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Jeff Legwold joins Kreckman & Lindahl 9-6-24 · Jeff Legwold ESPN Broncos Reports

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  Speaker 1: Jeff Legwald is our Broncos insider Altitude Sports Radio ninety
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  Speaker 1: two five Pro Football.
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  Speaker 2: The insider I've covered while.
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  Speaker 1: Jeff Legwald he's the balloon popper. He doesn't blow it up.
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  Speaker 1: Brought to you by the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers
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  Speaker 1: i BDW Local sixty eight. Start with the chomp and
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  Speaker 1: with the career.
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  Speaker 3: It's Leggye on Altitude Sports Radio ninety two five.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, it's Jeff Legwell. Time on a Friday, Jeff Legwald,
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  Speaker 1: brought to you by our friends at the International Brotherhood
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  Speaker 1: of Electrical Workers ib W Local sixty eight. You start
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  Speaker 1: with a job, you end with a career. Bo Nicks
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  Speaker 1: as a starting job, and he will play the first
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  Speaker 1: game of his career Sunday against the Seahawks in Seattle,
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  Speaker 1: and Jeff Legwald will be there to cover it all
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  Speaker 1: for ESPN. Leggy, Happy Friday, my friend. Week one is here,
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  Speaker 1: and yet you you did the thing where you couldn't
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  Speaker 1: look forward without looking back. An exhaustive history of failure
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  Speaker 1: that you penned this week at ESPN, just recounting all
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  Speaker 1: all the things the Broncos have done wrong to get
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  Speaker 1: themselves to this place. Okay, let's push it forward, though.
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  Speaker 1: Is there light at the end of the tunnel or
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  Speaker 1: the Broncos starting to climb out of all of the mistakes,
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  Speaker 1: of which there have been many, as you documented.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean it's one of those things where you know,
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  Speaker 2: I actually went into it asking people, you know, what
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  Speaker 2: do you think the events were? And that was kind
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  Speaker 2: of the list that came out of it. And I
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  Speaker 2: don't think, you know, I think the Russell Wilson decision
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  Speaker 2: is still looming over this team, and you know, I
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  Speaker 2: think bo Nicks is sort of step one to clear
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  Speaker 2: themselves of that. And I you know, even the you know,
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  Speaker 2: they do the certain deal this week and you look
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  Speaker 2: at that and you still see the Russell Wilson decision.
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  Speaker 2: In that deal. It's it's a true four year extension.
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  Speaker 2: It doesn't kick in until twenty twenty six, which is
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  Speaker 2: the season after the dead money for Russell Wilson is
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  Speaker 2: off the book, So you know, they're still climbing their
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  Speaker 2: way out. And you know, I think there is some
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  Speaker 2: debate whether, you know, did they go young because they
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  Speaker 2: wanted to or because they had to with the with
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  Speaker 2: their salary cap. But I think it's all part of
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  Speaker 2: the same stew right now and that you know they're hoping,
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  Speaker 2: they're certainly hoping their Their decision to draft Nicks and
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  Speaker 2: then fully commit to him right away is you know,
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  Speaker 2: the biggest part of all of those growing pains and
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  Speaker 2: to get the team the way Sean Payton wants it
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  Speaker 2: to look.
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  Speaker 3: Jeff, as you wrote about the struggle to get back
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  Speaker 3: to the playoffs, and you did the lengthy article about
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  Speaker 3: the eight years of misery since the last time the
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  Speaker 3: Broncos tasted the playoffs or really any success, was the
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  Speaker 3: common theme, just the constant change. You and I have
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  Speaker 3: talked about this so much. What what do you think
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  Speaker 3: the common mistake went, because again, it wasn't just a
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  Speaker 3: John Elwait eight years, It wasn't just a specific coach
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  Speaker 3: eight years, a specific quarterback. What do you think the
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  Speaker 3: common mistake was it's led us to this point.
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  Speaker 2: I don't know if it was a mistake even any
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  Speaker 2: you know, like Gary kobeac stepping away, I still think
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  Speaker 2: is one of the biggest events, if you know, certainly
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  Speaker 2: in the top three in terms of you know, the
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  Speaker 2: track that had picked to put the franchise on, you know,
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  Speaker 2: and that's nobody's that's that's just what happened. And uh,
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  Speaker 2: but I think the common theme was that they tried
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  Speaker 2: to they never really decided, and I think even John
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  Speaker 2: Elway would admit or at least discuss right now that
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  Speaker 2: they they seem to never be able to decide. You know,
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  Speaker 2: are they going draft pick rookie quarterback? Are they going
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  Speaker 2: to go free agent veteran best we can do? Uh
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  Speaker 2: in that year? And you know, one year, some years
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  Speaker 2: they tried both, you know, they you know, one year
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  Speaker 2: they have you know, case Keenum is their big free
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  Speaker 2: agent signing, and and Paxton Lynch is in his final
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  Speaker 2: you know, months on the roster. They it's like they
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  Speaker 2: still can't just you know, is he still worth cultivating
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  Speaker 2: and developing or are we going to go with Keenum?
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  Speaker 2: You know? And even the year they signed Flacco, you know,
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  Speaker 2: Drew Locke is still on the roster, and there's like
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  Speaker 2: this this indus decision about which which route, which path
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  Speaker 2: are you going to take? And I think they tried
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  Speaker 2: to have both, uh an awful lot and and it
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  Speaker 2: just simply didn't work for him. And again I think
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  Speaker 2: Kubiak stepping away. I mean that that team didn't make
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  Speaker 2: the playoffs, but they were they were in the playoff
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  Speaker 2: hunt all the way down into December, and they were
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  Speaker 2: nine and seven when the year is over. And I
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  Speaker 2: think Gary's vision of the team matched John Elway's vision
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  Speaker 2: of the team, and they just worked together far more
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  Speaker 2: smoothly than sort of what followed. Uh. But I think,
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  Speaker 2: you know, I think the common thread to me was
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  Speaker 2: that you just they just didn't seem, you know, were
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  Speaker 2: they going to be the Pat Bowland Broncos that refused
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  Speaker 2: to rebuild ever, or were they gonna you know, go
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  Speaker 2: with the rookie quarterback and and do it that route.
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  Speaker 1: MIKEI you pointed this part out in the piece, but
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  Speaker 1: also Dan O'Neil enumerated it in a tweet earlier today.
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  Speaker 1: When you look at Seattle, Charles Cross starting left tackle,
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  Speaker 1: boy A Mafe pass rusher nine sacks last year, Devin Witherspoon,
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  Speaker 1: who looks like he's already a you know, an all
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  Speaker 1: Pro worthy corner with the number five overall pick, Derek Hall,
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  Speaker 1: who you know, didn't contribute a ton as a rookie
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  Speaker 1: last year, but they have expectations for there in Seattle.
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  Speaker 1: That's four starters, that is four starting players that Denver
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  Speaker 1: gave away to the Seahawks for the services of Russell
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  Speaker 1: Wilson and then famously or infamously as it were, that
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  Speaker 1: absolutely did not work out. But those are the kind
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  Speaker 1: of things of like, you want to know why the
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  Speaker 1: Broncos are in this place. Yeah, dead money is bad,
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  Speaker 1: but also you just don't have anybody on your team
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  Speaker 1: that you drafted. You don't. You just haven't built that
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  Speaker 1: thing and the Broncos have to get back to that
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  Speaker 1: place to build it back up, which I feel like
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  Speaker 1: is the thing I've heard you mentioned a time or
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  Speaker 1: two before on our shit.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, now, you know, And Nate, you have to
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  Speaker 2: remember they they traded three starters, three of their own
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  Speaker 2: draft picks to with all of those picks. It wasn't
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  Speaker 2: just the picks, it was they traded three homegrown players,
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  Speaker 2: uh with those picks too. So you know, I you know,
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  Speaker 2: I think sometimes it's a disservice for everybody to say,
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  Speaker 2: you know, puff their chest now. And you know, I
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  Speaker 2: knew that was going to be a bad move when
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  Speaker 2: they did the trade. You know, I knew an awful
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  Speaker 2: lot of people in the NFL who do football for
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  Speaker 2: a living who basically told me, hey, that's the price
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  Speaker 2: of doing business if you're going to go for it
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  Speaker 2: like that, and I just think, again, the Broncos tried
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  Speaker 2: to have it both ways. They make the extravagant deal
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  Speaker 2: for Russell Wilson, and then they decide two years later, no,
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  Speaker 2: not good enough. You know, they tried to have both
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  Speaker 2: things and that just doesn't work. To pick a path
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  Speaker 2: and you got to you gotta make it happen or
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  Speaker 2: you know, go long enough to make sure that that's
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  Speaker 2: not the path you should be on. But they kept,
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  Speaker 2: you know, almost like, Okay, this didn't work today, Let's
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  Speaker 2: try something tomorrow. And I'm just not sure that's they
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  Speaker 2: could ever get any consistency.
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  Speaker 1: I would argue that didn't work, Jeff. That's what I
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  Speaker 1: would say.
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  Speaker 3: Today, Tomorrow, Thursday, any day.
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  Speaker 2: I would say, just again. I just find over and
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  Speaker 2: over again. It's like they tried to have two things
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  Speaker 2: that don't mingle at the same time, and they just
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  Speaker 2: kept bumping into that over and over again. And you
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  Speaker 2: know they'll do it again. And if Sean Payton decides eventually,
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  Speaker 2: I want to run the Calf the way they did
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  Speaker 2: New Orleans, and I want to have an older roster.
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  Speaker 2: And I mean they in his sixteen years. I think
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  Speaker 2: in over half of those years they had five or
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  Speaker 2: fewer draft bands in the draft. And you know, if
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  Speaker 2: he's gonna do that here, I'm not sure that can
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  Speaker 2: be successfully done in this day and age, a free
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  Speaker 2: agency and the cap.
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  Speaker 3: All right, Jeff, let's talk about this matchup Sunday, because
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  Speaker 3: you know, I know that they're facing a very tough
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  Speaker 3: defensive coordinator. Nate had some great stats on what McDonald
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  Speaker 3: does against rookie quarterbacks and so on and so forth.
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  Speaker 3: But there's also the stat line about Sean Payton going
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  Speaker 3: against rookie head coaches. I still think the environment, the defense,
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  Speaker 3: it's gonna be a tough day. But with Denver, is
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  Speaker 3: there a chance Denver has more continuity going for it
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  Speaker 3: than Seattle in this matchup.
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  Speaker 2: This time around, if they didn't have a rookie quarterback,
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  Speaker 2: I'd give you that they have more continuity on defense
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  Speaker 2: here than installing a new system and doing a lot
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  Speaker 2: of different things on that side of the ball. I
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  Speaker 2: just say, this is a big ask of a rookie
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  Speaker 2: quarterback in an opening game. And I'm not sure if
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  Speaker 2: you took the sixteen seventeen defensive coaches on the Broncos
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  Speaker 2: schedule this year. I'm not sure there's a worse one
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  Speaker 2: to have the opening game against than this one for
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  Speaker 2: bon Nicks. But that said, they got to do bow
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  Speaker 2: Knicks a favor this week. They got to help him.
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  Speaker 2: They're going to have a game plan and Sean Payton
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  Speaker 2: said it today after practice that you know, basically, if
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  Speaker 2: he is a coach, is going to ask players to
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  Speaker 2: play fast, including bon Nicks. That this quote was. You know,
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  Speaker 2: they have to give him the menu to do that,
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  Speaker 2: and that's exactly what they have to do. You know,
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  Speaker 2: if bo Knicks has to throw twenty five bubble screens
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  Speaker 2: and they run the ball thirty five times, they have
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  Speaker 2: to do that just to keep him comfortable. Because if
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  Speaker 2: you're going to rely on him to do pre snap
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  Speaker 2: reads against this defense in the opening week, you know,
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  Speaker 2: if this was November Thanksgiving, maybe we're talking differently, But
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  Speaker 2: this is the opening week for a rookie quarterback and
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  Speaker 2: to ask him to do a lot of pre snap
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  Speaker 2: stuff against this defense, I think is a tall order.
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  Speaker 1: Leggy. We know Patrick certain and how good he is,
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  Speaker 1: but how does the rest of this Broncos secondary, with
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  Speaker 1: some new faces in new places, how do they match
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  Speaker 1: up with the likes of DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett
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  Speaker 1: and the speedy Jackson Smith and Jigba.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, and I will say I think their safety play
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  Speaker 2: will bear watching. I think the coaches were frustrated in
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  Speaker 2: camp at times that the safeties were not communicating enough
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  Speaker 2: with each other, and I think they think they have
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  Speaker 2: gotten that squared away. But you know, Brandon Jones was
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  Speaker 2: their big free agency signing and he didn't play very
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  Speaker 2: much in the preseason, so you know, well to expect
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  Speaker 2: him and PJ. Locke to seamlessly work like Kareem Jackson
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  Speaker 2: and Justin Simmons did, I think is tough, but that
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  Speaker 2: I think that really bears watching, and that will determine,
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  Speaker 2: you know, those two guys will determine how well their
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  Speaker 2: their defense sort of opens up because I think they
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  Speaker 2: like what they can do at corner and I think
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  Speaker 2: they they you know, they certainly like the improvements up
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  Speaker 2: front and defensive line, and they think they can generate
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  Speaker 2: a pass us creatively. So I think the really the
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  Speaker 2: one thing that to watch in all of that is
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  Speaker 2: how those two safeties play. You know, do they bite
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  Speaker 2: on play action, do they bite on motion? Do they
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  Speaker 2: communicate and pass off the routes they need to pass
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  Speaker 2: off and do those things that I mean. Safety play
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  Speaker 2: is everything these days in the secondary, So that is
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  Speaker 2: one thing that is a bit of a question mark.
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  Speaker 1: With that group. Right Lockin' Jones, Jeff Legwell is going
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  Speaker 1: to be keeping an eye on it. ESPN dot com.
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  Speaker 1: That is where you read his stuff. ESPN is where
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  Speaker 1: you watch him, correctman, and Lindahl is where you will
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  Speaker 1: listen to him on Monday afternoon to break down game
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  Speaker 1: number one of the bo Nicks era Broncos and Seahawks. Leggie,
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  Speaker 1: nice job, man. We'll talk to you later.
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  Speaker 2: Thanks, Roles, We'll see you