Speaker 1: We are excited now to welcome in Ryan Michael, a
Speaker 1: Pro Football Hall of Fame contributor. Brian, how's it going?
Speaker 2: Man?
Speaker 3: Doing well?
Speaker 2: Eric?
Speaker 3: How are you guys tonight?
Speaker 1: They're doing well. Let's start here by talking about an
Speaker 1: article you just wrote for the Pro Football Hall of
Speaker 1: Fame about Peyton Manning. He's a guy he did a
Speaker 1: few good things around here. Huh, Nick, Yes he did.
Speaker 3: Ryan.
Speaker 1: Could you just tell us a little bit about this
Speaker 1: four year rodeo that Peyton had in Denver and kind
Speaker 1: of what stands out from a statistical perspective here as
Speaker 1: we get inside the numbers.
Speaker 3: Sure. Yeah. I actually had a chance to meet Peyton
Speaker 3: yesterday at the Fanatics Fest in New York City. So
Speaker 3: for anybody who didn't get the chance to go, it
Speaker 3: was a fantastic, first of its kind event. Brady was there, Peyton,
Speaker 3: Jerry Right, lt Ray, Lewis Cheater, Tyson, Cody Rhoads, pick
Speaker 3: your sport. There was somebody who was there. A little
Speaker 3: bit of something for everybody. So you know, listen, you guys.
Speaker 3: You know Peyton he's a guy who is as gracious
Speaker 3: to the fans, as humble with the media, with as
Speaker 3: much reverence for the game as anybody I've ever known,
Speaker 3: and so he's worked with Omaha Productions, what he's doing
Speaker 3: with the Manning cast. This is a guy who never
Speaker 3: lets up, and it was the same way during his career.
Speaker 3: So in my article for the Pro Football Hall of
Speaker 3: Fame that went live today, it's really just a breakdown
Speaker 3: of that four year rodeo. And I've made the argument before.
Speaker 3: My personal opinion is that his four year run in
Speaker 3: Denver is the most impressive four year run that any
Speaker 3: pro football player has had at any position in the
Speaker 3: history of the game, not just because of what he
Speaker 3: was able to do statistically, but certainly what he was
Speaker 3: able to overcome in terms of the neck injury in
Speaker 3: twenty eleven, in terms of the injuries he battled from
Speaker 3: twenty thirteen really up to his final year in two
Speaker 3: thousand and fifteen. So you know, to get started in
Speaker 3: twenty twelve, you could make the argument that was actually
Speaker 3: the most impressive year of the four given what it
Speaker 3: was to come to a new organization, learn a new system.
Speaker 3: In his first year back to action, He's named the
Speaker 3: NFL's Comeback Player of the Year. He's named a first
Speaker 3: team All Pro selection at quarterback, and he rewrites the
Speaker 3: Denver Broncos single season record book. He would get even
Speaker 3: more dominant the following year, starting with a seven touchdown
Speaker 3: performance against the defending Super Bowl champion Baltimore Ravens and
Speaker 3: finishes the year with five four hundred and seventy seven yards,
Speaker 3: fifty five touchdowns and only fifteen and a half games.
Speaker 3: Single season records that really haven't been touched or even threatened.
Speaker 3: Dak Prescott led the NFL with thirty six touchdown passes
Speaker 3: in a seventeen game schedule last year. Twenty fourteen was
Speaker 3: more of the same for Manning. He got off to
Speaker 3: it to a start where he was on pace to
Speaker 3: throw for five thousand yards fifty two touchdowns again, and
Speaker 3: then you know, the injuries began to take their total.
Speaker 3: He had the quad injury in twenty fourteen and issues
Speaker 3: with the planter fascia in twenty fifteen. We all know
Speaker 3: how that ended. So if he if you check out
Speaker 3: my article of the Pro Football Hall of Fame's website,
Speaker 3: it's really just a breakdown of all the individual numbers
Speaker 3: and what he had to overcome to end his season
Speaker 3: and to end his career with Sting Lombardi Trophy.
Speaker 2: Ryan, do you think it's fair, because I think there's
Speaker 2: certain places in the NFL that becomes tough for rookie
Speaker 2: players at different positions. But here in Denver, when we
Speaker 2: talk about the quarterback position, we're always talking about Peyton Man,
Speaker 2: the guys who just talked about We always talk about
Speaker 2: John Elway. People always forget over my you know, my guy,
Speaker 2: Jake Plummer. But Bo Nixon is now falling or following
Speaker 2: in those footsteps. Do you think it's fair for I
Speaker 2: guess maybe for most people to start an early comparison
Speaker 2: to bow Knicks to all those guys.
Speaker 3: I don't think so. And I guess that's the penalty
Speaker 3: you pay for having the fortune of having two first
Speaker 3: ballot Hall of Fame quarterbacks, you know, to have led
Speaker 3: the franchise to moreable championships. Right. So, while it's impossible
Speaker 3: to not live in the shadow of John and Peyton,
Speaker 3: I do think enough time has passed, and collectively as
Speaker 3: an organization, we've battled so much adversity over the last
Speaker 3: seven or eight years that it is going to give
Speaker 3: Bo Nicks a bit of a fresh start. So seeing
Speaker 3: him get off to the hot start that he's had
Speaker 3: in the first two preseason games is certainly encouraging. I
Speaker 3: was listening to everything you guys were saying earlier in
Speaker 3: the show, and you know, so yes, living in the
Speaker 3: shadow a little bit. This is a new time, this
Speaker 3: is a new era, and I think the Broncos country
Speaker 3: has been very welcoming. We're starving for great quarterback play
Speaker 3: here in Denver, and you know, we're hoping that that
Speaker 3: starts sooner rather than later.
Speaker 1: Right. I assumed you agreed more with me than you
Speaker 1: did with Nick. Yeah, yes, awesome, good, That's what I
Speaker 1: wanted to hear.
Speaker 3: Rian.
Speaker 1: When you look at young quarterbacks, and obviously you see CJ.
Speaker 1: Stroud succeed last year, you see some quarterbacks not succeed
Speaker 1: year one, and then take a jump. When can you
Speaker 1: tell if a guy is quote unquote a hit or not?
Speaker 1: And how long does that take? Generally? When do you think,
Speaker 1: you know on bo Nix if he is a guy
Speaker 1: that you can build around?
Speaker 3: You know, Eric, that's really tough to say, because they
Speaker 3: do think it's unique to every young quarterback situation. Using CJ.
Speaker 3: Stroud certainly as an example last year and even Jordan Love,
Speaker 3: most people would be surprised to know that they're scoring.
Speaker 3: Defenses on the opposite side of the football actually ranked
Speaker 3: higher than those teams did in scoring. And so when
Speaker 3: you have the support, as Nick can appreciate as much
Speaker 3: as anyone of a top ten defense, it certainly enables
Speaker 3: a quarterback to play at his very best. We have
Speaker 3: to be realistic. We're a team that's coming off the
Speaker 3: season where we finish nineteenth in scoring, twenty seventh in
Speaker 3: points surrendered. So if bo were stepping into a situation
Speaker 3: comparable to what Pat Mahomes stepped into in twenty eighteen,
Speaker 3: I'm confident he would be a Pro Bowl quarterback, if
Speaker 3: not even better than that. And as excited as I
Speaker 3: am for the roster that we've put together with the
Speaker 3: limited resources we have, I think it would be disingenuous
Speaker 3: to suggest that we're going to see something comparable to
Speaker 3: a CJ. Stroud, Jordan Love, or even Pat Mahomes twenty
Speaker 3: eighteen certainly type of season out of Bou this year.
Speaker 3: So to answer your question, I don't know if we're
Speaker 3: going to get the answer to the question as far
Speaker 3: as the boom in year number one. I think that's
Speaker 3: more likely. If that's if that ends up being the reality,
Speaker 3: and that's what we're all hoping for. I think we're
Speaker 3: going to have a better gauge for that in year
Speaker 3: two or year three. As far as whether or not
Speaker 3: a quarterback is a bust, rarely do I feel comfortable
Speaker 3: making that determination After year one. I'm confident that bo
Speaker 3: Nix is not going to be a bust. It's just
Speaker 3: a matter of how high is this ceiling going to be?
Speaker 1: Well, Ryan, we appreciate your perspective. That is Ryan Michael,
Speaker 1: contributor to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Here for
Speaker 1: Inside the Numbers, Ran, Thanks for your time.