Tag: joker

Sean Payton had this kind of player with Saints — will he add one with Broncos?

Sean Payton had ‘Joker-type’ players in Jeremy Shockey and Jimmy Graham earlier in his career. Will he now add one to the Broncos’ offense?

During his time with the New Orleans Saints — and during previous stops with other NFL teams — Denver Broncos coach Sean Payton has had what he describes as a “Joker” in his offense.

Following the conclusion of the team’s 2024 season, Payton was asked if he has a “Joker” with the Broncos, and if not, will he add one this offseason?

“Fair question,” Payton said on Jan. 15. “I know how much it can help. It’s not until you don’t have them [that you notice]. I’ve said this before — early on as a coach, when you’re just coaching and you have your players, I remember the selection of Reggie Bush and the owner asking me, ‘Well we already have Deuce McAllister,’ who was a real good running back. I said, ‘Mr. Benson — the late Mr. Benson — this running back’s different. He can do these things.’ We talked about it. It was a good question, but that was the first exposure at this level for me as a head coach.

“We had Tiki Barber when I was at the Giants, he was a Joker-type player. Jeremy Shockey was a Joker-type player. Jason Witten was a Joker-type player early in his career. Then pretty soon, we had Shockey and then Jimmy Graham, and then Darren Sproles, then [Alvin] Kamara, then… I didn’t really appreciate it at the time, but in that stretch, we went through a stretch of 15 or 16 seasons with real, real high-end offenses that maybe didn’t have a receiver get to a Pro Bowl, but those other spots did.

“I think in our league when you look around and you reference… Just take some of the top teams… You’ll always remember [Travis] Kelce with the Chiefs. I don’t know that you’ll remember the receivers sometimes. Maybe through that Super Bowl run, maybe so. Do I think we have some candidates? Yes. That inner triangle of attacking a defense is really important.”

Jaleel McLaughlin might be the closest thing the Broncos currently have to a “Joker,” a versatile player who can line up at multiple spots and make an impact as a receiver, but he’s not at the level of the other players Payton mentioned. Denver could add one during the NFL draft this spring, perhaps with a dynamic running back or a tight end like Penn State’s Tyler Warren.

The Broncos need to add more juice to the offense in 2025, surrounding young quarterback Bo Nix with playmakers in his second season. Perhaps a “Joker” will be added to the squad this spring.

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The first trailer for Joker: Folie à Deux is here and it looks absolutely wild

The first trailer for Joker: Folie à Deux is here, and it looks … fascinating.

Well, the first trailer for this fall’s Joker: Folie à Deux is here, and it looks exactly like you might think a jukebox musical sequel to Joker about Arthur Fleck and Harley Quinn would look like.

Todd Phillips’ follow-up to the billion-dollar smash hit and deeply polarizing Oscar winner Joker brings back Joaquin Phoenix as the clown prince of crime and teams him up with Lady Gaga’s Harley Quinn as they seemingly fall in love and bring havoc upon Gotham City.

We’re not exactly sure what’s going on here, other than Fleck and Quinn seemingly meet in Arkham Asylum and spark an old-school Hollywood romance with each other to the tune of Jackie DeShannon and Burt Bacharach. There also seems to be a big court trial and subsequent protest going on, one where we’re guessing the Joker is the plaintiff and Gotham City (and probably Harvey Dent) are the defendants.

Just from this glance, Phillips is borrowing visually from directors like Martin Scorsese (New York, New York), Bob Fosse (All That Jazz), Stanley Donen (Singin’ in the Rain), Jacques Demy (The Umbrellas of Cherbourg), Vincente Minnelli (An American in Paris) and even Damien Chazelle (La La Land) here as he stages his twisted take on the movie musical.

We only hope the script this time around has much more going for it than the muddled mayhem from the first film.

Some disturbing content to follow: 

Whether this is a major improvement from the fascinating-if-flawed first installment or an absolute trainwreck, you cannot say this film looks boring.

We’ll see who gets the last laugh when Joker: Folie à Deux opens in theaters on Oct. 4. Expect a possible film festival bow at Venice later in the summer.

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Leo Chenal talks adjusting to pass rush role in second season with Chiefs

Second-year linebacker Leo Chenal told reporters that he is being used more as an asset in the Chiefs pass rush. | from: @WesleyRoesch

From the beginning of the Patrick Mahomes era to now, the Kansas City Chiefs linebacker group has gone from being a weakness to a solid strength.

Several capable contributors make up the team’s deep linebacking squad. Each player has his own unique and versatile traits. Among them is second-year linebacker Leo Chenal, who plans to expand his role in defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo’s scheme in 2023.

Chenal typically played in the box last season for the Chiefs, but Spagnuolo may have different plans for the Wisconsin product in his sophomore season.

“Coach Spags is having us try out different positions on the [defensive] line, dropping from inside the line as that joker role,” Chenal said during Saturday’s post-training camp press conference. “It’s … an unfamiliar position to be in as an off-ball linebacker. Willie (Gay) and I have been taking that role of getting on the line and rushing. A guy like him, he’s got a ton of speed, so just learning from each other, learning from guys like George (Karlaftis), you know that’s been really nice.”

The “joker” role Chenal referred to is an edge rusher role, lining up on the perimeter outside the offensive tackle or tight end – whoever is furthest out. The joker will often rush the passer, but will occasionally drop into coverage off a two-point stance.

Chenal lined up as an edge rusher outside the offensive tackle 58 times in 2022, almost 20 percent of his defensive snaps. Could Chenal be in for an increased role as an edge rusher for the Chiefs this year? It’s entirely possible, especially given defensive end Charles Omenihu’s recent six-game suspension.

It’s worth noting that, in limited snaps, Chenal garnered four quarterback pressures last season, with one of those (a sack) coming during the Super Bowl. Perhaps the Chiefs’ depth at the linebacker position will allow for Spagnuolo to get creative in his defensive sandbox and use his linebacking toys in ways his opponents may not expect.

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