09-02-25 KOA Sports Hour 1 with Nick Ferguson

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
What if that wasn't on the air. Uh, well it
might have been. I turned my mic on.

Speaker 2 (00:04):
Thank you to Jack Corgan, Voice of the Rockies. That
was kind of a fun moment there on Friday night
in the pregame. Jesse Thomas, Jerry Schimlee all did a
wonderful job there in the pregame, giving me a little
bit of love there as I throw out the first
pitch on Friday. Welcome to the show, Dave Logan, Ryan Edwards,
Nick Ferguson, Dave, good to see you.

Speaker 1 (00:21):
Good to see you, fellas. How's it going going good?
Did you good to get a chance to see it
at all? Or you know what I did?

Speaker 3 (00:30):
Not?

Speaker 4 (00:31):
Do you want to have Yeah, I'd like to grade it,
like even graded on the air. Okay, Well let me
before I before I say this, were you proud of it?

Speaker 1 (00:40):
I was?

Speaker 4 (00:41):
Okay, then I'm sure. I'm sure I'll be equally impressed. Yeah,
I'll pull it up here for you. I'll come over
to your mic.

Speaker 1 (00:49):
Okay, this would.

Speaker 2 (00:51):
Be interesting, all right, hold on, I gotta find it
really quick.

Speaker 4 (00:56):
That's porn Hub. That's not sorry. I didn't probably shouldn't
have said that.

Speaker 2 (01:04):
Yeah, thank you for saying where is it here?

Speaker 4 (01:08):
All right, well, my kid, I've seen that when Eric
is hot summer you can't find your own video.

Speaker 1 (01:14):
I was gonna give you the k.

Speaker 2 (01:15):
Away version, all right, you know, here's here's one one
one of my kids took.

Speaker 1 (01:19):
Here, you're walking to the mound. Yeah you know what,
nice nice strong gate. Did you just wave to the crowd?
Did you just wave? I don't know what I did there.

Speaker 2 (01:28):
It was all kind of a blur all right, So
all right, so there you go. There's is that it?

Speaker 1 (01:38):
Yeah?

Speaker 2 (01:39):
That's it again. There's another other version here. You watch
this one. This was I think more of the scoreboard.

Speaker 1 (01:46):
How many of these do you have?

Speaker 2 (01:47):
Well, my two kids each took a video, so this
is scorel okay cool, So this is more of the scoreboard.

Speaker 1 (01:52):
Walking there, I can see standing ovation. You're throwing. You're
throwing to the maskot.

Speaker 5 (01:58):
Yeah, you were halfway between the pitch, halfway of them.
I will say this, you you can't throw at all,
but that was a really good effort. And that was
an above average pitch of like forty five feet to
a mascot.

Speaker 2 (02:17):
I can't throw it all, but it was an above average.

Speaker 4 (02:21):
Really, I would say this seriously, I think that I
think you did really well. I seriously think you honestly,
I think you did really well.

Speaker 1 (02:30):
Better than the other one. What you call you've ever
seen much better.

Speaker 4 (02:34):
I mean, you know, we you have to look for
improvement in life and everything you do, no matter how
young or old you are. That's a that's a significant step.

Speaker 1 (02:43):
In the right direction. I appreciate it.

Speaker 4 (02:46):
For the next one, though, I would like you to
get closer to the mound.

Speaker 1 (02:49):
Oh see, you ask you for too much. They're not
going to let him interest the mount.

Speaker 3 (02:53):
He and I talked about this like, no, no, no, we're
not putting bad mojo on the mount again.

Speaker 1 (02:58):
Yes, as I do.

Speaker 2 (02:59):
Don't step on the truck, they said twice twice, they said,
do not step on the chalk and make sure you
are well in.

Speaker 1 (03:07):
Front of this way.

Speaker 4 (03:10):
If you did it, what's the worst that can happen.
They're not going to ask you back.

Speaker 2 (03:15):
I don't feel like I'm in a position to challenge.

Speaker 1 (03:18):
No, that was listen, bro, that was actually good. Thank you?

Speaker 4 (03:22):
You know what again, as my granddaddy in text as
you to say.

Speaker 1 (03:25):
Boy, you done good.

Speaker 2 (03:27):
I listen. I'm grateful. Very quickly, the difference here. I
felt they let me warm up this time before going
out there, so I actually have to throw four pitches
on the side to Dinger, which helped sort of my confidence.
And I I airmailed Dinger on one of my warm ups.
No joke like, sec your bitch, no second pitch.

Speaker 1 (03:47):
I don't want to. I don't think, I hope not.

Speaker 2 (03:51):
But my second, my second warm up throw, I airmailed him.
So that was kind of in my mind that I
threw to Morning, but they were They're both fine, so
that that was kind of racing in my head, like
all right, I felt pretty good until I airmail Dinger
and he's given me the what are you?

Speaker 1 (04:04):
What are you doing? Man? Well, here's my.

Speaker 3 (04:05):
Question for you, because we didn't get a chance to
see it. Well, your warm up was it at the
same distance that.

Speaker 2 (04:11):
Okay, yeah, it was pretty much pretty much a distance. Yeah,
but he didn't measure. He just sort of like he
drew a little line and says, you stand here, so
you know what you experienced the second time around.

Speaker 3 (04:24):
Yes, throwing the ball out exactly what quarterbacks and US
players actually endure on a weekly basis when we go
out there and we play there's a lot of nerves
that are involved, and we don't we don't want to
make a mistake in front of hordes of people.

Speaker 2 (04:39):
I'm I'm grateful to now be on the same level
as That's not what I said.

Speaker 1 (04:44):
You know, that's not I didn't say. It worked. Thank
you Nick for welcoming to the club.

Speaker 3 (04:52):
Welcome you into I say, that's what happens to us
the thought process.

Speaker 2 (04:56):
Okay, it was like, this is the only way we're
possibly on any kind of linear plane is that we
both have stood in front of a crowd before.

Speaker 1 (05:06):
Yeah, that's all right, we're off and rolling here.

Speaker 2 (05:12):
So that that happened on Friday, I thank you again
to the iHeart for a light, especially Dave Tepper for
allowing me to do that.

Speaker 1 (05:17):
Really cool.

Speaker 2 (05:17):
Got to have my kids and my wife down there
on the field. They had a blast, They got to
hang out with Dinger and all this.

Speaker 1 (05:23):
Oh it was great. Yeah, a lot of fun, a
lot of fun.

Speaker 2 (05:28):
Rocky's lost that game unfortunately, but you know, hey, we
still had fun and it was still a good night.
The thing that happened also on Friday, and I will
see you, and you.

Speaker 1 (05:38):
Know, I do want to get your thought because you
haven't a chance.

Speaker 2 (05:40):
To reactually like a Parson stuff yet, So we do
want to get to that before you get out of here.

Speaker 1 (05:44):
But see you for a moment. What did you What
did you think about that? Well?

Speaker 4 (05:48):
I mean I didn't get a chance to see the
game live, but I did once I got back in town.
I had a chance to look at it Saturday night
and a little bit on Sunday.

Speaker 1 (06:00):
I mean, a couple things.

Speaker 4 (06:03):
You can't Georgia Tech's really good at running the ball,
and their quarterback is really a threat in the run game.

Speaker 1 (06:11):
But we all knew that going in.

Speaker 4 (06:13):
I mean, you can't give up three hundred and some
odd yards on the ground.

Speaker 1 (06:19):
You're not going to win many games if you do that.

Speaker 4 (06:21):
So I would expect that, you know, the run defense
will be stressed this week in practice, I wasn't completely discouraged.

Speaker 1 (06:32):
In that game.

Speaker 4 (06:33):
I mean, Georgia Tech was a four and a half
point favorite, and the Buffs are right there. I mean
they're right there, you know, to find a way to
win the game. They just didn't. And sometimes I think
sometimes it can be a matter of just having the
confidence that you're in a close game and until you
get a team in a close game and you find

(06:55):
a way to win the game. All that other stuff
is just talk that a coach will will have with
the players in a meeting room or on the practice
field or whatever. Until you actually, as a player experienced
what it's like to be in a close game and
find a way to win a game. Sometimes you know
that's a confidence that you just don't get. So I'm

(07:17):
not overly discouraged. I wish they would have won the game,
but they've got to figure out a way to shore
up that defense.

Speaker 3 (07:24):
The one thing that stood out to me, and we
talked about it before the game, like, in order to
see you to win the game, they had to stop
two people Jamal Haynes and Haines King, and they didn't
really do that. And I knew this from watching anyone
who's watched Georgia Tech play that anytime Bret Key in
the offense got into a tough situation, the ball is
going to go in the hands of one person, Hayes King.

(07:45):
So there was a lot of design quarterback runs that
it just seemed as though the cu Bus defense didn't
really do their due diligence as far as being disciplined
and I give the offensive coordinator for Georgia Tech credit
because it was almost It's not exactly, but it's similar
to what we would see when we're watching Kyle Shanahan,

(08:08):
Sean McVay or Andy Reid offense. It's pre im prosing
that motion. And the reason is that's by design. You
want to move defenders in a certain space to give
your running back or your quarterback the ability to have
those runs.

Speaker 1 (08:22):
And that's exactly what they did. But I was happy with.

Speaker 3 (08:25):
What I saw from CEU because they did something week
one they didn't do it really well all season last.

Speaker 1 (08:31):
Year, and that was running the ball. Yes, Mike, I'm
not trowning Michael Welch, but I'm.

Speaker 2 (08:37):
Just saying, go, Michah, Okay, you sounded like you did
a Jerry Jones Michael thing there first.

Speaker 3 (08:43):
Oh no, no, no, Michael Welch. That sounds like again
it's Micah Well, Michael Jackson, Michael Jordan. Anyway, the whole
idea Isah, Michael Welsh did a great job the ball,
doing exactly what they asked him to do. And you

(09:03):
look at his little body, body strength, being able to
run through arm tackles. That's what they don't need to
lean on, you know, as the season goes on. But
there were some great things that I saw from CU.

Speaker 1 (09:13):
I think both you made great points.

Speaker 2 (09:14):
I mean, the first thing is three turnovers right off
the bat from Georgia Tech and you get seven points
out of that. So first quarter fumble, fumble, interception for
the first three possessions for Georgia Tech and you get
seven points at home. Yeah, that felt like some missed opportunity.

Speaker 1 (09:28):
I agree.

Speaker 2 (09:28):
There's been a lot of discussion about that final possession
in clock management and timeouts.

Speaker 1 (09:33):
Did you have Coach Prime.

Speaker 2 (09:34):
Today kind of a little defensive with the media. Okay,
So Coach Prime was asked about the clock management today,
and here's what he said.

Speaker 6 (09:42):
Let's just get the kid out of the bag. All right,
first down, we throw a lateral pass, right, we lose
four five yards. You call time out there. No, you're
right there. You don't call time out there. You gotta go,
you gotta go. So you were in a tempo, right,
So the next play what you gave I guess fourteen
yeards whatever. Now you got second, third and one, right,

(10:04):
do you call time out there?

Speaker 1 (10:08):
Third and one?

Speaker 7 (10:08):
You get the first down. The clock stops correct, so
you get the first down. The clock stop. Okay, he
scrambled play he ran out of bounce. The clock stop
right now we throw the ball that in zone. Clock
stop right?

Speaker 6 (10:23):
So when was the time to call time out?

Speaker 1 (10:26):
No, I'm just getting an elephant. Not the room, darnie.
You know what you want to say. I'm just I'm
just trying to help you, help me.

Speaker 5 (10:33):
I was.

Speaker 2 (10:33):
I was in guessing more of a times, more stocks,
like the capabilities of the offense and kind of how
you guys can use this crew better, and in those
kinds of.

Speaker 6 (10:40):
Well, everything has its purpose. Man, Sometimes it just don't
go like it's supposed to go. We pray to God
it goes.

Speaker 1 (10:47):
Well.

Speaker 6 (10:48):
This week we're trying to fix what was broken last week,
and we're on to this week. We're not there last week.
We're past at it. I was there a few days
ago when I'm going now, I'm I'm into this week,
all right?

Speaker 1 (11:01):
So what did you think?

Speaker 2 (11:02):
I mean? I understand his rationale there. I maybe slightly
disagree with it, but I understand his rationale. There's a
lot of Buffs fans that completely disagree with his assessment
of that, especially when you get the ball on offense
with a minute seven and two timeouts, and you run
sixteen seconds off the clock. By the time you're getting
into that third down play, you have twenty eight seconds

(11:22):
left in the game. So you it seemed like some moments,
some opportunities to be able to call some timeouts there.

Speaker 4 (11:28):
Yeah, I would say that his explanation I understand, but
it would have been I think the explanation would have
made more sense.

Speaker 1 (11:42):
Had there been like five minutes on the clock.

Speaker 4 (11:46):
Right, His explanation makes sense, right, they threw they threw
what a bubble screen?

Speaker 1 (11:52):
I think a two yard went for went for minus
two yep. And then they would then eleven yard pass
that is third and one. Yep.

Speaker 4 (12:03):
You're you're probably not going to take it there, I
would say this, he gets first down. Yeah, the clock
stops momentarily and then it's restarted on the next play.
You threw the ball out of the end zone. Now
at that point, how much how much time is left?

Speaker 2 (12:22):
That took it down to three seconds nor eight seconds?

Speaker 1 (12:27):
He threw the ball of the end zone?

Speaker 4 (12:28):
Yes, yeah, so I think this you got two timeouts.
I think in a game situation, you know, what he
said would have made sense if there was more time
in the clock. I get it from a you know,
as you look at it, his explanation made sense. But
even even on the first down, Yeah, you've got two

(12:50):
timeouts and you lose, you lose two or three yards,
you got to get everybody back to the line of scrimmage.
I think retro retrospectively, you might have you might have
taken one there.

Speaker 1 (13:03):
Yeah, ran sixteen seconds off the clock at that point.

Speaker 4 (13:05):
Yeah, it's it's yeah, I mean it's listen, when you
lose a game, everybody is gonna second guess.

Speaker 1 (13:15):
He has to well, why'd you do that? Well? What
about here? Why'd you do that? That's why football is
such a great game.

Speaker 4 (13:21):
And I think that's why football is the most popular
game ever in our country, certainly today. It is because
so many people feel like they've got you know, they've
got passion for it, and they've got they think enough
knowledge in it that they would be like.

Speaker 1 (13:41):
What in world are you thinking about?

Speaker 4 (13:44):
And you know what, sometimes they're right, sometimes they're right,
Sometimes they are right.

Speaker 1 (13:48):
Well, I'm with you guys on this.

Speaker 3 (13:50):
I thought that coach prom could have called time outs
after you got that negative play on first down. Call
the time out right there, right, And the reason why
you do that.

Speaker 1 (14:00):
You call the time out to regroup.

Speaker 3 (14:02):
You call your quarterback over to the hudder and saying, listen,
here are the two or three plays we want to run.
And if we're not successful on second and third down,
here's where we want you to go with the ball.
And to me, the idea is that you can't take
the timeouts with you.

Speaker 1 (14:17):
They don't carry over to the next game.

Speaker 3 (14:20):
So use the timeouts, and then once again, here's what
I'm thinking about. You still have Caden Salter, who this
is his first time in this particular environment. You still
have some young wide receivers, a group of running backs
who are getting the time together for the first time
in an offensive.

Speaker 1 (14:35):
Line who's playing together.

Speaker 3 (14:36):
So I want to make sure that you guys understand
what we're trying to accomplish out of this particular drive. Yeah,
you're trying to get back into the game, but knowing
as though time is against us, right, so we have
to make sure when we get to the line of
scrimmage after incompletion whatever, everyone's got.

Speaker 1 (14:51):
To run back.

Speaker 2 (14:52):
But you got two timeouts, you got a minute seven
and the time and the clock stops on first downs, like,
I'm sorry that that's got to be more efficient than
it looked.

Speaker 3 (15:01):
Absolutely, so, yes, do I think it's warranted to point
out that it was poor clock management? Yes, And I
understand what coach Prime was trying to instigate as indicate
as a coach. But at the same time, you cannot
put your quarterback in that situation where now he's trying
to scramble from the right hash the sideline and that

(15:22):
must that's a lot of time that you kill. So
on once again, if you call the time out, you
set it up in the quarterback's mind what we're trying
to accomplish with.

Speaker 1 (15:31):
Very limited time.

Speaker 2 (15:32):
And I think today's point when you lose a game,
especially your home opener, in a game that you were in,
you said they were underdogs, but you were in it.
You were in all the way up, expecially you actually
in most points, I think, especially with the three turnovers
right off the back, you should have won this game,
but you didn't. And so what do you I mean,
you're like a twenty three point favorite against Delaware this week.

Speaker 1 (15:51):
I mean, you're gonna get this win.

Speaker 2 (15:52):
You're gonna don't mean that to be rude, but just
you're gonna win this week and then you'll be one
and one. And this doesn't sh the confidence I have
or whatever I believed what CU could be this season,
Like losing to Georgia Tech. It's not a it's not
a gimme. This isn't a cupcake they scheduled Week one.
This was gonna be a tough game.

Speaker 4 (16:11):
No, Georgia Tech again was a four and a half
point favorite. Yeah, that said, I get the frustration because,
as you said there there, I mean, there was ample
opportunity for the Buffs to find a way to win
that game. And I think, you know, I can't prove
it because I'm not up there and I don't know
the sort of the mindset of that team. But sometimes

(16:33):
you just have to do it in order to develop
a little bit of confidence, Like, hey, listen, we get
in tight games, we've already shown we've already shown we
can do this.

Speaker 1 (16:43):
That is powerful stuff.

Speaker 4 (16:45):
To a team, and in the first game of the season,
with a lot of new faces, they don't have that yet.

Speaker 1 (16:52):
And let's hope that they can develop it.

Speaker 3 (16:54):
One thing really quickly because of what happened in a
two minute situation, The fact that.

Speaker 1 (16:58):
They lost the home opener.

Speaker 3 (17:00):
That that's kind of overshadowed all the good things that
we did see at the beginning and even at the
end by you know, the office and the defense. I mean,
no one knew what to expect from Caten Salter. I
would have liked to see Pat Shermer utilize his mobility
a lot more the way that Georgia Tech utilized Haynes King.
But like you said, Ryan, I'm not looking at this

(17:22):
game saying, well, oh see, he was going to lose
every single game they actually competed, especially for a team
that was an underdog that no one really, let's be
totally honest, really gave them a chance to win that
game in the first place.

Speaker 2 (17:34):
By the way, moments ago, Mike Rofello tweeted out that
the Broncos worked out Deuce Vaughn today and Boston Scott
so a couple of running backs, and I guess you're
always bringing guys in and shotting them out or.

Speaker 1 (17:48):
I don't know.

Speaker 4 (17:49):
I don't know about Boston Scott. I'm not familiar with
his game. I am a big, big fan of Douce
vond remember him at Kansas State. Oh yeah, he's not
very tall, but he is he is a dynamo. He
is a really talented football player.

Speaker 2 (18:07):
I mean, Sewan's always looking for the next darrens pros
pro type.

Speaker 1 (18:11):
This is as close to it that you could find.
I agree, Yeah, I agree.

Speaker 3 (18:15):
Well, it's his Tuesday, and usually doing the regular season,
they bring guys in to work them out on Tuesday.

Speaker 2 (18:20):
Well, then they do bring guys in on Tuesday, so
that's not notable.

Speaker 1 (18:24):
It's the names that were notable to me.

Speaker 2 (18:26):
And Boston Scott I think he was with the Colts
last year, but he was with Philly before that. He
was kind of one of their plethoraw of backs. But yeah,
what is fun. I remember talking about the pre draft process.
He ended up going to Dallas. I think his dad coaches.

Speaker 1 (18:39):
That is a scout for them.

Speaker 2 (18:41):
Okay, oh yeah, there you go. There you go, yeah,
scout down there. Which was a cool story too because
I remember when they announced that they.

Speaker 1 (18:46):
Draft, so I didn't realize Dallas let him go they
cut him. Yeah wow, Yeah, I was a little surprised.

Speaker 2 (18:51):
But what is just for a moment, as we're taking
that information in, is that any kind of indication of
a lean or is.

Speaker 1 (18:58):
That just hey, it's Tuesday.

Speaker 4 (19:00):
No, And I'm not because because I said I'm a
big fan of duce Van, I'm not indicating the Broncos
are going to sign him. I really don't know. I'm
just telling you what I saw when that kid was
at Kansas State and Kansas State played Alabama in a
bowl game? Was it last year or the year before?
Seen a lot of football, so the years run together.

(19:21):
But listen, if you ever wonder like, Okay, is deuce
Van real? That was when Alabama, you know, was was
not what they are now, but Alabama had it going.
Deuce Van duce Vaughan looked like he was fully capable.
Ducevan had an excellent game against the Crimson Tide. So
I just think he's He's got a skill set that
is really unique, and I think there's ways, don't know,

(19:45):
if to be the Broncos or somebody else, ways to
implement him in an offense, uh to utilize that skill
set that I think could be pretty good.

Speaker 2 (19:53):
Well, apparently Zach Stevens just tweeted out the Broncos released
defensive back Quentin Newsom from the practice squad, So maybe
there's a corresponding Oh no, don't know literally just happened.

Speaker 3 (20:03):
Like I said, we are in the regular season and
these things happen on a Tuesday, and they.

Speaker 2 (20:09):
Don't have running backs. And even Shaw's pointed out this.
They don't have any running backs in the practice squad,
not a one.

Speaker 3 (20:14):
So so can we call this a turned up Tuesday.

Speaker 1 (20:19):
If you need to do that.

Speaker 4 (20:20):
It's the biggest reason the players have Tuesday off. And normally,
except maybe for quarterbacks, players, unless you're getting treatment, don't
go to the facility because teams are bringing guys into
workout at your position.

Speaker 1 (20:33):
Turn out Tuesday whatever early.

Speaker 2 (20:36):
If you're on a Tuesday, very excited to be with you,
We'll come back. I do want to get Dave's thoughts
on Michael Parsons that trade, the whole debacle, all of it.

Speaker 1 (20:43):
We'll get to it next.

Speaker 2 (20:49):
Cobbs Ury Health high Line and bring on our NFL
network Insider Ian Rapport and is powered by Chevron. Chevron
the human Energy Company committed to our local communities and
safely delivering affordable, reliable, ever clean energy Ian good affternous
or how are you?

Speaker 8 (21:03):
I'm good? How are you having questioning the time zones?

Speaker 4 (21:08):
Hey, good to have you, Oni and so Michael Parsons
deal gets done right, Green Bay is his new residence.
The draft compensation back to the Cowboys.

Speaker 1 (21:20):
And now I've read at least one.

Speaker 4 (21:22):
Story that that intimates that maybe the Cowboys felt like
I think as a former player, every time I read
something like this, my former player thing comes up, and
it's like, Okay, here comes the narrative, but it is there.
Are you reading it in the same thing that the
Cowboys may have felt a certain way, that maybe Micah
was a little bit different in the off season and

(21:44):
so forth.

Speaker 8 (21:46):
Well, I mean, I think, to me, this really came
down to a fundamental disagreement between Jerry Jones and Michael
Parsons and his people over what constituted the negotiations. Like,
of all the things to discuss, that to me stands out.
And I spent so much time thinking, you know, over
the course of the last.

Speaker 9 (22:05):
Couple of months, Like Jerry Jones thought it.

Speaker 8 (22:08):
Was a contract negotiation, Micah Parsons and David Mulligan, I
thought it was just a conversation.

Speaker 1 (22:13):
Yea.

Speaker 8 (22:14):
One side popped, the negotiation was over.

Speaker 10 (22:16):
The other side thought the negotiation hadn't been done yet.

Speaker 8 (22:19):
How in the world are they going to bridge this gap,
and I honestly, I thought a lot about it, and
I couldn't come up with a reason. I couldn't. I
couldn't understand how, And so what you found out is
they couldn't. It was just too much of a disagreement.

Speaker 2 (22:34):
Both started in.

Speaker 8 (22:34):
Completely different places. So, you know, I think, from a
business standpoint, not a horrible thing to move on. I
think the Cowboys, you know, compensation wise, it okay.

Speaker 10 (22:45):
You have to factor in that the Packers had to
pay Michah Parsons forty seven million dollars, so that affects
the price. But as someone who was covering it, I
am for sure glad that it is over.

Speaker 3 (22:58):
And when he comes to making front off his moves,
it's rare that we actually see something happens right before
the season. But the Saints added Thomas de Metrov and
Metrov is, you know, known by a lot of people
for being the former geam of Atlanta Falcons. Why did
this team wait so long to make this move when
they could have made it earlier during the pre draft process.

Speaker 8 (23:21):
So he he had been involved in some of the
pre draft process. He had been involved a little bit
in the summer. I just think it was more of
a case of finalizing it.

Speaker 10 (23:33):
And you know, this position actually had been filled last.

Speaker 8 (23:37):
Year by Dave Diiggler brocos On, who you know left
as a consultant for the Saints to go be assistant
general manager for the Tennessee Titans, and so.

Speaker 9 (23:48):
You know there was an opening. I think a lot
of teams have sort of added this position, like you know,
senior football advisor is sort of what it say, Hey,
look I see these players a certain way.

Speaker 8 (24:06):
Take a look. Let me know what you think. That's
kind of what this is. Just you know, give some expertise.
And I think it's a really important role for the
New Orleans Saints.

Speaker 1 (24:15):
Ian Rapbore joining us.

Speaker 2 (24:16):
So it's about that time, right before the season starts,
everybody puts out their predictions. I'm not asking you for
specific predictions, but just in the terms of the AFC West,
which again tends to be kind of loaded, what are
your expectations.

Speaker 8 (24:32):
Yeah, I mean I expected to be one of the
best divisions in football. I mean, and you know, if
you ask me, like, you know, how does it shack up?
I mean I would say, you know, I could see
I could see any team winning. I mean Obviously, the
Chiefs are sort of a favorites. They're always there. But
you know, the Broncos to me looked like a big
time up and coming team. You know, maybe they could be.

(24:54):
I mean, they already made the playoffs last year at
a time when most people thought they had no chance,
including me, by the way, I thought they had no chance.
You know, they could take a little bit of a leap,
and that's the case.

Speaker 10 (25:05):
I think they're going to be in a really good spot.
Raiders should be better, Chargers should.

Speaker 8 (25:09):
Be similar, So you know, right there, I mean, those
are some those are some good teams. It is action packed,
it stocked with talent. Kind of put it up with honestly,
any of the others.

Speaker 2 (25:25):
Last couple here for you Ian really appreciate the time
is always so. I guess that's interesting. We always take
a look at these teams right in the midst of
their dynasties, whereas the Chiefs are right now. We look
at the Patriots, there was always that discussion about well,
this is when they're going to fall back, and maybe
we get a little too early in those conversations. Is
there anything in your opinion though, Yeah, that's pretty pretty much.

(25:48):
I said, well, we can get Ian back, you know,
next week. But I was just going to ask him,
is there anything that he's seen as reason to believe
the Chiefs are really going to fall off? Because honestly,
I think they're a better team.

Speaker 1 (25:58):
Well you think they're a better team than they were
last year? They are? Really? Yeah, please explain put that
in context.

Speaker 2 (26:05):
Yeah, I mean they've they've added to the offensive line.
They're going to get Ray Rice back for six games.

Speaker 1 (26:12):
Yeah. Yeah.

Speaker 2 (26:13):
So I was just asking you about the Chiefs and
everybody is predicting that they're eventually going to take a
step back. Is this the year or do you think
that they will continue their reign?

Speaker 1 (26:22):
I don't see why this would be the year.

Speaker 8 (26:24):
Look, maybe I'm crazy, but defense is already good. You know.
Might they struggle at receiver early?

Speaker 10 (26:30):
While was she Rice is suspended six games?

Speaker 1 (26:33):
I think that's possible.

Speaker 8 (26:36):
They look good. I mean, you know, I don't. I've
heard people talk about maybe they might have a down year,
and I'm kind of like what am I looking at?
Like why? You know? And that's sort of my thing
is like if this is going to be a down
year for them, then like what's the actual reason and
you know, until I can come up with an actual reason,

(26:58):
I'm just gonna kind of say, like it's going to
be like it is every year, which is Chiefs really
good and everyone else chasing them a little bit and
unbelievably competitive division. That's going to be very, very very
fun to watch and actually probably a little more depth
than we usually get.

Speaker 2 (27:16):
You know, it's great, man, We'll check in with you
next week.

Speaker 8 (27:19):
All right, look forward to it.

Speaker 1 (27:20):
Take care.

Speaker 4 (27:22):
This will be my two cents on why the only
way they're going to be better is that they win
the super Bowl.

Speaker 1 (27:28):
They got to the super Bowl last year.

Speaker 4 (27:30):
They with as bad an offense as they've had since
Patrick Mahomes has been the quarterback, which is a testament
to really, I think a lot of things how great.
I mean, the defense is really good, and Mahomes is
a world class quarterback that at kind of times kind
of will his way in there. Here's what I see

(27:53):
from Kansas City. I've got to see what they do
in the running game. If the first six weeks of
the season, you know, they're come out and that running
game is efficient and you know, looks looks much better
than it's looked the last two or three years, then okay,
maybe the Chiefs are still maybe they're going to be
that team, but they've won it nine straight years, and

(28:16):
I think the rest of the AFC West has closed
the gap, and so therefore I think you can make
a case that this is the year that somebody in
the West, let's hope with as the Broncos, I think
it can be, but somebody in the West is going
to get them.

Speaker 2 (28:31):
I think the point I'm multimately making, and I think
why people keep coming back to it is saying, well,
they won eleven games last year within one score, right,
so is that something that they can continue to do well?

Speaker 4 (28:42):
I mean, what would you say, mister analytics, what would
you say in the NFL the sustainability of winning eleven
games in back to back years that are one score games?
I'm asking because I don't know, but I would think
it would not be good.

Speaker 1 (28:57):
Not very high.

Speaker 2 (28:58):
It's not likely, right, It's not likely, But that is
I think the predominant reason why people keep saying that
the Chiefs are going to take a step back, because
they went fifteen to two, and obviously one of the
losses of the Broncos in the final week really doesn't count,
but they went fifteen to two, and eleven of those
wins were all within a score, and we remember the
late game dynamics and heroics sometimes that it took to

(29:20):
get to that, and you just think that that's something
that's not recreated.

Speaker 1 (29:23):
I'd say this on the way out the door.

Speaker 4 (29:24):
As long as fifteen is playing quarterback, yeah, they are
dangerous as can be and Taylor Swift soon husband to be.

Speaker 3 (29:33):
They will always have an opportunity because fifteen and Andy Reid.
But like you said yourself, there were several games last season,
there were one score games, last second games, and some
of that fell on the opponent that they either missed
the field goal or got blocked.

Speaker 2 (29:54):
Broncos Country Tonight's Mandy Caught all. All those shows set
us presets in that way. You never missed an episode
of the show or an interview like we had with
ian Or Rappaport as he broke down the AFC West.
I thought his point was a really good one right there.
And we're gonna have some really fun conversations in the
next hour, not only previewing the Broncos and Titans. We're
going to talk a little bit about the college football
weekend ar Chi Maning's performance.

Speaker 1 (30:15):
You can't wait to get into all of it.

Speaker 2 (30:16):
But I thought it was a really interesting point that
he made right there where he talked about, Okay, the
Chiefs are the Chiefs, and I think we all can
kind of acknowledge that. Whether you think they'll win as
many games by one scorer as they did last year
or not.

Speaker 1 (30:28):
That's up for debate. We'll see that.

Speaker 2 (30:30):
But he said the Broncos have improved, and he thinks
the Chargers and the Raiders made the Raiders have improved
a little bit, but he doesn't expect He isn't like
high expectations much more than what they were. Maybe they
get to seven wins something along those lines, right, He said,
they are what they are, the Chiefs, the Raiders, and
the Chargers he views as third and fourth, whether you

(30:50):
want to say the Chargers are ahead or whatever. And
he' viewsed this as the Broncos are kind of the
most improved of that group. So if you're looking for
some optimistic spin or I guess lean that's where Ian
is coming from. It is the Chiefs are the Chiefs
until they're knocked off on not counting them out.

Speaker 1 (31:07):
But I think the Broncos are the most improved team
in the division.

Speaker 3 (31:10):
Well, I think you're under selling it. For anyone to
say that spin right, there's nothing to.

Speaker 1 (31:16):
Spin here this istive. Well, I'm just saying it's actual factual.
Did the team improved in certain areas where they needed to?

Speaker 3 (31:24):
Obviously defensive the different side of the ball was the
most important and I obvious say, well, not the most important,
but the strength of the team last season. So they
went out and added more players on that side.

Speaker 1 (31:37):
Of the ball. And oh, by the way, they realized, okay, well.

Speaker 3 (31:39):
We have tight ends, but we don't have that tight
end and they went out and grabbed Evan Ingram or
the running back room was an issue.

Speaker 1 (31:47):
So what do you do? You add two more running backs.

Speaker 3 (31:50):
And they worked out two more running backs today, So
that tells you that they're making conservative effort. So when
you look at the Chiefs, yes, are these the team
to beat in this division, in the West and in
the whole conference?

Speaker 1 (32:05):
Yes, because they've done it multiple times.

Speaker 3 (32:07):
Now it's on the Broncos to now just beat them
on the on the grid on because we're not playing
paper football. So you can't beat another team on paper.
You have to actually go out there and make that
other team break their sword.

Speaker 1 (32:20):
It's a reality for me.

Speaker 2 (32:21):
And the reason why I keep coming back to the
Chiefs are going to be fine is because offensively it
feels like they can almost turn it on whatever they
want to.

Speaker 1 (32:30):
It's really the defense that gives them the higher floor.

Speaker 2 (32:33):
In my opinion, I think that they're a better defensive
team than the obviously, and then they usually get.

Speaker 1 (32:37):
Credit for it.

Speaker 3 (32:37):
Okay, so the in the conversation now becomes we're not
talking about the officer side of the ball for the
Broncos and Patrick Mahomes versus Boat Nick's no, no, no,
no no, How good is Kansas City's defense in comparison
to the Denver Broncos.

Speaker 1 (32:50):
That's the conversation.

Speaker 2 (32:51):
Well, and in that case, they give it to the
Broncos as far as being the better overall defense, but
they have the benefit of knowing what they're off and
knowing what their offense can be. We don't know that yet.
We think we have an idea what the Broncos offense
is going to be and what exists under Sean Payton's scheme,
but it's yet to really fully actualize. Versus Andy Reid

(33:12):
and Patrick Mahomes where we've seen every iteration of it.

Speaker 1 (33:15):
We've seen it at the highest when he's an.

Speaker 2 (33:17):
MVP, and we've seen it kind of the lowest last
couple of years, where the offense seems like it's sputtering
at times, but because they don't need more from them
when what they're doing, they're saving their strengths for the
postseason because they know they're going.

Speaker 1 (33:28):
To be there.

Speaker 2 (33:29):
The Broncos have yet to arrive on that level yet,
I would agree, which is.

Speaker 3 (33:33):
Why Sean Payton realize what side of the bread and
why it's buttered that.

Speaker 1 (33:38):
Way, and it's the defense side of the ball.

Speaker 3 (33:40):
So he committed a lot of the attributes the things
they did in the off season, both in the draft
of free agency on what side of the ball, the
defense side of the ball, because he knows that it's
going to take his offense time to kind of get
up to speed with the new pieces and changing things
for Bowl and his sophomore season, but he already knows
what he's getting out of being show soup.

Speaker 1 (34:00):
So we're just going to strengthen and fortify that group
and hope

Speaker 3 (34:04):
That it's enough to stabilize us while we get the
offense and the ground game going