The Fumblerooski Podcast - Orange Is The New Orange -Ep 109 The Fumblerooski Podcast

Episode Date: August 19, 2022

Did the league do the right thing suspending Deshaun Watson 11 games? who are the best fantasy sleepers at the RB position? How will the new-look Broncos team fare in the competitive AFC West? Adam Wright and CJ Medieros host special guest Brett Chaves to cover these topics and more!

Here's Edelman broken up and the pass is no sign yet. Edelman comes down with a football and they're saying it's a catch. Six, five, six, sideline, touchdown, unbelievable! This is close! To Gates! Sideline! Touchdown! Unbelievable! Swings it way down the field to Watkins! Sammy Watkins for the touchdown! We have reached our last episode of our Fantasy Football Sleepers.

Guys, we have done player rankings. We have previewed divisions. We've done NFL honors predictions. But we have reached the end of this summer. As opening day gets a lot closer, I'm Adam Wright with CJ Medeiros. We're going to get to our fantasy sleepers in a minute with running backs, but we're going to touch on some breaking news with Deshaun Watson and joining us to help out with fantasy football

and this Deshaun Watson news, Brett Shovs. Brett, you are the play-by-play voice of the Brockton Rocks, president of Dean News Network. Welcome to the show. Why don't you introduce yourself to our listeners? Yeah, thank you, Adam. It's been a pleasure being invited onto the show. I think it's actually my second time on now, but yeah, I'm excited to get to work. I've got a decent knowledge of baseball, a lot of experience in hockey and football. So I'm ready to get talking some fantasy and let's rock and roll. Awesome. We're going to jump right into it. And so earlier today, and this is a prerecorded episode, you guys are going to be hearing this on Friday. So anything, any other details that come out, don't bite our heads off.

Just time constraints. We'll hit on whatever we need to hit on on our social media page. But Deshaun Watson, his suspension was increased from six games to 11 games and a $5 million fine. So, Brett, we'll start with you. What are your thoughts on this new ruling? Well, we saw from the incoming that Deshaun Watson was going to be cooperative with whatever the NFL and NFLPA decided to put on him.

Obviously, the original six-game suspension was ruled by a federal judge, whatever the NFL and NFLPA decided to put on him. Obviously, the original six-game suspension was ruled by a federal judge, so it's not really considered an NFL-deemed suspension. So you knew that Roger Goodell in the front office was going to try either work around it or see if they can find a compromise to said suspension. So now you have the NFL and NFLPA coming together to figure out a solution. And this is what they've got. And considering other suspensions in the past that have happened to similar deals, it seems like this is the most appropriate that the NFL has found. They also stated the second the original suspension was made that they wanted to create some sort of fine on Watson.

So they fined him $5 million, and they said it's all going to charity. So we'll see where this suspension goes, but with the statement that the Browns made with Watson after, it seems like they're going to be fully cooperative and no appeal on this suspension. Yeah, it looks like both sides have settled and everything is going to come to a head and it's all, you know, figured out. It's about time because it's been how long since all of this first came up. But CJ, what are your thoughts?

There are, there are many that say this is a good suspension, something, whatever. But look, I can't get behind that. I really can't. You're telling me allegedly 26 women have accused them of sexual... Yeah, 24 confirmed. Oh, yeah, 24 confirmed. 26, allegedly. Yeah.

But look, all right, so whatever. 24. 26 allegedly yeah yeah but that's but look all right so whatever 24 and an 11 game suspension oh i don't know why that doesn't sit well with me i feel like it's a little low and the nfl is just so random with their punishments oh you smoke weed oh that's a year you know you uh inappropriately touch like what 24 women yeah that's just 11 games i just the nfl is just so inconsistent in their punishments and a lot of people were saying oh i actually know quite a few people who literally thought that deshaun watson you know shouldn't get uh shouldn't get like the book thrown at him because oh nothing's proven it's like well then if you're going to use that logic,

then you also think OJ is innocent. It's just, this is appalling. And it truly is. And like I, and I've stated in previous episodes, I've also been disgusted with Browns fans who cheer him on, you know, and just say, oh yeah, there's totally nothing wrong here. And I mean, at least the Jags fans in that preseason game

knew it was up chanting something at him. If you know, you know, it's something I can't repeat on this show, but it's just, I would have liked to see a year and 5 million for a fine with the guy who's literally going to get 230 million guaranteed. I don't know. I never thought the fine system was right to begin with.

But, I mean, I don't know. What's done is done. There's nothing we can really do about it. Yeah, listen. So the way I've seen it with this thing is if the league – so the league is a private organization. They can do whatever they want. So, like, if they feel that something happened, then it should, it should, there should

not be any amount of games that really make up for, for what he did if they believe this happened. So like this idea that we're, we're going to extend from six games to 11 games just feels like they're, the league is just trying to make themselves look better um in the public eye but if you feel that you did that they did this haven't kicked out of the league completely just don't don't like don't go like with this half half-ass like yeah like this was a little low so we're gonna make it a little less than a season. But Calvin Ridley's out of the league for a year for gambling. Why is he getting that little? Kareem Hunt's still in the league, and there's actual footage of him assaulting a woman.

And that should have been out of the league right there. But it was a nine-game suspension. Well, he was suspended indefinitely, and then it was a nine-game suspension. That should be out right there. And the way Kareem Hunt was about it, he apologized, and he was kind of just waiting for his turn to get back in the league. It was kind of just a... It was, you know, just a... Forgetting the word, but, like...

Well, it was a formality, kind of. So, like, it's either you believe that this happened and he should be out of the league, or you don't believe this happened and he gets no games. Like, you can't just go somewhere in the middle, you know, like it feels like it's something where the league just wants to make themselves look better. And I just like, like commit to one side, you know,

something like that. The, the one thing I've noticed with the league is that like CJ mentioned, they're very inconsistent, I guess. I guess is the right word to say for all of the different punishments they've made. If you look back in the past, Ray Rice, actual confirmed footage of him assaulting a woman, very similar to Kareem Hunt, out of the league and definitely never returned to play again.

And then you have a case like Ben Roethlisberger, about three years he's in the league, allegedly came up. He said he assaulted a woman and he was only suspended six games. Very similar to Watson, only just on a much smaller scale. I can understand very, very, very, very partially where they're coming from, looking and sort of comparing this case to Roethlisberger and extending the amount of games. But if you firmly believe that he did all of what is alleged, I don't see why Deshaun Watson should play another staff in the NFL. This is no excuse for actions like he did. If you take what he did and transfer it over to either Major League Baseball or to the National Hockey League, he's gone and never playing again.

Fernando Tatis Jr. was just suspended 80 games for supposedly using a PED to help him heal from an injury. 80 games. Trevor Bauer assaulted a woman and got almost a two-year suspension. One woman. There's 24 confirmed in this case with Watson. I don't under, the 11-game suspension doesn't make sense to me either. It's a big, it's a hefty poll, but it still doesn't seem enough for the,

the amount of severity that is involved in this case. Yeah, that's certainly, it it's either it's either you suspend you take him out of the league or you don't suspend him at all like it's they're just trying to get in somewhere in the middle just to just to satisfy everybody and to look make themselves look better really i mean even if they suspend him for a year and let him come back he's still coming back he's still coming back why if's still coming back. Why? If you believe he did something like this, get his ass out of here. Roethlisberger, if you believe he did this, why six games? Get him out of here. There's no place in the league for stuff like that.

And it just makes yourself look worse. And on top of that, as you said, Ray Rice is out of the league, but Kareem Hunt is. Like, how does that make any sense whatsoever? Just that's kind of my basic two cents. So I would like, I think we're on the same page with most of this, I believe. But anything else before we move on to our fantasy sleepers here? All right, guys. So there is our basic takes, our initial takes on the breaking news of Deshaun Watson and his 11-game suspension. Next, we're going to get to our main course of today, which is getting into some fantasy sleepers,

running backs, which happens to be Brett's right up his alley here. So we're going to touch on that. That's next. Don't go anywhere. This is the Fumble Rooski Podcast. Antleman broken up and the pass is no sign yet. Antleman comes down with a football and they're saying it's a catch. It's caught.

It's a catch. Side-line. Touchdown. Unbelievable. Slings it way down the field to Watkins. Sammy Watkins for the touchdown! Welcome back to the Fumble Rooski Podcast. I'm Adam Wright, CJ Medeiros, special guest, Brett Shobbs. We've moved on to, again, our last episode of our Fantasy Sleepers.

Last planned episode of anything before we go on to the regular season and some preseason coverage as well. But let's jump right into it. Brett, why don't you kick us off? Give me your first sleeper for this year. Yeah, there are definitely a lot of sleeper players. And the thing you have to keep in mind with running backs is the younger the running back is, the more poised they are to have either a sleeper, quote unquote, or a breakout season.

Because their prime is usually about three to five years. And you're looking in that window for them to produce quality numbers. So if we're looking at the list from this year, the number one guy that I have on my list is Damian Pierce, I should say, excuse me, from the Houston Texans. The Texans going into this year didn't really have an RB1. They were kind of just using a smorgasbord last year of different running backs and seeing what stuck. They had David Johnson, who they acquired in the Cardinals trade with DeAndre Hopkins.

They had Rex Burkhead. They had all sorts of different guys coming in to see if they could fill the void. But it wasn't really a standout that came out to show. So they went to the draft this year, and they took Damian Pierce as a rookie running back. And from what I've been reading going into this year, this kid looks fantastic. If you watch his preseason footage from game one in Houston, he looked great. Bullish running back who's able to work it up the middle

and sort of find his own groove, even with the slow amount of holes that the offensive line's given him. And based on the evidence that we're seeing now, you can sort of make that conclusion that the fantasy numbers are going to be productive. I'm not saying he's going to be an RB1 type, but I am saying he's going to be certainly a flex to watch out for, maybe in running back two option as the season progresses. I'd look for him maybe about 15 to 17 points per game,

depending on how many touches the Texans are feeling comfortable giving him. But I certainly think he's going to be one of these guys you have to watch on your radar yeah it is easy to overlook anybody in that text on that texans team outside of brandon cooks and maybe a few select others especially with that offensive line so uh any anybody in that backfield who emerges will really uh they can really do some damage and fly under the radar. But CJ, give me your first one. Well, Adam, sticking with the theme of rookie running back sleepers, I'm thinking about Rashad White from the Buccaneers. Now, as far as I'm concerned, he's already their RB2.

And we all know about Leonard Fournette and his, you know, alleged weight gain during the offseason. So why not look for a younger, healthier option in Rashad White? Now, I watched him in college at Arizona State. He was insane. Average of 5.5 yards of carry and like 16 total touchdowns. And the Bucs are such like a like a weapon friendly offense if that makes sense they're a high powered offense here you got tom brady good o-line and and you know you have uh you got evans and you have godwin who are definitely going to be getting the bulk of attention and if fournette isn't up to snuff why not rashad white and i'm not saying he's gonna be

like oh the next jonathan tay Taylor or anything like that what I am saying is just take a flyer on him in the later rounds if if Fournette's not playing make no mistake White will get touches and he might get them sooner than you think all right I like both of these picks I really do uh going uh going on the running the rookie running back side and I think I will touch on that but first i want to get my first one is going to be a guy who isn't isn't necessarily a deep sleeper but a guy who people look at as kind of like he'll be on fantasy rosters but like people won't think to start him yet but tony pollard is a guy who's been behind Ezekiel Elliott for the entirety of his career.

And Ezekiel Elliott continues to decline by the year. He's not taking care of his body quite as well as he could. And he's getting older. And the way running backs age, CJ, we talked about this last episode. Running backs, unfortunately, age, CJ. We talked about this last episode. Yes, we spoke about this at length. Running backs, unfortunately, age like milk. And Tony Pollard is a guy who's up and coming. And, you know, he's much younger than Ezekiel Elliott. And he's become, he was, this past season, in 100 less, in 100 less touches, he was more effective.

And he's able to catch the ball. This guy's dynamic, and as Elliott continues to decline, Pollard is going to get more and more chances, and this is going to help everybody from a fantasy football perspective who has him. I see this guy as an RB2 for now, but I think he could get up to RB1 status and really put the fantasy football world on notice. I could not agree anymore, to be honest with you. Before I get to my next guy, I actually had a conversation about Pollard earlier with another group of buddies of mine. You look at Ezekiel Elliott's production in the last three years, and I go back to my point earlier about the prime window. He sort of hit out of it now. Typically, the running backs

get paid big contracts. They sort of expectations fall a little lower. They sort of don't really take care of themselves anymore. Injuries add up, and you wind up in a situation like this where he went from being an RB1 solo in the back field workhorse to now almost a committee type where he's splitting touches with Tony Pollard. I think by the end of the season, Adam's absolutely right. We could see Tony Pollard producing running back one type numbers because he provides the two-way ability that Mike McCarthy's looking for in that offense with Dak Prescott. So I very much like that pick. And then sort of my second pick may not be as big of a scale,

but moving into this season, I think he could be effective. It's Travis Homer from the Seattle Seahawks. Definitely somebody that has not gotten a lot of attention as a lot of other lower end running backs have. But the news and the hoopla that's coming out of Seahawks training camp is all upside for Travis Homer. If you watch the preseason game, first one against the Pittsburgh Steelers, Travis Homer had over 100 total scrimmage yards as both a receiving back and a three down back when the second and third team came in with Drew Locke. Locke loved this kid. He was throwing splits, screens just

outside of the pocket. He's able to do five, 10 yard slants. You talk about a dynamic running back. Travis Homer's the first one. And I don't think there was a single play in that game where Homer ended up with negative yards. He always produced three yards or more on every play, which is what you want in a running back. So if you see potentially Rashad Penny or Kenneth Walker go down, who we've already known to have injury problems in the preseason and off season, Travis Homer might be your guy to look for in fantasy as someone to fill a void of flex spot. All i yeah that i mean he's definitely going to be overlooked looking going into this season because it's not only it's not just rashad penny who's getting the buzz over there in uh in training camp for the seahawks it's also kenneth walker who's starting to gain steam. He's starting to draw a lot of eyes.

So, I mean, running backs, I don't know what it is about Seattle. Well, we could know from their offensive line. They tend to drop like flies. So if both of them go down, Travis Homer comes in, then he gets his opportunities. But CJ, give me your second guy. So a lot of people think about him, or maybe not. But CJ, give me your second guy. So a lot of people think about him, or maybe not. But when I look, I mean, you got to say,

what about Travis Etienne from the Jacksonville Jaguars? First round pick last year. Didn't play a snap at all due to what I believe was a Lisfranc injury. And a lot of people are wary about him because of his injury. But keep in mind, he's probably going to start out as Jacksonville's RB1 because for those who don't remember, their original starting running back, James Robinson, is recovering from a torn Achilles, which we all know, especially for skilled positions, is basically a death sentence for your career. And when you think about what etn did in college his receiving ability his footwork his speed this guy can literally do it all and not to mention he

already has a great rapport with the jacksville jaguars quarterback trevor lawrence and he fits perfectly and they're going to have a real actual competent coach in doug. And just, it's like the perfect storm of like good scenarios for Travis ETN to help boost your fantasy team. All right. Yeah. I was going to take Travis ETN, but I am, I'm honestly so high on him that I'm talking myself out of even thinking that he's a sleeper almost because like he, he is getting a lot of buzz. So, but I can see why he is by anybody else thinks he's a sleeper. In fact, I probably, I do, but kind of borderline at this point. Cause I'm like I said, I'm, I'm just so high on him. Um, but my guy, my number two is Ramondre Stevenson. So out of that Patriots backfield, it's all eyes on Damian Harris.

And all Patriots fans understand from seeing last season, Ramondre Stevenson is just about as, almost as, I mean, I think, I believe looking at their looking at their efficiency they're about their yards per attempt this past season yeah so it was it was identical 4.6 same thing he did have some injury issues but he's proven to be just as effective as damian harris he can score he can catch he can rush he's big so he has so can truck guys. He has all the tools to be able to really break out and God forbid Damian Harris gets hurt and he becomes the RB one in that backfield. And on top of that, even, even if Damian Harris doesn't miss that much time,

Ramondre Stevenson was still, he still managed to get a lot of, a lot of time. So if they were to split carries, we could, we could really see Stevenson really put up some good production. So he's a guy who I really like. He's not, I would say he's maybe not an RB one this year,

at least not this year, but I can see him as a RB2 or a flex to be that kind of guy who could be in and out of your lineup and can put up some good numbers. Yeah, I like that pick as well. I do end up thinking Stephenson's going to get more of the three down carries and you're going to see Damian Harris more of a pass back feature for Mac Jones. But again, you never know with the Patriots and what they're going to do.

But moving into my last guy, bit of an obscure one, and I'm going to take a chance on him. I don't know how it's going to pan out, but I do like the idea of Ronald Jones in Kansas City this year. Going over from Tampa Bay to the Chiefs, he is working as the running back two option behind Clyde Edwards-Hilaire, but we do know from the last two seasons that Edwards-Hilaire is injury prone and he has not spent a lot of time on the field for Kansas City, leaving the top two options as Ronald Jones and

Jarek McKinnon. Between the two and the flashes that I've seen from Jones with a great offensive line that the Buccaneers have had in the past, I can say firmly that I have enough faith in him to be potentially a really good star in the second half of the season for the Chiefs. Ronald Jones is one of those guys that's bullish, loves to run it up the middle, and he's able to produce quality yards and positive ones in that fact. I don't know how it's going to be in the first half. It all depends, again, on how healthy Edwards-Elair can be. But if he does, in fact, go down, I think Ronald Jones is going to hold down that backfield and end up being potentially a running back two option later into the season, probably talking the last five, six weeks. Man, I remember back when Clyde Edwards' E-lair was drafted

and he had so much hype around him, especially in that offense. He was kind of almost like alone in that backfield. At least he was favored to get a lot of targets. He had a lot of hype. I drafted him in the first round, by the way. Big mistake. He did not – actually, no, no, no. It was second round I took him. First round, by the way. Big mistake. He did not... Actually, no, no, no.

It was second round I took him. First round was Dalvin Cook. I mean, he's okay, but... I also remember Ronald Jones during that 2020 season where he really lit it up. And Leonard Fournette did take over down the stretch, but if he gets the opportunities again

behind that offensive line, there's no reason why he can't replicate that sort of success so i i do like that pick but uh cj what is your third running back sleeper so my third sleeper is gus edwards from the baltimore ravens now when you think of the ravens backfield you probably think of injuries or off the field issues in some cases, but Gus Edwards, or as they call him, Gus the bus, at least our good buddy, Justin Tucker does is insane. He's like a big bruising back, very touchdown dependent, but he does get yards. Last time he was healthy, he did get 144 carries for 723 yards and six touchdowns. He's going to be coming back from injury, and he's likely going to be the running back too.

But a lot of it's up in the air, hence why he's a sleeper, because J.K. Dobbins, who was projected to be the RB1 for the Ravens last year, also went down with an injury. So I don't know how they're going to play these guys. I mean, maybe they played a little safer than they usually would. But Edwards is still maybe recovering from that knee injury. I don't know if he's going to be ready for week one. But if he is, he would definitely be an impact this season.

I like that pick. It's a good pick. Looking at – I know you guys went through rookie running backs to start, and I'm going to go, I'm going to go, I'm going to take a piece of that, and I'm going to go with a guy named James Cook. You might know Dalvin Cook, his brother, who has made quite the name for himself in his own right in a couple different ways with injuries and his effectiveness. I drafted Dalvin Cook every single season he's been in the league.

I love that guy. But his brother, James Cook, has been impressing during training camp and not only impressing on the ground, but he's playing a significant role in the receiving game. And I love running backs who can, who can make an impact in the receiving game as well, because that means that means more fantasy points. You get the catches and the receiving yards, you play a bigger role and you almost, you practice. That's when you become a three down back. And I know a lot of people are going to be hesitant with that backfield being very crowded with Devin Singletary and Zach Moss.

But I mean, this guy is the most dynamic, the most dynamic out of all of them. They're all solid in their own rights from a real life perspective. But if this kid can really take on a big role then the the coaching staff of the bills is going to have no choice but to give him uh but to give him the most carries he may not be a bell cow with because it's a crowded backfield but this is a guy who really could make an impact and given where he's being drafted he's's somebody who you guys should all be taking a flyer on. I like James Cook going into this year and even beyond. James Cook's actually my top running back in Buffalo right now. I don't personally think he has anything to worry about

between Singletary and Moss. Between the last two seasons, Zach Moss has proven that he cannot stay healthy on the field. And even as a red zone threat, he has not been producing the numbers that Sean McDermott and the Bills offensive staff wanted. And then when it comes to Devin Singletary, he doesn't really give the three down back type of persona or repetitions. He will come in and he sort of uses a pass back, but he's not as effective up the middle when the offensive line, as good as it is, tries to give him those gaps to work with. You look at a guy like James Cook coming right out of Georgia, sort of one of those guys that, like you mentioned, Adam, is a dynamic player. He's able to be a pass back, but he's also effective

up the middle and he's able to work through his own sort of rut. So you put everything together in the fact that he's a lot younger than both Moss and Singletary. I think he's potentially set up in a year or two to be the bell cow. All he's going to do is prove in the first six or seven games that he's able to stay healthy and stay efficient. Yeah, that's kind of the way i see it he uh they have some guys in that backfield who are going to take up some touches but i mean we all know who's the most you know effective guy in there and i'm i'm sure the coaching staff does too and they're gonna they're gonna react accordingly they're still gonna bite into his workload but yeah he'll still he'll still be a productive play uh player do we have any honorable mentions before we move on to our last segment

i don't think so all right guys well uh so brett is a broncos fan and the broncos as you guys may know have gone through some big changes this off season, namely at the quarterback position. And Brett is going to break all of that down and what it means this season for the Broncos next. Don't go anywhere. This is the Fumble Rooski podcast. Here's Edelman broken up and the pass is no sign yet. Edelman comes down with a football and they're saying it's a catch. It's caught! It's a catch!

Side-eyed! Diggs! Side-hide! Touchdown! Unbelievable! Slings it way down the field to Watkins! Sammy Watkins for the touchdown! You are listening to the Fumble Rooski podcast by Power 88 and Fans Only Sports Network. Adam Wright here with CJ Medeiros. Special guest Brett Shovs.

And we've reached our guest segment where Brett is going to talk about his Broncos who have really a new look on their roster at the quarterback position and many other spots. So, Brett, what do you got? Yeah, so obviously there's been a lot of hype this season with the Denver Broncos. Ever since the beginning of the spring when they acquired their new quarterback, Russell Wilson, along with Nathaniel Hackett, their new head coach, formerly the offensive coordinator of the Green when they acquired their new quarterback, Russell Wilson, along with Nathaniel Hackett, their new head coach, formerly the offensive coordinator of the Green Bay Packers. If you look at this team as a whole, not much has changed.

The only thing that's changed drastically is the quarterback spot. And obviously we know that quarterback spot is the thing that changes the entire dynamic of this team because it's a leader it's who sets the tempo for the offense and he's ultimately who's going to put you in position to win football games the broncos sort of set up drew lock in a situation where he could not be productive in his first three years with the team so they shipped him off to seattle with no offense and now they're left with rus Wilson leading the squad with newly crowned running back Javante Williams, Albert Okwabunam or Albert O, a tight end. And then you have Cortland Sutton, Jerry Judy, and KJ Hamler at receiver with the injury of Tim Patrick. If you ask my opinion, the first look at

this offense, so much better than what we saw last year. The upgrade of the offensive line with Billy Turner, a tackle. They've also given a lot more confidence to their receivers with Russell Wilson. And then you've also given Javante Williams that confidence to be the lead running back in this offense. Melvin Gordon already said it yesterday, that he expects Javante Williams to be the lead back in this offense and to get the majority of snaps. He's going to support him in that process.

So as a whole, I think this offense is going to be a lot more effective in the long run and maybe put themselves in a position to win the AFC West, but they've got to go through the Chargers, Raiders, and Chiefs twice a year, plus a lot of other difficult opponents. The only things I would say on the defensive side, you acquired nose tackle DJ Jones, who might be the most underrated nose tackle in the league if you look at his numbers for the last two years in San Francisco. Then you've also got Pastor Tan another year stronger, along with Josie Jewell and Alexander Johnson, who are coming off an injury.

So as a whole, I think this team is set up for success and you could see them very well winning the division, but it all depends on how their opponents play as well. All right, there you have it. Brett's outlook on the 2021, excuse me, 2022 season

for the Denver Broncos. This is really a team that I mean, you look at, you've looked at it over the past couple of years. They haven't made the playoffs since Peyton Manning, and they've always kind of had talent, but they've been a quarterback away since Peyton Manning left. You had the Trevor Simeons of the world.

You had the Teddy Bridgewaters, Drew Locks, who you love, but they've never quite have been able to perform up to snuff. Now they bring in Russell Wilson and that changes everything on that team. Unfortunately, it comes at a time where the division, the rest of the division just stacks up. So we'll see where they fit in. They have, they have a chance to contend with everywhere i mean as you described they have talent just about everywhere on the field but uh what do you think well adam as you mentioned uh denver for the past few seasons has always been that team where they were one quarterback away they looked looked to free agency, and that didn't work.

They looked to the draft. Paxton Lynch, anyone? And then, of course, you trade for Russell Wilson, who's a proven veteran and a Super Bowl winner. So, I mean, and look, they always say let Russ cook, and he's got the ingredients. He's got Javante Williams, Portland Sutton, Albert O, Jerry Judy, just to name a few. And along with the defense, that could very well be top 10. And if they were not in the AFC West, I would say they could automatically punch their ticket to the playoffs.

But you have Patrick Mahomes' Chiefs. You have the retooled, very dangerous LA Chargers. And the retooled vegas raiders but i do a little bit like the broncos in this division because of russell wilson a seasoned veteran with a new offensive friendly head coach nathaniel hackett fresh from green bay you know where he worked with the future Hall of Famer Aaron Rodgers. And it's all adding up for the Broncos, but that division would scare me. But then again, when you've got a guy like Russell Wilson and that defense with a new coaching staff, I definitely feel that the ball's kind of in Denver's court and it's really, well, truthfully then i don't care about their division but

that their fate is basically up to them they control their destiny yeah i mean i would i would honestly agree with that um at this point in their sort of rebuilding phase i don't even i don't even think you can reconsider it a rebuilding phase. I don't even think you can consider it a rebuilding phase. They've always been mediocre the last five, six years. But at this point in their stage, it's pretty much all up to them whether or not they can use the talent they've drafted with Russell Wilson and carry it into the playoffs and maybe even a Super Bowl. I think it's going to take a few years to reach that milestone point, but they're certainly setting themselves up to do it. And I think the biggest thing as well with Russ that has changed is the coaching staff.

The last, I don't know, five seasons, you've had Vance Joseph and Vic Fangio, both defensive-minded head coaches who have sort of given the offensive keys to the coordinator. And to be quite frank, all of these coordinators have sucked. have sort of given the offensive keys to the coordinator. And to be quite frank, all of these coordinators have sucked. Pat Shermer, Rick Scangarello, just to name a few. They have not set up the offense to be successful. So now you have Nathaniel Hackett along with Justin Outen,

who are running the offense. I really like the way this is looking, sort of speak. And I think this is going to be a much different Denver Broncos team. And they're going to be focused on putting points on the board instead of being reactive, trying to dodge all these points that your chiefs of the world, your Raiders of the world are putting up. So looking at how they're all, all these teams sort of stack up, Brett, like, what are your expectations for this season for the Broncos? Like, how do you, how do you see they do? How deep do they go into the post season? If they make it there, like, how do you see everything stacking up for them? For me personally, I think you're realistically going to see the Broncos get 10 or 11 wins

on the season. I think that's a good benchmark to see them at. I certainly think they can get more. I certainly think they can get less. You have to remember this is a first year coaching staff that hasn't really gotten a lot of big time experience in the NFL. You've got a Jiro Rivera leading the defense who is only a quarterback, a cornerbacks coach with the Rams. And then you've got Justin Outen coming from Green Bay with Hackett, who is only their tight ends coach, who's now the offensive coordinator. So a lot of inexperience in the coaching staff that has to rely on the talent to produce. But I think it's realistic that they have a winning record and eventually punch themselves into at least a wildcard spot in the playoffs. So they get this amount of wins it's good for what place in the afc west along with all of these

you know stacked rosters what do you what do you think they finish it's hard to tell because you don't know how competitive this division's really going to be there there's going to be teams that we talk about have so much hype and then just flop. Like you look at the Raiders, they have so much talent on that roster, but then you look at the coaching staff with Josh McDaniels and you're like, all right, McDaniels has never really proven as a successful head coach. On the Broncos, to put it as a fact, he sucked as the Broncos head coach.

You don't know what's going to happen. They could either be really good and make the playoffs, or they could suck and finish last in the division. I think it's realistic to put the Broncos at second in the division behind Kansas City or L.A., but again, they realistically could also blow everybody out of the water and take first place from Kansas City. Yeah, and I really think it depends.

And as we've been discussing, this is a team that really has talent all over the field, but it's kind of all coming together now. Like everything is just being thrown together, the new coaching staff, all the players, new quarterback to run the show. So it really depends for me how they gel. If they can gel like right away, they're as good,

if not better than everybody in this division. But if it takes them a while, then they may just squeak into the playoffs. I think this is a team that should make the playoffs. I could be wrong but i mean it really like i said it depends on how this team really fluxes early on to the season because you know if it takes them a while then they're gonna have a tough time in this division did we lose brett no it looks like he's there kind of i mean it's almost like the light went out but oh oh boy he'll he'll probably be back i think yeah he'll he'll be back in a second but why don't we let's continue with uh what what do you have any anything else to add let's let's keep going

until brett comes back we can't just we can't just end the show and say like oh sorry brett you know what i'm saying yeah i hear you i hear you that that will be pretty awful but when i think of denver i just i really like the addition of nathaniel hackett as a head coach i really really do and like i said you know he worked with aaron rogers and he know and he would know how to mold russell wilson as well and kind of like what you guys said it the only issue that i could possibly see is is them taking a while to gel together you know what i mean but i don't expect that to be too too much of an issue i mean especially because i because I'm hearing that Russell Wilson already has great chemistry with his guys.

And that as every football fan knows goes a long way. And I really don't, you know, expect Denver to have too many problems. The only thing that could like real, another thing that could really derail them is like the division. But like I said, at this point for,

if you're Denver, you have a stacked roster as well as everyone else in your division you have just as much talent and you control your own destiny like plain and simple denver the future is in your hands and you finally have your guy i'm excited to see what you can do with it apologies apologies i don't know what just happened i got a phone call and all of a sudden things went cattywampus. I'm back. I'm back.

I love that word. No worries. Yeah, we weren't sure where you went. We saw a light go out at least. That's what we saw. And we're like, did he lose power? Then it was like poor connection. And then you just left entirely.

We were like, okay, must be, must be connection issues. We kept talking though. Any, any other things to, to, to add though, Brett? Honestly, as a whole, I just think it's going to be a competitive division. I think you can talk all day about the talent and the hype behind each of these four AFC West teams, including the Broncos. But at the end of the day, it's going to come down to how these teams play against each other in divisional play. Any team can fall at any given moment, but these eight games that each AFC West team has against each other is going to strongly determine how the playoff picture shapes out. Because you could

realistically see a picture where every single AFC West team makes the playoffs. You have one division winner, and then the rest of the three teams take those three wildcard spots, which is blasphemous to think about. But again, it's realistic to see in the playoffs, considering how good these teams are. When it comes to the Broncos, I think they do make the playoffs, but it's going to depend on how Russ plays with the offense and how this coaching staff pans out.

All right, there you go. Well, I don't want to keep you too long, but I have one last question, and you can just answer quickly. Just give me one word answer. So this is a really tough division. All of these teams have really armored up this off season. Who finishes last in the division? Who finishes last in the AFC West?

Yeah. Chargers. Chargers. Wow. I think it's going to come down to coaching staff. And I think Brandon Staley is going to flop. He did it last year. I think he's going to do it again.

So I think the chargers are going to finish last in the AFC West. There you go. So chargers finished last and Broncos finish. You said you said, I'm sorry, you said second, second. There you go. And I believe so that, that leaves, that leaves the chiefs at first chiefs at first Raiders at third Raiders at third. Okay. There you go. All right. Well, Brett, thank you so much for joining the show. Let me know if you ever want to come back on. Talk some Broncos. Talk some fantasy.

We're always out here to, you know, shoot it with each other. So, all right, guys. Well, that'll do it for us tonight. Thank you for listening to us. Be sure to tune into us live Tuesdays and Thursdays at 730 on Twitter and Facebook through Fans Only Sports Network. Be sure to subscribe into us live tuesdays and thursdays at 7 30 on twitter and facebook through fans only sports network be sure to subscribe to our youtube channel we also have all our episodes available on spotify spreaker apple podcast iheart radio google podcast and so much more

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