Latest / Sports Avenue Twisted Podcast / SATP Ep.31 feat. Justin Siejak

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SATP Ep.31 feat. Justin Siejak · Sports Avenue Twisted Podcast

0:02
The Bills make me wanna kick your heels up and throw your
0:06
hands up and throw your hair back inside.
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Come on, now. The Bills are making it happen.
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Now stand up now. Come on and shout.
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Yeah, yeah, yeah. Shout it right now, baby.
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Come on, Come on, Come on and shout.
0:31
Welcome to another edition of the Sports Ave.
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Twisted podcast. We have a special guest here
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today and we're going to talk about the Bills.
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Justice C Jack, producer of the News for Buffalo Station.
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Welcome aboard. Tell her what you do.
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And by the way, congratulations on your job and and everything
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else what you do. Yeah, I appreciate it, fellas.
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Thanks for having me. I'm happy to be here to talk,
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Paul. Yeah, I recently got the job at
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News 4 as a producer. So basically the easiest way I
0:57
can put it is anything the anchors say on the TV, it's
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written by me. We pick the sound bites and and
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all that, everything that goes in and, you know, the the goal
1:05
is to segue into a sports version of this, but, you know,
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taking it one step at a time. So As for right now, I'm happy
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to let's talk a lot of talk about.
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Thanks for joining us today. We're honored to have you.
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It's going to be a blast talking about the Bills and the upcoming
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season with the draft coming up. There's lots of talk about lots
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to to get into so so again, thanks for joining us.
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We're excited, man. Yeah, I'm fired up.
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Thanks for having. Me.
1:31
All right, let's ask the first question here when let's talk
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about the franchise. Quarterback Josh Allen got a
1:38
record, record extension worth $330 million and I believe they
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reconstructed a contract and $250 million is guaranteed
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coming off an MVP year. So what are your thoughts about
1:52
giving that extraction? Do you think it's too much?
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Do you think it's not enough? Do you think it helps the the
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contract situation for the bills when it comes to the cap
2:00
situation? What are your thoughts about
2:01
that? Yeah, this is it's it's about
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right, Right. He was well overdue for a pay
2:06
increase. I think a lot of people would
2:07
say that. Yeah, I like the number.
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Again, he probably could have taken us for more money.
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Did he know? So that's just a testament how
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much he loves Buffalo, I think. But yeah, the the number sounds
2:20
about right. He is.
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He's top 2 if he's not one, right.
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I mean, the MVP last season. It's really insane because in my
2:30
personal opinion, and yes, I grew up in Buffalo, Josh Allen
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has the highest ceiling of any quarterback I've ever seen in my
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entire life. The stuff that he does.
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I was. I was in Kansas City for the 13
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second game. Oh my God.
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It was, yeah. It's just I, I saw him put on
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the Cape, I saw him put on the Cape.
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I saw it first hand. It's it's special stuff.
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The contract is absolutely warranted.
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Although if I'm going to add something on to it, as long as
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Josh Allen is here, the bills will be in contention, but
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they're going to be tight on the cap.
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It's just the reality of what it is.
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The Bills extended six guys in the offseason.
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I think it was Shakur Benford, Bernard Allen Russo and Ty
3:12
Johnson, I believe. And what are your thoughts about
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about about extending those guys, getting them done now?
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And how much does this help the Bills moving forward heading
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into next year and beyond? You want to lock down the the
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Brandon Bean says this all the time.
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He's not going to spend the top dollar in a free agency all the
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time. What he wants to do is he wants
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to draft, develop and resign. What did he do right here?
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Well, it's right in front of us, the 2022 draft class.
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You've got Christian Benford in the sixth round.
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You get Khalil Shakur back on a deal.
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And, and by the way, these deals are really the the price point
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actually shocks me on some of these deals.
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But hey, we'll take it as Bills fans.
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But you get your cure down, you get Russo down.
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And, and, and I think the special part about these
4:02
contract extensions, you didn't let them hit the open market
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and, and they're sending players.
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These aren't players who I think have hit their cap.
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I think they're, I think Greg Russo, for example, is capable
4:13
of like a 1314 sack season. Christian Benford, we all know
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what he did last year. Arguably top five in the seat,
4:21
arguably top five quarterback in the league.
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Khalil Shakur comes on dominates his role in the offense.
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Again, I think there's I think there's escalators there as
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well. I I would like to see him north
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of 1000 yards this year. But you know, with the Bills
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offense that may not be be realistic, but I think it's well
4:37
within the reins of possibility. And then who miss?
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It's Rob Bernard, TBA. Rob Bernard, Yeah.
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Yeah, this guy, he's going to be he he, he embodies the defense,
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right? He's the leader of the defenses
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as the Mike linebacker. We don't know what it's going to
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look like with Matt Milano coming back after several
4:56
injuries. So they're going to need a lot
4:58
out of Matt Milano or sorry out it's Rob Bernard and and kind of
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almost segue into the draft like I I would like them to take A2
5:07
gapper for for the sole fact that I'd like to see to Rob
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Bernard get free a little bit. Let me ask you a question here.
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I know Christian Benford got that extension.
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Well, how would you look at that extension?
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And then obviously they added Tie Johnson, who I think is a
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very underrated play for the Bills road running back core and
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DeMar Hamlin. I know DeMar Hamlin has his
5:26
moments and, and The thing is like, we, we just say like, OK,
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we have the safety corps, we have it, but he's still a deaf
5:33
guy. Well, what are your other
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thoughts about those guys? Yeah, Benford's going to be here
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minimum four years, right? Well, not minimum, that is the
5:41
allotted time for the contract. But you've got yourself a number
5:45
one, right. And the last true number one we
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had was Trey White and we, we just know how that ended.
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You know, it's unfortunate with the injuries still bouncing
5:54
around the league, which is good for him.
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I, I wasn't even opposed to bringing him back in this free
5:59
agency cycle, but it didn't happen.
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It's all good. Christian Benford's the guy.
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He's he's going to be a Pro Bowler this year.
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I feel very strongly about that. Especially if the Bills add a
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solid running bait at quarterback.
6:11
Two, you don't want to probably confidently trot Dane Jackson
6:16
out there Week 1 as the cornerback. 2 right, Right.
6:20
You've got Taran Johnson still in there and he's, in my
6:24
opinion, the best slot in the NFL.
6:26
That maybe that's biased, I don't know.
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But no I. I don't dispute with that.
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People sleep on Tara Johnson so much.
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He's I think he's the best Nickel I.
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Just did this defense would suffer if we didn't have Taran
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Johnson. He does everything in the Bills,
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right? Nickel is the new theme here in
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the NFL. Lot of people running nickel and
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he's the best out there and he deserves everything.
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So you've got Taryn Johnson, you've got Christian, you've got
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Christian Benford. The kind of The X Factor here,
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right? To to solidify the secondary is
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cold Bishop, right? There's a lot of expectations
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surrounding his name. And you got Taylor Rap coming
7:02
back who actually looked pretty good last year for his price
7:06
point. So there's a lot of optimism for
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the for the secondary. If it were up to me, if I'm
7:12
Brandon B, I'm taking a quarterback in the first round.
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But yeah, I think I think secondary is going to be set for
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some years. You've still got Johnson under
7:20
contract. Dane Jackson comes in as a depth
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piece. Tamar Hamlin does come back on a
7:24
one year deal. He was serviceable, right?
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We all know he isn't a game changer.
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He's not going to flip the field in a crazy range play and pick
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off whoever, you know what I'm saying.
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But he's a solid tackler. He's he's solid.
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He is. And and I don't know if he'll be
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a starter for the rest of his career in the NFL, but he's he's
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not a bad player. And then the price point, it
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didn't aggravate me at all. Right.
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No, because like, because a lot of people question Brandon Bean
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giving Ed Oliver the extension and look what that's turning out
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to be the way he evaluates players, especially guys he
8:00
drafts. Like he he puts a lot of
8:03
emphasis and knowing like what what to like, right?
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So you got to give credit to what Bread and Bean does because
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like you said, a lot of people question on the Greg Greg Russo
8:11
extension. But guys, only 2526 and that's
8:14
the market that's going right now in today's football, right?
8:17
So yeah, people. You have to pay the premier
8:19
positions right and one of the premier positions, quarterback,
8:22
left tackle, defensive and in quarterback, you're going to
8:26
have to shell out money to good players.
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It happens. And the way that being
8:29
approaches it, he wants to bring in his own and he wants to
8:32
reward them. And here we are in the
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offseason, four or five extensions deep.
8:37
This is a testament to the Buffalo Bills culture, right?
8:41
I don't know if you guys were watching all the way back in the
8:43
day when it was the days of EJ Manuel and Kyle or in OH.
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Yeah, yeah, there. Was no.
8:49
There was no growing. Paint.
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Yeah, growing paint. Yes, exactly.
8:52
Growing paint. There was no identity for the
8:55
team. People didn't necessarily want
8:57
to resign. We weren't winning ball games,
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you know what I'm saying? So.
9:01
To, to, to, to. Make it full circle where you
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hear guys around the league, you hear people like Von Miller who
9:07
even after we release him, saying awesome things about the
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Bills organization. You know that stuff matters.
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And people pay attention to Brandon Bean.
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It's going to pay dividends for the Bills.
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You mentioned about like when you're paying a pass rusher all
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that money and you mentioned the upside he has.
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I mean, he still has that upside for that like 14 sack season.
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Yeah. It's just sometimes you see him
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disappear against some of the the tougher competition.
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But yeah, you're paying him for, you're pretty much paying him
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for. You're paying for what he is
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now, but you're also paying him for what he's.
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They think he's going to be down the road, right?
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Yeah. You pay the premium for the
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potential, right? How you say that?
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Like, yeah, Greg Russo, on top of his pass rushing prowess,
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he's genuinely one of the better run defending edges in the NFL.
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And you have to know that Dean and McDermott are going to value
9:55
that highly. The number was great for Greg,
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right? You said he's what is he, 25
10:01
years old? And he's already up like 88 and
10:04
a half sack seasons. You know, he wasn't.
10:06
This guy wasn't a top ten pick. It's face it, he was at the end
10:09
of the first round in 2021. And personally, at the time, I
10:13
wasn't a massive fan of the pic. I thought Boogie bashing was
10:16
going to end up being the better rusher.
10:18
And here we now, here we are now a few years moved and I look
10:20
like this dude, but I'm glad I look dumb.
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Gregory show's been awesome and there's just, there's so much
10:26
potential there with his length and his size.
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I don't think he'll ever be the guy that bends around the edge.
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He's going to show his power though, and that makes a
10:35
difference on the defense. Well, the other guy you made so
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funny you mentioned that. The other guy a lot of people
10:41
sleep on is Christian Bedford, who is a six round pick who
10:44
plates safety. I believe in his rookie season
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before he transitioned into a cornerback it a lot of people
10:51
thought Kyrie Ella would be where Christian Benford's at
10:54
right now and that didn't turn out.
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I mean, unfortunately, and sometimes it doesn't work out
10:59
for certain players, right? I mean, but when you hold
11:02
grounded that 2022 draft class, what Brad and Bean did was
11:08
stellar. Like you look at the names and
11:10
look at the extension, the Terrelle Bernard's, the James
11:12
Cook's which you're going to get to next, the Christian Bedford's
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right and Khalil Shakur's right. So it's important, it's very
11:20
important for the Bills to draft these guys.
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And you look at the team, like the Chiefs, for example, they
11:26
they've always draft guys and they have continuing.
11:28
There's still the team to beat in the AFC regardless.
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So I like where the Bills is at. But like I said, let's get to
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the next question. And this probably is the talk of
11:37
the town. It's about James Cook.
11:40
You saw that. He's been boisterous about
11:43
getting paid. There's reports out there that
11:46
he's his house is on sale and I don't know where does where this
11:51
all stands at the end of the day because he was drafted under the
11:54
Brandon Bean regime and he's I said to people he's probably the
11:58
best running back in that division and it's been
12:00
advertised. He had a career year and he
12:03
seems to only get better. He's been relatively healthy.
12:06
So what are your thoughts about that?
12:07
Is he worth the money? Do you think he gets an
12:09
extension? Do you think he gets franchise
12:11
tag? Like what are your thoughts?
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Yeah, my whole approach to the James Cook situation is going to
12:17
be Pro Cook. I am just such a big fan of his
12:20
game. The thing about it is when a lot
12:25
of the fan base likes to say that Ray Davis would come in and
12:28
we wouldn't miss a beat at him and him being the RB one, I just
12:32
disagree. Flat out.
12:33
I disagree. James Cook's a special player
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and and whether you want to say it or not, whether you want to
12:39
say oh, he's A2 down player, he's not going to play third
12:42
downs because of Ty Johnson. That's fair and it really is
12:45
fair. But let's think back for a
12:47
second. What is the best running back
12:50
since James Cook played in Buffalo?
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It's been LeSean McCoy 2016, 2017 and and you notice a
12:57
difference when the Bills have a good back on their offense.
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James Cook is the best back we've had in near a decade.
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He can catch the ball. And I know something we're going
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to say, oh, he's had the he has the drops, he has the drops.
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That's fine. But like, he is a threat and
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teams recognize him as a threat. So they're going to pay
13:15
attention to that. On defense.
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James Cook, what I end up thinking is going to happen,
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he'll probably play this year out.
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Maybe he sits out a few games or or training camp or something
13:27
like that, whatever to make a point.
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He's not getting paid this offseason.
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And I'm wrong because I thought they were going to pay him this
13:33
offseason, but they're going to let it play throughout the
13:36
season. They're going to revisit it next
13:38
offseason and that's when the talks are going to happen.
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If James Cook thinks he's worth 15,000,000 and above per year,
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he's going to have to show it this year if he wants to make
13:48
that statement. He's going to have a big year,
13:50
right? If he doesn't, well, you just
13:52
dock yourself some pay. I'm in the camp of I would pay
13:56
him 1314 million a year. I don't think I'm quite at 15,
14:01
maybe 12 actually, maybe 12 sound like the right number, but
14:05
I'm pro Cook. That's my guy.
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And and I think he changed the bills off.
14:08
That's what he's in. Completely agree and and it's
14:13
and it's fine. People love Ray Davis and they
14:16
love his upside and I think he compliments cook really well.
14:20
They complement each other really well.
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But now I've wondered this for a few years now, ever since,
14:27
because the past, ever since LA Shawn, it seems like the Bills,
14:33
they'll draft a running back just every five years.
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So do you believe that that's part of their philosophy or that
14:40
they just kind of just, you know, use a running back and
14:43
then just, you know, get rid of them after 5, draft another one?
14:46
Maybe that is Brandon Bean's approach, and you know what?
14:49
I can't knock it because a lot of teams don't put value in the
14:52
running pack position. The way that I look at it,
14:54
though, last offseason, who do we see?
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You pick Saquon Barkley, Josh Jacobs and Derek Henry and they
15:01
all made their contractors very much so worth it.
15:05
So whether we like it or not as fans and and and consumers, it's
15:10
just the inflation of the market.
15:11
The running back position is going to go up because Josh
15:14
Jacobs, Derrick Henry and Saquon Barkley all look like genuine
15:17
All Stars last year. So the price tag isn't going to
15:20
come cheap. Now does that mean I think he's
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worth 15,000,000? No, no, I don't think we're
15:25
there yet. Maybe if he goes for like, let
15:28
me pose a question to you guys. If James Cook has a year where
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he totals 16-17 hundred all-purpose yards and around 16
15:38
to 18 touchdowns, where does the number fall for you guys then?
15:43
Oh, that's a great question. If you look at say, I mean, like
15:46
you said about Saquon, I mean, Saquon is one-on-one, right?
15:49
Like he's still the best, he's the best running back in the
15:52
game. You don't see guys like Derrick
15:54
Henry. You saw that he was off to a
15:56
tour start. But I mean, the book was out
15:57
there in the end and he was stopped.
15:59
Like the Bills had a game plan and worked for him completely.
16:01
So and you know, the thing about the running backs and you know,
16:05
there, there's a word out there. It's like there's mileage on
16:08
certain guys after a certain amount of years.
16:11
At the end of the day, it's like, I don't know where this
16:13
goes. He could get tagged at the end,
16:16
right? Like there's some money coming
16:17
off the books, like I don't. Know.
16:21
Yeah, yeah. I mean, it's to be determined at
16:25
this point. It's hard to say because I still
16:27
think he's the top. He has top five potential to be
16:30
a running back in the game too, right?
16:31
Like he was, I thought if if not top five, he was six or seven
16:35
last year. You don't accidentally get 8
16:38
touchdowns in the NFL. Like it just doesn't happen.
16:40
And and he plays a fraction of the snaps that Saquon Barkley
16:44
does, you know, like he doesn't play, he's not, he's not out
16:48
there, he's not running the ball 30 * a game like him.
16:52
So absolutely like he's, in my opinion, man, I had him as the
16:59
top five running back last year just based on what he does on
17:02
the field. But.
17:04
And and it was a point that maybe Brandon Bean doesn't like
17:08
to extend these running backs. None of those running backs were
17:11
worth the second contract for probably what they were asking
17:14
for. Zach Moss wasn't worth the
17:16
second contract. Devin Singletary was not worth
17:18
the second. He was nice.
17:19
I do like Devin Singletary. He's a fine pro, but he wasn't
17:22
worth the second contract, you know, and and now you nail James
17:25
Cook, who was also higher draft capital in the second round.
17:29
And he and he makes it pay off like he he looks genuinely like
17:34
a star. He makes the Pro Bowl.
17:35
You know what I'm saying? So Dean has made it pretty clear
17:39
that probably not going to happen this offseason, but you
17:41
know, you do run that risk. If this guy blows up next season
17:44
then you're almost guaranteed to lose if.
17:46
Bill's made some significant offseason moves.
17:51
They bring in Joey Bosa to to bolster that defense, you know,
17:56
kind of a risk, not really a risk, but but a high reward
18:00
signing. They, they bring in, you know,
18:04
Derek Forrest, they brought in Michael Ho act linebacker, you
18:08
know, and, and, and they bring back Dane Jackson, you know,
18:13
Josh Palmer on offense, you know, with the loss of, of, of
18:17
Mack Hollins. So, So what are your, how do you
18:20
feel about the moves they've made this offseason with the cap
18:23
space that they ultimately have had?
18:25
And where do you see this core going forward?
18:29
Yeah, I I I would give our offseason probably AB flat.
18:35
He just like that. You had to go out and get a
18:39
receiver, right. So you're going to pay premium
18:42
for Josh Palmer, which is fine. We'll see if he justifies that
18:46
contract. There are there's some funny
18:47
money in the in the account there.
18:49
So we'll see how that works. I love the additions to the
18:52
defensive line Joey Bow. So you pay him or just a solid
18:57
number? I think it's a solid number
19:00
because this is, at the end of the day, a guy who has done it
19:03
in the NFL. He's not 33 like Von Miller was
19:06
when he came in. He's 29 years old.
19:09
He has the injuries, though, So that that's you're banking on
19:12
him staying healthy. You're banking on the strength
19:14
and conditioning to take care of him.
19:16
And then that's a big thing. You, you of course, have to wait
19:19
the first six games to see Larry Ogen, Jovi and Michael Hoyt.
19:23
And that, that brings my grade down.
19:25
It does because that's so unfortunate.
19:27
When have we ever seen that as NFL fans, that two offseason
19:31
acquisitions? You know we're going to miss
19:33
them for the six, first six games.
19:36
They're effective players. They're really good and they're
19:38
going to be great for the Bills when they get on the field.
19:41
That's just a tough beat, you know what I'm saying?
19:43
Derek Forrest was probably my favorite signing of the bunch
19:46
just because of the price point. I think they got him at like
19:48
1.17 million or something. This is a guy who looked like a
19:51
genuine guy on on the Commanders until their new ownership and in
19:57
front of office came in. If they fell out of favor with
19:59
him, that could end up being a real bargain.
20:01
That guy can pack a punch and he's a he's good around the
20:03
ball. So Bradley Bean ended up firing
20:10
the strength and conditioning coach and the special teams
20:13
coordinator. And you notice that the injury
20:16
situation was a factor in certain situations, Like there
20:20
was a rumor that Dog Kincaid had a significant PCL injury and
20:25
nobody talked about that. And also with Matt Milano,
20:31
people thought that he, he was, he was playing with basically
20:34
one leg. I mean, he wasn't fully healthy
20:36
enough. So there, there were some
20:38
injuries in situations that went down.
20:40
Like also with Josh Allen, he had a broken hand like, and they
20:43
hired Will Greenberg and Barry Rubin as a second conditioning
20:48
coach and Chris Tabor as a special teams coordinator.
20:51
Like, do you think it would help the coaching staff or do you
20:55
think you know, they're just guys, you know, they, they, they
20:58
know what they're doing. They know how to get the job
21:01
done and they they could they could handle the whole injury
21:03
process. Yeah, The biggest thing I take
21:05
away from those hires is the Bills prioritized guys who have
21:08
experience, right? They weren't going for guys who
21:11
haven't been in the league that long.
21:13
Will Greenberg has been in the league for a while.
21:16
You have Barry Rubin, who's been in the league for a while.
21:18
And then you obviously have Chris Taber, who pioneered one
21:22
of the better special teams attacks a few just a few years
21:25
ago. And then this is a guy who I'm
21:28
really interested in the storyline because I liked what I
21:32
saw out of Brandon Codrington last season as our returner.
21:35
And I wonder if there's some untapped potential with him as a
21:38
returner with with Tabor coming in, you're going to have a new
21:42
punter you're going to have, it's just going to be Jake
21:44
Camarda or Brad Robbins, who they just signed the other day.
21:48
So it'll be interesting to see how he approaches that.
21:52
I think they've got some good reserves to put on the gun team.
21:55
And now you have this new rule where the kickoff is going to,
21:58
you know, set people up at the 35 yard line, which is pretty
22:01
interesting. So it's going to be a complete
22:04
new approach to the special teams.
22:06
I hope they get it down because man, Matthew Smiley was not it.
22:12
Brandon B made some comments this offseason about Kian
22:16
Coleman adult and Dalton Kincaid, you know, pretty much
22:20
saying, you know, he was kind of disappointed in their play this
22:23
this past season. And, and just what are your
22:26
thoughts on on on that and, and what's the belief in those two
22:31
players going forward this season?
22:34
Yeah, you got to have faith, right?
22:36
The word around town is that Dalton Kincaid has been in the
22:39
training room like every day. You know, Sean McDermott said it
22:43
in Indianapolis at the combine. He doesn't want to let that
22:46
happen again. So Dalton Carey's a very
22:48
motivated individual right now. We saw the promising stuff out
22:52
of his year one year 2, he slumps kind of because of that
22:55
injury. I think it was against the
22:58
blanking. They Josh threw him a fade
23:01
towards the right side of the end zone.
23:04
He lands on his shoulder and you know, that probably took him out
23:08
to play at 100% for the rest of the season.
23:10
And quite frankly, Sean McDermott said he probably
23:12
should not have played. So that plays a big factor in
23:16
it. We'll see how he comes back next
23:17
season. And as far as Keon Coleman, I am
23:20
pro Keon Coleman. This is this is a guy who really
23:23
has potential solely due to his athleticism.
23:27
I'm not saying he's a route runner because he's not, but
23:30
this is a guy who's 6263 he moves maybe like he's 6 foot
23:35
flat, right? He moves.
23:37
I want to see Joe Brady get the ball into the hands of Keon
23:41
Coleman a little bit more. And what I mean by that scheme,
23:44
stuff up for him. Get him the ball behind the line
23:46
of scrimmage. We saw it against the Texans.
23:48
He takes the little curl route to the house maybe 50 or 60
23:52
yards, right? This guy has untapped potential
23:55
with his yards after catchability and you know, you
23:58
have that already in close secure, but OK, let's just make
24:02
him 6 foot 2. Where's the potential that fall
24:05
there? Then Keon Coleman, I, you know,
24:07
you wanted to see more out of him Year 1, he looked pretty
24:12
freaking awesome right before the injury against Seattle and
24:15
against Tennessee. He comes back and Sean McDermott
24:19
kind of leads us to believe that maybe he didn't come back as
24:22
prepared as he should have been. And, you know, maybe that's a
24:25
rookie thing. I don't know if it's a character
24:28
thing. We've only had one year with the
24:29
guy, but I think, I think his ceiling's high.
24:32
I want to see him 789 touchdowns.
24:37
This is a guy that should be a premier red zone threat, right?
24:41
So that's the next step for Keon, and we'll see how much Joe
24:44
Brady wants to feed him one season.
24:48
The next question is a very, very interesting one.
24:51
Matt Perino, friend of our show, said something in his Shelf
24:55
podcast with Ryan Talbot that the Bills have the opportunity
25:02
to trade for a wide receiver. And the two names he has
25:05
mentioned out there, it's very interesting to say the least
25:09
because I know that, you know, they side Josh Palmer, they got
25:12
Keon Coleman, of course they got Shakur, but I feel like there
25:16
was a missing ingredient in the wide receiver court.
25:19
And then the guys he's mentioned are Crystal Lava and Jordan
25:22
Addison, which to me is intriguing.
25:25
And then we know that the Vikings only have 4 picks in
25:28
this year's draft and like they signed a bunch of guy that they
25:31
know that they have to get younger and certain needs,
25:33
right? So, and they have Justin
25:35
Jefferson locked up long term. So is there any truth to it is
25:42
do you think the Bills could trade up to go get a get either
25:46
one of those guys or do you think that they're going to most
25:49
likely draft, which we could talk about later as well?
25:52
Yeah, you know, it's it's the NFL draft, right?
25:55
So anything can happen. I mean, I look back to the A.J.
25:59
Brown trade that pretty much no one saw coming and they draft
26:03
trailing barks and he ends up just bombing it.
26:05
So that was funny. But yeah, it's always possible.
26:08
You look at what the Vikings and the Saints are dealing with
26:11
right now. The Vikings, like said, 4 picks
26:14
in this draft. And you know, that roster is
26:16
good, but they could probably use some capital.
26:19
I don't know what the price tag on Jordan Addison would be, but
26:23
I would 1 trillion% in inquire if I was Brandon being right,
26:27
check the waters, at least see what they want and I'd be
26:30
comfortable moving off a third round pick for Jordan Addison.
26:34
Probably we it's a guy who's a proven separator in the NFL,
26:37
which is something the Bills have lacked for the past few
26:40
years since Biggs left. You need someone who can beat
26:42
man coverage and also Chris Holabi.
26:45
Chris Holabi is a you know, he's been a reliable vertical threat
26:48
in the NFL. And take a look at the Saints.
26:50
They're in cap health. I mean, they have so much they
26:53
need to do to fix that situation.
26:55
I don't know how they keep signing guys like Justin Reed.
26:57
The money just keeps popping out.
27:00
But I'm glad we're not in that situation.
27:02
So Crystal Labs, someone's been dealing with injuries recently,
27:07
but he can play and we've seen it.
27:09
So yeah, I would check. I would check in on both of
27:11
those guys, see what the price tag looks like.
27:14
Or, you know, maybe, maybe we're sleeping on Brandon Bean taking
27:19
a receiver in the first round. So they would have to save some
27:22
money, you know what I'm saying? So we don't know what the
27:24
approach is yet. They added Josh Palmer, the the
27:27
room is shaping out, right. You've got Palmer, Shakur,
27:31
you've got Coleman. Kincaid's basically a big slot,
27:34
you know, So the weapons are there.
27:36
It's time for them to justify where they've been taken.
27:40
But yeah, I would check in on those guys.
27:42
Obviously proven playmakers that really could change the offense.
27:45
It's. Interesting to bring up the
27:47
draft because that that leads us to the next question.
27:50
We have 10 picks in this draft. So, but what would you think the
27:55
primary needs would be? And like you said, is the draft
27:59
is unpredictable, but but what do you see them them them doing
28:04
or do you think they go BPA in the first round?
28:06
Do you like, do you see them targeting defense, offense?
28:10
What are your thoughts on on what they might do at the end of
28:13
April here? Yeah, at the end of the day, it
28:17
is all dependent on how the board falls, right?
28:20
You've got a few teams ahead of us who who do need a corner and
28:23
who do need a receiver and who do need a defensive tackle,
28:26
right? There's your big three corner,
28:30
defensive tackle and receiver. Those are my Big 3 needs this
28:33
offseason. You know, they did a little work
28:35
in free agency, but I'd like to get younger at some of these
28:38
positions, especially quarterback.
28:40
I think it's time that we give Christian Benford someone who he
28:44
can rely on on the other side of the field, on the boundary.
28:47
That would be my number one pick at pick 30.
28:51
But again, it depends who's there.
28:53
I don't want them to reach. We don't need another Kyrie
28:56
little reach, panic move. We just don't need that.
28:59
Take the best player available. And if that is a defensive
29:01
tackle, if it's Kenneth Grant or if it's Derek Harmon, I can
29:06
justify those guys at 30. I'd be ready to roll with those
29:08
guys at 30. And then receiver, I would be
29:12
comfortable taking like a Luther Burden if he were to fall
29:15
because I've heard some rumors that, you know, there's
29:17
character issues. People were concerned about the
29:20
offense he played in. So we don't know who's going to
29:23
fall. But the first pick, if I had to
29:27
give you my first pick that I would want, it'd be a corner.
29:29
It would definitely be a corner. And then in the second round,
29:32
you have picks 56 and 62 address.
29:35
Maybe take the best player available at those positions,
29:37
right? I'd, I would love for the Bills
29:39
to just be BPA oriented this this offseason.
29:43
They don't need all 10 picks. So make something happen, move
29:46
around a little bit. You've got 10 of them to work
29:48
with, right? So who knows?
29:50
We don't know how bad they value each of those positions, but I'd
29:54
be willing to bet the defensive tackle or corner will be to pick
29:56
in the first round. You know, The thing is, like we
30:00
talk about cornerbacks and the Bills need to address the
30:02
cornerback situation and they've been trying to side guys before
30:04
the draft, right? Do you think they could sign
30:06
anybody else? Because I know there was a rumor
30:09
that Russell Douglas and Mark Cooper, they're still kind of
30:13
linked to them, right? Yeah.
30:15
So, yeah. So it's like you just see like
30:20
there's two weeks still draft. I think the 20, is it the
30:22
Thursday? The 24th is the draft.
30:24
Yes, it is. So do you think they're going to
30:28
make a couple more sizes? I don't know how being gets it
30:31
done, but like, do you think they they would do that or
30:36
they're just they're going to be like we're going to address
30:37
everything in the draft or or they might or or trade.
30:40
Yeah, what I think is going to happen, the quarterback market
30:44
is tapped out. If you take a look at the top
30:46
guys available, they're all over 30 years old.
30:49
I don't need another 30 year old quarterback running with
30:53
Christian Benford again. Get younger at the position.
30:56
If I'm Brandon Bean, I'm taking two corners within the first 3
30:59
rounds. You don't have a third round
31:01
pick, but I'd be willing to place a decent amount of money
31:03
that they'll move into the third round with some of those picks.
31:06
And yeah, get younger at the position.
31:08
Get someone who maybe isn't something we've seen recently.
31:11
Get a lengthier guy. You know, Kyrie Elam was
31:13
lengthy, but again, he came in as a man coverage guy as opposed
31:17
to the Bills zone heavy kind of coverage, which I mean, we don't
31:20
know they could alter the looks this off or this season.
31:23
But yeah, go ahead and target. You know, Trey, Trey Amos is the
31:28
guy that everybody loves if they don't go corner in the first
31:31
round, maybe circle back to like a Darien Porter and and bank on
31:35
his athleticism and his traits. But yeah, that's that's what I
31:38
think is going to happen. Maybe take 3/4, maybe take one
31:42
of the 6th or 7th like an ISIS waxter from Villanova, another
31:46
Villanova guy, you know, so that that that's what prior
31:49
initially. You mentioned about guys in the
31:55
draft they've been linked to Ryan Talbot, also a friend in
31:58
our show, also linked about a bunch of guys.
32:01
Trey Amos has been the recent name that's been mentioned.
32:04
While they do need a quarterback from Ole Miss, but there's other
32:08
guys that's been mentioned like Darien Porte, Walter Nolan,
32:11
that's been talked about a little bit more recently.
32:13
Siobhan rebelled. You like a bunch of names I'm
32:16
going to mention, but like at the same time, is there any
32:18
other names? Like is there guys you think
32:21
that they've been linked to? Because I remember last year
32:23
when Talbot, who would mention about Keon Coleman, he where
32:25
they they visited him and they were late to him and they ended
32:28
up drafting him. Is there a similar trend in this
32:31
year's draft? Yeah, a lot of a lot of this,
32:34
you know what? This, you know what we are in
32:36
right now, Smokescreen season, right?
32:38
That is, it's a staple of every draft season.
32:41
We don't know who's telling the truth.
32:43
We don't know who's putting out false narratives to make
32:45
something happen in the draft. But yeah, there's always guys
32:49
can count on a lot of some of the names that, you know, I
32:51
haven't heard as much link to the Bills that I think they
32:53
should inquire with Maxwell Hairston out of out of Kentucky.
32:57
He's a lengthy 6162 kind of guy. He runs for three at the 40 and
33:03
I and I really like his ability to shadow.
33:05
So that's a guy I'd be interested in.
33:07
Obviously, like you said, Trey Amos, there's there's no
33:10
concerns about the tackling, which, you know, if a corner has
33:12
tackling issues, take off your list.
33:15
They're not going to get drafted by the Bills.
33:16
It's just not going to happen. And yeah, you got a bank on the
33:20
athleticism, you got a bank on the coaching staff to maximize
33:24
these guys in this system, and I think you could really have
33:27
something special. Now we kind of talked about this
33:33
a little bit already, Rocky and I think you'd brought it up.
33:36
But wide receivers, do you think there's a possibility that they
33:41
do draft one in the first round with, you know, that you got the
33:44
likes of Matthew Golden Mecha Ebuka, Isaiah Bond, We've heard
33:50
with his character concerns. So we don't know where he's
33:52
going to drop. You got, you know, Luther
33:55
Burden, some names, Kyle Williams.
33:59
What what are your thoughts on some of these guys and and the
34:02
potential to even maybe trade up to get one if there's a guy they
34:05
like that falls? Yeah, the sweet spot for me for
34:09
the receiver would be pick 56 or 62.
34:13
The class is really talented, so someone pretty, pretty good is
34:16
going to be available at those picks.
34:19
I do love Matthew Golden, by the way.
34:21
Don't think he's going to make it to our pick.
34:22
It would be a trade up scenario if we did get him.
34:26
Luther Burden, and that's one of my bigger question marks this
34:28
year. I don't know what franchises are
34:31
thinking about all all this off the field talk and stuff like
34:35
that. They were worried about the
34:36
quarterback play and and how he adapted to that.
34:39
I don't know. I, I personally think Luther
34:41
Burton is the best receiver prospect in this draft.
34:43
Even over to Tudor and McMillan. I, I just love his ability to
34:47
stop and start. It's just these guys look
34:51
different on tape, right? They he looks, I don't want to
34:54
say he looks, but he's reminiscent of digs to be quite
34:57
honest with you, the way he stops and cuts and I'm not
35:00
saying he's the route runner the digs is, but with the ball in
35:02
his hands, absolutely. So if he's there at 30, yeah,
35:06
I'd take him. I'd 100% take him.
35:08
But guys that I'm targeting in the second round, Jaden, both of
35:11
you Iowa State guys, you got Jaden Higgins, you've got Jaylen
35:15
Noel, they met with Jaylen Lane from West Virginia.
35:19
Probably not a second round pick, maybe more of like a
35:21
fourth or a fifth kind of guy. But and then even someone like
35:25
Trey Harris, right #9 from Ole Miss.
35:28
I like his ability to beat press and man coverage, which is
35:31
something the Bills have been lacking.
35:32
So I don't know where it's going to come, but it's going to be
35:35
there. They're going to take a
35:36
receiver, maybe 2, just to see what they have.
35:40
Let me mention a name out here and Ryan Talbot mentioned this I
35:43
believe yesterday. He's from Georgia, Aaron Smith.
35:47
He has an average of 3536 1/2 yards with 10 career TD
35:52
receptions. Like are they looking like at
35:55
another Shakur Shakur type of guy?
35:59
I mean, there's an Isaiah Bond, there's a Kyle Williams.
36:03
So I don't know how you classified this year's wide
36:06
receiver class, but it compared to last year, last year probably
36:09
was one of the best wide receiver class in the last 30
36:12
years, right? How would you look at this
36:14
year's wide receiver class overall?
36:16
And is there someone that's good enough because you still got
36:20
Josh Allen, like, he can make plays to anyone, like with ease.
36:23
So do do they need to go look at a guy like that?
36:28
Or do they just say, OK, we're going to go draft this one and
36:32
we're just going to see where things go?
36:34
And then if we have to address it later on, like, like what
36:36
they did when trading for Amari Cooper at the trade deadline, it
36:40
would be it would be a similar thing.
36:41
Like what? What do you think that direction
36:43
holds? Yeah, I don't know where Bean is
36:46
valuing the position position right now.
36:48
Traditionally, he's going to take a shot on his own guys.
36:52
He's probably banking on Kian Coleman and Delta KK to take the
36:55
next step. But the thing with that is it's
36:57
a risk, right? And you don't want to risk one
36:59
of Josh Allen's prime years, right?
37:01
He's 28 years old. Do you really want to take the
37:04
risk with a bad offense? We saw it last year.
37:07
He made the most with. He made Matt Collins look like a
37:09
#1 number one, but you know, he makes it happen.
37:15
I think the most important thing that the Bills front office can
37:18
do is get a genuine vertical threat to help this offense
37:23
because let's face it, it wasn't there last year.
37:25
It wasn't there probably the year before either.
37:27
So yeah, one of my guys, Kyle Williams.
37:31
It'd be funny to have another Kyle Williams in Buffalo, but
37:34
it's a guy that separates at the point.
37:36
He can beat man coverage. He's a great vertical thread on
37:39
go routes and 9 routes. I think he would be good.
37:43
Maybe not a slot guy though, maybe more of a boundary kind of
37:46
guy. If they were looking for a slot
37:48
guy with speed, it would be Isaiah Bond, it would be Arian
37:51
Smith, it would be Jalen Knoll, and it would be Jalen probably.
37:58
Do you do you think that Josh Palmer could be that guy?
38:01
Take off, take top off the defense.
38:04
It's not his number one calling card, but he's 100% capable of
38:08
it. My best friend is a Chargers fan
38:11
and the Chargers have kind of been my like secondary team.
38:13
Because of that. I pay a lot of attention to the
38:15
Chargers. And, you know, Josh Palmer was
38:17
the third round pick from Tennessee, was a raw guy coming
38:20
in, and he kind of makes the most of what he was dealt with
38:24
in Los Angeles. He works with Justin Herbert the
38:27
one year he gets called. I think it might have been his
38:30
rookie or sophomore year where Ken Allen and Mike Williams both
38:33
get hurt. He stepped into a prominent
38:35
role. And I believe he had 800 yards
38:37
and like four or five touchdowns.
38:40
And if he can do that for the Bills, yeah, that that price
38:42
point is justified. Will he be the sole vertical
38:46
guy? That I don't know.
38:48
But he's going to be there primarily to move the chains on
38:51
3rd down. It's a guy that can be pressed.
38:53
It's a guy that can beat man. He's smart.
38:55
He knows how to pick his spots in zone.
38:57
That's primarily what he's going to be there for.
38:59
But it is not out of the wheelhouse to believe that he
39:02
could be that vertical threat. Fellow Canadian too, so we're
39:05
excited about that. Joey Bosa and Josh Palmer were
39:12
team mates for the Chargers. Yes, they.
39:14
Were yeah, so. They they Josh.
39:15
Palmer played with Nick Bosa in high school, so there's the the
39:19
Palmer and Bosas have been friends for for years now.
39:22
You know that's. Funny, Yeah, that's an
39:24
interesting. So the next question that I have
39:28
here is which rookie players that Brandy Brady drafted could
39:33
make an impact in this this coming year?
39:37
Like you could name the guys like Cole Bishop, Javon Solomon,
39:40
Dwayne Carter, Tyler Grable. I mean, we mentioned about Keon
39:43
Coleman. I think he's probably going to
39:45
be one of the candidates. Edufed Ulufosio.
39:48
I mean, he, he, he drafted all, all these guys.
39:51
Like who do you think could come out and be that guy could take
39:56
that next step and fill in those big shoes?
39:59
Yeah, it's early right now because we don't know who
40:01
they're going to take in the draft so it could crowd a few
40:04
rooms up. But I really, and this is going
40:07
back to before last year's draft, I was doing jumping jacks
40:10
when we draft them. Javon Solomon is one of my guys,
40:13
man. He doesn't have to be out there
40:15
on 1st and 2nd down, but make sure he's on the field on 3rd
40:19
down. Develop his pass rest plan and I
40:22
would not be surprised if he gets over 5 sacks this year as a
40:25
six round rookie. That's pretty good.
40:27
He is made to be a designated pass rusher.
40:30
Like I said, he doesn't have to be out there on rundowns.
40:32
But you know, edge rusher is the massive need right now.
40:36
And I stand on that. They should they should address
40:39
that position. But Javon Solomon, I'm expecting
40:41
a bit of a jump here. He's got he's got the
40:43
opportunity to play. He was in Von Miller's back
40:46
pocket all last year. So he soaks up that knowledge.
40:49
Maybe he comes in and plays a prominent role.
40:51
But yeah, other than that, you have Cole Bishop.
40:54
He's going he is The X Factor of the defense.
40:57
We will go as far as how he plays if he can prove his second
41:01
round status and he is this versatile guy, this blitzing guy
41:05
that can come in and kind of change some of our looks, man,
41:08
that defense could be special. So I think those are the top 2
41:13
guys on my list. Like I said, I'm looking at Keon
41:16
Coleman to become more of a premier red zone and zone kind
41:19
of target guy. But I think a lot of the
41:21
seasonal Ryan on Cole Bishop and my pick to blow up next year to
41:25
she wants all. What do you think about Thailand
41:28
Grable? Like because he was, he was
41:31
actually a factor until he got injured, which was unfortunate.
41:34
Same with Dwayne Carter, that those two guys kind of stand out
41:37
for me a little bit over there. Do you think they could have
41:40
bigger shoes to fill next year or bigger roles?
41:42
Yeah. Especially Dwayne Carter because
41:44
the the defensive interior needs a lot of help right now.
41:47
Thailand Grable was actually a pleasant surprise right as a
41:51
sixth round pick. The guy comes in from UCF and he
41:54
actually earns his spot on the roster, so off RIP.
41:57
You know Brandon Bean's going to love that kind of guy.
42:01
I just don't know if there's a path to playing time for him
42:03
right now. This is probably the Bills best
42:05
offensive line I've ever seen, to be quite frank.
42:08
You've got Dawkins, he's not moving.
42:11
You've got McGovern at center. You've got Torrance, who's been
42:14
pretty freaking seller so far. David Edwards has been good, so
42:18
those guys are going to be up for extensions as well.
42:20
And then Spencer Brown, I mean, I was Spencer Brown's number one
42:23
hater early on and he made me look like a fool, which I'm very
42:27
happy with. That guy was awesome last
42:29
season. But Tyler Grable, you know, I
42:33
don't know that even the sixth spot, you've got Alec Anderson.
42:36
So I don't know if he's got a path to playing time right away.
42:39
Someone goes down. Could be a good insurance
42:41
policy. Assuming the bills don't resign
42:45
James Cook we've talked previously about, you know, like
42:50
assuming maybe this is this isn't in beans MO to to recite
42:55
running backs. Are there are there any names
42:59
that you see that you like in this draft?
43:02
Assuming you know, Ashton Genti probably not going to be an
43:06
option, but maybe not even scatabo right.
43:09
But you know, the Trayvion, Henderson's, Jordan, James Quinn
43:13
shot Jewkins, Amari Hampton, and you know anybody that you like
43:17
in this class, you know, even as sleepers that that you know in
43:20
the later rounds that you that you could see them drafting.
43:24
Yeah. And if we're approaching this
43:25
like we just talked about, I wouldn't expect the running back
43:28
until minimum round 3. So I'm going to talk about the
43:30
guys from there on out. And it's funny you ask this
43:33
question because as soon as I hop on this off this podcast,
43:36
I'm going to upload a video about this guy right here,
43:40
Rashard Smith from SMU. This is a guy who really
43:45
impressed me on tape. Talk about a guy who can put 1
43:48
foot in the ground and cut. It's absurd the way this guy
43:51
moves for his size and he's not large.
43:53
He's probably 6 foot flat if I'm guessing the number off the top
43:57
of my head. But man, this guy moves like a
43:59
joystick and he is efficient in the red zone.
44:03
His skill set is kind of reminiscent of James Cook, and
44:06
I'd say he's a better receiving back than James Cook.
44:09
There were teams in Indianapolis, by the way, that
44:11
wanted him to work out as a receiver.
44:14
So that tells you everything you need to know.
44:16
So yeah, I'm big on Burchard Smith.
44:18
I'm going to have that off on my page later.
44:20
You guys can take a look at what I think about him and what I
44:23
think his role could be on the Bills.
44:25
And another guy that I like is Bashel Toon out of Virginia
44:28
Tech. This is a guy who ran incredibly
44:32
fast at 40 in the Indianapolis and he's a home run hitter.
44:37
I'm not saying he's a guy that's going to play every down,
44:39
because he's not. But to have that kind of game
44:43
changing speed out of the backfield could be reminiscent
44:46
of someone like a Jalen Wright from Miami last year.
44:49
I think that'd be a fun pick. I think it would be really cool
44:53
to have in offense that features James Cook for the last season.
44:57
We don't know if he's coming back.
44:58
Ray Davis, who's kind of the do it all guy.
45:01
He's going to pass protection. And then you've got Mitchell
45:03
Tooten who comes in and can run 429.
45:06
So, you know, those are my two guys, Mitchell Tooten and
45:09
Burchard Smith late. If they were to go earlier,
45:12
which I heavily doubt, my hot take is that Quinn Sean Judkins
45:15
will be the better pro out of the Ohio State running backs.
45:19
Can I mention a name? Who's?
45:21
I talked to somebody about this? What?
45:23
What do you think about Rocket Sanders?
45:25
Yeah, I love the name, too. I had to ask it.
45:30
Rocket Sanders from South Carolina.
45:32
He's a big guy. He's like 6162.
45:35
I know. I'm not putting that comparison
45:38
to Derrick Henry. Derrick Henry is a big running
45:40
back too, right? Like a rare specimen.
45:42
Like wouldn't you think he would be one of those guys that could
45:45
come out of nowhere and flourish in a system like Buffalo?
45:49
Maybe assuming it gave? Him a shot.
45:52
This is the guy who had really good tape like 2 years ago with
45:55
Arkansas. He enters the transfer portal,
45:58
heads to South Carolina, still is productive.
46:01
Maybe not once the prospect that he once was, because two years
46:05
ago Rocket Sanders was in some round two, round one talks.
46:08
And it's hard to believe now, but now he's probably like
46:11
around 5:00 or around six kind of guy.
46:13
And if you can get him there, yeah, take a shot.
46:15
Why not? The athletic traits are there.
46:17
I like the way he plays. He's a bruiser.
46:20
So, you know, if you need somebody on like a third or one
46:22
kind of guy, well, it's probably going to be Josh Allen, let's
46:24
face it. But yeah, I like Rocket Sanders.
46:27
He's a good, he's a good prospect.
46:30
There's another guy that I want to mention, Omarion Hampton from
46:33
UNC. He's another one.
46:35
I've watched him play and man, there are moments he would
46:38
dominate and he gets slept out a lot and he's getting a little
46:41
bit more of a recognition. Like what do you think about
46:43
him? That guy's a stunt.
46:45
He reminds me a lot of Josh Jacobs, if I'm being quite
46:47
frankly. He's not willing to beat you
46:50
with the fast game because he's not a burner, but he does just
46:53
about everything else pretty well.
46:56
I'm not sure if he's a master of 1 trait as opposed to being kind
46:59
of good at everything, but the talks about Marion Hampton are
47:04
kind of shocking me. This is a guy that I think's
47:07
going to go around 1. I think someone's going to take
47:09
him in the first round. OK, so the next question I want
47:13
to talk about here. Hold on, let me get my notes.
47:16
Oh my God. OK, so the next question I want
47:19
to ask you is, who do you think are the next guys in line for an
47:22
extension? The guys that come in mind right
47:27
now as it stands is Osiris Torrance, who's been a hell of a
47:31
pickup, who was drafted, doesn't get talked about enough.
47:34
And he's a big part of that online core.
47:38
And perhaps Conor McGovern, who's been moved to the center
47:41
and he's been playing damn well. People ask like, oh, why did the
47:45
Bills sign Conor McGovern? This this is that right?
47:49
And, and The thing is like he's been, he's, I think he has one
47:53
more year left. I believe in his contract.
47:55
So so or is there anyone else that comes to mind that you
48:01
think should get extended in your opinion?
48:04
Because this is what being does, right?
48:05
He extends guys right away, well ahead of curve before anyone
48:09
else thinks about it. Yeah.
48:11
If I'm taking a look at it now, the two names that you
48:15
mentioned, obviously Osiris Torrance and Conor McGovern,
48:17
Yes, absolutely, yes, look into that.
48:20
When the time is right, they need to be extended because like
48:23
I said, I genuinely believe this is the best Bill's offensive
48:25
line I ever watched. And staying on that point,
48:28
another guy that could deserve an extension is David Edwards.
48:30
This guy, David Edwards was signed really late into free
48:33
agency, comes in at left guard and it's been seamless.
48:37
The offensive line has been great with him and that's not a
48:40
guy that's going to command big money either.
48:42
David Edwards, you know, he's, he's a bit older, but he's been
48:44
playing good ball recently. So he's eligible for an
48:47
extension and then to kind of go to the defensive side of the
48:49
ball. If I'm looking away from the
48:51
offensive line, it is entirely possible that if he has a good
48:57
season, Taylor Rapp could be in line for extension as well.
49:00
Construction workers in Buffalo reached a major milestone on
49:03
construction of the new stadium. They lifted the final beam into
49:08
place. There was a big ceremony over
49:10
1400 guests and everything else standard state senators, the
49:15
governor was there. So, so what's, what's the update
49:19
on, on how things are going? Is it ready to is it, is it
49:22
projected to be ready just before the 2026 season?
49:26
What's the, what's the, what's the word on that, on that whole
49:30
construction situation is it's one of the biggest projects in
49:33
in in Western New York history, so.
49:36
Yeah, it's a massive project and it's really cool to see this
49:39
kind of come along because I mean, I'm currently in my
49:41
girlfriend's house, right? And I'm taking the highway and I
49:44
see the new stadium in the distance.
49:46
I'm like, wow, this is going to look so cool when it's finished.
49:49
They lay the last steel beam on Friday, which is, yeah, 2 days
49:53
ago they lay the last steel beam.
49:56
Everyone's in attendance. Rodger Goodell came in, who's a
49:58
Jamestown native, which is pretty cool.
50:01
We sent our news for people down there, so we had a live look
50:04
there. Patrick Ryan and Chris
50:06
Broadbridge, shout out to the guys.
50:09
But yeah, it was a really cool event.
50:11
They're telling us that they're over 50% done with the stadium,
50:16
which is good because yeah, it should be ready by the 2020
50:19
sixth season, should be ready to go.
50:21
And then I believe I read that OG Highmark Stadium, AKA right
50:26
now Highmark Stadium is going to be knocked down in 2027.
50:31
Oh wow, yeah. That that's very interesting.
50:34
I know Sal Capaccio, another friend to our show elaborating,
50:38
talked about how it worked. And you know, some people were
50:40
saying like, oh, how come you don't you guys don't have a Dome
50:43
or retractable roof because Buffalo's built different like
50:47
they love the snow and it's up for the fans, right?
50:50
Like, do you, like, I don't know if we'll ever have a Super Bowl
50:54
in the new stadium. I'm not sure.
50:55
But like, yeah. Are you a fan of the way the
50:58
stadium is built, or do you prefer the dole?
51:01
Yeah, I, I like the stadium. I think it's going to be cool.
51:03
The, the thing that might aggravate people will be the
51:06
pricing though, because it's not going to be helping you that
51:08
much. But yeah, it's going to have.
51:11
And another thing I heard is they're going to have actually
51:13
mixed drinks available, which were never available at the at
51:16
the old Highmark Stadium, which is really cool.
51:18
I know they're probably going to be $20 a pop, but hey, enjoy a
51:23
Jack and Coke at the Bills game without having a tailgate, I
51:26
guess. But yeah, it's looking like a
51:28
cool project. You know, like I said, 2027 is
51:30
when it's going to get knocked out apparently.
51:32
So I'm very excited. What a Dome have been cool or
51:36
retractable roof? Yeah, it would have been.
51:38
But like you said, the Bills kind of play into that hand.
51:42
You look at the snowman, Dion Dawkins, it's literally in his
51:44
name, being able to play in 10° weather with Blizzard, blizzards
51:50
and high winds. And you know, that's an
51:53
advantage whether you like to look at it or not.
51:55
So we'll see how it plays out. We can't really have an opinion
51:58
until maybe 20-30, but it'll be an interesting development.
52:03
It's a big project. We're really excited because
52:06
News 4 is the official partner of the Bills, so we got some
52:09
cool access on that. And yeah, it's going to be
52:12
really fun to see how it comes along with the interior design,
52:16
right? There's a lot to be done, but
52:18
like I said, over 50% is done. The structural stuff is done.
52:22
Everyone who attended was able to sign the beam.
52:24
It was really cool. But yeah, it's going to be a
52:27
cool project. And 2026, man, I'm probably
52:30
going to have to empty my pocketbook to attend that first
52:33
game. Well, well, the thing it's like,
52:38
it's like with the like, I know this is the final year at
52:41
Highmark. I mean that the nostalgia, 50
52:43
year, 50 plus years, it's awesome, right?
52:46
So I mean, I'm looking forward to a new stadium too, right?
52:49
So let's hope for the best for the new one.
52:52
But Coach McDermott was in the pressors.
52:57
I think it was in the the meetings, right, though Was it
52:59
the owner meetings, I believe, or the GM meetings?
53:02
The. Head coach and order meetings in
53:04
Florida, right? Both OK, so he did mention that
53:09
he's he's all for the band, for the tush Push and and you know,
53:14
it seems like it's been a thing that's been discussed that
53:16
they're trying to nullify it. What are your thoughts on that?
53:21
Do you think it should be nullified or do you think that
53:24
the tush Bush should still be a thing in football?
53:27
I. Kind of personally disagree with
53:29
McDermott. His whole approach to the
53:33
situation is making sure that no one gets hurt.
53:37
But right now he's kind of basing that stance off of data
53:41
that doesn't exist. Not too many people, if any,
53:44
have been hurt off of the tush Bush, right?
53:47
Sure, there's potential. I mean, you got how many guys
53:51
piling on top of each other at the 1 yard line.
53:53
But we haven't seen it yet. We haven't seen it yet.
53:56
And the only other way I can thank people of wanting to ban
53:59
it is because they can't stop it.
54:02
Exactly. You know, so and I don't.
54:05
And there's a reason it's going to be here next year.
54:07
They'll they'll take another look at it after the 2026 to the
54:11
2025 season. But no, personally, it's
54:15
football. Yeah, you gotta.
54:18
Find ways to beat your opponents, you know what I mean?
54:20
And if that means running your quarterback in with everybody
54:25
pushing about, who cares? I mean, it's football like you
54:28
said, you know, I got no problem with it either.
54:32
Do you think the whole thing was, is it because of the
54:34
injuries, the way football is going and they're like forcing
54:37
their bodies themselves into those situations where, you
54:40
know, they get hurt during the tush push?
54:42
I know, I know the Eagles took to always take advantage, right,
54:46
with jailing, jailing Hurts, right, Right.
54:48
For the touchdown all the time, right?
54:50
So I don't know. Do you think the injuries could
54:52
be a factor of why they want to ban the tush push?
54:55
Yeah, that's the real only legit stance I could see on the
54:58
matter. Other than that, no, I wouldn't
55:02
ban it. It hasn't happened yet though,
55:04
right? We're kind of basing this injury
55:06
stance off of things that haven't happened yet.
55:08
So until I see it, I'm probably not going to change my opinion.
55:12
Do I see the potential for it? Yeah, absolutely.
55:16
But again, football's a violent sport.
55:18
These guys know what they're signing up for when they enter
55:21
the NFL and college football. So my stance on it is that leave
55:26
it around. What are your thoughts on the
55:30
rest of the AFC going into next season?
55:33
I know only half the works been done because you have the draft
55:36
and then you have, you know, all the other camps heading up, you
55:40
know, rookie camp and OTAs and everything else.
55:43
Only half the works been done heading in.
55:46
So we don't know what these teams, these teams aren't final
55:48
products yet. But basing off what information
55:51
we know now, what are your what are your thoughts on on not only
55:55
the FCS but the rest of the AFC as a whole?
55:58
Yeah, as far as the AFCS, I don't envision any shifting.
56:02
If anything, the Patriots will take a jump.
56:04
I like the roster they've built. The Jets are The Jets.
56:08
Let's face it, they don't have a quarterback.
56:09
Justin Fields is hasn't shown it to me yet, so I'm not going to
56:13
have anything to believe there. And then, you know, you have the
56:16
Dolphins with swirling rumors that Tyree Phil could be on his
56:19
way out, which that doesn't make you a better team.
56:22
Tyron Armstead retires their best left tackle.
56:24
That doesn't make you a better team.
56:26
They haven't made any splash signings.
56:28
That doesn't make you a better team.
56:29
So I am where I'm I am. I'm firm on the Dolphins.
56:32
I think they're probably an 8 or 9 win team and that's no
56:36
disrespect to them. I like them, I like the way they
56:37
play, but not the best offseason for Miami.
56:42
And I think Mike McDaniel is on the hot seat.
56:44
So we'll see how that goes. As far as the rest of the AFC,
56:47
it comes down to the Chiefs and the Bills.
56:49
It just does. The Bills have proven they can
56:52
beat Lamar Jackson the postseason, so until otherwise
56:55
happens, I don't have concern there, man.
56:58
They got to get over the damn hill with the Chiefs, man.
57:00
It's just, yeah, yeah, it's the same song and dance every year.
57:05
And, and it's tough. I've been to these games.
57:07
I've been to pretty much every one of our playoff games against
57:10
the Chiefs. And it's, man, it's crushing to
57:13
just see result after result after result and knowing that
57:16
it's not Josh Allen's fault. It's frustrating.
57:19
And and then that's the sole thing they need to get over the
57:22
hump with. Let me ask you a question here.
57:25
What do you think about the Bengals the way they've been
57:27
operating this offseason? Because they signed two guys
57:31
wide receiver really good ones, but it's it's such a anomaly
57:35
what they did this obviously, like Jamar Chase got a record
57:38
extension and T they kept T Higgins to which kind of
57:42
surprises me and they're trying to get Trey Hedricks had done
57:46
and that seems like it's not going anywhere, right.
57:48
So like, what are your thoughts on a team like a Bengals?
57:51
I just don't know how they're going to effectively build out
57:55
their roster unless they absolutely smoke the draft.
57:59
You didn't sign anybody in D on defense, by the way, Your
58:02
defense was atrocious last year. Don't want to hear it wasn't
58:05
good. And and now you're you're
58:08
shelving out all this money to Jamar Chase and D Higgins,
58:11
Rightfully so. But hey, when it comes down to
58:14
December and January and it gets sticky on the defensive line,
58:17
where are you going to go from there?
58:19
If you don't, if you don't even have Trey Hendrickson, which the
58:22
latest update is that there's been no contract progression.
58:26
Duke Tobin better be ready for draft a man.
58:28
I don't know how they're going to do it on defense.
58:31
You're not going to get better by not doing nothing.
58:33
So, you know, there's a lot to be left with the Bengals, that
58:38
they have high potential because of the quarterback, because of
58:41
the off of talent. I mean, you can't, you can't let
58:44
guys drop 30 and 40 on you every game, you know?
58:48
No, because the other team, the Bills have an issue is the
58:51
Bengals because they could have beat them in the playoffs.
58:52
I think it was two years ago, right?
58:54
But I mean, they they haven't, they haven't been in the
58:56
playoffs the last couple of years.
58:58
And like you said, they've been losing significant bodies.
59:01
Like they drafted a Miles Murphy in the first round.
59:04
That hasn't worked out. They drafted a Jordan Battle
59:07
from Alabama that hasn't worked out.
59:08
They signed all that. Their O line is also a problem.
59:11
And didn't Sam Hubbard retire from the NFL?
59:14
Retired. So how do you feel it?
59:16
How do you feel replace him? Yeah.
59:19
And and and how did how did they replace him?
59:23
It's just and, and like I said, it's going to come down to the
59:25
draft for Cincinnati. They're going to have to knock
59:27
out, like, every pick if they really want to be competitive on
59:30
defense. Yeah.
59:32
They also fumble the bag with, like, other defenders that they
59:36
had. Jesse Bates was a free agent a
59:37
few years ago. They let him walk to Atlanta.
59:40
Well, whenever see what's happening, you left.
59:43
You left the interior defensive lineman walk.
59:45
What's his name on Blake? And his name?
59:49
I'm not going to get it right now.
59:50
But yeah, yeah, he went to the Chiefs, right?
59:53
Is it? Was it the Chiefs he went to or?
59:57
Why am I breaking on the name? Was going to bother was.
59:59
It was it a Jaguars? I I think it was the Jaguars,
1:00:01
but I could be mistaken. I I know who you're talking
1:00:03
about. Yeah.
1:00:04
Yeah, they, they, their corners aren't necessarily good.
1:00:07
You know, they put Dax Hell in the first round a few years ago.
1:00:11
He hasn't panned out to be a game changer.
1:00:14
So I, I don't know what their plan is.
1:00:16
I hope they're ready to select a whole lot of defense, kind of
1:00:19
like the Bills. So.
1:00:20
But at least the Bills have a foundation of a good structural
1:00:23
defense. The Bengals do not.
1:00:25
So until I see that right, not taking them as serious threats.
1:00:29
With Bosa being added to that team, how much does will it help
1:00:33
the defenses here because they cut Von Miller.
1:00:36
Yeah, right. And now you put Bosa, who is
1:00:38
significantly younger and bigger and more mobile.
1:00:41
But my concern to Bosa, and I think everybody's talked about
1:00:45
this is this track record of injuries, right?
1:00:47
Like how can they contain him to be healthy for him to be where
1:00:51
they need to be? Because like he would be, he
1:00:53
would be an engine to that linebacker accord with Terrell
1:00:56
Bernard and Dorian Williams and Matt Milano.
1:00:58
So he would be a significant help and other guys like Ed
1:01:02
Oliver and and Greg Russo. So could he be the guy that can
1:01:06
help the defense get to get to where they need to go to as in
1:01:11
the Super Bowl? Yeah, Joey Bosa has the
1:01:14
capability to be the game changer that the Bills need.
1:01:17
Like you said though, several severe injuries.
1:01:20
What I think the Bills should do and how they should approach
1:01:22
this season, right? Keep him on his pitch count.
1:01:25
You don't need him out there every down.
1:01:27
Leave him healthy, leave him energized for 3rd downs, crucial
1:01:32
moments that you need him to rush the passer, that you need
1:01:35
him to get home. Let that happen.
1:01:37
Don't put them out there on 1st and 2nd down.
1:01:40
It's going to suck for the first half of the season because
1:01:42
they're not going to have Michael Hoyt to feel that void.
1:01:44
It's probably going to be a rookie or you know, someone like
1:01:48
I don't even know who would play opposite because Javon Solomon.
1:01:50
You can't really put them in the wrong game either.
1:01:52
But it's it'll be, it'll be interesting to watch if Bosa is
1:01:55
healthy, if Bosa can get himself above double digit sacks, yeah,
1:02:00
you can be the game changer. Because all we need to do is
1:02:02
pressure my homes. Well, Justin, we appreciate you
1:02:07
being here. This was a great episode, man,
1:02:10
and great insight. Great information.
1:02:12
Once again, congratulations on your job as a producer at News
1:02:15
for Buffalo. Where can we find you in social
1:02:17
media and everywhere else? Yeah, X is my main profile.
1:02:21
It's at Justin C Jack, right, Writing my name down there.
1:02:25
Give me a follow if you if you want anything.
1:02:26
Draft rule. I'm I'm firing out draft
1:02:29
content. I'm going to be having a mock
1:02:31
draft eventually, and it's going to be a big one.
1:02:34
But yeah, guys, thank you so much for having me on.
1:02:36
I really appreciate it more than you guys know.
1:02:40
Well, thanks for joining us, man.
1:02:42
It was awesome and and I'm looking forward to seeing your
1:02:45
your tweet about Brashad Smith from SMU.
1:02:49
This guy's I'm. Gonna love him.
1:02:50
I'm telling you, there's a lot of fun with this guy.
1:02:52
Yeah. I live in Niagara so I get
1:02:55
Channel 4 so every time I see the news the the anchors talk,
1:02:59
I'll know that it's you putting the.
1:03:00
Putting the, that's another. Helicopter, right, But thanks
1:03:06
for thanks for joining us. So man, it was awesome.
1:03:10
Hopefully we could have you back in the future man.
1:03:12
Yeah, absolutely. Just shoot me a DM and I'd be
1:03:15
more than happy to hop back on. We would love to have you back
1:03:18
probably before, maybe during trading camp or for sure and
1:03:23
maybe after June that we might see more signings that you know
1:03:27
how Brandon Bean operates. He's always has tricks up so
1:03:30
sleeves. So you know about him, you can
1:03:32
never predict about what he will do next, right?
1:03:36
So yeah. Shoot me a DM guys, I'm always
1:03:39
down to talk ball. We will place the description
1:03:42
below where you can find Justice C Jack from News for Buffalo.
1:03:46
But till next time, take care, be kind to each other.
1:03:49
Signing up for the 4th Ave. Twisted podcast Sunday, April 6,
1:03:54
2025.