03-06-25 Hour 2 of Broncos Country Tonight with Ryan Michael

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Pre tonight, Benjamin all Bright, Nick Ferguson, Zach Seagers here
with you.

Speaker 2 (00:03):
Five six six.

Speaker 1 (00:03):
Nine zero is the text line taking all way up
to the top of the RC bus prime time.

Speaker 3 (00:10):
Then appreciate you guys being along.

Speaker 2 (00:12):
For the ride.

Speaker 3 (00:14):
I'm gonna go right out to the Ukwait coast of
hotline and bring on.

Speaker 1 (00:16):
Our good buddy Ryan Michael at the Ryan Michael Pro
Football Hall of Fame contributor and with the back doing
the h the coaching and analyst side of things over
there in European football.

Speaker 2 (00:27):
Ryan, how you doing this evening?

Speaker 4 (00:29):
Doing well? Then? How are you guys?

Speaker 1 (00:31):
Good to your voice, sir, It's been a minute, you know.
It's uh, you know I've been gone. Weir sad Nick
and I were just talking and I was like, bro,
we had even done a show since before the combine.
It's just been that kind of busy around here lately
at KAWA. But good to get back on track and
do things the way we do them. No secret that
tight end position of need for the Broncos this offseason.
Before we started get into that, I understand you put

(00:54):
out on Twitter like some historical data to share about
our success at the position of the past.

Speaker 4 (01:00):
Hid and we're very, very top heavy at the tight
end position, meaning it's a statistic that's completely dominated by
Shannon Sharp. What I put out there was yards per
target with a minimum of seventy five targets, right, because
smaller sample sizes can be misleading. Even Adam Troutman last
year averaged a five yards per target, which is a

(01:23):
good mark in that category. It's just a small sample
size when you expand it out to seventy five or
more targets. What I did was I ranked the top eight,
and in seven of the top eight spodd that Shannon
Sharp every single time, nine point seven and ninety seven,
nine point one, in ninety six, nine point zero, ninety three,
Julius Thomas shows up right there in the middle, fourth place,

(01:45):
eight point eight yards per target. In twenty thirteen, that's
the year that Manning through fifty five touchdowns and then
you see Sharp eight point three, eight point two, eight
point zero, seven point eight, So the dominance of that position.
Shannon Sharp went to seven Executive Pro Bowls between nineteen
ninety two and nineteen ninety seven. We've been privileged to

(02:05):
see some really great tight end play in the NFL
over the last ten fifteen years. I think we overlook
a little bit how dominant Shannon Sharp was at the
peak of his power.

Speaker 5 (02:15):
So when we look at the Broncos quarterback position, they've
had some great guys playing. They've had Jake Plummelho played
with two Hall of Famers, and John Elway and Peyton Manning.

Speaker 2 (02:25):
But I know you're talking about Sharp. I mean Sharp
is that only name that we hear when we look
at the tight end position.

Speaker 5 (02:31):
Why is it that the Broncos haven't really been successful
produce another guy like Shannon Shaw?

Speaker 2 (02:37):
What do you attribute that too?

Speaker 4 (02:39):
Well, One, Shannon had great longevity, so he certainly didn't
give anybody else much of an opportunity when he played here.
And I look at the success that Shannon had a
little bit differently, obviously from the success that Julius Thomas had.
Julius Thomas in his first two full seasons with Peyton
Manning twenty thirteen to twenty fourteen, he averaged nearly one
cup of down every single game, twenty four touchdowns in

(03:02):
a two year stand, missing some games a long way.
And so Shamon was so dominant at the position and
raised the bar so high it certainly isn't from the
lack of trying. But as we know, Nick, the NFL
draft and free agency isn't exactly a science. And if
you pair a talented tight end with a Hall of
Fame caliber quarterback, obviously certainly doesn't hurt to have John

(03:24):
Elway or paynon Mann throwing you the ball tyer.

Speaker 3 (03:28):
With Ryan Michael at the Ryan Michael on Twitter.

Speaker 1 (03:31):
Sean Baton obviously has a history of success with the
tight end position. You go back and you look, you
got what four guys to or three guys to All pros,
four different All Pro season, most notable which obviously Jimmy Graham.
Do you see Bo Nicks establishing a similar dynamic with
a tight end in the coming year.

Speaker 4 (03:50):
We can only hope.

Speaker 1 (03:50):
So.

Speaker 4 (03:51):
Jimmy Graham is another guy who, at the peak of
his power, set the par very high in New Orleans.
It's easy to forget there was a time where we
actually had conversations about whether or not Jimmy Graham, not
Rob Gronkowski, might have been the best tight end in football.
And if you look at his size, a six foot seven,
two hundred and sixty five pounds, and he was pretty
darn quick, for a guy weighed two hundred and sixty

(04:13):
five pounds. From twenty eleven through twenty fourteen, that was
his full time with Drew Brees. As a full time starter,
he averaged ninety six receptions for one one hundred and
eighty six yards of twelve touchdowns every seventeen games. Not
bad numbers. And I'll make the same point with him
that I did with Julie Thumps. It certainly doesn't hurt

(04:34):
to have Drew Brees during the football So, you know,
we look at our options in the draft this year.
You know, Tyler Warren is a fantastic tight end coming
out of Penn State. I know a lot of mock
drafts are looking at Colston Loveland from Michigan. For what
it's worth. Both two of those tight ends are six
foot six, and I think Loveland could be a good
fit for Sean Steen. He's a guy you could line
him up in the slot. He's a good route runner,

(04:55):
he's quick, so safety struggle to contain that size, and
he can outright linebackers. He's ad hiss match that we
were really missing last year. So we'll see what happens
is we get closer to the draft. But there are
certainly some options on paper at least that helped recreate
some of that success that Sean Payton had with Drew
Brees many years ago.

Speaker 5 (05:13):
Well, the Broncos are trying to create some level of success,
especially offensively known as the.

Speaker 2 (05:18):
Bob Nicks is on a Richie Dale.

Speaker 5 (05:20):
But there are three positions of needs running back, tight end,
and another wide receiver. How what order would you put
them in as far as order of importance far as
his offseason concern, whether it's the draft or whether it's
free agency.

Speaker 2 (05:33):
For the Broncos, it's.

Speaker 4 (05:35):
A good question. Tight Ends certainly would be the cops
out of those three. And you know, I know that
Sean Payton has a little bit more faith in our
wide receiver room than a lot of fans do, and
so there might be something to be said to that effect.
What I'll say about the running back position is, you
know that position is certainly evolved. We don't really see
many Terrell Davis type running backs anymore. And by the

(05:58):
same token, this is something I think that you could appreciate.
We don't necessarily need to have a starting running back.
Was putting up two thousand yards, I was coming through
the record books last night looking at rushing production, and
I was curious to see where the two thousand and
five Broncos measured up, because one two punch of Mike
Anderson and Tatum Bell is one of my favorite Broncos

(06:19):
seasons of all time. The two thousand and five squad,
you might be surprised to know that the production of
that running back room was nearly identical to nineteen ninety eight,
when TV won the league MVP. The Broncos collectively is
a team that year finished second in rushing with two thousand,
four hundred and sixty eight yards. Two thousand and five
Broncos also finished a second two thousand, five hundred and

(06:39):
thirty nine yards, actually had a few more yards. Both teams,
out of which four point seven yards per carry and
then ninety eighteen put up twenty six touchdowns. The two
thousand and five team put up twenty five touchdowns. We
had Mike Anderson rushing for one thousand, fourteen yards twelve
rushing touchdowns and Tatum Bell nine hundred and twenty one
yards and eight rushing touchdowns. And while not expecting our

(07:00):
running back room to have the depth that you guys
have in two thousand and five. That was a special year.
I think what the Broncos achieved very quietly in two
thousand and five as a testament to if you have
diversity at the position and depth, you could be just
as successful as if you have that stud starting running back.

Speaker 3 (07:18):
Talker Ryan Michael at the Ryan Michael on Twitter. While
I was out, well, I was out at the Commin.

Speaker 1 (07:23):
I understand you rolled out your annual top forty Quarterbacks
of All Time article and I.

Speaker 3 (07:31):
Had some questions.

Speaker 1 (07:32):
I haven't had a chance to sit there and break
the whole thing down, but for the sake of the listeners,
you know, what was your top ten there and what
was the criterion that went into that.

Speaker 4 (07:43):
So my prompt and working my way from ten to one,
I had Sammy brought ten, Autogram nine, film one on
Tanna eighth, Tartan ten, seven United six, Aaron Rodgers five,
Dan Marino four, Tom Brady three, Drew Brees too, Peyton
Manning number one. And the quick answer is the same
answer I give every year. It's a totality of on

(08:04):
field performance in relation to context of playing situation. And
so where I feel a lot of people will look
to Super Bowl ring this one of if not the
first measure, I think that's a poor measure. Then using
Tom Brady's who has the nickname to go for the
most part, because he won seven championships and went to ten.
If you ranked all twenty one seasons he had as

(08:24):
a starting quarterback, the top five seasons, none of them
would be ringing seasons. And really only two of the
top ten of his own career were Super Bowl winning seasons,
being twenty sixteen in twenty twenty. So it's difficult for
me to give you a short answer. But any spot
that's out a position there, I'm happy to defend because
none of them were put there for shock value, and

(08:46):
I put over one hundred hours of research in every
single year, So there's reasons why I have all forty
of those guys in those spots.

Speaker 2 (08:52):
Well, I want to doumptail off that real quick.

Speaker 1 (08:54):
You know, you talk about it justin at yards per
attemptich is a pretty good metric of or an indicator
of how quarterback played.

Speaker 3 (09:01):
Is there an era adjustment for that number?

Speaker 1 (09:04):
Because you go out and you look and of the
quarterbacks that the career wise have over seven adjusted net
yards per attemp, three or active players and the other
ones are Peyton man and Drew Brees, Tom Brady, Tony Romo.
You know, it would seem that that stat certainly favors
the modern game. Is there a way to adjust for
ERA with that?

Speaker 4 (09:22):
There is Pro Football Reference Actually, if you go to
any player page and you scroll down to the adjusted
passing section, they'll take those efficiency metrics and they'll adjust
them per ERA, and they'll market with a plus afterwards.
So adjust the net yards for attempt plus averages where
one hundred would be league average, anything about one hundred
we give above average. So you looked at Peyton Manning's

(09:45):
two thousand and four season, I believe it's the highest
ERA adjustment mark of all time, and adjust the net
yards per attempt plus mark of one hundred and fifty three.

Speaker 5 (09:55):
Well, Ran, you know, I got a Here's what I
went to touch with you on and I'm glad that
we have you on because you have a lot of
statistical data. And we had Steve Atward on before and
we were talking about the Giants kind of situation, and
we know how the NFL is now because it's so
heavy centric on the quarterback, not so much on the
running back. But we recently saw Saquon Barkley get the

(10:17):
deal from the Eagles that he was hoping to get
from the Giants. Do you think, based on that deal,
and based on his performance and other running backs this
past season, that is going to start to get some
of the owners and gms to soften up a little
more towards the running back position.

Speaker 4 (10:36):
Unfortunately, I don't think so. And as blown away as
I am by Taquon Barkley season, and it's certainly up
for discussion amongst the greatest Russian seasons of all time.
It is a statistical outlier in a sense, but it's
also a season that was supported very strongly by just
how mobile and just how much of a threatening ground

(10:57):
Jalen Hurts is. And you'll tend to see that, right
Eric Henry, feeding off of Lamar Jackson as well. You
go back one year and take one Barkley only average
three point nine yards per carry. That jumped all the
way up to five point eight this year. So I
think the lesson to learn is that take one Barkley,
it wasn't necessarily any less talented a year ago at
this time. Put in the right situation, you could optimize

(11:19):
his talent and you can see the results. Philadelphia was
a very special situation last year. I think even they
will struggle to replicate it next year. And so while
I'm all for the running back position being given a
little bit more love, I think we tend to underrate
that position getting Barkley kind of money, getting top tier
anything close to quarterback money. I don't think that's that's
the direction of the week's going to trend In Ran,

(11:42):
I want to.

Speaker 1 (11:42):
Talk to you briefly about, you know, European football, and
you're back doing that.

Speaker 2 (11:48):
I believe it's with probably we could gradually getting the gig.

Speaker 3 (11:50):
He really talked a whole whole.

Speaker 1 (11:51):
Lot about that for fans, and I get asked about
this quite a bit.

Speaker 2 (11:55):
Is what is the season run through?

Speaker 1 (11:57):
And tell us a little bit about about that gig
and about the team and about the league.

Speaker 4 (12:03):
Sure. So the European League of Football is in my view,
the best professional American football league over in Europe. And
you'll see certain teams like the Ryan Tire and the
Frankfort Galaxy. Those are carryovers from old NFL Europe. I
was part of the Barcelona Dragons coaching staff last season.
They were also part of NFL unfortunately no longer in

(12:23):
the ELF, and so it's the premier league for American
football over in Europe. Our season starts at the end
of May, and what you'll see if you'll see some
pretty notable names coming over from American football here in
the States over to Europe. Certainly this year Jackie l
Rio being hired by the Paris Must be Tears was
the splash that I think made a lot of fans

(12:44):
over here in America aware that the European League of
Football is something that's growing. So we're certainly excited to
get bigger and better every single year, and I'm thankful
to be a small part of it, Bolly.

Speaker 5 (12:55):
As a guy that spent some of my time as
I was developing as a player in Europe. I mean,
what you're talking about and what you're doing is so
Biden is so important. And when the Barcelona Dragons were
part of NFL, remember playing against that team.

Speaker 2 (13:09):
Great city to be in, great great food.

Speaker 5 (13:12):
But I love what you said about jack der Rio
actually taking part in what's happening over in Europe and
hoping that more guys actually do that. Do you think
that the NFL, like Major League Baseball? They have an
intricate part in their farming system, especially in other countries.
Do you think that the NFL, without getting into another league,
should start to develop more coaches, maybe officials, you know,

(13:34):
in somewhat of the European league.

Speaker 4 (13:36):
It's a fantastic opportunity to both hone your coaching skills
and also to have the opportunity to coach professional football
in some of the most beautiful cities in the world.
I think one of the beautiful pieces of American football
over in Europe is that we are developing talent in
the country of origin. Right We're giving players across the
globe the opportunity to learn the sport that Americans have

(13:59):
much more greater acts. It's an opportunity to and when
you see big names, certainly Jack del Rio coming over,
Jim tom Sewell has been in European League football for
a while. My head coach, Dave Warner, he was a
quarterback coach and assistant all comes to coordinator at Michigan
State and he helped develop four quarterbacks to the NFL.
And so you're starting to see those names trickle over Europe.

(14:20):
And like I said, I'm excited to be a small
part of it, and the league just keeps getting bigger
and better every year.

Speaker 1 (14:25):
Well, Ran, we appreciate it as always. Time always goes
too fast. Look forward to talking to you again next week.

Speaker 2 (14:30):
Buddy, sound good.

Speaker 1 (14:31):
Guys have a great name absolutely, Ryan Michael at the
Ryan Michael on Twitter contribute with Pro Football Hall of
Fame and obviously with the European League Football as well.
You can follow him following him on Twitter. It's always fun,
he always say. And he's up for good faith debates
as long as you're not toxic in it. He's up
for good faith debates with anybody. He's always good guy
who talked to We come back chanfil six packs right here? Okay,

(14:55):
all right, nig ferguson thank seekers are with you, Thanks
to You've Got Water for joining us in the first hour,
Ryan Michael for joining us there in the last I
been missing a part of that.

Speaker 3 (15:05):
You always go to Broncos Country in that coll Slash podcast.

Speaker 1 (15:07):
We're which podcast applied to and Spotify the totally Free,
Awesome and redesigned iHeartRadio nailed almost nailed it.

Speaker 2 (15:14):
We're getting there and.

Speaker 3 (15:16):
You can also get to take it for granted podcast.
So there's there's that as well. With that's get to
the NFL six back. It's time for the NFL six pad.

Speaker 4 (15:26):
I'm going to trade the last year insight and insight
information you can't find anywhere else.

Speaker 5 (15:32):
No.

Speaker 3 (15:32):
Six the top six NFL headlines.

Speaker 6 (15:36):
What the Jacksonville Jaguars made headlines a couple of times
today when they released Evan Ingram and then traded Christian
Kirk to the division rival Texans. What do you think
of the purge going on in Duvall and what do
you think about the Jags moving Kirk to their top
AFC South competition.

Speaker 3 (15:58):
Well, Kirk was always going to be out there. We're
gonna cut him.

Speaker 1 (16:00):
The fact they got a draft pick out him, and
I think it's just that much better for him. One
thing you did mention here the Jags Mitch Morse retired
today as well. Their center, so total overhaul there at
Jackson Mill, and I think they're remaking that thing the
way that they want to make it. You got a
brand new general manager, brand new head coach and Liam
Collham and I think they're trying to remake.

Speaker 2 (16:16):
That thing that want.

Speaker 1 (16:17):
I got a lot of questions about Evan Ingram today
from Broncos fans.

Speaker 2 (16:20):
I don't know.

Speaker 1 (16:21):
I mean maybe if he has like a third wave
of free agency, but I mean he's not a particularly
strong inline blocker, and you know as a as a
mispatch guy. You know, maybe, but I think his price
is going to be too high for what he what
he brings to the table.

Speaker 2 (16:34):
We'll see.

Speaker 3 (16:34):
I'm not excluding the idea that the Broncos could do it.
I just don't think it's likely at this point.

Speaker 2 (16:38):
Well as I did.

Speaker 5 (16:39):
Just because he was released and he had a tip
value with the jackson Jaguars doesn't necessarily mean that he
won't be you know, the eye of the Denver Broncos
any other team for that matter, because we know the
longer you stay on the market, the longer you're I mean,
the lower price is going to actually drop. So he
may stay on the market long enough with the Broncos
say you know what, let's go ahead and kick the tire.

(17:00):
But I will say, if you were to add Evan
Ingram to this Broncos tight end room, he would be
by fall tight end number one. Now as far as Jacksonville, yeah, okay,
you come in. You have a new head coach, new
guys in personnel.

Speaker 2 (17:14):
They want to bring in their own people.

Speaker 5 (17:16):
But the biggest part of this time of year, with
free agency right around the corner, man, you're trying to
give yourself a nice haircut so you can actually stay
in the race of adding players. Because let's not forget
Trevor Lawrence.

Speaker 2 (17:29):
Is not a bad quarterback.

Speaker 5 (17:30):
He just hasn't had the right pieces around him and
this may give him give the team an opportunity to
add some players to put around him.

Speaker 1 (17:36):
For those keeping track at home, obviously the Jacks still
have Brian Thomas, but the rest of the receiving corus
gave Davis Parker Washington, Tim Jones, and David White. The
tight end room is now Brenton Strange, Luke Ferrell, and
Josiah Degora, who's a bit of an h back. It
looks like they're going to be shopping for receivers and
tight ends here. Short and to that point, do you
think you've mentioned a retooling. Do you think Shad Khan's

(17:58):
expectations for.

Speaker 3 (17:59):
This roster lowered to.

Speaker 6 (18:02):
You know, before the season, he was saying, this is
the best Jaguars rosterriver assemble. Do you think he's come
to terms with the fact that maybe they're in need
of a rebuild.

Speaker 1 (18:09):
I think that he understands that that's where they are.
This is a reset with a new coach, new GM.
They're going to make it their own, and I think
he's okay with that. This year, I don't think there'll
be expectations. I think they start to get those in
your tube.

Speaker 6 (18:21):
Two, The Raiders signed Max Crosby to a three year,
one hundred and six million dollar extension, making him the
league's highest paid non quarterback. What do you think of
this big signing and do you think this makes it
any less likely that Micah Parsons returns to the Cowboys.
His contract, of course, is coming up, and they have

(18:42):
a bit of a squishy cap situation after extending DAK
CD and extending the franchise tag to Osa A Diggy Zua.

Speaker 2 (18:53):
And the Parsons deal get done.

Speaker 1 (18:54):
The Cowboy's been clear in space for that all week
with the DAK stuff, with the CD stuff, all that
kind of stuff. They have mechanisms in those contracts to
move money around, and that's what they've been doing, clearing
cap space to be able to get that done. That
that's a matter of time. I think the bigger question
for me is what this means for Nick Bonito. As
more and more edge rushers continue to sign reset the
market contracts Nick Benito's number, which was around twenty five million.

Speaker 3 (19:16):
It's going to just keep going higher.

Speaker 1 (19:18):
And I think that presents a bit of a you know,
that presents a bit of an eye popping thing when
you're already paying coop on top of that. So you know,
for me, if I'm the Broncos, I think you get
something done with Panitos sooner than later, just to save
yourself money on the market.

Speaker 5 (19:30):
Yeah, there's a couple of things with the Max Crosby situation. One,
it keeps Max Crosby and the FCU wes West for
a while. And someone that the Broncos will have to
make sure that they block him, whether that's with the
tight end or with the running back. But that's going
to be problems the Broncos no from Hero out. But
the bigger thing is what does that mean for Nick Benito?

(19:52):
The team needs to go ahead and get that deal
done because here's what we've learned watching Jerey Jones playbook.
The cost is not going to go down now, It's
only going to go up the longer you wait the
more you're gonna have to dig in your pocket, But
then that takes away from other guys that you want
to distribute the wall too.

Speaker 2 (20:08):
Is Zach Allen being one of those guys?

Speaker 5 (20:10):
So maybe this may force the Broncos to move a
little faster than maybe they wanted to with Nick Benito.

Speaker 6 (20:15):
Do you want to be the Eagles in this equation
or do you want to be the Cowboys?

Speaker 2 (20:19):
I think everybody knows the answer to that.

Speaker 6 (20:21):
Sorry, Speaking of the Eagles, Zach Bond signed a three year,
fifty one million dollar with the Philadelphia Eagles, taking him
off the market from the Denver Broncos and making him
the league's fourth highest paid linebacker just one year after
he signed with the Eagles on a one year, three
point five million dollar deal. Do you think Philly is

(20:42):
taking a big risk with this massive escalation.

Speaker 3 (20:45):
In Bond's value?

Speaker 6 (20:47):
And who do you think is a free agent in
this year's class who could see a similar spike in value?

Speaker 4 (20:52):
Ah?

Speaker 2 (20:52):
Sure would.

Speaker 1 (20:53):
I think it would be that guy in this in
this class, and the Broncos will have some interest there.
I think the Bolton thing they're going to look at first,
and we'll kind of see as far as zach bon goes,
I mean, you know, this got the Vic fangil Stampa parole.
This contract was known about last week up there and Indy.
Everyone knew this was coming. In fact, on background, they
were they were telling people like this was coming. The
only thing they wanted to do was make sure they
got the Saquon deal first. So he got his day

(21:14):
in the sun to celebrate his extension. And so like
everybody knew this was coming, this was not really news
except to maybe Broncos fans and thought that he's gonna
hit the market for whatever reason. But overall, I mean
good for him, good for him for cashing in, Good
for the Eagles for keeping a vital part of their
defense intact. And I to be honest with you, I
don't think he was the top target for the Denver

(21:34):
Broncos that a.

Speaker 3 (21:35):
Lot of people may have tried to imply that he was.

Speaker 2 (21:37):
Well for me, zag Bond, I mean, congratulations to him.

Speaker 5 (21:40):
He worked hard to get to this particular point, won
a super Bowl, and then he won a Super Bowl
again by getting paid.

Speaker 2 (21:47):
And I think it's.

Speaker 5 (21:48):
Only they're kind of difficult for Broncos fans who were
hoping that the Broncos will be in the running for bond.

Speaker 2 (21:56):
But now if it was.

Speaker 5 (21:57):
The Broncos to make a hard pivot, and I'm sure
they were prepared for this, looking at their boys, saying well,
as free agency starts to get closer, which guys that
we thought that we could grab and bring the Denver
and which guys that we were hoping and wishing. So
right now they're in that realistic realm where they now
have to look at that pool of talent. Nick Bolton
may be one of those guys and see who can

(22:18):
they bring in here to make the team much better?

Speaker 1 (22:21):
Yeah, I think sure, what's probably that guy that signs
a little bit of a lighter deal than Perhaps maybe
I'm wrong, maybe there's enough of a market for him,
But I think he signs probably a little bit lighter
of a deal and really cashes into the next one.

Speaker 6 (22:31):
I would love to see either of those guys in
Orange and Blue next season.

Speaker 1 (22:34):
They both they bring different skill sets to the table.
But yeah, I think, you know, and we'll see from
what I hear, Bolton's getting a pretty decent market out
there that may priace the Broncos out for.

Speaker 6 (22:47):
This week, the Kansas City Chiefs Nick Bolton's current team
at least from now traded Joe Thuni to the Chicago Bears,
and the La Rams also traded Jonah Jackson to the
Bears recently. Do you think these new are enough to
fix Chicago's willful offensive line and how much more optimistic
do you now feel about Caleb Williams' future outlook?

Speaker 2 (23:08):
Well, we knew this was coming.

Speaker 1 (23:09):
I mean, this was the blueprint in Detroit, right when
Detroit decided to turn this whole thing around. When Dan
Campbell got there, they beefed up the offensive line and
beefed up the defensive line and then built everything out
from there. And the blueprint Chicago's going to be no different.

Speaker 2 (23:21):
Right.

Speaker 1 (23:21):
They go out and they get a couple of trade
for a couple of guards and get a couple of
you know players out there. They're committed to the protection
of Caleb Williams. I was always optimistic from that perspective.
Caleb is a wildly different quarterback than Jared Goff, so
it'd be interesting to see how Ben Johnson adjusted his
offense for him. But I'm optimistic about it and I'm
looking forward to seeing it.

Speaker 5 (23:41):
Yeah, I'm looking forward to seeing it. Myself and with
the quarterback musician. Everyone expects that quarterback to walk in
and take their franchise from being quart kmpon to Superman
and usually doesn't start that way unless you have pieces
around that quarterback. So Ben Johnson's probably going to give
you know, Cabb Williams a lot of opportunities, especially with

(24:04):
the personnel you know changes. But when you think about
Ryan Pole as the GM, he's got the chance.

Speaker 2 (24:09):
He realizes that.

Speaker 5 (24:10):
Listen, if they don't get things right in Chicago this season,
they're not gonna be firing Ben Johnson.

Speaker 2 (24:16):
They're gonna be firing him.

Speaker 5 (24:17):
So the idea is a quarterback wins game by himself, no,
but the right pieces around him. They have a nice
little structure, but the biggest thing is play call. The
will the play call and be a little different for
Caleb Williams this year known as though that Ben Johnson
is coming from Detroit where the quarterback that he was
working with.

Speaker 2 (24:35):
As an entirely different skill set.

Speaker 6 (24:38):
Five yesterday, the Seattle Seahawks released franchise legend Tyler Lockett,
and it soon became a public that DK Metcalf requested
a trade from the team. Who do you think will
Land the two big name receivers and his wide receiver
now the Seahawks' biggest team need.

Speaker 1 (24:59):
Well got Jackson Smith's and Jagba and Deka hasn't been
traded yet. I mean, he's obviously still there. They've got
some other guys on that roster. Bobo played well for
him last year, Jalen Darden's on that roster. They've they've
got a few guys. You know, we'll see, uh. I
imagine they'll add to that room certainly, but you know,
it's it remains to be seen exactly how pressing they

(25:20):
view that. They're switching offenses too. You know, Ryan Grubb
is out, is Cli Kubiak up there now, probably a
little bit of a different offensive philosophy, uh, in terms of.

Speaker 3 (25:28):
What they do.

Speaker 1 (25:29):
And so that'll be that'll be fascinating to watch. In
terms of Lockett, I mean, probably the Raiders, Pete Carroll,
you know, that just feels like an afro fit. The
Raiders need all all kinds of pass catchers, and you know,
and certainly Tyler Lockett knows Pete Carroll that that feels
like an easy one to me.

Speaker 2 (25:41):
Well, this time of the year, teams are looking at
your salary caps. They're looking at the draft.

Speaker 5 (25:45):
And seeing how well guys performed at the combine as
they started to make these types of decisions. This is
why we see the combine first, and then we have
free agency and then the draft later on.

Speaker 2 (25:56):
But I think this is a.

Speaker 5 (25:57):
Micro cosm of things taking place for the Seattle Sea
owns and Clint Kobiak being able for the first time
to really put his fingerprint on a particular roster and
looking at you know, Tyler Lockett and saying, Okay, well
he doesn't really fit into what I want to do,
and looking at him and Jackson and Jigwa and said, well, man,
he had impressive season last year.

Speaker 2 (26:16):
We want to build around him.

Speaker 5 (26:18):
And just so what happened, DK said, you know what,
things seem like they're changing. I maybe phase out, And
if that's the case, I want to get the hell
out of here too. But for me, I still think
the Seattle Seahawks are in a good spot because I
trust Clint Kubiak and what he's going to bring to
the offense.

Speaker 1 (26:31):
Yeah, I think that, like I said, that offense is
gonna be wildly different than it was last year. You know,
last year, you talk about a lot of eleven personnel
and throwing the ball over here. They were throwing the
ball at absurd amount of times the first half of
the year until finally Grubbs play calling kind of sort
of more or less got forced to be a little
bit more run heavy. Clint Kubiak, we all know what
he's gonna run, right, We're gonna see a lot more
too tight end sets. We're gonna see he's all run
in the football and and that kind of stuff. So

(26:53):
I think I think they're just adjusting their personnel to what.

Speaker 3 (26:56):
It is they're going to be doing.

Speaker 6 (26:58):
Sick NFL Network released a list of every NFL franchises
Mount Rushmore, honoring the foremost iconic or four best players
in franchise history, depending on how you wanted to find it.
Their selections for the Broncos were John lay, Trell Davis,
Shannon Sharp, and Von Miller. What do you make of

(27:20):
their version of the Denver Broncos Mount Rushmore? Where do
you agree and where do you disagree?

Speaker 2 (27:27):
Plays?

Speaker 3 (27:27):
Was okay, I don't know that I would throw vn
on there.

Speaker 1 (27:30):
You got tom Naalan rod Smith, guys that probably belong
on there. Maybe maybe Mecklenberg, Tom Jackson Ready gratish are
they are old timers? This just feels a little more
catered to the new, the new generations, because it's.

Speaker 3 (27:41):
Missing some great players from years ago.

Speaker 1 (27:44):
You know, I would think that our guest from the
first hour, Steve that water would you know, might belong
on something like that. But overall, I think not bad,
you know, not bad.

Speaker 2 (27:53):
No, it's not. It's not a bad list.

Speaker 5 (27:55):
But it's always very tough when you talk mount rushmore
of any sports, there's only so many faces on the mountain,
and that means that to put faces on you're going
to have to take individuals who are well deserved because
I mean, like you said, Tom Naylor, I mean also
I mean I got the Champ Bailey in this list
as well, So I mean, once again, it's to each

(28:16):
his own. Everyone's going to be a little different as
dance to a different tool.

Speaker 2 (28:20):
But I'm not too.

Speaker 5 (28:21):
Upset about this particular least because this is a list
of some very impactful players that really game changes for
the organization.

Speaker 1 (28:28):
I think the two most Iffy would probably be Sharpened TD,
which you know, I mean their iconic Iffy yeah before
and the reason for that is is just because the
truncated career like quick with TD, you know, is a
shorter career than it could have been. And then Sharp again.
I mean, you know, he played here for gosh, what
was it like thirteen years something like that. I mean,

(28:48):
he was here for a while, but I don't I mean,
it just felt like they ignored a lot of the
older legends in an effort to make it more accessible
for the utes.

Speaker 2 (28:58):
We see.

Speaker 5 (28:58):
That's a difficult part with coming up with this list.
I mean, someone is always going to be kicked out.
And that's the crazy thing about the business that we're
in because I've seen so many individuals kind of go
through these battles and sometimes post things that they shouldn't
post because ideas that in order to uplift one guy,
you got to put someone else down.

Speaker 2 (29:18):
And I don't subscribe to that. But this list is
very difficult.

Speaker 5 (29:23):
There are other players who have played or in that
ring of fame, you know, in the power field, who
deserve to be on this mount rushmore.

Speaker 2 (29:30):
But it all depends on which era is your particular era.
Because Zach, I'm sure if I.

Speaker 5 (29:36):
Ask you give me your top four or five, it's
going to be entirely different than this list here.

Speaker 6 (29:41):
Yeah, one guy you didn't mention but immediately comes to
my mind, probably a result of my generation, Peyton Manning,
the various Thomas too, Rod Smith absolutely worthy of a mention,
but Damarius Thomas right up there with him, and a
lot of those franchise receiving numbers up there with Shannon
Sharp too. But yeah, I think it's a quality list
on that era point. Who jumps out to you maybe

(30:01):
on this current team as a Mount Rushmore guy, obviously
Patrick Sutan, but certain beyond that, and maybe who's the
three that fill out that top four?

Speaker 5 (30:10):
I mean, I would definitely say, well, if Nick Benito
continues to stay healthy and trend in the right direction,
he could be one of those guys that the team
talks about. But once again, it goes back to team
playing in the constant playoffs and also winning championships.

Speaker 2 (30:24):
So all these guys on this list, they've done that.

Speaker 1 (30:29):
Broncle's Country tonight, giving away to about the primetime.

Speaker 2 (30:33):
Here on KO. I appreciate you guys.

Speaker 3 (30:35):
Listen and we'll see you for a little bit tomorrow.

Speaker 1 (30:37):
We'll get to Colorado Rockies baseball maybe then get rained
out listen to BCT right here.

Speaker 2 (30:41):
Okay, wait,