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Chad Hansen was signed to the Broncos practice squad. He's listed at 6-foot-2 but has some meat on him. I watched some film on him from college. I'm not seeing NFL wideout from this guy ... but this dude gave me visions of Dallas Clark. He looks like he would be a beast at TE (if he can block). Any chance the Broncos might give him a look at tight end?
-- Bob Jones
Not at his current listed weight of 202 pounds. He would have to remake his body in order to be a tight end, and then he might lose speed. (Hansen ran the 40-yard dash in 4.45 seconds at his March 24, 2017 Pro Day.) At this point, such a transition like you suggest is not realistic, especially since he'd need to hit a bare minimum of 230 pounds -- and likely at least five to 10 pounds more -- to even be in the conversation at tight end.
Le'Veon Bell in Denver with the Denver Broncos. It would make them a better team. #askmase
-- Charlie Isola
The traditional way of improving a team is by shoring up its weak spots.
With the league's best per-carry average (5.2 yards) and third-best first-down rate (29.4 percent of all Broncos runs have resulted in first downs), the Broncos' ground game, bolstered by the production of rookies Phillip Lindsay and Royce Freeman, is one of the strongest aspects of the team. It would be difficult to foresee appreciable improvement because of a veteran import.
If Bell is an unrestricted free agent next year, he will certainly draw interest, but I would expect the Broncos to be focused on other areas that need more restoration work.
I watched ESPN's "Get Up" on Wednesday and the topic was "tanking." Referring to tanking in the NFL, Damien Woody said, "It makes me vomit." Let's think about it, the NFL has to take away NFL draft picks for those who are caught tanking. Enough is enough, Andrew Mason. #askmase
-- Carlos Lopez
It's not something you can prove beyond the shadow of a doubt. Granted, people point to the Raiders' trades of standouts Khalil Mack and Amari Cooper and use the "t-word," but at the same time, if a team does not intend to re-sign players when they become eligible for free agency, shouldn't that team try to maximize its return? It's the sort of thing that has been done in Major League Baseball for decades, except the return typically involves specific prospects, rather than just draft picks.
Furthermore, while the Raiders' trades are clearly about the future, the players on hand gave a credible effort in the present against the Chargers last Sunday before falling 20-6. I know the notion of punishing "tanking" will arise every year at this time as a few teams flail about the bottom of the standings, but given how difficult it would be to prove it on all levels, don't hold your breath for any kind of punishment.
How did you find out that Steve Atwater made a movie?
-- Jim B.
From former NFL and University of Colorado offensive lineman Kyle Turley. He when he joined us on Radio Row from the Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota last winter and casually mentioned that he and Steve did a movie together. (Turley played a primary antagonist in "Dead Tone," the film that Atwater produced -- or, as he says, "donated to.")
As the cliché goes, "You peel back an onion, you'll find a lot of layers." But this is a layer to Atwater's life that I never expected to find. Now it's a staple of our radio show.
The fun thing about this is how it shows just how many back roads you can go down when you learn about some of the greats of Broncos history and learn about what makes them unique. It's fascinating that Atwater and Ray Crockett co-produced a slasher flick; shoot, I'm envious, as I'd love to have a screenplay make it to the screen someday. It's awesome that Tyrone Braxton, a fellow 1990s Broncos defensive back, is a social worker and a licensed clinical counselor helping people recover from addictions. There are myriad other examples too numerous to mention. All of these can be at least as intriguing and fun as anything that mattered from their on-field work.
