NFL Insider Ben Allbright discusses Broncos QB room, Russell Wilson, Aaron Rodgers and MORE!

Ben Allbright and Andrew Duhan break down the following topics:

00:00:30 Denver QB room
00:03:30 Russell Wilson & Arthur Smith
00:07:30 Denver RB room
00:11:50 Life of an NFL Insider
00:16:00 Is George Patton on the hot seat?
00:21:15 Aaron Rodgers to Broncos backstory
00:25:10 Brandon Aiyuk trade market
00:28:10 Falcons shock the world taking Penix in the first
00:31:30 Matthew Stafford new contract
00:33:20 Broncos Prediction in 2024
00:35:30 Super Bowl Predictions

#nfl #broncos #fantasyfootball

[Music] super pumped up for today’s episode we got Ben Albright an Insider for the NFL follow him on X at Albright NFL he’s a Broncos Insider working for KOA Colorado but he’s also part of the Broncos game Day broadcast and he’s the official Insider for that broadcast which is really freaking cool then let’s jump straight into this the Broncos obviously this year made a big move they cut Russell Wilson ate all that dead money 50 million this year 30 million next year and now they drafted B Knicks right in the 2024 draft they traded for Zack Wilson you still have stum back there what’s going on in that QB room who’s starting week one well that is the uh I guess it’s a million dollar question isn’t it um I think the organization hopes that it’s it’s obviously v x me if you spend a first round draft overall you uh generally hope that they take the Reigns and take the job I I don’t know like I think B Knicks will be starting this year at some point I don’t know if that’s necessarily week one um but but I think it’ll be starting somewhere some some point this year um you know the organization um you know Russell Wilson I here let me backtrack a little Russell Wilson is uh somebody that you get on social media and it’s kind of divisive you get people say oh he’s washed and all this other stuff which is total garbage uh Russell Wilson isn’t washed at all um he’s just very good at a very sort of narrow set of circumstances right extremely good at those things and not good at some of the other things and uh those things that he needs to be good at in Shawn Payton’s offense are not the things that he’s good at you know he’s best at throwing outside the numbers improvising he’ll take some sacks but he’ll make some home run plays in fact when he got benched last year he was top five in the NFL in passing touchdowns so like you know the idea that washed is is ludicrous uh that said he just wasn’t a fit for Shawn pyton Shawn Peyton’s a schedule based offense you don’t take sacks you don’t turn it over that kind of stuff uh and you you you know you matriculate I hate that word but you matriculate down the field in small you know small chunks and and keep it positive and keep it on schedule and that’s why guys like uh for instance Teddy Bridgewater have had massive success in that AUD in that offense you know if you’re careful with the football and you’re able to just take what they give you you you’ll be fine in it so Russ is not that guy so they eat the money and they move on uh stum s of that guy a little bit can be you know we’ll see but they go out and draft B Knicks who is definitely that guy trade for Zack Wilson who is in no way that guy and um you know they’re trying to see how that shakes out I I would say that you know I’ve been to all the OTAs the mini camps all that kind of stuff and I I would say right now Jarrett STM would be qb1 bonick would be qb2 and and Zach Wilson a distant court qb3 at this point um but that’s to be expected I mean Jared STM has a year in this offense he knows these receivers um you know so that that that judging that right now is really a false sort of judgment I mean I he looks smoother out there because he knows it meanwhile Bo Nicks has had what two two weeks worth of practices same thing with Zach Wilson so I’m not really holding that against them um as far as it goes though I mean organizationally I think they’d like B Knicks to to take the Reigns and take the job and I would suggest that they’re doing everything they can to kind of Empower him to do that uh he just has to sort of clear the STM hurdle while there’s a Zack Wilson wild card there in the background so I know that week to Broncos and Steelers are facing off obviously Russ’s new team I forget where that game is being played whether it’s in Denver or in Pittsburg but how do you think Russell Wilson’s going to fit in in Pittsburgh like you said he wasn’t doing bad when he got benched it was more of a contractual dispute they didn’t probably want to pay injury guarantees in the event that Russell got injured towards the end of the year so how do you see Russell Wilson fitting into Arthur Smith’s offense in Pittsburgh well I think he fits in a lot better you know Arthur Smith’s offense is a runhe heavy offense that’s it’s built on creating pl Play action passes specifically with deep crossers and the over um and I think Russ is a dynamic fit for that in fact I I know that the situation with the Broncos was deteriorating everybody knew it sea pton knew Russ wasn’t going to be back you know Midway through the year Russ knew Russ wasn’t back Midway through the year uh and so there was some back channeling going on there with Arthur Smith who was then with the Falcons uh that that that would kind of sort of be how That Shook out um you know Russ and his team wanted Arthur Smith is their is their guy and you know he wind up in Pittsburgh it sort of just worked out for everybody I think the the fact that he’s on a veteran minimum deal because the Broncos are paying so much this year uh sort of you know helped facilitate that and then the Steelers you know they went out and uh they’re the one team who at that point it made sense for Justin fields to join um you don’t you don’t bring I don’t think very highly of Justin fields we start there I don’t think very high quarterback he’s not very good but you don’t bring a player like that in to be a backup you’re building an offense around a guy like that and if he’s backing you up uh it doesn’t matter who your quarterback is you have to change your whole offense to do what he does right well if you got Russ in there now all of a sudden you’ve kind of got a scenario where Justin Fields can actually be a legitimate backup and learn so it kind of worked out sort of for both those quarterbacks as well as Pittsburgh financially um and and the Broncos feel like that they’ve got their guy and you know in Knicks so you know kind of feels like it’s worked out for everybody so far but yes that is a very anticipated game here in Denver um tough ticket already which you know there haven’t been a lot of tough tickets in Denver the last couple years but tough ticket for that one and um you know I’m I’m looking forward to it I I really am I I hope the fan base here is sort of a bit bitter and maybe a bit vitriolic towards Russ I’m not I don’t think it was his fault I mean year one you had an absolutely laughing stock situation at the head coach uh and then you had uh uh said year two where he just was not a fit for for the offense and so I don’t blame Russ uh if you if you were willing to sit down hire somebody and build an offense around what what Russ can do then I think he could have been successful and he was to a degree successful I mean like I said he was top five at passing touchdowns it wasn’t like he was bad um but you know I think there would have been more opportunity for excellence if they’ done that at this point though you got a coach who doesn’t you know doesn’t run that he got his guy I think it’s no harm no foul everybody’s moved on but I’m I’m looking forward to seeing him come back and seeing if there’s a chip on on Russ’s shoulder I wish that game was in prime time I don’t know what the schedule makers we’re thinking there but I want to Circle back to something you said about Russ’s team wanting to work with Arthur Smith now there’s a crazy scenario where Arthur Smith doesn’t go off on Dennis Allen in week 18 right and he keeps his job I don’t know if or maybe Atlanta keeps that game close because they were getting blown out maybe he would have been fired anyways but let’s say that Arthur Smith keeps his job in Atlanta do you think it’s possible that Russell Wilson would have ended up with the Falcons had Arthur Smith kept his job guarantee that would have happened and probably probably have his back up there as well so um I I guarantee that if AR which was a possibility down the stretch yeah I mean I I see that fit because Russell Wilson is more of a you know he’s not the Shawn Payton type of QB right but with Arthur Smith he’s a little more conservative if it’s not there throw it away that’s exactly what Russ does and they drive Payton crazy but might fit in Atlanta um let’s go back to Denver let’s I want to talk about their running back room a little bit I’ve been seeing some rumors that maybe javante uh Williams isn’t really um looking too hot as like uh you know in the early part of this off season do you expect him to lead the Back Field next year and is is there a chance that he’s not even on the team come week one uh I suppose there’s a chance he’s not on the team the same way there’s a chance that everybody not on a team uh the idea that he had not looked good I I’m still trying to track down the source of this rumor because it’s absurd um they haven’t played in pads how would you know you know like who’s putting this out there how would they know I’m there for a r viewing period so like I’m I’m like I don’t know where this is coming from because it’s ludicrous um I I do believe there’s an odd man out in the backfield there and I think it’s probably some OJ perine uh who has a redundant skill set with with gavon Williams and a EST uh and is has more attached to him you know and it’s it’s it’s a salary cap relief to get rid of him while more money attached if they keep him so the money suggest that samaj won’t be there um as far as jamonte goes he’s looked fine like he doesn’t look bad he’s look absolutely fine they just want have pads on and so um the the smaller speedier guys you know when you’re in shells tend to look better so Jalil mcgoffin of course he looks like and Jal don’t get me wrong he’s underrated anyway he looks good uh but you know he’s smoking everybody because he’s small and fast and nobody can hit so you know that that rumor was one that I I kind of I saw and I’m like I don’t know where this is this is like all the people that were doing those rumors before the draft about the Broncos trading Pat ctan that was never happen they never offered certan they were never trading certan like people just making things up just out of thin air making stuff up so I I don’t know where this one originated so I don’t want to say it’s it’s made up maybe their observation is he doesn’t look the same or something but he looks the same to me I mean javante looks just fine he will be the lead back but if you if you’ve ever noticed Shawn pton Fields outside of Alvin Kamara generally are pretty divided you know you’ve got three four guys that are regularly getting touches so from a fantasy football perspective it’s a bit of a nightmare uh as as you don’t think of gavonte as necessarily getting a whole lot of uh you know he’s not g to get 50% of the workload you know it might be 30% of the workload with you know another another 25% going to Jalil mlin and 20% going to you know maybe Ese and another 5% to Watson you know that kind of stuff you look back guys like U you know Mark Ingram latavius Murray Pierre Thomas Darren spr they split those back fields and that’s how Shawn pyton operates so uh in a Shawn pyton offense wide receiver one and the tight end are generally the viable fantasy targets maybe running back one if you have a Kamar type back there which I would suggest that Devonte is not but uh those offenses it tends to go a ton of targets to the first wide receiver a ton of targets to the tight end which is going to be interesting because they don’t really have one right now that’s reliable and then everything else is kind of sprinkled around wide receiver two is usually a burner who gets balls but doesn’t really have reliable production wide receiver three out of the slot gets some yardage but doesn’t really get a lot of touchdowns you go back and look at these there’s Trends with his offense as far as the stuff goes so do you think with Judy gone now after that trade that Sutton’s in line to play that like Marcus coulston role and be really relevant in that fantasy football in 2024 well I mean he was supposed to be that guy last year and he did catch 10 touchdowns I mean it wasn’t you know double- digit touchdowns um it’s just the the rust situation sort of took that Russ can’t throw the slant right so you know it took away a big chunk of’s offense because the big is that front side slant like that’s that’s a big part of what he does X slant so um you know yeah maybe um they originally had Tim Patrick scheduled to be that guy and then he got hurt um Patrick I’ll tell you out of otaa like he looks good um so I’m hoping he’s back because it’s been a rough couple of years with the injuries he was always right on the edge of stardom in terms of what he could be and then he’d get hurt so I’m hoping this could be like a year for him so kind of keep an eye on Tim Patrick and then they got they drafted a kid who’s really old as a rookie 26 year old rookie uh Valle who has looked pretty sharp out there so far as well we’ll see once I get the pads on and all that but you know for big body guys those guys have looked sharp while klet held out uh and then just recently showed up for mandatory mini camp let me ask you let me Circle back to that Pat C 10 uh trade rumor or whatever I bet in your line of business with all of your sources right people probably feed you some false sometimes just so you put it out there and maybe they like you know they if that pater hand rumors is out there right to trade up or whatever maybe the front office wanted that to be out there so that you know they think that they’re targeting like a drake May or Caleb Williams in the draft like how do you kind of go through the BS that’s coming out from your sources and know what to put out there um and that has happened before where I’ve been fed stuff that I either knew to be false or turned out to be false that that’s that has happened um it doesn’t happen Much Anymore mostly because people know that if they do that they’re dead me you know like you burn me once we’re done like I’m and my the way that I do things is sort of transactional it’s not that people are you know that I’m begging people for info I’m giving info as well as getting it you know um and that’s from rooting around other places and all that kind of stuff so there’s there a give and a take I people they use that term Insider which I sort of hate because I’m like what am I exactly inside of but um you know like the the term I usually use is like information broker because it’s sort of what I do it’s like I take information that I’ve heard other places and I bring it to you and you you give me a you know a piece of information we’re constantly trading and we’re you know we’re all getting smarter right um and so that’s that’s that’s sort of how I do it so it’s it’s very rare I’m not going to say it’s impossible it’s just rare these days that that happens early on in my career yeah you know you’re looking for a uh you’re looking for a tidbit or whatever and everybody’s willing to yank your chain and all that kind of stuff but you get to a certain point and you know and people are like okay I don’t want to burn what he has and an effort to you know effort to do that with the ceran thing I don’t believe that that came from the front office U because they were pretty uh pretty good about trying to pretend that they wanted JJ McCarthy the whole time and that’s that was the pretend right that they’re and you didn’t need ceran to get up there and get McCarthy like you never did and so I think I I I don’t believe based on the sources that I talk to that that originated based on their reactions anyway I don’t believe that that that came from the front office I believe that that came from somebody just putting something out there um saying hey the Broncos want to trade up for a quarterback here’s how they do it and it would be the one way you could do it because frankly they didn’t have any tradeable assets you know they they’ve been exhausted from picks from the um uh you know from the Russell Wilson and Shawn Payton trades pton cost him a first and a second um and then Russ of course to all so they haven’t had picks to trade they really don’t have anybody you look around the roster like who who you trading for to move up there Pats are Tan’s the the only jewel that you had really so I think that’s where that came from I I don’t um I know it was not legitimate I knew it wasn’t legitimate the whole time you go back and look I’ve been saying Peter Tan wasn’t get traded for you know since January or Whatever Whenever these things first cropped up February whatever it was so excuse my ignorance on this but in your business is it possible for someone to I know you said if someone lied to you and gave you false and you put it out there you’re done Bridges burned but could it be sort of like hey Ben like I need you to float this out there and you know not you know this isn’t true but we you float this out does that sort of happen or not really I would say that that has approached differently uh as far as that goes and for me like I’m not going to sit there and lie to the audience um but I have uh straddled that line a little bit I did off you skate a little bit on the uh the McCarthy stuff and kind of tweeted JJ McCarthy tweets to kind of you know be like hey um trying to think of of something else that you know some shenanigans that that uh uh that I was inv in but not not really not genu generally no um and you know not that kind of thing but they they can it’s never said verbatim like that if somebody does something like that it’s more of a you know I’d be real helpful for for us if uh if this McCarthy smok screen you know kind of took off kind of thing you know that it might be intimated in that way you know nobody’s ever come to me directly and been like hey here’s what we’re going to do we’re planning out this elaborate hoax and we need you to get on twit and say you know X that’s never happened right okay that makes sense you brought up the trades for not only Shawn pyton but Russell Wilson so George Patton right now I mean his like big moves since taking that job right like he he hired Nathan go hack it he flamed out that he traded all these first round picks handed Russell Wilson to contract before he even took a snap for the Broncos and then obviously traded a first- round pick to the Saints to bring Shawn Payton after he fired hackit do you think that is it fair to say that the guy’s on the hot seat because it just feels like one bad move after the other we don’t it’s fair it remains to be seen that Payton’s a bad move but I mean it’s certainly looking like it’s trending that way well I’ll say this not everything that George Payton has been um blamed for is on George pyton really um if you go back to the hack at hire that was a nerson committee uh which uh the previous general manager sort of had his thumb on the scale saying hey if we hire this guy I can deliver Aaron Rogers um multiple people on that committee wanted hackit um and wanted the the RO bought into the Rogers thing and and and wanted that to to be the case um George was trying to be collaborative in that first you know hiring thing and do all that kind of stuff George wanted to hire Dan Quinn or John Ganon um there were there were other people that had other uh you know Darren Muji of course wanted Kevin oconnell who was his back in college so you know obviously biased there but the final three candidates uh were Dan Quinn Kevin oconnell and Nathaniel Hackett and and they got swung on the idea that they were going to get Aaron Rogers by the way the fourth person in there the last person that was called and told they didn’t make the final cut was John Ganon just to back up um these things that I’m telling you I’m not just pulling them out of thin air um the so the the coaching higher in and of itself a lot of that was predicated on the fact that there were people that had fingers in the organization were previously with the organization that kind of stuff promising the new general manager hey we can deliver Aaron Rogers if you hire this guy and then of course it didn’t and then of course you kind of and you know hacket is a heck of an interview whenever you meet the guy like he’s the nicest guy you can’t help but root for him right there’s a reason he keeps getting jobs even though like he’s obviously not that good at it uh is because he’s a fun guy everybody loves him and he interviews really well you know his this plan to coach the coaches and I’m bringing this guy in to evaluate How We Do you know this and all this kind of stuff and it sounds good then you get in and and you realize the guy has no clue doing and they had to hire a guy who was selling hyper barck Chambers to manage the clock in week two um who wound up being the interim head coach when he got fired um so you know it’s it’s I think that that that decision you can partially blame ponon for being so collaborative and not put but he was being sold to bill of goods in the sense that they were going to get Rogers when that was obviously not the case uh with Russell Wilson they pivoted to Russ they’d had some back Channel conversations but they pivoted to Russ after Rogers informed them which was right before the combine it was the that weekend before the combine that year uh I know he put it out on McAfee like a week and a half later but that was when they knew um so they pivoted to Russ because they were being pressured by the current ownership group who was selling to have a star quarterback to get these bids up you know and they thought it was going to be Rogers they pivoted a rust so now all a sudden you’re selling you got a chance to get these you know build the price of the team up you got a Star Quarterback the price is going to be higher right uh and frankly it was I mean the Broncos were were a you know team that was valued somewhere between you know 48 and 55 billion or whatever and then you know you end up going for six and a half or whatever and part that’s because of the rust situation um so there’s that um you know and then I think that uh there are some other decisions along the way that I think he’s gotten blasted for unfairly um I would say if you’re gonna if you’re gonna blast him the Randy Gregory signing was an abject disaster uh Frank Clark’s signing was a disaster uh so in free agency he has sort of struggled however with a draft he’s crushed it he was crucified here locally for selecting Pat certan over Justin fields and now I don’t think you could find anybody who would take Justin Fields over Pat or 10 that you’d be the you’d be the quickest guy fired so you know he was he was landbased in the media locally for that I I like George I think he’s a really nice guy I think he has an incredible eye for talent through the draft um I think his his shortcomings were being a little too uh differential in certain decisions and uh obviously free agency has not been his Forte so I I think overall he gets graded too harshly I’d probably give him a B minus where a lot of people would give him a d or an F because they don’t know the backstory on a lot of things and sorry to make that so long-winded but um you get the idea no that’s helpful context because for someone like me that doesn’t have all those details I mean it just looks like hey Paton just keeps making one bad move after the other but you sometimes forget that these NFL teams are businesses they’re trying to drive the value especially if you’re trying to sell I mean what you were talking about with you know them trying to get Russ to pump up their you um value just reminds me of what bullshit’s out there on like CNBC and stuff with all these CEOs coming up there to pump up their stock and maybe they’re going to you know their company stock and then they’re going to sell shares or whatever so like it it you know it’s just business at the end of the day but let’s Circle back to Rogers really quick what exactly went wrong there like was he the one that said like I don’t want to come to Denver or was it the Packers not willing to trade him I mean I they eventually traded him one year later but were they not ready yet is that what it was no it wasn’t the Packers it was Rogers um and you know I don’t know the mind of Aaron Rogers so I can’t speak for him but what I can say is that uh dating back to the previous year around October both Russ and Rogers there were back Channel feelers out there you know tampering everywhere so there were back Channel feelers out there as far as that kind of stuff goes there were incidental golf trips and poker games and whatnot um you know as far as the Rogers thing goes and um you know it’s it’s uh it was intimated to them they felt uh they felt they had a good read on it that Rogers wanted to be in Denver they felt like he was telling them he wanted to be there and here’s the scenario which we make that happen I need these coaches in order to be able to work that kind of stuff and for whatever reason when February rolled back around he um I don’t say backed out of it but all of a sudden pivoted back to I’m staying in Green Bay etc etc um whether that was Roger Hoodwink in the Broncos to get his buddy Nate Hackett you know some run um whether that was a genuine change of heart uh whether that was uh the people behind the scenes who were misreading the situation I don’t know but the Broncos felt like he was coming to the point where it started to leak out on draft day uh the ceran draft it started to leak out a little bit on draft day this was this was serious this was coming and um wait wait not draft day um what day was it oh goodness uh it wasn’t draft I misremember there sorry before the combine so was it like around the Super Bowl time maybe yeah maybe that’s when it was I’m trying to remember exactly when it was but uh it was leaked out that it was you know that it was something that was uh I have to go back and look at my notes now I’m you know jumbling stuff up but it it was it was one of those things where it was strongly possible it was intimated to the local media that this was something that was really had a headful of steam and then all of a sudden it just you know just fell flat shortly thereafter yeah I remember even schare going on the herd I think he was talking about it to I don’t know if he confirmed that he was going but I know he was speaking about it yeah he was the one that was strongest in media saying that and of course he has ties to some of the people who were working that behind the scenes do you recall what the deal was for Rogers was it the pretty much the same package that Denver offered Seattle for Russ I don’t know the details of that I don’t know what the the um the alleged trade would have been or even if it got to that point uh I just know that behind the scenes for months Rogers had prepped this thing and the steam engine was going and then all of a sudden like I said the weekend before the combine it was dead like he was notifying teammates he was coming back wow that that’s pretty crazy and you know sitting like uh in the Packers shoes they’re probably like damn I wish we traded him one year early because the year after they only got two seconds if they traded him to the Broncos you know before that season started he’s coming off an MVP I think so I’m pretty sure there’s going to be like multiple first round picks in there and yeah I mean they they didn’t get nothing for him but not first rounders right and you’d think it would get something comparable to the Russell Wilson deal it would have been fairly similar maybe the players would have been a little different you know kind of thing but um that was one of the thing like the Seattle the deal with Seattle um came together pretty quick the sticking point was that they had wanted Quinn Minards uh which the Broncos were unwilling to deal that was a gem that George pton found by the way in the third round um and they Broncos were unwilling to deal him and UL I think Shelby Harris was finally uh the one they settled on instead of uh instead of Quin miners okay um on a recent podcast you were on I think it was a 49ers podcast and I apologize to those guys because I don’t remember the name of that pod but you mentioned that on that pod that Brandon auk was you know when rumors are floating out around him you said most of it was exploratory but now it seems like a lot more tractions picking up obviously he had that FaceTime with Jaden Dan his old college quarterback who’s now with the commanders right and like people are starting to draw the dots with um Adam Peters there former 49ers exact like do you see a Brandon do you think a Brandon IU trade is more likely now than maybe before the draft uh I think it’s tough to phrase it that way because I think it was always likely it was funny after I went on that podcast I was getting you know dog cussed by a bunch of people saying I was making stuff up and now look but um you know it’s it’s it’s funny to me um he has a price point the Niners are not going to meet that price point so the question is each you know each side leveraging the other well they don’t want you know all of a sudden you’re putting they don’t want me out publicly does that get them to raise their offer a little bit is that going to be something they’re going to do I you know I I don’t know that the Niners are going to meet his his his price point in the end and so it feels like it’s sort of heading in that direction um the ners do do want to keep him they just don’t want to keep him at 35 million a year uh and so that’s that’s sort of the thing I mean when you’re the Niners and You’ got so much money allocated so many other places it’s it’s tough to do that so and you got the Brock py contract coming up here soon too so um I I is it more more likely I mean phrasing it that way is tough because I think it was always likely uh I think the question now is is it more imminent uh and in which case I would say probably um simply because you’re going to have to start making decisions you’re at the point now where the clock is is to you’re after the draft there’s not other options for you to go back and backfill anything um you know so I think I think I think more imminent is probably the way to look at it if I’m the ners I probably sit on this a little bit into training camp uh for several reasons one uh if you’re trading for a draft pick now it’s gonna be next draft right if you trade auk offensively the T you traded do is gonna be that much better for having him right so if you’re waiting through Camp a little bit you’re you’re sort of slowing down his impact maybe hopefully a little bit uh you’re also probably accelerating value there because if somebody gets hurt uh maybe it creates a broad market for Brandon IU um and and I would suggest that I I know of two teams that would definitely be in on him U but I would suggest that they probably need three or four more teams in order to get the value you know the bidding up to where they needed to do you think Denver’s in the running for iuk G no okay do have don’t have the cap situation they just don’t the other part of that is um Shawn pyton if you ever look at how his wide receiver rooms are constructed they typically pay wide receiver one and then everybody else was on a rookie deal or a cheap deal or whatever else uh and and you know you’ve got guys right now I mean Patrick took sort of a pay cut uh and restructured his deal courtland’s uh getting close to the end of his but still on a big deal they just brought in Reynolds in free agency they got a ton of draph piics I I receiver is not a need for the Broncos I don’t believe okay on that same podcast you uh mentioned that Denver was shocked as was the rest of the NFL when the Falcons took penic at number eight um just the caveat I’m a Falcons fan I try to stay objective when I’m when I speak about them but what I’ve been hearing and I I want to see get your take on this is originally their plan was to actually get a Defender like aatu latu right and then trade back in to get penx in the teens but what happened was people were calling them at eight trying to trade up from penck people like the Saints and the Raiders or whatnot and that spooked him and the owners stepped in to sort of like make that decision that hey we’re taking penck at eight and kind of shocked everyone is that do do you have anything corroborating that or is that kind of out of left field through you yeah and it’s funny because in the runup to that I was way off like I did not think anybody was going to take him early at all I really didn’t based on you know people I talked to but there were three specific teams uh that really loved him Atlanta which kept it secret um and then you had uh uh you know the Raiders who were pretty open about it uh and then the Seahawks uh the Saints a smok screen they were trying to get Atlanta to take him because it that drops another player to them right um so the Saints may have played a little Tom Foolery there calling oh we’re we’re shouldn’t trade it up for panics yeah totally that’s a thing we’re definitely doing here um so you know I that’s from my from the people I’ve talked to the saints were not legitimately interested in him now whether that’s a smok screen or not but the people I’ve talked to suggest that they were not legitimately interested so you had a three- team sort of race there and the problem is the Raiders were not really going to move like they were just going to kind of let it come to them you know and the Seahawks would need to jump the Raiders and Atlanta would have to pick uh at eight or you know get before the Raiders in order to make sure it happened and so uh I I think what you said is more or less correct um I you know I don’t 100% know that uh but the suggestion that I’ve had from the people that I’ve talked to would suggest you’re close to the mark yeah and credit Jeff Benedict that’s not my sort that’s all his he he’s the guy that put it out there he used to be the radio host for Atlanta 92.9 he’s been floating out a lot of stuff on uh Atlanta and he’s been on the mark for the most part yeah yeah and he’s he’s a good he’s a good dude uh I think Dallas Turner was their guy though and not latu I’m not aun on that but I think Turner was their guy uh because based on some people that know Raheem Morris and what he wants out of an edge because his edges he likes to drop them back uh quite a bit you know into coverage on occasion and Turner was kind of the guy who could do that where latu was probably the best pure pass rusher yeah and it’s crazy like you hear the Colts like at 15 right when they when lotu fell to him they were all they were ecstatic they were like we got the best pass rusher in the draft so um let let’s shift gears to Stafford because there there’s some uh news going around to actually I think Rapaport dropped something yesterday that he’s looking to rework his contract right like he wants more guaranteed money I don’t think there’s a lot of guarant in the next couple of years and um he might even want a pay raise what are you hearing with Stafford do you think a new deal gets done with him um they may spiff him but I I don’t like it’s tough he’s got back and and elbow issues um that you know some of that’s public some of it’s not um you know he’s his bodies start to give out on him so I get it in the sense that yeah you need to cash in now in order to secure that money but that’s going to be tough because the Rams know all those things so I you know they may SPI him um you know in some way for that as far as him getting like a full new deal I I don’t think that’s happening but they may spiff him a little for what he’s contributed what he’s done uh and build something in to where he gets a little more guaranteed money but um you know the Rams know he’s not the longterm answer U they were one of the teams that was after B Nicks so um you know I I don’t I don’t know um I don’t know that he’s going to get a ton more money they may top him off a little but I I I I won’t I couldn’t see type of New Deal especially nothing in the golf um you know burrow uh type range you know that the um who just got a contract just a little bit ago the other day um nothing in that you know nothing in that sort of deal um weren’t the Rams trying to move off of Stafford last off season or was that just a smoke screen were they always going in with Stafford in 2023 uh combination I mean they they they had some targets it wasn’t like they were trying to deal him they had some some targets that they could maybe make work if they did and so that’s that it’s not it’s more of an if then scenario than a hey we want to dump this guy um like if we can get this guy then so be it if not you know kind of thing so if we can get Dak Prescott in here then you know that kind of thing that makes sense well okay I want to wrap up with two more questions for you um Ben so first of all Broncos win total this season where do you think they end do they make the wild card are they do you think that they’re competitive this year I think they’ll be competitive the question is how many wins they’ll get um you know I think they’ll be much more competitive than they’ve been uh the defense is going to be a little bit different this year you know the last whatever years it’s been the fangio thing and it’s been a variant of that when AA was there and then last year Vance Joseph sort of ran a variant of of that for continuity sake I think this year uh you’re going to see more Vance’s defense which is a lot closer to what wake Phillips does which is almost antithetical uh to what Vic vano does Vic wants to send the least amount of people he needs to at the quarterback drop everybody else back uh he Vic wants to play Middlefield open coverage uh never blitzes a DB you know any of that kind of stuff unless it’s a zero Blitz um and you know Vance is the other way he wants to bring pressure from everywhere get after the quarterback uh put his guys on an island Middle Field closed um so I think defensively you’re going to see the Broncos return to what they were running during the Super Bowl years Super Bowl year I guess I should say uh and then you know offensively I think you’ll see a more efficient offense now whether or not that leads to more points remains to be seen uh but you know with the russes it was when Russ was running things it was I always compared it to Adam Dunn and I don’t know if you ever know about much about Adam Dunn the baseball player but for Dunn it was either a home run or strikeout you know he batted 250 and he was hitting a home run or he was dragging out and so you know with Russ it’s kind of like that either you getting the home run or you were you know you were punting and so I think with Nicks or stum uh I think with one of those two you’re probably getting something that’s a little more in line with uh what Shawn pton when you had Teddy Bridgewater running the the show now Bridgewater with something like 5 and0 is a starter with Shan P um it’s steady efficient we’re just going to you know we’re gonna nickel and dime you up and down the field and dare you to stop it um yeah I think like I said I think if they start the season we’ll be able to figure it out by the first four four games of the year if they go two- two or better uh out of those first four then you’re probably looking at a good football team if they go one and three or worse uh then you’re probably looking at a bad football team and it’s you know that that kind of thing so um you know we’ll be able to tell eight and n s 10 I think would if I had to put money on it that’s where I’d put it yeah I mean it’s tough to like really do well in that division too when you play Kansas City twice a year obviously now Harbaugh and Herbert too that’s not going to be a walk in the park the Raiders you know they they might regress a little bit so they they probably won’t be as uh you know they probably won’t be a big challenge to you guys but let me talk to you about something that Broncos fans might not love to hear I want to talk about who you think is going to represent the Super Bowl in the AF FC and NFC do you think that the Chiefs are going to go and try to thre peat this year and represent the AFC in the Super Bowl or do you see another team in the do you like another team in the AFC to um play in the Super Bowl this year I I think you have to go with Kansas City until they show you otherwise um I I do I mean you got the best quarterback in the game you’ve got arguably the best head coach in the game um they have a great defense right now and I think that’s the thing that people are sleeping on Kansas City’s defense carried them last year here um you know dur during stretches and so you know I think that’s I think that’s plus Peko is one of the most underrated running backs in the game that guys just that guys just Nails um so I I I think Kansas City until otherwise until they prove otherwise has to be the favorite Buffalo I think they should take a little step back this year um they’re trying to retool a little bit you know defensively um the Texans nobody they’re not sneaking up on anybody this year uh so that’s going to be interesting to sort of see I know the the Colts are a darling for a lot of people I don’t I’m not buying that yet I love Shane Steen but I’m not I’m not buying that yet obviously Dan Campbell and the kneecaps and all that stuff I’d love to see Tampa with Baker Mayfield um you know it’s because I like Baker but that Tampa’s not gonna you know not GNA get there um I’m just struggling to wrap my head around I mean you know Green Bay is a young team the question is is whether or not they can win you know it’s just that I don’t know what I don’t know thing uh where guys are so young they haven’t you know they sort of just keep winning because they don’t know that they’re supposed to lose at some point um which is always kind of fun uh but that’s a tough division with Detroit in there and I think Chicago will be improved Minnesota is kind of just languishing and then over at the West is is interesting what does what does Seattle look like with new coaching you know you got Michael McDonald there um are they gonna Ride Like the Way of the championship um you’ve got uh and you know that’s that’s that’s the best joke I’ve ever made about Michael McDonald but um I uh uh you got a Rams team it’s always going to be tough of course you’ve got the Niners uh and I think Arizona is somebody that that that people are sleeping on because I you know I love John Ganon as as a coach and I think people are sleeping on them a little bit so you got to keep your eye out there um on the East I mean I don’t think the Giants are going to be a factor the Eagles it’s going to be interesting if this thing like works or if it blows up in their faces um the I I like the commanders as a sleeper team I think Dan will have that defense humming in that offense with Kingsbury just just just handling the offense might be the best thing for him um the question is whether the rookie gets it right away and and then you got a Cowboys team that’s just stacked but at the same time um you know they’re they’re playing for their jobs you know they’re playing it’s super bowl or we’re blowing the thing up and bring it in bich so um I I think um you know the NFC is is tough who gets hot at the right time really is the right answer there but I would suggest Arizona’s a sleeper to keep your eye on and um you know I probably like uh um I probably like the Niners out of there I know that’s a that’s a chalk pick but I probably like the Niners out of there so you’re going with the Super Bowl rematch Chiefs ners who who wins this time who do you think takes it I still think it’s the Chiefs I mean I I I just you know Kyle Shanahan gets the tight cheeks in big games you know’s native son so I don’t want to slander the man but uh man man does he get a case of the tight cheeks and big games and uh until he proves otherwise um you know I gotta go with h with the guy who keeps winning him and Andy Reed yeah trust me I’m well familiar with Kyle Shan choking in big games um yeah it’s just crazy to me that Brock prie walked off the field with the lead in the Super Bowl like he played so freaking well to like in the playoffs like all season and I feel like he’s not really getting the respect that he deserves around the league like he he had some pretty crazy like come from behind wins against Detroit Green Bay again going Toe to Toe with Mahomes in the Super Bowl is like no small feat so excited to see what he does um I don’t know if they’ll win feels like you know after two long postseasons getting to the NFC Championship Game getting all the way to the Super Bowl are they exhausted is there some like fatigue there same thing with the Chiefs too right like you’re talking about like a team that’s been making such a deep playoff runs for a long time Travis Kel’s getting older like I don’t know if they can do it one I mean there’s a reason why no one’s really thre repated right so it’ll be interesting to see if they could do it yeah I think so and I think um you know I here’s the thing about Brock party is that Tom Brady wasn’t Tom Brady until he done it a few times right I remember early in Tom Brady’s they were called a fluke they called fluke you know and so um with Brock py I mean I’m not trying to it’s tough when you’re invoking Tom Brady all of a sudden but um I think Brock doesn’t get the respect that he deserves he’s just very good at the least sexy brand of football ever and uh and I think that that in the end I think that um once he does it enough he’ll get his you know he’ll get his flowers I think right now there’s there’s people that want to discredit him you know that is everybody’s got to have a take right you got to separate self and so I think that’s that’s you know that’s how people do things they they they try to you know call him when’s a game game manager or whatever which is all the quarterback is really anyway um so you know at at the end of the day I think I think Brock will you know two three years from now will be laughing at the people that were saying that Brock party was an aition yeah I mean look Brady even when he had the three Super Bowls people were saying he was not good as Manning obviously he gets his fourth in the Seattle uh in the game against Seattle but then Malcolm Butler has that crazy interception so people are still poking holes at that and then it didn’t take uh until the Kyle until Kyle Shanahan’s biggest choke the 28 to three Super Bowl I think when he got his fifth one there that’s when people were like oh he passed Montana now he’s the go biggest uh comeback in Super Bowl history so took a while for him to claim that greatest of all time title yeah I think I think there was I think there was like two groups of people left before that Super Bowl one group came over uh you know after the 283 and there was still one group of die hards that was still out there trying to pretend like Tom Brady wasn’t the goat and then he goes to he goes to Tampa he leaves New England goes to Tampa with and that point it’s just like dude this is under there’s no excuses left it’s not belich this dude yeah exactly winning without belich I mean that was the cherry on top for him Seven Super Bowls I don’t know if that’s ever going to be match but there’s someone in your division that’s certainly going to try to push him in Patrick Mahomes so we’ll see what he does Ben you are awesome thank you so much for your time really appreciate it do you want to let the audience know or they I know they can just freaking Google your name and probably find all your content but do you want to direct them to something specific for them to follow you uh and all of your content uh yeah I mean the show is called Broncos Country tonight but we talk about the entire league so you can go to Broncos Country tonight.com podcast and always listen to you know previous uh previous episodes of that um and you know it’s live on KOA it’s 8:50 a.m. which is heard in 32 states in like five country we got a listener in B that emails every now and again so pretty cool you know um as far as the rest of it goes uh my social media is a dumpster fire you can unfollow me at Albright NFL I wouldn’t follow me um it’s it’s it’s terrible I apologize to anybody that’s listening right now whose timeline I have polluted um but uh yeah or if you’re a fan of memes and absolutely no Sports content my Albright NFL Instagram account has a bunch of selfies and funny memes and absolutely no football content whatsoever so there’s that awesome thanks man have a good one all right