Latest / Jeff Legwold ESPN Broncos Reports / Jeff Legwold joins Kreckman & Lindahl 2/23/24

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Jeff Legwold joins Kreckman & Lindahl 2/23/24 · Jeff Legwold ESPN Broncos Reports

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  Jeff Legwald is our Broncos insider Altitude Sports Radio ninety two five Pro Football,
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  the insider I've covered while Jeff leg Wall his appearances are always must listen radio.
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  You learn a lot. Ronty five Betsafe Colorado, the exclusive club for
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  passionate gamers and vetters across the state. It's Leggy on Altitude Sports Radio ninety
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  two five, sitting at above the beautiful things he can have become instead of
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  have won. Because I'm going up on my own and I'm into it.
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  I don't want anything else and nothing about im, Because'm to myself on my
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  THEREO Friday, gregn and Lindall Altitude Sports Radio ninety two five. We are
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  alive at Ball Arena today. The Mammoth and the rip Tide catch it on
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  Altitude two this evening over on Altitude one, I suppose as it were,
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  Uh, the Nuggets will take on the Blazers in Portland. No Jamal Murray
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  this evening, sitting the second night of a back to back, only two
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  back to backs remaining in this regular season before we conclude this thing for the
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  Denver Nuggets and get into the postseason. Joining us right now. We got
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  them some cash. It's our buddy Jeff Legwald here with you on a Friday
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  afternoon, brought to you by Betsy of Colorado, the exclusive club for passionate
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  gamers and betters across the state LEGI the NFL, they just dug a bunch
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  of dough out of the couch cushions today, man salary cap jumping up fourteen
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  percent this year. These teams are flush for the Broncos themselves. As you
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  start to look at it, how is this going to change the way they
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  do business in the coming weeks and how much business they have to do in
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  the coming weeks and the big picture, Nate don't. I don't think it
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  changes their overall umbrella philosophy, which was they were not going to be in
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  the first wave aggressively in free agency. I don't think it changes that.
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  It does help a little bit, you know. The projection of about twenty
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  million over was people cat people in the league thinking the cap was going to
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  be two forty nine to fifty right in there. So they did get that
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  boost because it was five million or so better after the I don't think everybody
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  in the league, even some of the cat people I know, expected the
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  COVID money to be totally wiped off the books. You know, all the
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  money that was deferred and advanced all of those things during COVID was off the
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  books now. And then with the you know, the big boost they got
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  was selling the playoff game and the streaming exclusive streaming, and all of those
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  revenues were huge. So yeah, that's why you saw such a big jump.
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  But the big piece of that was the COVID money going off the books,
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  and it gives Lebroncos a little more wiggle room. You know, they're
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  thirty team roughly over the cap, you know, with their top fifty one
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  right now. That's that's not awful, like, oh my god, awful,
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  but it's not great either. So it still puts them in a place
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  where they've got to do some things to even participate in free agency, let
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  alone participate in a big way, you know what I mean. You know,
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  they just to break even, they got to do some things in the
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  next few weeks, and you know, if they do the old turn signing
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  or you know, salary and the signing bonus and all those things, that's
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  great for now, but it does kick the can down the road a little
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  bit, and you know they have to consider doing that and delaying the solution
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  or you know, cutting guys or telling guys that's pay cutter else, So
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  leggy when you look at take a look at the Broncos cap situation right now,
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  and I'll throw five names out there that sort of jump off the page
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  as the cap saving candidate for this team, in no particular order, Garrett
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  Bolls, Justin Simmons, uh Courtland Sutton, Tim Patrick, DJ Jones and
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  those are those are dudes entering last years of deals and guys that can offer
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  up considerable cap savings. Does this put the Broncos in a place where they
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  can essentially pick and choose and maybe shrink that list a little bit versus having
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  to have a for lack of a better term, mass blood letting. Now
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  it's just sort of a slow leak, if you will. Yeah, I
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  mean again, you're you know, they're looking for contracts without any guaranteed money
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  left or as little guaranteed money left as possible. Yeah, you know,
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  Tim Patrick obviously a candidate for that, and and Bulls obviously a candidate for
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  that. But again, you know, asking guys to give money back is
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  always you know, dicey and you know, I will say, whether we
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  like it or not, it did resonate with some guys in the locker room,
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  the Russell Wilson thing, you know, and that you know that I
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  think the team is in a position, uh but they are going to have
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  to make some tough choices, you know. They you know, they can't
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  do anything right now when free agency open, so they they've got to do
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  something. And but those names are good names. I mean, that's but
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  you know, my question when a team is in this position, my question
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  is always will the talent you get in the wake of those decisions be as
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  good as what you let go? And in some cases it will be,
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  and in some cases it won't. And you know, the Broncos are gonna
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  have to hope they have more cases where it is rather than it Isn't you
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  know that the draft is really strong at tackle, so maybe that's a consideration
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  they give when they make a decision about it. Garrett Bules, like,
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  you can find a twelve year tas at twelve in this draft, it will
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  be possible if you get it right. And so that that kind of thing,
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  that's where they're at right now. That's what the meetings they've had before
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  the combine are four? You know, what's the level of replacement we can
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  get if we make these decisions? And that's that's where they're at. But
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  you'r I think your five names are the ballpark where even they will have started
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  as well. Uh okay, So next year is going to be the big
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  hit on the rust salary when it seems like the inevitable happens and he gets
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  released. Is there a chance there is another good jump next year if Amazon
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  pays for these games again? I mean, what could there be? Could
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  they get a little bit surprised by that as well, and could that affect
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  this year's decision making? You know, Andy, I don't they'll get a
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  jump because you know, they're they're the hottest ticket in media rights going right
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  now. But the COVID money was a big, big jump of this in
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  the equation all all the things that were quietly not talked about during COVID,
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  you know, money being deferred and uh you know things being pushed out,
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  you know, advanced money, advanced money deferred when there were no crowds in
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  the stadium and teams are operating at a far different economic plane where they are
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  now. So that money was a big part of this jump, and that
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  won't be there next year. But there will be a jump, you know,
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  but it'll probably be closer to the usual single digit percent jump, you
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  know, five six percent something like that. But so they won't get a
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  ton of help next year, but you know, they'll get a little and
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  you know, the I guess the idea is if you're the Broncos and you
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  get a little younger this year, that makes the hit a little easier next
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  year as well. Jeff Lagwald is with us on the ramos Law hotline car
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  accident. You need ramos Law Medical and Attorney ramos Law dot com. Jeff
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  Patrick's Artan is extension eligible this offseason. We also got the franchise tag numbers
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  or fifty year option numbers uh this year, so we got to look at
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  what that could potentially look like. We have to assume that a massive contract
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  extension is cumming. Certain's way short of the blockbuster of blockbusters that would happen
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  this offseason, which doesn't feel terribly likely. Uh. So that being the
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  case, play play both sides for me, Jeff B. Patricksartan's agent and
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  be the Broncos. Where do these conversations start, well, for the Broncos,
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  you're always gonna sell the idea money in hand right now, you know
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  you're not. Now, he's uh, the it's not something we talk about
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  a lot. But the franchise numbers are tiered even in there, and he's
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  at the highest one because he went to multiple Pro Bowls during the rookie contract,
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  so he is at the highest possible tender he can be. He is
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  at the franchise player number for his rookie option because of what he's done on
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  the field. So that tells you where he is economically. If you're his
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  agent already, you know the agent and certain are always going to believe their
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  leverage is only going to go up as he plays the way he plays.
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  But injury is always the consideration. And when guys signed the extension before they
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  hit the market, you know, that's usually an indicator that the team has
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  been fair with the market value and that the players decided I like this,
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  you know, I like my hundred million dollars in hand right now rather than
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  rolling the dice. You know one thing that the fifth year option is guaranteed.
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  That nineteen point eight minute the Broncos engageent is guaranteed, so he he
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  knows he has that in that case. But I think the Broncos to get
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  him to sign an extension are going to have to show they are still on
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  the upswing a bit and that they will meet the market value or even bumping
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  a bit, which they've done. You know, when they signed Bolls early,
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  I think it was October or November of that season when they signed Bulls.
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  You know, they they gave him the market and you know, Courtland
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  Sutton got probably as good or better than he would have gotten in the market
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  when he signed early. So they've done this in the past, but they're
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  really going to have to do it for him to get in to sign early.
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  At least most of the agents and players I know believe the market is
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  the greatest pressure and leverage you can have. Is that one team that absolutely
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  has to have you and is willing to go big. You know, you
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  have to if you're gonna sign a guy early, you've got to show him
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  that you've already done that, that you're that team, that you're the team
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  that's willing to do that. All Right, the hot name this week,
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  and I've asked you about him in the past, but I feel like every
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  week you get a couple more nuggets on each of these players. JJ McCarthy
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  is the guy. What are you thinking about? JJ McCarthy? And uh,
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  if not him, anybody else catching your eye outside of him, Jeff.
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  As far as the quarterbacks go, oh, you know that the quarterbacks
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  are I think overall, as I talked to Scout moving forward here and I
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  even you know, I looked at him. I spent a lot of time
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  last week and some this week got him too. All the quarterbacks, I
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  think McCarthy. I think for a lot of fans, that feels like the
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  guy they could get and that you know at twelve that you wouldn't have to
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  go crazy. Now you're overdrafting him at twelve. That's just the fact,
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  and you're I have to accept that if you're the Broncos. At least most
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  of the teams I know think that would be an overdraft at twelve. Teams
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  feel like they need more information and it's information they may not get. You
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  know, he's played forty forty games, I believe in his career, and
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  by my count, twenty seven of those including all the freshmen part time stuff.
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  Twenty seven of the forty he's had fifteen or fewer completions. That's not
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  a lot of action in today's college football, and not a lot of action
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  outside the numbers. The vast majority of his throws outside and the college hashes
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  are wider, obviously, but outside the numbers, most of that, almost
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  all of it is a rule right into his arm side action. You don't
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  have a lot, almost nothing to the left and those types of things.
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  So he's really a half field thrower in the eyes of it, and an
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  value waiter. And I think that's where it is right now. He's a
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  half field player, and that's a lot of developmental things that have to happen.
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  But physically, yeah, he's an NFL quarterback. You know, he
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  can move, he's tough, he's strong's he played for a coach that's hard
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  to play for. He played for a coach that was a quarterback no less,
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  and and Harball really likes him and has told people in the league he
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  really likes him. He's been public about that. But to think you have
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  all the information you need as an evaluator and say, yeah, that's a
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  slam dunket twelve, I'm not sure you're going to have it. You're gonna
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  have to decide what's he going to be two years from now. I don't
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  think in my eyes look and I know, you know I use the phrase
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  Timmy the sports writer, but I get it. I am that. But
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  I don't think he plays as a rookie in almost any scenario that I would
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  see in the league. But that's not why you draft a prospected quarterback.
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  You're you're looking long term, and long term you have to decide will he
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  evolve in the other part of that field, because he's gonna have to do
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  it with his eyes. Because his arm is okay. You know, we
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  hear a lot about arm talent. I would put it slightly above you know,
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  the the the mid range. You know, it's pretty strong. When
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  he sees it and he fires it between the numbers, it looks really good.
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  Outside the numbers, it drifts and he sails a lot of things because
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  I think he's trying to throw the heater. And a big part of the
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  issue right here, when you look at a guy like him, leg he
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  is you know, you play in that in that harball in that Michigan offense,
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  and you know it's it's motion heavy, it's shift heavy, it's a
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  cool ass offense. Actually, I loved watching Michigan play this year. But
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  it's it's the fact that he average twenty four drop backs a game. It's
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  you know, you you see the good things that you talk about. You
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  you see the arm, you see the mechanics, you see the size,
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  you see the athleticism. Like it's all NFL stuff right there. It's just
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  no matter what you're you're evaluating a small sample size because of what he played
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  in. And so the question is, like, these teams are gonna have
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  to probably I think with JJ McCarthy project way more than no exactly what they're
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  getting. I think I has to project about a lot more things they you
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  know, the big ten is not the SEC in terms of coverage, looks
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  and the athleticism at corner you know, and the SEC you know. Yeah,
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  obviously when you look at Daniels, you know he's facing NFL quality corners
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  in far more games than anybody else, you know. Uh. And for
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  McCarthy example, and I'm not you know, it's not apples to apples,
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  But when I when I watched Stroud last year, I saw recognition, I
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  saw vision, I saw processing, And McCarthy has a lot of one read
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  throws and you're not going to see that because it's not available to see.
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  So you're not gonna you're not gonna have as many snaps where you say,
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  Okay, I saw him process this against the cover four, I saw him
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  process this against the cover two. I saw him process this against a man
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  under You don't have as many of those situations because he didn't face him or
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  he wasn't put in those positions. That's what I mean. There's a lot
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  of half field throws where he takes the snap, he instantly moves to his
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  right and the throw is hit the drag right before the guy hits the sideline,
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  and that's not processing. Really. You're looking at the receiver the whole
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  way, and if he's opened, you throw it, and if he's not,
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  you don't. And you don't have those snaps, and that that's going
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  to be the issue for even the best evaluators because you're deafing. And unfortunately,
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  as much as you'd like to put him in those situations in a pro
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  day situation, you're not going to. You're not going to be allowed to.
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  You know, his agent won't let you put him in a squirrely spot
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  at his pro day to see how it looks. So you're gonna have to
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  guess on some of those things. And you do that anyway. I'm not
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  saying you don't. But there are far fewer examples, is what I'm saying
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  than Stroud or Daniels or even Drake may At so many dropbacks, you're you
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  know, over so many years, you're going to have those opportunities to see
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  how he reacted. Hey, real quick, your stat of the week,
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  and only Nate's heard it. Rop it on Nate about the top forty five
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  picks. Nate and I've been talking about the trade back, collect some picks
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  and add some talent. Why do they need talent? Legy? Tell me
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  about how many times they've picked in the top forty five the last few years.
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  This is you know, I was messing around as always, But because
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  of all the action they've had and all the change they've had, the Broncos
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  have had three draft picks in the top forty five in the last four drafts
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  combined. And that's just not the world you want to live in. In
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  the salary cap NFL, Stan Javante Williams, Jerry K Judy, Yeah,
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  Yeah, those are the three and if and this year they don't have a
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  two, so they only have one pick in the top sixty whatever this year
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  right now, so they would go they if they do nothing, they will
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  go to five drafts with four picks inside the top forty five. And I
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  just don't see how you do very well in the salary cap NFL with that
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  kind of with that kind of action, it just makes whatever you think of
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  Russell Wilson, it just makes a decision of doing it and then not sticking
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  with it even more painful because now you're, you know, and people want
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  them to trade up again, and you know that would be two ones and
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  two two's at minimum, So you'd be talking about trading nine first or second
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  round picks and a three year span. I just I just don't I can't
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  even wrap my head around how a team would do that and think they're going
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  to compete over the long haul. By the way, a little bit of
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  cherry picking. But kJ Handler was a forty sixth pick right there, right
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  right there, so close. Nate. I know you love numbers, but
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  that's why the said is top forty five. And I would ask you day
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  uh not the cherry pick, but it's kJ Hamler still with the Broncos.
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  I couldn't tell you what what team is. kJ Hamler's Oh he's in Buffalo.
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  Yeah, he's in Buffalo. That's right. Hey, we were wondering
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  to have Isaiah Mackenzie part two. Leggy, that's that's game recognizing game right
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  there. Though I appreciate that top forty five, not as though kJ Handler
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  helps the argument in any way. Jeff Legwald, everybody ESPN dot com,
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  he is doing the draft prep. Uh, doing God's work right now for
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  all of us. Leg give me, buddy combine in. All right,
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  we're gonna get the uh, we're gonna get the the inside dirt from Jeff
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  Legwald next week. Do that. There's your stats. Thirty thirty six seven
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  years of a week in Indy. That's a lot of hotel nights. Just
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  add that up for a minute. A lot of shrimp there you go,
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  lot of Sames, it's a lot of it's a lot of Marriott points right
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  there, Leggy, good stuff, buddy, Thank you, Happy Scott