Latest / Jeff Legwold ESPN Broncos Reports / Jeff Legwold joins Kreckman & Lindahl 1-10-25
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- 0:01Speaker 1: Jeff Legwald is our Broncos insider Altitude Sports Radio ninety
- 0:05Speaker 1: two five Pro Football.
- 0:07Speaker 2: The insider I've covered while.
- 0:09Speaker 1: Jef Legwald too cute.
- 0:11Speaker 2: Let's dial down the queue and just play football.
- 0:15Speaker 1: Brought to you by the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers.
- 0:18Speaker 3: Start with the job and with a career IRVDW Local
- 0:21Speaker 3: sixty eight.
- 0:22Speaker 1: It's Leggy, Yeah, Jeff Yeah, on Altitude Sports Radio ninety
- 0:28Speaker 1: two five. Yeah, Jeff Legwald's gonna be there on Sunday
- 0:37Speaker 1: eleven am, high Mark Stadium, Orchard Park, New York. Broncos
- 0:43Speaker 1: eight and a half point Dogs going on the road
- 0:45Speaker 1: to take on the Mighty Bills. Jeff, How did the
- 0:52Speaker 1: seeds of a seventy to twenty defeat at Miami? How
- 0:56Speaker 1: did those grow into the Broncos defense of unit today
- 1:01Speaker 1: which is one of the very best in all of
- 1:02Speaker 1: the NFL.
- 1:04Speaker 2: Well, you know, Nate, just from talking to everybody about it,
- 1:07Speaker 2: I think the biggest thing was that the fact they
- 1:12Speaker 2: dug out during the season last year. You know, they
- 1:15Speaker 2: had a five or six game run there where they
- 1:18Speaker 2: were the top scoring defense in the league. After all
- 1:23Speaker 2: that had happened, you know, in the first few weeks
- 1:27Speaker 2: overall let alone Miami. But you know, they exited Miami
- 1:31Speaker 2: as the worst defense in football, and then they were
- 1:35Speaker 2: able to in the same season put together a run
- 1:39Speaker 2: where they were the best scoring defense in the NFL,
- 1:42Speaker 2: and I think that just gave them sort of a
- 1:45Speaker 2: root confidence in the plan. And then you know, you
- 1:48Speaker 2: add you know, John Franklin Myers as a gift in
- 1:52Speaker 2: the offseason from the Jets. Essentially, you know, they make
- 1:57Speaker 2: a really good signing in Malcolm Roach and passer Tan
- 2:02Speaker 2: goes to another level that I don't know, you know,
- 2:04Speaker 2: maybe other than him, maybe people didn't really believe he
- 2:10Speaker 2: could have that next level after how well he played
- 2:13Speaker 2: last year and the year before. But I think all
- 2:16Speaker 2: of those things have come together, and I think Vance
- 2:19Speaker 2: Joseph was given a lot of credit by the players
- 2:21Speaker 2: for holding everything together last year and this year he
- 2:25Speaker 2: has the defense he's always wanted. He never had this
- 2:29Speaker 2: kind of personnel in Arizona when he was coordinator there,
- 2:32Speaker 2: even the year he was coordinator in Miami before the
- 2:36Speaker 2: Broncos hired him way back, he didn't have this kind
- 2:39Speaker 2: of personnel. This defense is finally the personnel he's always
- 2:45Speaker 2: wanted up front, especially in the front seven to play
- 2:50Speaker 2: defense the way he wants to. He is a Wade
- 2:54Speaker 2: Phillip's disciple. He wants to play aggressive, he wants to
- 2:58Speaker 2: put the quarterback on the ground, and he wants to
- 3:01Speaker 2: play a lot of man and man coverage behind all
- 3:03Speaker 2: of that. And this year he has the group to
- 3:07Speaker 2: do it.
- 3:08Speaker 3: Do you think there's going to be some more interview
- 3:12Speaker 3: requests for him? Real quick, before you really get into
- 3:14Speaker 3: the nuts and bolts of the game. Do you think
- 3:16Speaker 3: this is a guy that wants I don't know. Let's
- 3:18Speaker 3: say they don't pull the upset this weekend. Do you
- 3:20Speaker 3: think his name becomes hot in the coaching carousel or
- 3:22Speaker 3: what do you think happens?
- 3:24Speaker 2: You know, Andy, it's already out there, you know, if
- 3:27Speaker 2: the Jets have asked permission, and I know a couple
- 3:30Speaker 2: other teams have discussed him internally, you know, about whether
- 3:35Speaker 2: they should reach out or not. And I don't think everybody,
- 3:38Speaker 2: you know, especially the teams that have fired their general
- 3:41Speaker 2: managers too. You know, they may not have their entire
- 3:44Speaker 2: list of candidates out there, but in general, you know
- 3:48Speaker 2: it may be next year too. I mean, it's he's
- 3:52Speaker 2: a defensive coach, and you guys. Know, I've always said
- 3:55Speaker 2: they face an uphill battle. Listen to what owners say
- 3:59Speaker 2: when they fire their coaches. You know, we want, you know,
- 4:03Speaker 2: more pizzazz. You know, I think you know, Shad Cohn
- 4:06Speaker 2: and Jacksonville said we need more deception on offense. Uh,
- 4:10Speaker 2: you know, they're always talking about offense, and I think
- 4:13Speaker 2: defensive coaches have a little bit more of a hill
- 4:17Speaker 2: to climb to be the hot candidate. But certainly if
- 4:21Speaker 2: they were to pull an upset. Uh, you know, he
- 4:24Speaker 2: is already on teams radar, but he would be even
- 4:28Speaker 2: more on the radar if they pulled an upset, and
- 4:32Speaker 2: even even moving forward in the next season too. Sometimes
- 4:35Speaker 2: it's like the Pro Bowl. It's not the year maybe
- 4:39Speaker 2: you deserve it most, but the following year that you
- 4:41Speaker 2: get the real notice.
- 4:44Speaker 1: Jef Legwald his appearances, as always, are brought to you
- 4:47Speaker 1: by the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers IBEW Local sixty eight.
- 4:51Speaker 1: Start with the job, you end with a career. Taking
- 4:53Speaker 1: a look at his Buffalo defense and how the Denver
- 4:55Speaker 1: offense matches up against them, Jeff, Buffalo. They want to
- 4:59Speaker 1: run a ton of nickels. They want to hang out
- 5:01Speaker 1: in zone, they want to keep you in front of them.
- 5:04Speaker 1: What does Sean Payton's game plan have to look like
- 5:06Speaker 1: to counter the kind of game plan that Sean McDermott
- 5:09Speaker 1: wants to throw at them.
- 5:12Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean I think today I asked Sean a
- 5:16Speaker 2: little bit, you know, do you subscribe to the theory
- 5:18Speaker 2: you got to keep the ball away from a big
- 5:21Speaker 2: time offense or a big time quarterback? And you know,
- 5:23Speaker 2: he said, it's kind of game flow. But I do
- 5:26Speaker 2: think it has to impact, you know, how they do
- 5:29Speaker 2: things offensively. I will say Detroit especially really really gave
- 5:37Speaker 2: the Bills a problem between the numbers, which is where
- 5:41Speaker 2: bo Nicks is at his best in the passing game,
- 5:44Speaker 2: and play action Detroit really Now, Detroit's an upper tier offense,
- 5:51Speaker 2: you know, one of the highest scoring offenses in the
- 5:53Speaker 2: league along with the Bills. So you know, maybe that's
- 5:57Speaker 2: not the comparison we should make. But the teams that
- 6:00Speaker 2: have moved the ball have attacked the middle of the field.
- 6:03Speaker 2: They you know, they're not a small group of players
- 6:08Speaker 2: like if you see him in the airport, but they
- 6:10Speaker 2: are a smaller defense in the NFL circles. So I
- 6:14Speaker 2: think attacking the middle of the formation is really the
- 6:19Speaker 2: way to go. And you know McDermott will try some
- 6:21Speaker 2: things to confuse bow Nicks because he's a rookie quarterback.
- 6:26Speaker 2: And McDermott's been around a long time. You know, this
- 6:29Speaker 2: is a guy who was on Amy Reid staff in Philadelphia,
- 6:32Speaker 2: so he's seen some pegs. But I really think the
- 6:37Speaker 2: middle of the formation. If you see the Broncos doing
- 6:41Speaker 2: well in the run game, when they do, even if
- 6:44Speaker 2: they don't commit to it immensely, if they're making efficient
- 6:48Speaker 2: carries and getting second, second and five, you know, even
- 6:52Speaker 2: second in four, then things are going the way they want,
- 6:58Speaker 2: all right, what will.
- 7:00Speaker 3: Be the key to them pulling this upset? What will
- 7:03Speaker 3: be at the core of them getting an upset?
- 7:07Speaker 2: And he you know, Josh Allen has just an okay day.
- 7:12Speaker 2: That's that's really what you're looking for. You know last
- 7:14Speaker 2: year when they upset them there, Now, this isn't the
- 7:18Speaker 2: same Josh Allen. He's far more decisive. He is. He
- 7:22Speaker 2: is having a far better year than he did last
- 7:24Speaker 2: year as an individual player. But they did not sack
- 7:28Speaker 2: Josh Allen in that game last year, but they kept
- 7:31Speaker 2: him where they wanted him more often because he is
- 7:35Speaker 2: the ultimate quandi to rush because his QBR you know,
- 7:41Speaker 2: a very good metric for quarterbacks because it includes running
- 7:45Speaker 2: the ball. But his QBR is twelve points higher under
- 7:50Speaker 2: pressure than it is when he faces no pressure.
- 7:53Speaker 1: How he's that possible, by the way, that that's insane
- 7:56Speaker 1: to me.
- 7:56Speaker 2: Better if you'd come after him. And that is really
- 8:00Speaker 2: the dilemma because you want to get after him, you know,
- 8:04Speaker 2: you want to unsettle the quarterback. You want him off
- 8:07Speaker 2: off this spot usually, but once this guy gets off
- 8:11Speaker 2: this spot, then he really goes to work. And I
- 8:14Speaker 2: think that's the Broncos issue is sort of you know,
- 8:18Speaker 2: and and Vance Joseph yesterday put it as contain and
- 8:22Speaker 2: then pressure, and I think that's a good way to
- 8:25Speaker 2: phrase it. Keep them where you want him and then
- 8:30Speaker 2: get people in his face. But if he starts getting loose,
- 8:33Speaker 2: that's the problem. So if you you know this, I
- 8:37Speaker 2: compare this Bills team the sort of the a lot
- 8:40Speaker 2: of the Bronco teams with Elway before Terrell Davis was
- 8:44Speaker 2: on the scene. You know, he he is pulling this
- 8:46Speaker 2: team as far as it will go, and he will
- 8:51Speaker 2: be the reason they get there. I mean, think about it.
- 8:55Speaker 2: He he has as many rushing touchdowns as the quarterback,
- 8:59Speaker 2: as the Broncos do. He was a team So, I mean,
- 9:01Speaker 2: this guy is everything they're about right now. And if
- 9:05Speaker 2: you just have if he just has an average day,
- 9:09Speaker 2: just an okay day, your chances are better. But I'll say,
- 9:14Speaker 2: you know, only Detroit played more man demand defense than
- 9:17Speaker 2: the Broncos this year, and it was only by a
- 9:19Speaker 2: tenth of a percent more so roughly the same. And
- 9:23Speaker 2: we all know what he did to Detroit the three
- 9:26Speaker 2: sixty two and two touchdowns. So he really is a
- 9:31Speaker 2: dilemma and how you handle him determines how you do
- 9:34Speaker 2: against him.
- 9:35Speaker 1: Yeah, you only had six interceptions this entire season. He
- 9:41Speaker 1: fumbled five times, only lost two of them. I mean
- 9:42Speaker 1: eight turnovers all year. This was always sort of the
- 9:45Speaker 1: flaw with Josh Allen, and the Broncos were able to
- 9:47Speaker 1: take advantage of that last year. Why is he different
- 9:52Speaker 1: now here in twenty twenty fourths last twenty five Leggie?
- 9:55Speaker 1: And how can the Broncos get him to cough it
- 9:57Speaker 1: up a time or two?
- 10:00Speaker 2: It's the thing, mate, we always think about, you know,
- 10:02Speaker 2: getting rid of star players is not a good thing.
- 10:06Speaker 2: But in this case, when they move digs out of
- 10:10Speaker 2: the you know, the rotation as it were, it became
- 10:15Speaker 2: more of he gets to just put the ball where
- 10:18Speaker 2: the best decision is. He didn't have to worry about
- 10:22Speaker 2: certain people getting targets and some of that as maturing
- 10:25Speaker 2: as a quarterback, you know, you know, younger quarterbacks tend
- 10:27Speaker 2: to worry about getting guys certain touches and all of that,
- 10:31Speaker 2: and the best offenses don't really worry about that. You know. Locally,
- 10:36Speaker 2: the twenty thirteen Broncos never worried about who was getting
- 10:40Speaker 2: the ball, and those are the best offenses. And once
- 10:43Speaker 2: he was sort of free for whatever reason, once he
- 10:48Speaker 2: was free from that, you've seen the result. I mean,
- 10:50Speaker 2: look how many guys they have with touchdowns this year.
- 10:53Speaker 2: Look how many guys they had with catches. You know,
- 10:57Speaker 2: he is really putting the ball in that particular play
- 11:01Speaker 2: the best place, and that's the reason he hasn't turned
- 11:05Speaker 2: it over. I think a big reason is just that maturity.
- 11:09Speaker 2: I don't have to force it anywhere. I'm just going
- 11:11Speaker 2: to throw it to the place that makes the most sense.
- 11:16Speaker 3: All right, five all pros. I didn't expect the number
- 11:18Speaker 3: to be that high. Now, granted that's first and second
- 11:20Speaker 3: team combined, but still a very high number. Jeff, what
- 11:24Speaker 3: led to this?
- 11:26Speaker 2: Oh, that's you know, it's talent. I mean, I think
- 11:29Speaker 2: it's very telling, you know, and you know, I think
- 11:34Speaker 2: it's only fair to point out we all crushed George
- 11:37Speaker 2: Peyton for Russell Wilson and Randy Gregory and all the
- 11:41Speaker 2: rest of it. But four of the five Row bowlers
- 11:43Speaker 2: are Bronco draft picks, and three of them were the
- 11:48Speaker 2: first pick they made in three consecutive drafts. So there
- 11:53Speaker 2: is young talent on this team, and it's been recognized.
- 11:57Speaker 2: And I think the first teamers, especially were should have
- 12:01Speaker 2: been the Pro Bowlers. You know, Quinn Minor should have
- 12:04Speaker 2: been in the Pro Bowl. And I talked to GMS
- 12:05Speaker 2: all the time, who says, simply, he's one of the
- 12:09Speaker 2: two or three best guards in the league. And Mims
- 12:13Speaker 2: is the best punt returner in the league. And now
- 12:16Speaker 2: we've seen what he can do as a receiver if
- 12:18Speaker 2: they just get him involved. So I think that's deserving
- 12:22Speaker 2: and certain is you know, almost goes without saying. I
- 12:27Speaker 2: think he will be on that slot for a very
- 12:29Speaker 2: long time unless people just get sick of voting him there.
- 12:33Speaker 2: And Zach Allen has had an awesome season. Of all
- 12:37Speaker 2: the Pro Bowl snubs, and there are always plenty, he
- 12:40Speaker 2: was one of the worst league wide. Again, I talked
- 12:44Speaker 2: to football people and just the fact, you know how
- 12:49Speaker 2: high his snap count is, how much he plays, how
- 12:51Speaker 2: productive he is at an eighty five ninety play rate.
- 12:56Speaker 2: I mean, that's unheard of among defensive linemen, and he
- 13:00Speaker 2: routinely plays that way. And you know, again, that's all
- 13:05Speaker 2: the players they had were very deserving. I think I
- 13:08Speaker 2: think they're all all Pro guys.
- 13:10Speaker 1: Jeff leg welld on the ramos Law Hotline car accident.
- 13:12Speaker 1: You need ramos Law medical doctor and attorney. Visit ramos
- 13:15Speaker 1: Law dot com. Jeff Conventional wisdom says rookie quarterbacks don't
- 13:19Speaker 1: win playoff games. Why can bo Nicks be different.
- 13:22Speaker 2: I think it's big as assignment will be not to
- 13:26Speaker 2: try to be anything he hasn't been this year, if
- 13:29Speaker 2: that makes sense, you know, don't you know what is it?
- 13:32Speaker 2: People say, don't get over your skis too far. You know,
- 13:35Speaker 2: it's just don't let the moment get away from you,
- 13:39Speaker 2: and it'll be difficult. That place is crazy during playoff games,
- 13:44Speaker 2: and I know everybody thinks they have a great home
- 13:47Speaker 2: field environment. And all of that. But that place is
- 13:50Speaker 2: just different. I'm just telling you it's just different anyway.
- 13:54Speaker 2: But in the playoffs it's another. The fans are right
- 13:58Speaker 2: behind you, behind the bench. It's like Oakland used to be,
- 14:02Speaker 2: you know, for older Bronco fans. The fans are right
- 14:06Speaker 2: behind the team. You screw up, they're gonna just ride
- 14:10Speaker 2: you and let you know it. It takes a certain
- 14:12Speaker 2: amount of callous to let that roll off you. And
- 14:16Speaker 2: just the noise and the weather and the wind and
- 14:18Speaker 2: the rest of it is it's really important for him
- 14:23Speaker 2: just to be as settled as possible when he's making decisions.
- 14:27Speaker 2: Don't overreach, don't force the ball, you know, especially outside
- 14:32Speaker 2: the numbers. They will do what defenses have done the
- 14:35Speaker 2: last few weeks here. They will try to force him
- 14:38Speaker 2: to push the ball outside because that's where his turnovers come.
- 14:43Speaker 3: All right, Just one quick comment on the coaching carousel
- 14:46Speaker 3: situation right now? Do you buy anything with Belichick maybe
- 14:49Speaker 3: not truly staying in North Carolina? What do you think
- 14:52Speaker 3: of It's kind of a weird cycle.
- 14:53Speaker 2: Jeff.
- 14:54Speaker 3: You used to always tell us when we were having
- 14:56Speaker 3: these discussions instead of playoff discussions, don't fire a guy
- 15:00Speaker 3: unless you really think of better answers out there. Doesn't
- 15:02Speaker 3: feel like there's too many better answers for how many
- 15:04Speaker 3: coaching openings we've got.
- 15:06Speaker 2: There really isn't. And I mean there's gonna be a
- 15:08Speaker 2: lot of flyers taken this year, a lot of first timers,
- 15:12Speaker 2: I think, But I can only you know, I've been told,
- 15:18Speaker 2: you know that some of most of the people I
- 15:20Speaker 2: know in the league don't buy the whole Belichick's coming
- 15:22Speaker 2: back thing. And I will say Mike Lombardi, who has
- 15:26Speaker 2: worked with Bill in many places, including all the way
- 15:30Speaker 2: back in Cleveland and is now working with Bill at
- 15:34Speaker 2: North Carolina. Mike worked for the Broncos for a year.
- 15:37Speaker 2: He's the former general manager of the Raiders. But Mike
- 15:41Speaker 2: Lombardi said, there's absolutely no truth to anything about Bill
- 15:47Speaker 2: not staying at North Carolina, and they, you know, and
- 15:50Speaker 2: Mike is really sort of Bill spokesman these days at
- 15:54Speaker 2: the school, you know, he's like the GM, yeah for Bill,
- 15:58Speaker 2: for that team, And Mike says, there's no truth to it.
- 16:01Speaker 2: And they did. They got a big transfer portal, you know,
- 16:04Speaker 2: player yesterday. So I don't think I think it's somebody,
- 16:09Speaker 2: maybe even Bill's agent trying to mess around. The buyout
- 16:14Speaker 2: is low, and that's why people have you know, that's
- 16:18Speaker 2: why this is swirling. The buyout it's very minimal. It's
- 16:22Speaker 2: ten million until June first, and then it's only a
- 16:25Speaker 2: million after June first. So I think that's why this
- 16:29Speaker 2: is swirling. You know, why is it the buyout? Like
- 16:32Speaker 2: most coaches, this huge number that would prevent you from
- 16:35Speaker 2: going anywhere.
- 16:37Speaker 1: Like you really quick. Drew Aller, Abdul Carter a couple
- 16:40Speaker 1: of blue chip prospects that we saw last night. Drew
- 16:42Speaker 1: Allen can change his mind. He can still jump into
- 16:44Speaker 1: the draft. I know he had the bad late interception,
- 16:47Speaker 1: but he didn't do an awful lot of that last year.
- 16:50Speaker 1: What did you think of Penn State's two top prospects
- 16:52Speaker 1: last night.
- 16:53Speaker 2: Well, the pass rusher is one of the best players
- 16:56Speaker 2: on the board. I think he and Travis Hunter he's
- 16:58Speaker 2: a beast. Two best athletes, pure athletes I've seen this
- 17:02Speaker 2: year in my study. But Carter's he is ready made
- 17:07Speaker 2: to walk in and be an impact pass rusher. And
- 17:11Speaker 2: when you see a guy like Chop Robinson doing what
- 17:13Speaker 2: he's doing as an NFL rookie, and you think about
- 17:16Speaker 2: those guys were in the same defense, then it really
- 17:20Speaker 2: sort of staggers you. But just he is nobody transitions
- 17:25Speaker 2: quicker than pass rushers, and he is the best. In
- 17:28Speaker 2: my mind, he's the best pass rusher on the board.
- 17:30Speaker 1: And should Broncos fans be loading up on their Lone
- 17:33Speaker 1: Tree Broncos merchandise, Yeah you mean the tight end No, no,
- 17:40Speaker 1: the the possible site for a new stadium.
- 17:44Speaker 2: Oh yeah, yeah, no, no, just logic tells you. I mean,
- 17:49Speaker 2: I think sixty percent of their season ticket holders are
- 17:53Speaker 2: a sort of south of the you know, the Denver
- 17:56Speaker 2: city limits. So if you're going where the customers are,
- 18:00Speaker 2: are a site and it's far easier for them to
- 18:03Speaker 2: get the land down there than it would be to
- 18:06Speaker 2: clear out some of the interesting sites downtown. So it's
- 18:11Speaker 2: just a matter of how much pressure they feel to
- 18:15Speaker 2: have a downtown stadium with a downtown environment with their team.
- 18:20Speaker 2: But this is an ownership group that wants more than
- 18:24Speaker 2: just a stadium stuck out there, you know, by itself.
- 18:27Speaker 2: It wants things to go with it. So I think
- 18:30Speaker 2: ultimately that will impact the decision, But certainly Loan Tree
- 18:35Speaker 2: will be one of the sites they consider a great
- 18:37Speaker 2: deal because that is where the majority of their customers,
- 18:41Speaker 2: you know, south of Denver is where most of their
- 18:44Speaker 2: season ticket holders are.
- 18:45Speaker 1: The Land of the single Tree. Jeff Legwold, everybody, ESPN
- 18:48Speaker 1: dot com read his stuff right there. He'll be out
- 18:50Speaker 1: in Buffalo Slash Orchard Park cover in the game. Leggy,
- 18:53Speaker 1: travel safe. We'll talk to you Monday.
- 18:56Speaker 2: Thank you, fellows. See