Welcome back to the Buffalo Bread podcast. Dan and I, after our brief co-hosting spot
on the Shout podcast with our friends, Ryan Talbot and Matt Perino, are back with you
on our solo show and we have somewhat recovered from the repeated punishment of being a Buffalo
Bills fan this time of year and the as usual divisional round departure of our beloved
Buffalo Bills at the hands of again, Be Hated, Kansas City Chiefs and Patrick Mahomes and
Travis Swift and the whole gang. They came to Orchard Park, they did us dirty and now
we're in off-season mode yet again. Dan, are you lamenting the fact that we're already
talking about free agency and draft as much as I am?
This is more muscle memory for me, JJ, at this point.
It's repetition.
It feels natural. It doesn't feel great, but it feels natural. And honestly, I am looking
forward to this off-season because I think it's going to mark potentially a change in
roster build philosophy from being in McDermott as opposed to what we see in the past because
now Josh Allen's contract really kicks in, really takes a big chunk out of the cap. And
as a result of that, this Buffalo Bills organization is going to have to find more stars in the
draft. And this is a very deep draft and a lot of positions in need for the Bills. So
I'm hoping this marks sort of a sea change for this organization and the way they've
been building this roster. And you know, as much as anybody else, man, I love playing
some man GM. So this time of year, I am ready to create the ultimate fantasy roster for
the Bills until salary cap and or draft limitations ultimately kick in.
Oh yeah, Madden GM is one of my favorite things that we do on this pod because it's the only
time of the year that we don't have any cold hard facts to look at. It's literally just
projecting, you know, our dreams and wishes for the team and we can be full of hope and
positivity because there's no games being played to prove us wrong. And so we're looking
at what are we going to do Bills when you build this roster in the off season? Looking
at it to lens, I think we should we should use the pod in this way. We should set the
stage for the off season and kind of without talking about maybe individual targets and
free agency and things like that. With the exception of a few and the draft of course,
because so much is going to change before the draft but rather just what is the status
of the roster that's lens one. And then lens two is what are what's going to change with
the what do we believe will change with the on the field product based on the cap, the
roster build and projection of what it's probably going to be when we hit the end of training
camp August September. And so I'll start us off here. Do you want to talk about our pending
free agents? Yeah, I think that's a good place to start is any because that's going to dictate
a lot of off season business. Sure. And I've got them in, you know, I'm going to kind of
group them in this way. I'm going to group them into three categories. The first category
is pending free agents that I either don't believe will resign with the team. Or I don't
want to resign with the team. These are the guys that I'm happy to watch walk and I don't
really care for the bills to really make any kind of effort to get them back. They are
Gabe Davis, wide receiver, Mike hide safety. That's going to hurt bills mafia. I know that
those words may hurt. Tim settle defensive tackle Jordan Phillips defensive line and
Dane Jackson. And it's not that I don't like Dane Jackson. I've complained about him. He
is a capable starting caliber cornerback who's going to get beat a few times a game. He's
going to commit a penalty here and there, but he he's kind of Levi Wallace for me. But
I have no interest in the bill signing him back because I would actually like to see
Kyrie Lom get on the field and have them force, you know, his development a little bit. But
for all those guys, I think it's, you know, thank you for coming. Their market value is
a couple million more than I'd be willing to pay. I think Jordan Phillips year over
year has has declined in his splash plays and become nothing more than kind of a juice
guy, which is not on the field play does not help us. Right. And so with those those players
Mike hide, I think he's probably set to retire. If the market doesn't throw a huge contract
at him, he's likely out when he got the stinger during the latter half of the season. It seemed
like he was afraid that it was like, you know, the kind of thing it was a scary injury for
him. And I think that that's the time when veteran players start to look at the their,
you know, time in the league as ending when they start to worry about their life after
football. And so I think Mike hide might be on the verge of retiring his wife, Amanda
sent something out on Instagram that very much read like thank you, Bill's mafia work,
we're done or at least we're done here.
Yeah, it was a very heartfelt, very emotional post from the hides and it definitely read
like definitely the end of Buffalo, but it had tinges of like a goodbye message to the
game writ large and hide. Listen, man, we're probably going to do this with Poyer at some
point if and when his departure from the team becomes official as well. But it cannot be
understated how essential Mike hide in Jordan, Jordan Poyer were to opening the door to this
recent era of Bill's success. The way they came in and stabilized the spine of that defense,
the way they allowed McDermott to really instill his defensive scheme and Frazier didn't still
their defensive scheme and the way they led this roster and this team year in and year
out and not just on the field JJ. I think what often goes unnoticed is we we hear all
these reports after the after the Bill's divisional loss that at Oliver, defensive captain doesn't
stick around for interviews. Stefan Diggs, offensive captain doesn't stick around for
interviews. Mike hide and Jordan Poyer after every single game stood up there took accountability
for the shortcomings always shared the credit the credit for the success of this defensive
unit in this team. And they were model leaders on the squad. So if this is indeed the swan
song for Mike hide and he will not be returning to Buffalo, you know, I agree with you it
hurts, but it's a business decision. All that being said, there should be a lot of
gratitude coming towards Mike hide and Jordan Poyer for sure.
Absolutely. And Jordan Poyer is under contract but is one of those players that we are probably
the teams likely going to either ask for a pay cut. It's an easy out. Yeah, or be forced
to cut outright based on his salary. And so that's the first bucket is people that are
free agents that I do not expect to the bills to really make a strong effort at and will
likely not return to the team. The second bucket is players I would absolutely love
for the bills to retain as long as it was on reasonable team friendly deals, but are
also unlikely. And that is AJ Epinezza, defensive end Leonard Floyd Floyd defensive end, of
course, and Tyrell Dodson. And Dodson's a surprising one for me because if you would
ask me week four of the season, if I wanted Tyrell Dodson back as an unrestricted free
agent, I'd say no. But he proved throughout the year that with used in an appropriate
way and Bobby Babich being elevated to defensive coordinator, I think we could rely on Tyrell
Dodson being used in a right way. Being used in the right way, he can be an effective run
stopping early down defender. And so and will not break the bank is not going to be a very
expensive player. But I do think there's a possibility that there's teams out there
that have a lot of cap space and they're looking they're hungry for somebody who, you know,
he showed a lot in the letter half of the season of being that capable run defender
and was well graded and PFF and other kind of analytics services. So I think there's
a possibility somebody throws a bag of money at him and he does not come back. And then
of course, AJ Epinezza and Leonard Floyd. My feelings on Floyd are that he tailed off
he's 32. So if you know, the bills aren't able to get him back, he's likely looking
for a big time payday because he's at the tail end of his career. And again, it's one
of those deals where a team with way more, you know, cap capacity might take a contract
and send it his way just because he again had double digit sack production for I think
the fourth season in a row. And did so, you know, on a team where they were not getting
anything from von Miller, Greg Russo was hit or miss and pass rush productivity at Oliver
was, you know, solid and steady, but didn't show up in the playoffs. You know, there's
a lot of things there that Leonard Floyd proved that he can be he can create production without
the requirement of another piece. But you know, I think that it may hurt his value in
the market that the last, you know, four or five games of the season, he was not producing
at nearly the same level and likely it could be his age, you know, dragging around a chest
injury at one point, had some lower body stuff going on throughout the season. So what do
you think about AJ Epinezza? I mean, I don't I think he's gone. But I don't know that he's
I don't know that he's a starting book and you know, caliber defensive end for any team
in the NFL.
JJ, this is the hardest free agent for me to read for the bills. I think the bills definitely
have an interest in keeping him that's clear. What is less clear to me is what his market
value is going to be. He I agree with you. I don't know that he's got the juice yet to
be a solid starting caliber edge for another unit. But he's only 25. And if you remember,
he was highly heralded coming in his draft class here. It was him and Chase Young were
the top two pass rushers in that draft class. And I believe that there are going to be some
teams that are going to be willing to take a shot on that pedigree and hope that they're
catching him as he is ascending into his prime in his mid 20s. And you know, if his market
value is anything above $10 million, I think the bills take a pass and they look to address
edge in the draft because this is a very, very, very deep edge class coming into this
2024 draft for sure. But I'd like to see him return. He was great, not just in the traditional
pass rush game, but also in past defense game. There's so many of these squads as we have
seen the Cincinnati's and the Miami's that looked at the ball out quickly, run these
quick screen games and he's an absolute disruptor off the edge to the QB's throwing side on
a lot of those plays. There is a lot of value for someone like that for a bill squad that
outside of some of those deflections really struggles to stop the screen. So I think he's
a dude that brings a lot of utility to this defensive scheme. I just don't know how much
money he's going to make realistically on the open market. He could easily be priced
out of where the bills can afford him. But ultimately, I'd love to see him back.
Sure. Yeah. I would love to see him back, but the money would have to be right. I do
not want the Buffalo bills to pay him more than $8 million per year, $10 million per
year. But defensive the defensive end market might drive him up to the 1618 level. And I
think that that's, you know, that's a range that I don't feel comfortable with for his
production, even though I agree with you, he offers a unique skill set as like kind
of a screen killer. And, you know, wide receiver like dump off screen, you know, is the thing
that he shuts down so well. And again, you're right, we do see that in the FC East often.
And so yeah, with AJ Pinesa, that's similar to my feelings. I would like to see the bills
resign him, but it has the money has to be right. I do not want them to overpay for
him. And so, you know, that brings me to our next kind of bucket. And these are the players
who are expiring contracts that I believe it's really it's important that the bills bring
back or that at least, you know, if the money's right, they extend to Juan Jones, who may
garner $7 million a year. Again, we love to Juan Jones. I think that it may benefit
the bills in terms of his market viability that he was injured for most of the year.
So because if he kept up his all pro play that he had in the first four weeks of the
season, I believe that he would be good as gone making 12 plus, you know, in that defensive
interior. I think it's possible they can get him under 10, and maybe a one or two year
deal I'm not looking for anything more than that because he is 32. But I do I do love
the pairing of DeJuan Jones and Ed Oliver in the middle. And I think that with it, additional
time to kind of recover from that pectoral tear and surgery over the off season, he could
come back in good form. Puna Ford, who's only 28. And I think as a spot starter offered
something. And really is one of those things that the only reason he's on my list as a
resign is because I think they could get him back on the minimum deal of that minimum
deal low money. And you know, knows the system could come in and know the system even more
than coming in this season. And that could be additional. Taylor rap, who I thought
really did well as kind of an in the box safety at times, but really showed his better flashes
being a deep third defender in that free safety role, when Jordan Poyer came down. And he
could be had for between five and seven million, I think per year on a couple of year deal.
And at least you'd have a little bit of continuity. And that's Taylor rap. I think that, you
know, we talked before we recorded that the bill's plan probably is to have one veteran
and maybe one rookie safety on the field. I don't think they'd ever go into the season
with two rooks because that safety position is so crucial for Sean McDermott and Bobby
bad which is defense, they will need to have kind of a blend of age and experience and
then athleticism on the back end. Taylor rap could be age and experience in that equation
if especially if Poyer is gone. What do you think about that?
No, totally that there's no way that the bills are going to totally reset the clock at safety.
So this to me, I know wide receiver is probably more crucial for the overall success of the
team. But this to me is the most fascinating room to watch the bills rebuild. There are
going to be some interesting free agent options, a deep draft class in this particular position
as well. Overall, it's going to be fascinating to see how the bills approach this. I think
free agency as it always does will unlock a lot of the bill strategy. I agree. I think
if we see rap come back, it's almost a guarantee that Poyer, we probably move on from Poyer
and very likely are drafting Poyer's replacement in April. There's also a there is also a world
where Poyer does come back to this team. They value his veteran leadership. And when you
look at a lot of the free agent safeties that are going to be in the bill's wheelhouse and
what they can afford, it's a lot of guys that primarily play that box safety role, which
is where Poyer has basically been relegated to it is at this point in his career. So unless
you think one of those guys like a Jeremy Chen, for example, is going to be a massive
upgrade in that box role, there is a world where you bring back Poyer and kind of let
him tutor you let him tutor the new free safety draft rookie acquisition that the bills could
potentially bring in. I want to go back to the Dequan Jones thing real quick, if you're
good with it. Because I think we're I think we're going to depart on this one. Your as
being always says your last game tells you everything that you need to address tells
you everything that you need to know about where your team has fallen short. And with
a healthy at Oliver and with a healthy to Juan Jones against the Kansas City Chiefs,
we got zero on the interior as far as run defense and pass rush from at Oliver and from Dequan
Jones. If you're asking me, do I want to run it back for 17 games with Dequan Jones, basically
playing our nose tackle or playing our one tech? The answer is sure. Do I want to go
I think Dequan Jones is going to get us over the hump and get the interior rush that we
need against Creed Humphrey and against Trace Smith and against that interior and Joe Tooney
that interior offensive line for the Chiefs. The answer to that is no. I would prefer to
see the bills. Let Jones walk away if the money is even approaching unreasonable and
really tend to this one tech in the draft. It's something they haven't done since they
drafted at Oliver, they drafted at Oliver. And you could argue until they got Dequan
Jones in here, they never really gave him a proper running partner where he could he
could excel with his skill set in that four three scheme. Jones is 32, entering his age
33 season, coming off back to back years where he's been dinged up and severely injured.
I think it is finally time for the bills to address DT the one tech in the draft because
it's deep. There's a lot of hogmollies as we like to say in this draft that they could
take and I would prefer to see the bills turn back the clock a little bit of that position
in the hopes that they can finally find someone that can help to penetrate that Kansas City
interior offensive line. Like they say the definition of insanity is doing the same thing
over and over again and expect a different result. There is zero reason for me to think
JJ that if we bring Dequan Jones back, that interior pass rush will be good against Kansas
City because all evidence has been to the contrary. So I would prefer to see the bills
walk away and start over at that position with the bevy of draft capital they've built
up this year.
Sure. So I'm going to remain departed from you on this on this point because I do think
and here's why this is our new Jerry Hughes. This is our new Jerry Hughes. We found our
new Jerry Hughes and the reason I say it is because you know, I'll I'll qualify it if
the bills are going to use a top four round draft pick on a defensive talent, run stuffing
defensive tackle who can line up and keep at Oliver clean from constant double teams.
I am fine with Dequan Jones going. I just don't think that this is the year or this
is the draft in which they have the capacity to use that top, you know, top four rounds
draft pick on a DT run stuffing DT and that's a longer developing position in the NFL. I
think that people look at it and they they think, Oh, it's a big guy just plug him in.
The level of technique and difficulty and the level of competition at that, you know,
in the NFL is so much higher than in college that a dominant defensive tackle takes a couple
of years of seasoning in order to learn the hand fighting and all those advanced techniques
to really get past somebody like a Joe Tooney. And I think that that's what we saw was probably
the best interior defensive interior defender on the market other than Chris Jones, Justin
Madibuike in Baltimore had a half sack and two tackles of his own in that in that game
against the Chiefs. He didn't do Jack squat against that middle three either. And the
Baltimore Ravens have the number one defense in the league throughout the course of the
season. So, you know, I think that calling, you know, calling Dequan Jones and that Oliver's
experience or what they put on tape against the Chiefs, a reason not to maintain that
pair in the middle is sort of ignoring the fact that nobody in the league was doing
anything against those middle three for the Chiefs. Patrick Holmes was kept clean from
interior pressure more than almost any quarterback in the league this season for good reason.
He has the best three guard to guard, you know, trio in the league. And so I know, but and
I know that's not, you know, there's no way to get past that without some interior pressure
and find ways to find that. And so I just don't know. I think that a top four round
DT could replace Dequan Jones on the roster in my mind, but I don't think they're going
to spend it because I think they have other more pressing needs. And so I do think that
they'll be able to get him back because of the injury riddled the season. They'll be
able to get him back in a more reasonable deal. And I expect them to do so.
I look forward to this ongoing debate with you this off season about Dequan Jones and
the utility of the utility of turning the clock back a bit on that position. This is
going to be a fun one. I'm glad we have found our new Jerry Hughes, sir, because we agree
far too much on this part. The pod. Yeah, the pod is better when I'm calling you names.
It always is. It always is. Yeah, absolutely. So are we ready to talk about some of the
bucket out minimum guys? Yeah, because I think this opens an interesting
conversation to another area of need that is not on a lot of bills, mafia fan radar,
but could rear its head very, very quickly. So let's do that.
Sure. Yeah. So the following is a list of players who are playing with the team at or
near the minimum contract for their veteran status within the league. So after a number
of accrued seasons in the league, you have a sliding scale of what you must be paid.
These guys were all kind of at or just above that minimum, you know, salary. Taler, Maddoch
Kiewicz, Trent Scherfield, David Edwards, Damian Harris running back, Linvald Joseph
off the couch, defensive tackle, Shaq Lawson, defensive end, bills, you know, stalwart for
years on and off, Latavius Murray, the much maligned running back that nobody in Bill
mafia wants to see on the field again, because he tailed off in the end of the season and
had some very poor, you know, short yardage situation runs. Kyle Allen, who the claim
his claim to fame is that he has the same last name as Josh Allen, and that's about
it. He also does the QB room podcast, which I think is is an excellent listen if people
are looking for kind of in depth QB stuff. Cam Lewis, CB slash safety, and then tie Johnson
running back of that group. I am pleased to watch every single one of them walk away except
for David Edwards. Kyle Allen, again, minimum deal, good friend of Josh Allen. If the if
Josh Allen's out of the lineup, the season basically over anyway, I don't know that we're
really looking to make any kind of big deal for we can't make any big deal with the current
cap situation. The bills are under for a backup quarterback and it's not critical need anyway,
because again, you know, we ride as far as Josh Allen's willing to go. Cam Lewis, especially
in the world where he may transition to safety, and the deep third free safety is a position
he could he could fulfill. He's a little bit small, he won't ever be a box safety. But
I think kind of over the top, you know, ballhawk role is something he could fulfill. And then
tie Johnson, if they can get him back on the vet minimum deal for for his accrued seasons.
I thought he was a great kind of change up. And he offered a lot of juice in the run game
and then the screen game to improve that he was available when Josh Allen needed somebody
as an outlet. And then of course, David Edwards, guard slash, you know, de facto tight end
for heavy sets, you can do far worse than David Edwards as your swing backup guard.
And so if they can get him back on that kind of money, I think we'll probably see this
off season because it's so hard to find quality, you know, line play in the league. It's somebody
might pick him up on who needs a starter at guard. But we'll see. Any of those you want
to comment on? Yeah, Edwards is the one that I on that list
feels like the God I have it on that group, right? Tie Johnson probably a close second
just because you've got to love the dynamic duo capability that Cook and Johnson showed
at the end of last season. And you know, the bills were extraordinarily lucky this season,
JJ, and that the offensive line was relatively healthy for the entire season. We have seen
injuries kind of bite the bills and all these other position rooms save for offensive line.
So I think you cannot take for granted the fact that Edwards is a depth play and also
a play in that jumbo set is someone who came to mean a lot to your offensive scheme. And
as a result of that is somebody that you got to hope they can prioritize to get back because
as deep as this draft is this year, interior offensive line is not one of the areas of
strength and it continues to be a declining area of viability in the draft year after
year after year. So if you've got a guy like Edwards, you really want to see him signed
to the squad to give you a little stability there. And you know, JJ, I know the bills
don't have any big pending free agents necessarily at the tackle position. But as we talk about
health for this team, I know we've got Alec Anderson who's still on the roster heading
into next year. I think as the bills evaluate their free agency acquisitions here, I do think
they're going to look at tackle either in the draft or in free agency. I think they're
going to want to tie up David Edwards. And then they're going to want to look not necessarily
for the Dionne Dawkins of the future because he just had a monster year. Spencer Brown
had a great year after playing really what was his first full healthy season at right
tackle. But I think the bills are going to want to address that tackle room because
depth there is still a little bit light. And I believe that for as fortunate as the bills
were to have all those pieces healthy throughout the course of the season, you can ever bet
bank on that from year to year, especially such a high use, high wear and tear position.
So I would love to see them resign Edwards and then maybe let a Cam Lewis or someone
like that go if it means bringing up another capable backup tackle.
Sure. Okay. You're willing to sacrifice a Cam Lewis for a backup tackle. I am too. I
think that that's a that's a necessary area. Although I will say Ryan Van de Mark, at least
in backing up Dionne Dawkins looked very capable. He did look solid. And so he's a young player
with some with some capabilities. And they did, I believe they did resign him to a future
to steal. So they did. Yep. Yep. So that's somebody we could we could look to for hopefully
that backup. And then one other person of note, we got Quentin Morris. I think he's
going to be on the squad. He's an exclusive rights free agent so they could sign him to
a minimum deal and nobody can really sign him away because he's still under his four
years of accrued seasons. So I mean, we've talked about a little bit the priority position
groups to fill through free agency and the draft are for me and my money wide receiver
and safety one two, and then detackle the end. Are those the same top four for you or
you have them different?
I've got them relatively the same. But again, I want to sneak tackle in there somewhere.
I love the develop of Van de Mark. I think Anderson is very solid for the squad as well.
But it's such a deep draft at this position. And when you see the teams that are continually
successful year after year after year, they're always throwing some sort of level of resource
at that position. I don't think it needs to be a top three pick. I would love the order
of the first three picks to be some kind of a semblance of wide receiver safety and DT.
But then after that, I wouldn't feel bad if the bills through another day to pick or a
late round draft pick at offensive tackle either to splash around. And again, what is
a very deep class? But yeah, for the most part, JJ, I'm right there with you.
Yeah, great. And I think for me, the one position that I don't see any help coming in free agency
is wide receiver, the market for veteran wide receivers is too hot for the bills to find
any meaningful contributor that would actually get on the field and, you know, challenge
stuff on dig for digs for snaps. That I feel like that has to come in the top two or three
rounds of the draft. And I'd like to I'd like to wide receivers in the top four rounds.
Oh, interesting. I like them to double dip. I love the double dip to. But I mean, if it
comes in rounds five, five or six, I'm cool with that too. Like what was tank Dell this
year was tanked out here? He was a five. I think was Nico, I think Nico Collins was the
third round pick right? Puka Nekua was a fifth. Yeah. I mean, so that's the thing. Give me
a Puka Nekua. I've said this for forever. Oh yeah, absolutely. He was your guy last
year. He was my my draft crush in the wide receiver room. Yeah, he was your dude, man.
And you nailed that one. I listen, I love the idea of a double dip. What I don't want
to see the bills do though is put off an area of eminent need, right, in order to do that.
And it is crazy because you are so right that the wide receiver market is feels like it
is off balance a little bit like there are guys getting paid good money that maybe aren't
necessarily worth that contract. At the same time where this is yet another year where
we have an exceptionally deep wide receiver class coming in to and not just a lot of the
small slot guys that we saw last year, but guys that can legitimately for size and speed
metrics play on the outside. It's interesting that teams are giving 13 million potentially
to a game Davis or 10 million to a Darnell Mooney, when you can go into this year's draft
and get a Keon Coleman for a for a late first round pick potentially. And he brings the
same utility without the with the upside of an affordable contract. It's interesting how
teams are approaching that for sure. But you're absolutely right. Unless it is such a favorable
deal like unless Kelvin Ridley wants to take, you know, it wants to take a very Buffalo
friendly deal, guys like that are simply not coming to the squad. So it's going to have
to be in it's going to have to be in the draft and JJ let this be the year where the bills
finally go wide receiver in round one for a living savior, Josh Allen, let this be the
year finally.
There are some really good ones I gave some on the shout podcast, but there's there's
some guys one I didn't mention on the shout podcast, but I've recently been watching some
of his like college tape. Lad McConkey, have you seen this guy blowing up the senior bowl
right now? Oh yeah, I love the senior bowl man. I love all the news bits that come on
there.
Lad McConkey to me is Christian McCaffrey light, because just the way he moves like he's
this like six foot tall, 185 pounds, not a huge guy, but he's incredibly fast in every
direction, both in deep speed and change of direction. I just don't I think the problem
I have with him for the bills in the first round because he's probably going to go in
the first and maybe top of the second problem with him.
You think so?
Yeah, I think so.
I think yeah, okay, interesting. Yeah, we'll talk about that more. Yeah, we'll talk about
that as we go on. But when I but this is kind of leading me to another point, whomever
the bills wide receiver is, I think they have to and this is going to be kind of a dig at
Joe Brady. I think they have to find a talent that scheme proof, because I don't I think
Joe Brady is a solid offensive corner. I've liked what he could do. I'm really excited
to see what stamps he can put on this offense with his own flavor in the off season to build
into next year. But what we saw was he had a talent in Stefan digs, he had a talent in
Khalil Shakur, he had a talent in Dalton, okay, that I think are all talented. But they're
not explosive to the point where they're scheme proof talents where they're going to produce
no matter what kind of play design you put up for them. And I think that that's a lot
of what suffered in some of the lulls for the offense late in the season was they didn't
have somebody who's like, this explosive talent, who you look at them and you're just like,
no matter what route he's running, he's going to be open, right? Like, it's and it's doesn't
have to be schemed that way either. Like, there doesn't have to be a rub route involved,
it's just going to be he's always going to have separation. And so I think that that's
really what they're looking for. And that's sort of what I see. From a conch, he is a
way that he is explosive in every direction. And it's sort of like, he makes himself available.
He's like peak of his career Cole Beasley when it comes to finding soft spots, but a
bigger and better after the catch route runner. You don't think there's already though you
don't think he brings like a duplicated skill set with Shakir and with Kincaid, because
like we have zone beaters and Makanke is a big time zone beater. I mean, we need man
beaters, you know, but I think he's got man beaters. That's what I mean, though. Yeah,
I think that's the thing for him is that he he can offer the same skill set that we've
proven we can utilize with Shakir and Kincaid, but has the extra layer of juice. Shakir does
not have explosive short area speed. And that's that's what I think that I'm looking for is
somebody with explosive short, short areas, quickness and speed, because that's how you
beat man is you have to have somebody who's going to hit the top of their break and move
in some direction that nobody can stay with them. Because Josh Allen has the gun to zip
a ball onto a spot anywhere. If he trusts that the player once they hit the top of the
break is going to shake any coverage they have on them.
Yeah, that's fascinating. I have not yet not yet gotten into my my film bag with a lot
of these these wide receiver candidates here. But Makanke is definitely one I'm going to
keep an eye on. Dude, there's just it's an embarrassment of riches in this draft. Like
you've got Mitchell and worthy the two kids coming out of Texas or probably going to go
in the top half of the second round if not the first round. You've got Xavier Leguette
from South Carolina. Yeah, I love that. He's very good. He's very good. And again, you've
got a guy like Keon Coleman who I've seen a lot of bills like font bills fans fawning
after he feels like a dude because of his size catch radius, body control, route running
abilities. He feels like a dude who's going to go earlier on. Like if he is available
for like a Cincinnati who might be losing both Tyler Boyd and T Higgins, he has that
immediate 50 50 ball guy replacement for Joe Joe Burrow that they covet so much and that's
in that scheme. So I don't think Coleman falls. But yeah, lad Makanke out of Georgia, six
foot one eighty five, I think six foot one eighty five. That's always he's got strong
like West Wilker vibes. Yeah, when you watch when you watch a shorter
Walker, yeah, Edelman Walker, Beasley, but with a little bit more with more explosiveness
than any of those guys. Exactly. He's like he would be like a second round version of
JSN coming out last year. Right. Yes. Absolutely. Exactly. Yeah. So you know, there's some
player and the other thing I want to see for the bills is like either somebody who's an
absolute explosive talent in terms of short area quickness and man beating ability or
somebody who's just a giant monster because like I just you know, you don't see there's
nobody in the bills receiving room other than Justin shorter above six three. And you know,
there are some options coming out in this draft who are like the size speed guys who
have the super you know, long speed, very tall, great at the catch point, great body
control. And that's something that I think Josh Allen would would utilize. It's interesting
though because the bills started that way, right? Like that after they drafted Josh Allen,
they're like we're just going to get a bunch of big body receivers because they need wide
catch radius is wherever he puts it, they're going to grab it. It did not go well because
the coverage was always there and he was throwing picks everywhere. So yeah, I'm not sure. I
think there's there's a lot of it's going to be interesting. And that's why that's why
like I said, when we started the pod, I love offseason mad and GM time, because it's all
full of hope. Everything is possible. The build the build building a juggernaut is totally
on the table. Totally on the table. I think the only thing that is truly out of their
ability is to trade up enough capital to get Marvin Harrison here, which would be a dream.
Right. Like, I think it's in their ability. It's just the price would be so obscene. It
would be like, all right, we're going to, you know, pay Stefan Diggs salary and trade
him plus our first round pick for the next three years to take a top three, you know,
spot. Right. Exactly. Yeah, it's and it would have to be a top, it would have to be on the
top three. Yeah, because there's no absolutely. There's no guarantee yet that Chicago goes
QB, even though it looks like that from all the all rumblings they're going to. You've
got Washington, who almost definitely goes QB. And then I don't know. I don't know what
New England's going to do. Like three seems high for a guy like Jane Daniels, if he is
the only one left on the board at that point. So but New England might reach for him at
that point and be very happy with the Heisman winner or they could draft or they could go
sign Jacoby preset draft Marvin Harrison there and and call it good. But yeah, yeah, it just
it seems unrealistic. The bills get that high to get a guy like Marvin Harrison, Jr. But
lots of other options on the table. Yeah, for sure. Well, and that's the thing too is
the thing that, you know, most draft punits have been talking about for years now is that
some of the most, you know, exciting talents, young talents in the wide receiver field in
the NFL are second and third round picks. You know, there have been a lot of draft
bus in that first round in the wide receiver, you know, as far as wide receivers goes. And
so I think that, you know, that's why the double dip is so interesting to me. Maybe you spend
your first on the best defensive tackle on the board, and then you go two and four, you
know, with wide receivers. And I think that could be possible too.
Oh, yeah. I mean, some bills, Bill's mafia, social media will be unbearable. If that's
the direction we go, if defenses, we make yet another defensive first round.
Another defensive lineman. Yeah. Yeah. But I mean, at that point, you got to go with
best player available. Right. Well, there's a reason that that happens. It's because the
guys who have the body and the athleticism combo to do that are not they don't exist
in the third round. They just they're gone. Like, and that's on the offensive and defensive
line. That's why trenches are drafted so highly. It's because you cannot get athletes at the
size you need them to be at in order to compete at the NFL unless you go high.
That's why people are always splashing around in the trenches with with one of their first
three picks year after year, even if it's not a pressing need. Yeah.
Yeah. For sure. One one year, one always one injury away from it being a pressing need.
I've got I've got two quick notes. I think I think we're wrapping up here because we're
going to, you know, we'll get deeper into free agency as we go.
Two quick notes. One, before we started the season, before that Jets Monday night game,
I I talked about Dalton Kincaid breaking the all tight end rookie records. And I was wrong.
He he broke, you know, the highest was 35 in 1962 by Ernie Warwick. As far as tight end
receivings. Kincaid got 73 receptions crushed that one. Highest with yardage was 482 again.
Ernie Warwick, Kincaid went for 673 crushed that one. Yeah, but something about our rookie
tight ends two touchdowns. That's it. That's all they get. And so he tied that one. So
he didn't beat all of them. I still believe I'm behind in our bourbon bets by two bottles.
I think I owe you two bottles. But I've come back. I've come back by one bottle. And I
would propose that I still send you to and maybe you send me one and we actually make
that happen. Just because it's fun to buy bourbon for people.
It is my bourbon are our preseason bourbon bet for this season. You epically failed.
Do you remember what it was? Do I did I roll with the Oliver thing again? He'd leave the
team. No, no, this game. Okay, you had a couple of predictions. So these were not bourbon
based, but your predictions were Greg Russo over 10 and a half sacks. Oh, God, but everybody
had that. Yeah. And then he he just you had James Cook over 11 and a half total TDs.
Oh, God, what was I suppose he did not get and no, I think that you probably were right
on the money betting he'd be a focal point of the offense. It's just that when they got
down in the red area, he was never the target. He was not running a minute. It was usually
a short yardage back or Josh Allen. And then you had digs and Davis both have a thousand
yard seasons. And so you missed on Davis hard. This is probably on record my worst season
of preseason predictions in a really long time.
Mine, mine were also bad. I had Greg Russo over 10 sacks. I had the bill's chiefs game
in November ultimately decides the number one seed in the AFC. That wasn't true. I had
Gabe Davis leads the team and reception TDs not true. Right. Like I whiffed on all I
whiffed on three. And then half whiffed on the concade breaks all T rookie records because
he just missed the touchdown ones. Right. But the bourbon bet was you bet the Patriots
were number two in the AFC East and offensive DVO a behind the bill. I forgot about that.
I zigged when everyone else I tagged and I bet that the Patriots are fourth dead last
in offensive DVO a which they were. Congratulations. Thank you. Oh, God. Oh, God. That is terrible.
Talk about looking in a mirror and just being utterly disappointed with what you see. Dear
Lord man. All right. God, what was I I but I was buying in fairness to me the preseason
hype train coming out of Patriots camp. Yes. Jones look good. Callihan looked like he had
fixed whatever the hell was going on. Right. Like and their offensive line if healthy was
going to be okay. JJ, do you know how bad the offensive line playing the AFC was this year?
AFC East, the Buffalo Bills and pass a pass black win rate or six overall this year. Top
10. Right. And I think we can all agree they passed the eye test with that too. 30 31 and
32 Patriots, dolphins jets. Wow. Black win rate and respective order. Right. Dang. Okay.
Yeah. Crazy. I mean, yeah, that would presume they were all bottom third, but I would never
imagine they were the bottom three teams and pass and pass black win rate. Terrible. Let's
hope that, you know, the dolphins aren't the dolphins are in cap jail too. So they might
not have the money needed to fix any of their tackles or anything. Similarly, you know, the
jets have some some some cap room. The newing of Patriots are completely rich with cap right
now. So they're likely they could fix it in one off season. They probably could. And my
guess is they're going to make it a priority. Yes, for whatever young I mean, they just
saw what happened to Bryce Young in Carolina, they're going to want to fix the offensive
line before they put, you know, inevitably in a rookie starter back there. Right. Yeah,
absolutely. All right, JJ, I think we have set a pretty a pretty neat table for the off
season. We've identified the positions of need. And now we're going to break out more
thoroughly pod by pod and talk about each of these position areas from a free agency
and draft standpoint. We're also going to bring in our friends of the pod, not friends
of the bills, our friends who are fans of AFC East rival squads on the pod to give their
takes on what they feel like their squads need to do in order to challenge the bills
and keep them from winning a fifth consecutive AFC East championship. So we got a lot of
great off season potting to do JJ. And of course, we still have the Super Bowl coming
up in a couple of weeks, which will be a miserable heart wrenching experience yet again. But
until then, like, share and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts, Google Apple Spotify.
And as always, go bills, go bills.