All right, welcome back to the Buffalo Bread podcast.
JJ here with me as always Dan.
And we are, we're jumping ahead tonight.
Tonight's March 1st, we're jumping ahead to do some draft deep dive
on the offensive side of the ball.
The big news this week, of course, is the combine happening,
has been happening since Monday, wraps up this weekend.
And we have, you know, the exciting wide receivers running backs
and others are doing the skill, skill-based and speed-based competition stuff
and testing tomorrow.
They like to keep that stuff for the weekend because I think they recognize
that there's some eyeballs that are going to be on it in the working masses.
What do you think about that?
And how excited are you to talk draft prospects?
Very excited.
And my eyeballs, JJ, will be some of the eyeballs the NFL is looking to attract
with their, their weekend placement of testing for NFL skill positions.
I've really enjoyed breaking down a lot of the media coverage of interviews
and things like that that allow these prospects have been doing.
Lots of interesting stuff coming out of Bill's camp with regard to both the
offensive and the defensive players that they have met with in the interview
process so far.
But I think it makes sense to start with the offense, JJ, because it is very
likely that within the first three rounds, the bills are going to have to,
depending on what happens with Gabe Davis, draft his replacement with a
premium pick, but then also potentially nab a person with said premium pick
that could be Stefan Diggs replacement down the road.
This is a very, very deep wide receiver class.
And unlike last year, where we had a lot of slot type of horizontal type of
threats, this year features a lot of the bigger targets that we know Josh
Ellen likes and features some guys that can take the top off defenses.
And it is something the bills are sorely lacking as we have discussed ad nauseum.
So JJ, I am dying to get into it, especially in the offensive side of the ball.
Yeah, absolutely.
And I think that, you know, we'll get into the actual names of the prospects.
We've talked about a couple of people, especially in top end talent.
We've talked about some of the top draft picks that are going to go on the
wide receiver position specifically, because I think that as we, you know,
have lined up the Buffalo bills, aside from what's going to happen in free
agency need to find a starter wide receiver, kind of a number two outside
X type receiver, they need to find a starting safety will talk about defense
in a future week's pod.
And they need to find like a boatload of defensive line talent.
That's really those are the holes we see right now on the team.
And some of those will be addressed by the draft.
It's pretty widely accepted that in the draft, you are looking at your first
and second pick, your first round and second round pick as likely starters
or impact starters with your third, fourth, fifth, you know, if you hit on
somebody who gets meaningful snaps in any of those three middle rounds,
you tend to, you know, be a plus draft team.
That's pretty good talent and value at those positions.
And then the sixth, seventh round are usually, you know, if you get
contributions from those players, you're got a good scouting department that
are really identifying some traits that are NFL ready on players that are
not expected to make a big contribution.
And so that's the way we're going to kind of break down these conversations
as we're talking about some of the prospects in terms of that rank, kind
of first and second, and then middle three, and then six, seven and
undrafted free agents.
Of course, the rookies that are not picked in the draft will be picked up
by teams oftentimes after the after the fact.
Yeah, man, I love that setup and I want to get right into it.
So you want to start, I think we should start with the premium position
and the highest position of offensive need for the bills, which is wide receiver.
So JJ, why don't you give me a little bit of, let's start with that like tier one
first, second round-ish area.
What are some of the guys that you are looking at for the bills to potentially
use that first or second round pick on at the wide receiver spot?
Yeah, my absolute A number one is Brian Thomas,
junior from LSU.
He's probably a top 20 pick and it's the kind of player that, you know,
he's widely regarded as probably the fourth best.
So it's of course Marvin Harrison, junior and Roma Dunze at the top
and then Malik neighbors also at the top.
Those three are the top three and then Brian Thomas, junior, it makes up that kind of,
it kind of stands alone in that four spot of the fourth best wide receiver in this class
by most draft, you know, draft nicks.
That's the player that I see.
If the bills, if in Brandon Bean, we know he loves up to trade up for his guy.
If Brandon Bean is going up in the draft, I think it's for Brian Thomas, junior.
6-4-2-0-5 from LSU led the entire country in touchdown, touchdown receptions this year.
Just an absolute machine can do everything polished for a bigger body,
fast for a bigger body is probably going to run in the 4-4s this weekend.
He's aiming for 4-3 if you listen to any of the hype coming out of the combine.
Well, and you know, I think Bill's mafia or Brandon Bean at least is hoping he runs a 4-6.
I know, right?
Because the 40 yard dash is, it's funny because it's such a weird thing, right?
Like it's a one single, it's, I think they get two attempts, right?
It's two attempts in time that set their value to all these draft, you know, team draft specialists.
And it's like that, you know, just if the guy slightly stubs his toe, it's going to change everything for his whole life.
So just find it funny that we put so much weight on the 40.
Because yeah, I guess it's an overall, you know, assessment of speed.
What I believe the 40 teaches you is whether or not somebody's willing to put the work in, in the, you know, off season, in training,
in order to really work towards the goal and get it.
I think that's mostly what they're, you're learning from these prospects is if somebody hits like an absolutely insane 40,
it means that whether, you know, whether they're naturally gifted that fast or from the time that the college season ended,
they've been working very hard at it.
And that's a good trait for a person to have that kind of hard work grind it mentality.
Yeah, for sure.
And listen, there is running in gym short speed and there is game speed.
And the game speed of Brian Thomas Jr. shows up all over his film.
And in the SEC playing at LSU, he was playing against a lot of really talented secondaries and a lot of really talented cornerbacks made many of them,
some of whom will be drafted at the end of April here in 2024, made a lot of them look silly.
Now, in LSU, I would say the one knock on him, it'll be interesting to see how he manages some of these skill drills at the combine.
And it doesn't show up on film, did not have to run a lot of complex routes was not really a in breaking kind of guy.
He really was a pure vertical threat for Jane Daniels and that LSU attack.
So I think there are valid questions about how complete his route tree is. But based on where he would slot into a Buffalo Bills offense,
you already have a route technician in Stefan Diggs, you have to me who is a very underrated route runner and Cleal Shakir in the slot,
you would be looking in this first year at a guy like Brian Thomas Jr. to be that vertical threat that can alleviate a lot of the pressure when defense is condensed on that short area game
that Joe Brady was so adept at scheming last year, he can alleviate a lot of that pressure.
And in year one, that's really all you need a wide receiver to opposite Diggs and Shakir to do is take the pressure off of that offense by taking the top off of the defense.
So Thomas to me is definitely a guy that can do that. And then the route running will come in year two and year three as he becomes a more complete wide receiver.
Absolutely. And I think that the other thing that is worthwhile is talking about, you know, oftentimes, I don't know if it was Daniel Jeremiah or another kind of draft expert was talking about Brian Thomas
and said often fast guys aren't smooth. And guys aren't, you know, quick guys aren't fast or something like that.
Essentially, you know, when you see a really smooth strider, you don't often see them be very quick in and out of breaks and things like that choppy right those choppy movement.
He somehow combines that because he's long you six four he's got big hands got long arms.
But yet he can also be snappy at the top of his root stem. And that I think is like that's why he's the fourth best wide receiver in the class and that's why I think that he's he's my number one target who I believe is somewhat realistic.
But it could all be blown up when he goes 12th overall right like we don't know what the top of the board is going to look like and he's that good.
But again, that he's the type of player that if he slides, I believe he if he's in striking range Brandon Bean might go up and get him, because he does also kind of have the kind of the body type projection production over a number of years in college against
top tier talent that he could, you know, grow from that experience he has into a bona fide number one outside receiver once digs kind of ages out of that position.
I agree. And if you're looking at a place where the bills may trade up because I've seen a lot of like, hope him out on bills Twitter, they're like, yeah, we're going to trade up with the bears for number nine and we're going to get Roma dunes.
I'm like, we're not we're not trading that level of of future draft capital to get a guy even as good as a dunes.
But if you are looking for the bills to get aggressive and get their guy if their guy is still on the board, I would look at right around pick 20, which always seems to be the the place where the chiefs and the bills tend to play around with as they look to move up in the draft.
Starting at round 20, you've got the Pittsburgh Steelers who seem pretty set right now at wide receiver with the trio that they've got. You've got the Miami Dolphins who are going to have a plethora of needs sitting at 21.
They're probably going to need defensive line help. They're also going to need offensive line help. But you know that Josh, you know that Mike McDaniel loves a fast guy and they need wide receiver depth pretty desperately behind both Waddle and Hill.
They wouldn't rule out wide receiver there. The Eagles seem pretty set with their wide receiver room, but depth could be a place that they go. Then you've got the Texans and then here is where it gets interesting for me.
Pick 24, pick 25, pick 26. Two of these three picks between the Cowboys Packers and Buccaneers respectively could very well be wide receiver.
Dallas Cowboys desperately need a legit number two behind CD Lamb. The Green Bay Packers have a pretty young trio, but you never know what they could potentially add.
But the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are likely going to lose Mike Evans. This to me, if you're Brandon Bean and you are shopping around for a wide receiver, this is where Brian Thomas could likely go if he goes before number 28.
Because both Dallas and Tampa Bay are looking for a wide receiver of exactly the profile that Brian Thomas Jr. is. So if you're looking for a trade up, I'm looking 23 and above for the Bills to make that move.
If they really do feel like Thomas or another one of these X style wide receivers is their guy.
Yeah, absolutely. And I think that there's a couple of other receivers who are in that kind of X size. And when we talk about an X receiver, we're really just talking about an outside receiver who's got the length and body type where they can kind of get off press, play along the boundaries.
Somebody who's over 6'1 usually, smaller, faster, quick guys will play in the slot. And I think that Khalil Shakur is like six feet, even maybe a 6'1. So he's like very borderline.
I think he listed 6'2. I'll look that up.
Yeah, no problem. But he doesn't really have the play style of an receiver. He can when he needs to. But he's not somebody who you look at. You're like, oh, that is the outside style field stretcher guy.
Like he tends to trend more towards the play style of a slot receiver. And so the couple of people that I look at as possibilities for the Bills that also might fall.
And I wouldn't be upset if they picked at 28, 29 in that area. Our Troy Franklin and AD Mitchell at Deny Mitchell out of Texas, Troy Franklin's out of Oregon.
The reason that they are at the bottom, they both have great productivity. They both will probably test very well on the speed and quickness categories.
But the reason that they are below those top four is because they're a little bit light, you know, AD Mitchell 6'4, Troy Franklin 6'3, 187 and AD Mitchell is just below 200 pounds.
So when you're looking for a true X outside receiver, number one receiver, you're looking for somebody who's 6'3, 6'4 over 200 pounds, thickly built, because it's proven.
And this is the thing that kind of, you know, scouts and things will look at when they're drafting. It's proven in the league that injury rates go up.
I mean, look at Tank Dell undersized light, couldn't make it through his rookie season, which started out amazing, right?
Like, so there's a lot of different schools of thought that go into this. And one of them is a lighter, thinner wide receiver is more likely to get banged up.
And so that's the reason some of them are a little bit lower. And then also Troy Franklin and the Mitchell, you know, productivity hasn't been consistent.
They're sort of one hit wonders in a lot of ways.
Totally. You were told right about Shakir listed exactly at six feet, right? So no idea what I was talking about.
But yeah, that's okay. I wasn't going to call you out on the pod. But I'll call myself out right. Yeah.
I love a Donnie Mitchell, a D Mitchell from Texas. And he is one who could very quickly shoot up a lot of draft boards for it for a few teams.
He's listed right now at the combine at six four, I think he weighed in at 194.
He is his size and speed combination. There are teams that I think are dying to see what he runs in the 40, because he's promised for two, if he can get a good start off the blocks.
And we have seen on film his very good hands. He had a lot of drop issues in 2022.
Really corrected that in this 2023 season. He's got that great short area burst as well and his footwork for a dude that tall is incredible.
If he ends up posting a four to you get a team who's like, you know what, we can add 10 pounds to his frame to make him a little bit more durable on the outside.
This dude becomes a problem. And he is one right now graded in that round two area. I could see rising as a result of what happens at the combine this weekend.
Yeah, and honestly, I think that that's the kind of thing is like I'm not upset if bills picking at the end of the first round take either Troy Franklin or a D Mitchell.
I'm cool with those guys.
Even though you know, 80 Mitchell is probably atop of the second rounder Troy Franklin's late first early second terms that comes terms their grades.
A player I do not want the bills to pick at all like please do not pick this player is Keon Coleman.
Because I watched a couple I watched a couple of his full games. And I think that he's probably going to test well that's going to somebody's going to fall in love with him for a speed and in the classic mode of like, you know, the toxic relationships be like I can fix him.
He has he has a massive problem separating. That's my biggest thing is like he's got some some wild plays and some sparkle plays, where he like maybe the best contested catch receiver in this class.
But it's because he's never separating. And that's always a red flag to me if somebody is coming out in the draft and they're and people are talking about how good they are on contested catches.
All I'm hearing is that they're never going to separate at the NFL level because that means they couldn't separate at the collegiate level against inferior opponents.
So I was banging the Keon Coleman drum very early on in the process and then I started watching some of his game film and he is he is almost erased completely on a play when when he faces press coverage.
And that is not something I expected to see for a guy who is listed as a bill of six four in two 15.
Very impressive game early on first game of the season against LSU then didn't have another hundred yards receiving game until he played Syracuse and the ACC is not not necessarily sporting a lot of really great secondary competition.
Right. So the production and what you see on film for a guy who is such a physical specimen to play with such a lack of physicality everywhere except usually the point of catch is definitely concerning.
And I think you know we've talked about this before.
Josh Allen does not does not like to anticipate his throws.
He doesn't like to anticipate his windows.
He likes to see his guys get a little bit of daylight before he lets go of the ball.
A guy like Coleman who is not an elite separation guy doesn't feel worthy of a first round pick.
If he is going to bring you a lot of the same issues that the guy who's replacing Gabe Davis brought you which was not really great route running is OK at the point of catch but doesn't play with him.
Can't be to jam can't run around can't get a lot of separation can't play with the physicality you need a guy of that size and build to do.
So no I'm with you if he's around in the second round.
It may be the bill's take a flyer on him but I cannot see him I cannot see him as one that the bills are trade up for or use the 28th pick on.
Yeah I don't even like him.
I don't like him if he falls to the bill's pick at 60 only because and this is not totally against him I think that's probably a good value for him if he falls to that spot because he does have some nice traits and some traits that you won't find later in the draft in terms of that size speed you know mesh.
But the reason I'm saying not at 60 is because if you haven't gotten your wide receiver at 60 I think there's some other there's some other needs that are going to be the value match is going to be excellent in that 60 spot for like defensive tackle interior defensive line.
And it might be better to wait later because like the way I see Keon Coleman he's somebody who has a flaw great trades great kind of body size and speed and stuff like that.
But he has a big enough flaw that I you know there are guys we'll talk about in the three to five and six and seven round at wide receiver who you know I'm cool with because they're the same right like they have one really wow trait and then they have a couple of flaws that they're not going to win with those traits so.
One say I will say about Coleman he catches freaking everything. Yeah if the ball gets near him his catch radius is insane. Yes he doesn't he doesn't separate at an elite level and I think that is a non starter for the QB that we have but he is like really sure handed like his drop rate low and there are balls where you watch his film.
He has no business picking up that he picks up. I mean his catch radius is insane.
Absolutely. But that you know who else had an insane catch radius out of Florida State.
Who are you going to say was it Calvin Benjamin.
Calvin Benjamin. Yes.
Was it Kelvin Benjamin.
Calvin Benjamin was six five two hundred plus had an insane catch radius and was getting contested balls in the red zone all day.
Are you saying Florida State only produces guys that can catch the ball if they're in tight coverage in the college level and in that level.
I mean that I'm sure you can go far enough and find one Florida State receiver who's awesome but I can't think of one off the top of my head.
Oh dear God you know what neither can I but there's got to be. Let me oh my God.
I'm going to Google this.
You Google that and I'm going to talk about a couple of players that are in that second round target.
So if I'm in the second one person it's worth mentioning because I actually love what he did at the senior bowl and I love watching him on tape is Lad McConkey.
I just don't think he's like a proper fit for what the bills really need the spot they need to fill on their offense is not a small shifty slot type receiver.
But he is just so cool as a route runner.
I think he has excellent separation.
I mean even if the bills ended up picking him up it would be the kind of thing where they're voting with with Joe Brady's confidence that he can make him productive and I'd be pretty good with it.
He played in Georgia so top level competition absolutely lit up the senior bowl made some top.
Round talent at CB look foolish with his route running.
He might be the most crisp route runner in the whole thing.
Vlad McConkey probably end of the first early second Roman Wilson out of Michigan only six feet tall and less than 200 pounds but actually plays bigger than Keon Coleman like very thick in the lower body and does you know make make some people pay a little bit more physicality and then
Germain Burton out of Alabama again SEC competition top tier competition and you know without an excellent quarterback made some hay has consistently performed between you know four and 500 snaps per season and so shown some good things he's a he's a senior
and you know the bills like the draft senior so Germain Burton is somebody that if the bills end up going like defense in round one I could see them taking Germain Burton in round two or even trading up into get him.
Yeah, lad McConkey feels like a duplicative set of skills with cool Shakira.
Yeah, right.
But I mean everyone is like salivating over his senior bowl tape.
It was impressive and there are a lot of guys at the combine that are smarter than me who are saying that McConkey has real inside outside versatility.
So don't let the size profile fool you.
He is a guy that can get separation against bigger corners on the outside.
I you know, McConkey I agree with you I think right now he's probably second round pending what happens at the combine this weekend.
I could see a team like Kansas City or I could even see a team like Miami talking themselves into him somewhere in the first round.
I really could.
You know Miami still doesn't have a lot of draft capital and they have a lot of needs.
I could see them draft going down in the draft to accumulate more picks and then use a later a letter first round pick and a guy like McConkey and still package maybe another third or second round pick to then build up that offensive line a little bit because it's a deep tackle class as well.
So there could be some shenanigans around McConkey depending on what kind of numbers the student actually ends up putting up at the combine.
What are your thoughts on Javan Baker out of Central Florida?
Have you done any work on him yet?
No, no I'm watching his stuff.
I am quickly becoming he's not like Pukinakua for me yet.
I've got a different Pukinakua we'll talk about when we get to around six and seven at wide receiver.
But he feels like a dude that could be in the second or third round pretty easy.
Wide receiver out of wide receiver out of University of Central Florida has a lot of great route running on tape is a big play threat has real game speed as well.
Decent catch radius. He feels like a dude to me that could really sneak into the second round especially the latter part of that second round.
If the bills end up going if the bills end up going defense for whatever reason in the first round which you know I'm highly against.
But he feels like a guy who depending on how he grades out throughout the rest of the pre draft process feels like a guy to me that could be there for the bills in the second or even the third round.
Maybe even like one of the double dips that we talked about in the wide receiver position by really like this kid Baker out of Central Florida.
I'll tell you whom I like second and third round.
I already talked about Jermaine Burton as like kind of a higher in the second round guy but down lower in the second round depending on how he tests Xavier worthy out of Texas.
That's the dude who said he was going to run a four to not where they say he was going to run a four to.
So thank you.
He is he is fast like when I watched I watched a couple of his games.
He watched I watched him against Oklahoma.
But he just like every route he ran all like all I kept thinking is Tyree kill.
This is Tyree kill like he moves on the field like Tyree kill.
It's like so sudden that every player on the opposing defense just gives him cushion in every possible direction until he commits and then they may get made look foolish when he breaks it off and runs a different direction.
Like it's he I mean geez he's not the body type or like the length that you know a traditional ex receiver has but he is so fun to watch and I would love to see what Joe Brady could do with him.
And he's probably going to be there in the middle of the second round into the end of the second round.
And if he is I think that you know if they again a double dip or if the bills haven't addressed wide receiver yet he's somebody that could be exciting.
Brendan Rice Jerry Rice's son.
And the reason I say this is because anybody who watched you know we're old enough to to have seen Jerry Rice when he was playing.
You know when we're teenagers and stuff he it's just like the bloodlines like he's not a super high prospect he's probably ranked in the late third early fourth round.
Or you know late second early third round I guess he the bloodlines are strong and like his father had the the like best work ethic of any wide receiver in the league because Jerry Rice was talented of course like he's a Hall of Famer.
But more than more than that he just out worked everybody he's one of the first wide receivers in the league in his era to like work around the clock all season all off season to work on his craft and perfect it and work on his speed work on his body like there was a lot of people taking summers off back then and he was not one of them so that's one
thing that I like a little bit is is Brendan Rice is not coming out for all of that kind of you know notoriety not coming out super high in this draft but I bet you if it was a worse class he's easily atop of the second round player.
Yeah for sure. I've got rice in my like fifth to sixth round picks. So if the bills end up going wide receiver one. I think rice could potentially be there for him for them at the end of the fourth round but very likely in the fifth or sixth round and he could be another great double dip option.
I like I really like his game and when I watch him on film I see shades of a taller cool Shakir so what I love about Shakir is that Shakir is not sudden in his routes but he's very smooth on his release and his release is always on time like I watch film of the bills and I feel like Shakir is just always open
when Ellen needs him to be open and I feel like rice with a little bit development could be a taller version of that because he is he's a very long strider so he doesn't have a lot of that short area twitchiness that you like to see for guys that are running some of these
in breaking routes but what he does have is a very smooth almost casual release off of his route but then he takes one or two big long strides and he gains a lot of separation again not elite speed to me and because his route release is so smooth like border
borderline like looks almost effortless on tape but like in the bad way effortless like he's not trying you know I think I think he's a guy that despite the bloodlines could end up dropping now if he goes to the combine and runs like a four three
I think he's probably a pretty easy third round pick but he is a dude I could see later on in the draft the bills really pick up
nice
but what are your thoughts have you checked out a Malachi Corley or Malik Washington both yes okay and I agree with you I don't I don't think they I don't think they fit with the bills are looking for I don't think they're yeah I don't think they fill with the bills are looking for but some team that really need slot you know slot players is going to pick one of these two guys
I think Malik Washington might be my Pukinakua that like is going to go in the fifth sixth round and somebody's going to get him and just you know it like the world on fire mostly because of his like he played against some some decent competition and his like grade verse man coverage
to the other thing is that according to pfs draft guide is like outrageous he catches you know his separation is outrageous very fast but he's so small I mean 58194
and so I think that he could probably he's going to make some hay I think calling it
you know there are other targets in the kind of middle rounds because we we've talked about our you know what do you think about tess walker or Jalen polk you know Jalen polk is interesting to me he has the opposite problem of Brendan Rice Polk is like a really short
so as a result of that he's he's very choppy right and he doesn't hit as a result he doesn't hit his top gear his top end speed very quickly so he's a very very choppy route runner all of the smoothness that you would attribute to to a guy like Rice he does not have right
but he is not sudden in his releases he is jerky so I think with some development absolutely because you've got to love the overall athletic profile but he is a dude I think that is a little bit more of a project and he definitely needs an alpha dog playing next to him
like he did in Washington with a dude say this year yeah Jalen Polk 62 out of Washington he's a sophomore coming out so you have the kind of upside of a younger player who you can develop a little bit and has played about half his snaps inside half his snaps outside
as a true ex receiver and then the other one I asked about was tess walker out of North Carolina UNC he's coming out as a junior 22 almost 23 years old 62 200 so he does have X size
and I haven't done a lot of work on Walker as of yet but based on the little bit that I have read and I'm curious to see where he grades out at the combine I think he's at the combine this weekend I'd be curious about him again in those ladder rounds like I got to tell you most of my draft board JJ is guys I would
take in the first round and then guys I would take in the sixth fifth sixth or seventh round because I've reserved the middle rounds for safety's linebackers and God's guards yeah like I am so planting a flag and wide receiver round one and like I have
trumpeted this cause for two pods now going on three like if if I am I feel like if I am looking at second and third and fourth round round wide receivers it is giving Brandon being tacit permission to pull the trigger on a freaking edge and round one right
like Greg Russo Robinson who just ran a four four I know right but like for the love of God and I'm hearing the rationalization already in some in bills Twitter and bills media like what would you rather have wide receiver six at 28 or edge like three in this draft
I want wide receiver freaking six man because edge three is not getting to Patrick well let me not getting to Patrick well let me let me ask you this question is is lie out to lot to worth it at 28
that's that's a silly question he's like a top 10 prospect in the draft that never had that's not going to happen he was medically he was medically retired from football before he transferred and so there's like depending on how the
medicals go at the at the combine there's a chance he could drop some he he's great it's so high though it would it I mean but what I'm saying I get what you're saying I go to say I'm asking the question of like if it's if it's edge one right or two I guess he's two
I mean he's my edge one okay yeah um because it's him and and who else the kid out of Alabama yeah yeah German Jurst Jurst round yeah yeah he he um oh my God why are we forgetting his name because we're talking about defense next week that's why
I'll look him up yeah because I have not committed any round one edges to memory at JJ because this is wider this is the year wide receiver round one don't make me talk about this this is wide receiver round one Dallas Turner Dallas Turner is the edge from Alabama
Jared versus the guy from FSU and then we're into a lot to yeah I've got I've got I think versus probably edge three and yeah so like if I know no still no no it's good I want to that's the it's a question I was asking I wanted to know if it was like one of the top
premier edge defenders which is a severe need for the bills if you would still feel wide receiver one it's a need right but there's no Miles Garrett in this draft there is no Nick or Joey Bosa true draft right so like the drop off between a verse or a
Turner down to some of these guys that you could get in the second and third round is not that severe for me whereas wide receiver again when you look at the specific profile the bills need I feel like on this roster there is a bit of a drop off there
not just in the in the quality or caliber of the prospect but in the overall physical profile that you're looking to fill a very specific need on this roster there is a drop off so I would still say no right do you want to talk about like late round
wide receiver receivers wide receiver sleepers and then go on to some other potentially sneaky offensive areas of need yes alright I want to I want to talk to you about my Pukin a cool and this guy might not even get drafted because right now he's not in a lot of draft
he's not on a lot of top 256 big boards right now he's not even on a lot of top 300 big boards but this is a guy when you watch on film really really jumps this guy is bub means from the University of
Pittsburgh bub means no I don't even know that name sit learn this name and watch watch some tape on this dude 6 to 215 red shirt senior out of the University of Pittsburgh fast big great route runner he is an absolute beast at the point of catch
and there are a lot of there are a lot of boards that have this kid not even getting drafted going full UDF to me he feels like a great seventh round steel for the bills if they're looking for that wide receiver double debt he was listed on the Bruce Feldman Bruce Feldman
Bruce Feldman college freaks list he was listed as number six on the list this year right okay I mean six to plays bigger than that big frame at six two and two 15 and the speed the game speed anyway no idea what he's going to run on the 40 game speed really does pop off he's got great agility
he's got great burst he could be everything the bills are looking for on the outside okay nice I like that bub means bub means memory bills mafia like that now I love that you're bringing up you know some deep deep cuts for me in that six or seven is is Bryson Nespit oh yeah
UNC 65 admit he might rise depending on how he tests and different things 65 to 35 like big body played a lot in the slot which I thought found surprising at UNC but the thing that I liked about him is his kind of like game to game grades increased throughout the season so you love that with a junior when it looks like you know it's making more sense to them their awareness is going up game by game and so I think that that's a you know a possibility for the bills to look at
he had a really good grade verse man coverage for a big body that's nice you know and then also a contested catch rate that's pretty high but that's not the only way he wins
yeah I love that pic I think that's I think we are bringing great sleeper pics here to this yeah and you know here's the thing there the the the sort of narrative on this class is that after round like for your unlikely to find a lot of great value in rounds five six and seven so I think I was listening to
the PFF's podcast and they were talking about overall draft picks and right now the bills have 10 which is more than any other team in the draft currently but a lot of those picks are sitting around five six and seven and so the PFF guys said if there was every year where you did not want a lot of those
picks it would be this year because they feel like the drop off from day two to day three is so significant and I got to tell you though you and I you and I have shared a lot of criticism of being and roster management but where this guy eats is in the fifth six and seventh round
being seems to find guys that McDermott and that coaching staff can develop in these latter rounds like nobody's business and if there were ever a guy who I would want with that kind of draft stock and draft ammo in those latter rounds looking at guys like
Bob means it would be Brandon Bean because I don't know that I would trust any other GM and I put Brent Beach up there as well yeah to do as good a job drafting in these latter rounds
I will give you one more end of the draft wide receiver that I love Hayden Hatton Idaho Vandals yes I know this one too yeah yeah six two two oh five redshirt junior
but one of those players who like it's hard to it's it's kind of like a who was trying to think of where did Andre Reed come out of what college because he was not a high draft pick
yeah I need to lose this up he came out of a secondary school but this is what that reminds me of it is this a player with like skills and speed and kind of the body type
but he just didn't get a lot of pub because he played for the Idaho Vandals his he puts down university okay exactly yeah yes that's what I'm thinking and not to say Hayden had it as the next
one I'm not sure I read but he's he's kind of got a great build for a wide receiver and what I liked about his game is that he had two consistent years of excellent receiving with very poor quarterback play
I mean he only had one credited drop but on 131 targets he only had 93 receptions which tells you how close the rest of those hundred you know those 40 or so balls were to him that he only dropped one pass
totally yeah yeah no that that's a this is this is this is great late round draft fodder like for all of you listening at home we are making you smarter and sound more credible when you talk about the draft if you drop above means
or you drop some of some other Hayden Hayden Hayden or Brayson Nessburg exactly exactly you this is pure gold this is pure gold for water cooler talk if you are if you continue to talk around water coolers these days I know exactly
yeah not man I love it and again these are names that bills mafia should commit to memory because Brandon Bean can make some hay in these ladder rounds
JJ I think everyone feels like wide receiver is the premium position the bills need to focus on on the offensive and defensive side of the ball we're going to talk about defense defensive prospects in this draft a little bit next week
but I do think there are some other areas of offensive need particularly on the line depending on how free agency and cap casualty season plays out for the Buffalo Bills I think especially with 10 picks I wouldn't be shocked to see the bills splash around
maybe not in the third round maybe not in the second round but definitely fourth fifth and sixth round splash round of some other areas along the line what are some areas of need along the line you are looking at and what are some names we should keep in mind
and so I'm looking at tackle because I think that that's the area that you know the bills are very very lucky to to maintain health you know on the outside
and the two names that I have as as like third third or later like between three and five
typered
Kalkovice. Out of pit. We know
that the bills have a connection
to the pit coaching staff. Um
Sean McDermott likes them,
trust them, and that's a player
that they could target in that
kind of third to fourth round.
Dominic Puni out of Kansas is
another 6 5 3 20 tackle same kind
of body type as Matt Kalkovice.
But his thing is that he is an
excellent, excellent pass
blocker. Um he showed very well.
I think against you know lesser
Sorry, UCF, Oklahoma State, Oklahoma U,
like they're good programs, but they're not elite.
Missouri, right?
But he, Dominic Pune is one of those targets
that every time I'm doing like a mock
and playing through those middle rounds
is somebody that keeps popping up and I can't pass on him.
I can't make myself pass on him
because it's too good of a value at that level in the draft
and that kind of fourth round,
top of the fourth, bottom of the third.
How about you?
I'm looking, and so much of this depends
on the Mitch Morris situation
because as we have noted,
Mitch Morris could be a cap casualty this year.
And I think about the level of health
that this Buffalo Bill's offensive line had
and where I look at where they're weakest,
I tend to look at the interior
because right now Ryan Bates is kind of like your backup
for every interior position,
particularly if you lose David Edwards and free agency.
So as a result of that,
I'm thinking the bills are gonna look again at interior.
I know we just been a premium pick on Osiris Torrance,
so I don't believe we go, like I said,
second or even third round there,
again, pending what happens with Mitch Morris.
But I think maybe our comp pick for Tremade Edmonds
or maybe even later in the fourth round,
we could see the bills splash around
with someone who's got center guard versatility.
And I'm looking specifically at a guy like Zach Frazier,
who's the center out of West Virginia.
We sir have pined on this pod for one Creed Humphrey
for many, many years, ever since the absolution
and against being pulled and drafting boogie bash him
over Creed Humphrey way back when in the 2021 draft.
I think Zach Frazier would be potentially a way
for being to make that up to Bill's mafia.
This dude, 63, 310, he's reliable,
he's got a stout frame.
He has an absolute dog in the middle of that offensive line.
And I think he could potentially flip,
swing out to guard until you are ready
to fully replace Mitch Morris and his versatility
in the center of that offensive line.
But Zach Frazier is a guy who I look at,
he is likely gonna be, depending on how he grades out
and depending on the need that teams put
on this particular position,
he could very well be late second, early third round.
So he may be out of the bills wheelhouse at that point.
But dude, this is a guy I would love to see on the roster
if he is there with our comp pic.
Okay.
I like it, except I think he's probably gonna go higher.
I think he's gonna be high in the second.
I don't think he's gonna be the-
You think high second?
Yeah.
And only because I think he's the second best center
in the league behind JPJ, Jackson Powers Johnson
out of Oregon.
I think he's the second best true center.
And I think the center is probably the second highest value
offensive line position.
I think it goes in order tackle center guard.
Yeah.
I think I've got him third on my list.
I've got Graham Barton who depending on which draft guide
you listen to, he's listed as tackle
and interior offensive line.
So he's a dude that has a lot of line versatility.
But I mean, he played tackle at Duke, but in the pros,
I mean, I think he really does profile out to play interior.
So I've got Jackson Powers Johnson, Graham Barton,
and then I've got Sack Fraser.
But I agree with you, and we've talked about this before.
It is getting harder and harder to find reliable prospects
on the interior of that offensive line in the draft.
I could very well see someone taking a guy like Sack Fraser
in the second round.
Like it's not beyond a realm of possibility for me.
Well, and I'll say this, and I know we're kind of,
I'm jumping around a little bit.
We're not going in like that kind of clean order of top tier,
second tier, third tier, whatever.
Cooper Beebe, Kansas State guard, senior 6'4, 335,
kind of that ideal build, and played consistent snaps
through his career at K-State.
And Cooper Beebe, the thing that's nice about him
is that he's got a versatility.
He's listed as a guard, but he has probably 19-20 snaps
each season at left tackle of the last two seasons.
And then in 2021, he played 734 the entire season there.
So he's got durability, which I think is really nice.
And then left guard also played snaps at right guard
and right tackle.
So he's sort of like a Ryan Bates-esque who plays all
the positions both sides.
So we've talked before about the difference
of playing left or right tackle, left or right guard,
and the way that it changes your body mechanics in a trench
play, and how that can basically throw somebody.
That's probably why we'll never see OSIRIS Torrance flip
over to the left guard.
Like, if somebody goes down, even if he's your next best
guard, he'll stay at right, and you'll bring whoever else is
in to spell the left.
Because he just has the body mechanics and setup.
That's where his true natural set is,
and he probably won't be moving around the line.
But somebody like Cooper Beebe, you
can get in the fourth or fifth round, or even maybe the sixth.
But is graded incredibly high in pass blocking
and in true pass set grades, which
is when, if we're looking at PFF or other analysis sites,
they call a true pass set, pass block grade, is like,
it's not just, it was a pass play, and he did this.
It was a pass play.
No, the defense knew it was coming.
He had a one on one, or had to do a real rep in pass blocking,
and it was successful.
So Cooper Beebe is a target for me
in the middle to late, at guard slash tackle,
kind of versatile.
That would be great, too.
I mean, and we know the bill's prioritized line versatility
all up and down that line.
So that would be an amazing, that
would be an amazing late round get for them for sure.
JJ, a couple other areas of need here
as we wrap things up on the offense.
And Bill's mafia is going to hate this,
but I'm not projecting this to be in the third round.
But I think they're going to dip one of these 10
picks into running back.
I think they're going to have to.
I think, because I don't think Damien Harris comes back,
I think they part ways with the Heem Hines.
I think they find a way to bring back Ty Johnson.
But we know that this this Buffalo Bill's coaching staff,
they for whatever reason love to carry three running backs
on the roster at any given time.
So feasibly, if you bring back Cook and you bring back Johnson,
you already kind of have your agile one
caught like burner types.
So the draft in the fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh round,
the bills could be looking for that power back
to add to the mix.
And I present to you a perfect sixth, seventh,
or fifth round pick in that regard in Braylon Allen.
Running back out of Wisconsin.
Did you?
Did you send me a text about this guy?
I sent you a text about this guy like two weeks ago.
And I wasn't even looking for him, but I was watching him play
in Wisconsin because I was watching the center,
Tanner Bordellini, who's like a late, late, late six
or seven round target for Wisconsin.
I was watching their film for the center play
and Braylon Allen took a snap and I'm like, wait, hold on.
What what what the hell is this?
Who is this person?
I've got a little back, Mike.
6245.
He's a fullback.
This dude's a fullback, right?
Like think Mike All-Star type.
But like so here's the knock on this kid.
And I agree, it's all over his film.
He looks remarkably uncomfortable running in space.
Like if there is not someone around this kid
that he can knock down with the football in his hands,
he looks a little bit kind of off kilter and off balance.
And I think because he played in Wisconsin,
it's valid how much of his production was as a result
of that offensive line he played behind versus how much of it
is some of his elite athletic traits.
I think teams are going to have a hard time separating those two
factors.
And as a result, I think he's going to be there for the Bills
fifth, sixth, even seventh round potentially.
But he is exactly the type of physical running back
that they are looking for that I think would round out
that running back room nicely.
And again, I'm kind of half joking about the fullback thing.
But at 6245, we know the Bills are one of the few teams
that that carry is a fullback.
I am never advocating for getting rid of Reggie Gilliam.
Don't get me wrong.
But at some point, this could be the Gilliam replacement,
given his size and his profile.
The thing you just said about him seeking out contact
made me think of Zack Moss.
Do you remember Zack Moss's first?
Yeah, dude, I sent you February.
I need to find it.
Saturday, February 3rd, I sent you
a link to the Braylin Allen Wisconsin Badgers Junior
Highlights.
And I said, if this guy is available in the fifth
and other more pressing needs have been met,
he is the bruiser they've been looking for.
I mean, seriously, he will run away from open space
to run into a guy because he's just more comfortable
operating in contact.
Absolutely.
But my point stands, remember Zack Moss coming out
in the drafts that I like to make guys make business decisions
and then showed up and he ended up running into contact
but never making anybody hurt, right?
Like, he was, he ran towards contact and never looked tough.
And that's not to say he's not had a good career with the Colts
after the bills let him go.
But it's the kind of thing where I hope
Braylin Allen carries himself in the NFL
as he does in college.
Because like I said, I was watching Bordellini
and I was like, what the hell is going on with this guy?
This back is insane.
That's a good pick, man.
He's probably my draft crush in the terms of the late rounds.
Just because of what he brings to the table.
I guess like, I don't know, it's tough
because it's not a good running back class, not really at all.
It's not.
I guess if they're in like the late third, early fourth
Audric Estime, there's 511, 227, also very physical running
style out of Notre Dame.
Braylin Allen is going to be one of the youngest players
drafted in this draft.
Audric Estime is not very far behind him.
He's 20, not even 21.
Oh, yeah.
Yeah.
So like there's a couple of those guys.
Isaac Guerrero out of Louisville is another 6'1", 225.
Player he's going to be pretty big.
But it's Braylin Allen for me or nobody in those middle
to late rounds.
And that's the thing with running back
is no matter how the class overall grades out
from draft gurus, there are always guys
that you can find at the running back position that
can grow into a difference maker in the latter rounds.
There are always those.
That's why the position on second year and third year
contracts has been devalued so much.
So these are names, again, Bill's Mafia to remember
because it's very likely that you're
going to see them on the roster.
JJ, last position I want to talk about before you wrap up
here, and it might be a surprising one, quarterback.
And it is not because I think we need to replace Josh Allen
to be clear.
But we are at the point with the cap situation of this team
and Allen's overall contract that signing a high priced
backup to backup Josh Allen may no longer
be a viable option for them.
And we saw this happen with Tom Brady in New England,
Garoppolo was a little bit much, but Jarrett Stinnum
being drafted teams that typically have great QBs
will eventually start to draft younger versions of those QBs
to cultivate as backups.
One, because their contract controlled.
Two, because if your number one QB goes down in the middle
of the season anyway, regardless of how good of a backup
you have, your season is likely over at that point
to begin with.
So you might as well have cheap contract controlled backup.
On the roster so that you're not over investing
in that particular position.
I think the bills are there with their cap situation.
So I would like to submit for you approval, sir.
One Spencer Rattler out of, I think of North Carolina State.
I think he's got the physical profile that the bills
would be looking for to try to sustain their offense
in the event of a Josh Allen injury.
May God please never let it happen, right?
But if it does, he's got the type of physical profile
and the traits that they would look for
as someone who can run the style of offense
Brady wants to run.
Yeah, I think he has starting potential.
And I think that that would make, you know,
you want your backup to have starting potential.
I think he's pretty mature in the position
which I really like in terms of like pocket presence
and being able to make plays outside of structure.
So I like Spencer Rattler.
He is not my number one pick for the backup
to Josh Allen for a long time.
I don't know, can you guess who my guy is?
He's probably a fifth rounder.
Can I guess who your guy is?
Hang on, let me pull up.
There's only like 20 quarterbacks
in this entire draft class.
Which is crazy.
People think are gonna get drafted.
I know, Ryan.
But I mean, it's also like very true.
It's a very top heavy class.
And then after that, I mean, it's a lot, it's a crap shoot.
So fifth rounder QB actually has a chance to get drafted.
Let me see here.
Let me pull up my QB list.
Oh, is it Joe Milton out of Tennessee?
See, this is why we pod together, brother.
Cause you like know me so well.
It's Joe Milton, the third.
Cause dude's got a cannon.
He's got a cannon cannon.
He is Josh Allen.
He's the Josh Allen of this class
without the like high round, first round predigree.
Because he's way more raw.
He reminds me a little bit of that UB quarterback
that the bills brought in to back up Tyrod.
Who, he was the one Steve Smith had to have it
talking to at the combine.
Cause he was just thrilling wide receivers.
Past catching drills.
Well, he's like, yeah, you gotta take something off of it.
So Joe Milton, the third is like, he's like cannon.
He's a massive athlete.
He is exactly Josh Allen's height and weight,
six, five, two, 35 on the nose.
Tyree Jackson, that was the kid.
Yeah, that's right.
Tyree Jackson.
So Joe Milton, the third out of Tennessee,
he is precisely Josh Allen's like height, weight.
He is not, he is, his processing is poor.
Like just poor.
He's the kind of player who, you know,
he doesn't have the instincts or accuracy,
like to be a starter at this point,
but his traits, his size and his arm
are the kind that if you get him in a system
and can develop him, it's the kind of thing
that like he could be that player
that the bills trade away for a second round pick
after the preseason one year,
after he's backed up Josh for two years.
You know what I'm saying?
Like one of those.
Absolutely.
Just like you mentioned with the Garoppolo, right?
Like you bring in a quarterback,
so you have a low cost backup.
You don't have to worry about backup for a few years.
And you develop a guy in your system
and see if all that you say about being a coaching staff
that focuses on draft and develop is true.
Joe Milton III, that's my guy.
I still have pain and, you know,
post-traumatic stress from the JP Losman pick
out of Tulane.
Oh, thank you God.
But Michael Pratt out of Tulane's probably gonna go
in the second or third round.
If he's hanging around the fourth round,
six, three, two, 20, definitely more of at a pro ready,
you know, prospect than Joe Milton.
Cause he's got good fundamentals.
He's strong in his drop back.
He knows how to deliver the ball, impressive touch.
Those are sorts of things that, you know,
he's got smaller measurables than Josh Allen,
but definitely makes up for them with skill
and kind of nuance and play that Milton doesn't have.
So those are my two.
I am absolutely 100% steering clear of Talia,
Tagavoloa, because he is.
He is all of the bad traits that his older brother Tua has
with hardly any of the anticipatory throwing
or good traits.
Like he's small and he's small and he's relatively slow
and he does not, you know,
have that kind of strong, you know,
anticipatory touch that his older brother has.
Yeah.
Not American.
I would agree with that.
And I love how you're bringing in AFC East bitterness
into the breakdown.
Here's a guy I would never go after.
We've only talked about guys we'd love to see.
Yeah.
That other starting quarterback in our league's
little brother sucks.
That's right.
Take that to us.
That's your fault too.
All right.
One more name I'll submit for consideration
along the same lines as Milton.
Good QB suffered some injuries.
Jordan Travis, QBF out of Florida State.
I think he very likely goes on day three,
but I think at six one, two, 12,
when he was playing healthy, very, very productive,
love his mobility and his off script playmaking,
I think there's something that the bills would covet
because Allen brings that to the table too.
And that's really what you're looking for
in a young rookie QB to be a potential backup
and play two, three, four games in a row
if Allen is for whatever reason, God forbid hurt.
So yeah.
Yeah.
Well, and Jordan Travis is one of those players who like,
he has that kind of like competitive fire
that if you watch Josh Allen when he was at Wyoming,
you're just like, oh my God, like, dude,
you got to do that, you just let this play go.
Like you're gonna, something terrible is gonna happen.
I know someone's gonna get hurt
and it might be you, right?
So yeah.
Exactly.
No, but love the toughness on this kid.
I think he is, I think this dude's buffalo through and through,
but you know, we'll see if he makes it to us or not.
So all right, man, I think that does it for us
on the offensive side of the ball.
So next week, defensive side of the ball.
And stay tuned after this pod
because we have our third and final installment
of Friends of the Pod, not Friends of the Bills,
with our good friend, Steve,
giving us his takes on the Miami Dolphins
and what he thinks they need to do
to achieve their foo-
Yeah, not to a, right?
Or maybe not to a, but listen to the pod to find out, right?
But yeah, what the Dolphins need to do
to ultimately do what a lot of analysts
thought they'd do last year,
which is supplant the Bills as the top dog in the AFC East.
So stay tuned to listen to that.
It was a great pod.
JJ, this was a great pod as well.
I love talking draft.
And for all of you listening at home,
like, share, and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts,
Google Apple Spotify, and as always, go Bills.
Go Bills.
Welcome back to the Buffalo Bread podcast.
We are continuing our Friends of the Pod series
that Dan has been hosting
in my brief absence as I'm dadding out.
It's been a nice trip so far with the Pats and the Jets.
And now here tonight,
we welcome back friend of the pod, Steve,
with his beloved Dolphins.
And what they're gonna do this off season,
take us in, Dan, and welcome, Steve.
Welcome, Steve, again.
It's good to have you back on the pod, sir.
So we are excited to have you.
So you are the capper on our Friends of the Pod,
and not Friends of the Bills series.
We love talking to our resident experts
on other AFC East teams.
We're gonna give you a chance to talk a little bit
about the origins of your fandom this evening,
and then talk to our listeners at home
about what you think the Dolphins need to do
in order to unseat the now four-time
AFC East champion Buffalo Bills.
I see you shaking your head.
We are not a video pod, but trust me, Bills fans,
it is a sorry, solemn head shake
that we are getting from our friend DolphinFant here.
So we'll give you a chance to talk about all of it.
But first, Steve, we've got some new listeners to the pod
over the past couple of weeks.
Why don't you reintroduce yourself to anyone
who may not be familiar with your work as a Dolphins fan?
Tell us a little bit about when you started liking the team.
Excellent.
Well, thank you both for having me on again.
I always love sharing my Dolphins pride and sorrows
with both of you.
So yeah, so my Dolphins journey, I mean,
I started way back when with Dan Marino
back in the early 90s, as far as I can remember.
He was a Pittsburgh guy, grew up,
played college there and drafted, obviously, by the Dolphins.
And there's that connection of like,
oh my gosh, he's from Pennsylvania.
I live in Pennsylvania.
This is really cool.
Dolphins are kind of at peak performance at that time.
And I just kind of gravitated towards that.
Dan the man, he was everywhere.
And I've stuck with them through thick and thin,
more thin than, you know, it's been rough.
But here we are.
We're, you know, we're right there.
I think, you know, we're above average.
We're no longer average.
And it's making those tweaks, those fine tuning things
to hopefully get us to the next level
and not just into the playoffs, but through the playoffs.
Awesome, sir. We appreciate it.
So, and you mentioned how close you guys are
as a team and as a franchise.
This is probably on paper,
the up there with the bills for the most talented roster
in the AFC East, 100% for sure.
You've got a great young coach and Mike McDaniel.
You guys are doing some really fun things on offense.
And even though Fangio is no longer a part
of your defensive coaching staff,
the defense took strides for the season as well.
And if you guys get healthy,
you're still loaded on that side of the ball.
So there's a lot of things I feel like
you have to look forward to.
But this past season, things didn't go the way
that I think a lot of prognosticators
and Dolphins fans were hoping it would.
A lot of people preseason had the Dolphins
is unseating the Buffalo Bills.
And for a long time, it looked that way.
Even JJ and I were lamenting before the Bills
went on that run that we were gonna be a one-time
wildcard team.
The ceiling on this team was 10 wins.
The Dolphins are finally gonna do it.
And then we kind of stole it away from you at the end there.
So tell us and tell our listeners at home, Steve,
what is your tweet length summary, if you could,
about the Dolphins season this year?
Started with high expectations,
didn't end the way you wanted it.
But what were some of your takeaways from this year?
Yeah, yeah, I mean, we started off,
comparisons created a show on turf, right?
Like we were up there offensively.
And through the course of the season,
the defense slowly figured it out and then injuries hit,
especially on the defensive side and the offensive line.
And reflecting back through,
I think that the Monday night game against the Titans
was the turning point,
specifically the injury to our center.
And when Tyree Kil got tackled,
Horsecaller tackled and was out for us the game
and he was never the same since,
even taking some time off,
healing, he was never the same guy.
And I think that was the turning point.
And yeah, you go from greatest show on turf
to being part of some surf and turf.
Like it was, it just like,
just something happened that game
and the team never rebounded.
And I said to some friends,
that game turn and I told them,
I'm like, they're going to lose the Ravens.
They're going to lose to the Bills twice.
And that's going to be it.
You know, it is what it is.
That I would agree with you.
I actually think you've pinpointed the exact moment
for the dolphins where things started to take a turn.
Because as JJ and I were prognosticating
where the dolphins needed to hit a snag in the road,
the Titans was not,
the Titans were not on our bingo card for sure.
Exactly.
That was a gimme really that you gave to the Bills.
The Tyree Kil injury is noteworthy as well
because speed guys that deal with a lot of lower body injuries
like he was starting to take on at the end of the season.
Do you have any concerns overall
about his long term health on this squad
as a result of how dinged up he was by the end of the year?
I don't.
I think the off season, I mean, he's a top three receiver.
He knows what he needs to do to get healthy year in and year out.
So I think a lot of it's just getting that ankle right
to where he can be at top speed come, you know,
through the summer and into preseason and training camp.
And I think he'll be fine.
That's awesome.
I think regardless of his health,
I would venture a guess that as we start to get into year off season
priorities, wide receiver depth in that room is probably on that list.
Just to get just to get Helen Waddle a little bit of help.
Yeah, yes.
Yeah. I mean, and they had some some moments, you know,
Cedric Wilson had some some good catches.
Braxton Berrios had some good catches.
But who's that number three guy?
I think is is going to be important.
Tight end, I mean, last year we were talking about Mike Giusecchi
departure and getting a blocking tight end.
And I think they fixed that they got a blocking tight end.
But then they also kind of lost the receiving tight end as a result of that.
Absolutely. You know,
so just trying to figure out what does that position look like as well.
But yeah, I think if we can get, you know, a true number three guy,
Chase Claypool isn't that guy, I don't believe.
So we'll see what happens.
That's cool, man. That's cool.
So I think that's a perfect segue to start to dig into it.
Right. So we're going to give you the floor here
and we're going to let you run us through what you think the big off season
priorities for your squad are.
I'll give you some facts and figures to kind of help set the stage here,
notably around some free agents in cap space.
And then you can take us away.
And then at the end of this, we have three burning questions as Bill's fans
that we want to know from you as a dolphins fan about what you think you guys
need to do in order to write the ship for next year.
So Steve, it looks like according to spot track where we pull all of our
salary cap data, you guys are looking right now at a cap deficit of about
51 million. So welcome to Buffalo Bill's territory, my friend.
But you guys have some easy levers that you can pull to get some of that cap space.
I think of more note, you guys have some really key free agents
that are coming through on the offensive line.
Now, while you guys were not a great pass blocking offensive line,
I think your pass block win rate was 31st in the league to finish the year.
You were solid in the run game, which is really the bedrock of the McDaniel offense.
So you guys have some pretty key pieces coming open in Conor Williams,
Isaiah Wynn and Robert Hunt.
Add to that on the other side of the trenches.
You guys have Christian Wilkins, who I know we would love to see Wilkins out
of the AFC East completely.
We are sick of going up against that guy.
And Bill's mafia, but you guys have some decisions on the trenches to make as well.
So cap, cap situation, free agent situation, all of that taken into account.
Where are you hoping some of the things the dolphins will do this offseason to bolster the squad?
We kind of took my thunder there for a little, you know, for a moment.
They're talking about, you know, in the trenches because that's exactly it.
You know, I think reality is they need to figure out a way to sign two of the three
offensive linemen, you know, and based on who's available in the draft,
who's available in free agency, looking at their own cap space,
the players that they have, you know, prone to injury, all that stuff.
They got to take that into account.
I mean, I think, man, I think you got to figure out a way to keep Isaiah win.
And, you know, for me, Connor Williams, I think those two, because when you think
about after Connor Williams got injured, they had no sent true center.
And that's a position they struggled in.
I think that's where you started to see the cracks beginning of the year.
They weren't giving up sex towards the end of the year.
That's when things started getting a little bit slippery.
So I think looking at, again, Connor Williams and for me, Isaiah win.
But again, it's really looking at the draft class.
Is there someone out there first round, second round, the team?
There's someone out there first round, second round that they can draft to fill
that potentially fill that void.
And then again, on defense, I mean, do what you got to do to figure out a way
to get Christian Wilkins back, you know?
No, don't please.
Yeah.
But yeah, I mean, that's kind of, I think, again, that's that's the pressing need.
Right now with this team is to keep that core, core group in the trenches
on both sides of the football, get them healthy, figure out, you know, truly poor
the two or three guys on offense that you're going to keep.
And then figure out who in the draft or free agency are you going to sign
to fill that third spot?
After somehow making some space.
Yeah.
I'll fuel I'll fuel Dan's nightmares and say somehow this off season, they have
to let Christian Wilkins walk, but they signed Chris Jones from the Chiefs.
Oh, no way.
Oh, stop.
You're terrible.
Just so.
Would you do this?
Just be so bad now that I'm on the universe at my end.
I thought we were friends, man.
What's the hell wrong with you?
Yeah, I mean, yeah, I don't want to see Chris Jones.
What deals can you restructure?
You know, what's what's exact?
You know, what's out there?
What's able to be done?
Get creative with with how you structure players, salaries and everything.
And, you know, we're we're there.
It's you can't be replacing so many pieces every year to expect that same level.
You know, you need to figure out a way to keep as many guys as you can
and build up through draft.
Steve, I'll ask you this, Tyree Hill, are you worried about the dolphins
pushing a giant bunch of his cap down the road in order to make some space?
Given his age.
I mean, I think to make a win now scenario, which is I think if you're
If you're going to win a championship with Tyree Kill on your team, that's what you got to do.
You know, you got to be in win now mode.
The long-term impact.
You know, look at, again, looking long-term, who are those player contracts coming up, you know, in those subsequent years, and what's the free agency class looking like?
Guys far smarter than me that have all the analytics figured out already to you that.
But, you know, those are the things for me that I'm thinking about is, all right, if you push some of that long-term, who are those guys five years down the road that are going to be impacted potentially?
Yeah, there are some funky levers on base salary conversions you guys can pull.
As JJ noted, Tyree Kill is one of them.
You pulled on that lever last year.
It's very likely that you guys are going to pull on that lever again this year.
Bradley Chubb also has some similar flexibility in his contract too.
But Steve, the big one, like, or a big piece of the cap that you can move would be by signing to a Tunga Velova to a long-term deal.
So this is probably a good point to get into some of our burning questions for your offseason priorities here.
And at the forefront of everyone's mind, who pays attention to the AFC East and NFL football, folks want to know is Tua going to get extended?
The vibes seem to be positive from both camps, his camp in Miami, but the question is extended and for how much?
There are some projections that have him garnering as much as 50 million a year when the full force of that contract would kick in a couple years from now.
So what is your take as a fan?
Do you want to see Tua as your QB one of the future long term?
I would say long term over the next five years, absolutely extend them over five years. I think anything longer than that, especially depending on guaranteed monies and all of that stuff, you start risking some.
Because you just don't know again, he was healthy this year. He looked fantastic throughout all of, you know, physically anyway throughout the whole season.
So yeah, I mean, I think he's earned that right to be extended. I don't think you're looking at, to me, I wouldn't be looking at a mega contract.
But but again, I mean, I look at who's out there for agency, just how hit and miss the draft class can be year in and year out.
You know, you you you know what you have in Tua. And that's the big thing.
You know, sure Kirk cousins could come in and sling the ball around for a year or two. But the reality is after that, you're going to be right back where you started.
So, sign a long term. I think, you know, a five year deal is more than fair. Maybe within this possible six.
For me, I probably wouldn't go any any longer than that. So money wise per year. Yeah, restructure it so that if you can get more money on the back end.
Sure, you know, that can help us out right now for next year and the year after.
But yeah, that's that's my my quick take with Tua. I think you got to sign on. I think you got to you got to sign up for a five six year deal.
I don't think anything longer would be wise.
And then you just go from there with that.
Absolutely. Yeah.
And it's, you know, you guys are not going to be in striking distance of one of the top QBs in the draft.
And while you've got more capital to play with this year, I don't know that you have enough to trade up and get one of the truly elite guys that they're talking about.
And like you said, it's a mixed bag with QB development.
Think back to the Trevor Lawrence QB draft. Who was drafted in that? It was Lawrence and then JJ help me out here. Lawrence.
Was that the Trey Lance, Zach Wilson?
Yeah, I believe so. Yeah.
Yeah. So Lawrence Trey Lance, Zach Wilson.
Was Justin Fields in that one? Justin Fields was in that class as well.
And they that and Mack Jones, that was a Mack Jones year to the top five QBs taken in that draft.
Four of those QBs have either been moved on from the team that drafted them or will be by this off season.
And listen, I know Lawrence was playing hurt this year, but I've got real questions if he's good, like, is he good in Jacksonville?
Like he hasn't had the elite production that we expected from the next John L. Way, quote unquote.
So again, injuries aside. Yeah.
So those top five QBs taken in that draft year for are arguably in bust territory.
And you've got one who is a media darling, but has yet to really prove it in a big time situation.
So your point is well taken. Rather, rather go with the devil, you know, in some cases, right?
Right. Right. Yeah.
Trevor Lawrence gives off for me as a Dolphins fan some Ryan Tannehill vibes like coming in super high expectations.
You know, looks super elite sometimes. And other times it's like, where are we at with you?
You know, injuries and support around him.
So yeah, maybe a change of scenery might be good for him.
But we don't want him to go to Miami after all that trash I just talked about.
No, we still don't want him there. We still don't want him there.
No, JJ is a is a Bill's fan on your end. How do you feel about to being a long term fixture for the bills to have to contend with?
I'd actually prefer to a then a draft pick.
And I know the Dolphins wouldn't be high enough to take any of the elite QBs in this one.
And this is this is why I think that the bills defense as long as Sean McDermott is the is the head of that defensive effort has a plan for to have that has been somewhat effective.
It's really about disrupting timing make taking away his first read and that has worked.
And I think that there's likely going to be shootouts between to and Josh Allen, but I just like our guy, you know, so it's the kind of thing where I think to us to a scares me,
especially with Tyreek and waddle on the outside.
And and that's, you know, so but I will say, like, he doesn't scare me as much as borough or my homes.
And so I like the bills chances and and that's that's exactly the devil, you know, right? Like if they moved on from to or something, then it's like, oh, what if they get somebody that's like,
what if they get the next CJ Stroud or somebody like shows up on the scene here like that guy's just elite, right?
Right out the right out of the gates. And I think to a showed this year in being able to stay healthy in having absolutely bonkers stats and being able to connect on deep balls and things that people doubted him coming out of the draft.
There's certainly a capacity for me to eat these words in a couple years.
But for right now where we are, and with the way that I've seen the bills defense play to a and play McDaniels keeping McDaniels and to a together I think is, you know, the bills have a good chance of maintaining
control of the FC East. If they don't fall apart like they did this past season and then need a lot of luck and a lot of bad luck for the dolphins.
Absolutely. And McDaniel has invested so much of his coaching identity in drawing out the greatness in to a that he has.
I, it would listen, I, Steve, I will full confession for you. I have called McDaniel arrogant on this podcast. I have. I have also said I loved him.
Like I have gone like on both ends of the spectrum with your head coach. But I don't know that he has. I don't know that it's in his leadership style to like point at a player and say you failed me.
And I feel like if they don't resign to a I feel like he would have to be able to get over that hump that a lot of head coaches ultimately do.
I feel like he's invested so much into us so much of an in self into a that he would look at it as more of a failure on his part.
If the organization didn't think to a was the guy after especially this season leading the leading the league and passing yards.
So, so I agree. I think he gets re signed. I think it's probably a generous deal for the first couple years.
And then after that, you're looking at something in the territory of a little bit more than what Daniel Jones is making with his current extension with New York.
So, yeah, absolutely. Speaking of your head coach. This is this is now where I retract my my my love for your head coach.
And I want to dig into your your thoughts a little bit. So a lot was made last season about the fact that the dolphins only beat one team out of I think it was six that they faced on their regular season schedule.
One team that ended up going to the playoffs and that team was the Cowboys and a really close game. Yep.
A lot of good defenses seem to have figured out the windows that McDaniel and to we're trying to open and that offensive side across the middle of the field.
And a lot like last season when those windows got shut, there didn't seem to be a lot of adjustments on the offensive side from McDaniel.
My question for you is what if anything, would you like to see McDaniel do different with this scheme or maybe the way he uses this personnel or maybe his play calling to help get you guys over that hump of competing more more consistently against top end teams.
Yeah.
So I think they need to take and have one playbook just for the bills. That way, when one of one of their teams look at the film from that game, it looks completely different to what they're going to get against them.
Because the like, like you do say, for all intents and purposes, they figured two out, you know, in terms of the timing and everything.
So that would be my one suggestion is just one playbook for the bills, another playbook for everybody else.
But also, I would love to see some more killer instincts in him. You know, he's very much a player's coach, he's going to be there to support the players.
But I don't know, I just want that like, we're just going to go up and just punch these guys, you know, and just continue to do that.
That's what I would love to see out of him.
You know, and I think that you'll see that then reflect upon the team as well, rather than this like Miami Beach party, you know, when things are going great, right.
But yeah, just that killer instinct, I think needs to really show up.
Because when, you know, when when they got down against good teams, it just kind of, it was very flat. It was, and it's just, you know, you got to be able to get back up, have that killer instinct and just go for it.
I actually love that take.
Yeah.
We'll go ahead, JJ.
I just have one other note about the bills versus the dolphins. And this isn't this isn't any kind of two a trashing. This is actually Tyree kill trashing.
He has never gotten 100 plus even never gotten over 100 yards against the bills in his career, not one time, except for the playoffs.
I was going to say a couple of playoff games twice in the playoffs.
Only when it mattered.
That's right.
But in the regular season, he's never gotten over 100 yards totally males.
But how much of that was due to Patrick Mahomes, right?
Right.
Yeah.
So, and I think that that's, you know, he's as a Miami dolphin, he's never eclipsed more than 82 yards in a game, which is like, I think, and I think that's, that's the reason I say this is not too a trashing.
I think it's, it's about the bills know how to kind of cancel out Tyree kill a little bit from so much experience playing against him and so much experience being trounced by him in the playoffs that I think they focus so much attention to him that that has a strong impact on the the Miami
Dolphins plan.
Yeah.
You not only have a QB spy against against to you now have a wide receiver spy speak with Tyree.
So exactly.
Yep.
All right, I got one more question for you.
All right, Steve.
So Vic Fangio lot was made about him joining the squad last year and the coaching staff.
And he really did a great job, especially in the second half of the season when he got Ramsey back, really turning the screws down tight on that defense and getting the most out of them until like you said, injuries plague the squad.
And Fangio has now moved on. Do you have any concerns and if so what are they about regression on this defense as a result of having to learn a third defensive scheme now in three years.
Well,
I'm hoping no, I don't want to see any regression.
The guys need to get healthy.
Last year they took some really good strides.
But it took a long time and it seemed like as soon as Jalen Ramsey got healthy got his, his live action legs underneath him, you know, after a game or two.
That's when the injuries really hit it for for Miami and really the Ravens game just took a toll on them defensively.
So yeah, I mean, I hope that there isn't regression.
I'm really hoping weaver is able to like come in and just really transform that defense get them from really, really good to Lee.
You know, and perhaps a little more player centered from what I've heard, you know, just different things that I've read that wasn't necessarily the keys with Fangio.
And the players didn't buy into a scheme right away.
You know, so hopefully that trust can be built quicker and sooner and they're they're able to to just gel, you know, from from week one instead of week six through, you know, eight, nine, you know.
So, well, that's that's my that's my hope ideal, ideally speaking.
I think you got a good one for doing that weaver is a Rex Ryan disciple.
But based on some of the advanced press that I've read on him, he seems to have Ryan's like ability with the players, right, which speaks to your piece about earning their trust.
But he does not bring a lot from Ryan's blitz heavy scheme to the table.
So there could be some elements that carry over from the Fangio defense here with that added personality and meeting players on the level that they're at.
And you guys got you guys got some veterans on that team too.
We do.
So like having a head coach that knows how to work with veteran caliber defensive players is going to be really important.
So I think as much as I hate to say it and I said this last year, I think you guys got a good one with weaver, right?
I thought you got a good one with Fangio.
I hate how well coached you guys have the potential to be.
That scares the crap out of me, but I think you got a good one with weaver for sure.
Yeah.
And I feel like, you know, reflecting back just hearing just the rumors in the gossip that Fangio was there because there wasn't room for him on the Eagles staff at that point.
You know, had there been he would never have been a dolphin.
Yeah, absolutely.
Absolutely.
So but it worked out for you guys to some extent for a season, right?
And then outside of that, you know, I think you've got a good one.
You know, I think you've got a good fresh start with a young player minded head coach here.
So, so yeah, well, you know, we wish you the best next season, but not too much of the best because that would adversely impact our beloved Buffalo Bills.
But see, we really appreciate you joining us.
We're going to have you back again when we do our AFC East mock draft spectacular.
All right.
So look forward to it.
Yes, let that be your warning.
You got a couple of months to bone up here before you leave.
May I throw a name your way for research and consideration if you haven't heard about him already?
Jackson Powers Johnson.
Should you guys part ways with Conor Williams?
This is a big boy center from from Oregon University.
He would run absolutely wild in the McDaniel scheme.
So look into this guy.
Hopefully he doesn't land with you, but you know, you could do worse.
The 21 of this guy ended up falling.
We talking Troy Franklin.
No, no, no.
Oh God, no, please no.
Um, Jackson, what's his face from Oregon?
Jackson Powers Johnson.
Oh, okay.
Yep.
In case Conor Williams moves on.
I was prepping Steve here for the for the AFC E draft draft spectacular that we're
going to do in a couple of months.
I apologize.
Step away to be a dad for a second.
No, you're good.
Please by all means.
All right, Steve, thanks again for joining us.
All right.
Thank you all for having me.
I really enjoy it.
Awesome.
Take care, sir.
Thank you.