Denver Disaster (Hour 2)

What's the strangest thing you're afraid of? Tails without fur on them, such as rats or opossums. I'm Larry Mullins, host of the podcast Your Weirdest Fears, where we dig into the crazy things you're afraid of. Everything from animal people hybrids, you know people who get surgeries to look like an animal, to giant statues.

If I ever saw one of those giant statues, I probably would poop my pants. Listen and subscribe on the Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts from. The listening you love is on the free Odyssey app. Your trusted local radio stations, coverage of your favorite teams, live news from your hometown, and millions of podcasts on demand. Best of all, you can completely customize your listening experience. Follow topics you care about, like leagues and teams, pause or rewind your local sports and news, and add shows to your queue to catch up later.

There's a lot to listen to, so get started and download the free Odyssey app today. Zach Gelb here with you, fill it in for both Maggie and Perloff, as Maggie Gray and Andrew Perloff are out the entire week. They'll be taking you all the way up until 6 p.m. Eastern when the Zach Gelb show comes your way on many the same CBS Sports Radio affiliate, Sirius XM, Channel 158, and that free Odyssey app.

I will not be hosting my own show today because I'm doing this show, but Chad Brown gonna stop by 20 minutes from now. The former Pro Bowl linebacker, that was a talk show in Denver, and Austin Eckler will be joining us an hour 20 from now. Fresh off the Los Angeles Chargers, getting a victory last night on Monday Night Football to conclude week 16 in the NFL. And not only that, that punched the Chargers ticket to the NFL postseason as we have a lot of great young quarterbacks that are gonna be in the postseason this year, especially in the AFC. When you look at Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen, Joe Burrow, assuming Lamar Jackson comes back and is healthy, and Justin Herbert, those are your five quarterbacks that we know will be in the playoffs this year in the AFC. And lurking is going to be Trevor Lawrence, as a lot of people are now picking the last few weeks. The Jaguars to win the AFC South, and then we'll see who's gonna get that seventh and final spot. Will it be the Dolphins?

Will Tuatunga Vailoa even play football again this season because he suffered another concussion? Is it going to be the Patriots with Mac Jones, or is it going to be Mike White with the New York Jets and then some other names that could be thrown into the conversation, still mathematically alive. But really any of those names that I just threw out there don't really match up with the way that we view Mahomes, Allen, Burrow, Lamar Jackson, and Justin Herbert. It just continues to show you, even though like Tuatunga has had a really good season, and Mike White in the limited role has done well with the Jets. And Mac Jones isn't really being put in a position to succeed with the Patriots.

You either have the guy, or you have a guy or not a guy. And right now we know who the guys are in the AFC, and it's those guys that have officially punched their ticket and clinched their spot in the postseason, and Trevor Lawrence is starting to emerge in that conversation as well. What he's been able to do finally with the competent head football coach in the NFL, you know, last year was a disaster with Urban Meyer, who almost appeared like he just wanted to get fired one year in with the Jacksonville Jaguars, and now you're bringing a guy that's had a lot of success in the NFL and has won a Super Bowl before with the Philadelphia Eagles, Super Bowl 52 as their head coach in Doug Peterson. Anyway, we know the Broncos don't have their guy yet at head coach as they fired Nathaniel Hackett yesterday.

Also, it's not looking like Russell Wilson's the quarterback that they traded for. Now George Payton is still going to be the general manager. That was announced yesterday and earlier today when he did have the press conference, but you start to see some of the names that emerge for the Broncos' job.

I saw this via BetOnline. These are the odds for the next Broncos full-time head coach. Sean Payton is 4-1. Barring the new rich owners and the richest owners of the NFL of the Broncos going on out there and just giving Sean a contract he can't refuse, I don't see why Sean, who could pick any job that he wants if they're interested in him, why he would go to Denver. Like what does Denver have to offer? If you're a Broncos fan, how do you sell me on Denver? We have a great defense. Okay, what did that great defense get you this year?

Nothing. Made you the laughingstock of the league, not because of the defense, but you could have a great defense, but if you're asking them to just get you off the field every single drive because your offense is not capable of scoring two touchdowns, you're bound to have a defense make a mistake. Like you even saw it a little bit on Sunday night with the Buccaneers. Now I know Brady and company ended up coming back, but that defense, and it was against Trace McSorley, I get it, was shutting down Arizona and eventually you do break. Not all defenses can be perfect and the other side, this is the the great hard-hitting analysis that we give you, they get paid as well and anyone collecting a paycheck in this league should be able at one point in the game drive down the field even if you're going up against one of the greatest defenses of all time like the 85 Bears or the 2000 Ravens and get a touchdown.

And not that this Bucs defense is this all-time great defense, but they are a very good unit and when the offense was crap on Sunday, there were times where the Cardinals went down the field and got some points on the board. So for Denver, when you're playing defense but then on offense it's three and out, three and out, turnover, turnover, bad field position, even with the defense that's been great, it's not going to be put in a position to succeed. Now this offensive line is not wonderful in Denver. I do think that the wide receivers are not as great as what Russell Wilson thought they were going to be and I remember when Russell Wilson got traded I said did he really go to a better situation? You know on defense, absolutely, compared to where the Seahawks were on defense to where the Broncos were on defense, but on the offensive side of the ball, even though there was problems with the Seahawks offensive line, it's not like Denver had this great offensive line and from a weapons standpoint, you don't have a DK Metcalf on the Denver Broncos, you don't have a Tyler Lockett, like Portland Sutton's good, don't get me wrong.

Jerry Judy, for a guy that went in the first round, I know he said he's starting to have a better season, but I don't necessarily know and I don't think he is for sure a bonafide number one wide receiver in this league and at the running back spot Melvin Gordon, I know he's no longer on the team, but he was fumbling the ball left and right and Javonte Williams, who I like a lot, even when he was at UNC when he was complimenting and sharing carries with Michael Carter, he unfortunately got hurt. So you look at the weapons or the lack of them on Denver's offense and oh yeah by the way you have a quarterback who Jay Gruden just joined us and he said the way that Russell Wilson's been playing the last two years or so, he's looking more like a guy that is like not even a top 25 quarterback in this league, let alone I think he said a top 10 quarterback. Now that's coming from a guy that evaluates offense, was a good offensive coordinator and a guy that was a former NFL coach in this league. Now I don't know moving forward into the future, there's definitely gonna be 25 quarterbacks better than Russell Wilson year in year out, but Russell Wilson has been awful this year, putrid. Like when they're at the press conference the other day and they're saying oh yeah he's shown flashes of Russell Wilson being able to be the guy that we thought and they're referencing a half here and there, like what? We're 16 weeks into a season, if you could only tell me there was a half here and there where he looked good, that means he hasn't been the guy that you thought you were getting and he's been brutal to watch, he's been horrible and I don't know how much better it gets. Like you would think it can't get worse, but just because you bring in a new head coach it doesn't mean you wave the magic wand and then all of a sudden, poof, Russell Wilson is back into being a top 10 quarterback in this league and I said it to Jake Rudin who joined us earlier, I'll say it again, I think the days of Russell Wilson being a great quarterback are long gone.

Russell Wilson's ceiling, if he ever does get back on track, is probably just being good and sometimes good can win in this league, but most of the times you need a great quarterback to win in this league and look at the conference that he's in. This conference in the AFC has Patrick Mahomes, has Josh Allen, has Josh Burrow, has Lamar Jackson, has Trevor Lawrence, you know has Justin Herbert, just look inside your division. You know I don't know if Carr's gonna be back or not with the Raiders and I don't think Carr's a great quarterback, but Carr the last two years has been better than Russell Wilson, but just look at your division and I know there's an extra playoff spot now with the seventh wildcard added for the last few years, but just in your division you're going up against Mahomes and you're going up against Justin Herbert.

Unless those guys get hurt, they're not going anywhere. So the odds of you winning a division title with Denver are slim and you know probably with the way that this is trending Kansas City and the Chargers are playoff teams for the foreseeable future, so that's a divisional spot taken up and a wildcard spot. That only leads to wildcard spots left for you and I can't trust Russell Wilson anymore and he's not going anywhere for the next two years or so because of the dead cap, all that you gave up for him, but to just think that this is gonna change with one head coaching hire, it's Jack Assery to me.

So if I'm Sean Paden to get back to some of these names that have been thrown out there by Bet Online and the odds he's four to one, I wouldn't go there. I wouldn't touch that job with a 10-foot pole right now. Now you go through some of the other candidates, Dan Quinn, that was the first thing that I thought was realistic looking for a second head coaching job. I know it's not an offensive name, but if you bring in the right offensive coordinator, Dan Quinn is a leader of men, maybe that could work and I think Dan Quinn is a good name, I don't think he's a must-have name, but that's kind of the position that the Broncos are in.

The Broncos aren't gonna get the creme de la creme candidate. You may have to settle on a first-time coach which is a big risk because look at what happened with Nathaniel Hackett, you don't know how those guys are gonna be when they're moved over to the head honcho chair and how many times we hear about this great offensive coordinator, great defensive coordinator that ends up just being ass as a head coach. And even though I was pessimistic about the Broncos this year and I said we're gonna miss the playoffs, I didn't think we'd get this bad when they fire the coach after a year, but at least you know Dan Quinn has been a head coach before and he's taken his team pretty damn far. I know we all get on him for the 28-3 choke job in the Super Bowl, but he did coach a team to a Super Bowl. Some other names, Jim Caldwell who has been to a Super Bowl before, there's a Peyton Manning relationship there back when he was the head coach for a few years with the Colts, then with the Lions, had a double-digit win season and had two other I think nine win seasons as well and that was in Detroit. Do I think Jim Caldwell is gonna go get a great job in this league right now?

No. So maybe he wants to be a head coach again and that's a guy that has past head coaching experience, offensive side of the ball experience where you know he's gonna be a good leader of men and he's done it before so maybe you have to settle on him. Shane Steichen, the offensive coordinator for the Eagles is gonna be hot name. He's at 7-1.

I think D'Amico Ryan's would be a home run higher. He's at 15-2 odds, but if you're D'Amico Ryan's with what you've been doing on the defensive side of the ball, I would take a much better job than the Denver Broncos. Eric Bienemey at 9-1. For Bienemey, I think he's definitely deserving of being a head coach but he hasn't been offered a head coaching job yet. So am I gonna expect all of a sudden that he's a head coach next year?

No, I would not. Here's a name that may be a fit and it's Frank Reich. Frank Reich has been a head coach before. He's a respected name in the NFL. I do think he was overrated as a head coach.

He's been to the playoffs a few times. If you're a Broncos fan, not that I think you're jumping for joy if you get Frank Reich who's at 9-1 odds, but he may be a guy that's looking to be a head coach again, may not have a lot of other opportunities elsewhere and because your job's not that attractive, you bring him in. And Frank Reich, the last two years I thought was horrible. The same mistakes against the Jaguars, his team not showing up in a big spot, constantly not prepared for the first half of games and you look at the discrepancy on the scoreboard, but once again this is not this great job in Denver. So you could bring in a guy like Frank Reich who's had some success in this league before as a head coach, was an offense coordinator when Nick Foles won a Super Bowl in Philadelphia, where maybe that's a guy that's not as desired in other places, but since you're not a desirable job, you bring in someone that's experienced in Frank Reich.

And I'll give you a few more names that are on this list. Jim Harbaugh, 12-1. If I'm Jim, I do think there's an opportunity obviously to be a head coach again this league and if he wants to do it, he should pursue it, but I'm not leaving Michigan for this Denver job. Byron Lefwich at 16-1, Leslie Frazier at 16-1, Brian Flores who's been a head coach before in this league is 18-1 as well and then we'll give you some funky names here. And none of these will happen. Payda Manning at 50-1, Bill Cowher at 66-1.

I think that ship has sailed. Bill Cowher coming back to the sideline and I'll throw you one more. There are two more that are hilarious. John Elway at 100-1 and how about this one?

This one they're just posting in there to just troll. Pete Carroll for the next Broncos coach at a buck 50-1. I'm just gonna go out on a limb here and I'm going to assume and you know what happens when you assume you make an ass out of you and me. Pete Carroll who did not want Russell Wilson anymore and had no problem with Russell Wilson wanting to leave the Seattle Seahawks and knew him better than anybody. With the way that that relationship ended I don't think Pete's leaving Seattle which is a better spot right now as they just robbed and we all thought it was a great trade for the Broncos. They robbed the Denver Broncos. I don't think he's gonna say you know what Russ?

I'll be your knight in shining armor and come save the day for you and help hold your hand again this time in Denver where they had all that success in Seattle. That's what still bugs me with this whole relationship with Russell Wilson and Pete Carroll. Russ thought he was something that he was not and he was so insecure with the way that it was perceived when they won that Super Bowl and then they lost the second one that when they won that first Super Bowl against Denver ironically it was all the credit was to the Legion of Boom, it was to Marshawn Lynch, it was to Pete Carroll and then it was oh yeah and Russell Wilson it was a good quarterback. But then Russ wanted to be the man then the ego of Russell Wilson took over and the last few years even when he wasn't playing well even though it wasn't the best situation in the world it seemed like Russ never took any accountability and then Russ started off with his agent saying we don't want to be traded but if you want to trade us here 14s will go to and you know he's gonna be back because of the debt cap and then it was his final year in Seattle and he was just so fraudulent when the two of them Russell Wilson and Pete Carroll right before that press conference remember Russ interrupted him he's like our relationships better than ever no it wasn't because Pete knew the end was near and Pete probably knew as well because he didn't really put up much of a fight from what we know publicly and I don't really believe in you that much anymore and Pete knew more about Russell Wilson and believed in him more before any of us did because you got to remember they had that uh backup they had that quarterback for Green Bay that ended up getting that job in Seattle and Matt Flynn on that big contract and it ended up being Russell Wilson's team right away that was Pete he was the one that started Russell Wilson and he was the one that said okay you want to leave I got no problem giving up on you here because I know that you're not as great as what you think you are so this Broncos job is just not desirable this Denver job is not desirable and I think they're gonna have to settle on someone I'd be shocked if they get their actual top three candidates they'll say oh this is the guy when they make the higher this is the guy that we always wanted but in reality it won't be because barring their new owner who has all the money in the world just given a check that makes someone say yes when they would probably say no I don't think you're gonna get your top candidate let alone you know a top three candidate Zach yelp here with you on CBS sports ready we'll take a break we'll go out to Denver next welcome in a former Pro Bowl linebacker does a talk show in Denver that's Chad Brown what's the strangest thing you're afraid of tails without fur on them such as rats or opossums I'm Larry Mullins host of the podcast your weirdest fears where we dig into the crazy things you're afraid of everything from animal people hybrids you know people who get surgeries to look like an animal to giant statues if I ever saw one of those giant statues I probably would poop my pants listen and subscribe on the Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcast from your trusted local radio stations coverage of your favorite teams live news from your hometown and millions of podcasts on demand best of all you can completely customize your listening experience follow topics you care about like leagues and teams pause or rewind your local sports and news and add shows to your queue to catch up later there's a lot to listen to so get started and download the free Odyssey app today throughout the 60s and 70s cops hunted down key figures of the Dixie Mafia including its enigmatic ringleader Kirksey Nix I'm interested in making money I'm not interested in hurting 15 years into Kirksey's life sentence the Dixie Mafia was practically folklore but that would soon change I'm Jed Lipinski this is gone south a documentary podcast from c13 originals a cadence 13 studio season 2 the Dixie Mafia available now on the Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts welcome back in Zach Yelp here with you on CBS Sports Radio let's head out to the guest line right now as we're talking Russell Wilson we're talking Nathaniel Hackett getting fired and we'll welcome in a former Pro Bowl linebacker now does a talk show out in Denver on 104 three the fan and that of course is Chad Brown Chad happy holidays happy new year how you been happy holidays to you guys as well I've been fantastic unlike the Bronco fans here in any way yeah we all knew that Nathaniel Hackett was gonna get fired the question just was going to be when it occurred when the news came down on Monday was it at all surprising just because how long he lasted into the season I kind of thought he was going to get to the rest of the year yeah once he got past like week 12 thinking became in Denver he's just going to be able to last the season he's got to play the string out but when you get you know crushed by the Rams who are missing their best players they put up 51 points on you the Walton Penner group I've had seen enough to your point we all knew it was going to happen but you know I think to try to create some distance as quickly as possible between Nathaniel and Nathaniel Hackett's tenure and what the Broncos do next this was an attempt to do that let's get the future rolling as quickly as we possibly can I know the new ownership group can write a check to make anyone maybe say yes to become the next head coach but a lot of people are throwing out the name Sean Payton other than that reason I don't see why Sean Chad would take this job what is the conversation been in Denver about Sean last 24 hours well there's a lot of conversation about Sean Payton because you know he's the most experienced coaches you know on his couch right now and he was available but also because Sean Payton had some success a lot of success with Drew Brees and Drew Brees being a shorter quarterback Russell Wilson being a shorter quarterback people are making that kind of connection but I think it's just a faulty comparison Drew Brees's game was completely different than Russell Wilson's game they played the position quite differently and I think Russell Wilson has shown this year he's not prepared in any way to be a true kind of pocket passer like Drew Brees was so you can bring in Sean Payton in hopes that that you know he can try to coach Russell Wilson into becoming Drew Brees I don't think it's within Russell Wilson's skill set to do that so it'd be another one of those kind of foolish hires based on faulty reasoning what do you think the ceiling is for the rest of Russell Wilson's career because the last year year and a half before this one you saw some signs and I know we all kind of made it okay that was more the situation in Seattle and we didn't put any of the blame on Russ but really this has been an issue now for two years and it keeps on getting worse and worse like the season he's having this year and no one could even have imagined this Chad no one could have imagined now I did a coaching internship in Seattle when Russ was a quarterback and I was on the defensive side of the ball so I got time to spend time with guys like Richard Sherman and Michael Benin and Clift Averill even guys on the offensive side of the ball like Marshawn Lynch and they certainly let their feelings know let their feelings be known about Russ and you know how what kind of teammate he was and how relatable he was and what their opinion was of him so I knew that there were issues so I talked about those issues on my show in Denver and a lot of Bronco fans were upset with me like you're a Russ hater it's like no I'm not a Russ hater but I got to present the facts as I know them and there's a certain slippery slope with this guy I know we're excited we've been quarterback starved ever since Peyton Manning left but let's not you know fall in love with this guy before he actually does something on the field to prove that we should love him and speaking of that that line of thinking ownership and George Peyton gave this guy a quarter billion dollars before he played a regular season snap so not only would this possibly go down as the worst trade ever in NFL history you could also go down as one of the worst contracts in the NFL history into your original question I kind of throw this question back on to you can you think of another player who has fallen as fast and as far from a skill standpoint as Russell Wilson has who is somehow able to regain his previous level of magic and don't worry I'll wait but I'll be waiting forever because there is no one that I can think of and recently I saw history who would fit that bill so I'm not sure if this Russell Wilson pursuit or this Russell Wilson kind of lens through which you begin to try to get a new coach is the right angle to take because if this guy's brought in with the purpose of somehow fixing Russell Wilson and he doesn't address the rest of the team the Broncos are still going to be in a terrible point there's a lot of folks in Denver who are saying maybe it's just time to take these severe topics of either 70 million after June 1st or 170 million before June 1st and just struggle through the next year or two just to hit the reset button kind of like you would do in Madden and get rid of all the old and bring in some new he'll be the quarterback there though next year I would be surprised if they do that because I think it's clear what they're saying and not that Nathaniel Hackett is all to be blamed for this but he didn't do a good job it became an embarrassment and I think they're gonna try to cover this up and just bring in a new coach and say okay it's up to that new coach to fix Russell Wilson I just don't know if this is fixable at this point but the Broncos have been doing this ever since Peyton Manning left when John Elway was the GM his competitive fire wouldn't allow him to rebuild yeah but not just not to come not to a contract and picks like this I like they kind of unfortunately shot themselves in the foot because now there's really no way to fix this in the next year or two no there is no way to fix it in the next year or two whether it's Russell Wilson or not Russell Wilson so why not get rid of the crazy salary why not suffer the cap hit now so this rebuild that has been needed to be done that it kicked that can down the road so many times and now they're gonna try to do it again and somehow expect the results to be different so that's what my issue is the folks who are saying just suffer through the catfish I'm beginning to see the logic in that because this offensive line needs to be rebuilt and you can't do that with a 50 million dollar quarterback salary that's weighing you down from a salary cap perspective take the big cap hit move forward do some draft picks do what you can get rid of good players to bring those draft picks back that you gave up with Russell which gave up to get Russell Wilson just fully hit the reset button except where you are don't spin don't try to sell the Bronco fans something that's not true which has been done so many times over the last six or seven years except the reality of the situation deal with it from a reset standpoint and a rebuilding standpoint not trying to put band-aids on top of it Chad Brown here with us let's just assume that Russ is back next year and I'm glad that you touched on your time in Seattle when you had the coaching internship because you look at the relationships in that locker room if this thing is going to get fixed that's where it needs to start and I don't know if Russ is capable of really connecting with that locker room because it has been comical from the things that you've heard this year on that one where some of those relationships are out in a bad spot yeah I don't see how this guy is certainly going to change his structure from a quote-unquote great teammate you know if you if you're a good guy yeah of course he goes to Children's Hospital every week there's a lot of great qualities about Russell Wilson the person but as far as being a relatable human being as far as being a guy in the locker room guys feel comfortable with it and once you play for and do great things for Russell Wilson doesn't bring that out of guys his team not the Bronco football team but his videographer his social media guy his quarterback coach his massage guy his mental coach all those folks are in the facility constantly they travel with the team they get hotel spots they take a parking spot in the in the wives parking area the wives who have parked in certain locations for home games have been kicked out of their parking spots all those kind of things I'm not sure how you can change that and this is a guy whose team is still releasing the slow-motion videos of him walking into the locker room wearing the latest greatest Versace gear it's just so ridiculous they're always trying to sell us something and spin us on something just play great football that's the best advertisement you could possibly make don't sell me your outfit tell me that you're a good quarterback let's do that first then we can do all the other stuff Chad Brown you've been in a lot of locker rooms when you're on group chats and group texts and all that and and these players are hanging out together what do you think they're saying about their quarterback they're talking about all these these weird quirks you're talking about you know you hear reports about in the team dining room Russell Wilson comes and sits down at a player at a table full of players and suddenly takes over the conversation and doesn't take the time to know who these guys are or to join in the conversation that they're having so there's just this complete disconnect and I'm sure they're having all those kinds of conversations similar to what we're having now about who is this dude and why does he not get it and is there any way possible he can change around I think their answer will be the same as mine my experience tells me no and I'm sure their locker room experience tells him no as well so just as we've never seen a player fall this far this fast from a skill standpoint and be able to recapture the previous magic I don't think any of my teammates or these guys who are currently in the Broncos locker room could say we've ever seen a player who was such a unrelatable guy suddenly become a great teammate that you couldn't wait to play with again so whoever this new coach is and yes to your point it seems like Russell Wilson will be back under center for the Broncos next year I've got a very difficult task in front of him not only trying to maximize the skill of a declining quarterback who's lost not not just a step in my opinion but two steps but also try to repair relationships in the locker room which is completely fractured we got Dalton Reisner pushing Brett Rippon on the sideline of this last game we got Randy Gregory punching people out after the game so there's all kind of issues going on this is why this is the least attractive coach opening for me the contract quarterback all the other issues and new ownership there's just so many things that would make me an experienced coach like a Sean Payton say hey this is not the one for me guys Chad Brown before we let you run I think there's gonna be a lot of people to say no to this job before they find someone to say yes who do you think if you had to give a guess or to a name that you thought about in the last 24 hours that you could see maybe taking this Broncos job this is tricky because I just said in my opinion it's the least attractive job so someone like you know my former CU teammate Eric Bienvenid but I mean the hot list for a long time as far as being an NFL coach you know does he want to take his first stab at it with a situation where another four youth former CU teammate RS Vance Joseph wasn't really given what he needed to be successful and you add the contract with Russell Wilson and then the need to maximize whether the clown and quarterback can do on the field you know even guys like that who I know are great coaches and just want the right opportunity would probably pass on this opportunity so guys like Sean Payton did mention I mentioned earlier because of the connection between Drew Brees and Russell Wilson as far as height and being a quarterback but again there's going to be lots of names talked about but I don't understand why anyone would take this job other than the Walton Pinner group offering some kind of ridiculous salary to you know entice somebody when you know they all can recognize that the lay of the land is so awful compared to other opportunities that are going to happen here in this offseason. I threw out Dan Quinn the other day I'm starting to think that maybe Dan would say no to this job but if it feels like it's going to be someone that has previous head coaching experience like maybe it's Jim Caldwell maybe it's a Frank Reich like those are two names that I gravitate towards today.

Yeah I've heard those names and Jim Caldwell is interesting just because of the amount of experience that he has and his manner about him maybe just a more low-key kind of guy could be the guy to bring this thing together. Dan Quinn obviously was in Seattle so he knows a bit about Russell Wilson but that in my opinion that could be a reason to not take the job rather than a reason to take the job. You know Frank Reich certainly disappointed to be fired in Indy maybe he wants to dive right back here I'm not sure how many years he had left on his deal because he could sit home and make money on his couch and not be forced to take the Broncos out because again it's just there's so many question marks and my football experience tells me the more question marks you have the more likely not all those are going to be answered with an affirmative yes or they're going to be answered in a good way. It's the same thing about every football team we talk about you know hey they're finished up with training camp let's talk about their how they're going to play this season well they got question marks at the quarterback position question marks here what question marks there we put doubts around that team well there's so many question marks around this team from a head coaching perspective ownership who's that gonna be is George Payton the GM going to be there long term because he was a guy who brought in Lester Wilson gave him the contract and brought in Nathaniel Hackett I'm not gonna have a new GM next year who's gonna want a different coach that he's tied to so with all those question marks again I'm not sure how this becomes an attractive job other than the dollars that the Walter printed group can put out there. Why is George Payton safe in this because he hired Hackett and he made the trade for Russell Wilson why is it why isn't he being sent packing? I think for Greg Penner as much as he's saying he's going to lead this coach coaching search and gonna have the coach report directly to him I think you know there's a bit of uncertainty about this NFL process lots of business experience but the NFL is certainly a tricky place to navigate and we I mean just look at the the fleets job the Seahawks pulled on the Broncos with the trades and the players to bring Russell Wilson to Denver George started on George Payton Pete Carroll and Schneider up there up in Seattle have to be high-fiving themselves every single day not only to get rid of this guy we got players we got draft picks and that draft pick I think is currently the third pick in the draft for this upcoming draft so for Greg Penner to think he can navigate those tricky waters without having a George Payton by his side to let him know who he can trust who he can't trust those kind of things maybe that's why George Payton is still here for maybe one more year. Last one for Chad Brown you're talking about your alma mater Colorado where's the excitement level with Deion Sanders primetime Jordan the Buffs? Well we were really excited in Colorado when we got Russell Wilson so I think obviously it's a different situation different level of football coach prime maybe the only coach whose brand is bigger than whatever school he goes to and we're seeing that already with some of the recruiting success that he's had CU's got just a couple of three and four star guys in the last couple of decades he's already brought a ton of those guys in already it's only going to get nowhere but better so I expect things to improve very quickly up there I'm 52 years old I don't think coach prime would be for me but for kids who want likes and follows and social media presence and time on camera and all that stuff coach prime is going to bring all of that in space with ability to sit into a family's living room and sit on someone's mom's couch and tell that kid yeah not only are you going to play great now are you going to be have an opportunity to you know play on a big stage at Colorado one of the best conferences in the country that's only the resurgence to the PAC 12 was big this year but I'm going to get you social media follows and likes and NIL opportunities and all that stuff that's going to come with the glitz and glam that coach prime bling so we've been starving in Boulder for a winter for almost two decades now so coach prime comes in with that and comes in with a level of interest nationally that puts the bus back in the national spotlight in ways that we haven't been since my glory days so I am certainly excited but there's a little bit of tempering about excitement because we were all excited about Russell Wilson too in Denver Chad Brown always great to catch up with you thanks so much for the time my friend all right thanks for having me on I appreciate it there you go Chad Brown joining us former Pro Bowl linebacker that is a daily talk show in Denver on the fan we'll come on back we'll do a little MVP conversation Zach Gelbin from Aggie and Perloff on CBS Sports Radio Zach Gelb here with you on CBS Sports Radio I was taking a glance at the latest NFL MVP odds and I'll give you the top five candidates at minus 550 Patrick Mahomes of the Kansas City Chiefs at plus 600 Joe burrow of the Bengals plus the thousand Josh Allen of the bills plus a thousand Jalen hurts of the Eagles and then at plus 1500 it is Justin Jefferson right now of the Minnesota Vikings I look at these odds and and the way that I see them unfold right now I actually think it's gonna be Mahomes and I know that he's the betting favorite right now but other than that it's just like burrow as great as he's been this year it is a late push and he has been marvelous this year Josh Allen I think that kind of a little bit of a hiccup in the middle of the season is gonna hurt him Jalen hurts he probably would have won it if it wasn't for the injury but really the guy that I would like to see win it is Justin Jefferson and I said this after week one of the NFL season that if I was too good to go like outside the box because really what the MVP award has been it's usually quarterback quarterback quarterback quarterback you see it running back here and there and I think the last non quarterback to win it was like 2012 I want to say but we've never seen a wide receiver win the award so after week one I made the case for Justin Jefferson and then he he's been having a wonderful season we all know that and he's been someone that is the first three years is the most receiving yards out of any wide receiver in NFL history like the way that we talk about Herbert with his passing yards the same way that we talk about Justin Justin Jefferson with his receiving yards but it's just so tough for a non quarterback to win it and then for it to be a wide receiver not a running back like look at last year Cooper Cup led the league in receiving yards receptions and receiving touchdowns and he didn't win the award I don't even think he got a vote if memory serves me right but you look at the last 10 or 11 NFL MVPs Rogers Rogers Lamar Mahomes Brady Matt Ryan cam Aaron Rogers Manning and then in 2012 it was Adrian Peterson then if I take you back another decade Rogers Brady Manning Manning Brady LT Sean Alexander paid a Manning Manny McNair combined rich Gannon Kurt Warner Marshall Falk so that's since 2000 so most of the time it's been quarterbacks so what is Justin Jefferson need to do to win the NFL MVP and it's not talking poorly of Kirk Cousins because when I look at the Minnesota Vikings Kirk Cousins not the first name I think of like when people in the year were trying to tell me to a tongue goodbye low and I hope that he makes you know a full recovery and everything and it's a scary situation what's going on with two and he probably shouldn't play again this season and to it right now is that plus 40,000 Wow to go win the MVP it's it's just one of those scenarios and excuse me the Justin Jefferson thing is not plus 1,500 I just assumed it was plus 1,500 it's actually he's in fifth right now it's plus 13,000 so really what they're telling you is they only think out of the quarterbacks that a quarterback's gonna win but it's either gonna be Mahomes borough Allen Hertz as one of those quarterbacks and really no one else has a shot but when it was kind of looked at that two was gonna win the award I remember I had this debate on my show with my producer hot take Hickey and I said to him I go two is not gonna win the NFL MVP because when you think of the Dolphins the first player you think of is Tyree killing his importance to the team but when you look at the Minnesota Vikings the first play you think of is Justin Jefferson and just what he's been able to do and I think the way that Justin Jefferson could have a shot to win this award and and still I don't know if it's gonna be enough is if he finishes the year with 209 receiving yards more and you're saying Zach why are you why are you throwing out such a weird number of 209 more receiving yards because if he gets to 209 more receiving yards in these last two games he would have the most receiving yards by any wide receiver in NFL history because right now he's at 1756 Calvin Johnson had 1964 so he is 209 away from breaking it 208 away from tying it which is definitely possible that he goes in and does that but still is that gonna be enough because even though we could talk about borough make the case you could talk about Josh Allen make the case you talk about Jalen Hurts and make the case the odds-on betting favorite the only guy that's minus money right now is Patrick Mahomes and you got to think that not much is gonna be able to change in the next two weeks but you look at it with the last three weeks that Justin Jefferson has had 223 receiving yards against the Lions a buck 23 against the Colts a buck 33 against the Giants he definitely has a shot of going out there and getting 209 more receiving yards and right now he's first in the NFL in receptions he's first in receiving yards and he's tied for fifth and receiving touchdowns I know it's not the Triple Crown like Cooper Cup had a year ago but there is definitely a case to be made for Justin Jefferson and just maybe if he usurps that record of Calvin Johnson then maybe in a year where there hasn't been for consecutive weeks a name that we've latched on to and just have kept with and now it seems like that's gonna be Mahomes maybe that's gonna be enough for Justin Jefferson to go on out there and I wonder how the Vikings will handle this down the stretch because you want it to be healthy but you basically have everything locked up you want division you're not gonna get the number one overall seed most likely you got the Packers this week that Bears game yeah you know there's a chance he gets the record this weekend if he goes and has one of those Lions performance but if he doesn't and the records intact next weekend do you go for the record to do what's in the best interest of the football team and do you arrest them but if he does win that record maybe ends up winning the MVP I'm going to say there will be some votes this year for Justin Jefferson I think he's definitely has a shot to break that record but probably it's gonna be Patrick Mahomes taking home a second NFL MVP award of his career what makes your skin crawl no matter how absurd I want to know tails without fur on them such as rats or opossums I'm Larry Mullins the host of a new podcast called your weirdest fears you send me your fear I'm just so weirded out about the texture and how they can just move around and flop and then I go to the experts to learn how to overcome them listen and subscribe to your weirdest fears on the Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcast from throughout the 60s and 70s cops hunted down key figures of the Dixie Mafia including its enigmatic ringleader Kirksey Nicks 15 years into Kirksey's life sentence the Dixie Mafia was practically folklore but that would soon change I'm Jed Lipinski this is gone south a documentary podcast from c13 originals a cadence 13 studio season 2 the Dixie Mafia available now on the Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts your trusted local radio stations coverage of your favorite teams live news from your hometown and millions of podcasts on demand best of all you can completely customize your listening experience follow topics you care about like leagues and teams pause or rewind your local sports and news and add shows to your queue to catch up later there's a lot to listen to so get started and download the free Odyssey app today