Latest / Disguised Coverage / The Buffalo Bills defense coming up short under Jim Leonhard | DC

Transcript

The Buffalo Bills defense coming up short under Jim Leonhard | DC · Disguised Coverage

0:00
Speaker 1: It's 38 all. Bills can win it here. Wright puts
0:03
Speaker 1: it down. The kick is on the way and it
0:05
Speaker 1: is good. And the Bills have won it. The Bills
0:10
Speaker 1: have won it. The Bills have won it. They win
0:14
Speaker 1: it 41 to 38. Incredible. What a comeback by the Bills.
0:18
Speaker 1: Jacksonville's perfect record on the line right here. Looney, keep it.
0:29
Speaker 1: Left side, touchdown. Kyle Williams, touchdown. Amazing. Unbelievable. They put
0:53
Speaker 1: in Williams. Has to pull back. And he scores a touchdown.
0:58
Speaker 1: The 12th year defensive tackle. It's really incredible. This place
1:06
Speaker 1: is pandemonium. What's good, folks, family, friends, loved ones, enemies, frenemies, wizards, witches, muggles, mudbloods,
1:22
Speaker 1: people of Middle Earth to another episode of Disguised Coverage,
1:25
Speaker 1: the only podcast that gives you an equal amount of
1:26
Speaker 1: blueberries in each muffin presented by the best pizza in Buffalo,
1:31
Speaker 1: New York, and that is One Pie Pizza. Find the
1:32
Speaker 1: online menu in the episode show notes, whether here on
1:34
Speaker 1: YouTube or whichever podcasting app or platform you're listening to
1:37
Speaker 1: this show on. I'm your host, Anthony Prohaska. Find me
1:40
Speaker 1: on Twitter at pro underscore underscore ant. That's pro two
1:43
Speaker 1: underscores A and T. Find me on Blue Sky at
1:46
Speaker 1: pro ant. No underscores there, just P-R-O-A-N-T. In this edition
1:51
Speaker 1: of Disguised Coverage, we will be diving into the first
1:55
Speaker 1: five weeks of this Buffalo Bills defense under Jim Leonard,
1:59
Speaker 1: how the Buffalo Bills have come up short in these
2:01
Speaker 1: five weeks, the expectations of this defense under Jim Leonard
2:05
Speaker 1: versus what we've seen thus far, biggest concerns, hopes going forward,
2:11
Speaker 1: kind of some areas to plant some flags a little
2:14
Speaker 1: bit and kind of see what's going to change, what doesn't,
2:17
Speaker 1: some players, um, schematic things, anything and everything. No film
2:21
Speaker 1: in this episode, apologies, uh, for that. I wanted to
2:24
Speaker 1: get that out ahead of time, just with the game
2:26
Speaker 1: being last night and then working during the day today,
2:28
Speaker 1: just the turnaround time, uh, was not possible. I might
2:31
Speaker 1: drop something film related, um, at the back end of
2:33
Speaker 1: this week in an offline fashion. Um, I am majority
2:38
Speaker 1: through the defensive performance from last night, from a film
2:41
Speaker 1: perspective and a charting perspective, but even just what we
2:44
Speaker 1: saw last night, it, uh, you know, kind of falls
2:47
Speaker 1: in line with what we've seen from the Bills defense
2:50
Speaker 1: thus far under Jim Leonard, which is underwhelming, disappointing. And
2:54
Speaker 1: I say that as a person who, if you are
2:56
Speaker 1: a watcher of the show or listener of the show,
2:58
Speaker 1: you know how big of a proponent of Jim Leonard
3:01
Speaker 1: I was. And I still am. And it's, yeah, it's
3:06
Speaker 1: been a really underwhelming performance. And I said it throughout
3:14
Speaker 1: the offseason with, With his hire and then kind of
3:21
Speaker 1: out the offseason after that from free agency to the draft, everything.
3:25
Speaker 1: My thoughts on Leonard were him coming in. I thought
3:30
Speaker 1: he would raise the floor of this defense. I thought
3:32
Speaker 1: the ceiling would be questionable. Immediately when he came in,
3:35
Speaker 1: I had questions about the body types and the archetypes
3:38
Speaker 1: and the fits with what he wants to be and
3:40
Speaker 1: what he wants to do, what he's done traditionally, how
3:43
Speaker 1: that would fit with what they have. Kind of hung
3:45
Speaker 1: my head on, well, you know, there are some moves
3:48
Speaker 1: that they could make that are affordable that I thought
3:52
Speaker 1: were also kind of needed. I thought it was almost
3:55
Speaker 1: like a slam dunk guarantee that Leo Chanel would be
3:58
Speaker 1: a Buffalo Bill. Just certain players like that, guys who
4:02
Speaker 1: fit the mold of what he was looking for schematically,
4:04
Speaker 1: but also guys who knew him, had played under him,
4:08
Speaker 1: knew what to expect, knew what to do. could kind
4:11
Speaker 1: of help you get a lot of new defensive coordinators
4:14
Speaker 1: that come in or new coaches in general and they
4:15
Speaker 1: usually bring a player or two with them and it
4:18
Speaker 1: doesn't have to be a starter or stud like sometimes
4:20
Speaker 1: it's just a backup guy who's been in the system
4:22
Speaker 1: who's been around who can help those guys get acclimated
4:25
Speaker 1: kind of like what Jim Leonard did with the Jets
4:28
Speaker 1: with Rex Ryan though Jim Leonard was a starter and
4:30
Speaker 1: a pretty good player he went with Rex after being
4:33
Speaker 1: in Baltimore and he was able to kind of help
4:36
Speaker 1: guys get acclimated help guys get adjusted and I thought
4:39
Speaker 1: you know, we'd see some of those guys in some
4:41
Speaker 1: form or fashion come with him, whether it was, you know,
4:43
Speaker 1: maybe somebody or two from Denver, but the guys from
4:45
Speaker 1: the Wisconsin days with somebody, you know, come with him
4:48
Speaker 1: in some form. And we, we didn't really get that. Um,
4:51
Speaker 1: and then a lot of the other moves they made
4:52
Speaker 1: this off season for three free agency in the draft
4:54
Speaker 1: were in the mold of pre the previous defense and
4:57
Speaker 1: those archetypes and body types. So I thought the ceiling
5:01
Speaker 1: would have, would be capped and had questions, but I
5:03
Speaker 1: thought the floor would be relatively better. Um, in terms
5:09
Speaker 1: of how Leonard plays or wants his defenses to play philosophically,
5:13
Speaker 1: stylistically from an identity standpoint. And we just haven't seen that. And,
5:18
Speaker 1: and I said this on social last night, I have
5:21
Speaker 1: a bunch of notes and quotes from Leonard during the
5:23
Speaker 1: off season. And a lot of this off season work
5:25
Speaker 1: that I wanted to pull forward from this episode, because
5:27
Speaker 1: my big prevailing thought as of now, and, and I
5:30
Speaker 1: also want to put this out there and preface everything
5:34
Speaker 1: with this statement, which I'll probably have to say like
5:36
Speaker 1: 75 times. So somebody will miss it. And I think
5:37
Speaker 1: I'm giving Leonard a pass. I am not giving Jim
5:39
Speaker 1: Leonard a pass. I am not saying that it's, well,
5:43
Speaker 1: it's just because they don't have the right players. That's
5:45
Speaker 1: why everything's not working. So it's the players. I am
5:47
Speaker 1: not putting the blame solely on the players. I'm not
5:50
Speaker 1: putting the blame solely on Jim Leonard. I think like
5:52
Speaker 1: most things in football, like I always say on the show,
5:54
Speaker 1: very rarely is it one person, one player, one position group,
5:58
Speaker 1: one moment, one side of the ball. Very rarely can
6:00
Speaker 1: you just solely put the blame on one person. At
6:03
Speaker 1: the end of the day, it is Jim Leonard's job
6:05
Speaker 1: to get everybody in a position to be as successful
6:08
Speaker 1: as possible from a player standpoint. My thought with everything is,
6:13
Speaker 1: and I get a lot of comments, I see a
6:14
Speaker 1: lot of comments. And the thought is like, he's got
6:16
Speaker 1: to adjust to his players. He's got to adjust to
6:18
Speaker 1: his players. I think he is adjusting to his players.
6:22
Speaker 1: And I think he's adjusting so much. I feel like
6:24
Speaker 1: he's trying so hard to do round peg and round
6:28
Speaker 1: hole and not do what Rex Ryan did. you know,
6:31
Speaker 1: who he is from that tree. And I don't think
6:33
Speaker 1: it's like a purposeful thing, but just using that example,
6:35
Speaker 1: because I know it's always fresh in Bill's fans' minds.
6:37
Speaker 1: Rex Ryan came in. We had that defense under Jim Schwartz. Phenomenal.
6:41
Speaker 1: The cold front, four down, good stuff. Rex Ryan comes in.
6:45
Speaker 1: He wants to do, you know, all the blitzing and
6:47
Speaker 1: the creative coverage structure stuff and the exotics and all this.
6:50
Speaker 1: And Mario Williams is dropping into coverage and you get
6:52
Speaker 1: a square peg in a round hole situation. I don't
6:54
Speaker 1: think Leonard's doing that. I think Leonard is trying to
6:57
Speaker 1: adapt to what he has. It's just not going well. Um,
7:01
Speaker 1: so again, it's his job to, in theory, adapt better
7:04
Speaker 1: and the players have to play better as well. But
7:06
Speaker 1: I want to continue to say, I'm not giving Jim
7:08
Speaker 1: Leonard a pass. This is everything that we're going to
7:10
Speaker 1: be going through in this episode tonight is just what
7:15
Speaker 1: we're seeing on tape, what the metrics are showing and
7:18
Speaker 1: what we've seen from Jim Leonard. And yes, he's never
7:21
Speaker 1: been a defensive coordinator in the NFL, but with his
7:24
Speaker 1: time at Wisconsin and even a little bit with his
7:26
Speaker 1: time at Denver, We have enough sample size and enough
7:29
Speaker 1: evidence knowing the coaching tree that he's come from, what
7:32
Speaker 1: he was as a defensive coordinator, what he was as
7:35
Speaker 1: a play caller, what he said in coaching clinics, what
7:37
Speaker 1: he said this past offseason. We have a pretty good
7:42
Speaker 1: kind of backdrop in setting the expectation of, okay, this
7:46
Speaker 1: is what this Bill's defense should look like. Is it
7:48
Speaker 1: going to reach all these highs and these idealistic things
7:52
Speaker 1: that we want this year? No, probably not. But going
7:56
Speaker 1: within that, And I circle back to my original thought
8:00
Speaker 1: that kind of pushed me in this direction. This just
8:03
Speaker 1: doesn't feel like a Jim Leonard defense. As a person who,
8:06
Speaker 1: before he came to the Bills, as a person who
8:08
Speaker 1: watches a ton of college football, that person is me,
8:11
Speaker 1: I've liked Jim Leonard for so long and what he
8:13
Speaker 1: did at Wisconsin and then going back this offseason, studying
8:16
Speaker 1: the tape at Wisconsin and everything he did there, the
8:19
Speaker 1: stuff that he was solely responsible for, this just doesn't
8:22
Speaker 1: feel like a Jim Leonard defense. stylistically, philosophically. It just
8:27
Speaker 1: doesn't feel that way and look that way when you
8:29
Speaker 1: watch it on tape. And then when you pair it
8:30
Speaker 1: with things Leonard has said in the past and that
8:32
Speaker 1: he said in this offseason leading into this year, it's
8:38
Speaker 1: just a very interesting point that we've come to. So
8:40
Speaker 1: we're going to talk about that. Some hopes going forward.
8:45
Speaker 1: Some big, the biggest concerns, all that kind of stuff,
8:47
Speaker 1: as always. And I know this is kind of maybe
8:50
Speaker 1: somewhat a hot button topic. I don't know. Questions, thoughts, comments, concerns,
8:53
Speaker 1: anything and everything you folks have. Put it into the
8:55
Speaker 1: live chat. It's easier for me to grab everything this
8:57
Speaker 1: week because we're not doing film in this live episode.
9:01
Speaker 1: So questions, thoughts, comments, concerns, anything and everything you got,
9:03
Speaker 1: put it up into the live chat. I will pull
9:04
Speaker 1: it up as much as humanly possible. Let's go to
9:07
Speaker 1: it right now. John, I haven't seen you in forever.
9:10
Speaker 1: John got in here super early. Thank you very much
9:13
Speaker 1: for the super chat, John. I appreciate you. John said,
9:15
Speaker 1: no alibi, but new scheme. DB's missed preseason time, haven't
9:19
Speaker 1: played together. They face real quarterback, Stafford, MVP, May 15th.
9:24
Speaker 1: Second in the MVP race last year. Goff, Herbert. Some
9:27
Speaker 1: people might disagree on Herbert now. Stroud. Stroud is playing phenomenal.
9:30
Speaker 1: And John says Stroud, top six to 15 QBs. Competition
9:34
Speaker 1: level matters. New. Two game wreckers in Groot and Dion Walker.
9:38
Speaker 1: Go Bills. I appreciate you, John. And I think this
9:40
Speaker 1: is all, I think a lot of this is fair.
9:43
Speaker 1: And I do think the DBs, the back seven in general,
9:46
Speaker 1: I think missing time together. Terrell Bernard didn't really play.
9:49
Speaker 1: anything this off season. Dorian Williams didn't really play anything
9:52
Speaker 1: this off season. We went through the majority of the
9:54
Speaker 1: off season schedule and camps with Caleb alarms or and
9:59
Speaker 1: can't to Jenkins as the one in the two with
10:03
Speaker 1: the ones for linebacker. Like that's what the linebacker grouping
10:05
Speaker 1: was even starting into the first day of camp. And
10:07
Speaker 1: then they worked in Bernard and Dorian. And then on
10:09
Speaker 1: the backend, Chauncey is new to this team. He gets
10:13
Speaker 1: hurt on day three of camp. Bishop was banged up
10:15
Speaker 1: a little bit. Again, Hairston is bad. year two players,
10:18
Speaker 1: still essentially a rookie Davis and Igbenosin. He's a full rookie.
10:22
Speaker 1: D Alford coming into this defense new for the first time,
10:25
Speaker 1: Christian Benford new to this defense, but playing with these guys,
10:28
Speaker 1: I do think the, not even just the DBS, but
10:31
Speaker 1: the coverage players in general, the backend, the second and
10:33
Speaker 1: third level, the lack of time on task together, feeling
10:38
Speaker 1: each other out, understanding who needs to be where, who
10:40
Speaker 1: needs to do what all of that in conjunction with
10:42
Speaker 1: one another. I do think that matters a lot, especially
10:44
Speaker 1: for the pattern matching aspect of defense, where, We're playing
10:47
Speaker 1: rules-based coverages. You know, if player A does this, I
10:52
Speaker 1: do that. If he does that, I do this. You
10:55
Speaker 1: and I are reading off that. We have to see
10:56
Speaker 1: the same thing at the same time. All of that.
10:59
Speaker 1: And I think these are very good points. And I
11:00
Speaker 1: appreciate you again for the Super Chat, John. Shell says,
11:03
Speaker 1: this is a support group of watching this defense try
11:06
Speaker 1: to recover receivers for the last five weeks. This is
11:08
Speaker 1: the support group. Welcome. There's coffee and cake and juice
11:12
Speaker 1: up at the front. Common here says, the zone is
11:15
Speaker 1: playing too soft. And too far off the ball. Hairston
11:19
Speaker 1: is playing seven to 10 yards off the ball on
11:21
Speaker 1: third and fourth and three multiple times. Yeah. There's a,
11:25
Speaker 1: you know, but we, we went over, we went over
11:27
Speaker 1: it in the tape last week's episode, you know, that
11:30
Speaker 1: fourth down where he's already in off, but then he
11:33
Speaker 1: pedals on the snap and he back pedals on the snap,
11:35
Speaker 1: gives up more space. Um, there's a similar play this week, uh,
11:38
Speaker 1: on a third down against the Rams. Um, I think
11:42
Speaker 1: that was just more of the Rams attacking the space.
11:44
Speaker 1: Harrison does back up a little bit. I think that
11:46
Speaker 1: one was different. I think that was Palms coverage, if
11:47
Speaker 1: I remember correctly. And, you know, they just get got.
11:50
Speaker 1: The Rams also, I think, especially in the first half, but,
11:53
Speaker 1: you know, and I have to get through the second
11:54
Speaker 1: half of the tape, but I think the Rams did
11:56
Speaker 1: a good job of attacking the underneath. The Bills have
11:59
Speaker 1: been susceptible. They've given up some chunks between the second
12:02
Speaker 1: and third level, but they've been very susceptible in the
12:04
Speaker 1: flat and in the hook curls a little bit. And
12:06
Speaker 1: the Rams came out attacking that early. It was just
12:08
Speaker 1: Higby and Puka. And all these guys just sit for
12:12
Speaker 1: five yards, sit for six yards, and then fall forward
12:14
Speaker 1: for another two and kind of attacking those areas regularly.
12:17
Speaker 1: But I do think the off-coverage aspect, I don't like
12:22
Speaker 1: as much. I would like to see more press going
12:25
Speaker 1: forward across the board, whether it's Igbenosin, whether it's Benford.
12:29
Speaker 1: I don't want to die slow anymore. Let's just get
12:32
Speaker 1: into guys' faces and beat the hell out of them.
12:34
Speaker 1: And if we get flagged, we get flagged. If we
12:35
Speaker 1: get beat, we get beat. But I would rather tip
12:38
Speaker 1: my cap because I got beat. I would rather get
12:41
Speaker 1: shook at the line and say, dude just beat me
12:45
Speaker 1: with a good release. Dude got me with a stem.
12:47
Speaker 1: Quarterback made a good throw. I would rather have that than, well,
12:50
Speaker 1: this guy is running wide open with five yards of space,
12:53
Speaker 1: you know, circumference around him because we blew a coverage. So, yeah,
12:58
Speaker 1: give me some more press. Give me a lot of
13:00
Speaker 1: different things there as well. Picks. MSG, thank you for
13:04
Speaker 1: being here, says, I'm still unsure if it's the players
13:07
Speaker 1: just not understanding their assignments, or if it's players not
13:09
Speaker 1: being able to fulfill their assignments, or if it's just
13:13
Speaker 1: poor assignments. It's bad, though. Agreed. Well said. I think
13:20
Speaker 1: it's a combination of players not executing. We showed that
13:25
Speaker 1: a bit in the film room last week using a
13:26
Speaker 1: couple players as some examples. I think the execution isn't there.
13:30
Speaker 1: I think the understanding isn't there. It's just a mess
13:35
Speaker 1: right now. What concerns me the most, and this ties
13:37
Speaker 1: into one of my points for later. Actually, I'm going
13:40
Speaker 1: to change the banner that we're not going to see
13:42
Speaker 1: right now because I'm going to go back and pull
13:43
Speaker 1: up the Super Chat. One of my biggest concerns is,
13:47
Speaker 1: not biggest concern, but the thing to note is Leonard's
13:51
Speaker 1: defenses at Wisconsin, and granted, college is different than the NFL.
13:54
Speaker 1: All the caveats before anybody wants to jump down my throat, right?
13:57
Speaker 1: College is different than the NFL. He's never been in NFL, D.C., yada, yada,
14:00
Speaker 1: all this stuff. He wasn't getting... you know, the cream
14:04
Speaker 1: of the crop for recruits at Wisconsin. He was running
14:06
Speaker 1: this schematically sound, vibrant, exciting defense that was on the
14:13
Speaker 1: forefront of a lot of things, simulated pressure, creeper pressures,
14:16
Speaker 1: disguising coverage, pattern matching, all this kind of stuff. He
14:19
Speaker 1: was doing this without the best athletes, without five-star recruits.
14:22
Speaker 1: So he was getting two and three and four-star recruit
14:25
Speaker 1: guys to play as one and in unison and doing
14:29
Speaker 1: that fairly regularly. Him not being able to do that
14:33
Speaker 1: thus far with the Bills is one of my bigger
14:36
Speaker 1: concerns because I... And again, this probably isn't fair. He
14:42
Speaker 1: has such a good track record of teaching things and
14:46
Speaker 1: getting players to understand. And his core principles and philosophies
14:50
Speaker 1: of simplifying everything and breaking things down to bare bones
14:54
Speaker 1: and building from there. It's such a core tenet of his.
14:58
Speaker 1: And he's so cognizant of it and so aware of
15:01
Speaker 1: it And he said this in coaching clinics. He said
15:03
Speaker 1: this in interviews, all this stuff. And then, so you
15:08
Speaker 1: know how important it is for him to simplify things
15:11
Speaker 1: and teach. You know how aware and cognizant of it
15:14
Speaker 1: he is. He does have a track record of being
15:17
Speaker 1: able to do that. And then on top of that,
15:20
Speaker 1: you watch the tape and for what he can do.
15:23
Speaker 1: And even in general, they're pretty vanilla. And yet guys
15:27
Speaker 1: still aren't getting it. That is the concern. So is he,
15:30
Speaker 1: Is he not a good teacher? Has he lost his touch?
15:32
Speaker 1: Does his teachings not work at the NFL level? Is
15:35
Speaker 1: it the players? It's kind of hard to believe that
15:37
Speaker 1: it would be all the players like it, but the
15:40
Speaker 1: granted some are failing more than others. So it is,
15:44
Speaker 1: it is just bad. And I don't think it's poor assignments.
15:48
Speaker 1: I think it is more of your first parts here.
15:50
Speaker 1: I think it's players not being able to fulfill their assignments.
15:52
Speaker 1: I think there's issues with execution and I think it's
15:54
Speaker 1: players not understanding. The understanding is, is a big concern
15:58
Speaker 1: because I, It doesn't look like there's an overload of
16:02
Speaker 1: things conceptually, but they look overloaded. And you got guys
16:07
Speaker 1: after the play pointing to each other. You're supposed to
16:09
Speaker 1: be here. No, I'm supposed to be there. Hey, what
16:11
Speaker 1: were you doing? What's happening? We're seeing that happen before
16:13
Speaker 1: the snap. It's part of why I'm very hopeful for
16:16
Speaker 1: the bye week. I said that on social earlier today.
16:18
Speaker 1: I'm going to mention it as one of my points later,
16:20
Speaker 1: but yeah, it is bad. Charles says problem is it's
16:24
Speaker 1: not just the corners. The safeties have just been bad,
16:26
Speaker 1: had been just as bad. Yeah. Chauncey hasn't been great.
16:30
Speaker 1: I'm not going to go into Cole Bishop again. We
16:32
Speaker 1: broke him down a bunch last week. I'm not trying
16:37
Speaker 1: to plant a flag or say anything drastic. Chauncey Gardner
16:39
Speaker 1: Johnson's on a one-year contract. I know Cole is going
16:42
Speaker 1: into year three. Unless Cole shapes up, I'm getting somebody
16:46
Speaker 1: to replace Cole Bishop this offseason. I think you've got
16:48
Speaker 1: to sign it. Chauncey's on a one-year. If things continue
16:51
Speaker 1: to happen this way with the safety grouping, Chauncey's on
16:54
Speaker 1: a one-year, kind of let him go his way. I
16:56
Speaker 1: think you need two new safeties. The safeties just are
16:59
Speaker 1: not cutting it. And I think Paul Bishop has had
17:01
Speaker 1: struggles in McDermott's defense that are still showing here in
17:04
Speaker 1: Leonard's defense. I know he's traits and athleticism, but I
17:08
Speaker 1: do think he's much more of a traits player than
17:09
Speaker 1: he is a football player right now. Yeah. Safety is
17:13
Speaker 1: a concern. Corners are concerned. Everything from coverage. The second
17:16
Speaker 1: and third level is a concern at this point. Hmm.
17:21
Speaker 1: Joey says Jim has improved the development of many players,
17:23
Speaker 1: but what surprised me is Cole Bishop's regression under a
17:25
Speaker 1: former safety slash coach. I appreciate this comment. I do
17:29
Speaker 1: push back on a little, I don't think, I don't
17:32
Speaker 1: think Cole Bishop season last year was so strong to
17:36
Speaker 1: the point that he's regressed last year. I think he
17:38
Speaker 1: had more gaps last year that just didn't get covered
17:41
Speaker 1: because he was making these splash plays with the athleticism,
17:44
Speaker 1: you know, the interception against the saints. I think those
17:46
Speaker 1: two or three plays almost kind of back to back
17:48
Speaker 1: to back against the chiefs. Um, But if he's a
17:54
Speaker 1: guy who's blown assignments in the past, who's been in
17:56
Speaker 1: the wrong spot, who hasn't been able to make the
17:58
Speaker 1: play at times, I think he improved last year versus
18:01
Speaker 1: the year before. And I don't, granted, he's not playing
18:05
Speaker 1: as good this year as he did last year, but
18:06
Speaker 1: I think the conversation of, wow, he's really regressed. For me,
18:10
Speaker 1: I don't think that's a significant because I didn't think
18:12
Speaker 1: he played that high last year. Like this year, I
18:15
Speaker 1: feel like he's playing at like a four. Last year,
18:19
Speaker 1: I think he played at like, a six, maybe a
18:22
Speaker 1: six and a half. Granted, that's still a regression, but
18:25
Speaker 1: I think it's less severe for me. It's like we
18:33
Speaker 1: traded the good secondary we had under McDermott for the
18:35
Speaker 1: good pass rush we never had under McDermott. Fair. What's
18:37
Speaker 1: also tough with McDermott's defense and comparing the two, and
18:40
Speaker 1: we're going to do that statistically and conceptually in a
18:42
Speaker 1: little bit here, once I finish getting through the comments.
18:46
Speaker 1: What's tough is McDermott's defense, especially even last year, right?
18:50
Speaker 1: You've got Taron Johnson. You've got Tredavious White. You've got
18:53
Speaker 1: Christian Benford. Even like Cole Bishop, like you and Hamlin,
18:57
Speaker 1: you know, rapped before that when he got hurt. But
18:58
Speaker 1: you had Milano, Bernard. You had all these guys who
19:01
Speaker 1: were in this defense for so long and understood what
19:04
Speaker 1: to do and where to be that it was just
19:09
Speaker 1: a much, much different situation. And now, yeah, you've got
19:14
Speaker 1: new guys. in the secondary and you may even have
19:18
Speaker 1: some better guys in the secondary, but it's just things
19:20
Speaker 1: haven't gelled yet on the backend. And it's causing significant discomfort. Yep.
19:30
Speaker 1: Joey says being would be smart to try and find
19:32
Speaker 1: former players of gyms that are veterans to help with
19:36
Speaker 1: the transition. I thought that would be kind of like
19:37
Speaker 1: a given in the off season didn't happen, but I
19:40
Speaker 1: don't know why. Man, it's a crazy comment. crazy, but
19:46
Speaker 1: as bad as the defense has been, it is still
19:48
Speaker 1: five points per game better. than the 2020 through 2025
19:52
Speaker 1: playoff elimination games from a points per game perspective oh
19:55
Speaker 1: that's terrible they actually want to throw up mark says
19:58
Speaker 1: the near interception pass breakup by alarms or late in
20:01
Speaker 1: the game is nice to see can't wait until he
20:02
Speaker 1: gets more reps and make it impossible to keep him
20:04
Speaker 1: off the field yeah they uh He had a nice
20:07
Speaker 1: one in the second quarter. They ran a cover three
20:09
Speaker 1: creeper pressure. Bernard comes in free through the a gap.
20:13
Speaker 1: I believe free runner right onto Stafford. Um, Elon's or
20:17
Speaker 1: is in the hook curls and he just gets to respond.
20:19
Speaker 1: Reed Stafford's eyes goes up, makes play in the ball.
20:21
Speaker 1: Really nice to see really, really, really nice to see. Oh,
20:24
Speaker 1: we got super chat. What's up, Justin. Justin says being
20:27
Speaker 1: is so bad. 13 seconds is five years ago. And
20:29
Speaker 1: when you have 17, just build an average defense and
20:31
Speaker 1: he still can't do it. It's so maddening. I do
20:33
Speaker 1: feel that, um, I think my biggest frustration with everything
20:36
Speaker 1: with the defense. And again, I'm not giving Leonard a pass.
20:41
Speaker 1: I've just, I've had issues with the body types and
20:44
Speaker 1: archetypes that they've subscribed to for so long, not because
20:47
Speaker 1: they're bad, but just because that's all they subscribe to.
20:50
Speaker 1: Like they only build the boat out of one thing.
20:55
Speaker 1: And then coincidentally, that one thing tends to not work
20:57
Speaker 1: come playoff time, but yeah, it's it's frustrating to see
21:01
Speaker 1: just the struggles. But I do think there was some,
21:05
Speaker 1: Chris says, why do we continually rush the quarterback with
21:08
Speaker 1: four and send extra guys or blitz very rarely, especially
21:11
Speaker 1: when sending four rushers in a game like last night
21:13
Speaker 1: isn't producing results. They've blitzed a bit more over the
21:15
Speaker 1: past several games. But my, my thought with it is
21:21
Speaker 1: I don't think we're seeing a lot schematically and from
21:23
Speaker 1: a designer standpoint, because I don't think Leonard thinks the
21:26
Speaker 1: players can execute it and or handle it. And the
21:29
Speaker 1: bus are going to be worse doing those things than
21:32
Speaker 1: they are with what they're doing now. Now, Your counterpoint
21:35
Speaker 1: could be, well, it can't get much worse than it
21:36
Speaker 1: could now, and that's fair, but it kind of could maybe.
21:39
Speaker 1: I think that's what's in his head. Adrian says, I'm
21:42
Speaker 1: tired of seeing Bernard play. He looks small and slow
21:44
Speaker 1: at the same time. Yeah, man. There's times where he triggers,
21:49
Speaker 1: and I'm like, oh, that was nice, and then there's
21:50
Speaker 1: other times where he looks like he's got cement in
21:52
Speaker 1: his cleats, man. It's tough. Jared says, the Chargers scored 16.
21:57
Speaker 1: Can we hold to anyone to lessen that? What's tough
22:00
Speaker 1: with that Chargers game, too, is They're like a better
22:02
Speaker 1: ball to a Rondé Gadsden Jr. and a catch from
22:05
Speaker 1: Quentin Johnston of maybe making that game something different. Oh,
22:10
Speaker 1: I got another super chat. I got to stop. Carl,
22:11
Speaker 1: what's up, Carl? Carl says, if you think that we
22:13
Speaker 1: need new personnel, is the D not able to be
22:16
Speaker 1: fixed this year and we have to give it a
22:18
Speaker 1: year or two with the drafts of free agency? Do
22:20
Speaker 1: you think it will bite us or can we win
22:21
Speaker 1: the Super Bowl now? I don't think the ceiling of
22:26
Speaker 1: the defense can be fixed this year. I do think
22:28
Speaker 1: the floor can be raised. I think the bye week
22:33
Speaker 1: is going to be super, super, super important. I think
22:37
Speaker 1: they're going to try and get through the Raiders game
22:39
Speaker 1: as is. You go into the bye week, come out
22:43
Speaker 1: from that bye week, and then you hopefully see a
22:48
Speaker 1: new and improved Bills defense with some tweaks. And they're
22:50
Speaker 1: going to get a good test right out the gate.
22:52
Speaker 1: I don't know how healthy Lamar is going to be
22:53
Speaker 1: for that Bills-Ravens game coming out the bye. But the Ravens,
22:56
Speaker 1: like they are every year when they're healthy, they're a buzzsaw.
22:59
Speaker 1: So they're going to get a good test right out
23:00
Speaker 1: the gate, and the schedule doesn't let up. I expect
23:03
Speaker 1: to see some changes and some tweaks. I think the
23:07
Speaker 1: floor can still be raised. I think when it all
23:09
Speaker 1: is said and done, especially if we parse it and
23:11
Speaker 1: we're like, oh, you know, the defense coming out of
23:13
Speaker 1: the bye or the back half of the year versus
23:14
Speaker 1: the first half of the year, I think this defense
23:17
Speaker 1: can get to a point where they're more middling than
23:20
Speaker 1: they are bottom of the barrel and everything. I'm less...
23:25
Speaker 1: of a believer in that now than I was before
23:27
Speaker 1: the season. Uh, but I do still think it's possible.
23:30
Speaker 1: I think I do sincerely believe they just need more
23:33
Speaker 1: time on task. I think they will be better as
23:36
Speaker 1: we push forward. Now, again, you can push back and say, well,
23:38
Speaker 1: they've gotten worse in a lot of ways with each
23:40
Speaker 1: game they push forward. And I think that's a fair point. Um,
23:43
Speaker 1: but I think the bi-week will do them a lot
23:44
Speaker 1: of good, or I hope at least I do. I
23:49
Speaker 1: did think bringing in Leonard and the scheme change and
23:52
Speaker 1: the stylistic change and the identity change, I did think
23:54
Speaker 1: it would have to be like a year or two turn,
23:57
Speaker 1: which is why I also thought like the hiring of
23:58
Speaker 1: Leonard was interesting considering how hot of a name he was,
24:01
Speaker 1: because I thought if he came in and succeeded this year,
24:04
Speaker 1: there was a chance he could be out the door,
24:08
Speaker 1: which is interesting. But yeah, I thought this was going
24:11
Speaker 1: to be, you know, a couple of year project to
24:13
Speaker 1: really turn it into what he needed. I think they
24:16
Speaker 1: can win the Superbowl now. Um, but if the defense
24:20
Speaker 1: doesn't turn around, then you got to score like 35
24:22
Speaker 1: plus points every week, which is possible, but just really hard,
24:26
Speaker 1: really hard, really hard. But I do think they can
24:27
Speaker 1: raise the floor a bit. And I'm hopeful for that. Yeah.
24:31
Speaker 1: As James says, remedial Leonard one-on-one during the bi-week. Yeah.
24:33
Speaker 1: I think they have to self-scout reassess and tweak some
24:36
Speaker 1: things and figure out, okay, like what's worked. What's not really,
24:40
Speaker 1: really strip things down source pain points and go from there.
24:44
Speaker 1: And again, it's, I don't think they're going to come
24:45
Speaker 1: out of the buy and, they've been the number one
24:48
Speaker 1: defense in football, you know, five weeks or I don't
24:50
Speaker 1: think it's going to happen, but I do think they
24:51
Speaker 1: can play closer to 15th or 16th or inside, you know,
24:55
Speaker 1: 15 to 20, then they are consistently 25 and below
24:58
Speaker 1: in a lot of things. Joshua says, it seems like
25:07
Speaker 1: IBG overtook Harrison on the depth chart. Yeah. I, there
25:10
Speaker 1: were reports that hair that Brady said, Harrison was going
25:12
Speaker 1: to start and then IGB started. I think we're still
25:15
Speaker 1: six and one half a dozen of the other. I
25:17
Speaker 1: don't feel really strongly one way or the other towards
25:20
Speaker 1: either corner. I think Benford had a good first half
25:22
Speaker 1: against the Rams, especially in some press situations and some
25:26
Speaker 1: match and man, you know, locked on boundary corner type situations. Um,
25:31
Speaker 1: IGB is the better tackler. So I, I'd probably lean
25:34
Speaker 1: IGB than I would Hairston right now. Um, I think
25:37
Speaker 1: Hairston's poor performance combined with kind of storming out of
25:39
Speaker 1: the locker room a little bit after the New England
25:41
Speaker 1: game hurt him a bit. We'll see how he recovers.
25:44
Speaker 1: But yeah, I feel like I still think it's more 2A,
25:47
Speaker 1: 2B with them right now. But I think they favor IGB.
25:51
Speaker 1: I lean IGB right now as well. I would probably
25:54
Speaker 1: like if I had to pick one, I'm probably picking
25:56
Speaker 1: IGB like 55, 45. But I don't holistically love either. Oh,
26:02
Speaker 1: stats here. Followed up on that comment earlier from Biggie Scooby.
26:05
Speaker 1: He says, the Bills defense playoff elimination games, 22 to 2025, 33.2
26:10
Speaker 1: points per game. The first five games of 2026 for Leonard, 28.2.
26:13
Speaker 1: Leonard asked McDermott for five points per game. See, silver lining.
26:17
Speaker 1: Look it, everything's fine. Good job. I appreciate that. Yeah,
26:21
Speaker 1: RJ said that OT drive by the Rams felt like
26:23
Speaker 1: the slowest death ever. That's fair. If that's fair, that's fair,
26:25
Speaker 1: that's fair. Zesty says, I told myself before the season
26:29
Speaker 1: started I wouldn't get too concerned with the defense until
26:31
Speaker 1: after the bye, but man, they're testing me. Yes, shout
26:33
Speaker 1: out to TJ Sanders. Very cool to see some flashes
26:36
Speaker 1: against the run and the pass. He got road graded
26:37
Speaker 1: and displaced really hard at one point in the second quarter,
26:41
Speaker 1: but play. Fair play. I don't know why I said play.
26:45
Speaker 1: He played well, especially for his debut. I was pleased.
26:53
Speaker 1: RJ says, no one can say Leonard doesn't have any
26:55
Speaker 1: of his guys. Three of the five starting DBs are
26:58
Speaker 1: his guys. At this point, it's on Leonard to make
27:00
Speaker 1: it work with what he has. Yes, but I think saying...
27:03
Speaker 1: you know, they're his guys. I don't like, just because
27:06
Speaker 1: they sign him, I don't know if that makes them
27:08
Speaker 1: his guys. And, you know, he may have preferred others.
27:11
Speaker 1: This is, the free agency caveats are always terrible. You know,
27:15
Speaker 1: they didn't sign this guy. Bean doesn't care. Bean didn't try.
27:17
Speaker 1: We don't know if the guys they brought in were
27:19
Speaker 1: more wanted by Bean than by Leonard. We don't know
27:21
Speaker 1: if Leonard had other guys that were priority versus not.
27:24
Speaker 1: these could have been like his last tiered options. So yes,
27:27
Speaker 1: they may have been guys that he wanted, but it
27:28
Speaker 1: wasn't really guys that he wanted. And at the end
27:32
Speaker 1: of the day, from a DB perspective, it's still, it's
27:37
Speaker 1: still everybody trying to learn to play together and gel.
27:40
Speaker 1: So even if they are his guys, they haven't played
27:42
Speaker 1: under him. So they could be guys where he was like, Ooh,
27:45
Speaker 1: that guy could work. And that guy could work, but
27:47
Speaker 1: it still takes time on tasks to gel. And I
27:49
Speaker 1: think isolating just the DB aspect, granted, that's a big
27:52
Speaker 1: part of the coverage of, But I think narrowing down
27:56
Speaker 1: to just the acquisitions, I think kind of loses the
27:59
Speaker 1: forest through the trees a little bit. Granted, maybe, you know,
28:04
Speaker 1: he pounded the table for IGB. Maybe that was his guy.
28:07
Speaker 1: I don't know. I don't know how much of it
28:11
Speaker 1: was being, how much of it was Leonard, how much
28:12
Speaker 1: of it was Brady. We have no idea. Yeah, it's tough.
28:18
Speaker 1: RJ says, CJ, Sanjay Anderson never looked this bad on
28:21
Speaker 1: the field, and he's been in eight different defenses. That's
28:22
Speaker 1: why this is a Leonard issue. False. He looked bad
28:25
Speaker 1: with the Texans. That's why the Texans let him go. RJ,
28:28
Speaker 1: you can't do this reactionary stuff, man. He didn't look
28:30
Speaker 1: good with the Texans. There's a reason why the Bears
28:37
Speaker 1: used him in a very siloed niche role last year.
28:41
Speaker 1: There's a reason why a lot of people who showed
28:43
Speaker 1: good tape of him was from like 2022 and 2023
28:45
Speaker 1: with the Eagles and all those stints. He wasn't the
28:50
Speaker 1: same dude the past couple years, especially last year. These
28:54
Speaker 1: struggles that you saw, you know, that was happening early
28:57
Speaker 1: on with the Texans. And that was happening in a
28:59
Speaker 1: defense where he was insulated with phenomenal players all around him.
29:05
Speaker 1: That Texans defense last year was like a historical type
29:09
Speaker 1: of defense, especially with how hurt the offense was and
29:11
Speaker 1: how bad the offense was. And they still were like,
29:14
Speaker 1: I mean, granted, because they were so good, it makes
29:16
Speaker 1: it easier for them to be like, all right, you're
29:17
Speaker 1: ahead of get out. But he was having issues last year, um,
29:21
Speaker 1: in a, in a defense where he was insulated with
29:23
Speaker 1: talent in a sound scheme. So I don't think he
29:26
Speaker 1: looked great last year. You know, we can, I don't
29:28
Speaker 1: know how to quantify, has he looked this bad versus
29:30
Speaker 1: previous stops, but he's a guy I wanted several years ago.
29:35
Speaker 1: At this point I was like, okay, you know, we
29:38
Speaker 1: could see some versatility, some interchangeability between Cole Bishop, but
29:41
Speaker 1: they didn't bring in, like, some all-pro. Like, I don't
29:44
Speaker 1: think he's peak Chauncey Gardner. He's a diminished version. And
29:50
Speaker 1: I also think using that as just a kind of
29:51
Speaker 1: point to a Leonard issue is a little myopic, but
29:55
Speaker 1: teach there. Mm-hmm. Bob says, Oh, I didn't see the
29:59
Speaker 1: presser day. So think of this, Bob, Bob said, Leonard
30:01
Speaker 1: mentioned you don't, you quote, Leonard mentioned that quote, you
30:05
Speaker 1: don't have to be smart in his presser today. Felt
30:07
Speaker 1: like he gave a peek inside the defensive room and
30:09
Speaker 1: his frustration. I do think he is frustrated. Joey said,
30:13
Speaker 1: would you make a change mid season fires? The corners coach? No,
30:15
Speaker 1: I'm not firing anybody. I think you got, you got
30:17
Speaker 1: to let this thing ride out a little bit, let
30:18
Speaker 1: some guys gel and we'll go from there. I also
30:20
Speaker 1: don't think, what are you going to do? Firing the
30:24
Speaker 1: corners coach? I don't, Because then who do you promote?
30:27
Speaker 1: What do you do? I don't think this is a
30:28
Speaker 1: solely one-person, one-issue thing. It's a tangled web of messiness. Oh,
30:39
Speaker 1: I appreciate you, RJ. I got some one-pie pizza last week, RJ,
30:43
Speaker 1: and I thought it was phenomenal. But yeah, it's messiness.
30:50
Speaker 1: To your point, though, RJ, I don't think the players
30:54
Speaker 1: are playing too... I don't think the bills have the
30:59
Speaker 1: most amount of talent defensively or the best amount of talent.
31:03
Speaker 1: I also don't think they're as bad as they've been.
31:06
Speaker 1: So again, it's on the players. It's on Leonard. It's
31:08
Speaker 1: a bunch. Um, yeah, it's, uh, it's not ideal. Not ideal.
31:15
Speaker 1: Patrick says the number one defensive free agency target slash
31:18
Speaker 1: need slash wishlist. I got to see who the free
31:20
Speaker 1: agents are last year before the season started. My number
31:23
Speaker 1: one wish was Kobe Turner. Um, I still would like
31:28
Speaker 1: Kobe Turner. But now, I mean, I don't know, like
31:32
Speaker 1: another real corner to two safeties, two linebackers. I would
31:39
Speaker 1: like at some point with the linebackers. I don't think
31:41
Speaker 1: Bernard and Dorian Williams have been as bad as it seems,
31:44
Speaker 1: although they have not been great. I've liked Dorian more
31:48
Speaker 1: than I've liked Bernard. I would like to see Shaq
31:50
Speaker 1: Thompson and Caleb B. Larm's or get a chance together
31:52
Speaker 1: as a pairing. Give me the dude who can fly
31:56
Speaker 1: in Caleb Elam Zoran, who has athleticism and burst, and
31:58
Speaker 1: then give me the vet with size in Shaq Thompson,
32:00
Speaker 1: and let's see from there. But I don't know. I'd
32:03
Speaker 1: have to see the free agents right now. But if
32:05
Speaker 1: I had to pick players for the defense right now, linebacker, safety, corner,
32:12
Speaker 1: I'd also want some reinforcements on the interior of the
32:14
Speaker 1: defensive line. Landon Jackson has been, I think, fine as
32:19
Speaker 1: a role player. I'm encouraged by TJ Sanders. Dwayne Carter's
32:22
Speaker 1: shown he can be a role player, although I do
32:23
Speaker 1: think some of his hype has been overblown. And then, yeah,
32:27
Speaker 1: a true nose tackle. But I'm going to continue to
32:29
Speaker 1: say that every single offseason. I'm kind of becoming a
32:32
Speaker 1: meme of myself at this point. All right. Now, let's
32:40
Speaker 1: get to some quotes and some pieces. I started pulling
32:43
Speaker 1: these forward on social last night in preparation for this episode.
32:48
Speaker 1: And I just want to read some things that Jim
32:50
Speaker 1: Leonard has said that I think are pretty apropos to
32:55
Speaker 1: the situation at hand. The first one, this I think
33:03
Speaker 1: is one of the most important ones and the big ones.
33:07
Speaker 1: Jim Leonard, part of my love for him, and I
33:09
Speaker 1: said this throughout the offseason, is him playing on the
33:11
Speaker 1: front foot. He is a guy who wants to do
33:13
Speaker 1: the dictating. He is a matchup-based defensive coordinator. He is
33:17
Speaker 1: somebody that What do you do best? Let me tie
33:20
Speaker 1: that hand behind your back and make you go do
33:22
Speaker 1: something else. A guy who attacks protections and attacks formations
33:27
Speaker 1: and knows what he wants to do and needs to do.
33:30
Speaker 1: This is a quote from Jim Leonard that I put
33:33
Speaker 1: out on January 27th. This is a direct quote from
33:35
Speaker 1: Jim Leonard. Quote, I never want to be a counter puncher.
33:41
Speaker 1: I always want us to have things in our game
33:43
Speaker 1: plan that we can dictate the flow to an offense.
33:46
Speaker 1: you need these offenses to have to go over to
33:48
Speaker 1: the sideline and find an answer. And the more flexibility
33:52
Speaker 1: you have within your scheme and the more ways you
33:55
Speaker 1: have to be that throwing that jab or throwing some
33:58
Speaker 1: of those uppercuts on them, then they have to go
34:01
Speaker 1: make adjustments and not just attack, which is all they,
34:05
Speaker 1: the offenses all want to do. End quote. If you
34:11
Speaker 1: think about that, if you think about, What we just
34:15
Speaker 1: read there, I never want to be a counterpuncher. I
34:17
Speaker 1: always want us to have things in our game plan
34:19
Speaker 1: that we can dictate the flow to an offense, right?
34:21
Speaker 1: He wants to play on the front foot. He wants
34:24
Speaker 1: to do the dictating. The example I've always said, or
34:27
Speaker 1: the proverbial I always gave, he wants the offense to
34:29
Speaker 1: have to go to the sideline, grab the tablet, and
34:31
Speaker 1: be like, oh man, what's going on? What are they
34:34
Speaker 1: doing out there? That is his MO. He did that
34:38
Speaker 1: at Wisconsin. for years with two and three and four
34:42
Speaker 1: star players to a multitude of success, right? That's what
34:45
Speaker 1: he wants to be. And if you think of that
34:48
Speaker 1: and think of what you've seen through the first five weeks,
34:53
Speaker 1: we have not seen that. We have seen more of
34:55
Speaker 1: a passive defense. We have seen more of a reactive defense.
35:00
Speaker 1: We have seen more of a bend, but don't break
35:03
Speaker 1: type of defense. That is not Leonard's thing. Leonard's thing
35:07
Speaker 1: is front foot, punch you in the face, see what happens, right?
35:10
Speaker 1: Literally like throwing that jab or throwing some of those
35:13
Speaker 1: uppercuts and then they have to go and make adjustments
35:15
Speaker 1: and not just attack. It's been the opposite. They have
35:18
Speaker 1: been attacked. They have been dictated to, right? So this
35:22
Speaker 1: is another thing of Brent Crum for me of saying,
35:24
Speaker 1: you know, it doesn't feel or look like a Jim
35:26
Speaker 1: Leonard defense. You hear that quote, sorry, I'm moving too much.
35:29
Speaker 1: I put the camera out of focus. You hear that quote, right?
35:33
Speaker 1: That's not what we've seen from the, this bill's defense
35:36
Speaker 1: through these first five weeks, right? Now, Another quote. This
35:41
Speaker 1: one is from Jim Leonard this offseason, and I think
35:45
Speaker 1: his first pressure with the Bills. This is what he says. Quote,
35:51
Speaker 1: and this is on Jim Leonard speaking on the hallmarks
35:54
Speaker 1: of his defense. This is from this offseason. Quote, we're
35:58
Speaker 1: going to be an attacking defense up front. In the
36:01
Speaker 1: back end, we're going to attack the football. You know
36:05
Speaker 1: that's the biggest stat in football is turnovers. So we're
36:08
Speaker 1: going to be aggressive defensively. we're going to fly around.
36:10
Speaker 1: We're going to communicate. We're going to play well together.
36:13
Speaker 1: We're going to cause issues for offenses and we're going
36:16
Speaker 1: to force them to react to us again. So this
36:20
Speaker 1: is me saying again, but this next line, similar to
36:22
Speaker 1: what we just heard, quote, I don't want to counter punch.
36:26
Speaker 1: We want to be a defense that is constantly evolving
36:29
Speaker 1: and growing throughout a game and throughout a season. Now, again,
36:37
Speaker 1: That's what you saw at Wisconsin. Charles says Leonard. Leonard
36:42
Speaker 1: sits on a throne of lies. That's funny. But literally,
36:46
Speaker 1: all jokes aside, think about that, right? What he said
36:49
Speaker 1: there in that quote and the one I just read,
36:52
Speaker 1: that's what you saw from his defenses repeatedly. Whether they,
36:57
Speaker 1: you know, again, Wisconsin, whether they were playing Ohio State
37:00
Speaker 1: or Michigan or Penn State or whatever good team in
37:02
Speaker 1: the Big Ten and those schools are rolling, I know
37:04
Speaker 1: you might say now and be like, Michigan and Penn
37:05
Speaker 1: State are bad. Back then, they had some good squads, right?
37:08
Speaker 1: Even against Ohio State, better teams. Notre Dame at that time, right?
37:12
Speaker 1: The game where they're attacking Kyron Williams, wherever he is.
37:15
Speaker 1: I think they played in Chicago for that game, I think.
37:20
Speaker 1: You hear what he's saying, and it's not just pie
37:24
Speaker 1: in the sky. This matches the tape, what he's saying.
37:28
Speaker 1: It's not like, oh, that's interesting that he says that
37:31
Speaker 1: because you don't really see that. No. That's what you
37:34
Speaker 1: see on the Wisconsin tape. And then, you know, granted,
37:38
Speaker 1: he wasn't the D.C. in Denver, but you know what
37:40
Speaker 1: Denver is. Granted, they've got some absolute studs over there
37:44
Speaker 1: on defense, including one of the best defensive players in
37:47
Speaker 1: all of football, Pat Sertan. But you know what that
37:50
Speaker 1: defense was. Front foot, attacking, punch you in the mouth,
37:53
Speaker 1: man up, squeeze windows, restrict airspace, all that, right? But
37:58
Speaker 1: Leonard did this stuff in Wisconsin, and you hear that, attacking,
38:02
Speaker 1: attack the football, aggressive, fly around. We're going to communicate.
38:06
Speaker 1: We're going to play well together, right? We're going to
38:08
Speaker 1: cause issues for an offense. We're going to force them
38:10
Speaker 1: to react to us. That is what he wants to do.
38:13
Speaker 1: That is what he believes in. That is the hallmark
38:16
Speaker 1: or hallmarks of his defense. And he has a track
38:21
Speaker 1: record of doing that. Yes, I know, caveat, prefacing everything. Well,
38:25
Speaker 1: that was in college. He's never done in the NFL.
38:27
Speaker 1: I understand. But that's still who he wants to be.
38:30
Speaker 1: what he wants to be. And he did it when
38:33
Speaker 1: given the opportunity as a defensive coordinator. But again, if
38:37
Speaker 1: you see that, you're like, oh, okay. So that's what
38:38
Speaker 1: he believes. Okay. That's what he wants philosophically. Those are
38:41
Speaker 1: the hallmarks of his defense and he has a track
38:43
Speaker 1: record of it, but we haven't seen that so far, right? Again,
38:46
Speaker 1: that's another thing for me where I say it doesn't
38:48
Speaker 1: feel like a Jim Leonard defense. It doesn't look like
38:51
Speaker 1: a Jim Leonard defense, even just the basics. It's not
38:54
Speaker 1: even like all the turnovers and attacking the football. We're
38:57
Speaker 1: not seeing communication, or good communication at least. We're not
39:00
Speaker 1: seeing guys play well together. We're not seeing them cause
39:04
Speaker 1: a lot of issues for the offense and forcing offenses
39:06
Speaker 1: to react to them. And again, he says, I don't
39:10
Speaker 1: want to counterpunch. And that's really all they're doing. Actually,
39:13
Speaker 1: I wouldn't even say they're counterpunching at this point. They
39:15
Speaker 1: are more in the corner, kind of protecting themselves and
39:21
Speaker 1: taking shots. And then every once in a while, they
39:22
Speaker 1: kind of slip one and maybe get a jab in
39:24
Speaker 1: and kind of break out of the corner a little bit.
39:27
Speaker 1: it's not even the counter punching aspect, but again, more
39:30
Speaker 1: breadcrumbs of what he wants to be right. What he's saying.
39:33
Speaker 1: And this is something he said throughout his entire defensive
39:36
Speaker 1: tenure as a coach. And this is something you saw
39:39
Speaker 1: on tape regularly, but again, something we haven't seen to
39:42
Speaker 1: the first five weeks, which is why I say this
39:43
Speaker 1: doesn't look or feel like a gym letter defense. Now,
39:48
Speaker 1: Something he said this offseason in May with the Buffalo Bills. Sorry,
39:51
Speaker 1: I keep putting the camera out of focus. I'm moving
39:53
Speaker 1: too much. I got to stop being so animated. I'm Italian.
39:56
Speaker 1: I talk with my hands. This is a quote from May.
40:01
Speaker 1: Jim Leonard talking about the Bills defensive personnel in year
40:04
Speaker 1: one for him. Quote, that's the exciting part of the offseason.
40:09
Speaker 1: I had a vision for what I want it to be,
40:11
Speaker 1: meaning the defense, and it might not totally get there
40:15
Speaker 1: in year one. Again, this is him talking about the
40:17
Speaker 1: defensive personnel. I had a vision for what I want
40:20
Speaker 1: it to be, and it might not totally get there
40:24
Speaker 1: in year one. We have to be real as far
40:27
Speaker 1: as who we have, what their skill sets are, and
40:31
Speaker 1: I have to be flexible as well as them. And
40:34
Speaker 1: that's where that overload philosophy was. Let's push a lot
40:38
Speaker 1: of stuff on them, the players, and really stress them
40:41
Speaker 1: out mentally and schematically, meaning during camp and this offseason,
40:45
Speaker 1: and see what we're going to be able to do,
40:47
Speaker 1: and then just start to dial it in as we
40:49
Speaker 1: get closer to week one. He said this on May,
40:54
Speaker 1: I put this out on May 26th, so he said
40:55
Speaker 1: it around there. So this is after free agency has
40:59
Speaker 1: really happened. This is after the draft. Now, considering, I mean,
41:04
Speaker 1: I thought this then, but I think it holds even
41:06
Speaker 1: more weight now. I think it's very, very interesting that
41:09
Speaker 1: the main second sentence there, I had a vision, meaning
41:13
Speaker 1: talking about the defensive personnel, I had a vision for
41:16
Speaker 1: what I want it to be, and it might not
41:19
Speaker 1: totally get there in year one. We have to be
41:22
Speaker 1: real as far as who we have, what their skill
41:25
Speaker 1: sets are, and I have to be flexible as well
41:28
Speaker 1: as them. I think he saw who and what they
41:31
Speaker 1: brought in and who and what they didn't bring in,
41:34
Speaker 1: and he went, I mean, he literally says it. I
41:37
Speaker 1: had a vision for what I want it to be,
41:40
Speaker 1: meaning the defense and defensive personnel, And it might not
41:42
Speaker 1: totally get there in year one. That to me, if
41:45
Speaker 1: I'm reading between the lines and I might be doing
41:46
Speaker 1: it too much, that to me says he wanted certain things.
41:51
Speaker 1: He had a vision. They did not accomplish that vision.
41:54
Speaker 1: And I think we're seeing that play out. And then again,
41:56
Speaker 1: he talks about, and I have to be flexible as
41:58
Speaker 1: well as them, right? There are so many quotes that
42:03
Speaker 1: are tied to Leonard's thoughts in the the defense in
42:10
Speaker 1: his personnel is philosophy. I honestly, I'm going back and
42:14
Speaker 1: I'm like filtering anytime I've ever said anything about Jim
42:17
Speaker 1: Leonard on social, because I just have, I mean, I
42:20
Speaker 1: could go into my notes too, but I have so
42:24
Speaker 1: many things on what he wants to be philosophically and from,
42:29
Speaker 1: and stylistically and defensively from an identity standpoint, a mindset standpoint,
42:35
Speaker 1: everything he does with, body types and position groups. And
42:42
Speaker 1: it's just, we haven't seen that in any real capacity
42:49
Speaker 1: that matches what he's done at previous stops. Um, I
42:54
Speaker 1: wanted to grab, ha, here's another one. Here's another one
42:59
Speaker 1: for Jim Leonard. I found it. I hope you couldn't
43:01
Speaker 1: tell that I was stalling while I tried to find it.
43:03
Speaker 1: There's another quote from Jim Leonard quote, You have to
43:06
Speaker 1: be able to control the tempo of a game. This
43:09
Speaker 1: is him talking about the hallmarks of his defense. You
43:12
Speaker 1: have to be able to control the tempo of a game.
43:16
Speaker 1: The number one way to control the tempo of a
43:18
Speaker 1: game is stopping the run. To force them into situations
43:21
Speaker 1: where the defense is advantageous. Firm believer in stopping the
43:25
Speaker 1: run to make teams predictable. Try to make them be
43:27
Speaker 1: more one-dimensional, and that allows you to really force them
43:30
Speaker 1: to react to you. So that's where it's always going
43:32
Speaker 1: to start. I think that's great defense. The run defense
43:35
Speaker 1: has been a little better this year. It struggled a
43:36
Speaker 1: little bit. I wanted to read that quote in totality.
43:38
Speaker 1: But again, talking at the beginning, you have to be
43:41
Speaker 1: able to control the tempo of a game. More verbiage
43:44
Speaker 1: and sentences and statements tied to being the guy who's
43:48
Speaker 1: in control on the front foot, doing the dictating and
43:51
Speaker 1: things that you are just not seeing consistently. What else? ah,
44:06
Speaker 1: this is Jim Leonard talking about how I'm talking about
44:10
Speaker 1: how he game plans while at Wisconsin quote, we can
44:14
Speaker 1: teach the basis of what we do and then have
44:16
Speaker 1: minor adjustments to what we do rather than put more
44:20
Speaker 1: on top of more. We start with almost bare bones
44:24
Speaker 1: and then we add to a game plan based on
44:26
Speaker 1: the issues we're going to see based on how we
44:29
Speaker 1: can dictate. Again, dictation. But again, talking about the game plan,
44:33
Speaker 1: this is, I wanted to pull this example because I
44:35
Speaker 1: said it earlier. This is somebody who's very cognizant of
44:38
Speaker 1: making things simple, making the complex be simple, simplicity, getting
44:42
Speaker 1: guys to understand and be confident and react and play fast, right?
44:46
Speaker 1: All of that. And he talks about it. And this
44:48
Speaker 1: is somebody who's done that. He has a track record
44:50
Speaker 1: of it and it's a core tenant and philosophy for him.
44:53
Speaker 1: And we've seen him do it. So it's just very
44:55
Speaker 1: interesting again, that this guy who has all these core
44:58
Speaker 1: tenants and beliefs is, and has a track record of
45:01
Speaker 1: getting it done, granted not at the NFL level, is
45:04
Speaker 1: unable to get it done thus far in this capacity.
45:17
Speaker 1: Jim Leonard on how he approaches game prepping as defensive
45:20
Speaker 1: coordinator at Wisconsin. We are very complex in what we
45:24
Speaker 1: do in many people's eyes, but with how I ask
45:27
Speaker 1: our guys to coach it, and the consistency that we
45:30
Speaker 1: have in how we coach and teach, I think it
45:33
Speaker 1: makes it simple for our guys, and they trust what
45:36
Speaker 1: we do. And again, you saw that at Wisconsin. They
45:41
Speaker 1: were doing complex stuff schematically, and they were getting it
45:44
Speaker 1: done with guys that were never going to play in
45:47
Speaker 1: the NFL, and guys who were two- and three- and
45:49
Speaker 1: four-star dudes at Wisconsin. So again, it's just when I say,
45:59
Speaker 1: It doesn't feel or look like a Jim Leonard defense.
46:02
Speaker 1: That's what I mean. You pull these quotes, and they're legitimate.
46:08
Speaker 1: Those quotes are matching what you're seeing on the tape.
46:15
Speaker 1: You're seeing that regularly in Wisconsin. You're seeing them hit
46:18
Speaker 1: these coverage spins. You're seeing them hit this simulated pressure,
46:21
Speaker 1: this five-man game. You're watching them execute over and over
46:27
Speaker 1: with guys that... again, aren't going to see the NFL.
46:32
Speaker 1: Guys who weren't, you know, the biggest studs to ever
46:35
Speaker 1: be recruited. Are they good football players? Yeah, you have
46:36
Speaker 1: to be to play, like, D1 football at that level. But,
46:41
Speaker 1: you know, it's just very interesting. I'm going through my
46:46
Speaker 1: notes now. I'm pulling, like, more quotes from when I
46:48
Speaker 1: was doing more, like, studying and deep diving into this offseason. Like,
46:51
Speaker 1: even him saying that, you know, players... He wants players
46:54
Speaker 1: to learn to think for themselves. Becoming adaptable as a
46:57
Speaker 1: player is extremely invaluable. You try to expose players to
47:00
Speaker 1: the multitude of scenarios they'll face in games, knowing that
47:02
Speaker 1: you're outside the white lines on game day. You're counting
47:05
Speaker 1: on guys to step up and play in positive ways.
47:08
Speaker 1: You have to give them room to think and grow.
47:12
Speaker 1: You know, he's all about teaching progression, making things clean
47:16
Speaker 1: with the terminology, building routine. We talked about the game prep.
47:20
Speaker 1: Everything is building consistency, efficiency. flexibility. It's just, um, yeah. And, and,
47:28
Speaker 1: and coverage principles where you're winning position, I discipline flexibility, versatility,
47:34
Speaker 1: just things that were, um, just that we're not seeing. And,
47:39
Speaker 1: you know, even him wanting to stop the run so
47:41
Speaker 1: we can get into his bag of tricks and known
47:43
Speaker 1: passing situations and true drop back situations. We're not seeing
47:46
Speaker 1: him get into the bag of tricks that we're just
47:49
Speaker 1: seeing so many things that kind of don't add up
47:50
Speaker 1: with what he is, uh, what he believes and what
47:53
Speaker 1: he's done on the past, done in the past. And
47:55
Speaker 1: that makes me think he's not holistically confident in the
47:58
Speaker 1: guys that he's got, or he doesn't think that they
48:00
Speaker 1: can execute it at this point. So he's trying to
48:03
Speaker 1: adapt more to them. They're still trying to learn and
48:05
Speaker 1: adapt to what he's doing. And you've got two sides
48:08
Speaker 1: trying to gel, feel each other out, come to a
48:12
Speaker 1: good resolution. And that's where we're at where it's just
48:14
Speaker 1: a work in progress. And I know that answer sucks.
48:18
Speaker 1: And I'm not giving him a pass. I want to
48:20
Speaker 1: continue to say that before anyone jumps down my throat
48:23
Speaker 1: or into the comments and be like, you're just giving
48:25
Speaker 1: him a pass because I'm not. I'm not giving the
48:28
Speaker 1: players a pass. I'm not giving him a pass. It's
48:30
Speaker 1: on him. It's on the players. It's execution stuff. It's
48:33
Speaker 1: scheme stuff. But I think that the crux of all
48:34
Speaker 1: of it is, I do think the body types and
48:37
Speaker 1: the archetypes play a role. I do think he is
48:40
Speaker 1: trying to adapt his methodology to what he has, and
48:45
Speaker 1: it's just not going well. So he's either got to
48:47
Speaker 1: adapt better, or the players got to raise their game,
48:50
Speaker 1: and that's why I think the bye week will do
48:51
Speaker 1: them a lot, a lot, a lot of good. Let's
48:57
Speaker 1: talk some stats to kind of further this notion of
49:01
Speaker 1: what have we seen versus what are we not seeing.
49:07
Speaker 1: And you know what I just did? I just closed
49:09
Speaker 1: out my Twitter window like an absolute fool. And it
49:16
Speaker 1: had what I needed. Okay, here we go. Let's talk
49:22
Speaker 1: about blitzes, right? Royce says hashtag and gives Leonard a pass.
49:30
Speaker 1: Well done. Well done, well done, well done. Jay Bud
49:34
Speaker 1: says Leonard's defense is, Leonard's D is definitely more complicated
49:37
Speaker 1: than McDermott's and they say it took a long time
49:39
Speaker 1: to learn McDermott's. I do think it is more complicated.
49:42
Speaker 1: The version that they're running now isn't the complicated stuff.
49:45
Speaker 1: I don't think they're doing the complicated stuff yet. That's
49:48
Speaker 1: what's concerning. It's not like, oh, they're trying to do
49:50
Speaker 1: too much. For him, they're doing vanilla stuff, and they're
49:55
Speaker 1: not executing the vanilla. That's what worries me, but that
49:57
Speaker 1: is a fair point. Good call. Jim Leonard, defensive coordinator
50:03
Speaker 1: at Wisconsin from 2017 to 2022. I wanted to talk
50:06
Speaker 1: about some blitz rates and some simulated pressure rates and
50:09
Speaker 1: some stunt rates for him throughout his 10 years. He
50:13
Speaker 1: started to kind of find himself a little bit. For
50:15
Speaker 1: reference right now, the Buffalo Bills are 13th in blitz
50:19
Speaker 1: rate at 31%. That increased kind of week over week.
50:24
Speaker 1: Week one, 25% blitz rate. Week two, 18.5%. Week three, 31.9
50:30
Speaker 1: week four against the Patriots. 43.4% blitz rate week five
50:36
Speaker 1: last night against the Rams. 34.2%. So they've started to
50:41
Speaker 1: ratchet up a little bit. Now some of that is
50:43
Speaker 1: like they're blitzing the run, but it ends up being
50:45
Speaker 1: a play action pass. So you don't know like, are
50:47
Speaker 1: they blitzing the pass? Are they blitzing the run? Something
50:49
Speaker 1: that gets charted as a run blitz or a pass
50:51
Speaker 1: blitz is just because what the offense did, they may
50:53
Speaker 1: have been trying to attack the other, but that's kind
50:55
Speaker 1: of what it is. The Bills have started to uptick
50:58
Speaker 1: their blitz rate little by little. So now they sit
51:02
Speaker 1: overall 13th in the league at 31%. Two weeks ago
51:06
Speaker 1: against the Pats, a 43.4% blitz rate, their highest on
51:09
Speaker 1: the year. But even just the last three weeks, much
51:12
Speaker 1: higher than week one and two. Week one blitz rate, 25.3.
51:15
Speaker 1: Week two, 18.5. Week three, four, and five, respectively, 31.9, 43.4, 34.2.
51:22
Speaker 1: Starting to dial it up a little bit. The one
51:24
Speaker 1: that's down is the simulated pressure rate. We've talked a
51:27
Speaker 1: ton on simulators and creepers, right? Simulated pressure, you show
51:31
Speaker 1: a pressure look, but you're only bringing four and you're
51:34
Speaker 1: one of those four rushers is a non-traditional rusher, i.e.
51:38
Speaker 1: a second level or third level player. So a linebacker
51:41
Speaker 1: rushes or a safety or a corner rushes. And then
51:44
Speaker 1: in response, you drop a defensive lineman into coverage. That
51:46
Speaker 1: is a simulated pressure. Creeper pressure is the exact same thing,
51:49
Speaker 1: except you don't show pressure pre-snap. But places that chart
51:54
Speaker 1: simulated pressures, Sims and creepers are all kind of bucketed
51:57
Speaker 1: in one. Simulated pressure rate. They are 21st in the
52:01
Speaker 1: NFL this year at 14.3%. Their rate by week, week one, 21.4.
52:06
Speaker 1: Week two and three, zero. Week four, 19.1. Last night
52:10
Speaker 1: against the Rams, 20%. This one for me was a
52:14
Speaker 1: hallmark and a staple of Jim Leonard. The blitz rate
52:17
Speaker 1: in terms of when he used them and how much
52:19
Speaker 1: he used them, but also the simulated pressure rate, all
52:22
Speaker 1: the schematic stuff. Now, again, this is where it ties into... the,
52:28
Speaker 1: I want to stop. What's the black and white picture
52:31
Speaker 1: on the top left behind you? This one, uh, it's
52:33
Speaker 1: a picture of Walt Disney walking through Cinderella's castle at
52:37
Speaker 1: Disney world as it was being built. Um, I love
52:40
Speaker 1: pictures like that. And I'm a big Disney world guy
52:41
Speaker 1: and I like to talk about my background. So thank you.
52:43
Speaker 1: I appreciate you. Um, so Jim Leonard blitzes simulated pressures, volume,
52:50
Speaker 1: but also timely. Like he leans into that stuff. That's
52:53
Speaker 1: part of his schematic creativity, right? The Rex Ryan stuff
52:56
Speaker 1: that goes back to Again, I think we still have
52:58
Speaker 1: to separate the connotation of Rex Ryan with the Bills
53:00
Speaker 1: versus what he was with the Jets early on and
53:03
Speaker 1: with the Ravens, which is a very good defensive mind.
53:05
Speaker 1: And you were getting, you know, overload blitzes and fire
53:09
Speaker 1: zone stuff and who was coming and everything that was happening,
53:12
Speaker 1: like just chaos, organized chaos by design, right? Leonard played
53:16
Speaker 1: in those defenses. He learned from that. He comes from
53:19
Speaker 1: that tree. He carried it with him, right? So seeing
53:22
Speaker 1: the blitz rate start to increase a little bit is interesting.
53:24
Speaker 1: but we're still not seeing the simulated pressure rate, and
53:26
Speaker 1: that takes more schematically. That makes me think he's not
53:30
Speaker 1: trusting in the players completely or in himself or in
53:33
Speaker 1: terms of what they can execute right now, though we
53:35
Speaker 1: have seen an uptick in blitz rate recently, but the
53:39
Speaker 1: sim rate has been down. So we talked about blitz
53:42
Speaker 1: rate a little bit and sim rate. I want to
53:45
Speaker 1: talk about what they were at Wisconsin. Year over year,
53:50
Speaker 1: 2017 through 2022. So he was a... I always want
53:59
Speaker 1: to get it right because I never get the position
54:00
Speaker 1: coach aspects right. Okay, so he was the Wisconsin defensive
54:03
Speaker 1: backs coach in 2016, and then 2017 through 2022, he
54:07
Speaker 1: was the defensive coordinator, including being the interim head coach
54:10
Speaker 1: in 2022. So, blitz rate for Wisconsin defenses under Jim Leonard,
54:17
Speaker 1: 2017 through 2022. This is just blitz rate. Listen, I
54:22
Speaker 1: should say. I should have put this on a graphic.
54:24
Speaker 1: That's my bad. Listen, 2017 through 2022, blitz rate. This
54:26
Speaker 1: is year after year. 19.1% in 2017, 20.8 in 2018, 29.9
54:27
Speaker 1: in 2019, 37.9 in 2020, 40.6 in 2021, and 41.6
54:28
Speaker 1: in 2022. As he got more comfortable and acclimated and
54:31
Speaker 1: understood who he wanted and what he wanted to do,
54:55
Speaker 1: you saw the blitz rate increase year after year after
54:59
Speaker 1: year significantly. So when he took over in 2017, the
55:02
Speaker 1: blitz rate at Wisconsin, they were 19.1%. His last year
55:06
Speaker 1: in 2022 at Wisconsin, it was 41.6. Significant, significant jump. Now,
55:14
Speaker 1: let's go to the simulated pressure rate from 2017 through 2022. 2017, 34.2. Also,
55:16
Speaker 1: he was... at a big forefront of that simulated pressure
55:25
Speaker 1: and creeper pressure movement. It's part of what made me
55:26
Speaker 1: kind of fall in love with his defense in like
55:28
Speaker 1: 2018 and 2019. So Leonard simulated pressure rate, 2017, 34.2, 2018, 38.4, 2019, 45%, 2020, 36.8, 2021, 48.4, 2022, 50.2.
55:50
Speaker 1: So his blitz, his simulated pressure rate in 2017, it
55:54
Speaker 1: was 34.2. He ended in 2022 at 50.2. So his
55:58
Speaker 1: last year at Wisconsin, when he's in the thralls of
56:01
Speaker 1: everything and he's running the show completely comfortable with who
56:04
Speaker 1: he is and what he is, and he has got
56:07
Speaker 1: his hooks into everything with the program and what he
56:09
Speaker 1: wants the defense to be. They're rolling at a 41.6%
56:12
Speaker 1: blitz rate and a 50.2% simulated pressure rate. Now, yes,
56:13
Speaker 1: college is different. The offenses that time were different. The
56:21
Speaker 1: spacing is different. The field is different. The athletes, the quarterbacks,
56:24
Speaker 1: the type of offenses you see, all of that. So
56:26
Speaker 1: that is a caveat. But, again, breadcrumbs in terms of
56:30
Speaker 1: who and what he wants to be defensively. Now, this
56:38
Speaker 1: is where the body types and the positional archetypes tie in.
56:42
Speaker 1: And I wanted to grab– somebody made a joke about
56:44
Speaker 1: it earlier. I think it was– Thought I saw it. No.
56:54
Speaker 1: Someone made a joke about, like, the players that they
56:55
Speaker 1: need to get, like, Chanel and everything, and I'm sorry,
56:59
Speaker 1: who was it? Charles? Ah, yeah, it was Charles. There
57:01
Speaker 1: we go. I found it. Charles says, trade for Chanel, Bond,
57:04
Speaker 1: and Herbig? Question mark? All jokes aside, that is part
57:09
Speaker 1: of why you can run so many simulator pressures, why
57:13
Speaker 1: you can get creative with your blitzes and your exotics
57:15
Speaker 1: and your designer stuff and all that, right? When you've
57:18
Speaker 1: got guys like Herbig was more a true, pretty much
57:23
Speaker 1: an edge rusher, but he had some athleticism. Plus he
57:26
Speaker 1: was undersized so he can move in space a bit.
57:28
Speaker 1: But when you've got guys like Chanel, Vaughn, Andrew Van Ginkle, right?
57:32
Speaker 1: You've got these dudes who can play off ball and
57:35
Speaker 1: come downhill, who can drop into coverage, who can blitz,
57:38
Speaker 1: who can rush off the edge one-on-one, who can fit
57:41
Speaker 1: anywhere between the tackles on the run, who can rush,
57:44
Speaker 1: who can run stunts, who can run games, all this stuff.
57:47
Speaker 1: It gives you more viability. to do these exotic calls.
57:51
Speaker 1: You can drop, you can get more creative because, hey,
57:54
Speaker 1: we're going to drop this guy into coverage because he
57:56
Speaker 1: can actually survive out there because he is pretty athletic
57:59
Speaker 1: and he can move and he's fluid and he's a
58:00
Speaker 1: versatile type of player, right? They don't have these traditional three, four,
58:05
Speaker 1: like outside linebackers or three, four linebackers in this defense.
58:09
Speaker 1: And that's not necessarily a huge knock, right? Like Rousseau,
58:13
Speaker 1: is succeeding tremendously so far because of the alignment and
58:16
Speaker 1: the defensive structure of Jim Leonard. Putting him in a
58:18
Speaker 1: two-point stance, the angles he's creating, all that stuff, right?
58:22
Speaker 1: And Rousseau, I mean, is more athletic than I think
58:24
Speaker 1: he gets credit for. But Rousseau is not a traditional
58:26
Speaker 1: 3-4 outside linebacker, right? Like, he's not Andrew Van Ginkle.
58:29
Speaker 1: And Andrew Van Ginkle is not Greg Rousseau. Yeah, Charles
58:32
Speaker 1: says Brian Flores collected all those guys. All jokes aside, yeah.
58:36
Speaker 1: And look what Brian Flores does, where he plays on
58:38
Speaker 1: the front foot. When he puts seven guys on the line...
58:42
Speaker 1: Because he's got all these velociraptors and versatile skill sets,
58:46
Speaker 1: you don't know who's doing what. Any one of those
58:49
Speaker 1: dudes could pop out. You're not looking at it. You're like, well,
58:52
Speaker 1: even if this dude rushes, I don't care. He's not
58:55
Speaker 1: a threat. Or you know what? This guy could pop
58:56
Speaker 1: out into coverage, but I don't care. He can't move
58:59
Speaker 1: in space. When you look at what the Vikings have,
59:01
Speaker 1: it's like all of these guys have eggs in a
59:04
Speaker 1: bunch of different baskets and buckets. And so you kind
59:06
Speaker 1: of have to honor all of them as pressure players
59:09
Speaker 1: or as coverage players. And that leads to the schematic creativity,
59:12
Speaker 1: because if anybody can, if anybody is a threat to
59:16
Speaker 1: at least do a multitude of things, even if it's like, well,
59:20
Speaker 1: you know, he's not a nine out of 10 here,
59:22
Speaker 1: but he's a seven out of 10, that's still enough.
59:24
Speaker 1: Or even a six out of 10. If you're above
59:26
Speaker 1: average with a bunch of, a bunch of roles and
59:28
Speaker 1: hats that you can wear, it makes the offense have
59:31
Speaker 1: to account for that. And so Leonard had more of
59:33
Speaker 1: those dudes at Wisconsin. And the linebacker spot is the
59:37
Speaker 1: biggest one for me, the outside linebackers and the inside guys. Like,
59:40
Speaker 1: could you drop Rousseau into coverage? Sure. Can you drop
59:43
Speaker 1: Chubb into coverage? Sure. And they have, and Chubb has
59:45
Speaker 1: actually done pretty well. TJ Parker has actually done pretty
59:47
Speaker 1: well too, but they don't have some of those traditional
59:50
Speaker 1: body types and archetypes at the second level, you know,
59:54
Speaker 1: at the inside linebacker spots, outside linebacker spots. I think
59:58
Speaker 1: that ties into, you know, how exotic are you getting
1:00:02
Speaker 1: the type of literal and figurative pressure you're putting on
1:00:05
Speaker 1: an offense because you're showing guys at the line and
1:00:08
Speaker 1: it's like, well, you know, there, there's seven guys are showing,
1:00:13
Speaker 1: but we're pretty confident that only these four are going
1:00:16
Speaker 1: to rush or only these five are going to rush. Um,
1:00:20
Speaker 1: and so Leonard doesn't have those guys here. And I
1:00:24
Speaker 1: think he's, he's adjusting to that. I think that's why
1:00:27
Speaker 1: you haven't seen the higher blitz rates. Although again, it
1:00:30
Speaker 1: is very interesting that they had a 43.4% blitz rate
1:00:33
Speaker 1: against the Patriots. Um, but I think that's why you're
1:00:36
Speaker 1: not seeing the high blitz rates for him. I think
1:00:39
Speaker 1: that's why you're not seeing the high simulated pressure rates.
1:00:41
Speaker 1: I think that's not why you're seeing the exotics and
1:00:43
Speaker 1: the designers. I think he is trying to tailor it
1:00:47
Speaker 1: to what he has. And I think he's using guys
1:00:50
Speaker 1: in more of the traditional roles that they are accustomed
1:00:54
Speaker 1: to and, or a fit for. And, I'm not saying
1:00:58
Speaker 1: that in a backhanded way towards the players. I'm not
1:01:00
Speaker 1: saying that as a way to give like a pass
1:01:04
Speaker 1: to Leonard. I think he is trying to dance with
1:01:08
Speaker 1: who brought him. And so he's like, all right, I
1:01:11
Speaker 1: know what we got. You know, I can't get through
1:01:14
Speaker 1: every letter of the alphabet. I think I would love
1:01:16
Speaker 1: to get all the way to Z, but I think
1:01:18
Speaker 1: we can only get from A to H. And so
1:01:20
Speaker 1: that's what we're going to do. I think he is
1:01:23
Speaker 1: trying to tailor and adapt everything to what he has.
1:01:27
Speaker 1: You're seeing it on the tape. If you've watched him
1:01:30
Speaker 1: in the past and you're seeing this Bill's defense now,
1:01:31
Speaker 1: I think you're seeing it on the tape. And I
1:01:33
Speaker 1: also think you're seeing it in a bunch of these metrics.
1:01:35
Speaker 1: When you look at the blitz rates, you look at
1:01:36
Speaker 1: the simulator pressure rates, like they're not there in totality
1:01:42
Speaker 1: in terms of what he's been in the past and
1:01:43
Speaker 1: what he likes to lean into and what he likes
1:01:45
Speaker 1: to do. Also, I think very interesting. So he, he
1:01:51
Speaker 1: is a match coverage guy, rules-based coverage guy. We've talked
1:01:53
Speaker 1: about this, but you will see, you know, we, we
1:01:56
Speaker 1: talked about it more man coverage. You're going to see
1:01:57
Speaker 1: true man. And granted, we're seeing some of it on
1:01:59
Speaker 1: the backside of stuff, right? The boundary corner conversation. We're
1:02:02
Speaker 1: locking the solo receiver. We're also locking the back piece
1:02:05
Speaker 1: to that side with the will linebacker, whoever the apex
1:02:07
Speaker 1: player is to that side. But I think most people
1:02:12
Speaker 1: would associate Sean McDermott's defense with being a zone based defense.
1:02:15
Speaker 1: I think everybody, whenever you, anybody, someone will complain about
1:02:18
Speaker 1: Sean McDermott. It was always how he plays this soft
1:02:20
Speaker 1: zone defense, right? Soft zone, soft zone, soft zone, all
1:02:22
Speaker 1: that last year, Buffalo Bills defense, 24.8% man coverage rate,
1:02:30
Speaker 1: which was 17th. This data that I'm giving now is
1:02:32
Speaker 1: per Sumer Sports. So 2025, last year, Bills defense, man
1:02:37
Speaker 1: coverage rate, 24.8%, 17th in the league. This year, weeks
1:02:43
Speaker 1: one through five, man coverage rate, Buffalo Bills, 15.8%, nine
1:02:49
Speaker 1: percentage points lower than last year, 25th in the NFL.
1:02:54
Speaker 1: Zone coverage rate, 2025, 70.6%, 18th. This year, weeks one
1:03:01
Speaker 1: through five, 81.9% zone, which is seventh. So, yeah, almost
1:03:08
Speaker 1: 11 percentage points higher. You're seeing, I think, more spot
1:03:12
Speaker 1: drop zone lately. Again, because I don't think he's trying
1:03:14
Speaker 1: to overload anybody. He's not trying, okay, let's not get
1:03:16
Speaker 1: too crazy with exotic stuff up front. Let's not get
1:03:19
Speaker 1: too crazy with coverage structures on the back end, the
1:03:22
Speaker 1: pattern matching. And the route distribution reading isn't necessarily there.
1:03:26
Speaker 1: We're not really restricting airspace or squeezing routes and airspace
1:03:31
Speaker 1: as best we can. So let's kind of keep it simple.
1:03:34
Speaker 1: And if you keep it simple with spot drop stuff,
1:03:37
Speaker 1: that can kind of get you into trouble a little
1:03:39
Speaker 1: bit from a predictability standpoint. Then, on top of that,
1:03:43
Speaker 1: add in what the coverage structure has been. Through the
1:03:47
Speaker 1: first five weeks of this season, the Bills are predominantly
1:03:49
Speaker 1: a two-coverage defense. They have a 36.4% cover three rate.
1:03:54
Speaker 1: That's a combination of spot drop and cover three match.
1:03:57
Speaker 1: And then a 22.4% quarters rate. So what? 58.4% of
1:04:05
Speaker 1: the time, so almost essentially 60% of the time, six
1:04:07
Speaker 1: out of every 10, you're either going to get quarters
1:04:10
Speaker 1: or cover three. Okay? Now that is a significant departure
1:04:14
Speaker 1: from the previous years where the Bills played kind of
1:04:16
Speaker 1: little bits of everything, especially in 2025. Last year, 2025. 26.3%
1:04:21
Speaker 1: cover three rate, 17.7% cover one, 14.9% cover two, 12.4%
1:04:22
Speaker 1: cover six, 12.3% quarters. So five coverages above 12% this
1:04:24
Speaker 1: year for the bills. It's only those two cover three
1:04:26
Speaker 1: and quarters, and they're significantly higher than 12 would cover
1:04:29
Speaker 1: three at 36.4 and quarters at 22.4. I think he
1:04:32
Speaker 1: is trying again to adapt. I, I, I, I say
1:04:51
Speaker 1: all this to say because, you know, I post things
1:04:53
Speaker 1: on social kind of as like notes for myself, but
1:04:56
Speaker 1: feel their things. And I see the comments and I
1:04:58
Speaker 1: think what's getting lost in, you know, the thought of
1:05:01
Speaker 1: people like, well, he has to adapt to what he has.
1:05:04
Speaker 1: He has to adapt to what they have. You know,
1:05:05
Speaker 1: this is the roster he has to adapt. I think
1:05:08
Speaker 1: he is. It's just not going well. And I pulled
1:05:12
Speaker 1: all those quotes earlier and the metrics now to show
1:05:16
Speaker 1: this is what he wants to be. This is what
1:05:19
Speaker 1: he says he wants to be. which also matches with
1:05:22
Speaker 1: what we've seen his defenses be. These are the metrics
1:05:26
Speaker 1: to also back that up. None of these things add
1:05:29
Speaker 1: up to what we're seeing right now. I think he
1:05:32
Speaker 1: is trying to scale things down. I think he is
1:05:34
Speaker 1: trying to adapt. I think he's almost trying to, I
1:05:38
Speaker 1: think he has a bunch of round pegs and I
1:05:40
Speaker 1: think he's trying to earn his defense more rounded and
1:05:44
Speaker 1: make it fit better. And things are just clashing and guy,
1:05:48
Speaker 1: I think it's, It's just not a seamless fit right now.
1:05:51
Speaker 1: And I do think the more guys get time on
1:05:53
Speaker 1: task with one another, there's the hope for that to
1:05:56
Speaker 1: go upward. But that's kind of tied into like the
1:05:59
Speaker 1: biggest concern and also the hope for going forward, right?
1:06:01
Speaker 1: Like the hope for going forward, I mentioned earlier, you
1:06:03
Speaker 1: get into the bye week, you reassess, you self-scout, you
1:06:06
Speaker 1: see where you are. This is what's worked. This is
1:06:09
Speaker 1: what hasn't. What's our biggest pain points? What are we
1:06:12
Speaker 1: getting killed on? What are we getting crushed on? Who's
1:06:15
Speaker 1: not succeeding? Why aren't they succeeding? You have An extra
1:06:19
Speaker 1: week to sit, boil it all down, and reassess. Good
1:06:24
Speaker 1: teams come out of the bye week recharged and a
1:06:29
Speaker 1: bit different. The Lions did this several years ago. Jared
1:06:31
Speaker 1: Goff and that Ben Johnson offense went into the bye
1:06:34
Speaker 1: and they came out taking souls week after week. You
1:06:39
Speaker 1: get that good self-scouting and that reassessment in the bye week.
1:06:42
Speaker 1: If we're going to point towards one moment or plant
1:06:45
Speaker 1: a flag of this is when everything kind of changed,
1:06:48
Speaker 1: It's the hope that that bye week allows them to
1:06:50
Speaker 1: figure some things out. The biggest cause for concern is, again,
1:06:55
Speaker 1: we're seeing all this frantic communication pre-snap and even up
1:07:00
Speaker 1: until the snap. We're seeing guys during the pre-snap and
1:07:05
Speaker 1: also after the play, palms up, pointing, you know, no,
1:07:09
Speaker 1: you're supposed to be here. No, I was supposed to
1:07:11
Speaker 1: be here. I don't understand what's going on. Wait, what
1:07:14
Speaker 1: are we doing? What's the call? You're still seeing that. Uh, hell,
1:07:17
Speaker 1: I mean, we saw another, another play against the Rams.
1:07:20
Speaker 1: They had 10 players on defense. Like they did a
1:07:22
Speaker 1: couple of weeks ago against the chargers. Like it's, it's
1:07:27
Speaker 1: concerning that they are, yes, there's a scheme change. Yes.
1:07:33
Speaker 1: There's some questions about the archetypes and the body types,
1:07:36
Speaker 1: but it's question. It's concerning that Leonard, especially for him
1:07:42
Speaker 1: is running things fairly vanilla and simple. And yet it's
1:07:46
Speaker 1: not simple enough. And so then it's like, okay, can
1:07:51
Speaker 1: you simplify it more? And how much does that silo
1:07:53
Speaker 1: you or make you predictable? Especially because you're running two
1:07:57
Speaker 1: coverage buckets right now and you're not doing a ton
1:07:59
Speaker 1: of blitzing and you're not doing a ton of Sims
1:08:01
Speaker 1: or Creepers or anything like that. So how much do
1:08:04
Speaker 1: you silo yourself if you can simplify it more? But
1:08:07
Speaker 1: then also, can you simplify it more? And if you can't,
1:08:11
Speaker 1: what do you do? How do you teach it better?
1:08:14
Speaker 1: How do you make guys understand? Is it just as
1:08:17
Speaker 1: simple as swapping some dudes out? Is it as simple as,
1:08:19
Speaker 1: you know what, we're just going to attack. We're going
1:08:22
Speaker 1: to blitz a ton and play man and play press,
1:08:25
Speaker 1: and we're going to just punch and punch and punch,
1:08:27
Speaker 1: and whatever happens, happens, right? Is it as simple as, yeah,
1:08:32
Speaker 1: we're going to put Caleb Elamzor in and let him
1:08:33
Speaker 1: fly around, and we're going to put Shaq Thompson in
1:08:37
Speaker 1: there because, you know, he gives us a bigger body
1:08:39
Speaker 1: who can battle downhill against some interior offensive linemen and
1:08:42
Speaker 1: tight ends and stuff. but he's also a smart, heady dude,
1:08:45
Speaker 1: even though Bernard is as well. But Shaq has all
1:08:48
Speaker 1: this veteran experience and knows where to be and how
1:08:50
Speaker 1: to get there. See the interception against the Jags in
1:08:53
Speaker 1: the wildcard round where he jumps the dig to Jacoby
1:08:56
Speaker 1: Myers from Trevor Lawrence. Like, is it is it that,
1:08:59
Speaker 1: is it guys getting healthier on the back end and
1:09:02
Speaker 1: playing more? Is it, you know, more reps together for
1:09:04
Speaker 1: everybody on the back end and gelling, you know, is
1:09:06
Speaker 1: it at Oliver coming back healthy and adding another piece
1:09:09
Speaker 1: up front? And maybe, maybe it's enough if group can
1:09:11
Speaker 1: keep winning and Walker can keep winning and at Oliver's healthy.
1:09:14
Speaker 1: And maybe you have three dudes up front who can win.
1:09:17
Speaker 1: And then you've got some rotational guys mixed in with that. Um,
1:09:20
Speaker 1: maybe TJ Sanders comes on and becomes like a third for,
1:09:24
Speaker 1: you know, a third, third and a half or fourth
1:09:26
Speaker 1: rushing option. And now, you know, when you go four down,
1:09:29
Speaker 1: it's like, okay, Walker and group and, you know, Chubb
1:09:32
Speaker 1: or Sanders and Oliver. And, you know, maybe that's enough. Um,
1:09:37
Speaker 1: I think there is hope more time on task, more
1:09:42
Speaker 1: gelling the bi-week. I think it is the big one.
1:09:45
Speaker 1: I'm not going to sit here and say, if they
1:09:46
Speaker 1: don't come out of the bi-week looking better, then they're done,
1:09:50
Speaker 1: but that would be worrisome and concerning. And again, it's
1:09:55
Speaker 1: not going to be easy. They come out of the
1:09:56
Speaker 1: bi-week and they play the Ravens and the Ravens are
1:09:58
Speaker 1: a buzzsaw and they're really good. Um, but yeah, I
1:10:02
Speaker 1: think you have to go into that bi-week. You have
1:10:04
Speaker 1: to kind of see what you have, what you are,
1:10:07
Speaker 1: what's worked, what hasn't you're pretty siloed in your coverage
1:10:11
Speaker 1: structures that you're using. You've upticked your blitz rate a
1:10:14
Speaker 1: little bit, but not a lot of exotics, not a
1:10:16
Speaker 1: lot of designers. Um, I also forgot, I put something
1:10:23
Speaker 1: else out this morning too. I thought I did, nope, yep, nope, ah, yeah. So,
1:10:33
Speaker 1: third down and seven or more yards to go. Known
1:10:37
Speaker 1: passing situations, known passing down in distances, right? Third and
1:10:42
Speaker 1: seven or more. Jim Leonard, right? Blitzer, simulated pressure guy, right?
1:10:49
Speaker 1: Third down and seven or more. The Buffalo Bills this
1:10:52
Speaker 1: year through five games are 32nd last in blitz rate
1:10:57
Speaker 1: at 17.1%. And it's not a sample size issue because
1:11:01
Speaker 1: they're tied for ninth with 35 plays in those situations.
1:11:04
Speaker 1: So third down and seven or more, they are 32nd
1:11:07
Speaker 1: in blitz rate at 17.1%. Third and just seven to 10,
1:11:10
Speaker 1: not seven to 10 and 11 plus. Third and just
1:11:12
Speaker 1: seven to 10, They're also 32nd in blitz rate at 18.2%.
1:11:22
Speaker 1: Tied for fourth in those situations with 22 plays. Third
1:11:25
Speaker 1: and medium, three to six, or four to six. They're
1:11:29
Speaker 1: 22nd in blitz rate at 30%. So even when there's
1:11:35
Speaker 1: like some higher odds of passing down in distances and situations,
1:11:39
Speaker 1: they're still not bringing the heat. They've upticked a little
1:11:41
Speaker 1: bit the past couple weeks. Again, I'm putting all these
1:11:44
Speaker 1: pieces together, saying what, the tape has showed at Wisconsin,
1:11:48
Speaker 1: what the tape is showing this year, what Leonard himself
1:11:50
Speaker 1: has said throughout the years and this offseason, what we're seeing,
1:11:56
Speaker 1: what the stats show. So verbal stuff, tape stuff, metrics,
1:12:02
Speaker 1: all of these things, I'm putting it into one bucket.
1:12:06
Speaker 1: And that's why I say this does not look or
1:12:09
Speaker 1: feel like a Jim Leonard defense. And hopefully he can
1:12:13
Speaker 1: get there. I still firmly believe In Jim Leonard, I
1:12:17
Speaker 1: don't think, again, I don't think the fit is perfect
1:12:19
Speaker 1: with what they have right now, but I do think
1:12:21
Speaker 1: they can be better. It's just a matter of, again,
1:12:22
Speaker 1: I don't think the ceiling is going to be there.
1:12:24
Speaker 1: This isn't going to be. If they turn it around,
1:12:26
Speaker 1: I don't think turning it around means they have a
1:12:28
Speaker 1: top 10 defense. I think turning it around means they
1:12:30
Speaker 1: have like 15th to 18th or 19th. And if the
1:12:33
Speaker 1: offense stays where it can be, we'll be fine. We'll
1:12:37
Speaker 1: be fine. We'll be fine. We'll be fine. And at
1:12:40
Speaker 1: the end of the day, you know, Leonard took this job.
1:12:44
Speaker 1: I would think he knew like, Oh, Hey, we don't
1:12:46
Speaker 1: have a ton of money. You know, we don't have
1:12:48
Speaker 1: a ton of draft picks, but they did acquire some
1:12:49
Speaker 1: draft picks and didn't really add the body types or
1:12:53
Speaker 1: archetypes that he could have used. Um, but I, I
1:12:56
Speaker 1: would hope he expected this to a degree and it's
1:12:59
Speaker 1: just a matter of, Hey, can he grind it out
1:13:01
Speaker 1: and pull it out? And again, like I mentioned in
1:13:03
Speaker 1: one of those quotes, like he, he said it, um,
1:13:06
Speaker 1: as I go back and again, I think this one is,
1:13:09
Speaker 1: is so important. It's why I led with it. Um,
1:13:16
Speaker 1: I had a vision for what I want, you know,
1:13:18
Speaker 1: the defensive personnel this year, I had a vision for
1:13:21
Speaker 1: what I want it to be. And it might not
1:13:23
Speaker 1: totally get there in year one. We have to be
1:13:26
Speaker 1: as real. We have to be real as far as
1:13:28
Speaker 1: who we have, what their skill sets are. And I
1:13:30
Speaker 1: have to be flexible as well as them. He said
1:13:33
Speaker 1: this at the end of May, when a lot of
1:13:35
Speaker 1: the dust had settled in free agency in the draft,
1:13:37
Speaker 1: and he took stock of who he had and what
1:13:39
Speaker 1: he had. And I think he said, well, I wanted
1:13:41
Speaker 1: the defense to be this. I don't think it's going
1:13:44
Speaker 1: to be that. So how can I pivot? And he's
1:13:49
Speaker 1: trying to pivot. It's just not going great. And I
1:13:52
Speaker 1: do think, again, for as much as I loved him
1:13:54
Speaker 1: and lauded him and spoke so highly of him, once
1:13:57
Speaker 1: they didn't really make a lot of roster changes to
1:13:59
Speaker 1: the defense, I said this throughout the offseason, like, it's
1:14:02
Speaker 1: going to take some time. There's going to be growing pains.
1:14:04
Speaker 1: I didn't expect the growing pains to be this severe.
1:14:07
Speaker 1: I didn't expect the floor to bottom out as much
1:14:10
Speaker 1: as it has today. Um, especially when you look at
1:14:12
Speaker 1: like where they are in terms of DVO way and, um,
1:14:16
Speaker 1: you know, EPA per play and sex success rate, like
1:14:19
Speaker 1: it's bad. Like it's all bad. It's bottom, you know,
1:14:22
Speaker 1: you're looking at like 28th, 19th, 27th, 28th, 19th, 30th, 29th, 26th, 30th, 27th, 29th.
1:14:29
Speaker 1: And a lot of like metrics that all matter, like
1:14:31
Speaker 1: DVO a success rate, EPA per play rush past totality,
1:14:35
Speaker 1: everything like it's not good. Um, You know, they have
1:14:39
Speaker 1: improved in yards before contact per rush, yards after contact
1:14:42
Speaker 1: per rush, explosive run rate, stuff rate. They've improved. But
1:14:49
Speaker 1: it's just not good right now. We're seeing that disconnect
1:14:52
Speaker 1: play out. And the players don't look comfortable before the snap.
1:14:56
Speaker 1: They don't look comfortable after the play. We're seeing gaps
1:14:59
Speaker 1: in coverage. We're seeing disjointed play and disconnect. It's not ideal.
1:15:04
Speaker 1: Not ideal, not ideal, not ideal. But again, I think
1:15:07
Speaker 1: this is... this is also kind of, if you want
1:15:11
Speaker 1: to play devil's advocate, or even if this is what
1:15:12
Speaker 1: you believe, like this is how a coach kind of
1:15:15
Speaker 1: earns their stripes or kind of proves their metal. Like,
1:15:17
Speaker 1: what do you do when things don't go great? What
1:15:19
Speaker 1: do you do if you don't have the ideal pieces?
1:15:21
Speaker 1: Like not to make this comp, but like, like Sean McDermott,
1:15:25
Speaker 1: what do you do when you're down to like corner
1:15:26
Speaker 1: four and corner five or linebacker three and linebacker four? Like,
1:15:30
Speaker 1: what do you do? Can you cobble it together? Can
1:15:32
Speaker 1: you take someone like Dane Jackson and get decent snaps
1:15:36
Speaker 1: out of them for a stretch or a period of time? Um,
1:15:40
Speaker 1: And I think the Bills have better players than those
1:15:42
Speaker 1: guys right now. And then the question is the scheme fit. But, okay,
1:15:46
Speaker 1: can you make the scheme work? Can you figure out
1:15:48
Speaker 1: a way to set the players up for success? And
1:15:51
Speaker 1: go from there. I want to go back to a
1:15:55
Speaker 1: lot of questions that came through. I apologize. I'm going
1:15:57
Speaker 1: to grab some questions as we start to read these
1:16:00
Speaker 1: for the next maybe 10, 15 minutes. And then we'll
1:16:02
Speaker 1: say goodnight on this Tuesday eve. Although, I don't know.
1:16:05
Speaker 1: We got a lot of people in here. There's a
1:16:06
Speaker 1: lot of good comments. Maybe we'll keep rolling. We'll see
1:16:07
Speaker 1: what happens. Christian says, at what point do you think
1:16:10
Speaker 1: we should be highly concerned for how this defense will
1:16:12
Speaker 1: play come the playoffs? I'm trying to wait till mid-November.
1:16:15
Speaker 1: I'm in a similar boat. I'm looking up the Bill's
1:16:18
Speaker 1: schedule because I am horrible with remembering the schedule. I
1:16:28
Speaker 1: come out of the bye. I play the Ravens. Then
1:16:33
Speaker 1: they play the Vikings on Monday Night Football. That's going
1:16:36
Speaker 1: to be fun. Two. opposites and defenses right now. That's Miami,
1:16:40
Speaker 1: Kansas city. Yeah. I think mid November is fair. You
1:16:46
Speaker 1: have the bi-week at the end of October and then
1:16:50
Speaker 1: you come out. So that game against Baltimore is November 1st, Baltimore, Minnesota,
1:16:55
Speaker 1: the jets, Miami. If the defense hasn't turned the corner,
1:17:01
Speaker 1: I want to see some improvement coming out of the buy.
1:17:03
Speaker 1: It doesn't have to be a perfect game. They don't
1:17:04
Speaker 1: have to hold Baltimore to 10 points and completely stymie them.
1:17:07
Speaker 1: completely um i would like to see improvement schematically and
1:17:11
Speaker 1: from an execution standpoint i'd like to see more creativity
1:17:13
Speaker 1: more designers more exotics um and i would just like
1:17:17
Speaker 1: even if it's not that i just want to see
1:17:18
Speaker 1: better execution even if it's simple stuff or complex stuff
1:17:21
Speaker 1: something something to hang my hat on say no look
1:17:25
Speaker 1: this is improved um coming out of the bio be
1:17:29
Speaker 1: important but yeah they play the jets on november 15th
1:17:31
Speaker 1: and the dolphins on november 22nd and then thursday night
1:17:35
Speaker 1: game on thanksgiving november 26 against kansas city if the
1:17:39
Speaker 1: defense doesn't wax the jets and the dolphins i will
1:17:43
Speaker 1: be very concerned because then it's chiefs pats green bay
1:17:48
Speaker 1: chicago denver miami new york i also tell you what's
1:17:50
Speaker 1: also an interesting one to bookmark that rematch against the
1:17:53
Speaker 1: patriots they played them once before now they'll have aj
1:17:57
Speaker 1: brown you in theory They could also have a healthier
1:18:01
Speaker 1: offensive line, but you've played them once before. Granted, there
1:18:04
Speaker 1: are some player variables that will be a change. I'm
1:18:06
Speaker 1: very interested to see what the Bills defense looks like
1:18:09
Speaker 1: going up against the Patriots. That'll be the first team
1:18:11
Speaker 1: they've played for the second time this year. So I
1:18:15
Speaker 1: wonder how much are we seeing? Do we see an
1:18:16
Speaker 1: adjusted game plan from game one to game two? How
1:18:19
Speaker 1: is he tailoring or curating things in addition to kind
1:18:24
Speaker 1: of where the defense is? But yeah, I'm going to
1:18:26
Speaker 1: give it through November. If they haven't righted the ship
1:18:30
Speaker 1: through that Miami game, I will start to be significantly concerned.
1:18:36
Speaker 1: Joshua says, Hey Ant, at what point do we have
1:18:38
Speaker 1: to give up on Leonard? I worry if we give
1:18:39
Speaker 1: him another year to get his guys and the defense
1:18:41
Speaker 1: doesn't look good. It's just another wasted year of Allen's prime.
1:18:44
Speaker 1: I think it's a fair point, um especially with how
1:18:46
Speaker 1: much the my earbud uh how much the defense has
1:18:49
Speaker 1: let the team down in the playoffs um i think
1:18:53
Speaker 1: you have to give him at least one full year
1:18:56
Speaker 1: with the archetypes and body types he's used in the
1:18:59
Speaker 1: past um but granted some of that is contingent on
1:19:04
Speaker 1: how this season goes, because if a guy can only
1:19:06
Speaker 1: work in a certain situation with the right players, even
1:19:09
Speaker 1: if that thing works out great, you can make the
1:19:12
Speaker 1: case with like, Oh, but like, we have to have
1:19:13
Speaker 1: everything perfect for you. That's kind of all jokes. It's
1:19:15
Speaker 1: like a Jalen hurts situation where it's like, Oh yeah,
1:19:18
Speaker 1: you're only good. If we have like an all pro
1:19:19
Speaker 1: offensive line and all pro receivers and an all pro
1:19:21
Speaker 1: running back and all pro defense, like that's really tough
1:19:24
Speaker 1: to kind of make all those pieces fit. I think
1:19:28
Speaker 1: he gets at least two years. And then you have
1:19:30
Speaker 1: to kind of, you see how this year, How the
1:19:32
Speaker 1: adjustment goes this year, you try and get more of
1:19:35
Speaker 1: the guys that are acclimated better to his defense from
1:19:39
Speaker 1: a schematic standpoint, a skill set standpoint, and then you
1:19:42
Speaker 1: go from there. Have the miscommunications been worse in two-minute
1:19:47
Speaker 1: situations or has it been consistently bad throughout? I would
1:19:49
Speaker 1: say consistently bad throughout. Drucker says, what would you have
1:19:52
Speaker 1: traded for Marvin Harrison Jr.? With what they're constructed like
1:19:56
Speaker 1: now and what they need going forward, I wouldn't have
1:19:59
Speaker 1: given up a second. I would have given up a
1:20:03
Speaker 1: fourth or a fifth. I wouldn't have given up a
1:20:06
Speaker 1: day to pick. Charles says, I think I'm done with Bernard.
1:20:10
Speaker 1: His strengths were pass coverage and blitzing, but hasn't been
1:20:13
Speaker 1: impactful there and always be a liability versus the run. Yeah.
1:20:16
Speaker 1: There's the size shows up. I think that he and
1:20:19
Speaker 1: the bills kind of got caught at the end of,
1:20:22
Speaker 1: you know, he's a linebacker for a different kind of
1:20:25
Speaker 1: NFL and with how much the run game is back
1:20:28
Speaker 1: in vogue and heavy personnel and downhill at you type
1:20:31
Speaker 1: of run schemes. you need some size on the interior.
1:20:34
Speaker 1: You need like what the Jags linebackers were last year.
1:20:37
Speaker 1: You need Foye, Alua Khan. You need Devin Lloyd. You
1:20:39
Speaker 1: need Fred Warner and Dre Greenlaw, like these dudes who
1:20:41
Speaker 1: can go sideline to sideline, but also have some thump
1:20:44
Speaker 1: to them. And Bernard just doesn't consistently have the juice.
1:20:48
Speaker 1: Sometimes there's the trigger and the quickness and foot speed.
1:20:51
Speaker 1: And sometimes it looks like, like I said, like he's
1:20:53
Speaker 1: caught in cement and, and the size is always going
1:20:55
Speaker 1: to be there, right? If guys can attach to him,
1:20:57
Speaker 1: he's going to get thrown out the club. Has Chubb
1:21:00
Speaker 1: been impactful on defense? For me, he was as advertised.
1:21:04
Speaker 1: He's good on spikes. He plays the run. He wins
1:21:07
Speaker 1: every once in a while as a rusher. I think
1:21:08
Speaker 1: he's more of an edge two than a true edge one,
1:21:10
Speaker 1: but he's been fine. And I don't say that as
1:21:12
Speaker 1: like an insult. Like he's met my expectations, which are,
1:21:15
Speaker 1: you know, he's fine. Thomas says, Leonard doesn't have his
1:21:19
Speaker 1: guys to run it exactly the way he wants. I
1:21:21
Speaker 1: do think so. Ryan says, so are we progressing or regressing?
1:21:25
Speaker 1: That's what I want to know. Overall, I think it's
1:21:33
Speaker 1: kind of stayed the same. I think you're seeing the
1:21:36
Speaker 1: same issues you've seen for the past several weeks. Um,
1:21:41
Speaker 1: which is why I want to see what happens coming
1:21:42
Speaker 1: out of the buy. So yeah, I, I think they, they,
1:21:50
Speaker 1: even in the first half against the Rams, they did some,
1:21:53
Speaker 1: they had some creative coverage spins that they executed. Well,
1:21:57
Speaker 1: obviously in the second half, they gave up like a
1:21:58
Speaker 1: thousand points. So it didn't hold. Um, I would say
1:22:03
Speaker 1: overall when you balance it out, I would say everything's
1:22:05
Speaker 1: kind of stayed the same, but it's bad, right? Like
1:22:09
Speaker 1: if they started out as a four, some things kind
1:22:12
Speaker 1: of moved up to like a five, five and a
1:22:13
Speaker 1: half or six. Some things dropped to maybe like a
1:22:15
Speaker 1: three or a two, but when you balance it out,
1:22:17
Speaker 1: it all evens out back to that four. That's kind
1:22:19
Speaker 1: of where I'm at. Charles says, I want to see
1:22:22
Speaker 1: Dorian and Elam's were together. Unleash the philosophy. Ed says,
1:22:26
Speaker 1: I think it's going to take another off season to
1:22:27
Speaker 1: be honest. I think that's fair. Claude says he doesn't
1:22:29
Speaker 1: have the pieces. I don't think any of these cornerbacks
1:22:31
Speaker 1: are man coverage specialists. The linebackers can do one thing
1:22:34
Speaker 1: or another. I do think there is some credence to that.
1:22:36
Speaker 1: I don't think, yeah, I think that's fair. Ah, this
1:22:42
Speaker 1: is a great question. I don't know how to answer this. Well,
1:22:44
Speaker 1: I do, but did it make sense hiring a coordinator
1:22:47
Speaker 1: that doesn't mesh with the current roster when you don't
1:22:49
Speaker 1: have roster flexibility and a generational quarterback who just turned 30?
1:22:54
Speaker 1: That's a great question. Um, if it works out, yeah,
1:22:58
Speaker 1: it did make sense. If it bottoms out, no, it
1:23:00
Speaker 1: didn't make sense. And it was terrible. Um, that's, that's
1:23:03
Speaker 1: the risk, right? Like you bring in somebody who aligns
1:23:06
Speaker 1: with more of the current NFL meta, but you don't
1:23:09
Speaker 1: really have the financial or draft capital flexibility to be
1:23:12
Speaker 1: able to make the changes necessary right away. Um, so
1:23:17
Speaker 1: is this more of like, you know, year two is
1:23:19
Speaker 1: really what we're expecting. But again, as that like another
1:23:21
Speaker 1: wasted year type of deal, um, that's a great question. Um,
1:23:26
Speaker 1: and one that I don't like to think about. Uh,
1:23:29
Speaker 1: let me go back to, we got a super chat.
1:23:32
Speaker 1: Thank you for being here. Thank you for the super chat.
1:23:34
Speaker 1: The legends rage. Uh, sincerely, thank you for the super chat.
1:23:37
Speaker 1: That's really cool. Um, I know you were excited about
1:23:39
Speaker 1: the change in scheme, bro, but this defense looks worse
1:23:41
Speaker 1: than the Sean McDermott defense, but I think the defense
1:23:44
Speaker 1: will be better when Jim Larry gets his guys in
1:23:46
Speaker 1: the draft and free agency. Yeah, it's, um, Sean McDermott's defense,
1:23:52
Speaker 1: even at its worst, was a high floor defense. And
1:23:56
Speaker 1: the floor has fallen out for this defense. And that's
1:24:00
Speaker 1: super concerning. I don't think you're... Yeah, I was excited.
1:24:05
Speaker 1: You know, it's funny. My offseason rollercoaster with the Leonard thing,
1:24:09
Speaker 1: I was excited for Leonard because of Leonard. But tied
1:24:12
Speaker 1: within that, almost like a given, I was excited because
1:24:16
Speaker 1: of what it meant for the roster and the personnel.
1:24:20
Speaker 1: Like I thought, which is why I was like, Oh man,
1:24:23
Speaker 1: like Sebastian, Joseph day, Leo Chanel, Cade Nellis, like all
1:24:28
Speaker 1: these different body types that the bills never got before.
1:24:31
Speaker 1: Like now they're actually possible. This is really cool. And
1:24:33
Speaker 1: they didn't go out and get any of those guys.
1:24:37
Speaker 1: So yeah, the growing pains are significant right now. I
1:24:40
Speaker 1: think it's fair to say the defense looks worse. Although somebody,
1:24:42
Speaker 1: whoever pulled that stat earlier, I think big Scooby or
1:24:44
Speaker 1: whatever the name was, apologies for getting it wrong. That,
1:24:47
Speaker 1: you know, this, the Leonard defense through five games is
1:24:49
Speaker 1: still better than like the playoff elimination, Sean McDermott defenses,
1:24:52
Speaker 1: which is funny, but man, Sean McDermott was a good coach.
1:24:55
Speaker 1: He's been around the block. He's tried and true. He's
1:24:57
Speaker 1: earned his stripes in the NFL. Um, he's a good coach. Yeah. I, I,
1:25:02
Speaker 1: I think that was kind of lost in all of the, uh,
1:25:05
Speaker 1: fallout of the bills, not getting over the hump and,
1:25:07
Speaker 1: and getting to the mountaintop, but McDermott's a good coach
1:25:11
Speaker 1: knew how to maximize his dudes and knew what he
1:25:14
Speaker 1: wanted and had a tried and true recipe at the
1:25:16
Speaker 1: NFL that he cultivated and crafted for years. He was
1:25:19
Speaker 1: an NFL vet. So yeah, I think Leonard is finding
1:25:24
Speaker 1: his way right now with this team and kind of
1:25:26
Speaker 1: with himself with this version of this defense. I do
1:25:30
Speaker 1: think it will be better when or if he gets
1:25:32
Speaker 1: his guys, but there's just so much muddiness and variability
1:25:36
Speaker 1: to that, but that's a fair point. And again, thank
1:25:38
Speaker 1: you for the comment. Thank you for the super chat.
1:25:42
Speaker 1: Thomas says, sacks, pressure rate, and run defense was a
1:25:44
Speaker 1: concern last season. We have gotten way better in that department.
1:25:48
Speaker 1: It's funny, you know, you would think that. If you
1:25:53
Speaker 1: look at it overall right now, so per Sumer Sports,
1:25:58
Speaker 1: the Bills sack rate this year, right now they're 22nd
1:26:00
Speaker 1: at 5%. Last year they finished 14th at 6.8, so
1:26:04
Speaker 1: they're 1.8 percentage points worse this year. Pressure rate. They're
1:26:08
Speaker 1: 14th right now in pressure rate at 39.8. Last year,
1:26:12
Speaker 1: they finished 11th at 40.1, so close to the same, 39.8, 40.1.
1:26:17
Speaker 1: Big one, average time to pressure. This year, they're 25th
1:26:21
Speaker 1: at 2.59 seconds, but they were similar last year. They
1:26:24
Speaker 1: were 18th, but it was similar in time, 2.55 seconds.
1:26:30
Speaker 1: Run defense, the stuff rate has gotten better. 24% stuff
1:26:35
Speaker 1: rate tackles for loss or no gain. Last year at 24%,
1:26:39
Speaker 1: last year they were 20th at 20.3. And then, yeah,
1:26:42
Speaker 1: yards before contact per rush this year at 0.92, which
1:26:45
Speaker 1: is eighth. Last year they were 24th at 1.46. Yards
1:26:49
Speaker 1: after contact per rush this year, they're middle of the
1:26:51
Speaker 1: pack at 16th at 3.0. Last year they were 32nd
1:26:54
Speaker 1: at 3.68. And then they've improved at explosive run rate
1:26:57
Speaker 1: as well. Not great still. They're 25th at 14%. Last
1:27:01
Speaker 1: year they were 31st at 16.7. So they have improved some,
1:27:04
Speaker 1: but the numbers have kind of dwindled off a little bit.
1:27:06
Speaker 1: the past couple of weeks but your your thought overall
1:27:09
Speaker 1: is fair charles says don't forget this is the youngest
1:27:17
Speaker 1: d in the league by far that's huge and how
1:27:18
Speaker 1: quickly they process and react is that true i'm not
1:27:20
Speaker 1: calling that into question i just i i never do
1:27:23
Speaker 1: the whole like age thing it never really hits me
1:27:25
Speaker 1: unless somebody is like starting a ton of rookies or
1:27:28
Speaker 1: starting a bunch of 10-year vets Ryan said, it seems
1:27:33
Speaker 1: like they do have some capability to stop when they
1:27:36
Speaker 1: really put some effort into it, but then I don't
1:27:37
Speaker 1: know what can motivate them. I think it's more of
1:27:39
Speaker 1: the players than Jim's plan. I think the players aren't
1:27:42
Speaker 1: holistically confident in what their assignments are. And I think
1:27:45
Speaker 1: they're getting some paralysis by analysis. You can see guys
1:27:49
Speaker 1: are like thinking too much, um, pre and post nap
1:27:52
Speaker 1: in the middle of the play. Um, you know, it, it,
1:27:56
Speaker 1: it's tough. Um, I don't think motivation is necessarily the issue.
1:28:02
Speaker 1: Like I think, or, you know, it might, I mean,
1:28:04
Speaker 1: it might be, I don't know, but I think it's
1:28:06
Speaker 1: more guys just aren't confident. They're, they're thinking more than
1:28:09
Speaker 1: they're playing football and questioning themselves and things. Josh says,
1:28:14
Speaker 1: and I look at San Francisco at a similar scheme
1:28:16
Speaker 1: switch and how they're dominating. And I just feel a
1:28:18
Speaker 1: certain way it was supposed to be us, but also
1:28:24
Speaker 1: I don't want to keep giving like caveats, but Raheem
1:28:27
Speaker 1: Morris going to the 49ers is, He is very known
1:28:32
Speaker 1: for being very kind of fluid and adapting to what
1:28:36
Speaker 1: he needs to be. He actually brought some of his stuff,
1:28:38
Speaker 1: like some five down front stuff. stuff that he did
1:28:40
Speaker 1: at Atlanta. He brought with him a bit to the Niners.
1:28:42
Speaker 1: So they've changed some things there, but he doesn't, he's
1:28:47
Speaker 1: always done a good job kind of adapting wherever he's been,
1:28:49
Speaker 1: whether it was Atlanta, the time with the Rams and
1:28:51
Speaker 1: the Superbowl run, he's, he's got a good track record
1:28:54
Speaker 1: of being very adaptable. Also within that, not to give
1:28:59
Speaker 1: a pass, like, the Niners have Fred Warner who makes
1:29:04
Speaker 1: every defense better because of how good he is physically
1:29:06
Speaker 1: and mentally. And then, I mean, both is banged up,
1:29:08
Speaker 1: but like they got some dudes on that defense. Um,
1:29:12
Speaker 1: and Warner, his ability is amplified by green law, but
1:29:15
Speaker 1: I mean, you've got Bosa granny, he got hurt again,
1:29:17
Speaker 1: but they've got some dudes, um, on that front. Um,
1:29:22
Speaker 1: but I, I, I get the sentiment and I think
1:29:24
Speaker 1: some of that is fair, but Warner makes a big difference. Big, big, big, big, big, big,
1:29:28
Speaker 1: big difference. RJ says, that's kind of what I've been saying.
1:29:34
Speaker 1: Everything shouldn't have to be perfect for Leonard. If he
1:29:36
Speaker 1: doesn't have the right players, then that's on Bean too.
1:29:37
Speaker 1: I think it's, again, it's on, I mean, I say
1:29:39
Speaker 1: this for everything, but it's on everybody. Like, I think
1:29:42
Speaker 1: the roster construction isn't ideal. I don't think Jim Leonard
1:29:45
Speaker 1: is doing a great job. I don't think the players
1:29:47
Speaker 1: are doing a great job. Like, it is, it is,
1:29:49
Speaker 1: it is a, it is in totality a mold. Like,
1:29:52
Speaker 1: if you want to play the blame game and be like,
1:29:55
Speaker 1: How much percentage can we assign to each person? I
1:29:57
Speaker 1: don't know how to do that, but there's a bunch
1:29:59
Speaker 1: of pieces and parts and people and aspects that are
1:30:02
Speaker 1: at fault here and blame here, which is tough. Those
1:30:10
Speaker 1: are electric. The DBs just don't seem to know their responsibilities.
1:30:13
Speaker 1: The play unfolds, leaving some wide receivers open. Yeah, my
1:30:18
Speaker 1: bigger concern is the space between the second and third
1:30:21
Speaker 1: levels and then just the lack of coverage in the
1:30:23
Speaker 1: hook curls and the flats, but that's kind of tied
1:30:25
Speaker 1: to your point comment here. Do you still believe in
1:30:28
Speaker 1: Maxwell Hairston? I, I'm going to, I'm going to answer
1:30:32
Speaker 1: this kind of like a, uh, now I'm not even
1:30:34
Speaker 1: trying to be sarcastic. I didn't love him a ton
1:30:39
Speaker 1: for the bills defense last year coming out. Um, so
1:30:44
Speaker 1: I'm still kind of in the same boat. I thought, okay,
1:30:46
Speaker 1: he's got some traits. Let's see what happens. I still
1:30:49
Speaker 1: think the same thing. Um, I'm not as encouraged. I'm
1:30:53
Speaker 1: not as hopeful right now as I was when he
1:30:56
Speaker 1: was drafted or even when he was making some plays
1:30:59
Speaker 1: last year and get some interceptions. Um, but I'm not
1:31:02
Speaker 1: out on him. Um, I'm not as encouraged or as
1:31:04
Speaker 1: hopeful for him as I once, as I was last
1:31:07
Speaker 1: year at this time. Um, but I'm not out on him. I'm, I'm,
1:31:10
Speaker 1: you can't write off Max Hairston right now. He's still
1:31:13
Speaker 1: essentially a rookie. Um, and he's going through changes too. So, But, again,
1:31:18
Speaker 1: part of this is based off of my expectations and
1:31:21
Speaker 1: my thoughts for him going in. Is Dorian a fit long-term?
1:31:25
Speaker 1: The cover three touchdown to Adams seemed bad. I've always
1:31:29
Speaker 1: said this. Dorian Williams came from a Madden type of
1:31:32
Speaker 1: coverage defense at Tulane. They played basic spot drop coverage.
1:31:36
Speaker 1: I remember I think I watched like six games, and
1:31:38
Speaker 1: I counted like twice where he carried a tight end
1:31:40
Speaker 1: or somebody downfield. Everything was just drop to a spot
1:31:43
Speaker 1: and go to it. He was learning how to play
1:31:45
Speaker 1: defense in the NFL on the fly. He's never been
1:31:47
Speaker 1: a full-time starter in the NFL until this year. He's
1:31:50
Speaker 1: only been a starter in spot duty. And so then
1:31:52
Speaker 1: you do that. And on top of that, he has
1:31:54
Speaker 1: to learn a new defense. I think Dorian's still best
1:31:57
Speaker 1: suited as like a linebacker three. He's got length. He's
1:32:00
Speaker 1: got speed. He's got physicality. He's violent. I just think
1:32:05
Speaker 1: he's built for more of a rotational role and an
1:32:07
Speaker 1: athlete role than he is like a true every down starter.
1:32:12
Speaker 1: Bob says, can Leonard's defense succeed in year two when Bernard, Benford, Bishop,
1:32:17
Speaker 1: a new safety and Max are still on the team?
1:32:19
Speaker 1: If not, could it be a new DC and a
1:32:21
Speaker 1: new scheme after that? I would like to think that
1:32:24
Speaker 1: a couple players familiar with the scheme and some better
1:32:27
Speaker 1: archetype fits and body type fits and skill sets would
1:32:31
Speaker 1: go a long way. In addition to all these people
1:32:33
Speaker 1: being in the defense for the second year. So yes,
1:32:36
Speaker 1: I do think the defense could succeed in year two
1:32:39
Speaker 1: with those players on the team, provided they do get
1:32:41
Speaker 1: some reinforcements. Um, if not, right. If they do add,
1:32:47
Speaker 1: so if you're, if you're not seeing any progression in
1:32:49
Speaker 1: year two from the players who have been in the
1:32:51
Speaker 1: defense already and, or the reinforcements aren't helping, then yeah,
1:32:55
Speaker 1: you could see a new DC after that. Oh, Marty
1:32:58
Speaker 1: says this been more of a JV lie or a
1:33:00
Speaker 1: Jim Leonard issue. I don't know how to parse that
1:33:03
Speaker 1: because it's, I would probably lean towards the total percentage.
1:33:07
Speaker 1: package hashtag lex luger uh because you're seeing breakdowns at
1:33:11
Speaker 1: the second level too so i don't think it i
1:33:13
Speaker 1: don't think it's just jay belay i think it's more
1:33:15
Speaker 1: of the defense in totality which if you had to
1:33:18
Speaker 1: if i had to pick one of these two i
1:33:19
Speaker 1: would bubble it up more to leonard this is a
1:33:22
Speaker 1: fair comment basically he's using mcdermott's defense personnel into his
1:33:25
Speaker 1: scheme so it's going to be growing paces and paint
1:33:27
Speaker 1: pains and personnel changes absolutely absolutely Nicholas says, the issue
1:33:32
Speaker 1: with quote-unquote getting his guys is that we also have
1:33:34
Speaker 1: holes on the offense to fill, and we don't have
1:33:36
Speaker 1: a ton of cap space, and no second-round pick. We
1:33:40
Speaker 1: don't have a second-round pick? I thought we did have
1:33:41
Speaker 1: a second-round pick. The offense is closer. In theory, you
1:33:45
Speaker 1: should be fine. Josh Palmer comes off the books. You
1:33:47
Speaker 1: could replace him with another wide receiver. We'll see what
1:33:49
Speaker 1: you do with Dalton Kincaid. The offensive line is largely
1:33:52
Speaker 1: locked in, though I'd like an upgrade at left guard,
1:33:54
Speaker 1: but you can do that in the draft, even on
1:33:56
Speaker 1: day two. Get yourself a good guard in the second
1:33:58
Speaker 1: or third round. You're set at running back. DJ Moore
1:34:01
Speaker 1: and that group of wide receiver, you should be fine.
1:34:04
Speaker 1: You've got Josh Allen. The O-line is set. I think
1:34:06
Speaker 1: the offense is largely set. You need some auxiliary pieces,
1:34:09
Speaker 1: but I think you can do a lot of wholesale
1:34:11
Speaker 1: changes on defense and still address some auxiliary pieces on
1:34:14
Speaker 1: the offense. Christian, which positions do you think need to
1:34:18
Speaker 1: be addressed the most in the offseason? Also, honestly, I
1:34:21
Speaker 1: think it won't be the hardest thing ever since I'd
1:34:23
Speaker 1: argue the biggest holes are linebacker and safety. Right now,
1:34:28
Speaker 1: off-ball linebacker. I would like another skill set added to
1:34:34
Speaker 1: the outside linebacker room. I would like a juice guy.
1:34:37
Speaker 1: I would like a bend juice guy. Give me that.
1:34:41
Speaker 1: Just in the rotation somewhere, please. But I don't think
1:34:45
Speaker 1: that's the biggest position to be addressed. Give me off-ball linebacker.
1:34:50
Speaker 1: Give me a true nose tackle like Roy Lopez. I
1:34:53
Speaker 1: want Roy Lopez, even though he's signed for a multi-year
1:34:55
Speaker 1: deal in Arizona this year. Give me an off-ball linebacker.
1:34:57
Speaker 1: Give me a nose tackle. safety and like right now
1:35:03
Speaker 1: I would want another corner. Like I'd want to, but
1:35:08
Speaker 1: I would have no problem spending money on a true
1:35:10
Speaker 1: corner too, or like another, or like a low tier
1:35:12
Speaker 1: corner one and having Benford be like the two, that
1:35:15
Speaker 1: would be sick. If Christian Benford, your number two, you're
1:35:18
Speaker 1: looking good at corner. Um, but which ones do I
1:35:21
Speaker 1: think need to dress the most right now? Not, We're
1:35:29
Speaker 1: saying like, hey, Max doesn't progress. Igbenosin doesn't progress. I
1:35:33
Speaker 1: would say off-ball linebacker, corner, and safety in that order. Yeah. Yeah.
1:35:43
Speaker 1: If McDermott's personnel in his scheme has caused issues in
1:35:46
Speaker 1: the passing defense, why has that same personnel been better
1:35:48
Speaker 1: in the run when they have the same archetypes as
1:35:50
Speaker 1: previous years? Very good question. Because they're using different fronts.
1:35:54
Speaker 1: They're lining up in different gaps. They have more guys
1:35:57
Speaker 1: on the line of scrimmage. And, oh, I forgot. I
1:35:59
Speaker 1: didn't read this part. They are also moving a ton.
1:36:07
Speaker 1: I got so caught up in the blitz and sim rates,
1:36:09
Speaker 1: I forgot to read this. So what the Bills are
1:36:13
Speaker 1: doing a bunch, they're third this year in the league
1:36:17
Speaker 1: in stunt rate at 23.4%. So stunts, if you don't
1:36:20
Speaker 1: know what those are, essentially it's guys shifting gaps, exchanging gaps,
1:36:24
Speaker 1: moving up front, right? I've showed those. those tackle and
1:36:27
Speaker 1: stunts or those end tackle stunts, tech stunts, exit stunts, right. Where,
1:36:32
Speaker 1: you know, you've got somebody as the picker or spiker
1:36:34
Speaker 1: and somebody's the looper, but they're running games up front.
1:36:37
Speaker 1: You've got guys, you know, someone is lined up in
1:36:39
Speaker 1: the B gap. He's slanting to the a gap on
1:36:42
Speaker 1: the snap and then the linebacker shooting the B gap.
1:36:45
Speaker 1: Leonard is using movement to create chaos up front. And
1:36:50
Speaker 1: that coupled with, The fronts that they're using, where they're
1:36:54
Speaker 1: lining up, and how he's lining up the guys has
1:36:56
Speaker 1: led to success in the run game. But again, overall,
1:36:59
Speaker 1: the run numbers are not great right now. They're 26th
1:37:07
Speaker 1: in rushing success rate allowed. Last year, they were 24th,
1:37:10
Speaker 1: but the numbers are pretty close, 44.9% this year to 45.1%
1:37:12
Speaker 1: last year. EPA per rush, this year they're 29th. Last year,
1:37:14
Speaker 1: they were 30th. DVO way they're 19th in rush this year.
1:37:21
Speaker 1: Last year they were 31st. So that improved a lot. Um,
1:37:24
Speaker 1: but you're still seeing kind of the same issues where
1:37:26
Speaker 1: guys are getting, sometimes you're getting guys in the same
1:37:29
Speaker 1: gaps or guys are getting blown out the water versus
1:37:32
Speaker 1: double teams. Um, but a lot of it is Leonard's
1:37:34
Speaker 1: using more movement to cause chaos, shut some lanes, shut
1:37:38
Speaker 1: some doors, make guys play in a phone booth. That's
1:37:40
Speaker 1: also resulting in the higher stuff rate, which is tackles
1:37:43
Speaker 1: for loss or no game this year. Um, because you
1:37:45
Speaker 1: are seeing guys shoot, cut things off and kind of
1:37:49
Speaker 1: pen the offense in a little bit. Carlos says, the
1:37:53
Speaker 1: Bills defense signed Shaq Thompson in the practice squad. Are
1:37:55
Speaker 1: there any other free agents that you would sign? Milano, Trey,
1:37:58
Speaker 1: Poyer available, maybe Bobby Wagner. I would welcome Trey back.
1:38:02
Speaker 1: I just question what that looks like in this defense. Poyer, no. Milano, no.
1:38:07
Speaker 1: Bobby Wagner, no. I would say Trey. I would say Trey.
1:38:14
Speaker 1: But I don't think it's like a like for like,
1:38:16
Speaker 1: or like necessarily the best fit. Ed said, I thought
1:38:29
Speaker 1: this defense... was supposed to be more aggressive, so why
1:38:31
Speaker 1: don't they blitz more? Because the secondary is getting torched.
1:38:34
Speaker 1: I don't think he has the confidence in the back
1:38:36
Speaker 1: end to hold up where they need to be, like
1:38:39
Speaker 1: at the second level and the third level. I don't
1:38:41
Speaker 1: think he has confidence in those dudes to hold up.
1:38:45
Speaker 1: to be able to blitz or do creative stuff, or
1:38:47
Speaker 1: maybe even doesn't have faith in the guys up front
1:38:49
Speaker 1: to execute the creative stuff. But I just don't think
1:38:52
Speaker 1: he feels confident in either. He doesn't feel confident enough
1:38:56
Speaker 1: to call that. Like he wants to do that. He
1:38:58
Speaker 1: wants to play on the front foot again. Like we
1:39:00
Speaker 1: said throughout this episode, he wants to play on the
1:39:02
Speaker 1: front foot. I talked about what you see on the tape.
1:39:04
Speaker 1: I pulled all those quotes. I pulled all those stats, right?
1:39:08
Speaker 1: He is, I, you know, don't want to be a
1:39:09
Speaker 1: counter puncher dictating to offenses and playing on the front
1:39:12
Speaker 1: foot and all this stuff. And he hasn't done that.
1:39:15
Speaker 1: I don't think he feels like they can right now,
1:39:17
Speaker 1: at least. Leslie says, is there any trades we can
1:39:22
Speaker 1: make that will improve the defense in a meaningful way?
1:39:24
Speaker 1: I love deadline talk, but I haven't heard any idea
1:39:26
Speaker 1: involving a single player, uh, trade that moves me. I
1:39:29
Speaker 1: haven't looked at dudes that are available yet, just cause
1:39:32
Speaker 1: not a lot of people get moved at the deadline.
1:39:34
Speaker 1: It's hard to find a dance partner, um, at the
1:39:37
Speaker 1: NFL trade deadline. And it's even harder when you're limited
1:39:39
Speaker 1: in cap space and there's the extra wild cards and
1:39:41
Speaker 1: more teams think they're in it. Um, The one I
1:39:44
Speaker 1: said in the offseason, I've only watched one game of
1:39:46
Speaker 1: his this year, and it was when the Cardinals played
1:39:48
Speaker 1: the Chargers in week one. If D. Alford struggles or
1:39:52
Speaker 1: if he stays hurt, give me Buda Baker, and I'm
1:39:55
Speaker 1: just committing to playing three safeties, and then I'm rotating.
1:39:59
Speaker 1: The schematic potential you could have with Buda, Chauncey, and
1:40:02
Speaker 1: Cole Bishop in terms of which guys are the deep
1:40:05
Speaker 1: safety and which guys the nickel, which guys the down safety,
1:40:08
Speaker 1: all that, I think that would be fun. But I
1:40:10
Speaker 1: only watched one game of the Cardinals defense this year.
1:40:13
Speaker 1: So weeks two through five, he could have been atrocious. Um,
1:40:17
Speaker 1: but then that was a name that I had circled
1:40:19
Speaker 1: and noted. I think I even said it on social
1:40:22
Speaker 1: in the off season. I was like, if the Cardinals
1:40:23
Speaker 1: are bad at the trade deadline trade for Buddha Baker. Um,
1:40:28
Speaker 1: and so I'm, I'm going to stick to that and
1:40:29
Speaker 1: say Buddha Baker. Do I think Edmonds would help with
1:40:33
Speaker 1: the giants bottom out? Uh, actually his versatility could be
1:40:37
Speaker 1: kind of fun in this defense. Um, But I don't know.
1:40:40
Speaker 1: I watched him think too much in McDermott's defense. I'm
1:40:43
Speaker 1: a little gun-shy to see him think in this defense.
1:40:46
Speaker 1: Great comment here from Christian. Also going from Sal Adam
1:40:49
Speaker 1: Morris isn't the largest philosophical difference in the world in
1:40:51
Speaker 1: reference to the Niners. Yes, fair point. Cameron says, wish
1:40:53
Speaker 1: we could draft dudes, quote unquote. I agree for that.
1:40:59
Speaker 1: I agree with that, sorry. Charles says, we should rest
1:41:01
Speaker 1: more for an additional week since we have a bye
1:41:02
Speaker 1: after than have him 100% versus the Ravens. 1,000%. I
1:41:05
Speaker 1: wouldn't play him against the Raiders. If you can't beat
1:41:07
Speaker 1: the Raiders without DJ Moore, you have larger problems than
1:41:11
Speaker 1: what's going on with that. I would not bring Matt
1:41:17
Speaker 1: Milano back. Oh, my God. Are you saying Jacob Parrish
1:41:31
Speaker 1: from the corner from the Bucs? I would kill for that.
1:41:35
Speaker 1: That's my boy. Man, I would love if they got
1:41:40
Speaker 1: Jacob Parrish. You put him in outside. He's banging it outside,
1:41:44
Speaker 1: even though he's a little dude. Watching him battle with Pickens,
1:41:46
Speaker 1: I mean, he got got a bunch of times, but
1:41:48
Speaker 1: he also got some nice PBUs. He tackles. You could
1:41:50
Speaker 1: put him in the slot. Oh, I would kill for
1:41:53
Speaker 1: Jacob Parrish. Charles, you get me. You get me. This
1:41:58
Speaker 1: is a bit misleading. Charles, you said it's amazing how
1:42:01
Speaker 1: often they've used stunts without getting creased in the run game.
1:42:03
Speaker 1: They have gotten creased in the run game more than
1:42:05
Speaker 1: you might think. This is a fair point, but they've
1:42:07
Speaker 1: gotten creased more in the run game. There's two big
1:42:10
Speaker 1: things that I think aren't getting talked about enough with
1:42:12
Speaker 1: the defense. One, they have gotten creased. I mean, you
1:42:15
Speaker 1: see it with the explosive run rate. They are 25th
1:42:20
Speaker 1: in explosive run rate this year, allowed at 14%. That's
1:42:24
Speaker 1: one of the things that doesn't get talked about enough,
1:42:26
Speaker 1: and Dwayne Carter has ascended and played much, much better
1:42:29
Speaker 1: this year than I ever thought he would. He's still
1:42:31
Speaker 1: getting bullied and pushed on the ground like multiple times
1:42:34
Speaker 1: a game. And it's still not this world beater that
1:42:36
Speaker 1: is kind of being, he's made out to be, but
1:42:39
Speaker 1: I digress. Mass has great show. And I just want
1:42:42
Speaker 1: to say, I hate Ravens fans. Yeah. It's gotten pretty
1:42:44
Speaker 1: nasty between bills and Ravens fans. Um, it's tough for
1:42:47
Speaker 1: me because I, I'm actually wearing an Ed Reed Jersey
1:42:50
Speaker 1: right now. Uh, I love Ed Reed. He's my favorite
1:42:53
Speaker 1: player of all time. And I also love Terrell Suggs.
1:42:55
Speaker 1: I think I've said it before. Um, you know, during
1:42:58
Speaker 1: the drought and when the bills were bad, um, as
1:43:00
Speaker 1: soon as I knew the bills were eliminated or it
1:43:02
Speaker 1: was like, Oh, they're one in five, one in six.
1:43:03
Speaker 1: Here we go again. Uh, I rooted for the Ravens
1:43:06
Speaker 1: every single year. I've got multiple Ed Reed jerseys, Terrell
1:43:09
Speaker 1: Suggs jerseys. I've got like Ravens hoodies and stuff. Um,
1:43:13
Speaker 1: but yeah, it's gotten, uh, it's gotten brutal between, but
1:43:16
Speaker 1: I think it's both Ravens fans. Hey, Bill's fans, Bill's fans,
1:43:18
Speaker 1: hate Ravens fans. The discourse between Bill's fans and Ravens
1:43:21
Speaker 1: fans is terrible. Anytime Lamar does something bad, Bills fans
1:43:25
Speaker 1: jump down his throat and are like, oh, he's a joke.
1:43:27
Speaker 1: He sucks. Ha ha ha. Anytime Allen does something bad,
1:43:30
Speaker 1: Ravens fans jump down his throat. Man, he sucks. Ha
1:43:33
Speaker 1: ha ha. It's terrible. The nature of online discourse. Is
1:43:40
Speaker 1: CJ playing decently in your eyes or is he doing
1:43:42
Speaker 1: more harm than good out on the field? He's not
1:43:46
Speaker 1: doing more harm than good because there's not a better
1:43:48
Speaker 1: option at safety on the roster right now. He's decent.
1:43:53
Speaker 1: I wouldn't say he's playing good, but he's decent, and
1:43:55
Speaker 1: they don't have a better option. Fair comment. Tchaikovsky says,
1:44:01
Speaker 1: my thing is we're already getting toasted in the secondary
1:44:03
Speaker 1: without pressure, so why not send pressure? That's kind of
1:44:05
Speaker 1: what I'm saying. Let's just line up everybody and press
1:44:07
Speaker 1: across the board and just send the house, and we
1:44:11
Speaker 1: go from there. And then, yeah, we do. Let's show pressure.
1:44:15
Speaker 1: We'll pop guys out. Are we sending seven? Are we
1:44:17
Speaker 1: sending six? Are we sending five? Are we sending four?
1:44:19
Speaker 1: Are we sending three? Is it cover zero? Who's dropping out?
1:44:22
Speaker 1: Are we doing some cover zero glitch blitz stuff or
1:44:24
Speaker 1: true zero matching, whatever? Yeah, just give me the chaos defense.
1:44:29
Speaker 1: Just give me that. Christian says, what would we need
1:44:33
Speaker 1: to give up for Parrish, though? I like that idea
1:44:35
Speaker 1: a lot. I don't think the Bucs are going to
1:44:38
Speaker 1: trade Jacob Parrish. I feel like Charles said that more
1:44:40
Speaker 1: to just warm my heart. I was going to say,
1:44:42
Speaker 1: I think they took him. Oh, they took him in
1:44:43
Speaker 1: the third. I was going to say, I thought it
1:44:44
Speaker 1: was a low second. Yeah, the Bucs just took him
1:44:47
Speaker 1: last year in the third round. I don't think they're
1:44:49
Speaker 1: going to give him up. but dare to dream. He says,
1:44:57
Speaker 1: I'm curious if you saw anything from Ray Davis that
1:44:58
Speaker 1: might explain the lack of carries the past two years
1:45:00
Speaker 1: after his rookie season. I was really excited about his trajectory.
1:45:03
Speaker 1: I just think he's just kind of, he's just fine.
1:45:08
Speaker 1: I think he's just more of like a 1B than
1:45:10
Speaker 1: he is like a true, or I think he's more
1:45:12
Speaker 1: of a 2 than he is a 1B, I should say.
1:45:14
Speaker 1: And it also doesn't help his case that, I mean,
1:45:17
Speaker 1: James Cook has ascended to one of the best running
1:45:19
Speaker 1: backs in the NFL. fumbles aside. Um, so they've just
1:45:23
Speaker 1: leaned more into cook and then Davis is just kind
1:45:25
Speaker 1: of there. And then Ty Johnson gets more work cause
1:45:27
Speaker 1: he's a good pass protector and he's good on third downs.
1:45:31
Speaker 1: Joey says, do you have defensive and author offensive grades
1:45:33
Speaker 1: for the first quarter of the season? No, but I
1:45:35
Speaker 1: am going to do a bi-week review, uh, the week
1:45:39
Speaker 1: of the bi-week and we'll kind of do some kind
1:45:41
Speaker 1: of like superlatives biggest, you know, surprise, best thing, worst thing,
1:45:45
Speaker 1: some grades on some things, letter things, a bunch of
1:45:47
Speaker 1: stuff like that. Charles says, what's up with Kilgore? Why
1:45:51
Speaker 1: are they playing Kendall off the practice squad over him?
1:45:54
Speaker 1: I think Kilgore is just caught in between stuff. They're
1:45:56
Speaker 1: trying to get him to be more of a true
1:45:58
Speaker 1: safety when he was more of a nickel at South Carolina.
1:46:01
Speaker 1: And even at South Carolina, he was more traits than
1:46:03
Speaker 1: football player. Like he was guessing on stuff. He was
1:46:05
Speaker 1: getting beat, but he was just able to recover because
1:46:08
Speaker 1: of his size and athleticism. And that same thing happened
1:46:10
Speaker 1: in training camp. I said it on social. I've said
1:46:12
Speaker 1: it on the show. A bunch of stuff that he
1:46:15
Speaker 1: was getting beat. lauded for during camp where it was
1:46:17
Speaker 1: like oh you know Jalen Kilgore just had this pass
1:46:20
Speaker 1: break up 30 yards downfield but he got beat Kyle
1:46:23
Speaker 1: Allen or Buchel just like under threw a ball and
1:46:26
Speaker 1: Kilgore was able to like catch up to it because
1:46:28
Speaker 1: the receiver had to stop like he was getting beat
1:46:30
Speaker 1: and guys were getting behind him um I don't think
1:46:32
Speaker 1: he's ready to see NFL snaps he's got the athleticism
1:46:35
Speaker 1: he's got the size and the frame he looks the
1:46:36
Speaker 1: part I don't think he's there from an understanding at
1:46:40
Speaker 1: nickel He also doesn't have the physicality. Despite the fact
1:46:43
Speaker 1: that he is big and athletic, he doesn't play a
1:46:45
Speaker 1: physical brand of nickel. He's not Eamon Worry as a
1:46:48
Speaker 1: big nickel. He plays more of a finesse game as
1:46:51
Speaker 1: a nickel. And then they wanted to play more true safety.
1:46:53
Speaker 1: That's changing how he's seeing the game, how he sees
1:46:56
Speaker 1: the field, angles, vision, everything. It's just changing. Cameron says,
1:47:03
Speaker 1: would you consider playing the rookies more because the vets
1:47:05
Speaker 1: aren't so good, so why not be young with a
1:47:07
Speaker 1: higher ceiling? I just don't know what rookies were playing.
1:47:09
Speaker 1: I don't have a lot of faith in the rest
1:47:11
Speaker 1: of the depth to come into a better job. I
1:47:13
Speaker 1: would play Caleb B. Larmzor and Shaq. I would have
1:47:15
Speaker 1: no problem swapping one of those dudes out or more.
1:47:19
Speaker 1: This is good therapy. You know what else makes for
1:47:24
Speaker 1: good therapy? One pie pizza. The best pizza in Buffalo,
1:47:29
Speaker 1: New York. If you have not gotten yourself some one
1:47:31
Speaker 1: pie pizza, you are doing yourself a disservice. Sweet sauce pie,
1:47:35
Speaker 1: cup and char pepperoni, homemade blue cheese, absolutely delicious. phenomenal.
1:47:41
Speaker 1: A bunch of different creative toppings and pizzas. If you
1:47:44
Speaker 1: get different toppings and create your own or whatever you do,
1:47:46
Speaker 1: they'll sprinkle them evenly across the pie. There's a great
1:47:49
Speaker 1: cheese and sauce ratio. You're not biting the pizza and
1:47:51
Speaker 1: all the cheese is coming off or getting pulled off.
1:47:54
Speaker 1: They do a phenomenal breakfast pizza. They have a catering
1:47:56
Speaker 1: division called elevated catering of Buffalo where they, you know,
1:47:59
Speaker 1: you can get the pizzas, but you'd also get like
1:48:01
Speaker 1: real actual meals and different rice and chicken dishes, Mac
1:48:05
Speaker 1: and cheese dishes. They do great salads. If salad is
1:48:08
Speaker 1: your thing, it's not my thing, but if it's yours,
1:48:09
Speaker 1: God bless you. uh, sincerely phenomenal food. If the defense
1:48:14
Speaker 1: is stressing you out, drown your sorrows into one pie pizza,
1:48:17
Speaker 1: make sure you get the blue cheese on top. If
1:48:19
Speaker 1: they have a pizza in after the brand and after
1:48:21
Speaker 1: the show. So if you're coming into town for a
1:48:23
Speaker 1: game in a couple of weeks against the Ravens, or
1:48:26
Speaker 1: if you live here, whatever you're doing, get yourself some
1:48:28
Speaker 1: one pie pizza. If you live here, you're coming into town.
1:48:31
Speaker 1: We're also getting ready for toys for tots through them.
1:48:34
Speaker 1: It's October toys for tots drive. We'll be kicking off
1:48:36
Speaker 1: with them soon. where it's always the same old type
1:48:39
Speaker 1: of deal, bring in toys, which is awesome in and
1:48:42
Speaker 1: of itself. I love the holidays. I love Christmas. Like
1:48:44
Speaker 1: a lot of folks do, but for some families and kids,
1:48:47
Speaker 1: it's not a good time. Um, so whether it's toys
1:48:50
Speaker 1: for tots at one pie toys for tots somewhere else,
1:48:53
Speaker 1: different church drives, whatever, any way that you can give
1:48:55
Speaker 1: back to your community, wherever you live, um, and, and
1:48:58
Speaker 1: brighten the family or a kid's Christmas. I think that's awesome. Um,
1:49:02
Speaker 1: But if that isn't like enough for you, if you
1:49:04
Speaker 1: do it at one pie, every toy you drop off
1:49:06
Speaker 1: gets you a ticket and turn into a raffle. And
1:49:08
Speaker 1: the prizes are, you know, bills, tickets, sabers, tickets, autographed merch,
1:49:13
Speaker 1: you know, free pizza and food and a whole bunch
1:49:16
Speaker 1: of different great stuff. But a lot of it is
1:49:17
Speaker 1: tied to sports memorabilia and merch and games and food
1:49:20
Speaker 1: and all that stuff. So that's coming around the corner.
1:49:22
Speaker 1: They're really good people making really good food. Get yourself
1:49:26
Speaker 1: some one pie pizza if you have not all. Ready.
1:49:31
Speaker 1: Joey says therapeutic cup and char pepperoni. Sounds good. I
1:49:34
Speaker 1: know that sound really good. Christian says, so do you
1:49:37
Speaker 1: view Kilgore as a guy we're stashing likely to play
1:49:39
Speaker 1: next year? Yes. I didn't expect much from him. I
1:49:41
Speaker 1: didn't expect real contributions from him in 2026. And he
1:49:43
Speaker 1: says Raiders have the best nickel in the league. Fair.
1:49:47
Speaker 1: Shout out to Taryn Johnson. Oh, common here is from, uh,
1:49:54
Speaker 1: Noah APTS1. I've been convinced for a while. Oh, I've
1:49:59
Speaker 1: been convinced for a while. I can't wait to try
1:50:00
Speaker 1: one pie pizza when I come home next week. Yes.
1:50:02
Speaker 1: Try it. Get at me on social. Tweet at me
1:50:06
Speaker 1: at pro underscore underscore ant or on blue sky at
1:50:08
Speaker 1: pro ant. No underscores there. Or just put in the
1:50:11
Speaker 1: comments here. Let me know what you got. If you
1:50:13
Speaker 1: like it. Yeah. And how it went. What's your thoughts
1:50:17
Speaker 1: on all the cook fumbles? You know, Tiki Barber had
1:50:20
Speaker 1: problems back in the day, but he got better. What
1:50:22
Speaker 1: can cook do to improve? You just got to keep
1:50:23
Speaker 1: it high and tight. Be cognizant of it. I don't
1:50:25
Speaker 1: think he's even super loose with it. He's just getting got.
1:50:28
Speaker 1: And once people know you have a fumble issue, you're
1:50:30
Speaker 1: going to get that peanut punch all day and guys
1:50:32
Speaker 1: ripping at it. So it's a little bit that he's
1:50:34
Speaker 1: a bit of a Mark target. He's just got to
1:50:37
Speaker 1: get tighter on it. And if he stays tight on
1:50:39
Speaker 1: it for the rest of the year, I don't think
1:50:40
Speaker 1: it'll be an issue going forward. That's right. Charles horns down.
1:50:44
Speaker 1: He's an anti-Texas guy and go Canes. I like the
1:50:47
Speaker 1: little you emoji. Yeah. Canes play Florida state this week.
1:50:50
Speaker 1: I'm hoping for an absolute thrashing. from the Canes perspective
1:50:54
Speaker 1: to Florida States. And yeah, hope you folks enjoyed this episode.
1:50:59
Speaker 1: I thought it was gonna end up only going for
1:51:00
Speaker 1: like 30 to 45 minutes, but we had a lot
1:51:03
Speaker 1: of good conversation in this episode. So I hope you
1:51:06
Speaker 1: folks enjoyed this episode. If you did, please, please, please,
1:51:08
Speaker 1: and thank you, drop a like on this video. Likes
1:51:10
Speaker 1: are the lifeblood of these streams. So if you're watching
1:51:14
Speaker 1: here on YouTube now, live or post live later, please, please, please,
1:51:17
Speaker 1: thank you. Drop a like on this video. It goes
1:51:19
Speaker 1: a sincerely long way towards helping myself and the entire
1:51:21
Speaker 1: team to track and trend in front of more eyes
1:51:23
Speaker 1: and ears. Turn on notifications for the disguise coverage playlist
1:51:27
Speaker 1: here on YouTube. If you're listening on one of the
1:51:28
Speaker 1: apps or platforms, that's cool too. Podcasting apps or platforms,
1:51:31
Speaker 1: please rate and review and subscribe. If you enjoyed this content,
1:51:35
Speaker 1: whatever form or fashion, schematically, bills wise, whatever it is, Please, please,
1:51:40
Speaker 1: please and thank you. Tell your family and friends and
1:51:41
Speaker 1: loved ones about it if you enjoyed it. If you
1:51:43
Speaker 1: hated this episode or this content or me, tell your
1:51:46
Speaker 1: enemies and try and ruin their day by making them
1:51:48
Speaker 1: watch this show. I hope you all enjoy the rest
1:51:53
Speaker 1: of your Tuesday, the rest of your week. I'm going
1:51:57
Speaker 1: to try and get a film episode out on the
1:51:59
Speaker 1: back end of this week, either on a player or
1:52:02
Speaker 1: a certain schematic aspect, offensively or defensively. I haven't decided yet.
1:52:06
Speaker 1: I got to finish the tape. I got to finish
1:52:07
Speaker 1: the defense tape. Against the Rams, completely finished my charting.
1:52:10
Speaker 1: I got to get to the offensive side of the ball.
1:52:13
Speaker 1: Got a lot of things going on. Then I got
1:52:15
Speaker 1: to get into the Raiders tape in prep, and then
1:52:16
Speaker 1: I also got to watch some other stuff from around
1:52:21
Speaker 1: the league that I have notes on for certain players
1:52:23
Speaker 1: and certain trends and schematic things that I'm looking for,
1:52:26
Speaker 1: as I do. So things are jam-packed, but I'm going
1:52:28
Speaker 1: to try and get another film episode out this week. Yeah.
1:52:31
Speaker 1: Thank you very much to everybody who tuned in. So
1:52:33
Speaker 1: if you joined me live, thank you very much. Thank
1:52:35
Speaker 1: you to everybody in the live chat. The conversation was great.
1:52:37
Speaker 1: The discourse was great. I know a lot of people
1:52:39
Speaker 1: are frustrated or worried or concerned or angry, but I
1:52:42
Speaker 1: appreciate how thoughtful a lot of people's comments and thoughts
1:52:45
Speaker 1: and questions were. The discourse and engagement back and forth
1:52:47
Speaker 1: with each other, with me. Yeah, I thought it was
1:52:51
Speaker 1: really great. So thank you very much to everybody who
1:52:53
Speaker 1: tuned in live to this episode. Thank you very much
1:52:55
Speaker 1: to John, PixMSG, Justin. Carl, the legends rage, all you
1:53:00
Speaker 1: folks are your super chats and thank you for being here. Um,
1:53:03
Speaker 1: but it was really cool to see the super chats.
1:53:04
Speaker 1: I appreciate that. So thank you very much, um, for
1:53:07
Speaker 1: dropping those and for being here. And if you didn't
1:53:09
Speaker 1: watch live, that's cool too. Whether you're watching later, listening,
1:53:14
Speaker 1: you're a downloader, you know, listener watch or whatever form
1:53:17
Speaker 1: or fashion your episode consumption comes in. I am extremely
1:53:20
Speaker 1: thankful for it and appreciative of it. I hope you
1:53:22
Speaker 1: enjoyed this episode questions, thoughts, comments, concerns, put them into
1:53:25
Speaker 1: the comments on YouTube. Get at me on Twitter at
1:53:27
Speaker 1: Pro underscore underscore Ant. That's Pro two underscores A-N-T. Get
1:53:31
Speaker 1: at me on Blue Sky at Pro Ant. No underscores there,
1:53:34
Speaker 1: just P-R-O-A-N-T. Enjoy the rest of your Tuesday. Enjoy the
1:53:38
Speaker 1: rest of your week. Enjoy your weekend. I hope you
1:53:41
Speaker 1: and your family and friends and loved ones are all
1:53:44
Speaker 1: doing well and staying safe. Be kind to one another.
1:53:47
Speaker 1: Take care of one another. I appreciate the kind words
1:53:51
Speaker 1: throughout the episode for myself and at the end here
1:53:54
Speaker 1: for the channel, brand, everything like that. Thank you very much. Godspeed.
1:54:00
Speaker 1: Did I always throw myself off? Yeah, I'm just going
1:54:03
Speaker 1: to reiterate it. I hope you and your family and
1:54:05
Speaker 1: friends and loved ones are all doing well and staying safe.
1:54:06
Speaker 1: Be kind to one another. Take care of one another.
1:54:08
Speaker 1: I will see you when I see you. I almost
1:54:10
Speaker 1: glitched out. Godspeed. And as always, go Bills.