Dalton Risner is slated for a homecoming on Nov. 19. Why do we get the feeling it may not necessarily be a universally happy one?
Full disclosure: The new gang of idiots up in the Grading The Week offices are Risner fans. More fans of the person than fans of the former Broncos guard as a lineman, but still.
So it kinda threw the idiots for a loop when Risner, pride of Wiggins and a lifetime fan of the Orange & Blue, said this to Minneapolis reporter Darren Wolfson after making his Vikings debut a few weeks back:
“For four years I’ve been a part of a team (where) we didn’t have success. There’s just something different about this place. It starts with the top-down and (coach Kevin) O’Connell, and the way this team is ran, and the locker room, and how we block out the noise, and how we go to work at practice. This team knows how to celebrate too, man. There’s just so many things that are different about here…”
The Purple People Eaters are 4-4. The Broncos are 3-5. How much more different could it be?
Risner finding a new home — B-.
The Vikings visit Empower Field on Nov. 19 to take on the Broncos in one of those games that could swing playoff hopes for either franchise one way or another.
The GTW crew left Risner with no ill will, but we’re starting to think that feeling ain’t mutual. Especially after the former K-State standout and Broncos second-round draftee in 2019 told Twin Cities media that last fall was “the hardest year of my life.”
Keep in mind, this is a man who spent much of 2023 without an NFL contract, as the Broncos let him walk as an unrestricted free agent over the winter. Minnesota stepped in last month to offer him a one-year deal worth $2.25 million guaranteed.
And you know what? Even if though he got publicly chippy with ex-Broncos backup QB Brett Rypien last year as 2022 went off the rails, we’re still kinda happy for the big lug. While Pro Football Focus hasn’t been blown away — his 55.4 overall grade after 152 snaps ranks 54th out of 80 NFL guards — by his early returns in the Great White North, Minny clearly felt decent enough about Risner to ship guard Ezra Cleveland to Jacksonville for a sixth-round pick.
Nuggets’ City Connect uniforms — F.
Hey, the kids who moved into the GTW offices a few months ago like wacky NBA uniforms — and the wackier the better. They might be in the minority among Denverites, but they actually dug those dark red-and-red Nuggets jerseys from a few years back, even though they looked a lot like Hot Tamales candy boxes. Actually, pretty much because they looked exactly like Hot Tamales candy boxes.
But this new City Edition look? The blue on black? No thanks, Nike.
For example, would it be too much to ask to add — oh, we don’t know — a single letter on the jersey itself, sponsor patch aside? It doesn’t necessarily have to say “Nuggets” or “Denver” or “Mile High.” But “5280”? Yeah, we know. Altitude. Thin air. Very distinct.
Love the intent. Too bad it reads like it’s somebody’s iPhone pass code. Or the last four digits of Josh Kroenke’s social security number.
