Latest / Jeff Legwold ESPN Broncos Reports / Jeff Legwold joins Kreckman & Lindahl 7/1/24

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Jeff Legwold joins Kreckman & Lindahl 7/1/24 · Jeff Legwold ESPN Broncos Reports

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  Jeff Leangwald is our Broncos insider Altitude Sports Radio ninety two five Pro Football,
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  the insider I've covered while jeffle his appearances are always must listen radio, you
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  learn a lot, Leggy, Altitude Sports Radio ninety two five. Yeah,
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  Jeff Lagwell time and a Monday after noon. It's day, Craikman, It's
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  Andy Lindall. Let's get all football ly here on the first of July.
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  Jeff Langwald of ESPN back with us here on the program. Leggy, let's
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  start in this spot right here. You wrote about the defense as you previewed
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  last week. While appearing on the show, Alex Singleton referred to weeks one
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  through five as those five weeks, which, uh yeah, I think we
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  all kind of remember that. However, as you point out in your piece,
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  team turned the corner. They on sixteen points per game over in eight
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  game stretch when they did that. What changed and what then carries over to
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  twenty twenty four. Well, they one part that won't carry over was justin
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  Simmons coming back in the lineup, you know, early in the season.
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  So that is a significant difference. But you know, I thought I'm not
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  real big on like three week trends, but the fact they they were either
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  the one or two scoring defense in the league over a two month span,
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  and that's worth noting. I Mean, we hear a lot about you know,
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  Vance's worthiness as a coordinator from a lot of folks, but for two
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  months with largely the same cast, they somehow pulled it together, and a
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  lot of it was things we don't really you know, want to get all
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  excited about. They tackled better, you know, they fit run defense was
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  never quite right all season, but they sort of limited the damage, uh
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  until Detroit, and that's kind of when the streak ended, uh defensively was
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  was the loss of Detroit. But they tackled better, and they they got
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  better at sort of using the fact that people aren't going to challenge Sertan and
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  they sort of controlled things better by just putting them in certain places to sort
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  of dictate that. And you know, something they're going to have to do
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  this year as well. But I think they're deeper up front this year.
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  It's just the question of can they and the secondary hold up because they're going
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  to get challenged a lot and you know that will determine if they can sort
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  of resurrect what they did, and that two month spent turnover margin was so
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  critical to that stretch. And and and they forced a lovers. Yeah,
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  yeah, they can't rely on that that kind of number, but it does
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  show the power of getting the ball up. And that's just it. That
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  that question right there, I believe, if I'm not mistaken, the team
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  a year ago, I think they were like eight and one when they won
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  the turnover battle, and like oh and eight when they lost it last year.
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  It told a big story on this team, and it was a big
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  part of what changed for them when they started to actually play some solid defense.
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  But but here's the part, Jeff, and you know this. You
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  sort of referenced it right there. Turnovers are just so noisy, okay,
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  and and they're they're so unpredictable. Have have the best defensive minds in the
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  game ever been able to solve that equation the old just how do you force
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  more turnovers? Or is it simply that's the the benefit of playing good,
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  solid, pressure laden defense. It's ball, Nate. I mean, you
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  can there is there is there are techniques to forcing turnovers. I mean,
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  hey, you need a you need an elite, say an elite corner and
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  they do have that. So that's one element to it, because that when
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  those players have a chance at the ball, they how many interceptions Justin Simmons
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  made when he had the opportunity. You know, a lot of dbs put
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  opportunity on the ground, you know, they don't they don't make the play.
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  So you need an elite guy back there who finishes the play. Uh.
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  And you need to get the quarterback out of swords and off the spot
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  and all those things and tackling you need. You got to get enough guys
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  to the ball so somebody can challenge the ball before the ball carriers on the
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  ground. And the good defenses do that consistently. That's why good defenses routinely.
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  I mean, some turnovers are luck, a weird bounce, you know,
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  a bad read by the quarterback, but many of them are forced,
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  indeed forced. And it's the forced ones that the defenses, the good defenses
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  actually do all right, Jeff, So I'm curious about this. While you
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  were on your hiatus the last time we all chatted that week, I had
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  laid out to Nate that I think the player that could impact the Broncos the
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  most would be Greg Dolsic. If you were to finally figure out the injury
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  thing, akin to the way Julius Thomas finally did with the high ankle sprain,
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  maybe he could finally be that kind of factor in the offense, as
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  Sean Payton has said that he thinks he can. How confident can we be
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  though that this hamstring stuff is going to be behind him? Or are you
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  starting to are you starting to pull the old Jake but maybe where you just
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  figure this guy may not ever factor in. Yeah, I don't know that
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  we can say that yet, Andy, but I you know, I'm one
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  who says something's a problem until it's not, and until we see him on
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  the field participating at a level that would you know, sort of you know,
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  bring that level of impact like as a possibility. I mean, he's
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  got to be out there first before we can even talk about any possibilities.
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  It's very clear they need him though, and he would bring something to the
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  offense they're gonna need a great deal of because that's not a very impactful group
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  overall without him. Uh, you know, they were the one one of
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  the worst performing groups of of tight ends in the league in terms of putting
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  the ball in the end zone. So they need him desperately because they didn't
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  make any significant additions there. So if he doesn't come back, it's pretty
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  much status quo and they've got to fill in for that, you know,
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  that role in the offense somehow. But I mean, this is a guy
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  Sean Payton was talking about playing the you know, the sort of the coveted
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  joker spot in his offense. You know, the Mara played and Reggie Bush
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  played and Darren Sproles played. Me that's that's an important spot in this scheme.
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  And dlso chos the kind of talent that they were talking about him filling
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  that role. But you know, and again he I think it was a
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  bit of a surprise for all of us when he didn't appear at all in
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  the offseason, when they were adamant he would at some point be on the
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  field before minicamp wrapped up. Dulcicch I'll put Tim Patrick in in this conversation,
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  Kaden Sterns as a guy in this conversation, who who else? Riley
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  Moss? Riley Moss is a guy. Will put in this conversation candidates of
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  of dudes that were beset by injuries a year ago, and you would look
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  at them and say, Okay, if that guy is suddenly healthy and playing
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  up to his potential, that's that's found money for the Broncos. And look
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  how many potential starters were you know, we're putting on that list. Mkayden
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  Stern's a potential starter, Dulls, it's a potential starter. Riley Moss a
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  potential starter. I mean, that's that's a pretty significant you know, hope
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  is a strategy, you know, element right there. Uh, it could
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  be one of the best ones. I would slightly put Javonte Williams on that
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  for a different reason. His injury was so bad that it was going to
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  take him two years or roughly two years to get all the way back from
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  that, no matter how much he played last season. So I think if
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  he shows in training camp what he did in OTA's and mini camp, that
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  would be very good news for the Broncos. And what will be, you
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  know, low key one of the hot position battles of the of training camp
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  that no one will watch because the quarterback thing, you know, is trying
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  to get sold. All right, I'm curious. I think this is probably
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  how you figure it would go. But we got Vegas odds for the Broncos
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  starters over the weekend. Nick's leading everybody, Wilson with the second best odds,
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  in Stidham with the worst odds. Would you handicap it the same way?
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  I would probably put Stidham as the silver medal there. But you know
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  that's just me. But because I think in some ways, if you're Sean
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  Payton, the decision between Nix and Wilson is kind of the same element to
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  it. You know, you didn't draft Wilson, but it's it's it's an
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  uncertainty about that and the potential of inconsistency that Nix is going to be inconsistent
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  because he's a rookie, and history tells us that's a big bite of the
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  appole and everyone fans, media, coaches, teammates are just going to have
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  to accept the fact if he's the starter, there's gonna be some inconsistencies with
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  that, and you know, live with it. And I think Wilson's kind
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  of in that category just because he was in such a bad developmental situation of
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  coordinators and New York and expectation and all of it that he you know,
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  he has not played nearly as well as they hoped, or the Broncos wouldn't
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  even have him to this point. But I kind of see him and Nix
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  and in the same bin in that regard and Stidham as the okay, we
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  just need a minute to settle ourselves. And maybe that one of the young
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  guys placed later. So I think that makes him. I think that makes
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  his odds a little better in that way, you know, on this on
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  this quarterback note right now, And I know we've we've kicked around the idea
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  concept possibility of like a quarterback salary cap, But to me, like tua
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  is is such a good litmus test of this, right, Like if the
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  dolphin's choices hand to a fifty plus million dollars a year or you know,
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  rip it up and just start over again, that's such a difficult choice to
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  have to make. And yet if you were to look at it and say,
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  what if we gave to a two year sixty million dollar deal or something
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  like that, pay him thirty million per you know, just to establish a
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  middle class of quarterbacks salaries legg, you wouldn't it behoove both the quarterbacks and
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  the organizations to have something like that exists where you could make a choice between
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  completely breaking the bank or having to draft a quarterback and roll the dice.
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  Yeah, I mean some mate, But some of that's, you know,
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  a player. The attractiveness to the player is getting to the open market,
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  quicker betting on yourself. But the injury factor, and especially for a player
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  like Tua who's had a severe concussion, who's had some things, you're not
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  gonna give away much guarantee if you don't have to. And you know,
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  I think the numbers are what we wrestle with now in this day and age.
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  But I got news for you that the franchise quarterback, the quarterback's always
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  been the highest paid player, no matter what a team's payroll has been through
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  the years. It's just a fact of football life. The numbers are enormous
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  now. But I think the Chiefs are proof, you know, if you
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  got the right guy in the right situation, both sides can be amenable to
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  it. I mean, Brady was for years, years and years and years.
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  So I do think there is an element of what you're talking about where
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  there can be a happy marriage between paying a guy close to the absolute top
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  of the market value and the guy sort of saying I like being on a
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  good team. Let's keep that going. And I think what you're saying.
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  I think the good teams find a way to do it. But you gotta
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  have the right guy. You gotta have a Brady or Mahomes who's willing to
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  play the long game and sort of understand he can generate income away from the
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  building because of how good he is, because of the situation he's in,
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  because they win, you know, if the Patriots don't win, I don't
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  think you know TV one or TV twelve is much of a trademark. You
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  know. I think everybody benefits and that some people recognize that on both sides.
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  All Right, I love a technicality and I want to throw this out
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  to both Nat and Jeff Lawyer. Jeff, put your hats on. Stole
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  this from Gopher off twitch before we got back from break. The Nuggets didn't
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  actually draft our guy Deron Holmes. The Phoenix Sons did. Who did the
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  Nuggets draft the twenty eighth pick? Was it? Was it done? I
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  read it now, I can't remember it was done? Yeah? Ryan done?
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  So does Ryan Done actually have a case with Wendy's He gets the saucy
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  Nuggets because if we go off letter of the law. He should try got
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  the nuggets hat advice. Yeah, that's my advice. That's the question though,
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  does Ryan Dun have that dog in him? Like is he willing to
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  stand in front of a register and a Wendy's with the card and make the
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  argument of like, here's my nuggets had night, This was me take on
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  the man. Sometimes you gotta take on the man. You get the hat,
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  you get the nugs. Do you get at least a little buyout to
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  make it go away enough noise if they pay you to go away exactly?
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  Do they have a maybe he's got a selfie on his phone that he could
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  just he calls up. It was a Jackie Gleason, who is the whoy
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  Giles? Jackie Giles in a way to find out that Dun drives down.
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  He's on the Windy's board as he had and Jackie gets nothing. You get
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  one week of free frost and like it all you can eat for a month
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  and then go away. Jeff Legwald, everybody, he's got that dog and
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  him. I assure you ESPN read Leggy's latest. It is all about that
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  Bronco defense Leggy Beautiful Wars Buddy, Thank you thanks Plays, we'll see it.