On the latest edition of the DNVR Broncos Podcast, Zac Stevens and Andrew Mason are coming to you to break down all of the latest news in Broncos Country.
The guys discuss what young players George Paton should look to extend and at what price, answer listener questions and much more.
DON’T FORGET TO SUBSCRIBE TO THE POD! iTunes link — Stitcher Link — Pocket Casts Link — Spotify Link
DNVR subscribers! Leave your questions in the comment section for tomorrow’s podcast!
0 Comments (22 conversations)
TheChad
Gentleman – Dare I say that I am becoming cautiously optimistic about the Broncos? George Paton has absolutely crushed free agency! Other than letting Phil walk, he has been upgrading this team with surgical precision. I love that he brought back Justin Simmons, Shelby, Von, and Kareem, we never would have seen this group back together with Elway. Then he signed two studs for the secondary?! What a boss move. It’s great to see someone bring a fresh set of eyes to this team. Correct me if I am wrong here, but at this point, holes in this roster are getting filled quickly. The most glaring holes that I see are Quarterback, and running back – Am I missing any major gaps in the roster? Running back seems simple enough to fill in the draft, which leaves Quarterback as the big outstanding item. At this point I only see 3 options (Deshaun is off the table until further notice):
1. Run it back with Drew
2. Draft a QB in round 1 this year
3. Draft a QB in round 1 next year
It’s a hard choice for me because it all revolves around time. How aggressive do we want to be to “win now”? Going with Drew as Plan A is the most aggressive, assuming we don’t trade back to acquire 2022 picks. Then it’s a toss-up between drafting a 1st round QB this year or next year – This comes down to which class you like better vs when do you want to start developing a young quarterback. Given those 3 options, what do you think the Broncos WILL do, and then what do you think they SHOULD do?
Thanks for your hard work on the Pod – I work in finance and look at spreadsheets all day, and the Pod has become mission critical to get thru some of the boring arduous parts of my job. Haven’t missed an episode since I found it earlier this year.
jp.marchand
Just saw this comment and was thinking very similarly to you!
jp.marchand
Thanks for all of the great Broncos coverage. As a lifelong Broncos and Nuggets fan it’s incredible to have amazing, non-coastal biased, coverage! I don’t know how other fan bases manage without coverage like DNVR.
I’m not sure if it has been quite addressed on new shows but with recent moves, specifically on the defensive side, are the Broncos closer to win-now mode than we originally were thinking? With one-year deals for Von, K-Jack, and Fuller, it feels like this upcoming year is crucial to keep 2/3 of those players around for the long-term.
With all that is going on for Watson, that feels less and less likely before the draft. I also don’t think drafting a rookie QB will help you win-now any more than Drew Lock would. With that in mind, what are our options? It feels like the FA QB market is dry (not sure I’d be any more excited about Minshew compared to Lock) and our trade options are heading that direction as well.
WHO DO WE NEED TO CALL TO GET ON RUSSELL WILSON’S LIST?? This is a dream-scenario but feels like the only worthwhile fit for a win-now Broncos team. In Paton we Trust and looking forward to seeing what kind of magic he can pull off. Thoughts?
larrydennjr
Maybe we just be patient for an unhappy Aaron Rodgers ??
Roy Donk
I’m pumped to have Kareem back. Honestly one of the funnest players to watch. He brings an energy to the team that would be hard to replace. Expecting a lot of turnovers this year!
LowCountryBronco
Morning Boys,
Thoughts and prayers to everyone in Boulder and CO in general. Just a couple thoughts today.
1) Does Bucky Brooks have a few screws loose or what? He has Fields going to the Eagles and Farley going to the Broncos in his mock 2.0 (post Darby and Fuller contracts) I don’t care what he says those would be wasted picks as neither are team needs respectively any longer.
2) I have a list of possibilities here that I hope for at the QB spot. This has changed a bit since the Deshaun allegations (although the timing and circumstances surrounding these allegations are fairly suspect initially to me). In the draft I’d love to see the Broncos take either Trey Lance, or Justin Fields. I’ve been watching their film all week while I’ve been out with covid. After a deep dive, Fields really does look a lot like Deshaun (until there is pressure in his face), and Lance could absolutely end up being a total stud. Finally if we go hedge it has to be Minshew.
A month out from the draft what do you guys want to see in the draft and or FA hedge market?
-LCB
Harry Urban
Paton has started well, but there are a lot of one year deals and contract decisions to be made for 2022. There is still a lot of work to be done before we become relevant again – even outside the QB questions.
We can’t keep everybody. Are we drafting their direct replacements this year and hope they develop in one season?
Count Bridgeula
Seems like GP is in win now mode.
Love
Le Comte
Casper
Fellas,
Do you want to see the Broncos on Hard Knocks this year? As much as I don’t want a distraction for the team, it would be cool to get an inside look and get some of the lesser known players some exposure to a national audience.
Orange and Blue all over
Appreciate you guys never shying away from difficult topic and discussing the tragic events in Boulder. My heart goes out to all. Dont think people realize how many people these events effect and for how long. i often still think of and become emotional about Columbine over 20 years later just from having been around their school so often before/after shooting for sports as i attended nearby HS at the time. It was the first time myself or any of my friends even considered this a potential danger, before we accepted it as normal. This latest tragedy will sadly similarly impact countless more than we realize. Keeping all of Colorado and Boulder in my thoughts.
If you have time, suggest everyone invest in watching, “We are Columbine” as well as the Ted talk by one of the shooters mothers.
Know we cant eliminate all of them but equally heartbroken and angry we refuse to demand to have popular common sense reform passed and do something to at least reduce their frequency.
On Broncos question, how good do you think Lock needs to be this year for the following:
– Trade him for 3rd round pick
– Trade him for 2nd round pick
– Trade him for 1st round pick
– Trade him for two 1st round picks
– Be worth big long term contract in Denver
Thanks.
MAYBEtheDINGOateYOURbaby
Common sense gun laws are in place in Colorado.
Its weird that criminals dont really care about those laws
MarkITsnatch
Hey guys!
Today, we look at the Green Bay Packers, and there should be no debate about this. So is there a regular season Packers Broncos game that sticks out? I remember a Monday Night game in 2003 that was Favre first game after his father passed away. That game had been delayed because of a tornado in Dacono, but Denver ultimately got obliterated in the game. Peyton Manning, in his last hurrah, had a solid game in 2015, where CJ Anderson and Ronnie Hillman teed off for 160 yards on the ground. And what about your bucs, Mase? Green Bay is another former division rival, and that rivalry is also rather storied
Andrew Mason
TLDR: Story time with Mase.
Full text: I’m going to miss the comment section of the Wednesday pod because of an appointment, so I will respond here. Brett Favre’s renowned MNF performance after Irvin Favre’s death was against the Raiders in Oakland.
That season’s Broncos-Packers contest was memorable for a different reason. The teams met in Week 17 of that year on an unusually balmy 45-degree day at Lambeau Field. Denver was locked into its playoff seed, so the Broncos rested a slew of key players and gave Jarious Jackson his first and only NFL start at QB. The game was too big for him, and after a bad interception in the second quarter, Mike Shanahan yanked Jackson in favor of Danny Kanell to finish out the contest. Slowly, Green Bay pulled away. Ahman Green dealt the knockout blow with a 98-yard touchdown run that remains the longest ever allowed by the Broncos.
But what I will always recall is how once the Packers had the game clinched, all green-and-gold eyes turned to the events in Tempe, Ariz., where the Vikings dueled with the Cardinals. Green Bay needed a win and a Minnesota loss to keep its season alive. The Vikings led 17-6 in the final minutes. Hope seemed lost. But then Arizona scored and recovered the subsequent on-side kickoff. (By this time, no one in the Lambeau press box was watching the game still being played in front of them, which was so clearly decided that Doug Pederson — yes, THAT Doug Pederson — was in at QB for Green Bay.) The Cardinals drove to the Minnesota 9, then got knocked backwards. Finally, all the Vikings had to do was prevent a touchdown on a fourth-and-25 play from their 28-yard line. Josh McCown scrambled and flung a desperate toss to the end zone. The little-known Nate Poole leapt for the ball near the sideline in the end zone. He was pushed out of bounds as he caught the pass. But in those days, if you were pushed out in mid-air, it could be ruled a touchdown if the officials felt you would have gotten your feet down. An official sprinted in, made the “push” gesture and signaled touchdown.
At that point, the news began traveling through the Lambeau grandstands — from people in the luxury suites with TVs and people listening on radios throughout the bleachers. A roar began to build like a tsunami. Players on the field looked quizzically, unsure why the crowd was gradually going berserk — until the public-address system announced the final score: Arizona 18, Minnesota 17.
That said, there are two Broncos-Packers regular-season games that jump out from a Denver perspective. One is the 2015 game, and the other is the MNF snow game at Mile High in 1984 when the Broncos became the only team in NFL history to score via fumble returns on the first two plays from scrimmage. Then they spent the rest of the night hanging on for dear life to win, 17-14. (The 1984 Broncos won many “ugly” games en route to a 13-3 record.)
Bucs-Packers provides many options. If we include the postseason, last January’s NFC Championship Game takes the cake. Many of the other memorable games are ugly and/or painful for the Bucs, which is why I told every Packers fan I knew that after all the decades, my guys were due to deal Green Bay a haymaker when it mattered most. After taking more than their share of punishment; the Pewter Pirates deserve to dish some out for a while.
In particular, I recall a 1989 game at Tampa Stadium where the Bucs stopped the Pack on fourth-and-16 in the final minute, only to have the stop overruled by what remains the worst, game-deciding call I’ve ever seen, an illegal-hands-to-the-face call against Shawn Lee. Predictably, the Packers used the reprieve to drive to the game-winning field goal as time expired.
There was the infamous “Snow Bowl” of 1985, played in the middle of a blizzard later immortalized in an Alka-Seltzer commercial. There were the Brett Favre-led comebacks. I used to call Favre “Mola Ram” because he was like the villain of “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom,” in which he’d rip your heart out of your chest and hold it up for you to see it before you perished in flames.
(A random story I was told that I swear is true: During a TV production meeting, Favre excused himself to go to the restroom. A few minutes later, he returned and exclaimed, “Wow, that was a beacher.” Quizzical looks filled the room, after which Favre said, “It was out of the water and onto the sand.”)
There was Tony Dungy inexplicably settling for a 40-yard game-winning field-goal attempt on a frigid Christmas Eve at Lambeau Field in Week 17 of the 2000 season; Martin Gramatica missed as regulation expired, and the Packers won the overtime coin toss and never surrendered the ball, sending the Bucs from the No. 2 seed and a home game in the divisional round (which I would have covered on the company dime) to a road game in Philadelphia on New Year’s Eve one day after a snowstorm dropped about a foot of snow on the city.
There was a 55-14 loss at Lambeau in 1983, followed by a rematch two months later on MNF that the Bucs lost 12-9 in OT because wayward kicker Bill Capece missed a field goal and an extra point, leading Bucs coach John McKay to utter, “Capece is kaput.” (He never kicked in the NFL again, having gone a ghastly 10-of-23 on field goals that year.)
And then there was the 1992 game at County Stadium in Milwaukee that the Bucs lost, 19-14, but is most remembered for one of my all-time tantrums after Eddie Murray missed a fourth-quarter field-goal attempt. Backstory: He was wide right from 47, but the Packers were offside, so he got another try from 42 yards and missed again. Watching on TV in Florida, I yelled a four-syllable profanity into a sofa pillow (so my mom wouldn’t know what I said), then grabbed the bill of my orange Bucs hat and flung it across the living room with such force that it hit the Christmas tree square and sent it wobbling back and forth … back and forth … back and forth. (You have to understand my anger; the team started 3-1 and was about to lose its seventh game in eight weeks, with three more defeats still to come in a 1-10 stretch that was typical of the Bucs for so many years.) I can still see the tree teeter, my heart in my throat, knowing the scalding water in which I would find myself if it crashed to the ground. It didn’t. The Bucs lost, 19-14. A week later, they blew a 27-3 halftime lead to the Rams and fell, 31-27. It’s a Bucs life, indeed.
The good Bucs-Packers games from my perspective include the 2002 game the Bucs won at Raymond James Stadium en route to a title, the 1995 Sunday Night Football OT win that ended the Bucs’ 12-year streak of seasons with at least 10 losses (of course, they still finished 7-9) and a Week 2 game in 1992 that the Bucs dominated, 31-3, with Vinny Testaverde posting a 145.4 rating on 22-of-25 passing.
(My experience with Testaverde probably illuminates how I view Drew Lock. They have a lot in common: big arm, mobility, not the best at pre-snap reads and adjustments, a tendency to try unnecessary hero-ball throws, peak games where they look like the best in the football and far too many valleys. Testaverde eventually stabilized, but it took him 7 seasons and a move from Tampa Bay to the Bill Belichick-coached Browns before it happened. Belichick knew how to handle Vinny better than the Bucs’ coaches — particularly Ray Perkins, who gave Belichick a shot in 1979 with the Giants after the future hoodie enthusiast spent 1978 as the Broncos’ films guy. The “football rehab” of Belichick and his staff molded Testaverde into a QB who was a solid starter through most of the 1990s and into the early 2000s — although he never really shook his propensity for interceptions. Testaverde led the league in picks twice in a 5-season span in the early 2000s, which again makes me nervous about Drew — sometimes, no matter how much we try, we can’t cure ourselves of the bad habits. Also … no QB gets 6 seasons with his first team when he struggles like Testaverde did in Tampa Bay. We live in different times in which we have to make quicker assessments … and the QB-and-offense-friendly nature of the sport today makes those assessments more reliable.)
Thus endeth my seemingly endless comment. Hope y’all heeded the TLDR warning.
LowCountryBronco
You are one of the great football historians Mase. We all found a gem here at DNVR.
Some People Call Me The Space Cowboy
Guys, I gotta admit it, I screamed like a little girl when I saw Kareem
re-signed with the Broncos.
Here comes “What’s More Likely?”
1. Broncos DB’s lead the league in INT’s.
2. Broncos front 7 lead the league in sacks.
SwedishBronco
Listening to Mase I just felt I had to say something,
We had TWO mass shootings since the second World War in Sweden, both in 1994. I know part of America love their guns but the laws around the guns are incredibly outdated. Everyone doesn’t need to have a right to own a weapon because not everyone is fit to own a weapon, and when living in the world biggest capitalist dystopia its even worse since profit is more important than anything else so let’s sell to every nutjob who enters the store.
I hope you one day gets to live in a sane country with sane policies.
LowCountryBronco
Swedish Bronco,
With all due respect this is a gross generalization of a country I love dearly. Some of the most deadly mass killings have happened with trucks, knives, swords you name it.. the problem is evil in this world. We all have free will and taking fire arms away won’t take that away. We can grieve and make it harder for people to attain firearms, heck I’m okay with them limiting the sort of firearm that can be purchased. Taking the right for someone to defend themself away because of a hand full of psychos is not a problem fix. I understand we all are disturbed and troubled by this but hate is the root of all of this. We choose political party or this organization or that organization and dig our heels in and some people are willing to harm others over their beliefs. Changing laws over this won’t stop it from happening. Most people willing to do something this awful are not purchasing their firearms by legal means and the international firearms black market isn’t going anywhere. You can’t take a law abiding citizens right to defend their home away while the criminals and psychopaths will continue to acquire weapons by any means. I hate to “troll” and I hate to even have to make this argument but I take great offense to the second half of this comment and couldn’t help but take a stance. All of this passion needs to be redirected to loving one another. It’s okay to want to defend yourself if need be but regardless of what you believe this comes down to defeating hate and the only way to do that is to love one another regardless of where we come from or what we believe. We are all human beings and instead of love we want to change laws and get mad at people for having different beliefs. The only fix is to come together and love eachother as we love ourselves.
PismoBeachBroncos07
Even tho I dont agree with RKs take on Drew Lock having potential to be the guy i respect him taking a strong stance on how he feels. Ive been really, really curious to know what Zac’s unadulterated and honest opinion of Drew Lock, it can even be fansided. I actually would prefer that position. Hes played it awfully neutral. What do you want to see happen? Id be interested to hear Mase’s opinion as well. What are you both hoping for? 1st rounder? Trade for a vet? Keep Lock and run it back. I want anyone other than Lock starting. Thats my hot take. What’s yours?
Broncology
In your comments early in this pod. It is horrible when shootings happen. You propose something be done. What should be done? Are you proposing disarming the populace? Disarming law abiding citizens does nothing to stop criminals from killing people. Killing is already illegal. Cities like Detroit and Chicago already have eliminated the ability to own fire arms. It has done nothing to stop those cities from having some of the highest gun related murder rates in the entire country, and it has effectively eliminated the good law abiding citizens from an effective way of protecting themselves.
Guns are not the problem. Broken people are the problem. Broken dreams, broken futures, hopelessness, despair, apathy towards others, selfishness, and the sinful nature of mankind are the root of the problem. When you need surgery to fix an issue you don’t apply bandages and painkillers and expect the problem to go away.
We have a federal government that is drunk on power, and a culture that leaves many on the outside looking in, Contributing to many of the problems I listed above. Allowing the government to take away the rights of the many for the problems of the few is a bandaid at best. Expecting killings to stop because we make laws against guns is as short sighted as expecting murders to stop because killing is illegal.
There are no easy answers to these problems that plague our society. I wish that there were.
On a lighter note, thanks for all the work you do to bring us all great football news.
MAYBEtheDINGOateYOURbaby
In mass shootings the united states ranks 15th in the world with more guns than people, you’d think with the media tantrums they’d be #1
They manipulate the the data to support their argument and always leave out the hundreds of thousands into millions of people who’s lives are saved every year by being armed.
One poster made a comment about common sense gun laws….? Colorado has them. People who don’t know about the thousands of gun laws on the books in this country shouldn’t talk about gun laws in this country. People comment about laws yet? Watch the humanitarian crisis catch fire at our southern border because they want to ignore those laws being broken is completely ignorant
dan birk
hey guys!
i saw this on twitter yesterday and it *might* be something that’s better suited to a first segment but tell me what y’all think (if you feel like answering it now);
so there was some discussion that the broncos have the best non-qb roster in the division. if you split the positions into;
OT (DEN)
IOL (DEN)
WR (LAC now- probably DEN soon)
TE (KC)
RB (LV)
EDGE (DEN)
ILB (this was hard. I guess I’d say LV between littleton, morrow and kwit)
Safety (DEN)
Corner (DEN)
IDL (KC- chris jones is too dominant not to pick the chiefs)
which team has the best position group in the division in y’alls opinion? i put my answers in brackets if you’re interested.
Mike1809
Son of a gun, you guys, it happened again. My hopes for this season are officially up.
Let me explain – I’m the perennial optimist in my family. I always find a way to get my hopes up for the Broncos during the offseason. As you can imagine, the past 5 seasons have been a huge bummer for those of us that struggle to take off the “orange-colored glasses” that The Count pointed out a few days ago. Sigh.
That said, is this the year that my optimistic dreams are also realistic dreams? Rationale follows…
1) Now that we’ve got my dude K-Jack back + the additions at corner = a beast of a secondary. Best in the league??
2) On a scale of 1 – 10, how baller do you expect our pass-rush to be this year? Chubb, Miller, AND Malik Reed. C’mon!
3) The best offensive line in the AFC West that includes depth pieces & Coach Munchek coaching them
4) Offensive weapons galore
5) And…. the biggest question mark…. Drew. Again, recognizing my bias toward optimism, but I’m predicting Drew to progress substantially this year. My prediction: consistently a top 15 QB with a few games in the top 8.
Thoughts?
Drew for QB
If the broncos trade back and draft JOK what does that mean for Justin Strnad I like both players and think they could be really great players. Also with Kareem back what should we expect from this defense?
BroncosOnly
Much has been said about how the locker room was frustrated with John Elway for being reluctant to reward players on the team with contracts they deserved. Which players specifically, besides Phillip Lindsay, didn’t get their due from the Broncos?
larrydennjr
George Patton blows my mind …
He’s in the Justin Press conference with you all and they ask him and Vic what did they think about Justin coming out of college Vic was honest and said he didn’t even look at too much film on him. Lol …..
But man PATON ??? He was able to give you a play by play Daniel Jeremiah in depth Analysis of justin as if he was going to be drafted at the end of next month basically saying all the tools and skills were there but he had to get bigger to play on an Nfl level and develop and that’s why he believes he fell to the third round …..That was so honest and brilliant that lets me know this guy is going to build a juggernaut of a football team the right way through the draft and adding pieces that fit the culture and competivness of this team .
I had no optimism drew didn’t play well enough to be the guy but he had not played enough to not be the guy In my opinion ….. But I look at george like wow dude you are a major asset and I wish I could be a fly on the wall as him and Vic and the scouts and donotell and shurmur prepare their draft boards
I’m super excited for the draft because for the first time in a long time I have no clue what we will do this guy sired this roster up. As we await for a nick foles or minshew trade he sired this roster up !
He’s a draft away from In PATON We trust
P.s. The Raiders Suck ! …..Marcus Mariota had a litany of people interested in him and they held him hostage until most of the free agent money was spent and his market had calmed he had no choice but to restructure that sucks …we could have done the same to kareem but we let him test the market before reuniting raiders suck and like some analyst were saying agents aren’t going to forget that come next year lol premium prices for the raiders lol.
elroyjetson
Hello Family. My prayers and condolences to those affected by the latest tragedy. Mase, your pop tart draft would have been my exact draft. For qb draft picks Im with Zac. I have a bad feeling in my gut about Lance and I just don’t trust what I saw in Fields to improve. Mac Jones just gives me a good feeling that he is a quality starter. Listening to you guys I have to say Andrew Mason for President. Your words are exactly how I feel when I see the way this country carries on. I have very strong words for those who throw ignorant and uneducated words into political arguments but too many people are ready to fight over political leanings so I refuse to discuss them unless it is face to face. Stay strong Broncos Family.
elroyjetson
Sorry…forgot I wanted to say too, I am niw and have been since it was announced, anti Pat Shurmur. I look at his performance and see an offense that has been the same for years and regularly picked apart. Thats for real all for now.
Lovethunderdownunder
How much does one drink when we talk about a “Cost Controlled Kareem”?
Answer: A lot, joyfully and while wearing very little clothing
Man…… imagine if Drew plays lifts his game…….. man…..*beep* me how can we NOT be optimistic about this season?
Now assuming full health and participation- which only suckers and schmucks have faith in…. outside of QB – do the broncos have a position group which is worse than AVERAGE in the league? How many are top 10? And please consider talent not just stats, given the aforementioned injury impact and what it did last year.
sebastianerbe
Hey guys,
hope you all are doing well. My apologies for not commenting for the pod yesterday. But I just needed to say how y’all are such incredible people. I appreciate you so so much, thanks for making everyone here feel like we are all a family.
This all needs to stop. We can’t continue to ignore these problems. My thoughts and prayers go out to everyone who was affected by this horrific tragedy, and everyone in the community. Thank you guys again for everything.
Much love,
Sebastian
Wildcard
Hey fellas! Sorry for the late comment, but I was wondering what you think the Broncos biggest draft need aside from QB is? Who do you think they should grab at those positions and where? Thanks for the great content, yah boi Wildcard.
(P.S honking like a goose means farting like crazy lol, mainly for the guys on the nuggets side)