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Jeff Legwold joins Kreckman and Lindahl 10-12-26 · Jeff Legwold ESPN Broncos Reports

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Rally house football Monday. Craigman and Lindahl, Altitude Sports Radio 92.5. Boy,
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: did the defense ever rally yesterday to bring the Broncos
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: back from 17-10 as a deficit to 23-17 as a victory.
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: Joining us right now, covering the Broncos and the NFL
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: for ESPN, he is Jeff Legwald. Jeff, good to have
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: you back from SoFi. So, the Broncos... Offensive performance yesterday.
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: Did Sean Payton fix everything with his play calling? What
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: did you see out there, Jeff?
• 0:39
  Speaker 2: Well, he obviously was very intent on, you know, he
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  Speaker 2: promised and has griped about the run game all year.
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  Speaker 2: And first game of the season, they run it more
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  Speaker 2: than they throw it. Now, were they effective? Were they efficient? Eventually.
• 0:59
  Speaker 2: I don't think... In the first half, the answer is
• 1:02
  Speaker 2: no to almost any offensive question you could ask. Ran
• 1:07
  Speaker 2: it a little better in the second half. I thought
• 1:09
  Speaker 2: they were a little more decisive in what they were doing.
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  Speaker 2: But he was very intent on it. I think he
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  Speaker 2: believes to get Bo Nix settled down, they're going to
• 1:19
  Speaker 2: have to find a way to have more of a
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  Speaker 2: run component in the offense that may not include him
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  Speaker 2: at this point. Because they have not had many designed
• 1:32
  Speaker 2: things for Bo. You know, everyone denies, you know, that's
• 1:36
  Speaker 2: because he's coming back from two ankle surgeries. But the
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  Speaker 2: simple matter is he's run far less, seems far less
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  Speaker 2: inclined to run. So you're going to have to construct
• 1:48
  Speaker 2: a run game with other people. But I think they
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  Speaker 2: were just very intent on using the run game to
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  Speaker 2: sort of create the tenor of the offense. And, you know,
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  Speaker 2: the number, you know, the attempts were there. The production
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  Speaker 2: probably was not most of the time, but they did
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  Speaker 2: get a couple runs late when they needed them. And
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  Speaker 2: I think you're going to see more of it, more,
• 2:17
  Speaker 2: you know, whether that's play action, bootleg, you know, all
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  Speaker 2: of it. You know, I think you're going to see
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  Speaker 2: more of the zone play the zone things and, and
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  Speaker 2: get minors going forward and get their, their offensive line
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  Speaker 2: going forward a little bit. And they got, they got
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  Speaker 2: to slow down some of these, these rushers too. I
• 2:37
  Speaker 2: think that their protections getting dinged a little bit. And,
• 2:42
  Speaker 2: you know, one of the old school ways to, to
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  Speaker 2: slow down people coming after your quarterback is to try
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  Speaker 2: to run the ball.
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  Speaker 3: Out and run at them.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah.
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  Speaker 2: All right.
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  Speaker 4: So if we are evaluating the, as he said last week,
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  Speaker 4: everything was the play calling that much better than what
• 2:58
  Speaker 4: Webb offered.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah. I mean, you know, Andy, it's hard. They're one
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  Speaker 2: at 12 on third down. I mean, he.
• 3:03
  Speaker 1: Can't 3.9 yards per offensive play, Jeff.
• 3:06
  Speaker 2: Yeah. I mean, it was not a, it's, it's staggering
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  Speaker 2: that they don't win the game. I mean, the defense,
• 3:14
  Speaker 2: the last five charger possessions, they run, you know, 19
• 3:21
  Speaker 2: plays and they gain 19 yards. on those 19 plays.
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  Speaker 2: And punt, turnover on downs, fumble, interception, end of game.
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  Speaker 2: That's the last five possessions for the Chargers. That's the
• 3:35
  Speaker 2: only way you're winning a game where you're one of
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  Speaker 2: 12 on third down. And Bo Nix has the second
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  Speaker 2: worst single-game passing performance of his career behind only the
• 3:49
  Speaker 2: rain-swept Jets game in the Meadowlands. So, yeah, it's hard
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  Speaker 2: to say, you know, fire the confetti cannons. Welcome back, Sean,
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  Speaker 2: you know, to the to the play calling stuff. And yet,
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  Speaker 2: you know, I just thought they they had a little
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  Speaker 2: more intent with some of the run more, more physical aspects,
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  Speaker 2: even in the passing game. You know, some bigger personnel
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  Speaker 2: groupings from time to time that they still haven't unlocked
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  Speaker 2: the middle of the field. And my theory is until
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  Speaker 2: they do that. they're still going to be spinning their
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  Speaker 2: wheels a little bit because defenses are not– I mean,
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  Speaker 2: look how the Chargers were calling. They were not afraid
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  Speaker 2: they were going to get burned if they took some
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  Speaker 2: defensive risks, and they were not.
• 4:39
  Speaker 3: All right, so I asked Nate this question. I'll ask
• 4:41
  Speaker 3: you the same. Rank what Bo doesn't trust in order.
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  Speaker 4: Is it the ankle, what he's seeing on his pre-snap read,
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  Speaker 4: or the guys he's throwing the ball to?
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  Speaker 3: Where are we ranking those?
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  Speaker 2: I think his footwork, I can't speak to the medical
• 5:00
  Speaker 2: side of it. I've tried to stay away from that.
• 5:03
  Speaker 2: I see signs in any player coming back from injury
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  Speaker 2: sometimes subconsciously if they get hit on the same leg
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  Speaker 2: or they get twisted weird in a pile. You see
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  Speaker 2: the reactions and I've seen a couple of those from Bo,
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  Speaker 2: but I can't speak to you know, what, what it's,
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  Speaker 2: you know, I've asked him, uh, and he says it's,
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  Speaker 2: it's not an issue. Uh, so I would go to
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  Speaker 2: footwork mechanics, number one. And, uh, I think he, what
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  Speaker 2: he considers open for a receiver right now is not
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  Speaker 2: what I think Sean Payton would consider open for a receiver.
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  Speaker 2: And I would rank that at, at number two, uh,
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  Speaker 2: on my list.
• 5:55
  Speaker 1: Jeff Legwald with us on a Monday afternoon as we're
• 5:58
  Speaker 1: talking about the issues with Denver's offense. Jalen Waddell, two catches.
• 6:05
  Speaker 1: Jalen Waddell, Cortland Sutton combined fewer than 40 receiving yards
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  Speaker 1: in this game. We talked an awful lot about unlocking
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  Speaker 1: the middle of the field, finding the yards after the catch,
• 6:18
  Speaker 1: all those things that hopefully Jalen Waddell would open up.
• 6:23
  Speaker 1: Is it is the issue the quarterback play or is
• 6:26
  Speaker 1: the issue something else is the issue with the way
• 6:30
  Speaker 1: the defenses are playing Denver? Like how come, how come
• 6:33
  Speaker 1: all of the best laid plans are not coming to fruition?
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  Speaker 2: Their timing is just off.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah.
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  Speaker 2: I mean, I mean, however you want to draw the
• 6:44
  Speaker 2: timeline or the connect the dots. I mean, you know, when,
• 6:48
  Speaker 2: when Bo hits the top of his drop or when
• 6:51
  Speaker 2: he hits the third step or the fifth or whatever, the,
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  Speaker 2: whatever the drop is called for the route tree doesn't
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  Speaker 2: match right then. So either he's going too fast or
• 7:02
  Speaker 2: the receivers aren't getting into the, into the pattern like
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  Speaker 2: they should. But they just don't match enough of the
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  Speaker 2: time right now. And the NFL is a tight window league.
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  Speaker 2: I think sometimes I get fooled watching college football where
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  Speaker 2: a guy can sit back there and pack the ball and,
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  Speaker 2: and wait for all these guys to clear. And, and,
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  Speaker 2: you know, you got eight yards of separation and you
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  Speaker 2: just chuck it around and it all looks pretty. He
• 7:31
  Speaker 2: just doesn't have that luxury because no quarterback in a
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  Speaker 2: league does. So the ball has to come out and
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  Speaker 2: the receivers have to be exactly where he expects them
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  Speaker 2: to be. And there's just something off in the timing
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  Speaker 2: right now that the guys aren't, whether that's their route tree,
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  Speaker 2: you know, maybe some of it is, I see an
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  Speaker 2: awful lot of plays where there is no player in
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  Speaker 2: the intermediate zone. I, you know, to me, and I'm
• 8:00
  Speaker 2: not talking out of school, I've, I've said this when asked,
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  Speaker 2: I mean, I, I did a guy in the intermediate
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  Speaker 2: part of the field more often. I too often see,
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  Speaker 2: three verts and a dump off or, or two deep
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  Speaker 2: outs and a, and a deep over and a dump off.
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  Speaker 2: And there's nobody in the middle of the field. And, uh,
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  Speaker 2: you know, maybe the quarterback doesn't like that and all that,
• 8:27
  Speaker 2: but that I'd still be putting guys in there because
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  Speaker 2: that's where you can, you can get all of these
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  Speaker 2: shell coverages they're getting, uh, And I think that would
• 8:37
  Speaker 2: help as well. But the timing just isn't there. And
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  Speaker 2: until they get that squared away, we're going to be
• 8:45
  Speaker 2: having this conversation probably a couple more times.
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  Speaker 3: Should there be any concern about the frustration level of
• 8:51
  Speaker 3: Jalen Waddell?
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  Speaker 2: No, I'd be worried if a guy wasn't, you know, upset. Andy,
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  Speaker 2: you know me. I get a lot less worked up
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  Speaker 2: about actual professional elite athletes getting– getting mad that they're
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  Speaker 2: not being used to their, to their abilities. And I mean,
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  Speaker 2: you don't want it all the time, but he's not
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  Speaker 2: that kind of guy. I don't think anybody would say
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  Speaker 2: in any realm of, or galaxy that Jalen Waddle is
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  Speaker 2: a problem because he's not, I mean, that's, you know,
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  Speaker 2: Pat Sertan told me, you know, who's his best friend,
• 9:30
  Speaker 2: by the way, but he, he told me that, You know,
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  Speaker 2: one guy who's got the jokes all the time is
• 9:36
  Speaker 2: Jalen Waddle. So that's not his personality. But, you know,
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  Speaker 2: he's a human being in there under the helmet. He
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  Speaker 2: knows the expectations he came here with. He knows what
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  Speaker 2: he expected when he came here. And, oh, by the way,
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  Speaker 2: he knows what he did, like, every day in August
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  Speaker 2: on the practice field, you know. And and we haven't
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  Speaker 2: seen any of that or very you know other than
• 10:02
  Speaker 2: Jacksonville we haven't seen any of that and I would
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  Speaker 2: expect him to be frustrated now he can't do it
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  Speaker 2: every game and that's not going to be something you
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  Speaker 2: know you should do every game if you're going to
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  Speaker 2: be a veteran leader but I don't think this one
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  Speaker 2: time I'd be worried about it.
• 10:22
  Speaker 1: Jeff Legwald, brought to you by the International Brotherhood of
• 10:25
  Speaker 1: Electrical Workers, IBEW Local 68. Start with a job, end
• 10:29
  Speaker 1: with a career. All right, Dr. Legwald, you've done a
• 10:31
  Speaker 1: wonderful job diagnosing the issues with the Broncos offense, but
• 10:35
  Speaker 1: there's another patient in the waiting room about to come in,
• 10:38
  Speaker 1: and I'm going to need you to go ahead and
• 10:42
  Speaker 1: unveil some of what ails them currently, and that would
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  Speaker 1: be the Los Angeles Chargers.
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  Speaker 2: Wow.
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  Speaker 1: What is that?
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  Speaker 4: You're not paying him enough.
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  Speaker 3: We discussed the fee for that.
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  Speaker 1: What is happening there?
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  Speaker 2: I didn't recognize the quarterback, for one. What's happening there is,
• 11:02
  Speaker 2: I don't know. I mean, if I was in an
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  Speaker 2: executive role with that team, I'd want some answers as
• 11:09
  Speaker 2: to how come he looked like such a comfortable thrower before,
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  Speaker 2: and now he just looks... miserable. I, I, I, I was,
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  Speaker 2: you know, I said it during the game in the
• 11:24
  Speaker 2: press box, but when he is sacked at one point,
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  Speaker 2: he's got palms up to the bench. Like, what are
• 11:32
  Speaker 2: we doing during the tackle? And the replay shows it.
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  Speaker 2: He is looking squarely at the Chargers bench with his
• 11:43
  Speaker 2: palms up in the air, like, what are we doing?
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  Speaker 2: And there are Broncos about to throw him on the ground. So, yeah, it's,
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  Speaker 2: you know, the fourth down call. I mean, there's just disconnect.
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  Speaker 2: What are they doing? Everywhere there. I mean, you know,
• 12:00
  Speaker 2: you're talking a pretty high-powered offensive staff. I mean, Gase
• 12:05
  Speaker 2: is on that staff, and Mike McDaniel's on that staff,
• 12:10
  Speaker 2: but maybe it's just too many chefs who've cooked different
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  Speaker 2: ways over the years, you know, compared to what Harbaugh
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  Speaker 2: has liked on offense over the years. But they, you know,
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  Speaker 2: I don't think they have much explosive players on the outside.
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  Speaker 2: The offensive line's a mess. I can't even.
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  Speaker 3: The receivers don't know the play, Jeff.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, no, it's got there. They don't know the playbook. Yeah.
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  Speaker 2: And I don't know what quarterback could play behind four
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  Speaker 2: rookies and Cole strange, you know, for a game. So it's,
• 12:43
  Speaker 2: you know, it just, it just shows you, you know, every,
• 12:46
  Speaker 2: every March, it seems like we have this conversation about, Oh,
• 12:51
  Speaker 2: sign every free agent. Don't worry about the draft. The
• 12:54
  Speaker 2: picks don't matter. Well, guess what? The only way you
• 12:58
  Speaker 2: survive injury in the NFL is to draft. Well, every
• 13:03
  Speaker 2: year you got to be pulling productive, contributing players out
• 13:09
  Speaker 2: of the draft every year. And the chargers are what
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  Speaker 2: it looks like when you don't. And, and that's where
• 13:16
  Speaker 2: they're at. And so now you're always stopped gapping and
• 13:20
  Speaker 2: you don't have a plan. Your, your players don't fit your,
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  Speaker 2: your roles well. You're taking a quarterback whose prime years
• 13:30
  Speaker 2: are right in the wheelhouse now, and he is not
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  Speaker 2: playing better than he was two years ago, and that's
• 13:39
  Speaker 2: a concern.
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  Speaker 1: Jeff, last thing that I want to ask you about,
• 13:42
  Speaker 1: and I know you're always thinking draft, as you pointed
• 13:45
  Speaker 1: out right there. Is Jeremiah Smith the best wide receiver
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  Speaker 1: alive right now?
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  Speaker 2: I will tell you, look, I'm not anywhere close to done,
• 13:57
  Speaker 2: but I am fairly certain he will be one of
• 14:00
  Speaker 2: the highest grades I've ever put on a player at
• 14:03
  Speaker 2: some point.
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  Speaker 4: Do we know number one in the top 100 there, Leggett?
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  Speaker 1: I don't know how it could be anybody else.
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  Speaker 2: I would really want to be the team that stinks,
• 14:14
  Speaker 2: that doesn't need a quarterback. That's where I want to
• 14:17
  Speaker 2: be in this draft. That's because... you know, everybody's going
• 14:20
  Speaker 2: to be running around talking about the quarterback class. And,
• 14:24
  Speaker 2: and that dude is he, here's the thing. Calvin Johnson's
• 14:29
  Speaker 2: the closest physically that I I've seen to Jeremiah Smith
• 14:34
  Speaker 2: coming out into a draft. When I, I went back
• 14:37
  Speaker 2: and looked at my grade sheets for Calvin Johnson and
• 14:41
  Speaker 2: all of those things. And I look at what I've
• 14:43
  Speaker 2: done with Jeremiah Smith and, He was the closest, but
• 14:47
  Speaker 2: the thing with Calvin was he played in an option offense.
• 14:51
  Speaker 1: In Georgia Tech, yeah.
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  Speaker 2: His route tree was about two routes, two and a
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  Speaker 2: half routes.
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  Speaker 3: Like DT.
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  Speaker 2: Jeremiah Smith has that same rarest of rare athleticism, and
• 15:05
  Speaker 2: he plays in a time when the passing game is
• 15:10
  Speaker 2: so far beyond what it was back then. And Oh yeah,
• 15:15
  Speaker 2: he's got NFL coordinators surrounded. Matt Patricia's their defensive coordinator,
• 15:21
  Speaker 2: Arthur Smith's calling their offense. So this guy is being
• 15:25
  Speaker 2: prepped at every level on either. Like he can ask
• 15:29
  Speaker 2: Matt Patricia, what do you like? What against this route?
• 15:33
  Speaker 2: What do you do? And he's getting NFL knowledge like
• 15:37
  Speaker 2: every second of every day. And, Not only does he
• 15:41
  Speaker 2: have all the physical traits and all that, but look
• 15:45
  Speaker 2: how he's being prepared for the league. And the one
• 15:48
  Speaker 2: catch this weekend, that's just stupid. You should just call
• 15:52
  Speaker 2: the game right there and say, drive safe, everyone. Have
• 15:55
  Speaker 2: a nice day.
• 15:57
  Speaker 4: Real quick, we only got like 30 seconds, but what
• 16:00
  Speaker 4: do you think? The trial's over.
• 16:03
  Speaker 3: Clear to travel, all that stuff.
• 16:05
  Speaker 4: Is there any, do you think Cooper comes off the
• 16:07
  Speaker 4: commissioner's list or is this probably, the trial's not set
• 16:10
  Speaker 4: for March.
• 16:11
  Speaker 3: Is he just going to miss a season?
• 16:13
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, the exempt list is, you know, there's
• 16:16
  Speaker 2: really no, you know, you can't like look at 10
• 16:22
  Speaker 2: years of data of the exempt list and make a
• 16:25
  Speaker 2: call on that one. It's really totally up to the
• 16:28
  Speaker 2: commissioner to, as to how that go. All I know is,
• 16:31
  Speaker 2: you know, I like everyone else contacted the league and
• 16:34
  Speaker 2: they basically said, Hey, it's just part of the equation. Uh,
• 16:39
  Speaker 2: as we monitor this under the personal conduct policy and
• 16:44
  Speaker 2: he was arrested, you know, twice, twice in one week, uh,
• 16:48
  Speaker 2: you know, the, the, the case has not been adjudicated.
• 16:52
  Speaker 2: There's been no settlement. Uh, so nothing has changed other
• 16:57
  Speaker 2: than when he's going to be tried. And I, I
• 17:00
  Speaker 2: don't think they put him on the exempt list just
• 17:03
  Speaker 2: because the trial was in November. So I think, again,
• 17:08
  Speaker 2: it's totally up to the league, but he is cleared
• 17:12
  Speaker 2: to travel and has been cleared to travel in some
• 17:15
  Speaker 2: cases before this. But the next hearing is, I think,
• 17:20
  Speaker 2: a pre-trial hearing in February. Yeah, late February. Yeah, totally
• 17:24
  Speaker 2: up to the league, though. So, yeah, they could announce...
• 17:27
  Speaker 2: You know, anytime they feel like it, that he's not
• 17:31
  Speaker 2: on the exempt list, but he still will be under
• 17:35
  Speaker 2: the personal conduct policy whenever the case is finished. Like
• 17:39
  Speaker 2: he could still be suspended after a trial or whatever
• 17:44
  Speaker 2: happens in the case, even a settlement, he could be suspended.
• 17:48
  Speaker 1: Yeah, so we'll all wait to see if something changes
• 17:51
  Speaker 1: on that as the trial date is set for March.
• 17:54
  Speaker 1: Jeff Legwald of ESPN on a Rally House Football Monday. Jeff,
• 17:57
  Speaker 1: good stuff, man. Thank you.
• 17:59
  Speaker 2: Thank you, fellas. We'll see you.
• 18:00
  Speaker 1: All right, always good to have Jeff Legwald with us
• 18:02
  Speaker 1: here on the show.