Fantasy Football Daily - Denver Broncos with Troy Renck | 2023 Franchise Focus Podcast

Episode Date: July 4, 2023

Can Sean Payton help Russell Wilson turn it around? Well, if he can't... no one can. Troy Renck (@TroyRenck) of Denver7 joins Joe Dolan (@FG_Dolan) to discuss Payton's offense, what Wilson needs from Payton, and everything 2023 Denver Broncos from a fantasy football perspective. Want to join a high-stakes dynasty league -- or any other high-stakes league? All new FFPC users get $25 off their first FFPC league of $35 or more, including dynasty orphans, using our affiliate link: ⁠https://myffpc.com/cms/public?affid=fantasypoints⁠ ⁠FANTASY POINTS PROJECTIONS ARE LIVE⁠ FOR ALL STANDARD AND PREMIUM SUBSCRIBERS! Interested in playing Best Ball in 2023? There's no better place than Underdog Fantasy. ⁠Use our code FANTASYPTS⁠ to sign up for a new account at Underdog, and not only will you get a 100% deposit match up to $100... but you'll get a Fantasy Points Standard subscription for only $5! ⁠https://www.fantasypoints.com/underdog --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/fantasy-points-podcast/support Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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We've entered the third week of recording these podcasts, and I've already made my way around the first three divisions in the AFC. We're going to be moving to the AFC West this week, talking Broncos, Chiefs, Raiders, and Chargers. I hope everybody's enjoyed the podcast thus far. I've had a lot of fun recording them. I'm learning something new each and every time I record, and really the only difficult thing about them is scheduling them, because I'm doing 32 of them, but so many of my guests have been gracious. All of them have been just providing the best information. And I hope you continue to subscribe, rate and review to the show, and enjoy the podcast.

We're going to wrap up the AFC with the AFC West this week. I hope you enjoy. Without further ado, here's my next guest. Welcome back to the franchise focus podcast at FantasyPoints.com. And today we have an award winner, humbling himself to come on to the franchise focus podcast. His name is Troy Rank. He is the Denver Broncos insider for Denver 7, host of the Broncos podcast with Troy Rank. And he is the 2019 Colorado sportscaster of the year.

And I think Troy, this podcast is probably going to help you claim the 2023 version of that award. We'll just send it out to all the committees. You can follow him on Twitter at Troy Rank. Troy, thank you for being a return guest on the franchise focus podcast. It's such a pleasure to have you. Absolutely, Joe. Thanks for having me on, man. Troy, one of those things is going to help you become an award-winning sportscaster is the fact

that, you know, Denver sports are never boring, and especially the Denver Broncos are never boring. Even when things don't go well, I don't think many people would have considered the Broncos boring last year. Obviously, big changes this year. Nathaniel Hackett fired during the season last year, Sean Peyton coming in. We know what Sean Peyton is in the NFL, but what has Sean Peyton said about Russell Wilson this offseason? Is there some optimism among the fan base that Sean Peyton can help Russell Wilson get back on track? Yeah. Sean Payton throws the wear on compliments like Manhelt, Monheel covers.

So he is not, if Russell Wilson wants a bunch of flowers, he's going to have to listen to Miley Cyrus on loop, probably. That's just not Sean Peyton. But he has been complimentary of Russell's work ethic, his attention to detail. He wants to be better, clearly.

But they haven't really talked a lot more about it because the offense isn't in, they're not in pads. But listen, what Peyton has said about Russell Wilson, though is when you go to a karaoke bar, you sing the song you know and the song you can sing well. I'm not singing Whitney Houston. I'm singing Violent Fence, something that you can basically talk through. And that's his point with Russell Wilson. Get the place he does well. Let's do those.

And Peyton has a history of mitigating disaster, keeping players away from stuff they don't do well, which Russell Wilson majored in last year, and doing things they do well. So look for a run-heavy attack, a lot of play action, a lot of boots, some keepers, not a whole lot, but just taking pressure off him with a more physical run-first identity that then opens up the past game for Russell Wilson. So for me, Joe, I'll be honest, this is a one-year experiment. This all happened with Russell Wilson prior to Sean Peyton. If he shows progress and he throws 28 touchdowns with 10 picks, you move forward. If he doesn't, and it's ugly, he may not make it through the end of the season. and then they would look to move on after the season.

And that would be a paralyzing cap hit of basically $40 million a year over two years. But if it looks anything like it did last year, I can't imagine they would be a year three for Russell Wilson. But players, teammates, there's optimism that this new coaching staff, a grown-ups back in the building and Sean Payton with a history of proficient offenses that Russell Wilson can rebound. Maybe not be the guy we thought he was going to be when he came here. But even if he's a top 15 quarterback, that would give him a chance to reach the playoffs. So, Troy, you're obviously been around the team a long time. And often we know coaches are scapegoats when things don't go well.

But there had to be a point last year when you realized Nathaniel Hackett was out of his element. Well, do you know when you pinpointed, not just, you know, week one happens, but was there a point when you like notice that, man, this guy just does not have it? Well, week one put him on the Bunsen burner with the decision to kick a 64-yard Phil Gold. When you had just signed Russell Wilson to a $252 million country, you're at the 46-yard line, you're in Seattle. If you go for it on fourth and five and miss, no one cares. You put the ball in the hands of Russell Wilson.

And so that decision set in motion criticism like I've never seen in Broncos country from the media and fans. The next week, they were counting down the play clock against Houston because they could not get in and out of the huddle. That was a red flag the size of the stadium. Like, that's something you learned sixth, seventh, eighth grade, how to get in and out of the huddle. But it spoke to a bigger issue of, you know,

just the lack of continuity to lack of communication on what they're doing. And more than anything, just a lack of accountability across the board. But where it really showed up, Joe, was that Colts game. They're beating the Colts, 9 to 6, 147 remaining. I'm like the 18-yard line. Matt Ryan has retired, hasn't told anyone. Colts offense is terrible. You just kick the field goal there.

You go up 12-6. The Colts have no timeouts. It's Thursday night. It's burning our retinas. It's an awful game. But you win it. You need not apologize for a win, especially if you're the Broncos,

the last six, seven years. And I'm in the tunnel finishing up my game story, and I can't see the field, and I'm waiting to hear the cheers for the field goal. And then I hear defense, defense, and I turned to the usher, the guard down. I'm like, what is going on? He's like, well, Russell threw a pick.

Like, to who? He's like, Stefan Gilmore. What? And it was to Tyree Cleveland, who was a practice squad receiver, basically his whole career here. And so that's when I know Russell Wilson in that game was not playing well. It might have been his worst game as a Bronco, which is saying something, because there were three or four great candidates for that. If you're Nathaniel Hackett, and that play Cubs in, you see. stop it and say, we're either throwing a square out, the old West Welker, Edelman, in the dirt where

he catches it or no one does, or we're running the football, we're kicking the field goal, and we lived to fight another day. And it was just that idea that there's no consequence and accountability. Whatever Russ wanted, he got, and he wasn't the player we thought he was going to be. And Hackett couldn't hold players accountable. And we saw that later with Melvin Gordon fumbling and then not getting benched and then getting his job back, which undermined his credibility in the locker room, meaning packet, and then not coaching his coaches. If you want to be everybody's friend

and bro-hug guy and everyone likes you as a head coach, that's a tough way to go, but then you better have some hard asses as your assistant coaches. They had none of it. No accountability, no consequence, and the final thing that got him fired was the fighting on the sidelines.

Where you had fighting with Mike Purcell and Russell Wilson at Carolina, then against the Rams on Christmas, It's just an absolute crap fest of a game. You have Dalton Reisner pushing Brett Rippin on the sideline and Randy Gregory throwing a punch after the game. That was the final straw and what was a cascade of failures that the owner, Greg Penner, the CEO is like, it's one thing to get our butt kick. It's another thing to be so embarrassing that we're fighting each other. So there were multiple moments, but the Colts game was when the season for me was over.

That was when they're not going to recover from that loss, and they didn't. So, Troy, based on what very little we have seen thus far, I'm going to ask you to make a tough prediction. Sean Payton coming in here and being the ass kicker that you're essentially alluding to, do you think it's more likely than not that Russell Wilson has enough of a bounce back that he's the Broncos quarterback in 2024? Yeah, I mean, if you're putting an over-under, I would say it's probably 60% chance he's back next year. it's not by much, but Peyton, know this. Russell Wilson wanted Sean Payton as his coach. When he looked to get out of Seattle the first time,

he was angling to get to New Orleans to be with Sean Payton. He's been humbled. He's lost 10 to 15 pounds. He wants this to work, meaning Russell Wilson. The problem is he's 34, turning 35. So some of it, I don't know, can he get it all back? Because there's an age issue now that he's going to be dealing with. But I have a feeling, like if you look back at Payton,

Peyton's last year in New Orleans. They had, what, 29 touchdowns, like 13 picks playing like Simeon and James Winston. I think three-backed started. Ian Book might have started a game. I don't know why Wilson can't do that. Like, can he be 28 and 10, 29 and 12? And if he is, I would think you would get another year because Sean Payton wants to win. If he's, you know, 16 touchdowns, 12 picks, and he's benched in game 13.

then obviously they're not going forward with that. And that's the thing. They signed Jared Stidham. Russell won't be allowed to struggle the way he did last year without the threat of losing his job. I believe he's going to bounce back to some degree. I can't tell you to what degree because Peyton has just had an HGTV makeover on this roster.

They're going to be better. He doesn't have enough of his own players in here yet, but they won't be 16 points a game. They won't be. They're the worst offense in the last. league, that will improve. If they run the football, rush should be fine, which for me is, again, 28 touchdowns, 12 picks, about the 15th best quarterback, and that puts him in position to have a winning record.

So that's the second time you've mentioned running the football. We know Sean Peyton's history. As many records as Drew Brees broke, running the football is a huge part of what Sean Peyton like to do. That raises a big question. What is the health status of Javante Williams? and do you expect that he's going to be able to be out there in week one? Yeah, no, that's a great. I'm glad you brought it out because so many people are like, well, Sean Payton worked with Drew Breeze. Of course, his offenses are great.

Excuse me, was Drew Breeze a Hall of Famer when he got there? No one wanted it. He just failed a physical in Miami and he lands in New Orleans almost by accident. They develop together. So let's not say, well, Sean Peyton, his offense has averaged 27 points a game over 15 years just because of Drew Breese. No, it was the two of them, a collaboration. But to your point, I went back and looked, rather than the whole book, the last five years of Sean Payton,

and they're top 10 in rushing yards per game, rushing yards per attempt, rushing touchdowns, they were first in three of his last five seasons. Even though they only had a thousand-yard rusher once during that time with Ingram, they have, you know, Camaro would be right at 890 or 950 with 12 touchdown, 16. They're going to run the ball. and you can tell they're going to run the ball in the red zones. But is Giovanni Williams going to be healthy? I don't know.

History tells me that he's not going to be the guy we think he is in September. He didn't have the surgery until October last year. And he was out there in the offseason. We couldn't believe it. That was like eight and a half months removed. And people start, oh, Adrian Peterson did. And I'm like, I don't want to put that pressure on the kid. Because it wasn't just ACL.

There was other damage in the knee. and you saw it with like J.K. Davins, that first year back's tough. And you look at the last 22 running backs that had ACL surgery. That first year back, history would say hedge your bet. So I think we're going to see the best of Giovante more like middle of November. And Somaget P. Ryan carries the loan until then. Everyone asks, what about Dalvin Cook?

They have interest in Dalvin Cook, but Galvin Cook wants to get paid and they don't have a lot of wiggle room. He wants to play for a contender. I don't know that that's Denver this year. That's why I give Miami and the Jets the best chance to get him. And then you go New England and then maybe the Broncos. Buffalo doesn't have any cap space. So I don't see how they could be serious about it. They just spent their money on Leonard Floyd.

But could they add another running back, Joe. They could. But if I'm a fantasy league owner, I don't suggest getting Javante will. And if you do keep him, I understand keeping him, I'd be don't foot to be, he's going to carry your offense those first few weeks of September. I just don't think that's fair to him coming off that kind of knee surgery. And he runs violently. He seeks contact.

Will he be the same guy when he comes back? I think so. Having gotten to know him these last years, I just want to be fair to him and not think that he's going to run with violent intentions coming off that knee surgery. It might take until middle of November. What have Sean Payton been saying about Samaj Pierring? When they made that signing, I was like, this is a Peyton back. He's not, he does everything well and especially the little things, but nothing great. What has Peyton said about Pirine and why you anticipate he will have a big role early in the season?

Well, if you look at Samaj's the back of his baseball card, if you will, he's a third down back who's brilliant in pass pro. And even with the Bengals, great offense, he got mixing off the field on third down. So I thought like, okay, he sees it there, and then there might be another guy. We thought Latavius Murray combines with Giovante and he runs the third down back. No, he's told us he thinks Samaja could carry the load. And so the way I look at it, because most of his backup running backs have all gotten over 100 carries. They usually average around 11 to 12 carries a game. So my guess is early in the year, he's going to get, you know, let's say 17, 18,

and then at some point the role is going to flip with Javante. But to answer your question, Joe, he thinks he's an every down back. He thinks he's an every down back. The problem is he hasn't really done it since, what, 17 with Washington? So can he do it? Yes, he has done it. When you start talking about something a guy hasn't done for four or five years in the NFL, that's like dog years.

Statistically, when you start saying, oh, three years ago, that's a long time in the NFL. I just think they're going to see if he can get them through the first part of the season. And maybe there's a young guy combined with him and then Javante, because they have a bunch of young guys, Beatty on the roster. They got, I think it was from the Ravens. They got a, but one of those guys could pop. And then P. Ryan goes into a third down roll.

But to your point, he thinks he could be in every downback. But if it doesn't work out to that and somebody pops or DeVante's ready, then P. Ryan is your third down back. because that's what he's really good at. So I think the Broncos receiving core, led by Sutton and Judy, it almost has bigger name value than bigger game value at this stage. Sutton, he had the good year with Drew Locke a number of years back injuries and lack of production since then. Judy's had some injury problems.

Everybody says he's the best route runner in football, but he doesn't get the ball for whatever reason. Sometimes he has some drops. What makes you confident or lack of confidence? in those guys more living up to the name on the back of the jersey as opposed to the stats that they put up the last couple years. Yeah, fair. I mean, that's why they were looking to move receivers this offseason is they have the third most money allocated to their receiver room and nobody sniffs the Pro Bowl and they don't even have a thousand-yard season. So the stats have not matched the reputation.

They just have not. Judy had a breakthrough the last five games of the year, last six games of the year, five hundred twenty-three yards, 43 catches, three touchdowns. He looked every bit of a number one receiver, the last six games. He came into his own, his personality, his confidence. Pat Sir Tam talked to me about how, you know, Judy has basically put his head down and just working hard in practice and just getting better. And he did.

For me, he's the guy if you're betting fantasy. And it's like when people had asked me about Rockies' pictures when I covered the Rockies, I'm like, don't take a rapist picture in fantasy. But if you were to get to a point you needed a Broncos' offensive player, Judy, to me, is their best offensive player. They're going to run quick slants, quick ends. I've said this. He's better in space than NASA. Get him the damn ball. Let him run around. He's fast and he runs good routes. And he's one of those guys. If you get him going early, he gets better. And I think Peyton's going to see that with him that he's a guy you could trust that should end up. This should be the

area is like 1100 yards, eight touchdowns, 10 touchdowns. He should be that guy. Cortland Sutton and Tim Patrick. Patrick's more reliable for me. He just is. He never drops the ball. He's that old pickup truck. You know what you're going to get every time you start him up. But how does he fit with Sutton? They're kind of the same guy, and they're going to run base personnel more with a fullback.

So one of those guys is going to lose snaps. It's just going to turn out that one of them. And Sutton has not been the same guy since ACL surgery. He's never had the same burst off the line. He doesn't win 50-50 balls. He's an okay receiver. But honestly, I thought he looked better last year when they lined him up inside. almost like a quasi-tied-in, big guy.

So if I had to bet, I think it's going to be Judy's their top receiver, Patrick's the second. I don't know where Cortland fits in that. He might be better than Patrick because Patrick's coming off ACL surgery. And we haven't seen him at full strength yet either. So maybe early in the season it's Cortland, then it becomes Tim Patrick. I know Russell Wilson trust Tim Patrick. But we got to see Chip Patrick healthy. But if you're asking me the receiver I would go with, I think it's the best bet in terms of a guy who's going to put up decent numbers, not huge numbers.

It's going to be Judy. So, I mean, obviously that calls to mind the fact that they spent their first draft pick on a receiver this year. And Marvin Mims out Oklahoma, what do you see from him? What did the team say about him? And what do you anticipate his role being as a rookie? Yeah, well, they could use a slot guy. KJ. Hamler is, and I just talked to him this week, he's healed from pectoral. surgery. He's going to be cleared for camp. But between KJ. Hamler, Montreau, Washington, Marvin

Mims, there's only room for probably one of those guys, maybe two. And another receiver to keep an eye on, Brandon Johnson, he's had a really nice offseason. That's why I'm saying with Sutton, Patrick, Brandon Johnson, they're all the same guy. So somebody's not going to eat. But Marvin Mims, the reason they said they drafted him, and because you, rookie receivers, especially in a crowded room, don't always do well statistically, certainly for Fantasy League. Mims is going to be their punt return. He is their punt returner. And Sean Payton came in.

He was hell-bent on changing their special teams, which have been a tire fire for six years. So even if Mamm struggles to get on the field, he's making the team as a punt returner unless he's hurt. So he's on the team. That leaves Hamler, Montrell, Washington, Brandon Johnson, Jalen Virgil, a bunch of guys. I don't know.

And Calloway, he brought over from New Orleans, little Jordan Humphrey. There's about six dudes. and I only see about two spots for him. But Mims, they love his speed. As a route run, we didn't get to see much because I think it was a hamstring, but he didn't do much during June workouts. Our first old look at him in the offense isn't going to happen frankly until, what do you call,

training camp. So I would think that Mims is a guy you would want to stay away from on fantasy, unless you're dealing with a special teams issue because he was one of the best return men in college. he will be their punt returner, probably even be on kick return. That will be his way into the field initially. One thing I might post to you where you've said Jerry Judy is no doubt their top receiver. You're not sure who the guy who's going to be two is, what if the number two receiver isn't a wide receiver at all? Sean Payton talking up Greg Dulcich and I don't, you can't use the name Jimmy Graham lightly.

It's going to scare people. But people are like, well, you know, Sean Peyton and Jimmy Graham, Dulcich had a. really impressive rookie season. Where do you think he fits in this offense? And what have the coaches been saying about him? I mean, they love his speed. He's a walking mismatch. He's flat on stripes.

And you can't miss him because he's got long hair and his 70s porn mustache. He's a lariff. But he's smart as heck. His only offer of D1 coming out of high school was Columbia, walked on at UCLA. And he just, he's a big guy who runs like a receiver. They see, and Sean Payton has mentioned,

the Joker role. this X-factor role in his offense. That's what he basically used with Reggie Bush, Darren Sproul, some with Jimmy Graham. It's isolating a guy, like, you just pick one player and say, I'm going to find mismatches for him. And it's usually in space, and a lot of times it's out of the back field. But Greg Dolsich, he was intrigued, meaning Sean Payton, immediately,

because he saw his speed in the middle of the field. It's impossible to miss. The issue's going to be, Dulcich, he's a willing blocker. he was not a good blocker at all last year. Their offense stunk, though, and Peyton admitted it's hard to evaluate a lot of guys from last year because they're so bad offensively. But Dolce is just going to have to be at least functional as a blocker to get enough snaps to put up the kind of numbers fantasy league guys will want.

But I've seen him ranked as like the 14th best tied in. I think that's fair. Last year, he had 33 catches for 411 yards. I think a couple touchdowns. missed seven games. So if he plays in 17 games, realistically, you're talking about a guy that should have 50 catches, 700 yards, and four or five touchdown. That's a pretty good player as a tight end. As you know, there's not a lot of tight ends right now in Fantasy League. Dolcech should be that guy. But I know with Peyton, they want to run the ball. They're

helping on running the ball. If Dolcich is out there whiffin on blocks and looking like he can't even masquerade as a blocker. That's what could undermine him immediately. But they, Sean Payton is intrigued because of the size and speed in the middle of the field. I feel like we've dissected this entire roster here, Troy. But I've been wrapping up these podcasts asking for one guy who might be, maybe we've mentioned him, maybe we haven't, who might be an under the radar fantasy contributor in this offense. And who is that for the Broncos? Yeah, and I think we have mentioned him. And that's Tim Patrick. because Russell Wilson loves throwing to him.

He never drops the ball. He brings a competitive fire and energy that I know Sean Payton's going to see in pads and be like, okay, this guy needs to play. And so that would be the guy that early on, maybe Russell just starts trusting him. I still think at the end of the year, Judy's going to be the guy with the best stats. He is their best and most talented offensive player right now. But Tim Patrick's someone to keep an eye on. And if you wanted much, much deeper sleeper, it would be Brandon Johnson.

Again, the problem with Brandon Johnson is he and Patrick and Sutton in so many ways are the same guy. But Brandon Johnson is a guy. If you're looking for the future in fantasy league down the road is getting him and stashing him, I could see him being one of those guys where you look up a year from now and go, geez, that guy, he's, you know, he's got a chance to be their number two. And, but this year, the sleeper would be Tim Patrick because of his reliability. I just wish I knew what he was going to look like from the knee surgery. Because he still had the brace on all June.

He wasn't moving at full speed. That's the part I don't know, you know, Joe. Yeah. So, Troy, I would be failing my listeners just really quickly to mention that, you know, Garrett Bowles missed almost all of last year. Two new starters along the offensive line. going to be three new starters on the offensive line. I do think that's a fair way to at least explain away some of Russell Wilson's play last year. Yeah, there's no question the line's going to be

better, better communication, better scheme. Last year, part of the issue was pressure up the middle with Wilson, and they feel like they're better with Ben Powers at left guard, a physical right guard and quid diners who's coming into his own. They're bullish on Lloyd Cushenberry, but he's going have to win that center job. McGlinchy's the leader of that line. They paid him more than they paid any offensive linemen in the history of the franchise. His nickname's the mayor. He's a great communicator.

He's the kind of guy that's going to link them all together. And they need Bowles to come back and play functional football. He hasn't been the same guy he was in COVID. He was basically on all pro tackle. He hasn't been that guy since. So can he come back from injury, buy into the scheme? Bowles told us that this is the best line he's ever been with. they fit personality-wise better.

So we'll see. But, yeah, Russell got sacked 55 times last year, Joe. That led all of football, and the Broncos gave up 63 sacks total. That was the worst in football. They won't even be anywhere near that number this year. Yeah, I kept you for an extra question just because I think McGlinchie might actually be the most important addition to this offense outside of Sean Payton. But, Troy, thank you for giving me your time. He is Troy ranked the 2019 and future Colorado sportscaster of the year.

I'll call that now. He is the host of the Broncos podcast with Troy Rank, and you can catch him on Denver 7, obviously, in the Colorado area. If you're not at Troy Rank on Twitter, he's going to give you the best Broncos information. Troy, thank you so much. Joe, anytime, man.

Thanks for having me on again. It was a blast, and it's been a blast going around the AFC. We're going to continue our journey through the AFC West later this week. Thanks, everybody for listening to the Franchise Focus podcast, and I'll catch you later. Thanks for tuning in to this edition of the Fantasy Points Podcast. Remember to subscribe, rate, and review on your favorite platform, and come join the roster at FantasyPoints.com.