Troy was sort of like, yeah,
I mean, if you don't know what to do on something,
you just ask him. And if you don't know how
to do a drill, you just watch him and if
you don't know where to go, you just follow him.
And so that's sort of like all of those young guys,
I think it's sort of like, you know, if all
(13:54):
else failed to do a Cortos and that is you know,
he's a good guy, I think, to to put that
responsibility on. And then not only that, but like that's
an important role when you've got you know, a third
year player and Marvin Mms, who now has been around
the black a couple of times, but then three young
or inexperienced NFL players in Franklin, Devon Bley, and and
(14:17):
then obviously the rookie Pat Bryant.
Speaker 1 (14:19):
And I'm seeing him even you know on some reps
like talking with John Ay Barron or whoever else about
you know how to how to cover him or do
better on the defensive side of things.
Speaker 2 (14:33):
And that's like, I mean, I think that's another like
you just that's experience in the NFL, right, I mean,
that's that's understanding what training camp is for. Of Like, yes,
you want to roast somebody in one on ones and
win your battle, and then you want to talk to
them about you know, why you lean to the outside
before you broke to the post, or how you sift
through traffic in the middle.
Speaker 4 (14:53):
I you know, I heard him like the other day,
like you know, just.
Speaker 2 (14:56):
Talking through like releases and how all the inter he's
of Champaygton's offense, Like there are times when you know
you're going to switch release. Every offense does this, You
switch release and one guy uses the other as a
sort of natural pick and all that, and like that's
just stuff that Horton Sutton's done in this offense for two.
Speaker 4 (15:15):
Years and in the NFL for a long time.
Speaker 2 (15:17):
That these other guys haven't. And so you know, I
mean that's not that's not a fully novel concept. Obviously,
that's what you want from veteran leaders at all kinds
of positions. But you know, the Broncos get that kind
of veteran leadership from him in that receiver room, and
that's critical. You know, it's good for him, it's good
for the other receivers, it's good for both Nicks, like,
it's good for pretty much literally everybody.
Speaker 1 (15:39):
Yeah, and I think you're getting even more of that
this year because he's able to build on top of,
you know what this offense was last year. What the
quarterback was last year, what he knows the quarterback wants
in a way that he's never been able to do
as long as he's been here in Denver.
Speaker 4 (15:56):
For sure, it's the first time he's had the same.
Speaker 2 (15:58):
Quarterback and offensive coordinator two years in a row. I mean,
you know, he had Ruffle for two years, but obviously
you know, one year was with Nathaniel Hackett and then
the next year was with Sean Payton, and I'm sure
there's been a couple other guys in there, but like, yeah,
this is and this goes for I mean, this goes
for Quotland Sudden, it goes for Quinn Minors, that goes
for pretty much everybody who's been around. Is like now
(16:20):
you just have you know, I think even last year
there was a sense of like second year with Sean Payton,
there's some benefit to that. But now going into year
three with with Peyton and the second year with bo Nix,
there's just a level of continuity, a level of information retention,
(16:42):
a level of shameness that they just.
Speaker 4 (16:46):
Almost nobody, especially on the offense, has had in.
Speaker 2 (16:50):
Their careers if they've been in Denver their whole career.
So that part of it is just like and I
think that's like, you know, I'm not saying Quytland Sun
is suddenly going to be a fifteen hundred yard per
year guy. But that's another reason why the deal makes sense, right,
I mean, if there is a thirty year old receiver
out there that has some upside left, it might be him,
just because he keeps himself in such good shape and
(17:13):
because after so much rigmarole in his career, finally he's
in a situation where he's got you know, stability kind
of all the way around him.
Speaker 1 (17:25):
And to that stability, what do you what have you
seen from bo Nick so far in this second training camp?
Does it look like I know, it's kind of hard
to tell in this portion of the offseason, but does
it look like he's maybe taken steps forward in his development?
Are you seeing any signs of that growth in these
early returns?
Speaker 2 (17:44):
Yeah, I think, you know, I think it's it's too
early to say, like, oh man, he's really honed in
on being able to throw the ball, you know, twenty
yards to the opposite hash on a line and to
fit it in this window or that window or whatever.
Speaker 4 (17:56):
Like I think all that.
Speaker 2 (17:57):
Stuff is like you have to go by a little
bit of what you hear, just in terms of, you know,
he talks about being more comfortable in terms of processing
and all of that, and like I think, you know,
the proof will be in the putting on that in
terms of you know, playing on schedule, is there left scrambling?
Speaker 4 (18:15):
Is he does the time to throw come.
Speaker 2 (18:17):
Down a little bit? You know, the release is a
little quicker. Is he more decides with where the ball
is going? And he wasn't like he wasn't bad at
that stuff last year. And sometimes the times throw gets
long because he's at white it can even scramble and
all that. But like, I think he'll be able to
feel as the season gets going, if it feels like
he's playing on time and and you know, on on
(18:39):
the right read like more frequently.
Speaker 4 (18:42):
But right now, to me, the biggest thing is.
Speaker 2 (18:44):
Just what it feels like around there. It's like very
clearly his team. I mean I'm not the first person
to say this, Like you can just tell by the
way he's carried himself, you know, the way the rest
of the team reacts to him. It is like it's
his team, it's his offense, it's his life. Locker room,
and that is like that was not the case at
this time last year. He was trying to win the
(19:05):
job last year and.
Speaker 4 (19:06):
Saying things like, well I better be okay with that.
Speaker 2 (19:08):
If I don't win the jobs, otherwise it won't be
around here very long. Like that's not now. He's like
now he's like getting asked about being in the top
hunter players in the NFL and all this stuff. So
like you know, like it's it's just a different feel.
I think that's the biggest thing right now. And then
the rest of it, you know, you sort of I
think you expect to see the growth, but you know,
(19:30):
some of it is like you want to actually see
it on the field before you sit here and proclaim
in late July like, oh yeah, he's definitely ascending into
the tier of the league right certainly.
Speaker 1 (19:42):
And I mean, to your point, what a difference twelve
months makes. I think another player really benefiting from that
right now is Troy Franklin. He seems like the early
training camp Darling, you mentioned a conversation you had with
him earlier in the training camp process. What have you
seen or heard from him for this first week or so?
Speaker 4 (20:03):
Yeah, he put on he put up five to seven pounds.
Speaker 2 (20:05):
On this offseason is what he told me. So like,
and I think you can see that he's never gonna
look like Courtland Sutton, but like he's a little bit sturdier,
you know, he said, he's you know, he doesn't want
to get too heavy because just you know, guys have
a weight range. They like playing it. But he's put
on a little bit of weight. And then the thing
I think about Troy Franklin is like Bonix put it
(20:27):
really well. Actually last week on Saturday, Bonick said, you know,
Troy's natural skill. The thing that you just can't teach
about him is he just he can run by people
and he can separate and get open.
Speaker 4 (20:39):
But it's hard to do that, especially in the.
Speaker 2 (20:42):
NFL, when your brain is going a million miles an
hour about am I in the right spot? Do I
have the right split? Do I know the route I'm
supposed to run? Do I have to go in motion?
Like there's all of this stuff and it all happens
very fast, and that can be the difference between.
Speaker 4 (20:59):
You know, just playing free and letting.
Speaker 2 (21:01):
Your natural ability take over and like thinking too much.
And so, you know, Trot Franklin told me that he
feels like he's a progress in that he's still trying
to master everything obviously, but I think you see that
with him. And then also you know he's worked hard
on not only understanding how to play outside, but knowing
(21:21):
you know, the slot role, all the different receiver spots,
so that you know he can be used interchangeably through
the formations play out of the slot, play in motion,
play out of the backfield, you know, play out wide,
all that stuff, and so that's like, that's the next
step for him. But I think if you get the
combination of playing faster and having more of the playbook
(21:41):
at your disposal, those are sort of the Those are
like ingredients in the recipe for a breakout season. Like
that doesn't doesn't guarantee it, but I think you sense,
you know that he's he's at least I think, putting
in a lot of work to try to, you know,
put the pieces in place for that kind of year.
Speaker 1 (22:00):
With those pieces starting to come together, you of course
also have the pre existing chemistry with Bonix, even if
it didn't really pay dividends last year. With all those
things coming together, do you think he has a good
chance of kind of emerging as the number two wide receiver.
I think there's a lot of other maybe pass catchers
in the offense, but the number two wide receiver in
that Broncos offense.
Speaker 2 (22:20):
Yeah, that's a good question. I mean, I would I
guess I would. I guess I would put Marvin Mims
in that in that role if you had to pin
me to somebody today. Although, like you know, Veley is
a guy too that you could look up and he
has eighty targets and you're like, oh, yeah, well that
makes sense. He's always open. And so I just I
really think that all four of those guys are still
(22:41):
sort of candidates for that spot. You're talking about Marvin Mims,
Troy Franklin, Devon Valley, and Pat Bryant. You know, Pat
Bryant may not be the number two option like right
out of a gate as a rookie, but you know
he doesn't play like a rookie when you watch him
just in Campbell the other preseason goes. So I think
it's a really good battle for snaps and playing time. Certainly,
Franklin's got, you know, attributes that you can't teach. Marvin
(23:05):
them falls in that category two just at the breakaway
speed and then I think, like, I'm not saying he's
going to be the number two, but when you watch
Trent Sherfield, he's kind of like, I think he's like
twenty twenty five little Jordan Humphrey, where you're gonna look
up at some point during the season and say, yeah,
he's playing like forty percent of the snaps, and he's
(23:26):
been targeted quite a bit, and he's blocks in the
run game and all of that. So I don't know,
there's no guarantee that's going to be his role. But
when Sean Payton says, you know, talks about physical guys
that can block and that can run like that is
a very specific skill set that he wants in his offense,
and I'm not sure they have another guy that does
(23:48):
that quite like he does it. So he's he's He
may not get eighty ninety targets, he may not play
a ton offensively, but I think he's gonna have a
pretty clearly defined role in their offense.
Speaker 1 (23:59):
Yeah, did in a bit of a soup up Lord
Jordan Humphrey. The route he ran against Jay Kuan today
was really impressive. I thought, just just beat him deep
really easily.
Speaker 2 (24:09):
Yeah, I did, and that's like the you know, and
he's he's he's dropped a couple of balls and and
he's never been a big time receiver, but I think
in twenty twenty two he had thirty catches for the Dolphins,
and and he played some in Minnesota. Obviously that receiving
course really good. So he's mostly a special teamer last year,
you know, same group as Justin Jefferson and Jordan Madison
(24:30):
and those guys. So mostly a special teamer last year.
But he's the guy who you know, you get the
sort of core special teams workout of him. But it's
sort of plus that and and like I think souped
up little Jordan Humphrey is kind of is a pretty
good analogy for that of like, you know, he's got
a little little Jordan Humphrey say that last time fast,
and he's got a little bit of the Josh Reynolds
(24:52):
thing where it's like, you know, he can run somebody
off vertical or run the dagger or whatever. And so
that's like, uh, that's a role where where you're not
gonna be the feature guy, you're not gonna be the
number one very often, but you might. He just feels
like that guy that you're gonna look up mid season
and go, that's the guy that's playing a lot more
than I thought he was going to.
Speaker 1 (25:10):
I think that's a great point. And along with the
wide receiver stuff with Courtland Sutton getting his extension, Franklin
being the buzzy camp so far, it seems like the
other big development has been, unfortunately, the rash of injuries
at linebacker. You've got Sanders out for four to six
weeks now with the foot ligament injury. You've got Alex
Singleton out for the next week as he recovers from
(25:31):
surgery on the broken thumb. What have you seen from
the other linebackers in that room? How are you feeling
about that room going forwards with those two guys sidelined
for at least the short term.
Speaker 2 (25:44):
Yeah, I think I think for now they're fine, but
they've sort of like moved into that area where it's like,
if one more guy gets hurt, you start to think, like,
what are they going to do? And for a week
in the camp, that's that's a little bit concerning. But
if they go the next week and Singleton gets back
and he's gonna probably play with the club for a while,
(26:05):
but like you know, if they sort of hold steady
from here and then he's got the club off by
the time the opener, I mean the opener is still
almost six weeks away, So like, if he's got the
club off by then, I mean, I think they're in
fine shape. But you know, in terms of the room
right now, I think there's been a little buzz around
(26:25):
the belt daily. He's made some plays, especially in coverage.
We're just starting to see the padded stuff. But like,
to me, he's been in the mix a lot in
their run periods. It seems like he's competent and sort
of like how he's fitting in the run game and
where he's supposed to be, which you know, for as
much as they liked him last year, I just I
don't know that he was always assignment sound and that's
(26:46):
sort of wife as a rookie in the NFL. So
he ands ernat is a is a pretty good battle.
They're both gonna get a ton of reps and tell
Singleton's back and and sort of like fully back integrated
into practice and their system and all that. So it's
a golden opportunity for Lovell Bailey. Obviously they saw you know,
Justin Sarna can handle some defensive work last year. And
(27:08):
then the three undrafted rookies are interesting. JB. Brown is
an undrafted rookie who I think it's a guy that's
worth keeping an eye on. But you know, if they
get back to a semblance of health, I mean, I
think Drew Sanders, you know, if it's six weeks, he
won't start the season on uninjured reserve, even the four
week deal. If it's more like A or nine, maybe
he would, maybe he wouldn't.
Speaker 4 (27:29):
So like there might be an extra spot a billable there, but.
Speaker 2 (27:33):
There might not be, depending on how it goes. And
so to me, like the JB. Brown, Jordan Turner, you know,
Karen Reid, like those guys are the guys that like
practice squad. But if you can really stand out on
special teams, you've got a chance, and then it should
be a pretty good I'm interested to see all of
those guys play and pre see them once again.
Speaker 1 (27:54):
Speaking with Parker Gabriel of the Denver Post, Parker, last
one for you here, what's been your biggest surprise so
far of camp?
Speaker 2 (28:01):
Oh, that's a good question. Biggest surprise I have to say,
like I have been impressed. Now it's only a couple
asn't pads, so we'll sort of see how it goes
the next week. But like, I'm very interested to see
what the joint practice in San Francisco in the first
preseason game look like for Ke Robinson and Savian Jones.
(28:25):
Jones obviously third round pick, Hugh Robinson fourth round pick,
because when they drafted those guys, you know, Savian Jones
are saying, okay, maybe it did. John Franklin Meyers, their apparent.
You know, he can he can almost like Red Shirty
hear in that defensive line group. Hugh Robinson, I think
he only played three hundred defensive snaps collegially at Alabama, Like,
(28:46):
you know, he's the developmental guy, the special teams guy,
all of this. Like they both looked pretty darn good
so far. It's so early that like you don't want
to get you know, too far out in you know,
in front of your skis. But like those two guys
I think have been guys at physicians that already have
some depth where you're like, if they hit on both
(29:08):
of them, you sort of have this embarrassment of bridges
in the front seven, which of course, you know George
Peyton would tell you can never have enough of those guys.
But those two, those are two guys that I sort
of thought like, well, if they come along slow, that's fine,
and instead they've really flashed, and so that's like you
know that again. I keep saying this like it doesn't
guarantee anything, but to my eye, both of those guys
(29:31):
are off to the type of starts that make you
look around and go like, uh, that looks like a
guy who's one a track to where you know he
might be able to contribute sooner rather than later.
Speaker 1 (29:41):
Can't wait to see them go up against some more contact.
Once again, it's Parker Gabriel. Read all his work over
at the Denver Post. Make sure you're following him as
well over on Twitter at Parker Jay Gabriel. Parker, thanks
so much for the time. I'll see you tomorrow.
Speaker 2 (29:54):
Man, Yeah, you bet seez see it.
Speaker 1 (29:59):
Once again Parker Gabriel. Check him out, one of the
absolute best on the beat. I think he's got such
great analysis for the team. We'll have more training camp
takeaways though, coming up on Broncos Country tonight on KOA.
After this break Broncos Country and welcome back some more
(30:25):
after training camp second day, have padded practices post Colorado
Rockies Broncos Country tonight. At the top of the hour,
I'll do a little bit more of a deep dive
into the Courtland Sutton contract situation. Give you everything you
need to know there about the guarantees and how it
(30:46):
stacks up to the other deals around the league. I
think it's a really excellent deal for the Broncos. Honestly,
I see very very little downside in that contract. This
front office has just been on such a heater. But
I'll get more into that at the top of the break.
Also talk some about the linebacker news and some of
you know. I'll talk to some about my camp observations
(31:09):
as well, but want to get into that sum here.
Last segment. By the way, we had an excellent little
tour through camp with the Denver Post Parker Gabriel. Make
sure you are checking him out wherever you like to
get your Broncos news on Twitter at Parker J. Gabriel
or if you have a Denver Post subscription. His writing
and can't take aways every day there are absolutely amazing.
(31:34):
One thing we talked about was Troy Franklin standing out
and Trent Sherfield as well. And that's the first thing
I want to touch on the Broncos weapons. I think
a lot of fans were worried about that that maybe
the Broncos didn't do enough there. They should have added
a running back or receiver or tight end in the
first round or you know, really made a larger splash
(31:57):
to upgrade the assortment of weapons around bow Nicks. And honestly,
I was kind of in that camp too. It wasn't
a major conserative mind, but I didn't expect the weapons
to be great. What we're seeing in camp right now,
I think is very exciting. You know, Trent Sherfield and
Troy Franklin were probably the bottom two options going into camp.
(32:21):
I think most anyone if they had to stack the
six probably would have had the top six guys, probably
would have had those guys as five and six in
some order with Pat Bryan and fourth, and both have
been so impressive. I mean, Troy Franklin's maybe been the
player of training camp. He looks so much improved to me.
(32:41):
Everything that bothered you about him last year, whether it
was you know, his lack of size and ability to
play through contact. Parker Gabriel in our last segment said
Franklin told him in an interview that he had added
five to se pounds. I was a little surprised the here.
It's only that little. He looks noticeably stock here, so
(33:05):
I and he's just caught every single ball thrown his way.
One might have been out of bounds that you know,
was broken up by a corner, but he fought through
the contact, bob wood it up and caught it. It
was right on the sideline and it was the far sideline,
so hard to know if it's if he got the
two feet down or not. But even staying with the
(33:28):
play that long and having the antai coordination to eventually
secure the catch, it demonstrates growth.
Speaker 2 (33:34):
Right.
Speaker 1 (33:34):
The problem with Troy Franklin last year wasn't that he
didn't know how to keep his feet and bounced. It
was him completing the catch and having a case of
the dropsies. That's not been the case at all in camp.
And you know, so much of that's a mental issue
and pressure, and so we have to see how that
translates to joint practices in preseason games and regular season
(33:56):
games and all that. But you know, when you consider
he was playing some of his best ball down the
stretch last year. He looks like a dramatically better version
of what we saw last year so far in camp.
I think it's very very easy to get excited about that.
And Sherfield Parker Gabriel was kind of talking about him
as this year's little Jordan Humphrey, and I think he's
(34:17):
a much better version of that. You know, in one
on ones today he was going up against Ja Kwan
and I think the video is up on Luca Evans,
another Denver post rider, also a guy doing great work
up on his Twitter. Trent Sherfield torches Jay Kwan just
right down the field. He's got five plus yards of
separation easy when he hauls in the touchdown pass, and
(34:41):
he's got some deceptive speed to him. He's not like
he'll play that little Jordan Humphrey role that larger slot.
He'll do the dirty work. He's a really good blocker,
but he's going to be a much more dynamic receiving threat. Also,
he's got movement skills that Lil Jordan Humphrey just doesn't.
I think he's got better hands as well. He can
(35:02):
run a more diverse route tree, which is huge and
the diversity of skill set is something that I think
is universal across this receiver group. Even the one guy
who I think you could write in pen in a
certain spot, and that's Cortland Sutton is the team's ex
receiver starting X. He's been that for you know, really
(35:24):
just about ever since he came into the league. I
guess the second season he's been their starting X, and
so you can kind of put that in pen. But
even he is, you know, being used in a wide
variety of ways and alignments. You're seeing Marvin Mims, you
know last year who to thrive really had to be,
(35:45):
you know, put into this smaller slot role with some
much more simplistic asks, and he's proving now at camp
you know how much more he can handle having put
on his plate. He's up in all sorts of different places.
He's doing more real receiver stuff than we saw last year.
It's not just go routes and bubble screens and end
(36:08):
to rounds and all that. You're seeing the stuff. You're seeing.
His profile of what he's able to do and what
he can add to the offense really expand dramatically. Pat
Bryant another guy you know who you can move all
over the formation, and you know he could offer you
(36:28):
a lot as a pass catcher, as a red zone threat,
but also as a blocker, as a dirty work guy.
Evan Ingram of course, you know, I know Ryan Edwards
has been banging the drum for him all camping with
good reason. He looks like a game changer out there
for the Broncos offense, you know. And then you had
(36:51):
Sean Payton calling r J Harvey exceptional today. Sean Payton
isn't one to heat praise on anyone except guess maybe
Bo Nicks, and certainly not rookies, which a guy made
the bow Knicks praise last year even more notable. He's
not one to like, not that he's Bill Belichick all
(37:13):
the time, but he's doesn't just he's not Sean McVay
or Mike McDaniel either, you know, where he's just loading
up compliments at every turn. Nate Hackett, you know he's
not one of those guys. He is a more groff personality.
You can't find him calling many Broncos players, definitely not
many rookies over these past three seasons exceptional. And I
think him saying that about r J. Harvey is meaningful.
(37:36):
He looked good today and I really think that tandem
of JK. Dobbins and RJ. Harvey will bring something to
the Broncos backfield they haven't had since the Philip Lindsay
Melvin Gordon days.
Speaker 2 (37:49):
Where R. J.
Speaker 1 (37:49):
Harvey is just so explosive. He's a human bowlling ball,
you know, great juice. But then he's also just run
so low to the ground and is just a body
of muscle. I mean, everyone's talking about the quadzilla stuff
and understandably so, but he's built. You know, he's not
a guy who's sticking skipping whatever other days. You know,
(38:13):
obviously he's doing leg day, but he's not skipping any
of the other days either. He is a round mound
of muscle and I think you have that running a
four to four, maybe a four three forty, and it
could be a lot of fun. I think you're going
to see a lot of explosive plays from him, and
then JK. Dobbins is in excellent counter bounce because he's
just going to keep everything on schedule. You know, not
(38:35):
to say R. J. Harvey's vision is bad. I think
he might be a little boom er bust just because
He's always looking for the big play, which is part
of what makes him so special, part of the reason
he led college football last year in explosive rush rate.
But he is always looking for that big play and
can be a little Boomer bust as a result.
Speaker 2 (38:53):
JK.
Speaker 1 (38:53):
Dobbins, and you see it out there in camp. His
contact balance and vision just provides so such a high
floor where it's especially with this quality run blocking offensive line.
He's almost always going to get what's blocked for him,
and that's almost always going to be at least three
four yards, and sometimes it'll be seven or eight, you know,
(39:15):
and he's, you know, maybe not going to get you
a whole lot more than that all that often, but
he's consistently going to get you what is blocked for.
And Broncos Country knows how strong this offensive line already is.
So I just again the weapons, the way this offense
is coming together, I think has me tremendously excited. Even
bo Nicks, I think is impressing. These past two days
(39:39):
haven't been as good for him. I thought yesterday he
was inaccurate. Today he was a little too reliant on scrambling,
and I don't think you want to see that so
much in these training camp practices. But even still, I
think he's impressing because he's showing I don't want to
say mastery because he probably hasn't mastered yet. There's certainly well,
(40:00):
I assume there's certainly still room to grow, but he's
demonstrating a much more advanced understanding of this offense and
the finer details of it, whether that be you know,
after different reps, pulling receivers aside and you know, talking
about what he wants to see on a given route
(40:21):
or a given combination of routes or whatever, or talking
with the receiver what they want to see from him.
But today, at the line of scrimmage, you see him
using cadence to get the defense to jump. Not enough
to cause a flag. I mean, maybe it could have
been a flaging game, but no flag comes out. They
(40:42):
kept from running the play. But what it did allow
Oenix to do was pick up on what the defense
was doing. He diagnosed the pressure package, stopped everything. Again,
we're far enough away. I don't know if he killed
the play and called an audible or just adjusted the protection,
but either way, Stop went to the line adjusted whatever.
(41:02):
I think he was adjusting the production, but again adjusted
whatever he needed to adjust, drops back, and you have
a successful play immediately following that. I think it was
a downfield throw to Bryant for like ten fifteen yards
and that stuff that he was not doing at least
at a frequent clip last season. And just if he
(41:22):
starts adding those mental elements. He's got all the physical
tools you need. You know, he's not Josh Allen, but
he's got all the gifts you need. And as the
mental stuff starts coming along, he you know, being in
the same offense for the first time since he was
in high school. I think it also is going to
pay dividends, so that's very exciting. Want to touch on
(41:43):
defense a little bit here. We'll get into it more
at the top of the hour. But with Drew Sanders
and Alex Singleton sidelined, I do wonder if the Broncos
should kick the tires on a more experienced veteran. They
had I believe four linebackers, four or five linebackers at
(42:03):
the facility today for tryouts. None of them were signed,
but it was, you know, a collection of UDFA practice
squad level guys. There's some good linebackers still out there
with Juwan Bentley and CJ. Mosley, who you know aren't
the most exciting guys definitely are on the back nine
of their career, but also shouldn't be overly expensive and
(42:24):
would just immediately raise the floor of that room where
you're not relying on Drew Sanders coming back, and you know,
immediately be like, there's a good chance whoever that third
linebacker is for the Broncos is going to have to
start games this year, just considering Singleton and green Law's
injury history. So there's a healthy chance whoever linebacker for
is for the Denver Broncos ends up starting games this year.
(42:46):
And I think you'd feel a lot better if one
of those options was a Jawan Bentley, a CJ. Mosley,
a trusted veteran who you know this elite defense can
keep rolling and not skip a beat just with one injury,
because that could the Achilles heel. As great as this
defense looks, you know, the coverage is a weak link system,
and I mean you saw it with Justin Surnad and PJ.
(43:08):
Lockdown the stretch last year, even Briley moss Off injury.
If you have that one or two week links, the
whole system can collapse. We'll get more into that at
the top of the hour. I think we'll also get
into their injuries in general when we'll see them next,
and some defensive takeaways. I've got a lot of notes
(43:31):
on Jadda Baron and but he had a very, very
impressive practice today. I'll get more into that next stick around.
You're listening to Broncos Country tonight on KOA
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