Darren Rizzi

He's one of the better defensive coordinators in the AFC, so I look for this one to be pretty darn good between these two guys.

And then for special teams, you got Brant Boyer, and he's for the 49ers, and Darren Rizzi for...

the Denver Broncos, and Rizzy's been around for a while.

He was a coach and a player for the New Orleans Saints with Sean Payton.

So how did it come about that you were going to be on one of these Saints rosters?

I suppose I had the Combine and the Saints back team's coordinator at the time, Darren Rizzi.

There was a lot of build up to the Combine.

It was a long three or four month process.

unique.

That was a major shock, but a pleasant one at the same time.

When the Combine came, you know, the coaches are coming to me, 32 NFL teams, all their GMs, their scouts, their special teams coordinator.

It was fairly intense actually.

Good to see you, pal.

Darren on Facebook.

Great game, boys.

An even greater dub.

Rodney, Devin Key had a great tackle.

They talked about it last week.

Darren Rizzi, how teams are really game planning now for Devin Key because he was so prolific last year on special teams and first team all pro, pro bowler, all that stuff.

And so he's not been quite as productive so far through three games.

And I don't think the ideal goal for the Broncos specifically is to say, okay, Chris Abrams-Drain, you got to go out there and you got to return punts and we need you to make big plays in that department.

I think the number one coaching point from Darren Rizzi and maybe even Sean Payton in that regard to a guy like Abrams Drain, who's been filling in for Marvin Mims specifically at punt returner, just catch the ball.

Sean Payton has been on the record multiple times saying Chris Abrams Drain, he believes has the best overall hands on the team.

So the number one thing that you want is go out there and return the ball.

If we can get this guy who doesn't have a lot of return experience, if we can get him to make a mistake, we could capitalize on the road.

I almost assure you that the Rams special teams department they are probably looking at that, right? So there was a lot of pressure on Chris Abrams' drain coming into this game.

But I talked to Chris last week, even after the game against Jacksonville briefly, and he said, you know, just the first couple of returns, you just got to get the nerves out, right? Because the ball's spinning in the air, time feels like it's standing still, and you can't peak and see where the gunners are coming from you just have to trust that the jammers are putting those guys in a vice as Darren Rizzi would say and that you could just field the ball cleanly and then live with whatever happens after that that's going to be the number one goal field the ball cleanly even if you have to fair catch a big thing to watch now if Marvin is able to play, it's a huge boost, not only to what you want to do offensively, because I think the Broncos can do some really exciting stuff with Jalen Waddell and with Marvin Mims together specifically.

And then because of Marvin's dynamic ability in the return department specifically, And that might also answer our question that we had a little bit earlier in the show about, okay, with Jonah Coleman out, he was the primary return guy alongside RJ Harvey week one, Tyler Bidet week two.

Let's get into it.

The New Orleans Saints have a major opportunity ahead of them to prove that not only is the New football vibe back in New Orleans from a perspective of a home opener but that a competitive team is now here in New Orleans after years of playoff drought years of searching for a quarterback and the ripple effect that that has had years of shuffling and trying to figure out where they want to go at head coach from Dennis Allen to an interim in Darren Rizzi to now landing the guy in Kellen Moore.

The New Orleans Saints have an opportunity with their home opener up against the Las Vegas Raiders to prove that New Orleans Saints football is back, not just literally, but physically, or figuratively, rather, but also physically.

Look, this is a massive shot for New Orleans here.

They got to start putting points on the board in the first half.

They have not led after the first quarter as a team in the last 23 games that goes back to the end of the 2024 season and the quickly lived, but very fun Darren Rizzi era.

So there's still things that have to get better before these things.

But if these things remain, the ability to produce under pressure late in games in the gotta have it situations, when you have a quarterback that can be that reliable in those scenarios, you put 10 points on the board in the first half and you're an entirely different team, right? Because if you think about it, New Orleans went into halftime up against the Baltimore Ravens down just six to 14 or 14 to six you're supposed to put the leading number first sorry but they got that field goal at the end that was such a big at the end of the first half that was such a big moment for them and it all really happened because of barry on brown's 50 plus yard kick return and then they end up getting a nice pass down the sideline and then they end up being able to get the field goal there but just putting that amount of points on the board there in the first two quarters but really in the second quarter, help this New Orleans Saints team be in position to do what it is that they ultimately did in Baltimore that no one expected them to do, win.

Yeah.

So, On returns, I think what we saw on Monday night, it turned out, as Darren Rizzi noted today, that they were watching Mims' reps a little bit, even with the plan going into the game, because you saw RJ Angelina back there on kickoffs.

After Marvin had the early injury, which they called a hip injury, but this week they've been saying foot on the actual injury reports, which, of course, he had the foot that first struck when he bruised it against the Vikings on the 28th of last month.

So you saw Chris Abrams' drain fill in for Mims on punt returns.

So I don't know what the Broncos are planning on doing there.

But undoubtedly, Sean Payton, Darren Rizzi, they will see that on tape and they'll say, hey, Marvin, look, I mean, we're going to put you back on kickoff return.

It was RJ Harvey and Jonah Coleman, the rookie running back last week, who, man, you said two rookie starters for the Jaguars, and I almost got a little jealous there, Tony, because the only rookie who even suited up for the Broncos was Jonah Coleman.

The rest of the class...