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Chiefs Insider Joshua Brisco stops in to talk Chiefs/Denver
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00:00The teams you follow. It's another Sports Daily Insider interview on KFH.
00:07And that insider is Joshua Briscoe, Kansas City Chiefs Radio Network.
00:12We are so close. The next time that we talk, Josh, you're going to have a game to recap
00:20on Tuesday morning following Monday Night Football. I can't wait for it.
00:27Does it feel like this season has taken longer to get going to you?
00:31Because it has to me. It's driving me crazy.
00:33Jacob, the last postgame show I did was for a tie.
00:38This offseason has been a bear.
00:41And I was just talking about it on 96.5 up here in Kansas City like an hour ago.
00:45The offseason kind of started in December.
00:48Like, if you were a bit pessimistic, if you saw the writing on the wall,
00:52you could have said it ended on Thanksgiving.
00:54Black Friday could have been more literal in that regard.
00:58Okay, well, we saw their best shot.
01:00And there was a little time left before it was mathematically out of the picture.
01:04But when Patrick Mahomes got hurt in that game, they officially, of course,
01:08were also eliminated from playoff contention.
01:10That's when the offseason really began.
01:12We covered some games.
01:13We talked about some players.
01:14But there was no returning for a 50th consecutive AFC championship game,
01:20which is what it felt like.
01:21And, man, I do feel like maybe we were spoiled many of these recent years as well.
01:26Because, yes, with having, like, actual problems to solve and a season ending prematurely
01:32as opposed to ending in, at worst, mid to late January,
01:36it really does feel like this offseason's been a marathon.
01:40Yeah, especially with the way the last season ended.
01:42I mean, it just, Chiefs fans, especially Chiefs Kingdom, has not had to wait this long.
01:47There hasn't been this much of a lull between seasons in quite some time.
01:52But going again, back in Arrowhead, Monday night, a division opponent.
01:57And not just a division opponent, but a heated rival in Denver.
02:00Remember, one of those games that we weren't sure if it was going to be Bo Nix versus Mahomes,
02:06you know, at a point last year.
02:08But all indications looking like that's all a go.
02:14What do we know about Denver?
02:16We've been talking a lot about the Chiefs offseason.
02:18What about the Broncos offseason?
02:19What have you been looking into there, Josh?
02:21It's kind of funny.
02:22The Broncos just did very, very, very little this offseason in terms of outside additions.
02:28They made one big move to acquire Jalen Waddell, but he's the star of what they did this offseason.
02:34Obviously, a couple pieces on defense.
02:36One leaves in free agency and another currently on the commissioner's exempt list.
02:40So they're down a little bit of defensive firepower.
02:42But I think what the Broncos did this offseason is something we've seen the Chiefs do over the last few
02:47years.
02:48A couple of those offseason, you say, hey, we were really close.
02:51We think we are not five pieces away, but one or two pieces away, retaining the core that we have.
02:58We need our quarterback to take another step.
03:00We give him another weapon.
03:01The defense is good enough as it is.
03:03And that's kind of the Broncos doubling down on what they did last year.
03:07I both understand that.
03:09And also, if I was a Broncos fan, horrible, horrible thought.
03:12But if I was a Broncos fan, I'd be a little bit, I'd be a little nervous, I think, as
03:15well.
03:16Because any sort of stagnation in the NFL is a bit of a gamble.
03:20It's a bit of a risk.
03:21And again, we saw the Chiefs run it back with varying amounts of success.
03:24To say that the run it back campaign that ended in a Super Bowl loss was like a terrible failure,
03:29I think, would be an overstatement.
03:31And then, obviously, they did go back to back.
03:34So I do think that there is a totally reasonable intellectual argument for how the Broncos navigated this offseason the
03:41way that they did.
03:42They were very, very close.
03:44The question is, do you believe that that version of the Bo Nix offense with Jalen Waddell, do they have
03:50the extra gear that they really needed still from last year?
03:53Can that defense be as good in 2026 as it was in 2025?
03:58I think the answer is maybe to both of those questions.
04:01They're going to be a playoff contending team, no question about it.
04:05But I also don't think that they're exactly some unstoppable juggernaut that deserves to be penciled into the AFC Championship
04:12game right away.
04:13I was looking back last week, Josh, I think after we talked.
04:17But I think we need to all pause and give Eric Bien-Ami some credit.
04:24You know, for a long time, his departure from Kansas City was weird.
04:29People wondered for years why wasn't he getting head coaching opportunities.
04:33It took a racial undertone, which was always a little odd to me.
04:37We saw it kind of go poorly in Washington.
04:40And it's like, OK, well, maybe that's why maybe he's just too abrasive.
04:43And then you see the way the Chiefs perform in the years immediately following his departure.
04:49And we saw how they performed before his entire career with Kansas City.
04:54It felt like Andy Reid got all the credit and he got none of it.
04:58Well, look what happened after he left.
05:00Now he's back.
05:02The players can't stop talking about him.
05:04I think there's a world and we're all maybe overlooking that the Chiefs offense could actually be pretty good this
05:11year.
05:12It'll be different.
05:13They're going to run it.
05:13But go back and tell me in any of those years post Tyreek Hill when they've had this kind of
05:20wide receiver room.
05:21We may not like it, but it's better than some of the other ones they've worked with.
05:24And they've had big years that way under Eric Bien-Ami.
05:26Are we underselling the Chiefs offense this year?
05:30Maybe.
05:31I want to go back to the offensive coordinator point more broadly and then I'll come back around.
05:35Because I think you hit on a bunch of interesting things there.
05:37But one thing that has really stood out to me over the last, I don't know, five, six, seven, eight
05:43years maybe.
05:44Is something, I think this is true for fans.
05:46Not necessarily this is how it is viewed in the organization.
05:49But I think a lot of fans, when things go well, it is Andy Reid's offense.
05:54And when things go poorly, it is the offensive coordinator's offense.
05:57It's Matt Nagy's fault.
05:58It's Eric Bien-Ami's fault.
06:00You also do see a lot of those guys.
06:02Doug Peterson and Matt Nagy do go get those head coaching opportunities.
06:06And Bien-Ami never did.
06:07Which, again, I do think is weird.
06:08Like, I don't think all of that math adds up.
06:10I don't think that there's a great explanation for that that makes me want to give a whole lot of
06:15credit to the NFL teams that decided,
06:17no, we're not really that interested.
06:18But I also understand that it was weird in a few other places.
06:21He goes to college for a little while.
06:23But then he's around another great head coach in Chicago.
06:26And he's able to get his fingerprints on that running game.
06:29So I do think that his return, as enticed as I always was by what would an outside voice or
06:38a different philosophy look like trying to mesh with Andy Reid's offense?
06:42That's not the direction that they went.
06:44I'm not surprised that that's not the direction that they went.
06:46But I have to admit now, I'm always enticed by that.
06:49Because I love the idea of combining more philosophies for the ever-evolving NFL landscape.
06:55With that being said, and with the acknowledgement again, when it works, it's Andy Reid's offense.
07:00When it doesn't work, it's somebody else's fault.
07:02Again, not that Andy's saying that.
07:03But I think a lot of Chiefs fans will point that way.
07:05I do think that if there is a rebound this year, if there is anything to be found in the
07:12entire kind of like accountability buzzword side of things, if it's penalties, if it's details, if it's just having a
07:19little bit more of a solid philosophy,
07:25an unshakable philosophy in terms of running the ball when you need to do that a little bit more often,
07:32when you've invested in the position the way that you have, trying to keep that attitude where it needs to
07:36be.
07:36I think there are a lot of ways for BNME to have an actual impact, even though, by the way,
07:41I do believe it's always Andy Reid's offense more than anybody's.
07:45Good or bad days, it always starts and ends with Andy Reid.
07:48And there have been way more good days than bad in the Andy Reid era here in Kansas City.
07:53But I really do think it is a tremendously fascinating part where we talked about this a ton when they
07:59either didn't have an offensive coordinator or just hired BNME.
08:02But I do think a lot of that is kind of simmered into the background, and I'm not sure that
08:06it should.
08:06Then on the question of like, what can this offense be in general?
08:10I also kind of agree.
08:12Like if everybody being healthy is a huge top line thing for these wide receivers in particular.
08:18That's no surprise.
08:19That's true for every wide receiving core.
08:20But if Rishi Rice isn't still dealing with the return from his knee cleanup this offseason, and if Xavier Worthy
08:30isn't injured on the third play of the year,
08:32I really do think that the idea of replacing Hollywood Brown with Xavier Worthy in terms of the role that
08:38Worthy played versus what Hollywood played last year,
08:41bringing Worthy into more of that intermediate space and making him more of a weapon that can be your number
08:45one wide receiver in some games here and there.
08:48That's a real gear of the offense that I don't think they got to really access last year when he
08:52was hurt so early on.
08:53We saw some really good things from Tyquan Thornton.
08:56He didn't play enough last year.
08:57Well, now he's in line to get a lot more snaps.
09:00Rishi Rice, huge question mark, but could set your ceiling and your floor of your offense as a pass catcher.
09:05And then the Kenneth Walker of it all is both like your slam dunk, just get your two points with
09:13physicality and feed Kenneth Walker, but he also has some home run potential.
09:17I'm mixing all my sport metaphors because I think that he kind of deserves that.
09:20It is a really, really exciting time, especially when we've spent so many months talking about what this could look
09:27like.
09:27We are now days, several days, but days away instead of weeks or months away, and that is enough to
09:34fire me up for some football.
09:36It's all within sight, and I know one big thing we're going to be looking at next Monday night against
09:43Denver is we're all going to be focused in on watching Mahomes and how he's moving around.
09:47But we're also going to be looking at Kenneth Walker and what he's going to be bringing.
09:52Even with so much being brought back, there is a lot new.
09:56Even with the enemy, it's kind of like, well, how is he going to use Kenneth Walker?
10:00And, Josh, I was looking at his carries last year, and there was only one time last season that Kenneth
10:07Walker had more than 20 carries in a game,
10:10and that was actually in the Super Bowl against the Patriots.
10:1327 carries, 135 yards.
10:16Other than that, he's usually, let's see, at the low, he had nine, but usually around that 15, anywhere from
10:2310 to 15 mark.
10:24A year ago, or two years ago, for the Seahawks, actually in the season opener, the Seahawks played Denver.
10:32Kenneth Walker had 20 carries, 103 yards, and a touchdown.
10:36So, all that to say, I'll put the over-under, let's put it at like 18 carries, over-under 18
10:43carries for Kenneth Walker against the Broncos.
10:46Do you see more than that or less than that?
10:48I think that's a good number.
10:49I'd probably take the under, but that might be, I think he will average fewer than that on the season.
10:56I do think there's at least a little bit of a world where it's like, all right, welcome back, NFL.
10:59You guys all had a fun week.
11:00Everybody have a good time.
11:01All right, it's Monday night at Arrowhead, and Kenneth Walker's getting the ball 30 times.
11:06I don't think that will be the case, and there's also, of course, just like a little bit of the
11:11question of how the offensive line comes together,
11:13and then how does Mahomes feel dealing back there?
11:16I think it's a really good number.
11:17The thing that I've gone back to on a season-long arc is that Kenneth Walker played half of the
11:23regular season snaps for the Seahawks last year.
11:25The year before, he played in 11 games, and he played more than half when he was in those games,
11:29but that's going to bring your number way down.
11:30He's played around half of the snaps for the Seahawks, and they have invested a few times.
11:35And kind of keeping a running back platoon thing going there.
11:38I think Walker is worthy of a larger sample size and a larger snap count, but you don't want that
11:44to come at the expense of his explosiveness.
11:47So if you said, hey, 15 carries for 85 yards or 30 carries for 100, I'd rather have 15 for
11:5785.
11:57You want the explosion.
11:58You want the efficiency there.
12:00And if he ends up averaging way fewer yards per carry but gets a whole lot more touches, unless those
12:07are converting first downs, it doesn't really matter that you're handing it off more.
12:11So all of that to say, I do still think there's going to be not a platoon in Kansas City,
12:16and especially that Amari Di Mercado, I think that those roles change a little bit.
12:19Emmitt Johnson's going to be a real number two running back.
12:22I do think that he's clearly the guy there now.
12:24Now, I like Rashard Smith, but he's a totally different kind of back, and again, I like his skill set,
12:30but I thought Di Mercado would make the 53.
12:32With it looking like it does now, I do think, again, even with Emmitt Johnson having earned some real reps,
12:38I think Kenneth Walker's going to get a hefty workload.
12:40But I do not think he's going to end up in the 20-touch range on Monday night, but I
12:48do think you can find maybe it's 15 carries and three or four targets out of the backfield.
12:54You're going to see plenty of Kenneth Walker, but I am right along that line, Brady.
12:57That's a pretty good one and a hard one for me to pick either side because I really could say,
13:01hey, it's 12 carries for Walker, and we're just going to keep throwing the ball and feed Rasheed Rice and
13:06keep moving that way.
13:06Or, hello, NFL, we have a real powerful running back here, and we're just going to ram it down the
13:12defense all day.
13:13Either way, as long as it's scoring points and picking up first downs, I'm excited to see it.
13:17I think the run early, Joshua Briscoe joining us at JB Briscoe on X Chiefs Radio Network.
13:22You can find him on Kansas City Sports Network as well.
13:26We don't know anything about the defense.
13:27I mean, that to me is as big a part of the run it early this season.
13:32I mean, hey, Mansoor Delane, we think you're going to be great.
13:34Now get out there and guard Jalen Waddle this week.
13:37We don't know much about the defense still.
13:39You don't ever see anything defensively in the preseason.
13:44They may not be great or even good early in the year if I run the ball to help that
13:51as much as anything else.
13:52I don't think what we see in week one will be what we see in week 16.
13:55Oh, definitely not.
13:56And that's, I know you're going to agree, but that's also true with the defense.
13:59It's the version of this defense in week 16 where Mansoor Delane does have, fingers crossed, knock on wood, 15
14:04games of NFL experience under his belt and all of that.
14:07A Lowy Gilman who's like obviously a veteran and he knows how the NFL works, but it's still his first
14:11year with spags.
14:12I do think there will be some growing pains early.
14:14And the Jalen Waddle, Cortland Sutton duo, I think deserves a little bit more respect than I think a lot
14:19of Chiefs fans are willing to give them.
14:21Now, Chiefs fans do give good respect to Cortland Sutton because he's been a pain in our side a number
14:26of times.
14:27It's also kind of a funny comparison to think back to him being one of the few guys that I
14:32think maybe made you second guess what Trent McDuffie's role was going to be in terms of if you're paying
14:37him or not.
14:38Sometimes it's really hard to beat a big, fast receiver who can go get the football.
14:43And I think Noel Williams and Mansoor Delane are both the kinds of corners that you want on the outside
14:48to help defend against that.
14:49And then they've got numbers in the slot that I feel pretty good about, honestly.
14:52So I have found myself in a pretty optimistic place at corner.
14:57I feel fine at safety.
14:59I think Gilman is probably not going to be a Tyron Matthew or a Justin Reed, but can he be
15:04around Brian Cook?
15:05Yeah, maybe so.
15:06And Shamari Connor played a ton of snaps last year, led the defense in snaps taken, in fact.
15:10And that was spending too much time in the slot, which he should not have to do this year.
15:14So I feel good about that.
15:16The one thing that I think I do feel pretty differently about today than I did before the preseason, because
15:23you're not seeing anything schematic defensively, and you're seeing very little in terms of what can matter in preseason snaps.
15:31It's a little less theoretical for our Mason Thomas right now than it was this time a month ago, because
15:37I think he's fine.
15:40I think that that's relatively minimal.
15:42It'll be a good thing to watch on Thursday.
15:43Good point.
15:44He missed a little time with a hamstring, but it sounded like it was kind of a flared up on
15:49him, quote unquote, rather than a significant concern.
15:52But don't hold me to that.
15:54We'll find out the practice reports on Thursday.
15:57What he showed in the preseason is what you hoped that you would see again from Oklahoma.
16:03If if he can provide that spark a little sooner than I was willing to hope for when they drafted
16:09him, that might be the path towards the defense being better earlier than we expected.
16:14Let's look, go back to the offense for a second with the Chiefs.
16:18I'll give you another kind of hypothetical who's going to lead the Chiefs in receiving.
16:23Actually, how about this?
16:24Just the game.
16:25Rasheed Rice as far as catches or the field.
16:31For reception, I'm going to say Rasheed Rice.
16:33I think that there's got to be I think there's got to be that investment of like, all right, man,
16:38look, we didn't we didn't go out another number one wide receiver.
16:41We didn't make a huge investment here.
16:43Cyrus Allen will eventually get involved this year, next year, whatever.
16:46And I do think weirdly for the first time in a decade, maybe we're underrating Travis Kelsey a little bit
16:51because I do think he is still going to catch plenty of footballs from Patrick Mahomes.
16:56But if Rice's knee has any of that, any elasticity left, if he has gotten that that bounce back into
17:03his knee, he doesn't need to separate necessarily, but he needs to accelerate after the catch.
17:07If he's back to looking a little healthier than he was again about a month or so ago in St.
17:12Joe, I think he's going to lead the team in receptions.
17:15I think he leads the team in receiving yards, both week one and for the season, I think kind of
17:20has to be the bet there.
17:21If it's Kelsey, it can be because he is far and away the most trusted target and the rest of
17:28the receivers kind of cannibalize each other stats a little bit.
17:31But I have a hard time seeing it be worthy or Thornton and that not ultimately being a reflection on
17:39Rasheed Rice for the entire season.
17:40For a couple of weeks here and there, you should get a number one receiver Xavier worthy game.
17:45You should get a Taequann Thornton three for 95 kind of game.
17:50Like you need that in the rotation, but I think, I think Rasheed Rice, I know it's been a long
17:56off season in a long, several years, but I, I still think he has something that this offense really, really
18:01values and what he can do with the ball in his hands.
18:03I agree completely.
18:05Josh, we've got, we've got coverage coming Monday night.
18:09It's a, it's a bit early.
18:10You guys have anything special in the, in the can or cooking up for the opener?
18:15Oh yeah.
18:15I mean, we here in the 96 five side, this is our first show of doing our extra two hours
18:20of local here in Kansas city.
18:22So listen live.
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