You're listening to the Miami Dolphins Podcast Network.
This is Drivetime with Travis Wingfield. Back to throw to a looking clips about.
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Drive Time with Travis Wingfield begins. Now let me check your pulse if you're not for what is up? Golf fans and welcome to the Drive Time podcast, part of the Miami Dolphins podcast Network, covering your team, your Miami Dolphins. How's it going everybody? We are officially into the summer months now, and that means more preview content coming your way to the AFC West is up.
Today.
We're gonna talk Chiefs, Broncos, Raiders and Chargers with Matt McMullen from Chiefs dot Com. Plus we're also gonna hear from one of my favorite people on the team, my favorite interviews, Toshaun Elliott New Dolphins safety. We'll walk and talk with him all of that much more from the Baptist Health Studios inside the Baptist Health Trading Complex. This is the Drive Time Podcast.
J Jeff.
Let's go ahead and get to my chat with Dolphins safety Toshaun Elliott. What's up, guys. Travis Wingfield here again for another edition of one hundred Yards with me. Travis Wingfield, New Dolphin safety Deshaun Elliott. Go ahead and make way down the field here and talk some life and some football. So you get here in South Florida. First question, I always asking you, guy, why the Fins? Why did you choose to come down here to Miami.
I felt like it was a great scheme fit for me overall.
Does I mean, I know the championship being a that everyone wants to breed here, and I know Christian, I know a lot of guys on the team. It just they want to be winners, they want to be great. So I feel like it was a great spot for me and also just it was it for me my first couple of years in the league.
I've been a lot of goomy.
Places, cold city, so coming down here waking up every day and just seeing the sun out and.
Just knowing that, hey, I have a small saw my face going to work just felt good. Yeah, I'm okay with that from Texas for sure.
So you mentioned the scheme here, talked to U about vic Fangio of what you think his defense can do for your game.
Well, you know, vixmand being a coach since the Civil War times, so I'm sure over time he's learned a lot. And I mean it, I feel like this defense is a safety let defense. So I just feel like being here and playing with Javon, playing Brandon, I.
Think that all of our games together would be great.
So you drop a joke there, are you the funniest guy on the team? That's not who is?
Arguably I'm going to go top three. I'm definitely top three.
It's me.
I think WADA's pretty funny, which is crazy because I didn't think he was funny my first met him.
But he's actually pretty funny.
And then let me see, Jamon's not Fun's just kind of sort of weird. He's good on social deal, he's great on social media. Oh, Christian, he's a character. Oh my god, he's Oh my god, it's crazy. How funny that he first came.
In the league, did the chest bump with Roger Goodell on the stage.
Yeah, you did do that.
And then he's a year before or that same year as when he did the splits when.
They won the championship. That was crazy. I didn't know what he had going on there. The first time I met him, I said, brother, what was that? He said? But I was just excited, So fifteen crazy.
It's crazy. So I mentioned this year before it came on here. One thing that presses me about you is how you play it through hair on fire one hundred miles an hour at all times. And I'm always curious. That has to be like how you live your entire life right fast paced all times.
The thing is is like.
I put one hundred and ten percent effort in everything I do. Usually off the field, I'm not as like you don't want to see me. When I'm on the field, I'm not as nice. I'm a very cool, colmon collected, happy, go lucky, funny guy when I'm off the field. But when my mom on the field, I'm trying to rip your head off.
She's my language. Guys. I'm sorry I forgot about the cursing thing, but I like it. Yeah. I love ball, man, I just love ball. I love playing for my teammates. I love playing for my guys.
And once they see it, Once this team sees how much I love them, They'll win a rally with me and play play the same way.
So yeah, speaking that, I know, you know brand Jones going back to your college days. Anybody else you kind of hit it off with so far.
I know Chubb as well because me and Chub I met him at the College Football Awards all last year in college together, and I met I met Jalen Phillips, du Brandon and then hal Javon and Varon from Dallas Song A couple of those guys, Jayalen, me.
And Jyalen have the same agent.
Honestly, this was the first time where I have came to a team and I've already known so many players on the team.
It's crazy. I've already had so many friends on this team. I've never seen this before.
It's like almost an exclusively ordered in Texas backfield.
You guess exactly. It's crazy Dolphin Safety, thank you, brother, thanks for having me.
Like I said, he never disappoints to Sean Elliott. There he goes let's go ahead and take our first break and get right into the AFC West preview on the other side with Matt McMullen from Chiefs dot Com. That's next your host, Travis Wingfield Draft Time Podcast, brought to you by Auto Nation and please help me and welcoming in our guest today from the Cheese. He's a senior team reporter for the defending World champions Matt McMullen. Matt,
how are we doing? Man? Was my Andy Reid impression terrible or really bad?
Now?
That was pretty good. It did a good job with that, Travis. I appreciate having me on, man. This should be a lot of fun. Our ring ceremony was last night, So I'm a little bit tired, but I am here bright and early just for you to talk some AFC West football.
Yeah, rub it in, rub it in. So we talked about winning a championship, man, Like, That's one of the things I first wanted to ask you here because I like picture being in the press box at a Super Bowl and like seeing the Dolphins, you know, ahead when the clock hit triple zeros, and I'm not sure I can really even imagine that SCENARIOO, So can you maybe helped me live vicariously through you. What was that like last year for you covering a super Bowl winning team?
It was unbelievable. It is really the best way to put it.
So.
I grew up a Chiefs fan.
I grew up in Kansas City, have been rooting for the Chiefs my entire life, and I just so happened to get a job here. When you work in sports, as you know, you never really plan on working for your favorite team, and sometimes it just works out. And
for me, yeah, this is my job. But I come in here every day and can't believe I get to do this, and not only to work for my favorite team, but to see my favorite team win the Super Bowl, to go on the field afterward and to see the confetti flying and to congratulate the guys, and to really feel a part of it. I really can't describe it because I feel like I'm dreaming half the time. I grew up watching the Chiefs, and the Chiefs were at times competitive but never came close to being a Super
Bowl contender. So the fact that my tenure with the team coincides with this unbelievable run that we're on has just been so much fun and to be at the ring ceremony last night to put the ring on. I had my ring from twenty nineteen on already, so I was rocking two rings last night, just walking around to share it with my coworkers and the players and the coaches and everybody is just so special. So it's awesome. And I do not take it for granted, that's for sure.
And I think I actually value the one that we just won even more than the one in twenty nineteen, because twenty nineteen, it all happened so fast, you know, you couldn't believe it, and before you know it, we won the Super Bowl and it was amazing, and I didn't really have a lot of time to process it.
This most recent one, I think I had a better appreciation for how difficult it is to get there and to basically have the same scenario we had last year where we lost to the Bengals in the AFC title Game. To beat them this time around at home and then to go win it was pretty satisfying. So it was amazing and hopefully we can get some more here in the years to come.
I was going to say I have a fieling with that quarterback and that coach, you guys will be right back in that mix for this season and years to come as well. There, so good looking up for you, looking forward to that game over in Germany. And we'll get to the Chiefs here and just once second, we'll go ahead and kick it off with them for our
four team AFC West Divisional preview here. But I want to go ahead and first start with just the thirty thousand foot bird's eye view of the AFC because going into last year, Matt, and this is this is why I love doing these these you know, deep dives on these divisions, on these other teams across the league, because we all have these expectations for teams every year. You think you know what's gonna happen, but the truth is
you never do. And you know, you have to kind of appreciate the Chiefs for being this consummate, you know, consistent winner they have been for so long. Because the Broncos were supposed to be an upstart last year and it just didn't work out that way. The Raiders, coming off a playoff Berth kind of reverted back to you know, a down season, and the Chargers you know, got back into the playoffs. But I think they had higher expectations
than a first round exit last year. Give us your twenty twenty three birds eye view of this division top storylines. What you're looking forward to the most year in the AFC West this season?
Well, the Chiefs have won this division seven consecutive years, and I think if you're looking at it from the outside, you might think the Chiefs just owned the division. It's easy, but it's not. And even when teams have down seasons, divisional opponents know each other so well that these games are always difficult. And the Chiefs have won so many games against their division during this run of success that
they've had. I'm looking it up right now as we speak, and the Patrick Mahomes era, these divisional games, they're always close, but the Chiefs typically find a way to win them, and they have the number for you right now. The Chiefs are twenty six and four against the AFC West since twenty eighteen, which is when Mahomes became the starter.
One of those games Mahomes didn't play, it was when the Chiefs had already locked up the division in twenty twenty, So essentially they are twenty six and three against AFC West opponents. Since twenty eighteen. Frequently close games, but they find a way to pull them out. Coach Read is so good at this at preparing the guys for these
divisional matchups. They actually work on divisional opponents during OTAs, so in May and in June they have entire practices that are dedicated to divisional opponents to go through the basics and establish the muscle memory and the mental side of things so that when they get to these games during the season, it's not new information. So the Chiefs
take these games so seriously. It is not easy to win seven consecutive division titles, and they're going to try to get an eighth consecutive division title here this upcoming season. But these other teams in the division are getting pretty tired of the Chiefs, as we all know, and they're going to give their best shot, so it won't be easy. I believe the Chiefs can do it and can win an eighth consecutive division title, but the Chargers are obviously
a very talented team. The Raiders are going through a bit of a transition right now. But Jimmy Garoppolo has been to a Super Bowl, as Chiefs fans know, so we know he can play quarterback for the Raiders if he's healthy, and the Broncos I believe will be better with Sean Payton. So it'll be tough, but I believe the Chiefs can do it.
Yeah. I almost think the Broncos are more intriguing this year just because of the fact of we hadn't seen a year like that from Russell Wilson. How he bounces back is of utmost intrigued to me. But I want to go back to the hometown team there, your Kansas
City Chiefs. The Dolphins will technically play a road game at Kansas City, but it will be in Germany in week number nine, Sunday, November the fifth, at nine to thirty am here in the East our kickoff time for US East and eight thirty for you guys out there in the Central time zone. But let's talk about this Chiefs team in their offseason, because you know, I look at how this team gets built, and it's funny because
it's a lot of ways. The Dolphins offense has been built around the strengths of to a tongue of by lower. I should say that it has been and that the Chiefs have almost done the same thing here with Mahomes in the sense of, you know, to what they want to maximize run after catch and the ability to really maximize his ballplacement, accuracy and decision making. And for Mahomes, they really do a good job of complimenting his playmaking
skill set. I'm curious kind of just to get your take on that, because I'm looking at an offensive line that has an argument for the best in the NFL. You obviously have the best tied end in the NFL, but the receiver position was an area they thought we can really kind of, you know, scale back here. And obviously we get the beneficiary of that with Tyreek Kill coming here and having a career season, But just kind of want to hear your take on how they built this offense around Patrick Mahomes.
And I'll mention too before I get into that, that I actually was in Germany a few weeks ago to do some advanced marketing for the Chiefs. The atmosphere in Frankfurt's going to be incredible, so I think Dolphins fan should be excited about it too. It's going to be so much fun. The German fans are so into football and it's going to be amazing. So I can't wait.
But to answer your question, the Chiefs and Patrick Mahomes went through a bit of a evolution over the last three seasons, where early in his career in two HAS eighteen, two HAS nineteen, and early twenty twenty, it was about the big play primarily, and Dolphins fans know all about Tyreek Hill. Now he did a lot of that in Kansas City as well, utilizing Patrick Mahomes's big arm. But in twenty twenty one and last season, the Chiefs transitioned to a bit more of a dynamic, varied offensive attack
where there were multiple receivers who could beat you. And maybe there's not one clear cut number one guy outside of Travis Kelce in the receiver room last year or this year, but there's four or five guys that can all be really good, effective, solid players. And that's kind of what the Chiefs are going to roll into this season with as well, where you have Travis Kelsey is the main target in this offense, but then several receivers who are all talented, who can all make a big play.
And maybe in the past in twenty eighteen, twenty nineteen and in twenty twenty the defense kind of knew all right, it's going to most likely be Travis Kelce or Tyreek Hill. But now at the Chiefs offense, it's going to be Travis Kelce or maybe Sky Moore, maybe Mark Weis, Veldez Scantling, maybe Rashi Rice, maybe Justin Watson, maybe Kadarius Tony. It's a whole bunch of guys that you can rely on to make plays. And Mahomes also evolved his game where
he's not relying on just one or two players. He's comfortable spreading the football all over the place and frankly taking what the defense gives him on occasion. So his evolution as a quarterback. He was already so good early in his career, but he's only gotten better. And really that was the next step for him, I think, is just trusting everyone in the offense, and the offense has been built around him in that way where there's so many people he can attack defenses with.
It certainly is a benefit to have a quarterback of that caliber that you can kind of reshape your offense in different ways, and he still finds ways to have success. And I'm such a big fan of his, not just for the playmaking that I think stands out so much. And you know, I joked with one of my previous guests on one of these divisional preview podcasts about how that that diving Madden throw, Like, what are we doing this with this Aden game? Where he's diving and throwing
footballs when he doesn't have to do that. It just to me is like a signal of looking for the wrong things at quarterback because Mahomes is so alien like in that way that we have this expectation of guys doing that all the time. It's like, No, Mahomes is great at that for sure. What makes him so special is that he does win from the pocket as a processor and really just picks defenses apart. And he's grown
so much in that regard. So it's been cool to watch As a fan from Afar always appreciated Mahomes his game and the Chiefs team in general. So I just love watching it. Who doesn't. I mean, it's peak football. So that's been cool to watch. But so we know about the offense, we know about the offensive line that you know, Trey Smith and Creed Humphrey are two of my favorite guys coming out that year. They both go to the Chiefs and you know, being home run picks
for him. But I want to hear your take on this defense and kind of how this has been put together because we know about Ris Jones is good for double digit sacks every single year. Big Charles Amenahue fan. They go first round this year with Fau. I'm not going to try to pronounce the name right now on the spot that you guys got there in the first round. Pretty fun linebacker corps, a defensive backfield that last year had one of my guys at Washington State Cougar jump
up with some big plays there in Jalen Watson. Yeah, just kind of want to get your take on the defense, how it's constructed, and how it kind of compiments that offense, because I think that's one of the things the Chiefs do well is they compment their entire team offense and defense.
Sure well from a national perspective because Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelcey and the Chiefs offense is so annually awesome. The defense doesn't get talked about a lot, but I really think they should, especially this season. Now they have
to go out and do it. Football isn't one on paper, but I truly believe this defense has what it takes to be the best defense Mahomes has had since he's been the Chiefs quarterback, which is an exciting prospect considering he's already won two rings and is a few seasons here as a starting quarterback. The thing with the Chiefs defense right now is last year they invested a ton of draft capital into infusing some youth into this group, and the guys made a ton of plays and really
grew up quickly. I believe thirteen rookies played for the Chiefs in the Super Bowl, and a bunch of those guys were on defense, particularly in the secondary. Guys like Joshua Williams, who's a fourth round pick. He's a corner for the Chiefs. He mentioned Jalen Watson, a seventh round pick that it had interceptions in both the AFC Title Game and the divisional round game against the Jags. Brian Cook is a safety at A Cincinnati who's a second
round pick. George carloftis at A Purdue, was our first round pick last year, one of them a defensive end, and then Trent McDuffie, a corner, another first round pick last year. I believe the Tyreek hiltrade led to one of those guys. He's a corner from Washington. So the Chiefs infused all this youth into their defense. Those guys made plays last year, and now they've had a chance to go through a full offseason program and get comfortable within the Chiefs defense, and I only think they're going
to get better. So I really believe from a depth perspective, in a talent perspective, this has a chance to be the best Chiefs defense in a long time. And considering how successful the team has been already and how good we feel about the offense, that's certainly pretty exciting for Chiefs fans.
Yeah, I was gonna say a scary thought for the rest of the AFC West, which we'll get too here in just one second. A couple of more key acquisitions there for the Chiefs. Juwan Taylor obviously replaces Orlando Brown Junior on the offensive line. I mentioned Charles Amena who get him back. Drew Trank will I think is a really underrated acquisition there the linebacker corp. And then Mike Edwards as well. So we talk about, you know, trouble for the rest of the AFC West. Heere, let's go
ahead and pivot to. You know, I've had this like love hate relationship with the Chargers over my entire life because back when they had like Phil Rivers, I always was a big Chargers fan. I know you probably hate hearing that. They always just kind of drafted guys I liked and signed guys I liked, and we're just kind of like my second team there for a long time, especially when they got Chris Chambers back in two thousand
and seven for a trade with the Miami Dolphins. But now I don't really feel that same way, even though you know, I loved Derwin James, and you know, Joey Bose is a hell of a player on offense. They got a bunch of players, and Austin Ecker was a guy that I like. But I think, would you still consider the Chargers the biggest threat to the Chiefs right now in the AFC West?
Right now?
I would From a talent perspective, they're very talented. They've really been there with the Chiefs in a lot of these games in recent seasons. Frankly, some of my favorite regular season memories in recent years are our wins over the Chargers. I think about the one in twenty twenty one where Travis Kelce I think it was overtime scored to beat the Chargers on a big play. Maybe it
wasn't overtime, but late in the fourth quarter. And then last year essentially the same thing happened where the Chargers scored with like two minutes left, Mahomes and the offense got the ball back with just a couple of plays left to try to get the win, and we scored to beat the Chargers and really lock up the division in late November. We always have great battles against those guys. Justin Herbert, I think is one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL, one of the best young quarterbacks for
sure in the NFL. And they have so much talent on that team that right now, just based on what they've done and based on their roster and how it's constructed, I would say that they are probably the biggest threat to the Chiefs. But fortunately, I think the Chiefs at this point know what it takes as well to beat them, So it's always going to be a battle against the Chargers. But to answer your question, yeah, I think right now the Chargers would be that main contender trying to beat the Chiefs.
To me, there's two big storylines to look at with this Chargers team. Really I think three actually because and again going back to Philip Rivers, the health was always an issue for that Chargers team. Every single year. It seemed like in training camp they would lose three or four starters and it was like, come on, where's the football gods helping these guys out a little bit here every single August. So that's one that I'm curious about because last year they got hit by the injury buck again.
Rashaun Slaterer missed a big chunk of the season, so did Joey Bosa, the aforementioned pass rusher, and Derwin James as well, but also overcoming a twenty seven point collapse in the playoffs. And then Brandon Staley and you know, originally his first year being the fourth down analytics guy that would go for it all the time, which you know, it's just basically being informed that numbers or the numbers
that he gets inform him for his decisions. So I get a little bit testy when I hear these analytics community like it was a bad decision to trust analytics there.
I think it's great, but I'm curious to hear your perspective on brand Staley's approach to coaching, and then I guess we'll go to other parts later, the playoff collapse last year and then the health of the team, But first your take on brand Staley and how they approached this thing with the charges of being so aggressive on those fourth downs.
Yeah, that was kind of his thing in his first season, and I think everyone kind of got enamored with it. I think he went a bit back toward the median this past year, and it's tough because you can't make everyone happy, and I think the heavy analytics community was like, what are you doing? And then the people that maybe didn't want him going for the fourth bounds, but then when it wasn't working out so much this past year, all of a sudden, when maybe he would punt, they're like, wait,
I thought you're the fourth bound guy. Kind of interesting, But you know, he knows his team, and I trust head coaches in the NFL that they know their team, they know the situations that they're in, and I'm sure that he was making the best decisions he felt for his team at the time. But what's going to be interesting for the Chargers this year is how do they
respond to that playoff loss? And particularly for Justin Herbert, one thing that I think, as Chiefs fans we are so fortunate to have witnessed is that Patrick Mahomes, very early in his career won a Super Bowl. So there's not the monkey on his back. There's not the oh, we can't win in the playoffs or like Peyton Manning had that for a long time. Right Justin Herbert as a young quarterback, I think we all agree he's one
of the best quarterbacks in the NFL. But for a while now, until he wins a playoff game and can get the Chargers far in the playoffs, those things.
Are going to hang over his head.
And I'm just very curious from a competitive standpoint, how does he respond to that? And we're going to learn a lot about Herbert and Brandon Staley from a coaching perspective as well. How does he respond to that playoff loss. We're going to learn a lot about those guys this season.
Yeah, I think there's something to that too. I mean, a couple of years ago, they had that really devastating loss of the Houston Texans on a team that was not very good that season. In the Chargers. I got blown out by him there in a game that essentially would have put him into the postseason and cost him to a birth in the playoffs late in that twenty twenty one season. Then, obviously, last year's second half of the offense and defense was not one to write home about.
I just look at this off season though they didn't really do a whole lot. They weren't very active. They brought back Trey Pipkins and Morgan Fox. They did get Eric Kendricks. I'm curious your take on their off season here as you look at this team. I don't know when you all play those guys first, but obviously you have a feel for, you know, what they're doing offensively and defensively as a team in general. They go out
and they get Quinton Johnson in the first round. Just kind of curious to your take on their offseason where they got better in your estimation.
Well, just from my perspective, and of course I'm not in the weeds with the Chargers every single day, but from my perspective, it seems to me like they are trying to have kind of one last run with their current core of guys like Keenan Allen, who's getting up there in age, Austin Eckler, Mike Williams, than defensively Joey Bosa, Khalil Mack. They've had this core together for a while now and we can all agree it's a lot of
really good players. But eventually you can't pay everyone, and particularly with Justin Herbert's contract coming up here, I'm assuming maybe next offseason at the earliest, the Chargers are going to have to make some very tough decisions. And my perception is this is their chance this season to really go for it with this corps of players before they have to readjust a little bit. And that's just life
in the NFL. I mean, the Chiefs went through that with Tyreek when we traded him to Miami, where you just can't afford to pay everyone, and as you evolve as a team, you have to keep adjusting, keep retooling the roster. And that time, frankly, might be coming for the Chargers here soon where they have to say goodbye to some players that have been there.
For a while.
So for me, this offseason for them was kind of about keeping that corps intact. They shuffled some money around. I think Quentin Johnston's a very nice player to add to their offensive arsenal. But again, I think it's more about keeping their group together to kind of make one last run at it with this squad.
It was kind of the theme of their offseason.
And before that quarterback track comes up, right, because like you mentioned, you can't pay everybody. Once that quarterback salary hits, starts to get a little bit tighter on the screws around the rest of the roster as well. You mentioned Quentin Johnson. I think to me, like Jalen guit In such an important part of that offense because of the speed element he offers and him missing so much time last year like Herbert's you know, yards per attempt went
way down last year. So something to keep an eye on there. And just for our tracking purposes, Week number one Dolphins at Chargers, So Chiefs fans will be Dolphins fans in week one for a four to twenty five kickoff on September tenth out there at SOFI Stadium. Let's go ahead and take our last break here of the podcast right here, and come back on the other side.
Talk some Raiders, talk some Broncos. That's next. Matt McMullen, my host or my guest today, your host Travis Wingfield, the Draft Time podcast, brought to you by Auto Nation, rounding out the AFC West here on our summer NFL twenty twenty three season preview. My guest today is Matt McMullen from Chiefs dot Com, talking all things AFC West. We let off with the Chiefs and Chargers. We're gonna go ahead and conclude here with the Broncos and the
Raiders out in Life Vegas. Let's go ahead and start in Denver, who is one of the most intriguing teams in the entire National Football League. To me, Matt, because I think we all expected a double digit win postseason birth type of team last year. It didn't go that way at all. Big time struggle for the one and done head coach and Nathaniel Hackett trying to get the
most out of Russell Wilson. So I think it starts there, right, Russell Wilson, his resurgence, Sean Payton's arrival as an, you know, an opponent of this team, a division rival of this team. How did you view the addition of Sean Payton? What do you think it does for Russell Wilson's career and looking to get back on track for him.
Well, full transparency. I mentioned that I'm a lifelong Chiefs fan, which is true, but my wife is from Boulder, Colorado.
Let's co.
All right. Well, I've converted her.
Over the last several years here because we started dating in twenty seventeen and the Chiefs have been beaten the Broncos every single time.
Since we've been dating, which is just nuts.
But my father in law is a huge Broncos fan, so I do have kind of an insider on the Broncos. It gives me his thoughts on Denver quite often. Weird season for them last year, and I think what it really said is that winning in the NFL is difficult and it's not Madden, and you can't just put players together on a team and it works all of a sudden. Winning is hard and it takes a lot to win in the NFL.
The Broncos have a very talented roster.
I think we all agree on that, and Russell Wilson is probably a future Pro Football Hall of Famer. But if a few bounces don't go your way, if the cohesion isn't there immediately, if the head coach isn't the best fit right away, then quickly things can go poorly, and that's what happened for the Broncos last season, coupled with some injuries. I certainly expect them to be better this season because they are talented and Sean Payton is a proven winner, a super Bowl champion. I don't know
necessarily what their season looks like. Kind of like you said, they're very intriguing because they're a bit of an enigma. I'm not really sure what to expect from them, but one thing I do know is they will be better just because they are too talented and they have too much experience on that roster, and Sean Payton is too much of a winner in the NFL for them to not be better. Does that translate to the playoffs? I don't know, but I do think the Broncos will be better this season.
Now. I'm always curious see how that you know, the you mentioned Hall of Fame, like Sean Payton's got to have his name right in that ring as well. And for a guy to you know, leave a team, take some time away and come back, I'm always curious see how those guys respawd with their second go round. We kind of have a similar version of that with Vic Fangi here coaching the defense, and speaking of the Broncos,
the former Broncos head coach there. I like what they did on the offensive line this offseason, going out and getting Mike McGlinchey and Ben Powers. That was a big issue last year, and I think for Russell Wilson, you know, the scramble ability is great, but as you get into your thirties sometimes that kind of deteriorates a little bit. And the pressure he faced last year was immense with you know, just they had injuries up front, the offensive line had a tough time getting all those great pass
rushers in the AFC West Bloc. So I think there should be improvement there. But on defense, man, Like, I'm curious to hear your perspective on the defense, because regardless over the years, they just seem to like stay good, no matter like who's coaching or who's there, you know, personnel wise. I don't know what it is, something in the water out in Denver probably, but they just look good on paper again here because so many guys, especially in that back end, I mean, Justin Simmons and Patrick
startan the second. You know Dolphins fans know him well. His father was a long time stud here in Miami. Just curious to your perspective when you go into a game against the Broncos, because for the Chiefs like that Broncos defense is good, but the Chiefs don't seem to care. They seem to find their way to score points anyway. But when you go into those games against the Broncos, well you're looking out on that defensive side of the football.
Yeah, their defense is really good, and it's really good every single season. You mentioned the secondary, that's really the strength of this group, but their pass rush I think will be solid as well. They dealt with so many injuries last year where their defense as good as it was, and it was a top five scoring defense in the NFL, I believe for most of the season. I think it has a chance to be maybe not better, but right there once again this season because they're going to have
some guys back healthy. Former Chief Frank Clark is a Denver Bronco now Randy Gregory will likely be healthy this season. So I think their defense has a chance to be really, really good. This is where its Chiefs fans, we're fortunate that we have Patrick Mahomes because he's like a cheap code out there no matter how good a defense is,
but their defense deserves a lot of respect. And that's where if their offense can just be a little bit better, this Broncos team can really, I think improve quite a bit this upcoming season because their offense just struggled so much last year. I think they scored more than sixteen points only three or four times. It doesn't matter how good your defense is. If your offense just can't score points,
it's very difficult to win. So that's where if Sean Payton can get the Broncos offense going just a little bit more, if they can score average twenty two to twenty three points of games the middle of the pack, their defense is good enough where they can be a winning football team and maybe a playoff football team. So that's I think the defense is the constant. I think we all kind of know the defense is going to
be good because it's good every year. Well will the offense be able to turn the page and be what maybe we thought it could have been last year.
I also like the addition of Zach Allen on that defensive line as well, from the Arizona mccardinals should be a good get for them up front. And then I just look at this receiver corps and like you talk about the offense and the struggles, it doesn't make sense on paper that they would struggle so much. I mean, Garrett Bowles is a good player. He missed most of the year on the offensive line last year, but he's
a really good player. Mentioned mcglincheyan powers, they join a guy like you know, Lloyd Cushion Barry is a high draft pick, Quinn Minor. It's really kind of you know, stold everyone's heart at the Senior Bowl. The big belly exposed a couple of years ago. He's on that front. But the receiver corps, Matt like, it's pretty damn good man like Courtland something's a good player. I think Jerry Judy has high end wide receiver. One potential if you ever realized, is that kJ Hamiller is a good player.
Marquez Callaway like, you come in this this you know play in the Broncos. You have lots of weapons that can tend with on that offense. And if Russell Wilson can get right, I think they could do what you're talking about and get twenty two points, twenty three points per game, don't you think that?
Yeah, and don't forget about Greg Dolsic that tight end of UCLA really athletic, exciting player at tight end. We've seen kind of like a revolution at tight end in the NFL over the last five or six years. You guys, of course had Mike Koseki for a while, you know what I'm talking about. And the she said Travis Kelce, Greg Dolza has a chance to be that upper echelon kind of tight end in this league. Is just a great athlete, kind of like a hybrid receiver tight end
kind of player. So Russell Wilson has weapons everywhere. And that's the big question is can Sean Payton kind of correct Russell Wilson and get him back to what he was when he was in Seattle winning playoff games? And we'll see that is the answer to the Broncos season because everything else is really there for them. So that's the question we'll see if Sean Payton can do it.
From a chief's perspective, I certainly hope that they don't find too much success, right, but the talent is certainly there and the experiences there, So we'll have to see how it plays out.
Well, you guys will go from being Dolphins fans in week one to Dolphins fans in week three. Is the Broncos traveled down here for our home opener week number three, son day, September twenty fourth, for a one o'clock kickoffs, so hopefully they get it figured out. It doesn't happen by a week three for those Denver Broncos. Let's go ahead and conclude here, Matt with the Las Vegas Raiders, who you know you talk about on paper, you mentioned that early in the podcast, how the games have to
get played and all that. Right now, on paper, you look at the Raiders and you think like this is the team that is looking up at the other three in the division just because of what's happened. You know, in the off season, you lose Derek Carr, goes out to New Orleans. Jimmy g comes in, but there's talk about like maybe he's not healthy. You had a surgery this offseason. If it's not Jimmy g, it is going
to be Brian Hoyer's the backup. Is that a place where maybe Carson Wentz could wind up like I'm curious what you think about the quarterback position there in Las Vegas because to me and I had, you know, Trevor Sikama on for the NFC South and we talked about how I think Derek Carr has been underrated for a
long time. To say goodbye to a quarterback like that and now have a question mark, what do you think is the Chiefs you know, fan and some of the covers of Chiefs with this Raiders quarterback situation that right now it's kind of up in the air.
It's interesting because for the first time in a long time in my tenure here for sure, because Derek Carr arrived in Oakland and in Las Vegas in fifteen twenty sixteen. It's strange him not being there anymore because he was the constant. He was always the stable, solid, you know what you're gonna get kind of quarterback. I think Derek Carr was underrated. He gave the Chiefs some trouble. Sometimes
we look back at the twenty twenty season. The Chiefs lost to the Chargers in Week seventeen, but Chad Henney started none of the Chiefs starters play that doesn't really count. The only other game the Chiefs lost in the regular season that year was to the Raiders at home in Week five. It doesn't really make sense when you look back at it, because the Raiders didn't even make the playoffs that season. But the Raiders with Derek Carr were
just consistently competitive. You really never had to worry about are they just going to lay an egg? It never really happened, and when they decided to move on from him, it did surprise me. Now I get they just wanted to turn the page and kind of move on with their franchise and find their next guy, But we don't really know who that next guy is at the time. Being Jimmy Garoppolo, like I mentioned earlier, is a solid player. He's been to a Super Bowl, he's been to NFC
Championship games. But he's also getting up there in age. Is Jimmy the quarterback of the future for the Raiders. He kind of feels more like a he's there for three or four years kind of guy. And with the questions about his health this summer, is he going to be ready for Week one? I don't know the answers to those questions, so we'll see. Of course, he's reunited with his former offensive coordinator from New England in Las
Vegas now, so there's that synergy there. But for the first time in a long time, I really don't know what to expect from the Raiders offensively, and for years now we all kind of knew what to expect. So it's a strange thing breaking down this Raiders offense. But they have good players. Josh Jacobs is a heck of a player at running back, DeVante Adams is a top five receiver in the NFL, and Hunter Renfro is a very good, underrated player at wide receiver two. So they
have weapons, But is the quarterback situation. Is that confusion going to hold them back?
We'll see.
That's where I was gonna go. Is the weapons. Also talk about Jacoby Myers, who was a good player up here for the Patriots play against the Dolphins twice a year for so long. I think he's a great number two to kind of round in that role between Adams and Renfro there. So if Jimmy g is good to go, we know he can play at a higher level. And if that's the case, this offense, to me, would have a chance to be one of the better offenses in
the NFL. We'll find out about the defense here in a second, but I just think, you know, looking at that, it's so interesting because you mentioned Josh McDaniels. Jimmy g started his career there with the Patriots, and he played really well, albeit in a very short sample size the year that he filled in for Tom Brady for a couple of games and actually got injured. But then he goes to San Francisco and plays in a different system under Kyle Shanahan that you know, I thought accentuated his
shrinks there as well. So now he goes back to the old offense. I'm just really curious see how he adapts to, you know, going back to an offense that he was good in but wasn't really where he made his name in the NFL playing in that Shanahan offense in San Francisco. So we talk about the offense there, let's go over to the defensive side of the full. Well, it was not good last year. They really struggled to get off the field just to you know, limit points
in that end. But a pretty busy offseason back there, going out and getting Marcus Epps Brandon face on. They went out and got let's see a lot offensive guys here too, Jacobe Myers, OJ Howard on offense. But as you look at this defense, because you mentioned, you know, a lot of those Chiefs and Raiders games kind of go shot for shot and lots of point tolls in the past. You're looking at more shootouts this year for
this Raiders defense because they added some pieces. But I think still a little bit ways to go there on that Raider of defense.
Well, I respect their pass rush a lot because Max Crosby is a top five pass rusher in the NFL, such a good player, relentless kind of player. Chandler Jones wasn't quite what they expected when they signed him last offseason, but he's still Chandler Jones. And they added Tyree Wilson in the draft out of Texas Tech. He kind of slid down to them in the first round, and I think he was one of the best picks of the first round for any team. And it pains me to
say that about the Raiders. So their pass rush is legitimate and I think will be one of the better pass rushes in the NFL, and that helps everyone else at the second level and at the third level of their defense. So I'm curious to see if their pass rush can be as good as it is on paper this season. It was really good at times last year, but despite the presence of all these great players, Max
Crosby was kind of carrying the load. If Chandler Jones and if Tyree Wilson can kind of help with that, if they can be impact players this season for the Raiders, their defense has a chance to be competitive. But it really hinges on the guys that they've invested in, because Max Crosby can't do it all by himself.
New defensive coordinator there that we know well here in Miami, Patrick Graham joins there as well, trying to get that defense heading in the right direction, and I scheme change for them should I think help as well. So good stuff there, Matt. I think that pretty much covers the entire AFC West here. The Dolphins will play the Raiders here week eleven Sunday, remember the nineteenth to one o'clock kickoff here at hard Rock Stadium. Let's go ahead and
finish with the podcast. What we have for all these divisional previews with our superlatives. And I told you before we came on that some of the guys have picked their entire squad for the most part, and rightfully.
So.
You know, fran Duffy gave us almost all Eagles in the NFC East, and I think that's totally fair. The defending NFC champions. We're now talking about the end defending NFL champions and the Kansas City Chiefs, So it's only fair we talk about that and have the idea that you might go that direction. But quarterback, who is the best quarterback here? It's a silly question in the AFC West.
Matt, Yeah, you know what I'm going to say is Patrick Mahomes. I believe Patrick Mahomes is the best quarterback in the NFL, and rightfully. So what's nuts is the guy's not even twenty eight years old yet. And I don't think it's me being a homer to say that he has a real shot at being one of the greatest to ever play the game when it's all said and done. It's frankly incredible what he's done in his
young career. He's only played eighty career regular season football games, and he is the most passing yards, the most passing touchdowns, the highest passer rating, and the most completions of any quarterback through eighty career regular season games in NFL history.
That's one thing.
Like a lot of guys have great stats and it doesn't always translate to wins, but Patrick also has. He's epic incredible postseason wins. He has two Super Bowl championships, two Super Bowl MVPs, and he's the first player since Kurt Warner in nineteen ninety nine to win Super Bowl MVP and NFL MVP in the same season, doing so this past year, I frankly cannot believe he's our quarterback. At times, I don't know how we as Chiefs fans,
got this lucky. But to answer your question, I believe he is the best quarterback in the AFC West.
I don't think you even have to say one of the best of all time. I think he's trending in the direction to be the guy right now. Just when you look at him, I mean that the eyeball test, right he is, unlike Anthony we've seen before, the best non quarterback player on offense in the division. Receivers, running backs, tight ends, offensive line. Who do you got, I've.
Got Travis Kelcey. I know I'm the Chiefs guy.
And I'll give it to the Chiefs here, but I truly believe that Travis Kelcey is not just the greatest tight end of all time. And that's saying a lot because we have Tony Gonzalez here in Kansas City as well, and I love Tony Gonzalez. I really believe Travis Kelsey is the greatest tight end to ever play the game. And he's also one of the greatest pass catchers to ever play the game. And because he's a tight end, I think at times we kind of pigeonhole him into well,
he's the greatest tight end. We don't talk about him as a pass catcher. But the guy has seven consecutive one thousand yard seasons. Mike Evans is the only guy in the NFL to do that currently as well.
Think about that. That's unbelievable.
So many great players out there that they just get hurt or they have a year where it just wasn't the ball wasn't coming to him, or it wasn't their best season. Travis Kelcey, knock onwood consistently every single year is going to give you one thousand yards, eight or more touchdowns, and it's just unbelievable how he's gotten better with age. I really think that Kelsey and my homes are going to go down as like a Montana Rice
kind of well. And the fact that we are watching them live and particularly for Chiefs fans, is just hard to believe. So Travis Kelce for me, is the best non quarterback in this division because I really believe he's one of the top five pass catchers overall regardless of position in the league.
Every year you go to the final statistics page, it's wide receiver, wide receiver, wide receiver, Travis Kelce, then wide receiver, like it's just he's the only tight end there. Every single year. It's always fun to see that he definitely has changed that position for the better going forward. This is the one spot I think we might go away from the Chiefs, but I wouldn't blame you, because there's a player on the Chiefs that I think fits this category as well. But I think every team has a
guy that might fit here. The best defensive player in the AFC West.
Is well, that's a tougher one.
You're right, because the AFC West has some great defensive players. I could say Max Crosby, who talked about earlier on the Raiders. I could say a number of players on the Chargers, those being like Joey Bosa or Derwin James. And the Broncos have some great players as well that we talked about, like Patsertan the second I'm gonna go with my guy, though, I'm gonna go with Chris Jones just because of his production meeting the moment as well. This past season, he had fifteen and a half sacks,
so doing as a defensive tackle his nuts. He's not playing off the edge a whole lot. He does sometimes, but he's primarily a defensive tackle, and he racks up fifteen and a half sacks. His pressure totals are right up there with some of the best defensive ends in the NFL. But also how he came up with huge plays in the biggest of moments last year is what kind of pushes him over the top for me. Particularly
the AFC title game. All the national media wanted to talk about how he had never gotten a postseason sack going into that game, and he not only gets a sack, he gets two on Joe Burrow, including the biggest defensive play of the game when the Bengals have the ball with forty five seconds left, it's third down, and if they get thirty or so yards, maybe they have a shot at a game winning field goal. In Chris Sacks, Joe Burrow, Chiefs get the ball back and go win
the game. Just like I said with Patrick, when you have the stats and you have the big plays and the big moments, that's what really does it for me, because that's rare in the NFL that both of those things. So my answer, yes, I'm a Chief Homer, but my answer is Chris Jones, I'm.
Going to for go the last question herecu I know the answer. The division champion in the AFC West. We're both going to pick the same team. I think a lot of folks are going to pick them to go back to the big Game again this year. So Chiefs, I think we can both agree, are the favorites right now to win the AFC West. Agree.
I agree. I'm a strong believer in the fact that they got to go do it. I really am a disciple of what coach Reid preaches here, where every year is a new year. Doesn't matter what you did the previous year or in the Chiefs case, the previous seven years. Every season is new, and the Chiefs are the hunted. Everyone wants to take down the Chiefs. The good news is for Chiefs fans that our guys understand that they understand that the other teams in the AFC West are
tired of looking up at Kansas City. But we have what it takes to keep winning this division for years to come. So it's not a given. We don't play football on paper, but right now I believe the Chiefs have what it takes to win this division.
Well, before we get that all kicked off, you enjoy your ring ceremony last night. The office is empty today, you said, So why don't you go ahead and tell us what's coming down the pike this summer on Chiefs dot com. What do you work on yourself? Matt, just kind of give us your summer content plan here.
Yeah.
Well, like you said, it kind of shuts down here for a while. Our mandatory mini camp just wrapped up, so we won't hear from the players or have any practices until training camp kicks off in late July. But if you're interested in the Chiefs and you want to know kind of what this roster is going to look like, I'll have a whole bunch of articles on Chiefs dot Com over the next several weeks looking at position breakdowns, and we're not just talking about the big guys like
Mahomes and Kelsey. I'm going to be talking about the undrafted free agents I have a shot at making this team, so keep an eye out for those. And also our radio voice. I believe that the best in the history of the NFL to ever be a radio voice, Mitchell This him and I have a podcast called Defending the Kingdom.
We'll have that probably biweekly here over the next month or so, just breaking down position groups and what to expect from this Chief's team as they look to defend their title, but also looking to get away a little bit in the weeks to come before we really hit the grind here in just a few weeks.
Yeah, come down here and put your feet in the sand for a couple of weeks here. Matt. You've certainly earned it with a long year, like you talked about, going all over the Super Bowl makes for a long season there and the drafting Kansas City as well, so busy times for the Chiefs. Matt. I appreciate your time today. Man, You've really helped us out a ton. Thank you so much, and enjoy your summer off man.
Thanks Travis, really appreciate it, really enjoy and love your stuff. And I'll see you in Germany in November.
Yeah, sir, sounds good. Thank you Matt, and away he goes big. Thanks to my guest today, Matt McMullen. Yeah, we'll see about that.
I don't know.
I think it would be a whole family trip to go out to Germany for the week. So about to fly actually today, I fly out this evening with my wife, my two children back to the West Coast, and I am not looking forward to a six hour flight with a six month old and a three year old. So keep us in your tea's and p's on that flight back to Seattle. In the meantime, it's going to be my time.
You all.
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