09-02-26 Hour 1 of Broncos Country Tonight with Steve Atwater

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Behind the Glasgow giveaway. We're going to give away some
Garth Brooks tickets a little bit later. Garth Brooks tickets.

Speaker 2 (00:05):
So you want to stick around for that.

Speaker 3 (00:06):
We'll get to that in a little bit.

Speaker 2 (00:08):
Steve, how you doing, buddy?

Speaker 3 (00:09):
Doing pretty good. Yeah.

Speaker 2 (00:11):
Doing pretty good, man. Life is good. We got the
final roster set.

Speaker 4 (00:17):
The initial 53. Maybe not the final roster, but the
initial 53.

Speaker 5 (00:20):
We hear that there's at least one change that's.

Speaker 3 (00:24):
Going to be made.

Speaker 2 (00:24):
Yeah.

Speaker 4 (00:25):
So there are some things out there, I think, that
will change about that.

Speaker 6 (00:27):
But.

Speaker 4 (00:29):
Were there any surprises for you?

Speaker 1 (00:31):
I think a little bit of some of the fans
were maybe a little surprised on Twitter about Jolie, you know,
that kind of stuff.

Speaker 5 (00:38):
Yeah, that was a little bit of a surprise, too.
But you never know the dynamics of what's happening. Yeah,
you just never know how much guys are into the playbook.
how they get along with their teammates, and you find
it out, especially when something like this happens.

Speaker 2 (01:00):
I don't know anything. I'm not insinuating anything.

Speaker 4 (01:05):
I've already insinuated, so I'll insinuate for you.

Speaker 5 (01:09):
But also, it's like when you have a good team,
there's not a lot.

Speaker 2 (01:14):
Of roster turnover.

Speaker 5 (01:19):
When you come to a team that gone deep into
the playoffs and steadily improving, got a lot of young players,
the culture is good. It's hard to make those teams.
And you got to be on your P's and Q's
in every aspect. You got to have your morals together.
You got to work hard like everybody else. You got
to know your playbook. On some other teams, you may

(01:43):
not have to do that. You may not have to
be on all your P's and Q's. But you got
to be on your P's and Q's when you come
into a team, a contender, great ownership, great coaching, great
fan base.

Speaker 2 (01:56):
Everything is lined up here, man. We're ready to win.

Speaker 6 (02:00):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (02:00):
And it was always going to be tough for day
three draft picks to make this roster because Um, especially
if you're Jolie who had a redundant skillset to Evan Ingram,
like you got to offer something different or to stick around.
We already got an established veteran. We're paying a bunch
of money to you. You gotta, you gotta show something.
And so that I thought was, was sort of interesting. Um,
they did keep the five safeties, at least initially Tyson
Anderson and jail Skinner, both made the roster for now.

Speaker 2 (02:25):
Don't look at me.

Speaker 6 (02:26):
Don't look at me. Don't look at you. I mean,
what do you have?

Speaker 3 (02:32):
All right.

Speaker 6 (02:32):
So first and foremost, um, I think it's wild that
you kept five safeties because I've always been in rooms
where it's normally five, maybe six corners.

Speaker 3 (02:44):
And maybe four safeties. Always four safeties.

Speaker 6 (02:47):
So now you're keeping five. Miles Scott is on the
practice roster. We're told it's inevitable at some point.

Speaker 3 (02:56):
Taylor Rapp.

Speaker 6 (02:57):
We'll rejoin the team. We'll have to wait to see
if that actually happens or not. But there are a
lot of these roster moves that some of them I'm like.

Speaker 3 (03:07):
I cheered and I was like, yeah, I mean, that's awesome.

Speaker 6 (03:11):
Then there are those who I was not a huge
fan of. Case in point, the backup quarterback situation. So
with that being said, I would say court is now
in session. Judge Nick Ferguson will preside.

Speaker 3 (03:27):
Here we go. Can I have my theme music? Thank
you very much.

Speaker 6 (03:31):
No, no.

Speaker 4 (03:32):
Did you bring a gavel?

Speaker 2 (03:34):
You brought a mallet?

Speaker 4 (03:35):
A rubber mallet?

Speaker 3 (03:36):
You brought a mallet? That is my gavel. He could
have just not. You literally brought a gavel. No, no, no, no, no.
Is that what that is? You got a robe on
right now? Is that what that is?

Speaker 6 (03:45):
Yes.

Speaker 3 (03:45):
I was wondering what that was. It took you guys.
I'm like, look at this. I paused while Steve was talking.

Speaker 2 (03:52):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (03:52):
And he put it on. And you guys were still.
I thought it was some kind of style thing. I
don't know. I was like, what is going on here?
Court is now in session.

Speaker 4 (04:01):
I don't know where you got a sleeveless robe.

Speaker 6 (04:03):
Telling my inner Bill Belichick here.

Speaker 2 (04:07):
I thought you had a club with that back in
the day. No, never that.

Speaker 3 (04:12):
Your inner Bill Belichick? Yes, my inner Bill Belichick. Are
you going to read her a goodnight story? Because of sleeves.

Speaker 2 (04:17):
Slow down, Ben.

Speaker 3 (04:18):
Pump your brakes.

Speaker 6 (04:19):
We're not going there. Did you cut the sleeves off? No,
my kids did that. The kids did that.

Speaker 2 (04:25):
That's what I'd blame, too, if I showed up with
a sleeveless robe.

Speaker 3 (04:27):
The point.

Speaker 4 (04:28):
No, the point is you got a sleeveless robe, and
we're going to clown that for a minute.

Speaker 6 (04:31):
No.

Speaker 3 (04:32):
We clown that later on.

Speaker 6 (04:33):
But what needs to be clowned is the decision that
was made as far as the backup quarterback was concerned. Now,
the case that we're having, it is Stidham versus.

Speaker 3 (04:45):
Ellington, right? Because I don't feel... Either one of you guys,
even Zach in the back.

Speaker 6 (04:51):
People on the text line, give me the evidence that
would suggest that Jared Stidham has earned the backup quarterback
spot number two.

Speaker 3 (05:02):
I don't feel that he has. And I know, and
I get it. Let me back up a little bit.

Speaker 6 (05:07):
When the Broncos face the New England Patriots, the idea
was that Hey, you know what?

Speaker 3 (05:12):
Maybe Stidham can be for the Broncos, but.

Speaker 6 (05:15):
Jeff Hosteller was for Bill Parcells and the Giants.

Speaker 3 (05:19):
Back in the day, right?

Speaker 6 (05:20):
Spoiler alert, he was not. No, he was not, right?
And even to this day, Stidham is not. I truly believe,
based on what I saw in practice, what I saw
in the games, both Steve, Ben, Zach, listeners, that Sam Ellinger...
should have been promoted to the bona fide number two spot.
Because if you are a veteran quarterback, which Jarrett Stidham

(05:43):
seems to be, and he's been in three different places,
same results, New England, the.

Speaker 3 (05:50):
Raiders, not a Denver Broncos.

Speaker 6 (05:52):
In all those three scenarios, he became the backup quarterback.
And he was injected into the game when the starter
was either injured at the end of the season or
he was therefore benched. Other than that, Stidham has yet
to show that he has earned, operative word, the backup
quarterback position. I'll rest and I'll listen to the crowd.

Speaker 1 (06:17):
I mean, Sean Payton came out today and said that
if the season were starting today, Jarrett Stidham would be
the backup.

Speaker 2 (06:23):
So Sean Payton disagrees with you.

Speaker 3 (06:27):
Steve?

Speaker 2 (06:29):
Why are you hating?

Speaker 6 (06:32):
I'm not hating. I'm not hating. I'm just spitting facts.
Don't be mad at me. I'm spitting facts. What did
he do in the preseason.

Speaker 5 (06:43):
That was so bad that he didn't earn the backup position.

Speaker 3 (06:47):
I'm glad you asked.

Speaker 2 (06:48):
Okay, go ahead.

Speaker 3 (06:49):
It's about what he didn't do.

Speaker 6 (06:51):
In a situation where a guy is a very experienced quarterback,
he's been in this offense for, I don't know, since
Russell was here.

Speaker 3 (06:58):
You have full grasp of the offense.

Speaker 6 (07:02):
So in the games, the preseason game against Atlanta, everyone
raved about what he did statistically. Right? He had that
long 40-yard pass to Corlin Sutton. I give him credit
for that. What else did you bring to the table,
young man? Then in the Green Bay Packers game, when
Bo went in for his 15, 17 plays, Stidham entered

(07:23):
the game. What did he give you, Steve? He gave
you similar production. Not as good as what Sam Ellinger
gave us, albeit in the Minnesota game, but he gave
us everything, in.

Speaker 3 (07:36):
My opinion, when you start to evaluate a quarterback.

Speaker 6 (07:38):
Right?

Speaker 3 (07:39):
Pocket presence. Anticipation.

Speaker 2 (07:42):
Nick.

Speaker 3 (07:43):
Ball placement? No, Steve.

Speaker 6 (07:44):
It is not hating when you have facts. It's not
hating when you have receipts. So this, for the Broncos fans,
Broncos country, you were darn wrong because Sam Ellinger should
be the backup quarterback, not Jack Stidham.

Speaker 2 (08:00):
Now, we all know that stuff goes on in practice.
And we're there at practice. We watch some of the practice.

Speaker 6 (08:09):
But guess what?

Speaker 2 (08:10):
We don't have the greatest vantage point from where we stand.

Speaker 3 (08:13):
Well, I can see.

Speaker 6 (08:14):
Just sitting at Crow's Nest and you look upon the
field and you can see a lot.

Speaker 5 (08:18):
Yeah, but I've seen you over there where, hey, some
play is happening and you didn't see them.

Speaker 6 (08:23):
Uh-huh.

Speaker 1 (08:23):
Steve said you didn't even watch practice.

Speaker 4 (08:27):
He said you couldn't even see it.

Speaker 1 (08:29):
Your Honor.

Speaker 3 (08:31):
First of all, you of all people. That is all
I'll say about you.

Speaker 4 (08:40):
Steve said you didn't even. He was over there. He
saw everything.

Speaker 2 (08:43):
So much goes on that we don't know. But we
don't know what goes on in the meetings. You don't
have to.

Speaker 6 (08:50):
No one ever won a backup job or starting job
based on.

Speaker 2 (08:53):
Yes, they have.

Speaker 3 (08:54):
I bet they have. Ooh, ooh.

Speaker 6 (08:57):
Then that means that someone made a mistake.

Speaker 3 (08:59):
That means that someone made a mistake, and it.

Speaker 6 (09:01):
Was never a competition to begin with. You and I
both know how this situation works because whether it's football,
whether it's anything else, there is a bias that takes place.
When someone has already figured out that this is my person,
this is the person that I decided on, no matter what.

Speaker 3 (09:17):
That person is going to win.

Speaker 6 (09:18):
Whatever battle before there's even a discovery of a battle.

Speaker 3 (09:21):
Because it never was a battle to begin with.

Speaker 6 (09:23):
Because someone was already preordained to be in that position.
And that's the way I feel about Jared Stidham. Now,
if anyone, give me some receipts. Tell me something other
than what I'm saying. You can call it hate. I'm
going to call it reality.

Speaker 2 (09:39):
Reality. Isn't that reality?

Speaker 6 (09:42):
Yes, it is.

Speaker 3 (09:43):
The reality is he's the second-team quarterback. And how did
it happen? How did it happen? He didn't earn that.
He didn't earn it. No, he didn't.

Speaker 2 (09:51):
Based off of your standards.

Speaker 1 (09:53):
I mean, if we want to get down to it,
Teddy Bridgewater didn't earn the starting role of the year. He,
air quotes, beat out Drew Locke, but he was Pat
Shermer's handpicked guy.

Speaker 3 (10:00):
There you go. So it happens in the game. I'm
just pointing it out. I'm just saying.

Speaker 2 (10:05):
He didn't earn it according to your standards.

Speaker 3 (10:07):
He didn't.

Speaker 6 (10:08):
When you are a veteran and you are competing against
a younger player, it is on you to establish yourself
by your playmaking ability to say that, hey, man, this
was never a discussion. This was never a conversation or
this was never a battle. He didn't really do it.
You have to seize that moment and you have to
take it. In this case, I don't feel as though

(10:30):
Jarrett Stidham did enough.

Speaker 3 (10:31):
To actually take it.

Speaker 5 (10:32):
Nick, have you been on a team where you do
the defensive coordinator? Defense coordinator knew you. He knew that
he could count on you in clutch situations.

Speaker 3 (10:44):
Yeah.

Speaker 4 (10:44):
Are we suggesting that we can count on Jarrett Stidham
in clutch situations?

Speaker 1 (10:47):
Because the AFC Championship game last year felt like a
clutch situation.

Speaker 3 (10:51):
And he didn't come through. Exhibit A.

Speaker 2 (10:54):
The wind had a lot to do with that, too.

Speaker 6 (10:56):
The wind?

Speaker 3 (10:57):
Wait a minute. The wind didn't have anything to.

Speaker 2 (10:58):
Do with that?

Speaker 4 (10:59):
Wait a minute.

Speaker 3 (10:59):
You said the wind?

Speaker 6 (11:00):
Did the wind have anything to do with that game?
It seemed like we are litigating.

Speaker 3 (11:04):
No, no, no. I don't think the wind was the
only one blowing in that game. Yes.

Speaker 6 (11:08):
The wind has nothing to do with that. The wind
had nothing to do with him turning the ball over, Steve.

Speaker 3 (11:14):
You think that wasn't going to affect anybody? Steve. The wind.
He's not passing the ball.

Speaker 7 (11:19):
To be fair, the MVP runner-up, his offense only scored
three points in that same setting.

Speaker 3 (11:24):
It was against a great defense. Yeah, they were running
the ball because of quarterback great throws.

Speaker 6 (11:28):
Yeah! It wasn't the wind, Steve. I know we all
love the Broncos. I'm not trying to throw shade. No, no, no, no, no, no, no. See,
when you are spitting facts and you have receipts, that's
not receipts. Steve, the weather had nothing to do with
him turning the ball over. Tell me he did.

Speaker 3 (11:50):
You know, that.

Speaker 2 (11:54):
Was bad play, but hey, we have some of those.

Speaker 6 (11:57):
The fourth and one situation, the winning had nothing to
do with that.

Speaker 3 (12:00):
Weather had nothing to do with that. So I'm just saying.

Speaker 2 (12:03):
Fourth and one, which one?

Speaker 6 (12:05):
The fourth and one, where instead of kicking the field goal,
went for the fourth and one situation.

Speaker 2 (12:11):
Well, that was a play call.

Speaker 6 (12:13):
There's a lot that goes on in that play, but
he was a guy in there at the quarterback position.

Speaker 2 (12:17):
Here we go.

Speaker 3 (12:18):
Here we go.

Speaker 6 (12:19):
What do you mean, here we go? That's not actually hate.
Tell me, did you not like what you saw from
Sam Ellinger in practice?

Speaker 2 (12:28):
I did.

Speaker 3 (12:29):
I've seen more of Jared Stidham, though. Why, Steve?

Speaker 6 (12:33):
Someone can force feed us something.

Speaker 4 (12:37):
The 417, Stiddy apparently besmirched the name of MacGyver.

Speaker 2 (12:44):
Oh, man.

Speaker 3 (12:45):
I love it. Don't get me started up in here.

Speaker 1 (12:47):
By the way, Stidham was sacked three times in that game,
that NCAA championship game, all by different people, all named Christian.

Speaker 2 (12:55):
Interesting.

Speaker 4 (12:56):
Christian Gonzalez, Christian Ellis, Christian Barbour.

Speaker 6 (12:58):
And you can't tell me when you watch Sam Ellinger
in that Minnesota game, there can't be a part of
you that said, you know what?

Speaker 3 (13:05):
Man, throwing that guy reminds me a little of number 10.
And number 10, I mean Bo Nix.

Speaker 2 (13:10):
No, and I'm not taking anything away from Sam Rowling. Sam,
he's played well, too. But when you have confidence in
a guy, Nick, you.

Speaker 3 (13:18):
Confidence.

Speaker 6 (13:19):
Sometimes confidence can be overblown because that confidence, Karen, means bias.

Speaker 2 (13:25):
Right?

Speaker 6 (13:26):
Someone has confidence in another player, that means they have
bias over another one because there's no reason that it
wasn't a fair backup quarterback battle between those two guys.

Speaker 5 (13:36):
You're the kind of coach who'll be in practice and he'll.

Speaker 2 (13:39):
Be counting, okay, you had.

Speaker 5 (13:42):
85% completion percentage, and the other guy had 87%.

Speaker 2 (13:47):
So I'm going with the other guy. I'm going with
the guy who got the 87%.

Speaker 3 (13:50):
No, no, no.

Speaker 6 (13:51):
See, I would be the type of coach where I'm
going to give each guy an ample amount of time
to have reps in practice.

Speaker 3 (13:59):
Since both of those guys.

Speaker 6 (14:00):
Are second and third quarterbacks, we're going to put you
with the second and third teams. And then we're going
to see gradually how you go through the training camp
process that we may give you a couple of reps
with the first team to kind of get you comfortable.

Speaker 3 (14:10):
Then we get into the preseason, right?

Speaker 6 (14:13):
Knowing as though Bo was going to play a significant
amount of time, that was an ample amount of time
starting with the game against Atlanta Falcons where you can
give maybe the first and second quarter to Jarrett Stidham,
the third and fourth, to Sam Ellinger.

Speaker 3 (14:26):
So now you.

Speaker 6 (14:27):
Have an equal distribution of plays that you can actually evaluate.

Speaker 3 (14:31):
Then when you get to the Packers.

Speaker 6 (14:32):
Game, you flop it. So you give Sam an opportunity.
But Sam didn't really have an opportunity because he wasn't
given the amount of reps that Jarrett Stidham was given.

Speaker 3 (14:41):
He wasn't.

Speaker 6 (14:42):
But he showed in the Minnesota game, he showed that
he's got talent, he's got ability.

Speaker 4 (14:47):
You don't think Sean Payton sort of, you know, kind of,
When he said Stidham would be today, or if it
happened right now, he would be. But he wasn't very
conclusive that Jarrett Stidham would be the backup for the
whole year. That certainly was not the biggest vote of confidence,
even though he said Stidham was the guy right now.

Speaker 3 (15:03):
But you know why, Ben?

Speaker 6 (15:05):
Because you had to tell Sam Ellinger something to keep
him on his team.

Speaker 3 (15:10):
Because last year, instead of Phillip Rivers... Well, they did
keep him on the team.

Speaker 4 (15:14):
They didn't even weigh them.

Speaker 6 (15:15):
But instead of Phillip, Phillip Rivers ended up taking over
for that starting job after Dady Dimes got injured. Yep. Right?

Speaker 3 (15:21):
But Sam Ellington had the opportunity to go there.

Speaker 2 (15:23):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (15:23):
But he opted to stay here. Right.

Speaker 6 (15:25):
So you've got to figure that they told him something
to keep him here.

Speaker 3 (15:28):
So he thought, hey, he was going to have ability.

Speaker 6 (15:30):
To compete against Jared Stenum for the number two spot.

Speaker 2 (15:32):
Well, last year they did.

Speaker 4 (15:32):
This year they didn't have to tell him anything because
they kept him on the 53. They didn't have to
tell him anything.

Speaker 3 (15:35):
They were keeping him. You know why?

Speaker 6 (15:37):
Because it feels as though it was a promise unfulfilled.

Speaker 3 (15:40):
He didn't really have an opportunity to truly compete. So
guess what? We're not going to put you on the
practice squad.

Speaker 6 (15:47):
We're not going to even release you. We're going to
show you that we love you this much, or we
like you this much, that we're going to keep you
on an active roster. We're going to keep three quarterbacks. Or.

Speaker 1 (15:57):
You know, you don't risk him going somewhere else because
you didn't give him the job. And then you keep
him on the roster and he's held hostage. There's a
lot of quarterbacks right now that are on rosters that
probably won't.

Speaker 4 (16:05):
Be at the start of the season.

Speaker 2 (16:06):
Dylan Gabriel's with the Browns with that situation.

Speaker 6 (16:09):
Oh, yeah.

Speaker 3 (16:09):
He's an IR with a back injury. Yeah. Yeah.

Speaker 1 (16:13):
You've got several quarterbacks, Anthony Richardson, all those guys. Teams
are just hoarding them right now, hoping somebody will bite,
hoping somebody will train them.

Speaker 3 (16:20):
Is this not kind of.
Holding back the development of.

Speaker 6 (16:25):
One Sam Ellinger because when you do something like this
to a player like that who.

Speaker 3 (16:29):
Showed that he has some ability, in essence, in my opinion.

Speaker 6 (16:32):
You slow his development because other teams around the league,
they see this and they're like, wait a minute. So
you've been in this offense for two seasons, and you
can't beat out Jarrett Stenum? What does that say about you, Sam?

Speaker 3 (16:44):
So now the narrative.

Speaker 6 (16:45):
That floats around the league is that you can't be
that type of quarterback.

Speaker 2 (16:49):
I mean, maybe.

Speaker 4 (16:50):
I don't think he's concerned about that.

Speaker 1 (16:51):
I think where we're at right now is am I
going to be the guy this year or not?

Speaker 4 (16:54):
I mean, you're on the roster, so I don't think
you're worried about the rest of the league.

Speaker 3 (16:59):
You should be.

Speaker 5 (17:00):
What other position do we talk about like they're really
going to play a significant number hopefully they don't you.

Speaker 6 (17:10):
Know everything about the league is about the quarterback position
everything not the backup quarterback but see you don't care
about the backup quarterback until you really need him when
we got news from sean payton about what happened to
bow and buffalo guess what the conversation was immediately guess what.

Speaker 5 (17:26):
The backup quarterback guess what if sam i don't get
words in there is it a guarantee with one.

Speaker 3 (17:32):
There's no guarantees.

Speaker 6 (17:33):
Exactly.

Speaker 3 (17:34):
But here's what I will say.

Speaker 6 (17:36):
Here's what I will say. There's no guarantee, but I
believe that he would have gave the team a better
opportunity because he's more Bo Nix-like than Jarrett Stenner. Was
the wind still blowing? I ain't even talking about that wind.
Stop talking about that wind. That wind had nothing to
do with the poor performance by one Jarrett Stenner and

(17:56):
a defense rest. Hey, man, listen, I'm telling you, if
anyone else has a rebuttal or retort, I'm all in.

Speaker 2 (18:07):
Give it to me.

Speaker 1 (18:08):
The wind, by the way, averaged 6 to 13 miles
per hour in that game.

Speaker 2 (18:13):
6 to 13 miles per hour.

Speaker 7 (18:15):
Here's what I would say on the whole quarterback situation.

Speaker 5 (18:21):
Yes.

Speaker 7 (18:21):
Ellinger, I think in the second half or last three quarters,
whatever it was that this Vikings game was the best
quarterback play we saw from the Broncos in this preseason.

Speaker 2 (18:29):
I'd agree with you there.

Speaker 3 (18:30):
However.

Speaker 7 (18:32):
I would say last year, Jarrett Stidham was the best
Broncos quarterback in the preseason.

Speaker 2 (18:37):
And the same reason you.

Speaker 7 (18:39):
Don't, he completed 80% of his passes, 10 yards per attempt,
five touchdowns, your interceptions. The same reason you don't start
him over Bo Nix based on three great preseason performances
is the same reason you don't put Ellinger over Stidham
off of one.

Speaker 4 (18:52):
Hell no.

Speaker 3 (18:53):
Because you know what? Here's the problem with that.

Speaker 6 (18:55):
Because you're only giving Sam that fourth quarter and that
time in that Minnesota game. When you could have given
it to him early in the preseason, you could have
given him more time against Green Bay. You could have
given him more time against Atlanta Falcons to really show
what he's capable of doing. But also you would have
shown the growth from last year to this year. So
he wasn't given that opportunity, Zach. So how can you

(19:15):
do that to show someone what you can be when
they're not giving you the opportunities?

Speaker 3 (19:19):
You earned that opportunity in practice.

Speaker 7 (19:21):
They probably, based on what they saw, Stidham was the
clear number two. To your point, it wasn't a fair competition.
I also don't think it was a fair competition between.

Speaker 2 (19:30):
I don't know, R.J. Harvey and J.K. Dobbins.

Speaker 7 (19:32):
You know, I don't think it was a fair competition
between Jalen Waddell and Troy Franklin. Like, I think there's
a number of spots on this.

Speaker 3 (19:38):
It's called predetermination. Zach, let me help you out. It's
called predetermination. Coaches actually do that.

Speaker 6 (19:44):
I like one guy over the other, and it doesn't
make a difference what the other guy does.

Speaker 3 (19:49):
My guy. Instead of my dude. Yeah, we saw this
last year.

Speaker 2 (19:52):
When you coach, you never did that?

Speaker 3 (19:54):
No.

Speaker 2 (19:55):
Heck no.

Speaker 3 (19:56):
Oh, I did.

Speaker 2 (19:59):
I don't care.

Speaker 3 (20:00):
You may have another guy that may be talented.

Speaker 2 (20:03):
But, oh, man, there's something, man. There's something about him.

Speaker 3 (20:06):
That was the one thing that ticked me off.

Speaker 6 (20:09):
When I was coaching, because there were guys who other
people higher up had vouched for who were not as
good as the other guys that didn't have a band
of people vouching for them. And I'm like, why are
we not playing this guy? And it's like, whoa, whoa, Nick,
you think you're too much like a player. And I'm like,
I thought the idea was trying to win football games, right?
Lo and behold, to me, I realized not everyone wants

(20:32):
to do that. Not anyone wants to do that. And
that was a big smack in the face for me
going from playing to coaching.

Speaker 5 (20:38):
But the thing is, it's like, just like you feel
like you're 100% right on what you're saying.

Speaker 3 (20:44):
I don't have to be 100%.

Speaker 2 (20:45):
No, no, no, no, no.

Speaker 3 (20:46):
I'm just saying.

Speaker 2 (20:46):
I'm just listening for a second.

Speaker 6 (20:47):
Yes. You feel like your perspective is the right perspective.

Speaker 3 (20:52):
Guess what? The person who picked Jared Stenum, they feel
that way too. See, I don't feel as though my
perspective is the right perspective.

Speaker 2 (20:59):
Yes, you do. No, I don't.

Speaker 3 (21:00):
You think it's the wrong one? No, no, no. I
feel as though it is a perspective based on what
I see. Yeah.

Speaker 6 (21:06):
And I'm asking someone, present something to me to show
me otherwise.

Speaker 1 (21:10):
Well, we got to get some perspective. So let's take
a break and figure that out. Yeah, figure this out, man.
Trying to make us address you as your honor and stuff, man.

Speaker 6 (21:22):
It's weird.

Speaker 2 (21:22):
It was weird.

Speaker 3 (21:26):
Just call me the judge.

Speaker 4 (21:27):
He kept banging the gavel down every time we tried
to talk.

Speaker 6 (21:29):
Just call me the judge.

Speaker 1 (21:34):
56690 is the text line. The 417, I take it back.
Stiddy must have made a pass at Nick's wife. Good Lord,
I can feel the hate all the way from the
show me state.

Speaker 3 (21:42):
There we go. We're in Missouri. Hey, hey, hey. Whomever
that texter is from Missouri, I'm from Miami.

Speaker 6 (21:49):
But when I approach situations like this, I take the
show me state mentality.

Speaker 3 (21:54):
Show me.

Speaker 2 (21:54):
Don't tell me.

Speaker 1 (21:56):
The 9-5-2 in the playoffs when Stidham was playing against
New England, he was at his own 20, threw the
ball up for grabs while falling.

Speaker 3 (22:01):
It changed the game.

Speaker 4 (22:02):
Stidham isn't a viable backup. It was a rookie mistake.

Speaker 3 (22:06):
Listen to the people, Steve.

Speaker 5 (22:07):
Bro, that was the clutch situation right there.

Speaker 2 (22:10):
He didn't have the best play on that play. We
all know that.

Speaker 3 (22:13):
What do you mean he didn't have the best play?

Speaker 1 (22:16):
The 9-5-9 in four years' time, Bo will be the
quarterback and the backup will be Ellinger, and that's why
they did it.

Speaker 2 (22:21):
That's from Douglas in Hartford, Connecticut.

Speaker 6 (22:23):
Doug, appreciate that, man. All I'm just saying, just for transparency,
I mean, did Sam Ellinger not outperform Jarrett Stidham?

Speaker 3 (22:33):
That's all I'm saying.

Speaker 1 (22:33):
To add in, one of the texters agrees with Zach here.
It says that the preseason determined the depth chart. Stidham
would have started over Bowe last year.

Speaker 6 (22:39):
Well, first of all, that's a losing argument to begin
with because there's no.

Speaker 2 (22:44):
It's the argument you were making.

Speaker 3 (22:46):
No, it wasn't.

Speaker 6 (22:47):
The argument I was making was for two guys who
are backup quarterbacks. Obviously, that rule doesn't apply to Bo
Nixon because he's a first-round pick, and we know how
the Broncos were longing to have their quarterback... That they
could say that this is our guy. Said there was
no way, even though there were fans and people in
the media here at that time, pounding the table saying, well,

(23:08):
Stenum outplayed Bo.

Speaker 3 (23:10):
Well, you should. Were you saying that too?

Speaker 6 (23:12):
No. You're a veteran player. That's a rookie. That's a
two-year player. So you're supposed to.

Speaker 7 (23:16):
Would you say Chris Abrams straight outperformed John A.

Speaker 3 (23:19):
Barron this preseason? Yes. But who do you think's.

Speaker 2 (23:23):
Ahead of who on the death chart right now?

Speaker 6 (23:24):
And why?

Speaker 3 (23:25):
Ask yourself why. I know the why. Because one was
the incumbent. One was drafted in the first round. Well,
that's true. I mean, that's the bigger reason. When you
draft a.

Speaker 6 (23:33):
Guy in the first round, someone stood on the table
for him.

Speaker 3 (23:36):
So guess what? You got to make yourself right.

Speaker 2 (23:38):
No, no, no, no, no, no. Jadé' s made some plays, too.

Speaker 3 (23:41):
I didn't say he didn't make plays. I'm just saying.
Zach asked a specific question. Should Chris Evans be ahead
of Jadé?

Speaker 6 (23:48):
Yes.

Speaker 3 (23:48):
Stop.

Speaker 1 (23:49):
Tell me why stop tell me why as the backstreet
boys said tell me why let's.

Speaker 6 (23:54):
Have that conversation tell me why and that's and that's
not an indictment on jade what i'm saying is jade
isn't ready as though we would hope for him to
be because i said in training camp his issue was
he was lacking confidence but seeing him make that play
against the falcons albeit a tip play by.

Speaker 3 (24:11):
Kareem reed He had Johnny Barron race down the sideline.

Speaker 6 (24:15):
That built a lot of confidence back in him because
at Texas.

Speaker 3 (24:19):
He used to be that dude.

Speaker 6 (24:20):
And then you come to this level, and you're looking around,
it's like, man, they got two other dudes, PS2 and
Raleigh Moss. So you fall back a little bit. So
you lose Chris Abrams' reign. And once again, Chris Abrams,
the reason I said Chris Abrams' reign.

Speaker 3 (24:33):
Jaquan McMillan.

Speaker 6 (24:36):
Jaquan is more best suited.

Speaker 3 (24:39):
To play in the slot opposed to playing outside.

Speaker 2 (24:43):
Where does Jadé play?

Speaker 6 (24:45):
Outside. Bench?

Speaker 2 (24:47):
Man, come on now.

Speaker 6 (24:48):
Stop.

Speaker 3 (24:50):
Stop. You walked right into it.

Speaker 6 (24:53):
Stop. But this is the conversation when we talk about Jadé, right?

Speaker 3 (24:57):
Well, people are saying that he's a bust.

Speaker 6 (24:59):
When you come on a team that has a lot
of depth, you have to anticipate this. And I would
expect Chris Abrams-Drain to be a little ahead of Jadé
Barron because he's been in his defense for more.

Speaker 3 (25:11):
Than one season.

Speaker 4 (25:13):
Yeah, Jade's the dude backing up another dude disguised as
another backup.

Speaker 6 (25:17):
I see you trying to slide that in, Ben. Yeah,
you're not slick. But here's what I'll say. The Broncos,
they have a very talented team. And when you foster competition,
these are some of the conversations that you get. Some
people are in favor of it. Some people are not.

Speaker 3 (25:36):
In this case, I'm not in favor of... The listing
of the number two quarterback. Okay. All right. That's just
my perspective.

Speaker 6 (25:45):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (25:46):
I mean, people have complaints all year long. That's right.

Speaker 3 (25:49):
I complain about Ben all the time, but no one.

Speaker 2 (25:51):
Ever listens to me. Yeah.

Speaker 4 (25:52):
Well, they listen to you, and they're just like, no,
he's so handsome, genius.

Speaker 6 (25:57):
No.

Speaker 3 (25:57):
Really. Zach, have you ever said that about Ben?

Speaker 7 (26:02):
I'm still waiting for the first, but maybe when we
get Sidney Sweeney in here.

Speaker 3 (26:06):
What's the word on that? What's the word on that?

Speaker 2 (26:09):
We're all good.

Speaker 3 (26:09):
We're good.

Speaker 2 (26:10):
Okay.

Speaker 3 (26:11):
Every time you ask Ben about that, we're working on it.

Speaker 2 (26:13):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (26:14):
We're working on it.

Speaker 2 (26:14):
It's coming. It's coming.

Speaker 3 (26:16):
Steve already knows.

Speaker 2 (26:18):
Steve knows better.

Speaker 3 (26:19):
You guys will learn. And I'm going to enjoy it.

Speaker 4 (26:20):
I'm going to cook them slow, Steve.

Speaker 3 (26:22):
I'm not going to lie to you.

Speaker 4 (26:22):
I'm going to cook them slow.

Speaker 3 (26:23):
Hey, I'm here to learn. One fish, two fish, red fish,
blue fish.

Speaker 2 (26:29):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (26:29):
Hey, I'm here to learn. The 9-7-0 Nick to Stiddy.
I hate you and everything about you. I wish all
the bad things in life happened to you and only
to you.

Speaker 6 (26:38):
No, no, no.

Speaker 3 (26:40):
Full transparency. I don't hate the guy. I have nothing
against him.

Speaker 6 (26:45):
I'm just saying as though Sam did not get adequate opportunity.
That's all I'm saying. I'm all about competition, but I'm
not for bias.

Speaker 4 (26:56):
I'd love to see Sam get in a game and
see what he can do. I felt like he could
get in the Packers game a little bit more. And
Sean had said that phase.

Speaker 1 (27:02):
Three was going to start the second half, but then
he went to Stidham in that Packers.

Speaker 6 (27:06):
Why, Ben?

Speaker 4 (27:06):
Home opener sign.

Speaker 6 (27:08):
Why, Ben?

Speaker 3 (27:09):
Yes, you do.

Speaker 2 (27:10):
Yes, you do.

Speaker 6 (27:10):
You know.

Speaker 3 (27:11):
I know nothing.

Speaker 2 (27:12):
Yes, you do.

Speaker 6 (27:13):
Nope.

Speaker 3 (27:13):
You got to force feed.

Speaker 6 (27:14):
When you make a decision, you got to make yourself right.

Speaker 3 (27:17):
You got to keep doing it. Makes himself right, Steve.

Speaker 1 (27:20):
Like stacking a practice so that Teddy Bridgewater's doing only
red zone drills, trying to throw touchdowns, making those four interceptions.

Speaker 2 (27:25):
In one practice.

Speaker 3 (27:25):
Totally derails your deal.

Speaker 2 (27:27):
It's not going to work.

Speaker 6 (27:28):
I'm just saying, man, if you don't want to see it,
I'm okay with that. I'm okay.

Speaker 4 (27:35):
Okay.

Speaker 3 (27:37):
Some other thing, I mean, we kept six receivers.

Speaker 1 (27:39):
Little Jordan is still here for, you know, whatever blackmail
photos he has on Sean Payton joining Tyler Bidet.

Speaker 3 (27:44):
In the same room there.

Speaker 2 (27:46):
Y'all are crazy.

Speaker 4 (27:48):
Whatever leverage they have on Sean, whatever they caught him
doing must have been horrible.

Speaker 3 (27:51):
See, I don't side with Ben on this one. How's
Tyler Bidet still on this roster, man?

Speaker 2 (27:57):
Come on.

Speaker 3 (27:59):
It helps to have someone in the building that likes you.
It's like, yeah, here's it.

Speaker 6 (28:03):
Did you think Tyler Bidet earned his way in the preseason? No.

Speaker 3 (28:09):
Who did? Cody Schrader.

Speaker 2 (28:12):
Tell me, Steve.

Speaker 6 (28:13):
Tell me the dude did not. What did we see
from Tyler Bidet that told you like, oh, no, you
know what? He should be the fourth running back.

Speaker 3 (28:19):
Tell me. I'm listening.

Speaker 2 (28:21):
I thought he played well. I thought he played well.

Speaker 4 (28:24):
We need a running back that doesn't run the ball,
doesn't really catch the ball.

Speaker 1 (28:27):
He'll come in for some pass parole on third down.

Speaker 2 (28:31):
But I think Cody Schrader did well for himself.

Speaker 3 (28:35):
Absolutely.

Speaker 2 (28:35):
Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 3 (28:36):
Being in a position that he was in.

Speaker 6 (28:38):
But once again, it's what do you do with the
opportunities that you are provided?

Speaker 3 (28:42):
You do everything in practice. But do you think they're
going to make a change?

Speaker 5 (28:46):
The decisions were pretty much made going into the game.

Speaker 3 (28:53):
I'm going to take that hammer away.

Speaker 6 (28:54):
What did I say? I told you it was predetermined.
Steve just said it himself. Defense rest again. But they
also counted the other two games. When you already have
your mind already made up, sometimes it's difficult to make
a roster and change someone's mind. You have to do
something that's way off the charts in order to do that.

(29:16):
And it seems as though, and I'm not saying anything.

Speaker 3 (29:18):
That no one knows. We know this. People have their
mind made up.

Speaker 6 (29:23):
And when they have their mind made up, they're not
going to be swayed either way.

Speaker 3 (29:27):
This is football. This is business. This is anything else.

Speaker 5 (29:30):
If you were making the decisions, he would be saying
the same thing about you because everybody's not going to
agree with what you do.

Speaker 3 (29:35):
They don't have to. That's right. Here's what they would
know about you.

Speaker 6 (29:40):
What they would know about Nick Ferg. I'm going to
judge it by what I see on the field. Take
what you're doing in practice and take it to the
game and ball out.

Speaker 3 (29:48):
That's it.

Speaker 2 (29:49):
All you got to do is be a good player.
And you can start for you.

Speaker 3 (29:52):
You have to do more than that.

Speaker 6 (29:53):
Define what being a good player is.

Speaker 2 (29:57):
Define that.

Speaker 3 (29:58):
There's a lot of things. But that's what it comes
down to.

Speaker 2 (30:03):
Are you producing or are you not?

Speaker 3 (30:06):
You know what else was predetermined? What's that?

Speaker 2 (30:08):
Every MacGyver script ever. MacGyver was going to win.

Speaker 1 (30:14):
We're in that lull between wrapping the initial 53 and
Getting ready to start the season. Broncos, of course, start
the season at Arrowhead. Monday night football. Put a capper
on week one.

Speaker 4 (30:28):
Would you rather be the first game or the last
game of the first week of the season? All eyes
are going to be on you both ways.

Speaker 1 (30:35):
But would you rather be the last game of the
first week of the season or the first game?

Speaker 4 (30:39):
Like Thursday night football or Monday night football?

Speaker 5 (30:43):
I think I would probably take Monday night. Monday night
has just been around the longest.

Speaker 2 (30:46):
I think the.

Speaker 3 (30:48):
Tradition is there.

Speaker 2 (30:51):
It's going to be all eyes on you. Thursday night
is like that, too. It's huge, but I still think
Monday night is bigger than Thursday night.

Speaker 3 (30:58):
Thursday night doesn't compare.

Speaker 4 (31:00):
For the opening game of the season, though, it's a
little bit different.

Speaker 3 (31:03):
Oh, it still doesn't compare. Thursday night does not compare
to Monday night football.

Speaker 6 (31:07):
Like Steve said, everyone who's a huge football fan, they
have stories where they sat around on Monday night football
before they had to go to bed for school with
their dad, their grandpa, or their grandmother, and they watched
that game.

Speaker 3 (31:19):
At least... a quarter of that game.

Speaker 6 (31:22):
And it's something unique about playing on Monday night because
no one else is on. Even I know Thursday night,
nothing else is on. But this Monday night was always
the staple.

Speaker 2 (31:32):
And I agree with that throughout the season.

Speaker 3 (31:34):
I'm just saying opening week.

Speaker 1 (31:35):
Like, for instance, last week, or last week, last year,
the Thursday night football game averaged 28.3 million viewers. The
Monday night game, 22 million viewers.

Speaker 4 (31:43):
So it was significantly more people watched the Thursday night.

Speaker 3 (31:47):
The Thursday night game was Cowboys-Eagles.

Speaker 4 (31:50):
The Monday night game, I don't remember. I'd have to
go back and look.

Speaker 3 (31:54):
But see, that is defined, the viewership is defined by
the matchup.

Speaker 6 (31:59):
Are you having NFC, AFC? Some people may watch. But
if you have division rivals, people are going to watch.
It's like this game between the Denver Broncos and the
Kansas City Chiefs. People are going to watch even if
they're not fans of either team because they want to
see if... Bo is back. Is his foot bothering him?
Is the Broncos' defense really for real? But more importantly,

(32:21):
what's Patrick Mahomes going to look like coming back from
knee injury?

Speaker 2 (32:25):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (32:26):
That's what everyone wants to watch. And it's a division game.

Speaker 6 (32:28):
It's an AFC West divisional game where we know that
this division will come down to probably the Broncos, the Chargers,
and the Kansas City Chiefs.

Speaker 1 (32:39):
Vikings-Bears, I believe, was the Monday night football game. The
last year, that was expected to be a good game.
You had Caleb Williams against J.J. McCarthy or whatever. It
was supposed to be like the young whatever.

Speaker 3 (32:49):
And then everyone figured out, nah.

Speaker 4 (32:50):
Well, I feel like that'll lay it out. But Cowboys-Eagles
was the starter.

Speaker 2 (32:54):
That was the Thursday night game.

Speaker 3 (32:56):
Broncos-Chiefs.

Speaker 2 (32:59):
Don't bring them out.

Speaker 4 (33:00):
Monday Night Football-Calford.

Speaker 3 (33:01):
Don't bring them out.

Speaker 1 (33:03):
I think it's going to be a good game. I
believe the Broncos can win that game. I'm not sold
on Kansas.

Speaker 2 (33:09):
City this year. Were you sold on them last year?

Speaker 4 (33:12):
I mean, you know, up until they got hurt.

Speaker 3 (33:16):
That's more sold on them last year.

Speaker 1 (33:18):
But more sold on them last year than I am
this year. I mean, they redid their entire secondary. You
got Travis Kelsey. I mean, like, how old is he now?
Does he come with a wheelchair?

Speaker 2 (33:25):
Wow.

Speaker 4 (33:26):
You know, Chris Jones.

Speaker 3 (33:28):
You know, that guy's a year older.

Speaker 1 (33:30):
Mahomes coming back off injury and has had declining production
for four seasons. Chargers and the Broncos, I think, are
poised to take over the division.

Speaker 3 (33:37):
This is the last hurrah. But the Kansas City Chiefs,
I believe. They need to retool it anyway. And think
about this, Steve. When Mahomes went down with his injury,
guess what? I mean, they had a couple of backup quarterbacks.
It didn't really work.

Speaker 6 (33:53):
See, once that started quarterback goes down, that's when that
backup quarterback becomes real important.

Speaker 4 (33:57):
Are you trying to keep for Sam Ellinger to go
to the Chiefs now?

Speaker 6 (34:00):
No.

Speaker 3 (34:01):
No, Ben. What are you saying?

Speaker 6 (34:04):
I'm just stating the fact that the backup doesn't become
as important until your starter goes down. And knowing as
though Mahomes is coming back, I don't believe he's going
to be 100%. A lot of things that we've seen
him do over the years, I don't think he's going
to be able to do in this first game.

Speaker 3 (34:21):
And if I'm Vance Joseph, I'm going to blitz him
on the first play.

Speaker 1 (34:26):
Yeah, I'd do just like the Bucks did when he
was wounded in that Super Bowl or whatever.

Speaker 3 (34:30):
Make him move his feet. Send it.

Speaker 2 (34:31):
See what happens.

Speaker 3 (34:33):
Let's see.

Speaker 6 (34:34):
The 9-1-3.

Speaker 3 (34:34):
My guy Nick is on one tonight.

Speaker 4 (34:36):
He was playing Madden 0-5 on my GameCube. I'll let
you guys in on a secret. Hold the Z button.
Press A, B, up C, down C, and you'll get
your Nick Ferguson avatar to run off mid-play.

Speaker 3 (34:43):
And flip a Gatorade table while throwing tips to come.
Nick Ferguson! That's a hatch.

Speaker 4 (34:54):
Several people are pointing out that the season actually opens
on Wednesday night football this year, and you are correct.
It is Wednesday night, not Thursday.

Speaker 2 (34:59):
Oh, is that the Rams and the Niners, I think? Yeah,
in Australia or whatever.

Speaker 3 (35:04):
Which, by the way, real quick, the Niners are already
out there.

Speaker 1 (35:08):
The Rams aren't going out there until the day before.

Speaker 3 (35:13):
They always do that.

Speaker 2 (35:14):
That's stupid.

Speaker 3 (35:16):
But they always win when they do. So I'm going
to tell Sean McVay he's wrong.

Speaker 4 (35:21):
They've never had– that's the Thursday night game?

Speaker 3 (35:23):
Oh, okay.

Speaker 1 (35:23):
Yeah, they've never had a flight this long where they've
done that.

Speaker 4 (35:26):
I'm just saying, like, anyway.

Speaker 3 (35:28):
Sam, we've got to run, man. Appreciate it as always.

Speaker 5 (35:30):
Thank you, man.

Speaker 2 (35:31):
Enjoyed it.

Speaker 3 (35:31):
Enjoyed it, Nick.

Speaker 4 (35:32):
Take that gavel and that robe with you. I don't
need any more of that around here.

Speaker 2 (35:35):
Let's go, Sam.

Speaker 4 (35:36):
We're going to have to put tonight back into this.