Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hanging out on this Friday night with Nick Ferguson and
we're having a good time talking Broncos here talking bow
Knicks right now, Nick, heading into his sophomore season. How
important is this offseason going to be for bow Knicks?
Speaker 2 (00:14):
It is very important And for me first and foremost,
if I'm objectively looking at what I saw last year
and I'm going to proach this from a defensive standpoint,
that I would say, we're bold to continually work on
his footwork.
Speaker 3 (00:32):
And that is kind of the driver of the.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
Engine if you are a quarterback, because when you think
about the direction where quarterback kind of looks in a
particular direction and he's got to reset his feet and
come to balance because you need your feet to direct
you where you want to.
Speaker 3 (00:50):
Throw the ball.
Speaker 2 (00:51):
Like I can look to my left and I could
do a Matthew Stafford and throw it to my right,
but how.
Speaker 3 (00:55):
Far will that ball to actually travel? So you have
to reset your feet, you know.
Speaker 2 (01:00):
And it's not like you're getting happy feet in the
pocket because most people think when they watch a quarterback,
well he's a little skinner, she's impatient, he doesn't have
pocket presence.
Speaker 3 (01:09):
No, he's moving his feet. He's looking around.
Speaker 2 (01:11):
How many times when Peyton Manning played DVC Peyton doing that,
his feet were constantly moving, so he can set them,
reset them, trigger and throw the ball. Bow needs to
continue to work on that aspect of his game. Hopefully
this offseason he's able to get with a couple of
wide receivers and started throwing passes. But now it's going
to come to a point where the Broncos are going
(01:32):
to have to do a great job and free agency
in the draft to put more talent around him.
Speaker 1 (01:38):
Yeah, I mean, the team has to continue is going
to continue to evolve. And the other thing to me,
Nick seems like maybe like watching film doing a self
scout of himself, be like, hey, you know, earlier in
the season, defenses were trying to make me do this.
Then over the course of the year they started making
me try to do this. How am I going to
continue to adjust?
Speaker 3 (01:56):
I'm glad you brought that up.
Speaker 2 (01:57):
Because every player, and no matter what the sport is,
they have a tail. It is your job as a
coach to figure out what that taiale is. And for me,
because my eyes have been trained over these years.
Speaker 3 (02:11):
Of watching football, I pick up on certain things.
Speaker 2 (02:15):
It's like, you can't unsee what you've seen and it's
breaking Tennessee.
Speaker 3 (02:19):
So watching you on tape is important.
Speaker 2 (02:23):
I learned that by playing against Peyton Manning so many
years in my career and not beating him that, Okay,
well why did we not beat him?
Speaker 3 (02:32):
What is he picking up on what we're doing? Because
usually when you.
Speaker 2 (02:36):
See a quarterback come out, he's gonna look at the secondary,
he's gonna look at the linebackers. And even though guys
in the secondary think they're doing a hell of a
job disguising, they got the whole David Copperfield things going,
no Peyton would always know. And the way I found out,
I'm sitting in a room of the year they went
to twenty fifteen doing Super Bowl fifteen right in training camp.
Speaker 3 (02:56):
I'm sending in the room and Great Nap is running
the room.
Speaker 2 (02:59):
And he's asking brought Oswaaler Zach Disert questions. Peyton is
over there answering questions too. But the way that Great
Nap handled Peyton was different than the other guys. And
Peyton was sitting in the room and he knew what
the coverage was, and I'm sitting there like the hell
he knows that, but he's like, well, look at how
(03:21):
the linebacker has moved over.
Speaker 3 (03:23):
Look at the safety. They look like they're in cover too,
but they're a little stagger and he's looking at their footwork.
And I was like, man, I could have used this
when we played, right, But these.
Speaker 2 (03:33):
Are the things that you want to look at and
self scout, so when you come back that next year,
you know what they are looking at and you have
to constantly change because the game of football is evolution.
Speaker 4 (03:45):
You were in the film room then with those guys.
Speaker 3 (03:48):
Yeah, yeah, okay, So here's the thing now. I was
doing a defensive scouting internship wayde Phillips was the head
coach at the time, and I think Woods was the
kind of defensive back coach.
Speaker 4 (04:02):
Uh uh wait was the defensive cord?
Speaker 3 (04:05):
Yeah, so what I did?
Speaker 2 (04:06):
I say, wait a minute, I'm doing this defensive thing,
but I need to learn more about offense.
Speaker 3 (04:12):
So where would I get a chance to do that?
Speaker 2 (04:16):
I say, well, let me go in the room with
the quarterbacks, right, smart enough, right to know how they think.
And as I'm sitting there, and I'm sitting in the
room and writing notes and I'm trying to get everything down, like, oh, wow,
they know that.
Speaker 3 (04:28):
I mean, okay, that's gonna be good to know.
Speaker 2 (04:30):
Later on, coach Cool walks through the door and he goes, hey, man,
what the hell are you doing in here? I was like, well,
I'm trying to learn what they know because that's gonna
make me a better defensive mind knowing how they approached
the game. And when I got into San Francisco, that's
how I coached it based on my defensive eyes knowing
(04:52):
and I say, I don't know offense as well as
Kyle of Sean McVay, Sean Payton, or Mike Shanney. I
do no defense, But now seeing it, Oh, this is
how they're trying to attack us. So this is what
bol is going to have to spend a lot of
time on an offseason watching because there's gonna be some
consistency with the offense. But I do hope that certain
(05:13):
elements of the game actually changed as far as the
game playing for Broncos.
Speaker 1 (05:18):
Yeah, interesting you mentioned that defensive players looking at how
the quarterback operates and stuff like that. Because this week
Pat Sortam the second on up and Adams had this
to say about both future.
Speaker 4 (05:31):
What impressed me most is.
Speaker 5 (05:33):
I'm just saying how he was able to control the
offense and sort of has so much of a presence
leadership wise. Over the locker room. I think everybody felt
his presence. Everybody felt the type of player he was.
I mean, obviously he's an exceptional player, but the person
he is on top of that makes him even better person.
(05:55):
I think with his composure, with his attitude that he
brings to the game, He's gonna be a threat for
this for years to come in this league. You know,
you've seen it this year and this was only you know,
his rookie year, and you see that happens rookie year.
I'm excited to see where he grows on from here
(06:16):
and there. So yeah, Bo was gonna be something special
for sure. So I'm excited for him.
Speaker 1 (06:23):
That's PS two with Kay Adams there. What do you
think about that Nick him saying that, you know, a
guy like PS two saying that Bo Nicks is going
to be special? You think that's just Hey, that's my teammate,
I'm gonna hype him up or you That's sounded pretty
genuine to me.
Speaker 2 (06:38):
Yeah, that's not Hyperboleieve that that is seeing a guy
go out to work.
Speaker 3 (06:44):
Watch how he's.
Speaker 2 (06:45):
Matured from the beginning of the season, because at the
beginning of the season, in my opinion, Bold wasn't playing
the way that I saw or playing at Auburn and
Oregon or I thought that he could play. It's almost
like he was playing in the plastic box. But then
it got to a point where he was allowed to
be unleashed, allowed to use his guy given skill set.
(07:09):
And that's the one thing about the locker room and
where I come from Miami, you made you. Guys may
have heard this before, and it's not just a saying
in Miami, but but this is what we used to
say a lot. Don't talk about it, be about it,
and players respect that. Don't tell me what you're going
to do, Peel, I don't want to hear what you're
going to do. Go out and freaking do it. And
(07:30):
when we see you go out and do it, now
it's go, oh okay, this dude is for real. And
I think when Bo had the interaction with Sean Payton
on the sideline where he barked back, I think he
garnered a much more amount of respect from.
Speaker 3 (07:45):
His teammates, especially on the defensive.
Speaker 4 (07:47):
Side of the ball defensive players like that.
Speaker 3 (07:50):
Yes, yes, I mean.
Speaker 2 (07:52):
Because people get animated in the game because this passion.
Everyone wants to win and sometimes you're the way that
you may express that may not be in the most
healthy way.
Speaker 3 (08:03):
But the idea is that we're grown men.
Speaker 2 (08:05):
You bark at me, I'm a bark back at you,
but there's a level of mutual respect and that's the
way that you have to see it. And that's what
PS two was talking about Bos a young guy. There's
a certain level of respect and how he carried himself
because it was When you play quarterback in the league,
there's a lot.
Speaker 3 (08:23):
Of pressure on you.
Speaker 2 (08:25):
But when you play quarterback for the Denver freaking Broncos,
there's a lot of pressure on you. The putter doesn't
have the same pressure as a quarterback.
Speaker 1 (08:35):
Wait wait, wait, you just told me how important special
teams was.
Speaker 2 (08:38):
Special teams It is the point because that's an overall group.
But when you're playing that single position that everyone's looking
at you saying, okay, well, our success and failures hinge
on how well you play and how well you think.
Speaker 4 (08:54):
Yeah, I mean the balls in his hand every single play,
every single play, Yeah, I think that.
Speaker 1 (08:59):
You know What was amazing to me is just how
he won over the locker room, because you're right, Nick,
there's a lot of pressure on him. But more than that,
it can be a tricky balance. Right, being the quarterback,
you're naturally gonna be have a strong voice in the
locker room, right, So, like, just based off the position
he plays, he's going to be a leader in that
(09:21):
locker room. But at the same time, it's like, well,
you're just a rook you're a rookie, but how do
you handle that balance if you're both well, which he
obviously he handled it perfectly because guys like PS two
could have easily been like, man, don't talk to me
like that a PS two. But that never ever happened.
(09:41):
You never heard anything like that. All those guys had
immense respect for bo right off the bat, and even
though he's a rookie, he was able to lead and
he was able to do fulfill his role as quarterbacks.
Speaker 2 (09:53):
Yeah, but the thing about sports is that, going back
to what I said, don't talk about it, be about it.
Speaker 3 (09:59):
Be about it.
Speaker 2 (10:00):
When quarterbacks come into the game, they're already propped on
the predestal Oh, you're the face of the franchise even
though you're a rookie, and you're like, well, you haven't
done a darn thing in this league yet, but everyone's
patting you on your back the jerseys and stores or whatever.
Speaker 3 (10:14):
So we don't want to hear that. We don't want
to hear the head coach tell us how good you are.
Go out and show us who you are.
Speaker 2 (10:22):
And when you start showing who you are, players start
to believe it. And when you start talking about, well
can this guy need this team? Don't tell me that
you're a leader because you are the quarterback.
Speaker 3 (10:35):
Go out and seize that moment.
Speaker 2 (10:36):
And both did that by going out and playing well
but also stumbling, failing, having issues, and then now bouncing back.
Because the way I look at it, I've never seen
the kid have a bad game and just be kind
of flatten down on himself. It was always a moment
where you're like, oh, you know, wish both would have
(10:58):
did this, would have done that.
Speaker 3 (11:00):
Comes out and he gives you something else. You're like,
that's what I want, Like, I'm sorry, I got to
do this, grant.
Speaker 4 (11:07):
Games. I just have to right.
Speaker 2 (11:10):
Because we talked about when we talk about players, we
talk about it's moments. I mean watching Bowl rolled on
tour is right, not even set his feet, thrown off
one foot ball down the field, Marvin Mans kind of
lost to guys.
Speaker 3 (11:24):
I mean that was brilliant beauty of the game exactly.
Speaker 2 (11:28):
And I hate going back to that game, but that
was one of those games for me that not that
Boll solidified himself, but Bone became a Denver Broncos quarterback.
And the reason I say that because the pressure associated
with playing with this job, playing that position in this city,
but having those moments right like in college they.
Speaker 3 (11:51):
Yea, who won that game? Again? I get it, I
get it, Yes, the Bengals won that game. But but
but it's those moments that you go, yes, I believe,
I believe in him. I believe in that guy.
Speaker 1 (12:05):
There are some special moments in that game for sure. Yeah.
I mean your guy, Jake Plumber had a lot of
those kind of special moments.
Speaker 2 (12:13):
Now exactly, because this is what we look for when
you were a fan and you're a teammate, those moments
in college football, we.
Speaker 3 (12:22):
Got the Heisman Trophy. And what is it that.
Speaker 2 (12:25):
Everyone always says, right, I'm a Heisman voter, you're looking
for that Heisman signature moment.
Speaker 3 (12:33):
What was it?
Speaker 4 (12:34):
Yeah, and Bow had a lot.
Speaker 2 (12:36):
Of them sprinkled throughout, but enough to make me feel
as though, you know what, this kid is gonna be special.
Speaker 3 (12:43):
They keep building around him, right, I.
Speaker 2 (12:45):
Know, we talk about Josh Allen, all these guys, you
get the right framework around him, the right group.
Speaker 3 (12:53):
All of a sudden, Rose in that category the angles
rush four, next deep drop. Now Rose is right, throws
the ball he wants to me in the corner of
the end zone. Marvin goes up, makes the catch, touchdown.
Speaker 4 (13:07):
They are stand here at pain Course Stadium. A twenty
five yard touchdown pass Nicks come mems. That was unbelievable.
Oh he just threw that thing up there though.
Speaker 1 (13:20):
Yes, and Men's did the work it once again.
Speaker 2 (13:25):
That's why this is the best team sport in the league,
because sometimes the quarterback has got to build the receiver
oute by ball placement, and sometimes the receiver's got to say,
you know what, I'm gonna go up and.
Speaker 3 (13:36):
Make it play for my quarterback.
Speaker 1 (13:38):
You talk about building around bow is what bo did
last year? Is that enough to entice free agents to
be like, yeah, I hear, I hear, you know, maybe
I'm at the Pro Bowl. I'm talking to PS two.
PS two is like him, man, bo, He's for real, man,
you should come come check it out. You think that
(13:58):
he did enough there to entice some Yeah, but.
Speaker 2 (14:01):
It all depends on where those free agents are in
their career. Are you on the back side of your
career where you look, man, I only got two years remaining,
And it's like, well, dude, I want to go to
the Broncos and are they in.
Speaker 3 (14:13):
That championship window? Because that's the biggest thing.
Speaker 2 (14:16):
Right after you play in this league long enough and
you made decent money, now you're looking at Okay, well
I'm gonna retire here soon. I want to make sure
that I at least had an opportunity to compete for
a championship. So if that's what you're looking around for now,
if you get guys who are in their fourth or
fifth year, obviously yes, like yeah, let me let me
come to Denver. I mean they got a quarterback and
(14:37):
play and I got PS two. And we always talk
about during free agency in all sports, especially the NBA
and the NFL, the legal tampering period or or what
they called the illegal tamping period. If you know another
player and you're at the Pro Bowl and you know
another player, this contract is expiring. There's nothing to say. Man,
(15:01):
you should come in and holler at us.
Speaker 1 (15:04):
Yeah, of course that's what goes on, Yes, and that
happens all you know. These guys are friends, they go back,
you know, college days whatever. I mean, that's just it's
a small world, the NFL world, NAG. So I guess
that's the other thing is that the Broncos are probably
looking for guys like that though too, Like the Broncos
don't want to go out and get like a veteran
(15:25):
wide receiver to come and add to this room because yeah,
but by the time the Broncos are in a legit
championship window, that guy's going to be too old.
Speaker 4 (15:36):
So right now, well.
Speaker 3 (15:37):
Well, bil, what is what's too old? What does that?
What is too old?
Speaker 4 (15:44):
I guess it depends on the style of wide receiver.
Speaker 3 (15:48):
There you go.
Speaker 4 (15:48):
Some guys are a little more physical, yeh.
Speaker 1 (15:51):
Some guys are like, hey, I'm crafty, I'm gonna route
run and I'm gonna get open no matter what.
Speaker 3 (15:57):
And once again that's what we should talk about, right.
Speaker 2 (16:00):
Can you bring in some veteran players who may be
on the last two or three years of their career.
But they can come in and establish some culture here
because the culture, in my opinion, hasn't been fully set.
Speaker 3 (16:14):
You know, bring in some more veteran guys in here,
actually do it.
Speaker 2 (16:17):
And look, competition has his way of motivating the heck
out of people. Yeah, so I can personally tell you,
and I always go back to this, based on being
around being in New York and being around ourselves. He
was constantly doing that, putting you on pressure, bringing in
people and he's gonna tell you who he's bringing in,
and they're coming for your job.
Speaker 4 (16:39):
Mind games, my game, That's what it was.
Speaker 1 (16:41):
Yeah, Okay, we'll talk a lot more Broncos free agency
coming up here. By time for a quick break. You're
listening to Broncos Country tonight.
Speaker 3 (16:47):
That's a different sound.
Speaker 4 (16:51):
Film.
Speaker 1 (16:51):
Alani filling in for Benjamin Alright, hanging out with Nick Ferguson.
We're talking Broncos off season here and how aggressive they
might be in free agency. Nick, because one of the
things we heard a lot last year with this Broncos
team was hey, Bo Knicks was great, Corlin Sutton had
a great season, but they need more dynamic pass catchers.
(17:15):
They need some more weapons once they get that this
offense is going to take off. Are they going to
be able to acquire some talent here this offseason?
Speaker 3 (17:24):
Name?
Speaker 2 (17:25):
Yeah, Absolutely, they're gonna be able to acquire some talent
because this is a team that made the playoffs after
missing the playoffs for about eight to nine years. Bob
Nix is a young guy on the contract, and he played, well, it's.
Speaker 3 (17:37):
Just a matter of fact. He said, okay, well, how
can you find two.
Speaker 2 (17:40):
Things from a personnel standpoint defensively, but from an offensive
standpoint as well. So for me, when I look at
the Broncos, when you look at some veteran wide receivers,
he said, well, what direction do you want to go in?
And obviously when you look at some of these guys,
(18:01):
they're in their ten, twelve, eight year pushing twenty nine
thirty one, and where it works in the NFL, I
mean after.
Speaker 3 (18:08):
Twenty seven, not for long. Yes, you know how that happens.
Speaker 2 (18:12):
But right off the bat, if you had a wish list,
T Higgins, it's definitely one of those guys on the
wish list. Now the next guy I'm gonna give you.
Most fans may not really like this mac Collins receiver
from Buffalo, And even though it's not a household name,
(18:32):
I just look at some of the plays that he
made and he actually made against the.
Speaker 3 (18:36):
Broncos defense, and he was making in the playoffs.
Speaker 2 (18:38):
But the most important part in my opinion of watching
him play, he's made of the right stuff. There's a
certain type of toughness that if I'm going out looking
for players and trying to put it to the team together,
I'm looking forward that both physical and mental toughness.
Speaker 4 (18:53):
You mentioned tm Higgins there.
Speaker 1 (18:56):
Do you think the Bronxis would be interested in making
that big of a spot free agency?
Speaker 4 (19:00):
Like are they ready to do that?
Speaker 2 (19:04):
They better be ready if you're telling me that, if
you believe in bow and love and saying, okay, well
he's our.
Speaker 3 (19:12):
Guy, we got to give him some people.
Speaker 2 (19:14):
Because the last thing you want to do with any
player that has a superior talent on the either side
of the ball is waste that ability. I mean, you
don't want to waste the talent that you have and
three time pro bowler PS two, you don't want to
waste the time of bow knicks. So it's trying to
put a highly competitive team together and see what happens.
Speaker 1 (19:35):
Yeah, it's like, hey, they made the playoffs this year,
they talked about their goals at the end of the
season and send their sights on the division taking another
step next year. And if they want to do that,
they're gonna have to make some moves here, you know,
because I think offensively they they took a big jump
last year. But there are a lot of times, Nick,
(19:56):
in some of these games where there is too many
three and outs in a row, there was too many
long stretches of the game where the offense just wasn't
doing enough.
Speaker 4 (20:05):
And sometimes in those types.
Speaker 1 (20:08):
Of moments, you just need a guy who just makes
a play, you know, like a guy who's just like
better than everybody else. They make a play, give them
a spark, just something to get the chains movement a
little maybe, and T.
Speaker 4 (20:21):
Higgins could be that guy.
Speaker 1 (20:22):
I mean, think about what that offense will look like
if you brought in a guy like T Higgins. Now,
T is gonna be like probably the most sought after
player this offseason.
Speaker 2 (20:33):
Yeah, okay, so do you want to be in the
mix or you not want to be in the mix?
And the way I sum it up to to Broncos fans.
I mean, do you want to eat ramen noodles? Oh
you want a rib by? A state's what you want? Yeah, okay,
because these are your choices.
Speaker 1 (20:47):
But you don't want to overpay. You don't want to say, hey,
here's a ton of money. T Higgins comes in and
then maybe you're like, oh, maybe I thought this was
going to be the ribbi, but really.
Speaker 3 (20:59):
Well, okay, So if you're gonna buy a ribbi, you
want to make sure you cook it the right way.
You want to make sure you season it the right way.
Speaker 2 (21:07):
Right, So season it the right way means that if
you're going to spend a substantial amount of money out
for a player who's gonna be highly coveted, you got
to bring him in and you got to set them up.
You gotta feed him. You're gonna give him so many passes.
Speaker 3 (21:21):
He gonna be like, man, I'm tired as hell, but
you know what, I don't care.
Speaker 2 (21:25):
We throw him more to you. It's the same thing
if the Broncos were to add a veteran running back
or to draft.
Speaker 3 (21:32):
A running back right that was a huge problem for
the Broncos. The inability to consistently run the.
Speaker 2 (21:37):
Ball, which in My opinion was not solely on the
running backs and the running backs alone, but the idea
is that, like you said, and coach pe in and said.
Speaker 3 (21:46):
It himself, he needs a joker. Who is that joker?
Speaker 2 (21:50):
They tried to turn Marvin Mams into that joker and
there were some positive plays there, right, but you need
more of those guys.
Speaker 1 (22:00):
The knock on tea though, could be that like, okay,
look you got Joe Burrow throwing you the football and
on the other side is Jamar Chase, and so like,
you're not going up against the number one dB in
those situations. You don't see that much a PS two
during that game, and so.
Speaker 4 (22:16):
You're gonna eat.
Speaker 1 (22:18):
And now maybe if you come here, it's not gonna
be as sweet a deal.
Speaker 3 (22:22):
See.
Speaker 2 (22:22):
I don't like that philosophy because watching football, if you
are a number one wide receiver, if the offensive coordinator
is smart and good at his job, they got you
off the ball anyway, even if you're facing again. Just
when everyone was building the Cincinnati game versus the Broncos,
it was PS two versus Jamar Chase, and I was like,
you're not.
Speaker 3 (22:42):
Gonna get that.
Speaker 2 (22:43):
You think you're gonna get that, But what they're gonna do,
Zach tayl is gonna get him off the ball and
Broncos and man coverage And guess what they're gonna do
with Jamar Chase. They're gonna run him on a shallow
route and PS two is gonna be chasing, right, and
it's gonna be.
Speaker 3 (22:58):
Like, oh, well PS two got burnt. No he didn't, No,
it didn't. Stupid the defense called manded man coverage.
Speaker 2 (23:03):
He ran a shallow rock because the coordinator say, well,
we're gonna free him up.
Speaker 3 (23:07):
But that's what you do. And if take Higgins needs.
Speaker 2 (23:11):
Someone else to compliment him, that's up to the Broncos
staff to go out and get that complimentary piece.
Speaker 3 (23:17):
And I think the piece is Alreadys there and Martin Mims.
Speaker 4 (23:21):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (23:21):
I mean the Broncos like the wide receivers they had there,
they sort of came into their own over the course
of the season. There you mentioned mems, you know, like
Devon Bailey had some nice catches, Carlyn Sutton had a
great season. You know, like they sort of came into
their own. Feels like if you added a guy like
t that would be really a strong unit.
Speaker 3 (23:42):
Because once what you were trying to establish is fear.
Speaker 4 (23:47):
He's a fear for yes, you just think about it.
Speaker 2 (23:49):
But with the way that Bow moves into pocket, the
pocket's gonna move, He's gonna extend plays, he's gonna get
outside the pocket. What you would like to see the
evolution of the Broncos receivers actually get to is that
can you make run that next route? Because when we
talk about Patrick Mahomes, what do we.
Speaker 3 (24:06):
Always talk about, Well, you got to defend not the
first route, but the second and the third one.
Speaker 4 (24:10):
The freestyle there you go.
Speaker 2 (24:12):
So with both showing a little freestyle, you need freestyle
wide receivers who can get on the same page with him.
And that's guys who are threatening you, not horizontally. If
you run a lot of horizontal stuff, you played to
the hands of the defense.
Speaker 3 (24:27):
We need to press vertically.
Speaker 2 (24:29):
You want your offense to constantly be a threat pressing vertically.
And a guy like t Higgins and some other guys
I mentioned Matt Collins, those types of guys would help
as well.
Speaker 1 (24:39):
So you would be excited if they went out and
spend a bunch of money on a big time guy
like Tea.
Speaker 3 (24:44):
Yes, yeah, because now teams are going like Okay, let
me put it to you this way. Well, you're looking
at the Scott Report, all right, you're going down the
Scott Report and you're saying, well, which guy on this
team terrifies us? Yeah?
Speaker 4 (24:58):
Who are we building the game play against?
Speaker 3 (25:00):
That's right? Who are we looking to double? Right? Who
are we looking at double? Somebody say, well, TM Higgins
is not that guy that you want to double. At
least it make you think about it.
Speaker 4 (25:12):
Yeah, and so.
Speaker 1 (25:14):
You think maybe that's where this team is versus like,
let's draft another guy, Let's develop this guy, Let's build
this core and let it grow organically, and in a
couple of years that unit will be really strong. You're like, no,
the time is now because like to me, like gms,
they're always balancing like win right now versus win long term.
(25:36):
So if you go out and spend a lot of
money on a guy like Tim Higgins, Okay, the Broncos
have some other holes that they want to address, maybe
there's not enough money left over to do that. You know,
you're just always balancing, right, like where are we allocating
all of our assets?
Speaker 4 (25:52):
Here are resources?
Speaker 1 (25:54):
And so you know I could see especially a guy
like Sean Payton he does not have a history of
going on and get in a high priced free agent
offensive weapon, because I know Sean thinks that, hey, I
can develop these guys, and I can coach these guys up,
and I can get the very most out of some
(26:14):
of these guys. I like to draft guys in the
seventh round and find these hidden gems and build them
into all pro kind of guys. That sort of like
feels like traditionally has been Sean's philosophy. But hey, after
the season Lebronc has just had why not go out
and get a guy?
Speaker 2 (26:33):
Well, see, that's not a bad philosophy. That does not
a bad philosophy. It's just like, Okay, you have to
understand what side of the bread which is buttered right
right now is their defense? So right now the defense
needs assistance. If the defense has assistance, it changes the
outlook of twenty twenty four season. And now you're moving
(26:55):
into twenty twenty five and you going through all these
evaluations and you don't have to go out and get
it a T. Higgins and spend that money. You could
go in the draft and you can hit on some guys.
Now you can't. You know, bet Bo's future on getting
free agent and seventh round picks. No, you can get
a couple of those guys, but once again, we're looking
(27:17):
for impact players that can help right away. And when
you look at some of the guys coming out this year,
a lot of the Tamat kid out of Arizona sixty
five to twelve. Oh yeah, you know that that's a
kid that that you can grab and add to the team.
Speaker 3 (27:35):
So it's just like you, you're building a core group of.
Speaker 2 (27:37):
Guys together because if you keep kicking the can down
the streets that we're gonna win in twenty twenty six
to twenty twenty seven.
Speaker 3 (27:44):
Who's to say that you're actually here as a coach?
Speaker 1 (27:47):
Ooh yeah, that's the thing. Coaches always want to win
right now. Gms are always thinking big picture.
Speaker 2 (27:54):
But you can get you can you can get both
of those things simultaneously.
Speaker 3 (27:59):
But it's based on looking at your roster. What is
it that we do right, Because if you look at
twenty twenty four, whatever the Broncos did in twenty twenty
four wasn't good enough to beat the Bills.
Speaker 2 (28:10):
So now you gotta take it to a whole level.
It's from love in twenty twenty five. You need to
bring in guys with the right attitude. And I'm talking
about physicality because when you when you are a corner
of safety and the wide receivers hitting you in your
mouth constantly, that's gonna be a problem.
Speaker 3 (28:27):
I mean, that puts your run game on track.
Speaker 1 (28:30):
So do you maybe instead of a big wide receiver,
maybe you try and go out and get make your
priority this offseason and find a running back.
Speaker 2 (28:37):
Oh no, you're gonna get a running back, but you're
gonna get some physical wide receivers too. You can't just say, well,
we're gonna get a running back and that's gonna clear
up everything for us. It's gonna be shiny days and
rose pedals.
Speaker 3 (28:49):
No, it's not. And the reason I'm saying that.
Speaker 2 (28:51):
Because I've been around two coaches, one working in San
Francisco and playing for Mike Shanahan, and the wide receivers
are an extension of the run game. For the run
game to get on track, we got you have to
add wide receivers to to block. And when I first
got here, I was around An McCaffrey and Rod Smith.
Speaker 1 (29:12):
Those are like the two of the best wide receiver
block blockers of all times.
Speaker 2 (29:15):
And you could say, well, they were not the fastest
guys at that point in their career, but guess what,
the one thing they were still doing walking.
Speaker 3 (29:21):
They will put you on your backside.
Speaker 1 (29:23):
You think they were better than your favorite Hines Ward
blocking wide receiver, that.
Speaker 2 (29:28):
Guy's a sucker. See that was different. See I call
Heines a sucker because his blocks were all sucker blocks.
Speaker 3 (29:38):
He's gonna hit you when you're not looking, if you're
looking at him straight his eyes like I'm looking at.
Speaker 4 (29:44):
You, you know, Phil wo hit you.
Speaker 3 (29:46):
Nah, He's just gonna come there and he's gonna dance
with you. But if you are not looking, Oh yes,
I'm like, man, dear man, hit me while I'm looking
at you.
Speaker 4 (29:55):
You took one of those from Heinz.
Speaker 2 (29:57):
I took two of them. Two, Yeah, one of the
I took. And I shouldn't have come back in the game.
I came back in the game because I'm like, man,
I'm going to get him. I'm getting him for what
he did. I mean, he hit me with a sucker
with a sucker hit two. And I remember on the
(30:18):
sideline really quickly, the doctor was just like, Okay, well, Nick,
we're gonna take you through the concussion protocol.
Speaker 3 (30:24):
Where are you Hinesfield? What time of day is nighttime?
He said, I want you to count back from one
hundred to zero, and I want you to do it
by five.
Speaker 2 (30:36):
I say, man, get out of my face. You can't
even do that. I give me something else, give me
something else. But yes, haws Ward, man, he would hit
you when you're not looking.
Speaker 1 (30:46):
These are some of the elements of the game that
I think if you're just watching at home, like you
don't necessarily think about that. You're always thinking about, you know,
strategy in the game and stuff like that. But really,
you go into the huddle and you're back, you're just out.
Speaker 4 (30:59):
There, You'll be like, I'm gonna get hides.
Speaker 3 (31:02):
You know what it was because I didn't even hear
the play call.
Speaker 4 (31:06):
Part of it was no part of.
Speaker 2 (31:08):
It I was I was concussed, and the other part
was I was upset and all I know is I
saw Hines and all I saw was his jersey and
I was running at.
Speaker 3 (31:17):
Him like yeah, I'm about to get him. And then
next thing, you know, things were dark, right, and I
was like, hey, why is it so dark in here?
Next thing I know, oh, I know why I had
a face planting the grass and after that they took
my helmet.
Speaker 4 (31:32):
Yeah, because if they.
Speaker 3 (31:35):
Didn't take my helmet to go back out there, I
was going right back. I was going right back.
Speaker 4 (31:41):
That's how that's how you were conditioned to be like that.
Speaker 3 (31:44):
I was built that way.
Speaker 2 (31:45):
There's no such thing as being well in the world
of sports.
Speaker 3 (31:48):
Are you injured or are you hurt?
Speaker 4 (31:50):
Yeah, that's the way. Different, way different.
Speaker 3 (31:53):
But my idea was like, we're playing through both of them.
I don't care what it is. We're gonna play through it. Now.
If I'm a little king conant, I'm trying to see
which one I'm going to hit. I gotta wait there
for a second, because right before the whistle blow, the
image start coming into frame, like like if you find it,
you know, like if you find it, you keep you know, changing,
(32:13):
so you keep blinking your eyes. Those two frames turn
into one. Then you go, oh, that's the hit, the
one in the middle. You're like at the eye, doctor,
which is that a one or two? I'm just running
straight the one in the middle.
Speaker 1 (32:30):
Yeah, but yeah, I mean you think about Ed McCaffrey,
like that play in the Super Bowl, like that sort
of like the highlight you always show.
Speaker 2 (32:39):
Yes, he peeled back on the guy knocked him on
his backside, and he pointed at him.
Speaker 3 (32:44):
He pointed at him and pointed at him.
Speaker 1 (32:46):
That's sort of the attitude that those guys had. So
it's kind of like, yeah, they can't they're capable blockers,
but they also had that nasty mindset.
Speaker 2 (32:55):
See, I don't want someone that's a capable blocker. I
got a seven year old son who can be a
capable blocker. That's not gonna do anything for me. I
want someone who's gonna come in and who's gonna lurt
lay the wood. He's going to have good footwork, hand
placement and drive a guy off the ball.
Speaker 3 (33:11):
That's what I want.
Speaker 1 (33:13):
And the mentality right like that they want to go
out like a lot of wide receivers go hey, I
get paid to catch touchdowns.
Speaker 3 (33:19):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (33:19):
They just kind of throwing his shoulder in there, like, man,
get in there, dig that linebacker out.
Speaker 4 (33:24):
Let's let's make some plays here. All right.
Speaker 1 (33:26):
Well, we're just getting a started here on talking about
the Broncos offseason and maybe some of the guys they
might target also wanted to get into the Pro Bowl
coming up this weekend talk a little bit more about that.
Speaker 4 (33:37):
That's next on Broncos Country Tonight
Hanging out on this Friday night with Nick Ferguson and
we're having a good time talking Broncos here talking bow
Knicks right now, Nick, heading into his sophomore season. How
important is this offseason going to be for bow Knicks?
Speaker 2 (00:14):
It is very important And for me first and foremost,
if I'm objectively looking at what I saw last year
and I'm going to proach this from a defensive standpoint,
that I would say, we're bold to continually work on
his footwork.
Speaker 3 (00:32):
And that is kind of the driver of the.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
Engine if you are a quarterback, because when you think
about the direction where quarterback kind of looks in a
particular direction and he's got to reset his feet and
come to balance because you need your feet to direct
you where you want to.
Speaker 3 (00:50):
Throw the ball.
Speaker 2 (00:51):
Like I can look to my left and I could
do a Matthew Stafford and throw it to my right,
but how.
Speaker 3 (00:55):
Far will that ball to actually travel? So you have
to reset your feet, you know.
Speaker 2 (01:00):
And it's not like you're getting happy feet in the
pocket because most people think when they watch a quarterback,
well he's a little skinner, she's impatient, he doesn't have
pocket presence.
Speaker 3 (01:09):
No, he's moving his feet. He's looking around.
Speaker 2 (01:11):
How many times when Peyton Manning played DVC Peyton doing that,
his feet were constantly moving, so he can set them,
reset them, trigger and throw the ball. Bow needs to
continue to work on that aspect of his game. Hopefully
this offseason he's able to get with a couple of
wide receivers and started throwing passes. But now it's going
to come to a point where the Broncos are going
(01:32):
to have to do a great job and free agency
in the draft to put more talent around him.
Speaker 1 (01:38):
Yeah, I mean, the team has to continue is going
to continue to evolve. And the other thing to me,
Nick seems like maybe like watching film doing a self
scout of himself, be like, hey, you know, earlier in
the season, defenses were trying to make me do this.
Then over the course of the year they started making
me try to do this. How am I going to
continue to adjust?
Speaker 3 (01:56):
I'm glad you brought that up.
Speaker 2 (01:57):
Because every player, and no matter what the sport is,
they have a tail. It is your job as a
coach to figure out what that taiale is. And for me,
because my eyes have been trained over these years.
Speaker 3 (02:11):
Of watching football, I pick up on certain things.
Speaker 2 (02:15):
It's like, you can't unsee what you've seen and it's
breaking Tennessee.
Speaker 3 (02:19):
So watching you on tape is important.
Speaker 2 (02:23):
I learned that by playing against Peyton Manning so many
years in my career and not beating him that, Okay,
well why did we not beat him?
Speaker 3 (02:32):
What is he picking up on what we're doing? Because
usually when you.
Speaker 2 (02:36):
See a quarterback come out, he's gonna look at the secondary,
he's gonna look at the linebackers. And even though guys
in the secondary think they're doing a hell of a
job disguising, they got the whole David Copperfield things going,
no Peyton would always know. And the way I found out,
I'm sitting in a room of the year they went
to twenty fifteen doing Super Bowl fifteen right in training camp.
Speaker 3 (02:56):
I'm sending in the room and Great Nap is running
the room.
Speaker 2 (02:59):
And he's asking brought Oswaaler Zach Disert questions. Peyton is
over there answering questions too. But the way that Great
Nap handled Peyton was different than the other guys. And
Peyton was sitting in the room and he knew what
the coverage was, and I'm sitting there like the hell
he knows that, but he's like, well, look at how
(03:21):
the linebacker has moved over.
Speaker 3 (03:23):
Look at the safety. They look like they're in cover too,
but they're a little stagger and he's looking at their footwork.
And I was like, man, I could have used this
when we played, right, But these.
Speaker 2 (03:33):
Are the things that you want to look at and
self scout, so when you come back that next year,
you know what they are looking at and you have
to constantly change because the game of football is evolution.
Speaker 4 (03:45):
You were in the film room then with those guys.
Speaker 3 (03:48):
Yeah, yeah, okay, So here's the thing now. I was
doing a defensive scouting internship wayde Phillips was the head
coach at the time, and I think Woods was the
kind of defensive back coach.
Speaker 4 (04:02):
Uh uh wait was the defensive cord?
Speaker 3 (04:05):
Yeah, so what I did?
Speaker 2 (04:06):
I say, wait a minute, I'm doing this defensive thing,
but I need to learn more about offense.
Speaker 3 (04:12):
So where would I get a chance to do that?
Speaker 2 (04:16):
I say, well, let me go in the room with
the quarterbacks, right, smart enough, right to know how they think.
And as I'm sitting there, and I'm sitting in the
room and writing notes and I'm trying to get everything down, like, oh, wow,
they know that.
Speaker 3 (04:28):
I mean, okay, that's gonna be good to know.
Speaker 2 (04:30):
Later on, coach Cool walks through the door and he goes, hey, man,
what the hell are you doing in here? I was like, well,
I'm trying to learn what they know because that's gonna
make me a better defensive mind knowing how they approached
the game. And when I got into San Francisco, that's
how I coached it based on my defensive eyes knowing
(04:52):
and I say, I don't know offense as well as
Kyle of Sean McVay, Sean Payton, or Mike Shanney. I
do no defense, But now seeing it, Oh, this is
how they're trying to attack us. So this is what
bol is going to have to spend a lot of
time on an offseason watching because there's gonna be some
consistency with the offense. But I do hope that certain
(05:13):
elements of the game actually changed as far as the
game playing for Broncos.
Speaker 1 (05:18):
Yeah, interesting you mentioned that defensive players looking at how
the quarterback operates and stuff like that. Because this week
Pat Sortam the second on up and Adams had this
to say about both future.
Speaker 4 (05:31):
What impressed me most is.
Speaker 5 (05:33):
I'm just saying how he was able to control the
offense and sort of has so much of a presence
leadership wise. Over the locker room. I think everybody felt
his presence. Everybody felt the type of player he was.
I mean, obviously he's an exceptional player, but the person
he is on top of that makes him even better person.
(05:55):
I think with his composure, with his attitude that he
brings to the game, He's gonna be a threat for
this for years to come in this league. You know,
you've seen it this year and this was only you know,
his rookie year, and you see that happens rookie year.
I'm excited to see where he grows on from here
(06:16):
and there. So yeah, Bo was gonna be something special
for sure. So I'm excited for him.
Speaker 1 (06:23):
That's PS two with Kay Adams there. What do you
think about that Nick him saying that, you know, a
guy like PS two saying that Bo Nicks is going
to be special? You think that's just Hey, that's my teammate,
I'm gonna hype him up or you That's sounded pretty
genuine to me.
Speaker 2 (06:38):
Yeah, that's not Hyperboleieve that that is seeing a guy
go out to work.
Speaker 3 (06:44):
Watch how he's.
Speaker 2 (06:45):
Matured from the beginning of the season, because at the
beginning of the season, in my opinion, Bold wasn't playing
the way that I saw or playing at Auburn and
Oregon or I thought that he could play. It's almost
like he was playing in the plastic box. But then
it got to a point where he was allowed to
be unleashed, allowed to use his guy given skill set.
(07:09):
And that's the one thing about the locker room and
where I come from Miami, you made you. Guys may
have heard this before, and it's not just a saying
in Miami, but but this is what we used to
say a lot. Don't talk about it, be about it,
and players respect that. Don't tell me what you're going
to do, Peel, I don't want to hear what you're
going to do. Go out and freaking do it. And
(07:30):
when we see you go out and do it, now
it's go, oh okay, this dude is for real. And
I think when Bo had the interaction with Sean Payton
on the sideline where he barked back, I think he
garnered a much more amount of respect from.
Speaker 3 (07:45):
His teammates, especially on the defensive.
Speaker 4 (07:47):
Side of the ball defensive players like that.
Speaker 3 (07:50):
Yes, yes, I mean.
Speaker 2 (07:52):
Because people get animated in the game because this passion.
Everyone wants to win and sometimes you're the way that
you may express that may not be in the most
healthy way.
Speaker 3 (08:03):
But the idea is that we're grown men.
Speaker 2 (08:05):
You bark at me, I'm a bark back at you,
but there's a level of mutual respect and that's the
way that you have to see it. And that's what
PS two was talking about Bos a young guy. There's
a certain level of respect and how he carried himself
because it was When you play quarterback in the league,
there's a lot.
Speaker 3 (08:23):
Of pressure on you.
Speaker 2 (08:25):
But when you play quarterback for the Denver freaking Broncos,
there's a lot of pressure on you. The putter doesn't
have the same pressure as a quarterback.
Speaker 1 (08:35):
Wait wait, wait, you just told me how important special
teams was.
Speaker 2 (08:38):
Special teams It is the point because that's an overall group.
But when you're playing that single position that everyone's looking
at you saying, okay, well, our success and failures hinge
on how well you play and how well you think.
Speaker 4 (08:54):
Yeah, I mean the balls in his hand every single play,
every single play, Yeah, I think that.
Speaker 1 (08:59):
You know What was amazing to me is just how
he won over the locker room, because you're right, Nick,
there's a lot of pressure on him. But more than that,
it can be a tricky balance. Right, being the quarterback,
you're naturally gonna be have a strong voice in the
locker room, right, So, like, just based off the position
he plays, he's going to be a leader in that
(09:21):
locker room. But at the same time, it's like, well,
you're just a rook you're a rookie, but how do
you handle that balance if you're both well, which he
obviously he handled it perfectly because guys like PS two
could have easily been like, man, don't talk to me
like that a PS two. But that never ever happened.
(09:41):
You never heard anything like that. All those guys had
immense respect for bo right off the bat, and even
though he's a rookie, he was able to lead and
he was able to do fulfill his role as quarterbacks.
Speaker 2 (09:53):
Yeah, but the thing about sports is that, going back
to what I said, don't talk about it, be about it.
Speaker 3 (09:59):
Be about it.
Speaker 2 (10:00):
When quarterbacks come into the game, they're already propped on
the predestal Oh, you're the face of the franchise even
though you're a rookie, and you're like, well, you haven't
done a darn thing in this league yet, but everyone's
patting you on your back the jerseys and stores or whatever.
Speaker 3 (10:14):
So we don't want to hear that. We don't want
to hear the head coach tell us how good you are.
Go out and show us who you are.
Speaker 2 (10:22):
And when you start showing who you are, players start
to believe it. And when you start talking about, well
can this guy need this team? Don't tell me that
you're a leader because you are the quarterback.
Speaker 3 (10:35):
Go out and seize that moment.
Speaker 2 (10:36):
And both did that by going out and playing well
but also stumbling, failing, having issues, and then now bouncing back.
Because the way I look at it, I've never seen
the kid have a bad game and just be kind
of flatten down on himself. It was always a moment
where you're like, oh, you know, wish both would have
(10:58):
did this, would have done that.
Speaker 3 (11:00):
Comes out and he gives you something else. You're like,
that's what I want, Like, I'm sorry, I got to
do this, grant.
Speaker 4 (11:07):
Games. I just have to right.
Speaker 2 (11:10):
Because we talked about when we talk about players, we
talk about it's moments. I mean watching Bowl rolled on
tour is right, not even set his feet, thrown off
one foot ball down the field, Marvin Mans kind of
lost to guys.
Speaker 3 (11:24):
I mean that was brilliant beauty of the game exactly.
Speaker 2 (11:28):
And I hate going back to that game, but that
was one of those games for me that not that
Boll solidified himself, but Bone became a Denver Broncos quarterback.
And the reason I say that because the pressure associated
with playing with this job, playing that position in this city,
but having those moments right like in college they.
Speaker 3 (11:51):
Yea, who won that game? Again? I get it, I
get it, Yes, the Bengals won that game. But but
but it's those moments that you go, yes, I believe,
I believe in him. I believe in that guy.
Speaker 1 (12:05):
There are some special moments in that game for sure. Yeah.
I mean your guy, Jake Plumber had a lot of
those kind of special moments.
Speaker 2 (12:13):
Now exactly, because this is what we look for when
you were a fan and you're a teammate, those moments
in college football, we.
Speaker 3 (12:22):
Got the Heisman Trophy. And what is it that.
Speaker 2 (12:25):
Everyone always says, right, I'm a Heisman voter, you're looking
for that Heisman signature moment.
Speaker 3 (12:33):
What was it?
Speaker 4 (12:34):
Yeah, and Bow had a lot.
Speaker 2 (12:36):
Of them sprinkled throughout, but enough to make me feel
as though, you know what, this kid is gonna be special.
Speaker 3 (12:43):
They keep building around him, right, I.
Speaker 2 (12:45):
Know, we talk about Josh Allen, all these guys, you
get the right framework around him, the right group.
Speaker 3 (12:53):
All of a sudden, Rose in that category the angles
rush four, next deep drop. Now Rose is right, throws
the ball he wants to me in the corner of
the end zone. Marvin goes up, makes the catch, touchdown.
Speaker 4 (13:07):
They are stand here at pain Course Stadium. A twenty
five yard touchdown pass Nicks come mems. That was unbelievable.
Oh he just threw that thing up there though.
Speaker 1 (13:20):
Yes, and Men's did the work it once again.
Speaker 2 (13:25):
That's why this is the best team sport in the league,
because sometimes the quarterback has got to build the receiver
oute by ball placement, and sometimes the receiver's got to say,
you know what, I'm gonna go up and.
Speaker 3 (13:36):
Make it play for my quarterback.
Speaker 1 (13:38):
You talk about building around bow is what bo did
last year? Is that enough to entice free agents to
be like, yeah, I hear, I hear, you know, maybe
I'm at the Pro Bowl. I'm talking to PS two.
PS two is like him, man, bo, He's for real, man,
you should come come check it out. You think that
(13:58):
he did enough there to entice some Yeah, but.
Speaker 2 (14:01):
It all depends on where those free agents are in
their career. Are you on the back side of your
career where you look, man, I only got two years remaining,
And it's like, well, dude, I want to go to
the Broncos and are they in.
Speaker 3 (14:13):
That championship window? Because that's the biggest thing.
Speaker 2 (14:16):
Right after you play in this league long enough and
you made decent money, now you're looking at Okay, well
I'm gonna retire here soon. I want to make sure
that I at least had an opportunity to compete for
a championship. So if that's what you're looking around for now,
if you get guys who are in their fourth or
fifth year, obviously yes, like yeah, let me let me
come to Denver. I mean they got a quarterback and
(14:37):
play and I got PS two. And we always talk
about during free agency in all sports, especially the NBA
and the NFL, the legal tampering period or or what
they called the illegal tamping period. If you know another
player and you're at the Pro Bowl and you know
another player, this contract is expiring. There's nothing to say. Man,
(15:01):
you should come in and holler at us.
Speaker 1 (15:04):
Yeah, of course that's what goes on, Yes, and that
happens all you know. These guys are friends, they go back,
you know, college days whatever. I mean, that's just it's
a small world, the NFL world, NAG. So I guess
that's the other thing is that the Broncos are probably
looking for guys like that though too, Like the Broncos
don't want to go out and get like a veteran
(15:25):
wide receiver to come and add to this room because yeah,
but by the time the Broncos are in a legit
championship window, that guy's going to be too old.
Speaker 4 (15:36):
So right now, well.
Speaker 3 (15:37):
Well, bil, what is what's too old? What does that?
What is too old?
Speaker 4 (15:44):
I guess it depends on the style of wide receiver.
Speaker 3 (15:48):
There you go.
Speaker 4 (15:48):
Some guys are a little more physical, yeh.
Speaker 1 (15:51):
Some guys are like, hey, I'm crafty, I'm gonna route
run and I'm gonna get open no matter what.
Speaker 3 (15:57):
And once again that's what we should talk about, right.
Speaker 2 (16:00):
Can you bring in some veteran players who may be
on the last two or three years of their career.
But they can come in and establish some culture here
because the culture, in my opinion, hasn't been fully set.
Speaker 3 (16:14):
You know, bring in some more veteran guys in here,
actually do it.
Speaker 2 (16:17):
And look, competition has his way of motivating the heck
out of people. Yeah, so I can personally tell you,
and I always go back to this, based on being
around being in New York and being around ourselves. He
was constantly doing that, putting you on pressure, bringing in
people and he's gonna tell you who he's bringing in,
and they're coming for your job.
Speaker 4 (16:39):
Mind games, my game, That's what it was.
Speaker 1 (16:41):
Yeah, Okay, we'll talk a lot more Broncos free agency
coming up here. By time for a quick break. You're
listening to Broncos Country tonight.
Speaker 3 (16:47):
That's a different sound.
Speaker 4 (16:51):
Film.
Speaker 1 (16:51):
Alani filling in for Benjamin Alright, hanging out with Nick Ferguson.
We're talking Broncos off season here and how aggressive they
might be in free agency. Nick, because one of the
things we heard a lot last year with this Broncos
team was hey, Bo Knicks was great, Corlin Sutton had
a great season, but they need more dynamic pass catchers.
(17:15):
They need some more weapons once they get that this
offense is going to take off. Are they going to
be able to acquire some talent here this offseason?
Speaker 3 (17:24):
Name?
Speaker 2 (17:25):
Yeah, Absolutely, they're gonna be able to acquire some talent
because this is a team that made the playoffs after
missing the playoffs for about eight to nine years. Bob
Nix is a young guy on the contract, and he played, well, it's.
Speaker 3 (17:37):
Just a matter of fact. He said, okay, well, how
can you find two.
Speaker 2 (17:40):
Things from a personnel standpoint defensively, but from an offensive
standpoint as well. So for me, when I look at
the Broncos, when you look at some veteran wide receivers,
he said, well, what direction do you want to go in?
And obviously when you look at some of these guys,
(18:01):
they're in their ten, twelve, eight year pushing twenty nine
thirty one, and where it works in the NFL, I
mean after.
Speaker 3 (18:08):
Twenty seven, not for long. Yes, you know how that happens.
Speaker 2 (18:12):
But right off the bat, if you had a wish list,
T Higgins, it's definitely one of those guys on the
wish list. Now the next guy I'm gonna give you.
Most fans may not really like this mac Collins receiver
from Buffalo, And even though it's not a household name,
(18:32):
I just look at some of the plays that he
made and he actually made against the.
Speaker 3 (18:36):
Broncos defense, and he was making in the playoffs.
Speaker 2 (18:38):
But the most important part in my opinion of watching
him play, he's made of the right stuff. There's a
certain type of toughness that if I'm going out looking
for players and trying to put it to the team together,
I'm looking forward that both physical and mental toughness.
Speaker 4 (18:53):
You mentioned tm Higgins there.
Speaker 1 (18:56):
Do you think the Bronxis would be interested in making
that big of a spot free agency?
Speaker 4 (19:00):
Like are they ready to do that?
Speaker 2 (19:04):
They better be ready if you're telling me that, if
you believe in bow and love and saying, okay, well
he's our.
Speaker 3 (19:12):
Guy, we got to give him some people.
Speaker 2 (19:14):
Because the last thing you want to do with any
player that has a superior talent on the either side
of the ball is waste that ability. I mean, you
don't want to waste the talent that you have and
three time pro bowler PS two, you don't want to
waste the time of bow knicks. So it's trying to
put a highly competitive team together and see what happens.
Speaker 1 (19:35):
Yeah, it's like, hey, they made the playoffs this year,
they talked about their goals at the end of the
season and send their sights on the division taking another
step next year. And if they want to do that,
they're gonna have to make some moves here, you know,
because I think offensively they they took a big jump
last year. But there are a lot of times, Nick,
(19:56):
in some of these games where there is too many
three and outs in a row, there was too many
long stretches of the game where the offense just wasn't
doing enough.
Speaker 4 (20:05):
And sometimes in those types.
Speaker 1 (20:08):
Of moments, you just need a guy who just makes
a play, you know, like a guy who's just like
better than everybody else. They make a play, give them
a spark, just something to get the chains movement a
little maybe, and T.
Speaker 4 (20:21):
Higgins could be that guy.
Speaker 1 (20:22):
I mean, think about what that offense will look like
if you brought in a guy like T Higgins. Now,
T is gonna be like probably the most sought after
player this offseason.
Speaker 2 (20:33):
Yeah, okay, so do you want to be in the
mix or you not want to be in the mix?
And the way I sum it up to to Broncos fans.
I mean, do you want to eat ramen noodles? Oh
you want a rib by? A state's what you want? Yeah, okay,
because these are your choices.
Speaker 1 (20:47):
But you don't want to overpay. You don't want to say, hey,
here's a ton of money. T Higgins comes in and
then maybe you're like, oh, maybe I thought this was
going to be the ribbi, but really.
Speaker 3 (20:59):
Well, okay, So if you're gonna buy a ribbi, you
want to make sure you cook it the right way.
You want to make sure you season it the right way.
Speaker 2 (21:07):
Right, So season it the right way means that if
you're going to spend a substantial amount of money out
for a player who's gonna be highly coveted, you got
to bring him in and you got to set them up.
You gotta feed him. You're gonna give him so many passes.
Speaker 3 (21:21):
He gonna be like, man, I'm tired as hell, but
you know what, I don't care.
Speaker 2 (21:25):
We throw him more to you. It's the same thing
if the Broncos were to add a veteran running back
or to draft.
Speaker 3 (21:32):
A running back right that was a huge problem for
the Broncos. The inability to consistently run the.
Speaker 2 (21:37):
Ball, which in My opinion was not solely on the
running backs and the running backs alone, but the idea
is that, like you said, and coach pe in and said.
Speaker 3 (21:46):
It himself, he needs a joker. Who is that joker?
Speaker 2 (21:50):
They tried to turn Marvin Mams into that joker and
there were some positive plays there, right, but you need
more of those guys.
Speaker 1 (22:00):
The knock on tea though, could be that like, okay,
look you got Joe Burrow throwing you the football and
on the other side is Jamar Chase, and so like,
you're not going up against the number one dB in
those situations. You don't see that much a PS two
during that game, and so.
Speaker 4 (22:16):
You're gonna eat.
Speaker 1 (22:18):
And now maybe if you come here, it's not gonna
be as sweet a deal.
Speaker 3 (22:22):
See.
Speaker 2 (22:22):
I don't like that philosophy because watching football, if you
are a number one wide receiver, if the offensive coordinator
is smart and good at his job, they got you
off the ball anyway, even if you're facing again. Just
when everyone was building the Cincinnati game versus the Broncos,
it was PS two versus Jamar Chase, and I was like,
you're not.
Speaker 3 (22:42):
Gonna get that.
Speaker 2 (22:43):
You think you're gonna get that, But what they're gonna do,
Zach tayl is gonna get him off the ball and
Broncos and man coverage And guess what they're gonna do
with Jamar Chase. They're gonna run him on a shallow
route and PS two is gonna be chasing, right, and
it's gonna be.
Speaker 3 (22:58):
Like, oh, well PS two got burnt. No he didn't, No,
it didn't. Stupid the defense called manded man coverage.
Speaker 2 (23:03):
He ran a shallow rock because the coordinator say, well,
we're gonna free him up.
Speaker 3 (23:07):
But that's what you do. And if take Higgins needs.
Speaker 2 (23:11):
Someone else to compliment him, that's up to the Broncos
staff to go out and get that complimentary piece.
Speaker 3 (23:17):
And I think the piece is Alreadys there and Martin Mims.
Speaker 4 (23:21):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (23:21):
I mean the Broncos like the wide receivers they had there,
they sort of came into their own over the course
of the season. There you mentioned mems, you know, like
Devon Bailey had some nice catches, Carlyn Sutton had a
great season. You know, like they sort of came into
their own. Feels like if you added a guy like
t that would be really a strong unit.
Speaker 3 (23:42):
Because once what you were trying to establish is fear.
Speaker 4 (23:47):
He's a fear for yes, you just think about it.
Speaker 2 (23:49):
But with the way that Bow moves into pocket, the
pocket's gonna move, He's gonna extend plays, he's gonna get
outside the pocket. What you would like to see the
evolution of the Broncos receivers actually get to is that
can you make run that next route? Because when we
talk about Patrick Mahomes, what do we.
Speaker 3 (24:06):
Always talk about, Well, you got to defend not the
first route, but the second and the third one.
Speaker 4 (24:10):
The freestyle there you go.
Speaker 2 (24:12):
So with both showing a little freestyle, you need freestyle
wide receivers who can get on the same page with him.
And that's guys who are threatening you, not horizontally. If
you run a lot of horizontal stuff, you played to
the hands of the defense.
Speaker 3 (24:27):
We need to press vertically.
Speaker 2 (24:29):
You want your offense to constantly be a threat pressing vertically.
And a guy like t Higgins and some other guys
I mentioned Matt Collins, those types of guys would help
as well.
Speaker 1 (24:39):
So you would be excited if they went out and
spend a bunch of money on a big time guy
like Tea.
Speaker 3 (24:44):
Yes, yeah, because now teams are going like Okay, let
me put it to you this way. Well, you're looking
at the Scott Report, all right, you're going down the
Scott Report and you're saying, well, which guy on this
team terrifies us? Yeah?
Speaker 4 (24:58):
Who are we building the game play against?
Speaker 3 (25:00):
That's right? Who are we looking to double? Right? Who
are we looking at double? Somebody say, well, TM Higgins
is not that guy that you want to double. At
least it make you think about it.
Speaker 4 (25:12):
Yeah, and so.
Speaker 1 (25:14):
You think maybe that's where this team is versus like,
let's draft another guy, Let's develop this guy, Let's build
this core and let it grow organically, and in a
couple of years that unit will be really strong. You're like, no,
the time is now because like to me, like gms,
they're always balancing like win right now versus win long term.
(25:36):
So if you go out and spend a lot of
money on a guy like Tim Higgins, Okay, the Broncos
have some other holes that they want to address, maybe
there's not enough money left over to do that. You know,
you're just always balancing, right, like where are we allocating
all of our assets?
Speaker 4 (25:52):
Here are resources?
Speaker 1 (25:54):
And so you know I could see especially a guy
like Sean Payton he does not have a history of
going on and get in a high priced free agent
offensive weapon, because I know Sean thinks that, hey, I
can develop these guys, and I can coach these guys up,
and I can get the very most out of some
(26:14):
of these guys. I like to draft guys in the
seventh round and find these hidden gems and build them
into all pro kind of guys. That sort of like
feels like traditionally has been Sean's philosophy. But hey, after
the season Lebronc has just had why not go out
and get a guy?
Speaker 2 (26:33):
Well, see, that's not a bad philosophy. That does not
a bad philosophy. It's just like, Okay, you have to
understand what side of the bread which is buttered right
right now is their defense? So right now the defense
needs assistance. If the defense has assistance, it changes the
outlook of twenty twenty four season. And now you're moving
(26:55):
into twenty twenty five and you going through all these
evaluations and you don't have to go out and get
it a T. Higgins and spend that money. You could
go in the draft and you can hit on some guys.
Now you can't. You know, bet Bo's future on getting
free agent and seventh round picks. No, you can get
a couple of those guys, but once again, we're looking
(27:17):
for impact players that can help right away. And when
you look at some of the guys coming out this year,
a lot of the Tamat kid out of Arizona sixty
five to twelve. Oh yeah, you know that that's a
kid that that you can grab and add to the team.
Speaker 3 (27:35):
So it's just like you, you're building a core group of.
Speaker 2 (27:37):
Guys together because if you keep kicking the can down
the streets that we're gonna win in twenty twenty six
to twenty twenty seven.
Speaker 3 (27:44):
Who's to say that you're actually here as a coach?
Speaker 1 (27:47):
Ooh yeah, that's the thing. Coaches always want to win
right now. Gms are always thinking big picture.
Speaker 2 (27:54):
But you can get you can you can get both
of those things simultaneously.
Speaker 3 (27:59):
But it's based on looking at your roster. What is
it that we do right, Because if you look at
twenty twenty four, whatever the Broncos did in twenty twenty
four wasn't good enough to beat the Bills.
Speaker 2 (28:10):
So now you gotta take it to a whole level.
It's from love in twenty twenty five. You need to
bring in guys with the right attitude. And I'm talking
about physicality because when you when you are a corner
of safety and the wide receivers hitting you in your
mouth constantly, that's gonna be a problem.
Speaker 3 (28:27):
I mean, that puts your run game on track.
Speaker 1 (28:30):
So do you maybe instead of a big wide receiver,
maybe you try and go out and get make your
priority this offseason and find a running back.
Speaker 2 (28:37):
Oh no, you're gonna get a running back, but you're
gonna get some physical wide receivers too. You can't just say, well,
we're gonna get a running back and that's gonna clear
up everything for us. It's gonna be shiny days and
rose pedals.
Speaker 3 (28:49):
No, it's not. And the reason I'm saying that.
Speaker 2 (28:51):
Because I've been around two coaches, one working in San
Francisco and playing for Mike Shanahan, and the wide receivers
are an extension of the run game. For the run
game to get on track, we got you have to
add wide receivers to to block. And when I first
got here, I was around An McCaffrey and Rod Smith.
Speaker 1 (29:12):
Those are like the two of the best wide receiver
block blockers of all times.
Speaker 2 (29:15):
And you could say, well, they were not the fastest
guys at that point in their career, but guess what,
the one thing they were still doing walking.
Speaker 3 (29:21):
They will put you on your backside.
Speaker 1 (29:23):
You think they were better than your favorite Hines Ward
blocking wide receiver, that.
Speaker 2 (29:28):
Guy's a sucker. See that was different. See I call
Heines a sucker because his blocks were all sucker blocks.
Speaker 3 (29:38):
He's gonna hit you when you're not looking, if you're
looking at him straight his eyes like I'm looking at.
Speaker 4 (29:44):
You, you know, Phil wo hit you.
Speaker 3 (29:46):
Nah, He's just gonna come there and he's gonna dance
with you. But if you are not looking, Oh yes,
I'm like, man, dear man, hit me while I'm looking
at you.
Speaker 4 (29:55):
You took one of those from Heinz.
Speaker 2 (29:57):
I took two of them. Two, Yeah, one of the
I took. And I shouldn't have come back in the game.
I came back in the game because I'm like, man,
I'm going to get him. I'm getting him for what
he did. I mean, he hit me with a sucker
with a sucker hit two. And I remember on the
(30:18):
sideline really quickly, the doctor was just like, Okay, well, Nick,
we're gonna take you through the concussion protocol.
Speaker 3 (30:24):
Where are you Hinesfield? What time of day is nighttime?
He said, I want you to count back from one
hundred to zero, and I want you to do it
by five.
Speaker 2 (30:36):
I say, man, get out of my face. You can't
even do that. I give me something else, give me
something else. But yes, haws Ward, man, he would hit
you when you're not looking.
Speaker 1 (30:46):
These are some of the elements of the game that
I think if you're just watching at home, like you
don't necessarily think about that. You're always thinking about, you know,
strategy in the game and stuff like that. But really,
you go into the huddle and you're back, you're just out.
Speaker 4 (30:59):
There, You'll be like, I'm gonna get hides.
Speaker 3 (31:02):
You know what it was because I didn't even hear
the play call.
Speaker 4 (31:06):
Part of it was no part of.
Speaker 2 (31:08):
It I was I was concussed, and the other part
was I was upset and all I know is I
saw Hines and all I saw was his jersey and
I was running at.
Speaker 3 (31:17):
Him like yeah, I'm about to get him. And then
next thing, you know, things were dark, right, and I
was like, hey, why is it so dark in here?
Next thing I know, oh, I know why I had
a face planting the grass and after that they took
my helmet.
Speaker 4 (31:32):
Yeah, because if they.
Speaker 3 (31:35):
Didn't take my helmet to go back out there, I
was going right back. I was going right back.
Speaker 4 (31:41):
That's how that's how you were conditioned to be like that.
Speaker 3 (31:44):
I was built that way.
Speaker 2 (31:45):
There's no such thing as being well in the world
of sports.
Speaker 3 (31:48):
Are you injured or are you hurt?
Speaker 4 (31:50):
Yeah, that's the way. Different, way different.
Speaker 3 (31:53):
But my idea was like, we're playing through both of them.
I don't care what it is. We're gonna play through it. Now.
If I'm a little king conant, I'm trying to see
which one I'm going to hit. I gotta wait there
for a second, because right before the whistle blow, the
image start coming into frame, like like if you find it,
you know, like if you find it, you keep you know, changing,
(32:13):
so you keep blinking your eyes. Those two frames turn
into one. Then you go, oh, that's the hit, the
one in the middle. You're like at the eye, doctor,
which is that a one or two? I'm just running
straight the one in the middle.
Speaker 1 (32:30):
Yeah, but yeah, I mean you think about Ed McCaffrey,
like that play in the Super Bowl, like that sort
of like the highlight you always show.
Speaker 2 (32:39):
Yes, he peeled back on the guy knocked him on
his backside, and he pointed at him.
Speaker 3 (32:44):
He pointed at him and pointed at him.
Speaker 1 (32:46):
That's sort of the attitude that those guys had. So
it's kind of like, yeah, they can't they're capable blockers,
but they also had that nasty mindset.
Speaker 2 (32:55):
See, I don't want someone that's a capable blocker. I
got a seven year old son who can be a
capable blocker. That's not gonna do anything for me. I
want someone who's gonna come in and who's gonna lurt
lay the wood. He's going to have good footwork, hand
placement and drive a guy off the ball.
Speaker 3 (33:11):
That's what I want.
Speaker 1 (33:13):
And the mentality right like that they want to go
out like a lot of wide receivers go hey, I
get paid to catch touchdowns.
Speaker 3 (33:19):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (33:19):
They just kind of throwing his shoulder in there, like, man,
get in there, dig that linebacker out.
Speaker 4 (33:24):
Let's let's make some plays here. All right.
Speaker 1 (33:26):
Well, we're just getting a started here on talking about
the Broncos offseason and maybe some of the guys they
might target also wanted to get into the Pro Bowl
coming up this weekend talk a little bit more about that.
Speaker 4 (33:37):
That's next on Broncos Country Tonight
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