Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
It's a football Thursday night.
Speaker 2 (00:02):
It's a sports heavy Thursday night here in Broncos country,
getting excited for a much anticipated matchup with the New
York Giants.
Speaker 1 (00:13):
Filling in for Benjamin Albright.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
It's sack Seegers and joining me is Nick Ferguson and
Nick I say this matchup is much anticipated despite the
Giants being a fairly low wattage team and le Broncos
being over a touchdown favorite, because this matchup got a
little extra spice added to it today with what Jonathan
Cooper said about Jackson Dark.
Speaker 3 (00:37):
Yeah, I mean he's a young, young guy. He's you know,
filling himself a little bit. He's out there running around,
he's got to change on he's dancing. You know, it's
like everybody needs something, so you know, but we've went
against Covien QB's who have ran around in the pocket
and have you know, try to do stuff with the leys,
(00:58):
so nothing we ever seen.
Speaker 2 (01:02):
Now, Yeah, that's not the most inflammatory comment. But when
the question is, you know what worries you about defending
this guy, what's the challenge with defending this guy? And
you go, he's young, he runs around a lot, and
he's wearing a chain. It's also maybe not the most
complimentary thing. Nick, Where did you come down on this?
Do you think Cooper was disrespecting Dart?
Speaker 4 (01:20):
Well, you know what, I know what it makes it
sound like like you planning against a toddler. Right, he's young,
he's in a walker, he's just running around all over
the place.
Speaker 5 (01:29):
He's got a chain off.
Speaker 2 (01:30):
I almost tweeted this clip out with opt like, what
is Jonathan Cooper talking about in this clip? Option a
defending Jackson Dart? Option be his son who surprised him
at practice today.
Speaker 5 (01:44):
Oh, it's great.
Speaker 1 (01:44):
He's having fun out there. He's running around, he's got
my chain on. He said, it's just a great time.
Speaker 2 (01:49):
But no, he's talking about this this quarterback. My favorite
Broncos press conference moment of the year because I don't
think he meant to be disrespectful, but I think he
was kind of grasping for straws when it came to
what's the challenge of defending Jackson Dart because I don't
know if if this Broncos defense is all.
Speaker 1 (02:05):
That worried about Jackson.
Speaker 4 (02:07):
Well, you know what, to John Deay, Cooper's point, He's
absolutely right when you look at Jackson Dart for who
he is. He was a guy who run around in college.
He has mobility. He is one of today's quarterbacks. He's
not the throwback quarterback. Most quarterbacks in today's game are
very mobile, and sometimes you have to really test those
(02:29):
guys out and force them to play the quarterback positions
because you know that they're mobile. Now, with that being said,
we've seen Brian Dabel in his history do great things
with mobile quarterbacks. I mean that's how he became a
head coach at the Giants and how he utilized the
skill set of one Josh Allen. So with some young players,
especially quarterbacks, young quarterbacks, they want to run, they want.
Speaker 5 (02:52):
To really show who and what they are.
Speaker 4 (02:54):
But you have to be really careful because remember what
we saw on Thursday Night football when Jackson dark was
running around and he ended up wearing that damn blue
tin and you had cams capable and you had Brian Dabele,
which I think is somewhat of a violation.
Speaker 5 (03:11):
Far as with the New Ork I.
Speaker 4 (03:13):
Guess the guy who's supposed to be there as the
cognitive guy, the guy who's supposed to be fair.
Speaker 5 (03:21):
I think Brian Dabel was wrong in that regard.
Speaker 4 (03:23):
But with that being said, you know, Jackson Dart's gonna
take off, and once he breaks that pocket, he's not
only you know, he's no longer sheltered by the rules
of playing in the pocket. You are now a bona
fide runner, so we're gonna hunt you down. So I
don't have a problem with what Jonathan Cooper said because
(03:44):
he has shown that he can definitely back it up.
Speaker 2 (03:47):
And I think you know that reliance on the quarterback
run game, and it's one it's normal for a young quarterback.
It's so taxing to try and do that straight dropback
stuff and read out the defense and everything where.
Speaker 1 (03:58):
It's just tape.
Speaker 2 (03:59):
You know, run through this gap, make this one read
on an option play. It can you take a little
bit of the mental load off them and just give
them an easy answer on a given play, which is nice,
But I think the Broncos are going to take that
out of the equation. They have allowed just forty six
quarterback rushing yards all season long, and look at who
(04:19):
they've played. It's Justin Herbert who can run. It's cam
Ward who can run. It's Daniel Jones, Justin Fields, Jalen
Hurts The only quarterback they've played so far who's not
a running threat is Jake Browning, And in spite of that,
they haven't even allowed fifty rushing yards total from the
quarterback position this whole season.
Speaker 4 (04:38):
But this is where Brian Dabow's going to be up
for that challenge because he's loving up his two rookies,
Cam Scattabull and Jackson Dark and they are the run
game for the team. When you look at the last
Thirsdy Night game when the Giants face off against the Eagles,
Sakwon Barkley had less rushing yards than both Scatterbo and
(05:01):
Jackson Dark. So once again they're playing with a certain
level of confidence. They're saying, well, we can run on
this Broncos defense. Now, there's been a couple of running
backs that have been successful against the Broncos, and one
being Jonathan Taylor. Now, the way that that happened is
because they used him in the passing game to just
kind of stretched thin the Broncos linebackers. So if there
(05:24):
was a problem that the Broncos linebackers have, it's covering
running backs out of the backfield. Now, while Cam Scoatibul
is a ram you know, he's a ram truck, so
you know, I mean he's coming downhill, you want him
to do that.
Speaker 5 (05:41):
But also too, he's not going to outrun you, right,
So if the.
Speaker 4 (05:46):
Giants try to implement him in the passing game, it
would have to be the screen game if anything. But
now that means that the Broncos defenders would have to
read their keys, and that means that everyone in the secondary,
every single person, whether you're playing corner nico safety, you're
going to have to tackle both of these guys.
Speaker 5 (06:08):
And when you get that opportunity, you just go ahead
to run through their face.
Speaker 2 (06:12):
And I think this secondary is better positioned than most
to bring that physicality because I think they're a pretty
darn physical secondary ever since Jim Leonard's come in, and
I think, I mean, he was a hard hitting safety
in his days, and I feel like he's kind of
infused that personality into the back end of this Broncos defense.
Speaker 1 (06:32):
They should also.
Speaker 2 (06:33):
That secondary should be getting some help when it comes
to defending Cam Scottaboo in open space and maybe even
in the passing game. With Drake Greenlaw potentially coming back
this week, Vans Joseph didn't want to.
Speaker 1 (06:46):
Declare whether or not he'd be coming back this week
or next week.
Speaker 2 (06:49):
He did say though, that whenever Drake Greenlaw comes back,
it'll be in some sort of a part time role.
What do you imagine that role to look like? As
the Broncos try to reincorporate him into this defense.
Speaker 4 (07:01):
He's gonna have to be on the pitchcount with his
injury history and then just come into the Broncos and
not really participating in any of the off season you know,
majority of the offseason drill, training camp.
Speaker 5 (07:15):
And you have to think, I mean, what is this
conditioning level going to be?
Speaker 4 (07:20):
And I can tell you as an athlete that And
this is whether you're athlete or you're just a regular,
you know, a weekend warrior.
Speaker 5 (07:28):
Man.
Speaker 4 (07:29):
You can think that you can run out there and
play and you didn't stretch and you didn't do any of.
Speaker 5 (07:33):
The cardio, and your body's gonna let you.
Speaker 1 (07:35):
Know, Oh WHOA what you doing?
Speaker 4 (07:37):
Man? You're doing too much set You're behind down. So
the Broncos is gonna have to do a great job
of picking and choosing when to deploy him because ideas
that you don't want him to relapse and have another
injury or create somewhat of another injury for him on
another part of his body, But keep him.
Speaker 5 (07:55):
On the pitch count.
Speaker 4 (07:56):
Be really strategic where you're deploy him, because once again,
just that's just joinard. I believe he's done a decent
job right as a fiel and rope. But having Greenlaw
back that definitely allows you to do so many different things.
Now you got three, you could say you have three
healthy linebackers that you can rotate, and now this adds
something more to Vance joseph defense that he can use
against opponents.
Speaker 5 (08:17):
So with that.
Speaker 2 (08:17):
Pitch count and with all that green Law brings to
the table, how do you think Vance Joseph should deploy
him rightly? Should it be, Hey, we've only got ten
to fifteen green Law snaps tonight.
Speaker 1 (08:29):
Do we want to be using him primarily as a blitzer?
Speaker 6 (08:31):
Is it?
Speaker 1 (08:31):
Hey?
Speaker 2 (08:32):
This guy can run with running backs and tight ends
unlike any of our other linebackers on the roster. Let's
lean into that with green Law. What are you putting
on him as he tries to get reacclimated.
Speaker 4 (08:43):
Well, the idea is that once again you're picking and
choosing base on down in distance, right, you also choosing
base on personnel grouping. Are there more favorable matchups to
put green Law on the field. For me, I would
start him out with that first possession right just to
get him reacclimated, because I can tell you as an athlete,
(09:06):
you want that first contact.
Speaker 5 (09:08):
It's just like a running back.
Speaker 4 (09:09):
This is why I'm so adamant about starting the game
where the Broncos have the last couple of games, by
getting the ball off you to your running back so
you can see how the defense is gonna adjust, how
they're gonna play to it. But also you want those
guys to get that first point of contact. If we
are twenty players in the game and I have not
been hit by someone, mentally, I'm not in the game.
(09:31):
I need that first contact to kind of settle me
down and get Okay, I'm good. Let's go right now, Coach,
give me that lead ISO again. So from a linebacker standpoint,
you want to put green Law on the field because
you want you want him to have the confidence, not
just you having a confidence, You want him to have
confidence that he can go out and execute what you
(09:52):
are calling for him to do. And then after that
you could bring him in every second down. You could
bring him in on third down, but you you want
to be careful. You don't want to bring him in
every time you're gonna blitz because now the office of
coordinator is going, Okay, every time green Law's in, we
know the Broncos.
Speaker 5 (10:08):
And man covers just run on man beaters.
Speaker 1 (10:11):
Yeah, you can't be given those teams.
Speaker 5 (10:12):
You don't want to do that.
Speaker 2 (10:13):
No, it tells especially, and that's going to be part
of what makes it so hard to I think work
green Law back into the defense. How much of an
emphasis do you think they should put on it with
the nature of his injury. I mean, he was ready
to come back part way through training camp. Reaggravates it,
ready to come back seemingly at the front end of
the season, reaggravates. It has to go on, ir It
(10:35):
just keeps kind of going through this cycle to where
on one end he could really help you beat the
Giants maybe where or beat the Cowboys in the subsequent week.
But on the other the Broncos have some loftier expectations
and they want to win the playoffs. How do you
balance that maybe the need for the help at that
position right now with the long game.
Speaker 5 (10:55):
Okay, well, once.
Speaker 4 (10:55):
Again, do you give him if he's ready to go,
You give him him taying the fifteen plays, and you
treated like a preseason game for him. See how he's
working at halftime. You know how how is this breathing?
Can you run around? Because I can tell you once
you get tired, man, you become a victim. And with
a guy like Cam'scatibuu. I know green Law is a
(11:16):
very physical guy, but when you're tired and then he
runs to your chest, that changes everything. That changes every
your dynamic and your confidence in your ability, but also
how the teams actually views you. So the idea is
just kind of work him into this like it's a
preseason game. The Broncos are not going to make the
playoffs on wayboy winning the game on Sunday, it's about
(11:38):
playing the loan game. So just kind of sprail a
little grip bread crumbs, kind of get him to ten
to fifteen plays, see how he's doing. If he's doing okay,
put him back in there for a couple of plays
and then take his ass out.
Speaker 2 (11:52):
And with how this pass rush is playing right now,
you might not have to lean on Drake green Law
because this defense isn't such could shape you're not necessarily
hurting without him. We were debating last night, is this
the best pass rush duo.
Speaker 1 (12:08):
In the NFL? Right now?
Speaker 2 (12:10):
They're on pace for forty one sacks, which would set
the record as the most ever by a pair of teammates. Nick,
can you think of any pass rush tandems in the
NFL right now that you would take over Nick Benito
and Jonathan Cooper?
Speaker 5 (12:24):
Not a damn one. How about that for an answer? Oh?
Speaker 4 (12:27):
Yeah, I wouldn't because when I look at how both
of these guys came into the league, right John Nick
Cooper wasn't drafted where he should have been drafted because
there was an examination with his heart, right.
Speaker 5 (12:44):
And then you look at Nick Benito.
Speaker 4 (12:46):
The Broncos didn't have I think a first or a second,
so he was their first pick, but he was a
third round pick, and in that first year he was
just trying to get acclimated to the game because at
Oklahoma he was just, you know, edge rush guy. He
hadn't developed into an every down guy. And then to
watch these guys elevate their level play and get to
(13:07):
this point where now they're playing great football and they're
both well paid, right, And that's the essence of the game.
Like the idea is that I come in and let's
just say I'm flying on the radar. I play well,
you pay me right, And this is why I'm glad
that the Broncos were able to lock up both of
these guys. But just looking at their physicality and the
(13:30):
sense of urgency that they have, like when you watch
them on Sunday, and I know they they're probably watching
because this is what I would do if I was
coaching for the Broncos. Get film on the center to
understand at what point that center is going to snap
the ball.
Speaker 5 (13:46):
Is there a move it doesn't squeeze the ball something.
Speaker 2 (13:50):
I am thrilled you mentioned this, Nick, because I don't
think it's gotten talked about.
Speaker 1 (13:53):
Nearly enough in the lead up to this game.
Speaker 2 (13:55):
Part of the reason I'm so confident in the Broncos
is as nasty as the past rush has been the
past two weeks, that has it and I know they
got nine sacks against justin fields that's not even this
pass rush at its best. This pass rush at its
best is what we saw against the Bengals. Because when
this team's able to play at home and you know this,
as Rode player. Crowd noise forces the team, the opponent,
(14:19):
the Broncos opponent to use a silent count, and when
they're using that silent count, they're you know, motioning in
some way.
Speaker 1 (14:25):
There is a visual.
Speaker 2 (14:27):
Tell for Nick Benito and or Jonathan Cooper that says, hey,
we're about to snap the ball right now, and it
allows them to tee off. Jonathan Cooper right now is
the fastest get off in the NFL. He's getting off
flying of scrimmage in point seven seconds. Benito's right behind him,
also in the top five at point seven five seconds.
Speaker 1 (14:44):
And you're giving those guys a running start effectively.
Speaker 5 (14:46):
Here's what I'm saying.
Speaker 4 (14:47):
If I'm Vance Joseph or I've Sean Payton, like last
week against the Jets, Nick Benito jumped off sides. You know,
obviously you can get mad all you want to, No,
if he jumps off side, we'll take that for we
can't take too many. We'll take that first one. Because
here's what's gonna happen. We got the crowd noise, which
is going to be crazy because everything that's happening with
(15:09):
you know, the alumni coming back and Damaras Thomas going
into the ring, of Fame.
Speaker 5 (15:12):
If you if you and Nick Nenito or John the
Cooper and.
Speaker 4 (15:16):
You jump off side, those tackles are gonna be scared
as hell because they don't know when.
Speaker 5 (15:20):
Is coming right.
Speaker 1 (15:21):
They have no idea and the Broncos are so fast.
Speaker 2 (15:24):
Like one of the dangers of getting drawn off sides
as you're maybe giving the offensive free play. Well, that's
not really a problem with how Cooper and Benito are
playing this year because they're in the backfield. It's a path,
you know, or in unimpeded paths of the quarterback, and
they'll blow the play dead because they don't want you
just lightening up Jackson Dart unblocked and knocking him out
for the season or whatever.
Speaker 4 (15:45):
But think about that tackle. Those tackles are gonna be
terrified because they don't know See they can't look down
the line and look at the ball. They're gonna try
to but if you look down the stairs that ball
too long, you just missed them.
Speaker 2 (15:57):
They just ran right past you. Yeah, pick your poison.
That is an element of this game. I'm so excited
to see.
Speaker 1 (16:05):
And you look at Jackson Dart, He's looked great in
his two home games. The one road game he's played.
Speaker 2 (16:10):
That Giants offense had five turnovers, and the defenses he's
played at home, a really good Eagles defense, a really
good Chargers defense, pist them up on the road, struggled
mightily against a pretty shaky Saints defense. I think this
could be a fun one for the for the Broncos.
Shout out to mcgiver, as you would say.
Speaker 5 (16:29):
Yes, you said it, you've said it. Thank you.
Speaker 1 (16:33):
I won't whisper it either.
Speaker 2 (16:35):
Coming up next, we're gonna have Ryan Blackburn join us
to preview the Nuggets upcoming season that's coming up right
here on KOA with Broncos Country. Tonight it's Zach Sears
filling in for Benjamin Albright with Nick Ferguson. But right
now it's time to head on out to the KOA
(16:59):
Common Sphere Health text line where we'll be joined by
Ryan Blackburn of Mile High Sports to talk about the
upcoming Denver Nugget season. Don't worry, everybody, we'll be back
to some Broncos Giants preview here in just a few minutes.
But with the Nugget season being right around the corner,
we are one week away from their opening tip off.
(17:20):
Thought it'd be great to get Ryan on here and
pick his mind. Ryan, how are you doing tonight?
Speaker 6 (17:26):
I'm doing well, Zach. Thanks for having me on. It's
been an exciting time for Nuggets fans getting ready for
the season.
Speaker 2 (17:33):
Absolutely, this seems to be, I don't know, the most
exciting team of the Nikola Jokic era.
Speaker 1 (17:41):
And I'll actually start there.
Speaker 2 (17:44):
Do you think this is the most talented roster on
paper of the Jokich era? And if so, is it
therefore the most talented Nuggets roster ever?
Speaker 1 (17:55):
On paper?
Speaker 2 (17:57):
I do?
Speaker 6 (17:58):
I think I would say yes of those to both
of those questions. It's going to be interesting to see
how it all fits together. But on paper, like you said,
it is one of those things where you add Jonas
Valanciunis to fill out the bench, you add Bruce Brown
Back to fill out the bench. You have Tim Hardaway Junior,
who has been their sixth man to start the season
(18:19):
and at least in the preseason time period, and then
Cam Johnson, who I think is an upgrade over Michael
Porter Junior. There are some that would argue otherwise, but
I think that he is an upgrade and you just
kind of round out a team that had the starters
that were capable of competing with the Oka See Thunder
last year, but they didn't have the bench, and now
I think they do and that Okac team won sixty
(18:42):
eight games. So I'm not sure if Denver's going to
win sixty eight this year, but I do think that
they are comfortably the best team that they have ever
been talent wise.
Speaker 4 (18:52):
Now, the big team that happened last year was we
saw Okac when the title and I don't want to
say that it was an experiment, but they utilize their
bigs well on the floor. Against the Chicago Bulls, the
Nuggets use Nikola Jokis and valenceuna Is on the floor.
Speaker 5 (19:10):
At the same time, and I know coach Altherman.
Speaker 4 (19:12):
Said, well, he's experimenting as he tried to find this
chemistry with the team. How much do you think this
season because of what Okay did, the we'll see the
Nuggets bigs on the floor at the same time.
Speaker 6 (19:25):
It's a good question, and it's one of those that
it's going to be difficult to fully evaluate what that
looks like until February when when these two teams play.
I know that they're playing a preseason game tomorrow. I
really wouldn't expect the starters who actually play tomorrow. Maybe
they do. Maybe I'm shocked and surprised by it, But
(19:46):
I don't think we're going to be able to see
the Nuggets play the Thunder in a real game until
February first, So hopefully Denver figure some things out by then,
and they've learned a little bit about themselves. But to
your point about okay see, they've gotten versatile, athletic, physical,
and a little bit more mobile bigs than the Nuggets do. Jokic,
(20:09):
of course, can make up for that by himself, adding
Yona salam tunis into that. I'm not super high on
the idea of them playing together against most teams, and
okayf would counts as well with that, But it is
of course something they should try. They should try to
figure out anything that works against okay see, you try
(20:30):
to leverage it to their advantage.
Speaker 2 (20:32):
It feels like one thing they're going to need to
get past the Thunder in the West is a little
bit more out of Jamal Murray. He's had, you know,
maybe a disappointing go of it these past few years,
just by his own or the high expectations he carries
with with how great he's been in the past. That said,
he looks to be in better shape than we've seen
him early on in the season and in past years,
(20:54):
and had a really great game, dropping thirty in the preseason.
Of course it's preseason, but he looks pretty good doing it.
Do you think we might be looking at the best
version of Jamal Murray we've seen since the bubble?
Speaker 6 (21:10):
Since the bubble, It's interesting. I think is becoming more
well rounded player since the Bubble. I'm not sure if
he's going to be like that extensive in terms of
just how athletic and how explosive he was back then.
That I think is going to be a hard sell. However,
I do think that he's a smarter player than when
(21:31):
he was in the bubble over five years ago. At
this point, he's a more well rounded player, somebody who's
a better passer, a better defender than he was at
that stage of his career, and it'll just be a
little different, maybe not necessarily better, but certainly something that
I think Ugget fans can be excited about. He's the
one who I think draws the most concerns from Nuggets
(21:54):
fans as to whether he's going to be at his
peak level or not. But as it's turned out at
this point and it looks like he's going to be good.
And that is Jerry encouraging for a team that is
so focused on how great their starters need to be.
Speaker 1 (22:11):
Brian, once again, i'm speaking with at NBA Blackburn.
Speaker 2 (22:15):
Ryan Blackburn here, Nuggets aficionado, extraordinary joining the program. You
talked about how they have to incorporate all these new pieces.
It's more of an overhaul than we've seen from the
Denver Nuggets during the Yoka Cherra, at least for much
of the yokach era.
Speaker 1 (22:32):
What are you how long do you think they're going.
Speaker 2 (22:34):
To be going through those growing pains as they try
to work Cam Johnson into the starting lineup and then
reintegrate Bruce Brown and get Tim Hardaway and then Jonas
Dalen Schunis into the Nuggets way of playing.
Speaker 6 (22:49):
It's probably not going to be that long. I think
the moments where the growing pains occur, that it's going
to look and feel, oh, everybody's gonna panic. Everybody's going
to think they've got so far to go, so much
longer ago, and then you're going to look at the
numbers and realize only how they are really good, really
good in comparison to the rest of the NBA. It's
(23:10):
just that the expectations themselves are so high. So I
think that they'll be just fine. The question, of course,
is what that looks like and to what degree that
they actually can do that. I think that they are
going to be a top three team in the NBA overall.
The question is whether they're going to translate that to
(23:30):
immediate regular season success. At the beginning, I would guess
that they start the season about thirteen and seven, fourteen
and six. It's not going to be fifteen and five
or sixteen and four or any of these crazy kind
of starts the might hope for from a narrative standpoint,
but it will still get them off into the right direction.
(23:51):
Their schedule is relatively easy at the beginning from a
scheduling perspective, so I think that they'll be able to
take advantage of that, and as long as they bring
a good mentality, they should win a lot of games.
Speaker 5 (24:03):
Oh recently that.
Speaker 4 (24:07):
The Hornets release guard smither Dinwiddie, do you think that
the Nuggets should.
Speaker 5 (24:12):
Kind of kick the tires on that? To add more,
Vitaman depth to their roster.
Speaker 6 (24:18):
That's a good it's a good name to think about
because I think what's the nuggets and then what a
lot of people are thinking about with them is the
lack of ball handling and that somebody who can really
set the table on that second unit. They're probably going
to stagger Jamal Murray for most of that time. So
it's not a massive concern to me, but it is
(24:41):
something that if they want more depth, if they want
a little bit more reliability Spencer did when he's been
in this league for a long time. He can do
a lot of that job. He could run pick and
rolls with Nikola Yok, you're going to sound Hunis and
be just fine. He also provides a little bit of size.
That's something that's a little bit underrated about to be sick.
He's not going to be a defensive stallworks or anything
(25:03):
like that, but he can be somebody who stands and
then looks over the top of the defense and provide
some good passes, so he would be good. I think
that they're probably not going to fill that fifteenth man
spot until during the season, sometime probably in the November December,
and maybe even pushing it into January region, depending on
(25:25):
what they need, if there's an injury that occurs, or
if there's something that didn't work the way that they
were hoping for it too, so I wouldn't worry too
much about whether they're going to find Spencer Dinwidy or not.
I think that they will probably wait on that until
later in the season.
Speaker 2 (25:43):
Would be fun to bring back the Colorado kid, but
we'll have to watch and see how that all plays out. Ryan,
thank you so much again for joining the show at
NBA Blackburn on x make sure you're following him there.
Also has great writing over at mile high sports dot
com and his co host of the Lockdown nutt It's
podcast and the host of the Pickaxe and Role podcast.
Speaker 1 (26:04):
Ryan, thanks again so much for joining us tonight.
Speaker 6 (26:06):
Thank you Zach, thank you Nick. Appreciate you guys, Lois.
Speaker 1 (26:09):
Thanks Ryan, have a great one ran Blackburn with Mile
High Sports.
Speaker 6 (26:13):
Nick.
Speaker 1 (26:14):
I don't know about you. This is I think the
most excited enteringa season.
Speaker 2 (26:19):
Obviously the finals run was so much fun, but I
think in like October, as we're on the eve of
the season, this is the most.
Speaker 1 (26:27):
Excited I've ever been about a Nuggets team.
Speaker 4 (26:30):
I understand why you are so excited because there have
been some new acquisitions. Michael Ford to Joinings no longer
with the team. Cam Johnson is, Bruce Brown is back, right.
It's just like you're getting a band back together. It's
almost like a Blues Brothers movie. I don't know if
(26:50):
you have you ever seen a Blues Brothers the original.
Oh man, that's an all time classic. Dan Ackroyd, I
know you young Segers, so I had to I had
to check. But the Nuggets is kind of like getting
the band back together. But the one thing they still
have to figure out. And that's a great thing about
the preseason for Coach Adaman is the lineups right after
(27:13):
that first unit is down, who you're going to see
ann and the fact of entertaining the idea and even
going and you're putting into operation with Vatsuna's and Nikola
Yolkish on the floor at the same time. You're gonna
have to experiment with it. That's not something that you're
going to be able to do for a lifthy period
(27:34):
of time like Okay C was able to do because
once again the Kola Jokish and vaalchun Is, they're big guys.
Speaker 5 (27:41):
But they don't move their feet too well.
Speaker 4 (27:43):
So if you get a guy who can you know,
dribble drive driver prenantation, put those guys in a spen cycle,
someone's gonna get it end up in foul trouble. And
when you look at your big guys on the bench,
I mean, you only have so many files to give.
So the Nuggets are gonna lean on this at certain
points during the season, but it's not something that is
going to become like that feather in the cat for them,
(28:03):
I don't believe.
Speaker 2 (28:04):
So it's a nice mix up to have, but not
necessarily their bread and butter, right, I agree with you there. Yeah,
speaking of the nice mix ups and using some size
we're seeing from these Denver teams, Alex Poucewski seems like
he's the fill in at guard that'll take him out
of the jumbo set and and you know sixty three
reporting is eligible that the fans won't be able to
(28:26):
cheer about.
Speaker 1 (28:27):
That this time around.
Speaker 2 (28:29):
Are you at all worried about, you know, maybe diminishing
the effectiveness of those jumbo sets by making Powchowski the
starting guard And how much confidence do you have in
him as the starting guard.
Speaker 1 (28:41):
Well, first of.
Speaker 4 (28:42):
All, that's didn't take away you know, the drumble formation
because he's already in there. Now that means that you
have to bring in Throck more, right, So you still
would be able to go to that if you want to.
But the biggest thing is having layers and wrinkles to
your team. And right now, what's the identity of this
(29:03):
Broncos offense? Tell me, I don't know.
Speaker 5 (29:06):
They can do a little bit of this.
Speaker 4 (29:08):
They can do a little bit event and sometimes they
get a little too fancy and ideas. Do what you do,
run the ball and have something that you could hang
your head on at the end of the day. And oh,
by the way, man, I love me some Marvin Mahms right,
very exposive on special teams, and no one's really talking
(29:29):
about him in that particular way. But he is a
better asset to Bo Nicks and Sean Payton as a
play caller when he is running vertical.
Speaker 5 (29:39):
Let me say that again, when he is running vertical,
not those jet sweeps for me as a defender.
Speaker 4 (29:45):
And I'm playing against the Broncos and you put Marvin
Mams in that situation, Hey, I'm loving it because I
know exactly what you're going to do, and you're playing
to us and you're helping us out because he's not
a vertical threat and long was his shoulders aren't squared to.
Speaker 5 (30:04):
The sideline and their parallel Oh man, that's money for us.
We just run down and tackle. He needs to go vertical.
Speaker 2 (30:10):
I think this offense in general has to open things up.
I think the second half against the Jets was the
most glaring example of it. But this offense is kind
of coach scared all year long, you know, of not
wanting to.
Speaker 1 (30:25):
You know, put the offense.
Speaker 2 (30:26):
I think in bonnicks AND's hands, I think they understand
how good their defense is, and they're kind of coaching scared,
not wanting to, you know, put their defense in a
hole and just kind of hope they can win these
games close and in low scoring fashion.
Speaker 1 (30:41):
And I'm with you, I don't think that's the way to.
Speaker 5 (30:42):
Go about it.
Speaker 4 (30:42):
Listen, I told Grant and I told Steve Atward early
in the week, hope is not a strategy. So I
know Sean Paynton from offensive standpoint, is playing with house money.
And the reason he's playing with house money because how
well vance Joseph has all these games as of late,
and how well the defensive unit has responded.
Speaker 5 (31:05):
But you have to unleash the base.
Speaker 4 (31:08):
Now, you're right, we've seen moments where the coaching has
been a little conservative. Is that because you're leaning more
towards your defense or something. There's still something you don't
trust about Bath. I don't know what it is, but
to me, you got to take the kid gloves off,
take the governor off, and let this let.
Speaker 2 (31:26):
This kid fly, and if this offense is at its
best when it trusts bo Nicks. I was doing some
statistical research on this. On first down, if you just
look at how good does the passing offense rank compared
to the rest of the league in Expected points at
IT or EPA, which is I think one of the
better advanced analytics. On first down, they're like twenty second
(31:47):
best passing game. On second down they're twenty fifth. On
third down they're ninth, which I think just demonstrates early
downs they're playing way too conservative.
Speaker 1 (31:58):
They're they're kind of limiting themselves.
Speaker 2 (32:00):
But on third down, on fourth down, when it's time
to make a conversion, you can't play underneath anymore.
Speaker 1 (32:06):
You've got to open things up so you can try
and move the sticks.
Speaker 2 (32:09):
This offense is looking like a borderline Top ten unit
and I just want them to lean into that.
Speaker 1 (32:14):
A little harder on these early downs.
Speaker 4 (32:17):
Yeah, lean back, lean back into the vertical passing game
and running the freaking ball recipe for success.
Speaker 2 (32:26):
At the top of the hour, the athletics Nick Cosminder
is going to be joining us to talk about an
article he put out today about how the Broncos can
get out of the mud. It's not the downfield passing game,
but he found another interesting stat that is pointing towards
the Broncos offensive dysfunction. That's all coming up right here
on HFTKOA ninety four one FM on Broncos Country tonight.
It's a football Thursday night.
Speaker 2 (00:02):
It's a sports heavy Thursday night here in Broncos country,
getting excited for a much anticipated matchup with the New
York Giants.
Speaker 1 (00:13):
Filling in for Benjamin Albright.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
It's sack Seegers and joining me is Nick Ferguson and
Nick I say this matchup is much anticipated despite the
Giants being a fairly low wattage team and le Broncos
being over a touchdown favorite, because this matchup got a
little extra spice added to it today with what Jonathan
Cooper said about Jackson Dark.
Speaker 3 (00:37):
Yeah, I mean he's a young, young guy. He's you know,
filling himself a little bit. He's out there running around,
he's got to change on he's dancing. You know, it's
like everybody needs something, so you know, but we've went
against Covien QB's who have ran around in the pocket
and have you know, try to do stuff with the leys,
(00:58):
so nothing we ever seen.
Speaker 2 (01:02):
Now, Yeah, that's not the most inflammatory comment. But when
the question is, you know what worries you about defending
this guy, what's the challenge with defending this guy? And
you go, he's young, he runs around a lot, and
he's wearing a chain. It's also maybe not the most
complimentary thing. Nick, Where did you come down on this?
Do you think Cooper was disrespecting Dart?
Speaker 4 (01:20):
Well, you know what, I know what it makes it
sound like like you planning against a toddler. Right, he's young,
he's in a walker, he's just running around all over
the place.
Speaker 5 (01:29):
He's got a chain off.
Speaker 2 (01:30):
I almost tweeted this clip out with opt like, what
is Jonathan Cooper talking about in this clip? Option a
defending Jackson Dart? Option be his son who surprised him
at practice today.
Speaker 5 (01:44):
Oh, it's great.
Speaker 1 (01:44):
He's having fun out there. He's running around, he's got
my chain on. He said, it's just a great time.
Speaker 2 (01:49):
But no, he's talking about this this quarterback. My favorite
Broncos press conference moment of the year because I don't
think he meant to be disrespectful, but I think he
was kind of grasping for straws when it came to
what's the challenge of defending Jackson Dart because I don't
know if if this Broncos defense is all.
Speaker 1 (02:05):
That worried about Jackson.
Speaker 4 (02:07):
Well, you know what, to John Deay, Cooper's point, He's
absolutely right when you look at Jackson Dart for who
he is. He was a guy who run around in college.
He has mobility. He is one of today's quarterbacks. He's
not the throwback quarterback. Most quarterbacks in today's game are
very mobile, and sometimes you have to really test those
(02:29):
guys out and force them to play the quarterback positions
because you know that they're mobile. Now, with that being said,
we've seen Brian Dabel in his history do great things
with mobile quarterbacks. I mean that's how he became a
head coach at the Giants and how he utilized the
skill set of one Josh Allen. So with some young players,
especially quarterbacks, young quarterbacks, they want to run, they want.
Speaker 5 (02:52):
To really show who and what they are.
Speaker 4 (02:54):
But you have to be really careful because remember what
we saw on Thursday Night football when Jackson dark was
running around and he ended up wearing that damn blue
tin and you had cams capable and you had Brian Dabele,
which I think is somewhat of a violation.
Speaker 5 (03:11):
Far as with the New Ork I.
Speaker 4 (03:13):
Guess the guy who's supposed to be there as the
cognitive guy, the guy who's supposed to be fair.
Speaker 5 (03:21):
I think Brian Dabel was wrong in that regard.
Speaker 4 (03:23):
But with that being said, you know, Jackson Dart's gonna
take off, and once he breaks that pocket, he's not
only you know, he's no longer sheltered by the rules
of playing in the pocket. You are now a bona
fide runner, so we're gonna hunt you down. So I
don't have a problem with what Jonathan Cooper said because
(03:44):
he has shown that he can definitely back it up.
Speaker 2 (03:47):
And I think you know that reliance on the quarterback
run game, and it's one it's normal for a young quarterback.
It's so taxing to try and do that straight dropback
stuff and read out the defense and everything where.
Speaker 1 (03:58):
It's just tape.
Speaker 2 (03:59):
You know, run through this gap, make this one read
on an option play. It can you take a little
bit of the mental load off them and just give
them an easy answer on a given play, which is nice,
But I think the Broncos are going to take that
out of the equation. They have allowed just forty six
quarterback rushing yards all season long, and look at who
(04:19):
they've played. It's Justin Herbert who can run. It's cam
Ward who can run. It's Daniel Jones, Justin Fields, Jalen
Hurts The only quarterback they've played so far who's not
a running threat is Jake Browning, And in spite of that,
they haven't even allowed fifty rushing yards total from the
quarterback position this whole season.
Speaker 4 (04:38):
But this is where Brian Dabow's going to be up
for that challenge because he's loving up his two rookies,
Cam Scattabull and Jackson Dark and they are the run
game for the team. When you look at the last
Thirsdy Night game when the Giants face off against the Eagles,
Sakwon Barkley had less rushing yards than both Scatterbo and
(05:01):
Jackson Dark. So once again they're playing with a certain
level of confidence. They're saying, well, we can run on
this Broncos defense. Now, there's been a couple of running
backs that have been successful against the Broncos, and one
being Jonathan Taylor. Now, the way that that happened is
because they used him in the passing game to just
kind of stretched thin the Broncos linebackers. So if there
(05:24):
was a problem that the Broncos linebackers have, it's covering
running backs out of the backfield. Now, while Cam Scoatibul
is a ram you know, he's a ram truck, so
you know, I mean he's coming downhill, you want him
to do that.
Speaker 5 (05:41):
But also too, he's not going to outrun you, right,
So if the.
Speaker 4 (05:46):
Giants try to implement him in the passing game, it
would have to be the screen game if anything. But
now that means that the Broncos defenders would have to
read their keys, and that means that everyone in the secondary,
every single person, whether you're playing corner nico safety, you're
going to have to tackle both of these guys.
Speaker 5 (06:08):
And when you get that opportunity, you just go ahead
to run through their face.
Speaker 2 (06:12):
And I think this secondary is better positioned than most
to bring that physicality because I think they're a pretty
darn physical secondary ever since Jim Leonard's come in, and
I think, I mean, he was a hard hitting safety
in his days, and I feel like he's kind of
infused that personality into the back end of this Broncos defense.
Speaker 1 (06:32):
They should also.
Speaker 2 (06:33):
That secondary should be getting some help when it comes
to defending Cam Scottaboo in open space and maybe even
in the passing game. With Drake Greenlaw potentially coming back
this week, Vans Joseph didn't want to.
Speaker 1 (06:46):
Declare whether or not he'd be coming back this week
or next week.
Speaker 2 (06:49):
He did say though, that whenever Drake Greenlaw comes back,
it'll be in some sort of a part time role.
What do you imagine that role to look like? As
the Broncos try to reincorporate him into this defense.
Speaker 4 (07:01):
He's gonna have to be on the pitchcount with his
injury history and then just come into the Broncos and
not really participating in any of the off season you know,
majority of the offseason drill, training camp.
Speaker 5 (07:15):
And you have to think, I mean, what is this
conditioning level going to be?
Speaker 4 (07:20):
And I can tell you as an athlete that And
this is whether you're athlete or you're just a regular,
you know, a weekend warrior.
Speaker 5 (07:28):
Man.
Speaker 4 (07:29):
You can think that you can run out there and
play and you didn't stretch and you didn't do any of.
Speaker 5 (07:33):
The cardio, and your body's gonna let you.
Speaker 1 (07:35):
Know, Oh WHOA what you doing?
Speaker 4 (07:37):
Man? You're doing too much set You're behind down. So
the Broncos is gonna have to do a great job
of picking and choosing when to deploy him because ideas
that you don't want him to relapse and have another
injury or create somewhat of another injury for him on
another part of his body, But keep him.
Speaker 5 (07:55):
On the pitch count.
Speaker 4 (07:56):
Be really strategic where you're deploy him, because once again,
just that's just joinard. I believe he's done a decent
job right as a fiel and rope. But having Greenlaw
back that definitely allows you to do so many different things.
Now you got three, you could say you have three
healthy linebackers that you can rotate, and now this adds
something more to Vance joseph defense that he can use
against opponents.
Speaker 5 (08:17):
So with that.
Speaker 2 (08:17):
Pitch count and with all that green Law brings to
the table, how do you think Vance Joseph should deploy
him rightly? Should it be, Hey, we've only got ten
to fifteen green Law snaps tonight.
Speaker 1 (08:29):
Do we want to be using him primarily as a blitzer?
Speaker 6 (08:31):
Is it?
Speaker 1 (08:31):
Hey?
Speaker 2 (08:32):
This guy can run with running backs and tight ends
unlike any of our other linebackers on the roster. Let's
lean into that with green Law. What are you putting
on him as he tries to get reacclimated.
Speaker 4 (08:43):
Well, the idea is that once again you're picking and
choosing base on down in distance, right, you also choosing
base on personnel grouping. Are there more favorable matchups to
put green Law on the field. For me, I would
start him out with that first possession right just to
get him reacclimated, because I can tell you as an athlete,
(09:06):
you want that first contact.
Speaker 5 (09:08):
It's just like a running back.
Speaker 4 (09:09):
This is why I'm so adamant about starting the game
where the Broncos have the last couple of games, by
getting the ball off you to your running back so
you can see how the defense is gonna adjust, how
they're gonna play to it. But also you want those
guys to get that first point of contact. If we
are twenty players in the game and I have not
been hit by someone, mentally, I'm not in the game.
(09:31):
I need that first contact to kind of settle me
down and get Okay, I'm good. Let's go right now, Coach,
give me that lead ISO again. So from a linebacker standpoint,
you want to put green Law on the field because
you want you want him to have the confidence, not
just you having a confidence, You want him to have
confidence that he can go out and execute what you
(09:52):
are calling for him to do. And then after that
you could bring him in every second down. You could
bring him in on third down, but you you want
to be careful. You don't want to bring him in
every time you're gonna blitz because now the office of
coordinator is going, Okay, every time green Law's in, we
know the Broncos.
Speaker 5 (10:08):
And man covers just run on man beaters.
Speaker 1 (10:11):
Yeah, you can't be given those teams.
Speaker 5 (10:12):
You don't want to do that.
Speaker 2 (10:13):
No, it tells especially, and that's going to be part
of what makes it so hard to I think work
green Law back into the defense. How much of an
emphasis do you think they should put on it with
the nature of his injury. I mean, he was ready
to come back part way through training camp. Reaggravates it,
ready to come back seemingly at the front end of
the season, reaggravates. It has to go on, ir It
(10:35):
just keeps kind of going through this cycle to where
on one end he could really help you beat the
Giants maybe where or beat the Cowboys in the subsequent week.
But on the other the Broncos have some loftier expectations
and they want to win the playoffs. How do you
balance that maybe the need for the help at that
position right now with the long game.
Speaker 5 (10:55):
Okay, well, once.
Speaker 4 (10:55):
Again, do you give him if he's ready to go,
You give him him taying the fifteen plays, and you
treated like a preseason game for him. See how he's
working at halftime. You know how how is this breathing?
Can you run around? Because I can tell you once
you get tired, man, you become a victim. And with
a guy like Cam'scatibuu. I know green Law is a
(11:16):
very physical guy, but when you're tired and then he
runs to your chest, that changes everything. That changes every
your dynamic and your confidence in your ability, but also
how the teams actually views you. So the idea is
just kind of work him into this like it's a
preseason game. The Broncos are not going to make the
playoffs on wayboy winning the game on Sunday, it's about
(11:38):
playing the loan game. So just kind of sprail a
little grip bread crumbs, kind of get him to ten
to fifteen plays, see how he's doing. If he's doing okay,
put him back in there for a couple of plays
and then take his ass out.
Speaker 2 (11:52):
And with how this pass rush is playing right now,
you might not have to lean on Drake green Law
because this defense isn't such could shape you're not necessarily
hurting without him. We were debating last night, is this
the best pass rush duo.
Speaker 1 (12:08):
In the NFL? Right now?
Speaker 2 (12:10):
They're on pace for forty one sacks, which would set
the record as the most ever by a pair of teammates. Nick,
can you think of any pass rush tandems in the
NFL right now that you would take over Nick Benito
and Jonathan Cooper?
Speaker 5 (12:24):
Not a damn one. How about that for an answer? Oh?
Speaker 4 (12:27):
Yeah, I wouldn't because when I look at how both
of these guys came into the league, right John Nick
Cooper wasn't drafted where he should have been drafted because
there was an examination with his heart, right.
Speaker 5 (12:44):
And then you look at Nick Benito.
Speaker 4 (12:46):
The Broncos didn't have I think a first or a second,
so he was their first pick, but he was a
third round pick, and in that first year he was
just trying to get acclimated to the game because at
Oklahoma he was just, you know, edge rush guy. He
hadn't developed into an every down guy. And then to
watch these guys elevate their level play and get to
(13:07):
this point where now they're playing great football and they're
both well paid, right, And that's the essence of the game.
Like the idea is that I come in and let's
just say I'm flying on the radar. I play well,
you pay me right, And this is why I'm glad
that the Broncos were able to lock up both of
these guys. But just looking at their physicality and the
(13:30):
sense of urgency that they have, like when you watch
them on Sunday, and I know they they're probably watching
because this is what I would do if I was
coaching for the Broncos. Get film on the center to
understand at what point that center is going to snap
the ball.
Speaker 5 (13:46):
Is there a move it doesn't squeeze the ball something.
Speaker 2 (13:50):
I am thrilled you mentioned this, Nick, because I don't
think it's gotten talked about.
Speaker 1 (13:53):
Nearly enough in the lead up to this game.
Speaker 2 (13:55):
Part of the reason I'm so confident in the Broncos
is as nasty as the past rush has been the
past two weeks, that has it and I know they
got nine sacks against justin fields that's not even this
pass rush at its best. This pass rush at its
best is what we saw against the Bengals. Because when
this team's able to play at home and you know this,
as Rode player. Crowd noise forces the team, the opponent,
(14:19):
the Broncos opponent to use a silent count, and when
they're using that silent count, they're you know, motioning in
some way.
Speaker 1 (14:25):
There is a visual.
Speaker 2 (14:27):
Tell for Nick Benito and or Jonathan Cooper that says, hey,
we're about to snap the ball right now, and it
allows them to tee off. Jonathan Cooper right now is
the fastest get off in the NFL. He's getting off
flying of scrimmage in point seven seconds. Benito's right behind him,
also in the top five at point seven five seconds.
Speaker 1 (14:44):
And you're giving those guys a running start effectively.
Speaker 5 (14:46):
Here's what I'm saying.
Speaker 4 (14:47):
If I'm Vance Joseph or I've Sean Payton, like last
week against the Jets, Nick Benito jumped off sides. You know,
obviously you can get mad all you want to, No,
if he jumps off side, we'll take that for we
can't take too many. We'll take that first one. Because
here's what's gonna happen. We got the crowd noise, which
is going to be crazy because everything that's happening with
(15:09):
you know, the alumni coming back and Damaras Thomas going
into the ring, of Fame.
Speaker 5 (15:12):
If you if you and Nick Nenito or John the
Cooper and.
Speaker 4 (15:16):
You jump off side, those tackles are gonna be scared
as hell because they don't know when.
Speaker 5 (15:20):
Is coming right.
Speaker 1 (15:21):
They have no idea and the Broncos are so fast.
Speaker 2 (15:24):
Like one of the dangers of getting drawn off sides
as you're maybe giving the offensive free play. Well, that's
not really a problem with how Cooper and Benito are
playing this year because they're in the backfield. It's a path,
you know, or in unimpeded paths of the quarterback, and
they'll blow the play dead because they don't want you
just lightening up Jackson Dart unblocked and knocking him out
for the season or whatever.
Speaker 4 (15:45):
But think about that tackle. Those tackles are gonna be
terrified because they don't know See they can't look down
the line and look at the ball. They're gonna try
to but if you look down the stairs that ball
too long, you just missed them.
Speaker 2 (15:57):
They just ran right past you. Yeah, pick your poison.
That is an element of this game. I'm so excited
to see.
Speaker 1 (16:05):
And you look at Jackson Dart, He's looked great in
his two home games. The one road game he's played.
Speaker 2 (16:10):
That Giants offense had five turnovers, and the defenses he's
played at home, a really good Eagles defense, a really
good Chargers defense, pist them up on the road, struggled
mightily against a pretty shaky Saints defense. I think this
could be a fun one for the for the Broncos.
Shout out to mcgiver, as you would say.
Speaker 5 (16:29):
Yes, you said it, you've said it. Thank you.
Speaker 1 (16:33):
I won't whisper it either.
Speaker 2 (16:35):
Coming up next, we're gonna have Ryan Blackburn join us
to preview the Nuggets upcoming season that's coming up right
here on KOA with Broncos Country. Tonight it's Zach Sears
filling in for Benjamin Albright with Nick Ferguson. But right
now it's time to head on out to the KOA
(16:59):
Common Sphere Health text line where we'll be joined by
Ryan Blackburn of Mile High Sports to talk about the
upcoming Denver Nugget season. Don't worry, everybody, we'll be back
to some Broncos Giants preview here in just a few minutes.
But with the Nugget season being right around the corner,
we are one week away from their opening tip off.
(17:20):
Thought it'd be great to get Ryan on here and
pick his mind. Ryan, how are you doing tonight?
Speaker 6 (17:26):
I'm doing well, Zach. Thanks for having me on. It's
been an exciting time for Nuggets fans getting ready for
the season.
Speaker 2 (17:33):
Absolutely, this seems to be, I don't know, the most
exciting team of the Nikola Jokic era.
Speaker 1 (17:41):
And I'll actually start there.
Speaker 2 (17:44):
Do you think this is the most talented roster on
paper of the Jokich era? And if so, is it
therefore the most talented Nuggets roster ever?
Speaker 1 (17:55):
On paper?
Speaker 2 (17:57):
I do?
Speaker 6 (17:58):
I think I would say yes of those to both
of those questions. It's going to be interesting to see
how it all fits together. But on paper, like you said,
it is one of those things where you add Jonas
Valanciunis to fill out the bench, you add Bruce Brown
Back to fill out the bench. You have Tim Hardaway Junior,
who has been their sixth man to start the season
(18:19):
and at least in the preseason time period, and then
Cam Johnson, who I think is an upgrade over Michael
Porter Junior. There are some that would argue otherwise, but
I think that he is an upgrade and you just
kind of round out a team that had the starters
that were capable of competing with the Oka See Thunder
last year, but they didn't have the bench, and now
I think they do and that Okac team won sixty
(18:42):
eight games. So I'm not sure if Denver's going to
win sixty eight this year, but I do think that
they are comfortably the best team that they have ever
been talent wise.
Speaker 4 (18:52):
Now, the big team that happened last year was we
saw Okac when the title and I don't want to
say that it was an experiment, but they utilize their
bigs well on the floor. Against the Chicago Bulls, the
Nuggets use Nikola Jokis and valenceuna Is on the floor.
Speaker 5 (19:10):
At the same time, and I know coach Altherman.
Speaker 4 (19:12):
Said, well, he's experimenting as he tried to find this
chemistry with the team. How much do you think this
season because of what Okay did, the we'll see the
Nuggets bigs on the floor at the same time.
Speaker 6 (19:25):
It's a good question, and it's one of those that
it's going to be difficult to fully evaluate what that
looks like until February when when these two teams play.
I know that they're playing a preseason game tomorrow. I
really wouldn't expect the starters who actually play tomorrow. Maybe
they do. Maybe I'm shocked and surprised by it, But
(19:46):
I don't think we're going to be able to see
the Nuggets play the Thunder in a real game until
February first, So hopefully Denver figure some things out by then,
and they've learned a little bit about themselves. But to
your point about okay see, they've gotten versatile, athletic, physical,
and a little bit more mobile bigs than the Nuggets do. Jokic,
(20:09):
of course, can make up for that by himself, adding
Yona salam tunis into that. I'm not super high on
the idea of them playing together against most teams, and
okayf would counts as well with that, But it is
of course something they should try. They should try to
figure out anything that works against okay see, you try
(20:30):
to leverage it to their advantage.
Speaker 2 (20:32):
It feels like one thing they're going to need to
get past the Thunder in the West is a little
bit more out of Jamal Murray. He's had, you know,
maybe a disappointing go of it these past few years,
just by his own or the high expectations he carries
with with how great he's been in the past. That said,
he looks to be in better shape than we've seen
him early on in the season and in past years,
(20:54):
and had a really great game, dropping thirty in the preseason.
Of course it's preseason, but he looks pretty good doing it.
Do you think we might be looking at the best
version of Jamal Murray we've seen since the bubble?
Speaker 6 (21:10):
Since the bubble, It's interesting. I think is becoming more
well rounded player since the Bubble. I'm not sure if
he's going to be like that extensive in terms of
just how athletic and how explosive he was back then.
That I think is going to be a hard sell. However,
I do think that he's a smarter player than when
(21:31):
he was in the bubble over five years ago. At
this point, he's a more well rounded player, somebody who's
a better passer, a better defender than he was at
that stage of his career, and it'll just be a
little different, maybe not necessarily better, but certainly something that
I think Ugget fans can be excited about. He's the
one who I think draws the most concerns from Nuggets
(21:54):
fans as to whether he's going to be at his
peak level or not. But as it's turned out at
this point and it looks like he's going to be good.
And that is Jerry encouraging for a team that is
so focused on how great their starters need to be.
Speaker 1 (22:11):
Brian, once again, i'm speaking with at NBA Blackburn.
Speaker 2 (22:15):
Ryan Blackburn here, Nuggets aficionado, extraordinary joining the program. You
talked about how they have to incorporate all these new pieces.
It's more of an overhaul than we've seen from the
Denver Nuggets during the Yoka Cherra, at least for much
of the yokach era.
Speaker 1 (22:32):
What are you how long do you think they're going.
Speaker 2 (22:34):
To be going through those growing pains as they try
to work Cam Johnson into the starting lineup and then
reintegrate Bruce Brown and get Tim Hardaway and then Jonas
Dalen Schunis into the Nuggets way of playing.
Speaker 6 (22:49):
It's probably not going to be that long. I think
the moments where the growing pains occur, that it's going
to look and feel, oh, everybody's gonna panic. Everybody's going
to think they've got so far to go, so much
longer ago, and then you're going to look at the
numbers and realize only how they are really good, really
good in comparison to the rest of the NBA. It's
(23:10):
just that the expectations themselves are so high. So I
think that they'll be just fine. The question, of course,
is what that looks like and to what degree that
they actually can do that. I think that they are
going to be a top three team in the NBA overall.
The question is whether they're going to translate that to
(23:30):
immediate regular season success. At the beginning, I would guess
that they start the season about thirteen and seven, fourteen
and six. It's not going to be fifteen and five
or sixteen and four or any of these crazy kind
of starts the might hope for from a narrative standpoint,
but it will still get them off into the right direction.
(23:51):
Their schedule is relatively easy at the beginning from a
scheduling perspective, so I think that they'll be able to
take advantage of that, and as long as they bring
a good mentality, they should win a lot of games.
Speaker 5 (24:03):
Oh recently that.
Speaker 4 (24:07):
The Hornets release guard smither Dinwiddie, do you think that
the Nuggets should.
Speaker 5 (24:12):
Kind of kick the tires on that? To add more,
Vitaman depth to their roster.
Speaker 6 (24:18):
That's a good it's a good name to think about
because I think what's the nuggets and then what a
lot of people are thinking about with them is the
lack of ball handling and that somebody who can really
set the table on that second unit. They're probably going
to stagger Jamal Murray for most of that time. So
it's not a massive concern to me, but it is
(24:41):
something that if they want more depth, if they want
a little bit more reliability Spencer did when he's been
in this league for a long time. He can do
a lot of that job. He could run pick and
rolls with Nikola Yok, you're going to sound Hunis and
be just fine. He also provides a little bit of size.
That's something that's a little bit underrated about to be sick.
He's not going to be a defensive stallworks or anything
(25:03):
like that, but he can be somebody who stands and
then looks over the top of the defense and provide
some good passes, so he would be good. I think
that they're probably not going to fill that fifteenth man
spot until during the season, sometime probably in the November December,
and maybe even pushing it into January region, depending on
(25:25):
what they need, if there's an injury that occurs, or
if there's something that didn't work the way that they
were hoping for it too, so I wouldn't worry too
much about whether they're going to find Spencer Dinwidy or not.
I think that they will probably wait on that until
later in the season.
Speaker 2 (25:43):
Would be fun to bring back the Colorado kid, but
we'll have to watch and see how that all plays out. Ryan,
thank you so much again for joining the show at
NBA Blackburn on x make sure you're following him there.
Also has great writing over at mile high sports dot
com and his co host of the Lockdown nutt It's
podcast and the host of the Pickaxe and Role podcast.
Speaker 1 (26:04):
Ryan, thanks again so much for joining us tonight.
Speaker 6 (26:06):
Thank you Zach, thank you Nick. Appreciate you guys, Lois.
Speaker 1 (26:09):
Thanks Ryan, have a great one ran Blackburn with Mile
High Sports.
Speaker 6 (26:13):
Nick.
Speaker 1 (26:14):
I don't know about you. This is I think the
most excited enteringa season.
Speaker 2 (26:19):
Obviously the finals run was so much fun, but I
think in like October, as we're on the eve of
the season, this is the most.
Speaker 1 (26:27):
Excited I've ever been about a Nuggets team.
Speaker 4 (26:30):
I understand why you are so excited because there have
been some new acquisitions. Michael Ford to Joinings no longer
with the team. Cam Johnson is, Bruce Brown is back, right.
It's just like you're getting a band back together. It's
almost like a Blues Brothers movie. I don't know if
(26:50):
you have you ever seen a Blues Brothers the original.
Oh man, that's an all time classic. Dan Ackroyd, I
know you young Segers, so I had to I had
to check. But the Nuggets is kind of like getting
the band back together. But the one thing they still
have to figure out. And that's a great thing about
the preseason for Coach Adaman is the lineups right after
(27:13):
that first unit is down, who you're going to see
ann and the fact of entertaining the idea and even
going and you're putting into operation with Vatsuna's and Nikola
Yolkish on the floor at the same time. You're gonna
have to experiment with it. That's not something that you're
going to be able to do for a lifthy period
(27:34):
of time like Okay C was able to do because
once again the Kola Jokish and vaalchun Is, they're big guys.
Speaker 5 (27:41):
But they don't move their feet too well.
Speaker 4 (27:43):
So if you get a guy who can you know,
dribble drive driver prenantation, put those guys in a spen cycle,
someone's gonna get it end up in foul trouble. And
when you look at your big guys on the bench,
I mean, you only have so many files to give.
So the Nuggets are gonna lean on this at certain
points during the season, but it's not something that is
going to become like that feather in the cat for them,
(28:03):
I don't believe.
Speaker 2 (28:04):
So it's a nice mix up to have, but not
necessarily their bread and butter, right, I agree with you there. Yeah,
speaking of the nice mix ups and using some size
we're seeing from these Denver teams, Alex Poucewski seems like
he's the fill in at guard that'll take him out
of the jumbo set and and you know sixty three
reporting is eligible that the fans won't be able to
(28:26):
cheer about.
Speaker 1 (28:27):
That this time around.
Speaker 2 (28:29):
Are you at all worried about, you know, maybe diminishing
the effectiveness of those jumbo sets by making Powchowski the
starting guard And how much confidence do you have in
him as the starting guard.
Speaker 1 (28:41):
Well, first of.
Speaker 4 (28:42):
All, that's didn't take away you know, the drumble formation
because he's already in there. Now that means that you
have to bring in Throck more, right, So you still
would be able to go to that if you want to.
But the biggest thing is having layers and wrinkles to
your team. And right now, what's the identity of this
(29:03):
Broncos offense? Tell me, I don't know.
Speaker 5 (29:06):
They can do a little bit of this.
Speaker 4 (29:08):
They can do a little bit event and sometimes they
get a little too fancy and ideas. Do what you do,
run the ball and have something that you could hang
your head on at the end of the day. And oh,
by the way, man, I love me some Marvin Mahms right,
very exposive on special teams, and no one's really talking
(29:29):
about him in that particular way. But he is a
better asset to Bo Nicks and Sean Payton as a
play caller when he is running vertical.
Speaker 5 (29:39):
Let me say that again, when he is running vertical,
not those jet sweeps for me as a defender.
Speaker 4 (29:45):
And I'm playing against the Broncos and you put Marvin
Mams in that situation, Hey, I'm loving it because I
know exactly what you're going to do, and you're playing
to us and you're helping us out because he's not
a vertical threat and long was his shoulders aren't squared to.
Speaker 5 (30:04):
The sideline and their parallel Oh man, that's money for us.
We just run down and tackle. He needs to go vertical.
Speaker 2 (30:10):
I think this offense in general has to open things up.
I think the second half against the Jets was the
most glaring example of it. But this offense is kind
of coach scared all year long, you know, of not
wanting to.
Speaker 1 (30:25):
You know, put the offense.
Speaker 2 (30:26):
I think in bonnicks AND's hands, I think they understand
how good their defense is, and they're kind of coaching scared,
not wanting to, you know, put their defense in a
hole and just kind of hope they can win these
games close and in low scoring fashion.
Speaker 1 (30:41):
And I'm with you, I don't think that's the way to.
Speaker 5 (30:42):
Go about it.
Speaker 4 (30:42):
Listen, I told Grant and I told Steve Atward early
in the week, hope is not a strategy. So I
know Sean Paynton from offensive standpoint, is playing with house money.
And the reason he's playing with house money because how
well vance Joseph has all these games as of late,
and how well the defensive unit has responded.
Speaker 5 (31:05):
But you have to unleash the base.
Speaker 4 (31:08):
Now, you're right, we've seen moments where the coaching has
been a little conservative. Is that because you're leaning more
towards your defense or something. There's still something you don't
trust about Bath. I don't know what it is, but
to me, you got to take the kid gloves off,
take the governor off, and let this let.
Speaker 2 (31:26):
This kid fly, and if this offense is at its
best when it trusts bo Nicks. I was doing some
statistical research on this. On first down, if you just
look at how good does the passing offense rank compared
to the rest of the league in Expected points at
IT or EPA, which is I think one of the
better advanced analytics. On first down, they're like twenty second
(31:47):
best passing game. On second down they're twenty fifth. On
third down they're ninth, which I think just demonstrates early
downs they're playing way too conservative.
Speaker 1 (31:58):
They're they're kind of limiting themselves.
Speaker 2 (32:00):
But on third down, on fourth down, when it's time
to make a conversion, you can't play underneath anymore.
Speaker 1 (32:06):
You've got to open things up so you can try
and move the sticks.
Speaker 2 (32:09):
This offense is looking like a borderline Top ten unit
and I just want them to lean into that.
Speaker 1 (32:14):
A little harder on these early downs.
Speaker 4 (32:17):
Yeah, lean back, lean back into the vertical passing game
and running the freaking ball recipe for success.
Speaker 2 (32:26):
At the top of the hour, the athletics Nick Cosminder
is going to be joining us to talk about an
article he put out today about how the Broncos can
get out of the mud. It's not the downfield passing game,
but he found another interesting stat that is pointing towards
the Broncos offensive dysfunction. That's all coming up right here
on HFTKOA ninety four one FM on Broncos Country tonight.
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