Latest / The Philadelphia Sports Table | Philly Sports News & Views / OPPOSITION TERRITORY: Denver Broncos
Transcript
- 0:25Speaker 1: Welcome to Opposition Territory here at the Philadelphia Sports Table
- 0:28Speaker 1: podcast show, the longest running weekly Philly sports podcast show
- 0:32Speaker 1: in the world, over thirteen years strong. And here on
- 0:35Speaker 1: Opposition Territory. This week we're gonna be diving into the
- 0:38Speaker 1: Denver Broncos, what their offseason has looked like, expectations for
- 0:42Speaker 1: the upcoming twenty twenty six season. We've got a great
- 0:46Speaker 1: discussion here joining us from predominantly Orange dot Com. We've
- 0:51Speaker 1: got our good friend Louis Scattaglia, my friend, thanks so
- 0:54Speaker 1: much for jumping on here. Good to talk to you again.
- 0:56Speaker 2: Thank you, Jeff, It's always a pleasure.
- 0:58Speaker 1: Yes, before we get started, once you get out some promos,
- 1:01Speaker 1: Where can folks find you on the interwebs out there
- 1:03Speaker 1: if they want to connect with you, if they want
- 1:05Speaker 1: to follow you into work you're doing.
- 1:07Speaker 2: Yeah, so I use Twitter a lot loose Scataglia po
- 1:11Speaker 2: and then obviously my writing on predominantly Orange dot com
- 1:13Speaker 2: and also nflspin zone dot com for the general NFL
- 1:17Speaker 2: side of things.
- 1:18Speaker 1: Yes, all right, well let's get into this Broncos off
- 1:22Speaker 1: season here, because I, like I said before I hit
- 1:24Speaker 1: the record button, I think the Broncos season. This upcoming
- 1:27Speaker 1: season is going to be very, very interesting. I think
- 1:30Speaker 1: they could actually get to the super Bowl. And it's
- 1:33Speaker 1: been quite an off season for this Broncos team and
- 1:36Speaker 1: this Broncos front office, and obviously the conventional wisdom is,
- 1:44Speaker 1: let's get some additional talent to help that run perhaps
- 1:48Speaker 1: into the playoffs if they're able to get there in
- 1:50Speaker 1: barring any injuries, of course, like it is just about
- 1:53Speaker 1: every team last year. I mean, they lost Bo Nicks
- 1:55Speaker 1: during their playoff run. Who knows what might have happened
- 1:58Speaker 1: if Nicks had have been healthy for that AFC champion game.
- 2:01Speaker 1: Got Jalen Waddle now coming in the trade. That was
- 2:04Speaker 1: the key offseason move. Some other defensive staples were resigned,
- 2:09Speaker 1: like Alex Singleton, who we know here within Eagles Nation.
- 2:12Speaker 2: All too well.
- 2:14Speaker 1: How would you assess Lou the Broncos off season in
- 2:18Speaker 1: terms of really taking that next step for this coming season.
- 2:23Speaker 2: Yeah, I definitely think the run it back mentality was
- 2:25Speaker 2: present with the front office. I mean, I think we
- 2:27Speaker 2: resigned seventeen of our own free agents. I even think
- 2:31Speaker 2: Sean Payton was talking to the media recently and was like, no, no,
- 2:34Speaker 2: we're not running it back this that and the other.
- 2:36Speaker 2: But the off season moves would indicate that they were right. Right,
- 2:39Speaker 2: I understand, you know, you got within one game in
- 2:41Speaker 2: the Super Bowl. You probably make it to the Super
- 2:43Speaker 2: Bowl with a healthy Bonnick, so you know you're right.
- 2:45Speaker 2: The conventional wisdom is let's just bring the gang back,
- 2:48Speaker 2: which is totally understandable. Obviously, when you're resigning some of
- 2:51Speaker 2: these players, you're also resigning players that maybe weren't the best. Obviously,
- 2:55Speaker 2: I have very strong opinions about resigning Alex Singleton given
- 3:00Speaker 2: how deep the linebacker free agency class was, But adding
- 3:04Speaker 2: Jalen Wada when they did, I think put into view
- 3:07Speaker 2: their plan. So they did want to run it back
- 3:09Speaker 2: with many the same players because they help them get there,
- 3:12Speaker 2: but they also saw where a major upgrade was needed.
- 3:16Speaker 2: We had forty three drops last year on offense. According
- 3:18Speaker 2: to Pro Football Reference, those forty three jobs could have
- 3:21Speaker 2: worked out to be another four hundred passing yards, so
- 3:24Speaker 2: it was clear that that wide receiver was in need
- 3:27Speaker 2: even before last year. Adding Wadle in his skill set
- 3:30Speaker 2: that complements Sutton's true X profile nicely does put into
- 3:35Speaker 2: view that the Broncos did want to run it back,
- 3:37Speaker 2: but they also wanted to be calculated with any major additions,
- 3:40Speaker 2: because you can't just be reckless and start, you know,
- 3:43Speaker 2: signing a bunch of players, because teams that usually sign
- 3:45Speaker 2: a bunch of free agency it doesn't mean that they,
- 3:47Speaker 2: you know, win the season, right everyone, you know, all
- 3:51Speaker 2: the fans want to see their team spending a lot
- 3:53Speaker 2: in free agency, which I get, but at the end
- 3:55Speaker 2: of the day, that always doesn't lead to success. But
- 3:58Speaker 2: after the Wattle trade, you know, you take a step back,
- 4:00Speaker 2: You're like, Okay, I see what the Broncos wanted to do.
- 4:03Speaker 2: They wanted to keep most of the gang together, but
- 4:06Speaker 2: they also wanted to deliberately add at arguably their biggest
- 4:11Speaker 2: weakness before the trade.
- 4:13Speaker 1: Yeah, I think it was an interesting way that you
- 4:17Speaker 1: just assessed that offseason terms of free agency. Because yes,
- 4:22Speaker 1: running it back it makes sense, It absolutely does. I
- 4:26Speaker 1: don't think I don't think the front office needed to
- 4:28Speaker 1: necessarily message no, we're not running it back. It's okay,
- 4:31Speaker 1: it's okay if you're going to run run it back.
- 4:33Speaker 1: But I think what's also interesting is the draft. The
- 4:37Speaker 1: Broncos draft, in particular, they didn't have a pick in
- 4:40Speaker 1: this draft. The twenty twenty six draft until third round
- 4:43Speaker 1: after making the deal with Miami and the Jalen Waddle trade.
- 4:46Speaker 1: So after assessing this twenty twenty six Broncos draft class, Lou,
- 4:51Speaker 1: I mean, are there going to be any major contributors
- 4:53Speaker 1: that you see so far that may raise our eyebrows
- 4:56Speaker 1: this coming season from the rookies, like again running a
- 5:00Speaker 1: lot of this back. Perhaps these rookies are just going
- 5:02Speaker 1: to be there from a developmental perspective. I don't know,
- 5:05Speaker 1: how do you see this draft class working out and
- 5:06Speaker 1: if they're going to be any major contributors this year?
- 5:09Speaker 2: Two words for you, Jonah Coleman. Okay, I love the pick.
- 5:12Speaker 2: I remember when we were on the clock. I was
- 5:14Speaker 2: watching the draft of my wife and I just kept
- 5:16Speaker 2: saying Joonah Coleman over and over because he was on
- 5:18Speaker 2: the board and we picked him, and I think I
- 5:19Speaker 2: jumped up and I made some type of noise that
- 5:22Speaker 2: I probably couldn't recreate. But with the run game, there
- 5:28Speaker 2: was kind of an opening for another contributor. So we
- 5:31Speaker 2: all kind of know. The deal with JK. Dobbins, very
- 5:34Speaker 2: good player, went healthy, that's the issue. Though he only
- 5:37Speaker 2: played in ten games. He's not a bellcal running back
- 5:40Speaker 2: at this point in his career. So the idea with Coleman, who,
- 5:43Speaker 2: by the way, Sean Payton profiut as a JK. Dobbins.
- 5:47Speaker 2: He's quoted in saying we thought his running style was
- 5:49Speaker 2: similar to Dobbins, which I think is significant. So with Coleman,
- 5:52Speaker 2: the idea here, I think is that you shave a
- 5:54Speaker 2: few carries off of dobbins workload, you give them likely
- 5:57Speaker 2: to Coleman or Harvey. The end goal old Dobbin stays
- 6:00Speaker 2: on the field for most of the season, and then
- 6:02Speaker 2: you potentially have a three headed monster at running back.
- 6:06Speaker 2: The issue here is that, and maybe not an issue,
- 6:08Speaker 2: but Coleman may already be a better pure runner than RJ. Harvey,
- 6:11Speaker 2: who really struggled as a pure runner last year. His
- 6:14Speaker 2: receiver side was unbelievable. He averaged fewer than four yards
- 6:18Speaker 2: to carry, you know, virtually no explosive runs. He got
- 6:20Speaker 2: stuffed a lot. So there might be an instance where
- 6:23Speaker 2: we start the season and Jonah Coleman is already getting
- 6:25Speaker 2: those those RB two carries, if you will, with Harvey
- 6:29Speaker 2: kind of more as the third down receiving back. So
- 6:32Speaker 2: I'm really high on Joanah Coleman. He was actually one
- 6:34Speaker 2: of my guys coming into the draft, so shameless plug
- 6:37Speaker 2: that that I that the Coleman pick kind of worked out. Obviously,
- 6:41Speaker 2: rookies are rookies, but with the running back position, that
- 6:45Speaker 2: is also a position where rookies can contribute immediately. I mean,
- 6:48Speaker 2: there's a long history of rookie running backs coming into
- 6:51Speaker 2: the NFL and racking up, you know, a ton of yards,
- 6:54Speaker 2: so it's not really a position where you need a
- 6:57Speaker 2: big runway for development. Yeah, so if you're in Jonah Coleman,
- 7:00Speaker 2: let's say six carries a game, and instead of giving
- 7:04Speaker 2: Dobbins fifteen, you're giving Dobbins eleven, ten or eleven, I
- 7:07Speaker 2: think that could yield some pretty awesome results and we
- 7:10Speaker 2: could quickly see that Joonah Coleman is becoming, you know,
- 7:14Speaker 2: a legitimate option in this room and probably the long
- 7:17Speaker 2: term number one running back for this team.
- 7:20Speaker 1: I think that's a very interesting segue into the next topic,
- 7:24Speaker 1: Lou that I wanted to get into with you, because, look,
- 7:26Speaker 1: Sean Payton has now been with the team for a
- 7:29Speaker 1: number of years, and when you look at the style
- 7:32Speaker 1: of offense that he runs, it's a variation of the
- 7:36Speaker 1: West Coast offense with a lot of short, high percentage
- 7:38Speaker 1: throws and screens coupled with that very physical rushing attack
- 7:42Speaker 1: which you would just alluded to. And I'm wondering if
- 7:46Speaker 1: there may actually be any differences that we may see
- 7:48Speaker 1: this season from the Broncos from their offensive attack that
- 7:51Speaker 1: can really help solidify the dominance that they're going to
- 7:54Speaker 1: need to have in this AFC West that has been
- 7:57Speaker 1: a prolific division. Do you see the altar operations that
- 8:00Speaker 1: maybe possibly coming to this offense, whether it's you know,
- 8:04Speaker 1: from Jalen Waddle perspective, from the draft perspective, what are
- 8:07Speaker 1: your thoughts here?
- 8:08Speaker 2: Yeah, Well, I think in today's NFL now more than ever,
- 8:11Speaker 2: the run game is should be number one, with defenses
- 8:15Speaker 2: getting better at taking away the deep pass. We've kind
- 8:17Speaker 2: of seen a renaissance of the run game in recent years.
- 8:19Speaker 2: Even before that you still had to establish to run.
- 8:22Speaker 2: So now you have a potentially three headed monster in
- 8:25Speaker 2: the backfield. I see. I think we see a bigger
- 8:26Speaker 2: emphasis on the run game. However, you also have Jalen
- 8:29Speaker 2: Watta in the mix, so you want to throw the
- 8:31Speaker 2: crap out of the ball. Boenix led the NFL in
- 8:33Speaker 2: passing attempts last year, probably not by design, but when
- 8:36Speaker 2: the run game was so ineffective after Dobbins went down,
- 8:39Speaker 2: we you know, threw the ball more a lot of
- 8:42Speaker 2: short passes as an extension of the run. But with
- 8:44Speaker 2: Davis Web now calling the plays, I think we will
- 8:47Speaker 2: see shorter play calls, getting to the line of scrimmage, quicker,
- 8:51Speaker 2: a lot of a lot more up tempo. Ben Denucci,
- 8:53Speaker 2: a former Broncos running back, even alluded to this. He
- 8:56Speaker 2: was doing an interview I can't remember where, but he
- 8:58Speaker 2: was kind of talking about like, yeah, it could be
- 9:00Speaker 2: more up tempo, a little more, you know, go go go,
- 9:04Speaker 2: And I do think most quarterbacks like kind of that
- 9:06Speaker 2: up tempo to kind of keep the defense on their heels. Yeah.
- 9:09Speaker 2: Something else that we might see is and you'd know
- 9:12Speaker 2: this too about Sean Payton, as he loves you know,
- 9:14Speaker 2: changing personnel after you know, so many plays, and that
- 9:18Speaker 2: was kind of why the Broncos broke the huddle so late,
- 9:21Speaker 2: you know, certain plays, because Peyton is figuring out if
- 9:24Speaker 2: he wants to run eleven personnel, well personnel, you know,
- 9:27Speaker 2: whatever the heck he wants to do. I also think
- 9:29Speaker 2: we're going to see less you know, player substitutions in
- 9:32Speaker 2: between plays, which was like a hallmark of Sean Payton's
- 9:36Speaker 2: offenses and had its advantages. But with Davis Webb calling
- 9:39Speaker 2: the plays, he'll probably call ninety to ninety five percent
- 9:42Speaker 2: of the plays. I think we're going to see, you know,
- 9:45Speaker 2: more up tempo. I think we're going to see shorter
- 9:47Speaker 2: play calls, you know, getting breaking the huddle quicker. And
- 9:50Speaker 2: I think we're going to see the team's best players
- 9:53Speaker 2: staying on the field longer, turning into less substitutions, and
- 9:58Speaker 2: hopefully a more seamless offense. And I do think it's
- 10:02Speaker 2: telling that Sean Payton did willingly give up play calling
- 10:05Speaker 2: to Davis web Yeah, he called plays I think probably
- 10:10Speaker 2: every year of his head coaching career, which I think
- 10:12Speaker 2: has been eighteen years so far. So this is also
- 10:15Speaker 2: pretty significant. So I do think the offense it's going
- 10:18Speaker 2: to be the same but different. It's going to still
- 10:20Speaker 2: be Sean Payton's offense, but with Davis Swab running the show,
- 10:24Speaker 2: who is half his age and was just in the
- 10:26Speaker 2: league a few years ago, I think it's going to
- 10:28Speaker 2: be sort of more with the times.
- 10:29Speaker 1: Yeah, sense, it absolutely does make sense, and I think
- 10:33Speaker 1: This Broncos offense is going to be extremely prolific, and
- 10:38Speaker 1: we're going to be getting into the defense here in
- 10:40Speaker 1: just a bit.
- 10:41Speaker 2: We are going to take a break.
- 10:42Speaker 1: Defense is prolific as well. I mean, this is going
- 10:44Speaker 1: to be an amazing football team to watch this coming season, folks.
- 10:49Speaker 1: We are going to take that break now. When we
- 10:51Speaker 1: get back, we've got more Broncos talk coming your way.
- 10:56Speaker 1: All right, we're back from our break. Of course, we
- 11:00Speaker 1: are with our buddy Louzcattaglia from Predominantly Orange dot com
- 11:04Speaker 1: over at fans Sided. Love that site, lots of great
- 11:07Speaker 1: content and I want to get into the Broncos defense
- 11:11Speaker 1: now as we are on the other side of our
- 11:14Speaker 1: break here. You're one of your colleagues over at Predominantly
- 11:17Speaker 1: Orange wrote a very interesting piece this past week about
- 11:20Speaker 1: whether the Broncos defense can improve this coming season from
- 11:24Speaker 1: what we saw in twenty twenty five. And let's make
- 11:28Speaker 1: no mistake about it here, their defense was pretty darn
- 11:30Speaker 1: good last year. They ranked third in points allowed. They
- 11:34Speaker 1: actually allowed three hundred and eleven points In both the
- 11:37Speaker 1: twenty twenty four and twenty twenty five season. They led
- 11:41Speaker 1: the league in yards allowed per play four point four
- 11:44Speaker 1: to six yards per play, lou can this defense actually
- 11:49Speaker 1: improve because they're a damn good unit. Here, What are
- 11:52Speaker 1: your thoughts here?
- 11:53Speaker 2: Yeah, it was really odd that we were one of
- 11:56Speaker 2: the best teams at taking the ball away last year
- 11:58Speaker 2: and then turned into one of the words teams are
- 12:00Speaker 2: taking the ball away. So that's the clear area of improvement.
- 12:04Speaker 2: I even remember I think Talanoa Hufonga had said previously
- 12:07Speaker 2: he was talking to the media. He had said that
- 12:09Speaker 2: that that was written on the whiteboard, like right when
- 12:12Speaker 2: they walked in the facility for offseason workouts, that it
- 12:15Speaker 2: was vance Joseph wanted to work on the turnovers. Now,
- 12:19Speaker 2: turnovers are kind of a mix of luck and you know,
- 12:22Speaker 2: being in the right spot at the right time. I mean,
- 12:24Speaker 2: I think we had what sixty what four sacks last
- 12:26Speaker 2: year sixty eight sacks, and I don't think we had
- 12:29Speaker 2: a single strip sack until the last week of the season.
- 12:32Speaker 2: So a lot of this is maybe last twenty twenty
- 12:34Speaker 2: fours turnovers kind of regressing to the mean a little bit,
- 12:37Speaker 2: But we forced so few turnovers that that was the
- 12:40Speaker 2: glaring area of improvement. Now it's easy for me to
- 12:44Speaker 2: say where they're going to force more turnovers, but that'll
- 12:46Speaker 2: be a point of emphasis. That's one area that they
- 12:48Speaker 2: have to get better. I also kind of think that
- 12:51Speaker 2: since we're such we're more of a NASCAR defense than
- 12:54Speaker 2: a Monster truck defense. So interesting, you know, a lot
- 12:57Speaker 2: of sacks, get to the quarterback quick Ye. We were
- 13:01Speaker 2: very good against the run last year, but late in
- 13:03Speaker 2: the season these past couple of years, even in the playoffs,
- 13:05Speaker 2: we kind of get bullied a little bit up front.
- 13:07Speaker 2: I mean, the Buffalo Bills just embarrassed us on the
- 13:10Speaker 2: ground in the playoff game.
- 13:11Speaker 1: It looks like we lost a lot of steam that,
- 13:13Speaker 1: like the Broncos lost a lot of steam there. Yeah.
- 13:15Speaker 2: I think this defense is so explosive and fast and
- 13:18Speaker 2: attack attack tack that when we get towards the end
- 13:20Speaker 2: of the season, things just kind of weaken a little bit. Now.
- 13:25Speaker 2: Could part of that be due to the fact that
- 13:26Speaker 2: we have traffic cones at inside linebacker, Probably, But I
- 13:31Speaker 2: also think it's the style of defense. I mean, we
- 13:33Speaker 2: have players that best fit that get to the quarterback quickly,
- 13:38Speaker 2: attack style defense, you know. I mean Nick Benito is
- 13:41Speaker 2: arguably our best defensive player, and he's an undersized pass
- 13:45Speaker 2: rusher right, our starting nose tackle DJ Jones is a
- 13:49Speaker 2: little bit undersized for the position. He's not really like
- 13:51Speaker 2: a space eater. He's not like a true nose for example. Yeah. So,
- 13:56Speaker 2: I mean the defense I think could get better later
- 13:58Speaker 2: in the season. We might not have the personnel for
- 14:01Speaker 2: it and the front seven. But the more objective thing
- 14:05Speaker 2: I can say is that turnovers. That's that's the clear
- 14:08Speaker 2: area of improvement for this for this unit. Absolutely all right.
- 14:13Speaker 1: Well, as we're moving along here, No NFL team is perfect.
- 14:17Speaker 1: There are certainly strengths with every NFL team, there are
- 14:20Speaker 1: certainly weakness. Maybe except for the New York Jets.
- 14:23Speaker 2: I think it's just probably weaknesses all around for.
- 14:26Speaker 1: That for that team. But as you look towards this
- 14:29Speaker 1: upcoming season, dissecting what the Broncos did during this offseason,
- 14:34Speaker 1: knowing the talent that's going to be on the field, Loo,
- 14:37Speaker 1: let's talk about the biggest strength the biggest weakness on
- 14:40Speaker 1: this team. Let's start with the biggest strength on the team.
- 14:42Speaker 2: What is that?
- 14:43Speaker 1: And uh, you know, get let me let me let
- 14:45Speaker 1: you know what or tell us why that strength is
- 14:48Speaker 1: what it is.
- 14:49Speaker 2: Yeah, So the offensive line I think is still the
- 14:51Speaker 2: biggest strength. So, uh, this status kind of wild. So
- 14:55Speaker 2: we're now approaching we're on pace for the fourth season
- 14:59Speaker 2: in a row. Were going to have all of Garrett Bulls,
- 15:02Speaker 2: Ben Powers, Quinn Miners, and Mike McGlinchey all a part
- 15:05Speaker 2: of the starting offensive line for the fourth year in
- 15:07Speaker 2: a row. For the third year in a row, our
- 15:09Speaker 2: offensive line is expected to look exactly the same. Yeah,
- 15:13Speaker 2: twenty twenty three, we had Lloyd cushion Berry at center
- 15:15Speaker 2: he signed with the Titans. We had Luke Wattenberg, so
- 15:17Speaker 2: he's now approaching his third year. So the offensive line
- 15:21Speaker 2: chemistry is kind of out of this world, to be
- 15:26Speaker 2: completely honest with you. So that would be the biggest
- 15:28Speaker 2: strength of the team for sure. It's consistently one of
- 15:31Speaker 2: the best pass blocking units in the NFL. Run blocking
- 15:36Speaker 2: is kind of you know whatever. I mean, we don't
- 15:38Speaker 2: have gaudy rushing totals, but pass blocking it's been pretty
- 15:43Speaker 2: much the best in the league, and as a whole,
- 15:45Speaker 2: it's probably not only the best, but also probably one
- 15:49Speaker 2: of the most talented. I mean, Philly's offensive line is
- 15:51Speaker 2: probably up there for obvious reasons, but offensive line is
- 15:54Speaker 2: still the absolute biggest strength of this team. For sure, what.
- 15:57Speaker 1: About the biggest weakness. Let's flip that coin, O, what
- 16:00Speaker 1: do you think the biggest weakness is on this team?
- 16:02Speaker 1: There's not too many weaknesses on this team.
- 16:04Speaker 2: What do you think that is? Yeah, it's still inside linebacker.
- 16:07Speaker 2: To me, I didn't love resigning Alex Singleton. He was,
- 16:11Speaker 2: in my opinion, he was just bad last year. He
- 16:13Speaker 2: can't cover, doesn't really get into the backfield, it doesn't
- 16:16Speaker 2: run well. I just think he's a bad player, and
- 16:19Speaker 2: I don't think we should have resigned him given how
- 16:21Speaker 2: deep the free agency class was. I understand why we
- 16:24Speaker 2: did because he wears the green dot. He knows the
- 16:27Speaker 2: defense well, you know, Vance Joseph's defense is Drey Greenlaw
- 16:32Speaker 2: once said it was like learning Spanish last year, so
- 16:35Speaker 2: obviously something hard to communicate, hard to learn. But the
- 16:40Speaker 2: inside linebacker group, I just think is still the biggest weakness.
- 16:43Speaker 2: Justin Sternaud is projected to be our other starting inside linebacker.
- 16:49Speaker 2: He's actually someone I think is a little bit underrated.
- 16:51Speaker 2: But I think as a duo, it's just still the
- 16:54Speaker 2: weakest on the roster, and I still think it's probably
- 16:56Speaker 2: one of the weakest starting duos in the NFL. I'm
- 17:00Speaker 2: still gonna pound the table for a Jordan Brooks trade
- 17:02Speaker 2: until it doesn't happen, but I'm not sure how likely
- 17:06Speaker 2: that is, But as of now, I would still say
- 17:09Speaker 2: its sidelinebacker is probably the weakest.
- 17:11Speaker 1: All right, all right, sounds good. Well look, Lou I'm
- 17:13Speaker 1: gonna let you go in just a bit here, but
- 17:16Speaker 1: before I do. On our Opposition Territory podcast, I've been
- 17:19Speaker 1: asking and ending our discussions over the past couple months
- 17:22Speaker 1: with this particular question because I think when you are
- 17:27Speaker 1: watching football for so long, there's a less surprises year
- 17:30Speaker 1: after year, especially with the talent on the field. So
- 17:34Speaker 1: as we're looking to this upcoming season, I'm wondering which
- 17:37Speaker 1: young player could really take that next step from a
- 17:40Speaker 1: developmental standpoint on this Broncos team possibly become that national
- 17:45Speaker 1: face and star. Is there anyone on the team that
- 17:48Speaker 1: you can point to that might actually fit that mold?
- 17:50Speaker 2: What are your thoughts? Yeah, I'm gonna go with Pat Bryant,
- 17:53Speaker 2: our second year wide receiver. All right, this is kind
- 17:56Speaker 2: of a fun one. So last year Troy Franklin was
- 18:00Speaker 2: kind of that breakout guy for us. He was like
- 18:02Speaker 2: the de facto number two wide receiver, behind Courtland Sutton.
- 18:05Speaker 2: I think he tripled his touchdowns. I think he almost
- 18:07Speaker 2: trippled his yards. He was just he was He was
- 18:10Speaker 2: much improved, and he's still only twenty three years old.
- 18:14Speaker 2: So you know, some might say, well, it's gonna be
- 18:16Speaker 2: Troy Franklin, He's gonna be the number three. But with
- 18:20Speaker 2: Wattle and Sutton at the top of the depth chart,
- 18:22Speaker 2: you can't just give them one hundred percent of the targets.
- 18:24Speaker 2: You're gonna need a third guy to step up. Yeah,
- 18:28Speaker 2: Troy Franklin, you know, he's he doesn't really excel at
- 18:31Speaker 2: anything as much as guys like Marvin Mims and Pat
- 18:34Speaker 2: Bryant do. So Marvin Mims is more of our gadgety
- 18:36Speaker 2: guy speechter Burner. You know, I think he deserves more snaps,
- 18:40Speaker 2: but for whatever reason, he hasn't gotten them. Yeah, but
- 18:44Speaker 2: Pat Bryan's skill set also sticks out. He's you know,
- 18:46Speaker 2: six two, two of five, so he's he's a bigger frame,
- 18:49Speaker 2: really good hands, really good in traffic. He improved all
- 18:53Speaker 2: three years of college at Illinois. Last year his numbers
- 18:56Speaker 2: didn't jump off the page, but he did have like
- 18:58Speaker 2: a mid to late year stretch where he wrote producing
- 19:01Speaker 2: at a pace of about I think it is like
- 19:03Speaker 2: fifty some odd receptions in over seven hundred yards over
- 19:06Speaker 2: a full season. And I think with his skill set
- 19:09Speaker 2: and the fact that the Broncos are going to need
- 19:11Speaker 2: a number three wide receiver to step up, I do
- 19:14Speaker 2: think Pat Bryant can kind of come out of nowhere
- 19:16Speaker 2: almost and really enjoy a breakout season. Now, you know, optimistically,
- 19:22Speaker 2: I want to say the Broncos can become the next
- 19:25Speaker 2: team to have three one thousand yard receivers, which I
- 19:28Speaker 2: think has only happened a small handful of times in
- 19:31Speaker 2: the NFL, depending on how much we throw it. Maybe,
- 19:33Speaker 2: but Wattle and Sutton can both hit it, depending on
- 19:36Speaker 2: I mean, Bnix led the NFL in passing attempt so
- 19:38Speaker 2: you never know. But the wide receiver room does kind
- 19:42Speaker 2: of seem finished off with Wattle, Sutton, Franklin, MIM's all
- 19:45Speaker 2: these guys. But I do kind of think Pat Bryant
- 19:47Speaker 2: has a skill set that can be conducive of a
- 19:50Speaker 2: breakout that no one really sees coming. It's gonna be
- 19:53Speaker 2: fun to watch.
- 19:54Speaker 1: It's gonna be fun watching this Broncos team if that
- 19:56Speaker 1: does come to fruition, and it's gonna be It's gonna
- 19:59Speaker 1: be an interesting FL season for sure, in general, not
- 20:03Speaker 1: just with the Broncos, but just so many of these
- 20:06Speaker 1: teams that you're looking at in terms of where they're
- 20:09Speaker 1: gonna be able to take those next steps. Lou thank
- 20:12Speaker 1: you so much, my friends. Seriously, it was so great
- 20:14Speaker 1: to talk to you. Always enjoy our time here. Excuse me,
- 20:17Speaker 1: I got a little thing in my throat anyway, Hoping
- 20:21Speaker 1: that you're able to come back down the road and
- 20:24Speaker 1: join us. I would love to have you on again.
- 20:26Speaker 2: Yes, thank you, Jeff. It's always a fun time again, folks.
- 20:29Speaker 1: He has loose Cattaglia from Predominantly Orange dot com and
- 20:33Speaker 1: we're gonna catch you on the next Opposition Territory podcast.
- 20:36Speaker 2: Take care