We'll go right out to the ka Common Spirit Else hotline. Bring on. My friend Jeff Schwartz, former NFL offensive lineman, works the Fox Sports Serious x am and basically I just love his Twitter feed at Jeff Schwartz on Twitter, but important for this conversation Oregon Duck alumni Jeff Schwartz, Jeff, I you done, man, Yeah, man, It's good to hear your voice. We we got a couple of ducks here. It's like the quack attack is back here in in Denver as bo Nick Troy Franklin become the latest Denver
Broncos. I I liked what I saw out of bow Knicks looking at him during the pre draft process better than I liked, for instance, Michael Pennix or you know JJ McCarthy, who was rumored to be the apple of the Broncos eye. But of course that was a smoke screen for Sean Payton. What can you tell us about bow Nicks? Yeah, you know, I think he's got a bad rap for some of the you know a dot stuff and short passes. I put out a tweet at Courts on my Twitter.
There was a stat that someone play out that said, you know, Bonnicks had a thousand yards of receiving when the ball was thrown at or behind the line of scrimmage, and five of those players encounted for twenty percent of that thousand yards. Like, it's not a lot of throws he made behind the line of here was a lot of we're in rhythm. I think the things
that you like about bon Knicks are he's very decisive with the football. If you watched Orgers Austins last season, they did a lot of kind of two things, a lot of play action pass and then they went empty production. Right, they had five wide receivers out and they let bone Knicks chose aside pre snap balls out quickly. He processes very well for six needs to work
on, but he can make all the throws. If you have the strongest arm, I would say no, but you can see all the all the pro throws he made, and don't look at the advanced numbers, the amount of ends and curls and comebacks and go routes, things that you're going to see him have to do on Sunday. And I think if you look at the top three guys, who is the most kind of able to fit with Sean Payne to wanton offense from a quarterback, and that is Bonnicks, and
so I think that pairing makes a lot of sense here. Well, yeah, I think the pairing does make a lot of sense. And I think if you look for the qualities that Sean Payton is looking for at a quarterback, a guy like Bonix just fills those out. You mentioned the quick decision maker, but I think some of the other things there that this sort of you know, add to that. Sean Payton's offense is a schedule offense.
Boknicks doesn't take sacks, he doesn't fumble the ball, literally did not fumble the ball at all at Oregon, and those are two things he's He's previously called out about. The last quarterback here, Russell Wilson. Yes, he will get the ball out. I think that one of the negatives on him that I've seen and I'm serious to see, you know, in the NFL
was different. And he's very good pre snap and then post snap. If he doesn't get exactly what he thought he would get, then there's a little hesitation, and so I think just kind of growth in his game from that perspective. Obviously, wish Sean Payne what he's done for so many years with Drew Bridges, and that's a good fit there. I didn't go Aliable to learn that. Also, it's worth noting that Oregon had a very pro style passing attack mixed in with you know, some of the college RPOs and flagship
pass stuff. You watch the offense, they had a lot of what we would call triangle reads, where he's reading a triangle, he's reading one, two, three, and he's looking at the leverage of linebackers and corners and safeties to figure out where the ball should go. That's a very pro Stout's a West Coast offense type of thing. Or you read the triangle if you notice, if you ever stop like a Chiefs play and you can see there's a triangle formed typically by the weapons. Mahomes is looking at it, maybe
even four guys at times. Feel for me, they fought for strong So it's a very pro style offense you ran at Oregon. They will translate well. Kean I fol Plus you get the leadership part of it right, and I know that you know he's older, that's certainly true. And the last part of it, he's really athletic. He can run. He doesn't run to run like. He runs very very specific situations that you can use that in the red doone especially, that's where quarterback runs I think are a big
benefit. Well, Jeff, you hit on something that is really important. I think bon Nikes has been criticized for but I think it's an advantage. But I would like to get your take on it. And it's his level of experience. Both he and Michael Pennix are guys who are you know, twenty three to twenty four. But you tell me, as a guy that played the game, how does that actually help bo Nicks opposed to hurting him?
Well, he just he's seen a lot of football. We have to sort of Okay, so you know what happened with all these older quarterbacks we obviously know is the COVID year, right the COVID year and this next draft and twenty five will be to the last COVID year. Guys, So all the duds is older right now. And I'm not sure that it's a bad
thing. You look at the age of pennex, at the age of necks like, it takes guys a little bit longer to matureim times We've seen it, certainly at the quarterback position that maturing is that happened in the NFL is wort have happened in college. And he has seen a lot of football sixty one starts, I believe, And so he goes in the NFL not be intimidated. He's seen everything. Now, of course he's not seen NFL defense
and the speed and whatnot, but he's seen a lot of football. He's played a lot of big football that he's played in, you know, in big games at Auburn, he's played in big games in Oregon. And so when he goes to the NFL, is not getting intimidated by the moment, by the environment. And I think we just have to sort of get over the age thing. It's it just is this class right now, sort of just that this is what it is. Jame Gamis, by the ways,
were older too, right He's a twenty two. Pesson was twenty nineteen and he beat Organ there to the end of that season. So these guys just older. Because of COVID year, it will kind of reverse back next couple of years. But that's just the guys you're getting right now. Another player of the Broncos got and came away with on draft days beginning of days are
you trading up for wide receiver Troy Franklin. I enjoyed watching Franklin plays guy who you get the ball in his hands and you know, and he creates. Sean Bayton says he looks at him as a as a Z receiver in this offense. What can you tell us about Troy Franklin. Yeah, man, he can, he can. He can really run. He uh, he's a weapon on the edge and he caught a lot of big past this organ this past year. He is able to just straight line speed to get
by a lot of corners. I think you've got to learn to play more physical. If you watch against Washington, especially the title championship game, Mohammed and at the corner at Washington was able to kind of press them again in his face. And those are things he used to work on, just sort of the physical part of it and just learning I think a little bit more of the route trade. Oregon. He was a lot of comebacks, a lot of slants, post goes, you know, not a lot of kind
of deviation off those those four routes. So uh, look again, just supremely talented player. And there's reasons he dropped and that's the draft, right, You're gonna get guys with value at certain points. But I like the idea of reuniting the cornerback in a wide receivers what he's I think it just gives a comfort level for both those players, especially for Go Knicks, to have someone he knows and someone who knows him and you can really work with
Franklink. There's a lot of upside because of this speed. He's just he's fast. I know that he didn't run fast to combine, but you had to play this year against usc that I think they caalked him a like twenty two miles an hour you could run. I think there's this play street. Obviously there's combine speed. I just kind of prefer what they play, you know, working pads. So, Jeff, what do you say for those who kind of look at both Nicks and say, well, and it's time
in Oregon. He spent a lot of time in shotgun and in NFL if you want to run play action and what Sean Payton's even to do with Drew Brees and the wall is a lot of that is from under center. So how does a quarterback, in your opinion, kind of graduate and learn to adjust now being forced to play more in the center than he did in college. It's a great question, you know, I don't it's it's difficult, right, And I think the part that's difficult about it is and this is
what people have said, I don't imagine. You know, you you turn it back to the defense, right, so you know, you see one thing, you see too high and uh, and you turn your back to the defense. All of a sudden they're in one high right and you thought that the zone coverage. Now it's a man tubag. And so the ability to think on your feet and understand it, and Bonus is able to do that again, like when you watch him play, his ability to recognize things
in the field is high. It's a high it's a high level trade of his and so he just be able to do that now with his back, you know, to to the defense potentially. And I think, look, Sean Payne has had no quarterbacks before. He's going to figure out an offense early in his tenure there that works for Bonis and then they'll build it out
from there. And so you know, it might take him some time to learn how to do that, but that's just kind of part of the Woking learning process is figuring out you things, and I mean this look I'm off its lineman. Obviously, I didn't playing a three point stance at all on college in the NFL, and you learned to play a three point stance like that's just part of growing in being an NFL. So I think it's gonna
be fine because he's shown the ability to make those adjustments in college. I don't know if you know much about the Denver Broncos last pick in the draft, but I wanted to talk to you about the offensive lineman Nick Cargulio out of South Carolina by way of Yale. And I don't know if you've seen this man's headshot prior to cutting his hair off. I was devastated when he
got rid of that glorious mullet. But he this mustache mullet combination that he's rocking where he looks something like a young mel Kuiper if mel Kuiper lived in Alabama in the nineteen seventies. This guy's a double major economics and political science out of Yale. And where's jersey number sixty nine? This guy has all the personality in the world. I am sitting here saying we need more of this, We need more offensive linemen with mega personalities like this. I had
to figure you'd be a big, big fan of the pick. Yeah, well him and him and put right. I'll tell you what. So deep Mannyweather is everybody in min my best friend. He trains all the offensive lineman down a Dallas for combat and he's in you know, we have a text with him and play named Brandon Thorns. I just follow Brandon two on social
media and he's been talking up Nick for a while now. Just to the ability, I think that to be kind of under the radar and a guy that Look, sometimes you find those seventh round players other sermons around player you just fall through the cracks a little bit, especially at the center position. Right, it's not a position that and even plays center guards and it depends on who he's tall enough to do both. But you know, like they
just fall through the cracks sometimes, especially that position. And so to be able to get a player like that, who I think has a lot of upside in the round is good. I mean, look, you need death players. I think we won't talk about that enough anyway. Jordan Ellis, I watched him a lot at that conference due to Russia passer like he he
he did after it, like he has polished passwords. He has a spin move, which is the hardest to defend if your offensive lineman, he's good at it, like he comes to the NFL being able I think to use that immediately. And we've seen through the careers of many defensive ends that if you keep spin man like that's as it's really, it's a valuable tool to have, and he hasn't already. Now tell me how big is the transition for offensive linemen trying to go from the college level to the pro level.
I know there's somewhat of a learning curve learning the system, but just the fundamental parts of it. Because the reason I'm asking his question, we watched the Broncos offensive line last season when Sean Payton came in and he made some adjustment adjustments bringing in Mike mcglei to the right tackle and Vampius had the left guard. But they had their issues, they had their struggles. But how was that transition for some guys? Meanings though, that's from the technique,
in the footwork and putting all that stuff together. You know, it just takes work, you know, and it's hard, I think now because you just don't get that practice time like you used to, you know, and it's I think it's difficult to get all the working you need. And so it takes a get off of the line coach, It takes an offense works you off of the line to figure it out. If you have two days,
it's again, we don't have two days anymore, you know. Then I think in those days you're able to figure it out a little faster and more practice. And so it's just a matter of reps, getting reps. We often see right like young players that just get better throout the season because again there's more reps to be had throughout the year. So it's just reps, it's a repetition. It's playing together with each other. It's really to
communicate with each other. And look, I think we all agree clearly offense will just function the last season. And you bring Bone Nixon. He's a quarterback, I think from probably day one, looking at your quarterback room, and they'll be able to sort of, you know, kind of rolld that offenses offensive alignment around what they want to do with Nix. You know, we saw when Seun paid work in New Orleans. You wanted very specific consumers
offensive liignment. He likes big guards because he wants you to be able to put those big guards, sort of keep him firm in the front of the pocket, have the tackles, kind of worry about the width of the pocket. And so that system works. There are a lot of teams like to do that, and I think they'll be just fine. It just takes reps, man, It just reps and going to the offense, and they don't. You want to go with your quarterback, understand where the quarterback is going
to be, getting rid of the ball. All those things matter for the offensive line. Jeff Schwartz Jeff Schwartz on Twitter. Jeff certainly appreciate you taking the time out tonight. Thank you guys. Have a good one. Absolutely take care. Jef Schwartz, former offensive lineman University of Oregon football, analyst to Fox Sports and Sirius exam