Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
Ep. 34 - Nigel & Tom Go GM-ing
45 Plays1 year ago
Come hang as the boys break down some of the Bill's options in the draft as well as the new NFL rules. Give us a follow!
3 buds. 2 teams. 1 city - The "Let's Go Buffalo" Podcast. Your new favorite podcast for all things Sabres and Bills. Our mission is to be your guide through the ups and the downs of being a Buffalo Sports fan. We are not members of the media nor are we experts - we’re just 3 friends who love our hometown teams and want to bring you along for the ride. This podcast will be for both veteran and newly ordained fans. We’ll have in depth conversation and debate with a few “newbie” questions sprinkled in to keep everyone afloat.
Follow us on:
Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/048vArjFOc8j6vznx77xRV?si=8bb273a317ac4239
YouTube - https://youtube.com/@LetsGoBuffPod?si=MhCpkbMaUrj8D8Pk
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/letsgobuffpod/?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA%3D%3D
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction and Podcast Overview
00:00:09
Speaker
You're listening to the Let's Go Buffalo Podcast, your new favorite podcast for everything bills and sabers.
00:00:23
Speaker
What's going on, everybody? You are listening to the Let's Go Buffalo podcast, your favorite podcast for all things, bills and sabers with some of the pals, Nigel and Tom. We got episode 34 coming at you. Don't forget to follow our social medias. You know where we are at this point. We're on all of them. Instagram X, YouTube, TikTok, find us at Let's Go Buff Pod. That's Buff
Personal Anecdotes: Tom's Nashville Trip
00:00:50
Speaker
with
00:00:50
Speaker
two F's. Let's say hello to my good friend Tomás. Tom, how we doing, buddy? Dude, I'm good, bud. It's good to see you. How are you? I'm great, pal. Yeah. Feels good. Four day, four day week and then Friday, Friday I ship on out to Nashville for the, for the spring break, staying out with my honeys. So I
Weather Woes and Beer Break
00:01:12
Speaker
am super stoked on that. Bro, is your, is your, is your school break next week?
00:01:17
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. My school break is indeed next week. Mine starts like 20th of April. Oh, really? Yeah. Mine is next week. So wait a second. It's much after Easter. Nevermind. Yeah. Way after. So yeah, I have this Friday off.
00:01:34
Speaker
all of next week off. And then we have the eclipse off too. Um, so we don't, I don't go back to work until Tuesday, the 12th, I think it's a good job. You're, yeah, you're looking, you're looking. Oh dude. And you got to work just tomorrow and then you're gone. Oh bro, you are sitting high on the hog right now. I'm like, I'm feeling really good. Can't wait to spend the time with my honey. So it's going to be, uh, it's going to be awesome. So yeah, brother, how's, how's things for you?
00:02:02
Speaker
It's great. It's good. Plug it away. Doing the thing, bury yourself from snow. We got 24 inches, 26 inches of snow over the weekend. How many times did you have to shovel three? And I felt like I was doing the same amount of snow every time. Yeah, that had to be, yeah, that would drive me crazy. Oh, it's infuriating. Oh, it's, I don't, I don't think I do well in a situation where I'm working very hard and my, my work doesn't show. I have nothing to show for it.
00:02:32
Speaker
Well, it sounds like you need a beer. I think I do.
NFL Draft Strategy: Best Player vs. Need
00:02:36
Speaker
I'm excited about that one. Oh, you'll chat first. Here we go. Three, two, one. Nice. Cheers, pal. Good to see you.
00:02:50
Speaker
Little rip, bro. What do you got? So I have one and I saw it. I was not planning on buying this until I walked past the refrigerator with it. And it's called Galactica Dank Nebula.
00:03:02
Speaker
Hell yeah, it is. I was like, I have to have this. It's a West Coast style IPA from clown shoes, the good old harpoon brewery right down the road. And it is delish. This is new. I have as everybody knows on this podcast, I want to be sponsored by harpoon and I'm well acquainted with their selection. And this is new. So it's delish. Yeah. Dank Nebula.
00:03:24
Speaker
I, dank nebula is such a great name, dude. Um, I am drinking from stone brewing. It is literally just called delicious. And it's a hazy IPA. Talk about marketing, bro. Like, yeah, right. Dude. Like just, yeah. Tell me what you guys think of it. Truly. Um, yeah. 7.2% ABV, a little hazy, but it's very citrusy. It tastes like a, like if orange juice or a beer.
00:03:51
Speaker
Oh, oh, lovely. That sounds great. What are other like way on the nose, like beer names, like handsome? Oh, man. You know, beautiful. Excellent. Make a gajillion dollars.
00:04:07
Speaker
Yeah, right. Yeah, that's a good one, too. Yeah, I don't know, man. There's some beer names out there that are so good, though. I don't know where people got to be that clever with some of the names they come up with, some of this stuff, but that definitely saved me a good chunk, I would say.
00:04:27
Speaker
All right, Tommy. Well, we're about a month out from the next real big event in the NFL world, and that is going to be the NFL Draft. I think we just want to start by talking a little bit about us as individuals, a little bit about just what we think in the draft. If you were a GM, look, do you think you would have a particular strategy that you would use? Would you be a guy that
00:04:56
Speaker
Does the Brandon Bean wants to set yourself up just be able to take the best player available? Or would you want to work really hard to press as many areas of need in free AGC except for one that you really want to target in the draft? What are your thoughts on some of that stuff?
00:05:15
Speaker
I think I have to agree with what Brandon Bean does because you really want to eliminate yourself from having and forcing your hands. You never know. There are so many variables with NFL Draft. You'd never know how it's going to fall, who's going to be where, what's going to happen, who's going to trade up, who's going to trade down, who's going to take a player right before you.
00:05:38
Speaker
And I really truly think that you want to go in with as many of your needs figured out. So that way you're not in panic mode, right? As soon as you get into panic mode, you're going to reach, you're going to make bad decisions and you're going to do something that's going to cost you and your franchise. And you know, I think, so I think that's absolutely the way to go.
00:05:57
Speaker
Yeah, for me, dude, it's it's so situationally dependent. Like, for example, if I think pretty objectively, and I don't think this is like a stretch what I'm about to say, but I think it's pretty I think it's a pretty objective thing to say that until you get a quarterback, you're really just not that relevant in the NFL. Right. So like if you're in that boat,
00:06:21
Speaker
then yeah, like, you know, do whatever you have to do to get your quarterback because until you get your quarterback, no matter what else you draft, it really doesn't matter. That's 100% true. That's yeah, you're on the nose with that. Yeah, that's totally fine. Like, like, I've seen the 49ers take so much flack for, um,
00:06:43
Speaker
I mean, what they gave up to trade up to get Trey Lance. And I think at the time of going to get a guy like Trey Lance, I was a huge Trey Lance supporter. And I think a lot of people were. But I still don't blame them because they traded a lot of their assets, but they went after their guy. And when you're going after a quarterback, I support that plan. You got to get your quarterback first.
00:07:10
Speaker
And then I looked at a situation like the Bengals a couple of years ago where you had Joe Burrow and you got this insane group of receivers, you got a solid defense, but the offensive line is dog shit. So like that's another situation like going into that draft the following year. I'm like, if the Bengals don't draft an offensive lineman, like then they're just stupid. Outside of drastic situations like that, I'm full on Brandon Bean.
00:07:38
Speaker
Set yourself up as best you can so that once the draft hits, however the board falls to you because like you said, the variables are insane. Set yourself up so no matter how the board falls, you're in a spot where you can just make a smart selection for your football team.
00:07:56
Speaker
Yeah,
Buffalo Bills Draft Needs
00:07:57
Speaker
yeah, I totally agreed and like yeah, yeah, yeah, but I think I think Strategically, I don't I would imagine the 49ers the Bengals didn't wish that they were there, you know in those situations, you know Dude, the 49ers absolutely got bailed out by their lucky ass shot at Brock Purdy, right? Yes, if 100% they do what they did to go get Trey Lance trade
00:08:19
Speaker
three first was it? I think it was three something. It was insane. Right. It was that current year in the next two years, three first round draft picks to get up, to go trade for trade lands. It doesn't pan out and they just so happened to stumble on Brock Purdy, the final pick of the draft. Because you know, everybody knows his story because whatever, um, man, if that didn't happen, that leadership and that, or that top of the organization of 49ers, they wouldn't be there.
00:08:45
Speaker
There's no shot that Shanahan still the coach. I don't know who their GM is. He wouldn't be the GM like it'd be somebody different. There's no way right that that would happen. I think that's super lucky. Yeah, I do think that's probably correct. And you're right, they did and not even like.
00:09:02
Speaker
Like brought pretty wouldn't be a quarterback that could work for literally any other team except for the 49ers so yeah they did stumble there's themselves into that one yeah yeah they are whatever he can go into that when he when he gets extended he's gonna go into that
00:09:19
Speaker
Uh, negotiation ready to ask for whatever he wants. Cause he saved their asses. He did. I, but you know what, like Tom, you and I could walk into that offense and be competent in that. Can I hit offense though? Like, can you imagine? Honestly, no, but all the same.
00:09:37
Speaker
Yeah, yeah, you're totally right. But so kind of like rerouting us back to like draft talk here. I do think that you want to go in best best player available. Right. Set yourself up so you can take what you need. And I think that's kind of where the the bills are at. We've spent a lot of time on this podcast discussing our draft like roster needs. Excuse me. Construction wise, all these different things.
00:10:04
Speaker
And I think there's multiple positions that I would be okay with the bills drafting. And there's lots of discourse online on the old Twitter sphere of people saying it's gotta be this, it's gotta be that, has to be wide receiver, has to be detackle. And if you paint yourself into that box, you're just going to be wrong. There's no way to be right in that box of saying it has to be this way or, or, or if the whole draft is a bust.
00:10:30
Speaker
Yeah. What's what's the Joe Marino saying, dude, expectations minus reality equals disappointment. Yep. So Nolan, I want to give I want to give him the. Oh, is it? Yeah. Yeah. Joe also likes it. Joe also enjoys that. But that's that's a brucism. That's a brucism. Yeah. My bad. Wisdom. Let's flip this one. Yeah, exactly.
00:10:55
Speaker
So, okay, Tom, let me throw this question at you then. Going into the draft, can you, and I think we're going to align in the same place here, or maybe not, and then we have an interesting conversation. What are the two biggest needs going into the draft, would you say, for the bills?
00:11:10
Speaker
So, and I don't have an order yet. I don't know where I'm at with this order. I've been spinning my wheels and if it depends on the day, I'll give you a different order. The positions that I think are the most need are wide receiver, D tackle, defensive edge. Those are the ones where we need impact players at all three. Now, for me, wide receiver
00:11:34
Speaker
Is maybe not the most immediate need it's a need, but it's maybe not at the tip of my tongue, because we still have stuff on digs we have brandon bean has put together a nice little wide receiver core I don't know if it needs oh my God, if we don't get one we're screwed.
00:11:53
Speaker
D tackle is feeling kind of like that, where we have at Oliver, we have Daquan, love the guys. But holy crap, we have nothing behind him. We actually just signed Austin Johnson, which is amazing, and I'm going to be on our notes later.
00:12:09
Speaker
great depth piece. That's three. That's still not enough. It's still not enough. And particularly because Daquan is still older. He's on a two year deal, which is awesome, but he's older, right? He's not here forever. So we don't have a long-term solution. So for me, it's D tackle is one D edge and wide receiver tied at like second priority for me. Just because you always need a guy who can go in and take care of this quarterback, you know, you gotta always need that.
00:12:36
Speaker
And to piggyback off of what you just said, with us having no idea what we're going to get with this upcoming season's Van Miller, we don't have a legitimate stack artist on this team. That being said, I agree with literally everything you just said.
00:12:54
Speaker
I like full, uh, not, not a single disagreement. I have the exact same logic D tackle. We have three guys on the team right now, and we will dress on game day for there's, there's still a lot of snaps to go around that position.
00:13:12
Speaker
The end, for the exact same reason I just said, we don't know what we're getting with Von Miller. It's a need. And then live receivers, three for me. Now, here is the crazy interesting thing. And for, in my opinion, and I think because we agree on what we, everything we just said,
00:13:30
Speaker
It's a bummer for me. I think it will be for you. Here is the way, now I need to get ahead of this a little bit and say, these are my opinions. I have a full-time job. I supplement my income with side work. This is not all I do. But when I've got free time and I'm caught up in my work, this is how I spend my time. As I watch film and I read articles and I do research,
00:13:58
Speaker
I have all my little secret spots where I go and watch my film and yada, yada, yada. I am not an expert. There are a trillion other people that know way, way more than me. But you're probably here because we're buddies or you're my mom or maybe you're my cousin or maybe my girlfriend. So if you fall in the bucket, maybe you're just going to go along with what I say.
00:14:24
Speaker
If this is the first episode you listen to, you need to know that I don't claim to be an expert. I think
Wide Receiver Prospects Analysis
00:14:31
Speaker
I know enough to formulate my own opinions. How's that for a caveat, Tom?
00:14:36
Speaker
Hey, it's whatever I say, it's not my fault. Exactly. Yup. Whatever I say, if it goes well, I'll claim it. And if it doesn't, I've never said it. It wasn't me. Wasn't it? It was Jake. Well, let's say it was Jake. Or better yet, it was Jack. Jack did it. So here's the unfortunate thing for the Bills in our opinion. And I group you with me because we agree on everything we just talked about, about the defensive tackle and wide receiver position groups.
00:15:05
Speaker
The wide receiver position in this draft is arguably the deepest it's been in a decade. And I think that's a pretty unanimous take. It's maybe not a decade part, but it's unanimously looked at as an insanely deep wide receiver draft.
00:15:25
Speaker
As far as D tackle goes, there are two guys that I believe are first round prospects and the rest are, that's it. The rest would be a reach at pick 28 for the bells. The two guys that have first round grades, it would be lucky if either one of them dropped to us. However, I'm not saying it's impossible because I've seen
00:15:51
Speaker
three to five mock drafts where one of those two guys does drop to pick 28. To give a little bit of context, I've probably looked at 75 to 100 mock drafts at this point, and it's still like three to five where one of those guys drops to us. So it's not likely. So in terms of bang for our buck, I picked 28. In terms of what the bills need,
00:16:19
Speaker
It makes a lot more sense to me to go wide receiver because I think you could make a case that you could see 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11. Any number of 12 guys go in the first round.
00:16:41
Speaker
Not all 12 of them will go, but it's the last, like the top 3% beyond that, once you get into like the high teens through pick 32 of the first round, there is any amount of nine guys could go in probably four or five picks. Yeah. So.
00:17:06
Speaker
that part of it is really just going to be what I think the bills are looking for in terms of this position. While the need for defensive tackle is a little bit bigger, I would say the value is more likely to be there at the wide receiver position. Hearing all that from me, Tom, I see that you're coughing and I'm just going to keep talking for a second. What is your take?
00:17:33
Speaker
Which is wide receiver, a good idea at 20. Is that what you're saying? Yeah, it does it all to your opinion, knowing that the value is more likely to be there at the wide receiver position. Whereas the chance of the defensive tackle pick at 28 being a reach is significantly higher.
00:17:52
Speaker
Dude, this is where I get all caught up because by that same logic, the value also tells us that there could be a good pick in the second round of that wide receiver because there's so many, right? Or it's the kind of thing where we pick a twenty eight and then we try and move up in the second round because we have so much draft ammunition. I don't know, bro. So, yeah, I could totally see that. And honestly, I'd be OK with that. And the reason I would be OK with that is because
00:18:20
Speaker
Let's give Josh Allen every reason to go out and ball and just be the monster he is. Let's stock that. Those cupboards continue to give him weapons. Sign me up. I would be a thousand percent okay if we get any of these guys that are on your list because I agree. These are all fantastic prospects that I think could fit this system.
00:18:44
Speaker
But before we kind of get into that, can we quickly just reference Brandon Bean's kind of what he sees as what are valuable characteristics of a wide receiver? Just to give us some context of these players that you talk about. And we just got those comments from him recently, too, about what he's looking for in that receiver pick. So let it rip, Tom.
00:19:05
Speaker
Yeah, a lot of the NFL leadership is at the NFL ownership meeting currently and both Sean McDermott and Brandon Bean spoke. We'll talk more in detail later, but I thought this would be a great spot just to kind of bring this up.
00:19:18
Speaker
So from Brandon Bean, from the horse's mouth, wide receivers that they're looking for have to be smart and versatile. They're going to value them based on more that they can do, not what they maybe can do, but what they can do now. Does their skill set offset what is already on the roster?
00:19:36
Speaker
Is it something unique that we don't already have in that wide receiver room? And then he specifically mentioned hands and run after catchability. All that was from Joe Morito on Twitter who was following along with the interview. So thank you, Joe, for keeping us informed.
00:19:52
Speaker
Yeah, dude. So, OK, I'm going to talk about these. I'm going to talk about a handful of these wide receivers and folks. I'm just going to level with you. I didn't have the time in my life to do adequate research on these 12 guys that I think could be there or could be first, potentially first round picks. There's a couple that deserve more description and more detail from me that didn't get them. So I'm going to start with those guys.
00:20:22
Speaker
And these are guys, the reason I didn't pick these guys to spend my time is because I don't think, based on what Tom just told us, I personally don't think these are going to be guys that we will look for with that 28 pick if we're going to go wide receiver. And those guys are Keon Coleman, Xavier Worthy, and Troy Franklin.
00:20:43
Speaker
Keon Coleman, I think, has a really, really, really high chance to just go and be Kelvin Benjamin 2.0 from Florida State. It's just that really, really, really big bodied receiver. I don't know, man, unless your name is AJ Brown, that just seems to not be enough to get it done in the NFL anymore. I know that Keon Coleman is more athletic than Kelvin Benjamin was, but
00:21:11
Speaker
I've just seen enough and studied enough and read enough to for me that I'm going to stay away from that. Um, so that's that Xavier worthy. Yeah. 4.2, one 40 yard dash. That is the record. It's crazy. He's five, six and 165 pounds. That is, it's just too small. My grandma's like, that's the size of my grandma, you know, like, like,
00:21:39
Speaker
I get that you're like lightning, but man, I mean, you, you might run into an offensive lineman on your team on accident and being injured. Yeah. Like objectively staying away from that guy for that reason.
00:21:52
Speaker
Troy Franklin is one that I really, really, really struggled with. He shares a lot of the same traits as these other guys that I think are potential prospects. I just think these other three do it a little bit better. Troy Franklin is one that if we picked him at 28, I would have zero issue.
00:22:14
Speaker
Um, we got to shout out these other three guys that won't be there, but they are insane talents. They are going to be legit. Just like, just, just wet dreams. Yeah. Straight up. My dreams. Marvin Harrison Jr. I think is pretty objectively a top three wide receiver prospect of the last 15 to 20 years. He's entire package. There's nothing he does wrong. There's
00:22:41
Speaker
like nothing that you want more. Uh, so yeah, he's going, he's going to be the first wide receiver off the board. Malik neighbors won't be there. Insane Roma Dunsey or Dunsey, correct me if I'm wrong. Sorry if I am not going to be there. Those three guys potentially top 10 picks, all three of them.
00:23:00
Speaker
I think I think easily top 10 picks. I think they're going absolutely right after the quarterbacks. Those quarterback needed teams are going to be at the top of the draft and then boom, it's these guys. Yeah, M.H.J. is going to go immediately after the quarterbacks, which could even potentially be pick number five, which is crazy because he should be number one.
00:23:18
Speaker
But I think between the depth of the offensive line class as well, I think you'll probably see at least one of them fall out of the top 10, but I wouldn't be surprised if they all three went in the top 10.
00:23:31
Speaker
Yeah. Either way, it doesn't matter. The bills aren't sniffing them. Here's where I think it gets interesting. So Tom, I'll leave it up to you. Do you want to hear the guys that I have ranked in order after M.H.J. Neighbors and O'Doons? Or do you want me to start with the guy that I think Brandon Bean is most likely to catch or draft of the three? Oh, I want you to tell me who Bean is, like, has mouth water about.
00:23:57
Speaker
OK, so for me, and this is just my best guess based off what I've seen and what I what Brandon being said, I think Lad McConkie is your guy at pick 28. And this guy makes me think of the Cardi B WAP song, except every time you say WAP, you say yak, dude. It's just yak, yak, yak, yak. This dude's yards after catch ability is off the charts.
00:24:26
Speaker
Now here's another thing that just popped into relevancy recently. He offers insane skill in the kick and punt return game, which with the new rules is a big deal.
00:24:44
Speaker
Yes, sir. So if we have time this episode, we're going to get into that. I'm not going to say that we will, because we're already spending time on this. And I think it's time well spent, but we have a lot to talk about in terms of rule changes as well. But with the kickoff rule changes, your kick return value just skyrocketed.
00:25:03
Speaker
I don't know if you saw, but Cordero Patterson just signed an $8 million deal with the Pittsburgh Steelers. And I'll tell you what, if this kickoff rule doesn't go into play, he is not getting that deal or anything close to that. But boy, is he going to be useful.
00:25:22
Speaker
Yeah, big time. So other things about McConkie that are great. His route running is crazy good. And he runs the entire tree. So we love that. When you watch Lad McConkie at the beginning of his routes, he is awesome at using tempo to manipulate his defenders. When I talk about using tempo, I'm talking like, if your defender is
00:25:49
Speaker
not playing press man meaning he's right on top of you and he's five six yards off as a receiver you can manipulate the speed of your route running right you can start slow and then hit it start hit or hit it right off the bat slow down he's really good at manipulating that tempo to set up his defenders to be wildly out of position when he makes his cuts
00:26:10
Speaker
Lad McConkie also demonstrates a solid understanding of comfort schemes, particularly when it comes to zone. He's got good vision there and knows what is set up inside of his own scheme. Where you're concerned with Lad McConkie are because of his size. He's not big. He's six foot one ninety five, I think. So he's not small. He's not big either.
00:26:31
Speaker
is your physical instances, right? Your contested catches, press man coverage, things like that. But in terms of what Brandon Bean talks about wanting, I think Lad McConkie is the guy. Do you, Dom, anything you want to add or question? I think he would be Josh Allen's best friends. If you think of the best, the times when Josh Allen's thrown his best and been the best quarterback possible, Cole Beasley is Cole freaking Beasley. The bees, number 11.
00:27:00
Speaker
back here, baby. Josh Allen loves the guy. Duncan Cade offers the same thing. Stephon Diggs offers the same thing. Khalil Shakir offers the same thing. John Brown offered the same thing. All of these wide receivers that we have seen Josh Allen throw to and be wildly successful have had these same traits. So, dude, we can get one of those kind of guys as a rookie.
00:27:24
Speaker
Yes. Yeah. Cost controlled. And if you take him in the first round, cost controlled for four years and then you get the fifth year option, too. So you've essentially got those five years, you know, before that receiver is insanely expensive. And if Diggs
Defensive Tackle Prospects Analysis
00:27:38
Speaker
plays out his entire contract, that's four years. Well, how do you freaking dot? Well, look at us. Well, look at you, Tom.
00:27:50
Speaker
We're going to sprint to that podium. Yeah. Two other guys that I think are, would be objectively great picks. Um, but I just don't think they check all the boxes that Matt McCaukey does. Um, Brian Thomas Jr. Offers you an insane blend of size and speed. He really did himself a lot of favors at the combine, adds a lot in terms of your vertical passing game.
00:28:16
Speaker
My concern here is a limited route run entry, and I immediately go to a datas, right? Vertical passing threat, good blender size and speed, limited route run entry. And if we're drafting this wide receiver with the hope of them eventually being potentially the number one or replacing Stephon Diggs, I want that guy to be able to run any route that anybody asks him to.
00:28:43
Speaker
And I do not think that Brian Thomas Jr. is that guy. The other guy that I want to talk about, Adanai Mitchell. Little bit smaller than Brian Thomas Jr., but again, kind of that big size speed guy. He's a better route runner. He's got a really, really, really good first step. The concern that I had with Adanai Mitchell, it doesn't look to me like
00:29:07
Speaker
I don't want to say he's a wimp, but he doesn't do well against aggressive corners. His timing is very, very, very easily thrown off. And when I'm talking about timing, if you picture a third and two situation and you're running an inside post pattern with your wide receiver, that is a situation where that receiver is taking two to three steps forward and making their cut for the quarterback. It is a two-step drop and let rip.
00:29:35
Speaker
You need that time to be there. And a guy like Adrienne Mitchell shows, there's just too much on tape that shows him his timing getting thrown off in a situation like that.
00:29:45
Speaker
So, but I mean, nitpicking with, with the flaws on those guys, any one of those guys, and I'll say their names again, Brian Thomas Jr. And Mitchell, Len Conkey, Troy Franklin, Xavier Worthy, Keon Coleman. If one of those names is called at page 28, do not be surprised. Yeah. No, dude, that'd be awesome. Do you see a world where maybe Bean tries to trade up a little bit like we did for Dolan Kincaid last season? Like trade on four or five spots?
00:30:19
Speaker
I'd be willing to bet money, not a ton, but I'd be willing to bet money that if Ed McConkie's sitting there at 25, beans moving up.
00:30:29
Speaker
Yeah. At some point we should strategize and go look at draft order and kind of see who's up there. What are their needs? Like we can realistically try and go trade with, because you can, you can, we can sit here and wish and pray that we could trade. You gotta need a trade partner, right? It's a two way street and you need another team to want to trade out. Um, so there's gonna, it's a, it's a dance and, um, that dance requires two.
00:30:54
Speaker
Totally. Um, yeah. You want to talk a little detackle, Tom? I would love to. And I think the folks in the chat would love to talk, uh, talk detail too. And I would love you guys to hit us a like button, please. Ooh.
00:31:08
Speaker
Nice one, Tommy. All right. If you have any questions or any players that you want, drop it in the comments. We'll throw you up here on the screen without the chat with you and hang and, you know, do all that kind of stuff. Cheers, everybody. If you think, if you think I'm full of shit, tell me, I would love to hear about it. Please, please. All right. So the defensive tackles sides me.
00:31:29
Speaker
So you got two guys that are unanimous first round grades in no particular order and we'll talk about the order in a second but in no particular order, their names are Johnny Newton and Aaron Murphy. Okay. As far as a physical specimen.
00:31:43
Speaker
Byron Murphy is absolutely crazy built. He's bonkers, strong, very athletic, very thick. He's it's like there's no bad weight on this guy. He is he actually don't even have his height and weight. But like you look at you look at pictures of this guy, dude, he is every bit of whatever his weight is. And it is he's got to be a percent body fat dude. This dude is rocked up.
00:32:11
Speaker
Um, you got to think he's high twos. If I remember, I don't think he's quite 300 6 1 3 0 8. Oh, okay. So did crack 300. So yeah, his is just watch this guy and film. He's a freak. Um, but he is a little bit raw in terms of his moves, which is where Johnny Newton comes in.
00:32:34
Speaker
Newton, also a physical specimen, not to the level that Byron Murphy is, but he is absolutely no slouch. He just has a lot more time on task at the position. He is more refined at the position, has more moves and counter moves established. You can see him set guys up a little bit more. The ceiling with Byron Murphy is higher, but Johnny Newton is a little bit more at this point NFL plug and play.
00:33:04
Speaker
Johnny Newton is the guy that is from time to time falling to pick number 28. And I am here to say, if either one of these guys falls to 28, unless Marvin Harrison Jr. or my neighbors are still there on the board,
00:33:25
Speaker
you sprint to the podium, you run as fast as you can, as humanly possible, and you give, what's his name, Goodell, the card that says, that guy, you give him the card that says Johnny Newton. That would be absolutely effing crazy, dude. I think John Newton's a top 20
00:33:54
Speaker
that that
00:34:15
Speaker
it's the depth of the wide receivers and it's the depth of the offensive line class dude this offensive line class is another one that is crazy deep and because of this dude like some guys that are some guys that are dropping way too far like there really isn't even a mock draft I should see where Newton is falling to pick 28 but my god if he does dude you make that pick and you don't even think about it
00:34:44
Speaker
Yeah. And man,
Speculation on NFL Draft Picks and Trades
00:34:45
Speaker
can I add to that pile of the right, the really deep draft classes, wide receiver and, and, and, um, offensive lineman, there's also a big need for quarterbacks right now. It's a very high possibility that the top four picks are all quarterbacks. Chicago bears need a quarterback. Washington commanders need a quarterback. New England Patriots need a quarterback Arizona Cardinals.
00:35:05
Speaker
They have, right? I mean, maybe. They have Kyler, but maybe. There's a very good chance that four quarterbacks are going in the top 10, top 20. There's a good chance that a lot of tackles are. There's a good chance that a lot of wide receivers are. And then you know that there's going to be a couple other edge defenders and these defensive tackles. There's a possibility that a good player is going to fall to us because of other teams being kind of cornered into a need.
00:35:32
Speaker
Yeah. I really think there's, you could eat, I could see a world who's, who's pick number five. Is that the chargers chargers? I, I wouldn't be shocked if they even traded back a spot or two. Are you looking at the draft order right now? Got it right here. You can you read me off the top 10, Tommy? Yeah. I can even share it. You ready for this? We'll share it to the folks at home.
00:35:56
Speaker
Give me that one and I'll read aloud here, read aloud to the class. So we have first Chicago Bears, second Washington commanders, pick three New England Patriots, four Arizona Cardinals, five Los Angeles Chargers, six New York Giants, seven Tennessee Titans, eight Atlanta Falcons, nine Chicago Bears again, and 10 New York Jets.
00:36:21
Speaker
Okay, let me just ditch you with this for a split second. I would be 0% surprised to see somebody trade with the Chargers, like the Titans, maybe. Like I could just see a world where the first five picks are quarterbacks because the Chargers don't need to take a quarterback. They'll probably be the ones... They don't, yeah. They'll end up with one of those three receivers probably.
00:36:44
Speaker
Um, but if, like, if they, if they aren't married to the idea of Marvin Harrison Jr, and they're okay with either Malik neighbors or, um, Roma Dunsey, um, I could see the Titans making a pitch to trade five and seven. Even after they just signed Calvin Ridley to a 90 something million dollar deal, you think?
00:37:06
Speaker
Totally. Yeah, it could be. Yeah, dude, we're OK. We got a whole other episode right here. We got to talk first round draft. Oh, dude. OK. Yeah. Yeah. All right. I can see the world, but I don't I don't know. I mean, I think yeah, those first those weapons.
00:37:21
Speaker
The Falcons don't really, they have a lot right now, but they could be weapons. They probably need linemen to be honest. They're probably going to pick a lineman. All right. Anyway, we're getting off track. Right, right, right. So we have those D tackles, those D tackles that are first round grades. If you don't get one of those guys in the first round, the next couple guys are a significant reach
00:37:46
Speaker
At 28. Will they be there at 60. No, that's the other part of it, or at least the guy that I would like to take most of these next three definitely won't be there at 60 I guess as he's the next guy off the board. But he's probably.
00:38:06
Speaker
40 to 50 pick, right? So that's not a guy that I'm dying naked 28. So let me talk about those guys there. The guy that I have ranked third, Braden Fiske or Fisk out of Florida State University. The biggest thing that you get with this guy is a hot, hot, hot, hot, hot, hot motor. This dude does not quit on the play insanely athletic.
00:38:34
Speaker
And it has a good arsenal of pass rush moves. Where you run into issues with Fisk is he's on the smaller side. 31-inch arms, which you don't love for your defensive tackle. Even a free tech. And Oliver is small, and Oliver's not that small.
00:38:52
Speaker
So Braden Fisk is an insanely athletic guy, hot motor, doesn't give up on the play, will beat you with speed, will beat you if you just take a play off because he doesn't. But when it comes to run defense, he has the potential to be a bit of a liability. I don't love his ability to disengage from blockers. So that's him. But he would be my next guy off the board. If our second round pick was 50,
00:39:21
Speaker
I'm all in on brainfisk. Next one I've got is Chris Jenkins. This is Chris Jenkins Jr. You may or may not know Chris Jenkins Sr. had a long and insanely productive NFL career as a defensive tackle. He was more of a one-tech or nose guard, whereas Jenkins Jr. is more of a three-tech. This guy is
00:39:48
Speaker
the strongest guy in the draft, his his weight room numbers are absolutely freaking insane, highlighted by a 400 pound front squat. I don't know. I don't know how many of you have done a front squat, but it is an insane test of your core strength. And for this guy to be able to front squat 400 pounds is just absolutely crazy. Ripian half string.
00:40:17
Speaker
Yeah, like, like, pick you, like, rip a phone book in half, like, that kind of shit. Run defense is the strength with this guy. So, he's pretty much the exact opposite of Braden Fisk. Run defense is the strength. He's got a really, really, really quick first step, okay?
00:40:34
Speaker
After his first step, where he can very quickly get across a guard's face, he seems to slow down a pretty significant amount, which is why my next comment, less of a threat in terms of pass rush moves. Because once he engages into his pass rush moves, he's just not as quick getting up the field. And I think he's just so big and burly that he slows himself down a little bit. But that first step, in terms of disruption on a gap,
00:41:02
Speaker
is like really, really, really nice. And then after those two guys, Rook, a row, row, row. And yes, that is how you say this guy's name. He is actually labeled as a guy that can play across the entire defensive line right now. But I see most frequently going as a defensive tackle.
00:41:23
Speaker
This is a guy where you are betting on the intangibles. His intangibles are crazy size speed pass rush moves, or excuse me, just his size speed. He's, he's freakishly built everything you look for in a defensive lineman.
00:41:41
Speaker
but he is insanely raw. The ceiling is arguably higher than any guy on this list, including Byron Murphy. He's, um, Ororo is just so raw. This is, if you draft this guy, you can't be someone that's a impactful defensive tackle away from
00:42:03
Speaker
a Super Bowl because he's two to three years down the road in terms of his impact at the NFL level. He'll be fine as a rotational guy, but in terms of hitting that ceiling, it's a couple of years down the road. He just doesn't have the snap that the guys do. But the ceiling is crazy.
00:42:20
Speaker
So Tommy got a comment question. Yeah. So just that's kind of this plug that into some draft philosophy here. We've we've tried that a few times. Kyra Elam is the most recent. Tremaine Edmonds a couple of years ago. Both guys who are super young, super raw is is Aroro is he is he a young player? Is he is that part of actually.
00:42:42
Speaker
I actually don't know his age, if I'm being honest with you. That's fine. But like we've we've we've run it. We've tried this a few times and I like the thoughts. However, man, it's burned us a few times, you know, like it's like Elam could in a couple in this year. I mean, knock on wood. That's what the guy comes out and figures it out and is phenomenal and impactful. But or it could be another two years or it never happens. Like, yeah, I don't know if that's the
00:43:12
Speaker
The risk I want to take, especially with such a valuable pick in the first or second round, if he falls, yeah, let's roll the dice, baby. But if we can get somebody's more sure fire, to me, that seems like the move, especially right now, considering how many other places on this roster we have big contracts that are eating up cap space that we need impact from these rookie rosters, or sorry, rookie starters.
00:43:38
Speaker
Yeah, I am. There are there are positions that I'm more willing to take a trace gamble. And, and for me, I just not sure that defensive tackles is one of them. And
00:43:54
Speaker
I think my only legitimate reason behind that, and plenty of people can hear this and just say it's not good enough, is I just think the trenches are too important. And we gabled on Spencer Brown, yes, and that's the first argument people will make. That was also in the third round. It wasn't your first round pick. And I don't think this is a guy that's there at 60. I think he probably goes beforehand. I have seen several of my chefs where he drops past 60.
00:44:24
Speaker
But the bigger sample size is him being there. Yeah, or excuse me, being gone before 16th. So yeah, so who knows, right? Who knows? But I agree, especially because I don't know if we've ever been like, oh my God, we have an other wordly D line or O line. Yeah, we've had good. We've had good. And man, going into last year, I was I had real high hopes and Daquan going down did not help that deep, that of D line room.
00:44:51
Speaker
I don't know. I don't know, bro. Like, yeah. Yeah. I think for me, dude, I think the guy of these defensive tech was that I spoke about us. And this is also this is this is assuming that Newton and Murphy are not there. But man, third and long, you deploy a Braden Fisk at Oliver. You're you're looking you're looking nice there. Yeah, baby. So.
00:45:18
Speaker
Yeah, that's, that's fun. If, if, if Murphy or Newton fall, that's the obvious pick. But if, if Braden or excuse me, Brandon being took a break and pick 28, um, you wouldn't get me mad about it. Yeah. It would, it's a reach. It's it's, it's above value. I think, but I wouldn't be mad about it. Sure. Um,
00:45:45
Speaker
So we've done D tackle, we've done wide receiver, which to our, in our opinions, it's some of the more, um, higher needs, like the more immediate needs on this team. Um,
Tredavious White's Departure from Bills
00:45:56
Speaker
can you quickly just kind of recap some of the names that we talked about today, just to help get on people's minds. Um, cause I think part of that, as we're going into this draft season, it's just good to know names. There's no one player who's going to be the guy, but it's good to know like a list of names kind of, as you're thinking about draft prospects.
00:46:12
Speaker
Yeah, so I'll add the one caveat that these are not in an order of prediction for the bills. These are objectively how I view these guys in order of their ability at the position. So wide receiver.
00:46:28
Speaker
Marvin Harrison, Jr., Malik Nabors, Rome O'Dunze, or O'Dunes, or O'Duns. I'm not sure. I keep hearing it different ways. Bryant Thomas, Jr., Adonai Mitchell, Vlad McConkie, Troy Franklin, Xavier Worthy, Keon Coleman. For defensive tackles, Byron Murphy, Johnny Newton, Braden Fisk, Chris Jenkins, and Ruke Aroro.
00:47:00
Speaker
I'm secretly wishful that we get him just because it'd be so by the Jersey immediately, dude. And honestly, Led McConkie, man, luck of the Irish bro. Like, dude, that immediately. Right. I'm already thinking about what kind of things we'd say with these kids.
00:47:14
Speaker
Predictably, and I'll throw this out there too for fun, because if I end up being in any amount of right, it'll be awesome. Predictably, of all the names, when I say predictively, not who Brandon Bean's first choice would be of all those players, but predicting the way I think the board will fall, and who will be there, and what Brandon Bean would take. Vlad McConkie, Braden Fiske, for those positions. OK. Yeah, I like it. I digress.
00:47:42
Speaker
And I mean, we're still a month out, so things can change. We're going to add more players. We will absolutely talk more about other positions because there's other positions that are incredibly important as well. But this is kind of where we started. So nice. Great research, bro. Thanks for sharing that, dude. Yeah, buddy. My pleasure.
00:48:00
Speaker
So yeah, we got a lot. Oh, my God. No, you're good. There's a lot of like little pieces of things we can catch up on. One that I wanted to get to before we get to others, just because it's kind of timely. I think we got to talk about Trey White signing with the Rams, man. Yeah, I guess we should.
00:48:19
Speaker
Trey white, um, I think it was yesterday, right? Yeah. We were even, I think we were even on the phone when we were talking about this, um, from Adam Shafter, former bills, all pro cornerback, Tredebius white intends to sign a one year 8.5 million deal with a max value up to 10 million with the Los Angeles Rams. So.
00:48:36
Speaker
Man, I'm happy that the guy was able to find a job and a significant job, right? $8.5 million. That's starter money. That's starter money. It's not break the bank money, but that's starter money. And he's going to be able to have an impactful role on that team. Bro, this is...
00:48:52
Speaker
To me that now I want to echo your sentiment. I am so stoked that Trey White just got this money. This is a tremendously huge roll of the dice by the Rams with for this amount of money, dude You're talking about a 29 year old cornerback who in two seasons has tore his ACL and ruptured his Achilles I
00:49:22
Speaker
Listen, dude We all know you and I have gone on record time and time again how much we love tredavious white I Wasn't paying him anywhere close to this amount of money. This is I Hope and I say this not out of love for the Rams just out of love for tredavious white. I hope it massively pays off for the Rams I Wouldn't I wouldn't risk it
00:49:49
Speaker
No, which is why I was OK with them. I mean, not OK, but why I understood why they cut him because he was going to have like north of north of 12, 15, 16 million dollar cap hit for the bills, which is just not something you can do. And it was kind of a necessary evil. And it's cool to see him get a job where he's going to be able to have a role, a different role on a team. And if that goes well, like the guy is going to be able to sign another contract that's going to be a relatively sizable contract. But
00:50:18
Speaker
Just,
New NFL Kickoff Rules
00:50:19
Speaker
it's going to be crazy, man. And we're going to LA this year, bro. The bills are going to be playing in LA this year. So that'll be a game. Yeah. Shit. I hate that. I love it for him. It's just so sad, but yeah, it is super sad. But anyway, such as the business, bro. Yep. So we don't have a ton of time here, but do you want to go over the litany of other rule changes or do you want to focus on the big one?
00:50:45
Speaker
Um, I, I would say you want to focus on the big two. Yeah. And then maybe we could shoot through the other ones real quick, just so we mentioned them because like you, I didn't even know they happened. Let's start with those so that they're going to come down to the rug here. Let's start with those and, um, and we'll get to the big two and I'll run through them and all that kind of queue you up for the next one. Okay.
00:51:04
Speaker
So there was several rules. These are the ones that were not as publicly put out there. Emergency QBs. Teams will now be able to pull a emergency QB, a third quarterback from either the practice squad or the 53 man roster. Last year they had to be on the 53 man roster to be pulled up.
00:51:30
Speaker
uh designated to return players in playoffs thanks to a rule change proposed by the Detroit Lions teams have now an unlimited number of designated to return transactions during the playoffs so a lots of ups and downs roster flexibility essentially all of this comes from a Yahoo Sports article written by Liz Rocha so thank you Liz Rocha um
00:51:53
Speaker
Coaches are also guaranteed their third challenge. This was not in the past. You had to have won your first and second challenge to be awarded a third challenge. Coaches are now guaranteed three challenges per game.
00:52:07
Speaker
Uh, during a play that results in a possession change, if follows are committed by both teams, any major offensive files, like off unnecessary roughness that were committed before the possession change will now be enforced. So if there's a turnover and something happens on the offensive side of the ball as a penalty that will now be enforced after the play.
00:52:28
Speaker
The NFL trade deadline has been moved back one week. That's kind of fun. Kind of interesting gives the kind of, uh, kind of like fantasy football ask, you know, gives more time for things to move. It's kind of cool. Um, now this one, to be, to be honest with you, this, this one in my mind counts as a big one reviews. The replay assistants will now be able to be allowed to correct objectively incorrect calls for intentional grounding and roughing the passer.
00:52:56
Speaker
I could just think about that one against the the Philadelphia Eagles that Josh Allen was. Oh, my God, bro, was was freaking called out for. Replay review will be allowed when there is clear and obvious visual evidence that the game clock expired before any snap. So that's cool, too. We can watch the freaking clock to take down to zero and it could be actually, you know, something done about it.
00:53:18
Speaker
ruling of a passer down by contact or out of bounds before throwing a passer in a reviewable place. That honestly feels like a Josh Allen rule, because out of bounds before throwing a pass, remember that crazy pass where he was millimeters from the sideline? Yes. Like, yes. I remember that. Yeah. So, okay.
00:53:45
Speaker
So the big two, these are the big ones. Nice. I'm going to let you pick your favorite of the two. Where do you want to start? Oh, I am actually injured. OK, so wait, Tom, what this I just got to ask a question here. When you're presenting something, how do you did you just hit the present button and then you hit share screen? Yeah. OK, because I'm going to want me to share or do you know, I'm going to I'm going to share something from my screen. Well, this is sharing time show and tell class.
00:54:15
Speaker
Yeah. And then it does this open system.
00:54:29
Speaker
I really want to do it. Okay. So do you think I can do? Can you think I can simultaneously talk intelligently and follow through? That's probably not right. Shit. The sabers game is on us. It's going to put it on our screen while we were talking, but it's, it's, it's gonna, it's gonna be an issue.
00:54:47
Speaker
You want to talk about the sabers? I was told explicitly you did not want to talk about the sabers. No, no, no, no, no. I absolutely don't, but it would be fun to just put it up on the thing here. It would be fun. Um, nevermind. I'm not, I don't know. It's going to take too long. Okay. Back to the rule changes here. Sorry about that. I just got excited, you know? Yeah. I like that. I like that for you.
00:55:10
Speaker
All right, so the big one, and this is the one that's going to have the most, it's going to have a hugely impactful impact, impactful impact on the game. And there is going to be, this is a trial based for this season. So it's not set in stone yet, but there is a complete overhaul to the way the kickoffs work. And actually, Tom, I am going to quickly
00:55:36
Speaker
in our chat here, I'm going to put a link in that I want you to actually share because this visual aid is going to be super helpful for people. So I just sent that to you. So here I'll read it and then we'll kind of present it and talk about it as well because it's hard to understand just by reading. So the only thing that's the same is the ball is getting kicked off from the kicking team's 35 yard line. And Tom, let me know when that's able to go up.
00:56:05
Speaker
Um, do you see it now? Oh, I am. I'm not even on the page. It's beautiful. Yeah. Where, um, where do you want me to scroll? Can you scroll up a little bit? Yup. Give me that. So I want those two pictures that are below there, but I wanted the top one. Keep go back to them. Go back down. Yep. Right. These two diagrams here. Can you, Oh, it's on Twitter. That's the problem. Are you able to open up Twitter there?
00:56:32
Speaker
Yeah, yeah. This is fantastic audio. Yeah, sorry. I'll keep reading down the thing here while you're pulling that up on Twitter. That diagram is just insanely helpful. So the only thing that's the same is kicking from the 35-yard line. The remaining 10 members of the kicking team are going to be lining up on the receiving team's 40-yard line. So take a minute and think about that. Ball is being kicked from the kicking team's 35-yard line.
00:57:00
Speaker
Other 10 members of the kicking team on the receiving teams 40 yard line So we are talking about like roughly 70 yards of distance there. It's a it's a massive Change right between the kicker and the other it's it's 25 yards, but it's 25 Thank you. Sorry. Just total brain fart. There's that's okay. That's okay. Just Forgetting that a recessive 50
00:57:28
Speaker
That's OK. I'll do math. You talk. It's a distance. Anyways, so those guys are lining up there. The receiving team 30 to 35 yard line, OK, that is going to be what is considered the setup zone. The setup zone pertains to the receiving team. So whatever the special teams coordinator comes up with in terms of what they're going to do for their coverage of the kickoff,
00:57:57
Speaker
They're going to be in that five-yard box of the step zone. Okay? The receiving team's end zone to the 20-yard line is what is considered the landing zone. Okay? So keep that in mind. The landing, so we got the landing zone, which is the end zone to the 20-yard line. We've got the setup zone for the receiving team, which is their 35 to 30-yard line.
00:58:22
Speaker
You have 10 of the kicking team members on the receiving teams 40 yard line and you have the ball being kicked from the kicking teams 35 yard line. Okay, so we got that diagram up there. Beautiful. Okay, so you can kind of see what I'm talking about here.
00:58:39
Speaker
So the football on the diagram here is where the kicker is, kick off start line that 40 yard line there. Those 10 guys have to have at least one foot on the 40 yard line. So that matters too. So I imagine those guys are probably going to have their back foot on the 40 yard line and they're going to be lining up where the dashed lines are.
00:59:01
Speaker
Whereas the receiving team guys, nine of them, because they're going to have two guys back in the landing zone to receive the kicks, none of those guys are going to be in that yellow setup zone. So the kick takes place while the ball is in the air, the only people that can move
00:59:19
Speaker
are the two receivers in the landing zone and the kicker. Once the ball touches the ground or is caught in the landing zone, then everybody can move.
00:59:33
Speaker
OK, if the ball lands on the ground before the 20 yard line, it is just blown dead and they do it again. So squid kicks are officially a thing of the past. Squid kicks are no more, assuming all this holds up.
00:59:51
Speaker
Okay. Um, as far as on-site kicks go, on-site kicks have to be declared to the referee, kind of like, uh, you know, an offensive lineman being declared as an eligible receiver. Right. So they have to declare, Hey ref, this is going to be an on-site kick. I don't know if that also gets relayed to the receiving team. Go ahead, Tom. And on-site kicks can only happen in the fourth quarter and the final two minutes. If you're behind.
01:00:18
Speaker
Yes. Good catch, which is insane. So it's like literally only can happen at the end of the game. And you got to say, hey, I'm going to do this. It's like, what are we? What are we doing? I don't really like that. But continue. So outside kicks have to be declared. If the ball lands in and I have my understanding of lands in means lands in or is caught in the end zone.
01:00:42
Speaker
or it goes out of bounds out of the back of the end zone, it is on the receiving team's 30-yard line.
01:00:51
Speaker
which used to be the 25 yard line. So they are trying to deter the fair catches, OK? So which kind of leads me to the next thing, no more fair catches. If that ball lands or is caught in the landing zone, which is the end zone to the 20 yard line, it's live. So if you can't wave for the fair catch and then catch it and the play be dead, you can wave all you want. That's a live ball.
01:01:16
Speaker
Okay, so you catch it in that landing zone. It is a live ball. If you catch it or it lands in the end zone, it's to the 30 yard line. If it goes and it's blown dead. If it goes out of bounds, out of the back of the end zone, 30 yard line.
01:01:33
Speaker
Just like before, if it goes out of the bounds to the sidelines, the receiving team gets it on their 40 yard line. All of this is an attempt to make the kickoffs more legitimate in terms of their impact. That's part one. Part two is the injuries. Trying to set up the players more so already in the area of where the play is going to take place, as opposed to the kickoff team sprinting down the field and there being high speed collisions.
01:02:00
Speaker
That's all this is in truth. I think it's going to be super fun. Um,
Impact of New NFL Rules on Gameplay
01:02:06
Speaker
do you have any thoughts? Yeah, man. I think it's, and it's going to be really strategic. I think this is, we're going to see some different things. Oh yeah. I agree. I think it's a cool way to last year. Um, it was the lowest amount of returned kicks.
01:02:23
Speaker
in ever, I think it was like 22% of all kicks or something like that. Like something low of any kick. 22% of all kicks were returns. Everything else was kicked through the end zone or fair caught.
01:02:35
Speaker
Like, um, so it kind of became a dead play. This kickoffs are now our play and something's going to happen. And it's incentivizing you to try and be able to do it because if it lands in that landing zone and you receive it, you're, you, you got to play that ball, right? And you're going to be stuck. If you, if you can't get beyond the 25, you're caught deep. If it does go through the end zone, you get that, you really get on the 30. That's cool. Um, but.
01:03:03
Speaker
Yeah, I think this is going to be really interesting. I think this changes how teams are going and, um, are going to game plan for these plays and what personnel they're going to put out there. No longer do you need the Speedy's Saran Niels, the Speedy. Um, Oh my gosh. Who was the running back that Taiwan Jones that we've had on the team forever. We no longer need.
01:03:29
Speaker
a gunner, sort of say, we need players who can get off a block and go make a tackle. Yeah. So, and that kind of ties into my implications that I have written here. So just a couple of implications that I foresee with this, the kick returner value just skyrocketed. Right. And we talked about that with Cordero Patterson. Kickers are going to be more involved in the game now. If your kicker can't tackle, you're going to be in trouble. Hello, Tyler Bass. I don't think that guy could tackle a dandelion.
01:03:56
Speaker
So like that's an issue one thing that I could potentially see dude position players like if you've got a linebacker that kick Kick-off specialists are gonna be a thing of the past for sure Yeah, could be I think I think receiving teams I think you're probably gonna see almost like a running play blocking scheme in there. So maybe even like a
01:04:20
Speaker
like a gap z, a gap scheme or a zone scheme. I think you'll probably see something like that. And like you just said, dude, my last bullet point there, I think your bigger body, special teams guys are gonna start to be valued a little bit more than your smaller body, special teams guys.
01:04:38
Speaker
Those guys at the bottom of the roster who are bottom of the roster tight ends, bottom of the roster, you know, D-line backers, they're licking their lips saying, Hey man, I just got more valuable. Like I just got an extra $750,000 a year. Or just guaranteed spot on the roster, right? Like, Hey man, like this, I can do this really well. You'd need me on your roster.
01:04:59
Speaker
Yeah. I mean, so everybody is, especially in the Bill's mafia sphere has kind of consistently been either understanding of or upset with Brandon Bean keeping special teams, specific players on the roster. Well, buckle up folks. Cause they're still sticking around. They're just going to be different. They're going to be different players. Um, yeah, man, this could be cool. It could be. I, um,
01:05:23
Speaker
Dude, I don't, yeah, it's gonna be interesting. And you're right, it is a trial basis. It is in place for the entire year. So we will see it for the entire of this next season and then they will reevaluate. I have a feeling it's gonna stick around just because they quote unquote are interested in player safety, but, and then other things they don't seem to be, but. We're in an hour five here, Tom. You wanna rip through that last rule and then get us all?
01:05:49
Speaker
I do mostly because this one's bonkers. I don't know how the heck they're going to be able to freaking adjudicate this one, but it's going to be terrible. It's going to be so much fun. Who's ready for another play that might be penalized that you can't understand why they have bands. The swivel hip drop tackle.
01:06:09
Speaker
Yeah, say that one. A swivel hip drop tackle is when all three of the following happens. Number one, the defender grabs the runner with both hands or wraps the runner with both arms. Number two, the defender unweights himself by swiveling. Ah, the good old swivel move. Step three, the defender drops their hips and or lower body landing on entrapping the runner's legs at or below the knee.
01:06:40
Speaker
So we have seen a variety of these plays really injure players. Like the injury rate went on this on this play is pretty high. I was walked down listening to Joe Marino's Lockdown Bills podcast today or maybe yesterday when he was talking about it happens 230 ish times last season, which is equates about once per game. It's not that frequent.
01:07:03
Speaker
However, if it's called, it's a 15 yard penalty automatic first down, and it feels like this is gonna be in the same bucket as more necessary roughness.
01:07:15
Speaker
intentional grounding, rough in the passer, right? It's, it's all these other different ones that are so sketchy. And it's like, I don't know, man. So I'm not, I'm not exactly, I'm not convinced this referee team that we have in the NFL can figure out how to heck to, uh, to call these plays and call them correctly. I don't have any faith in them to be able to do that correctly. So, um,
Closing Remarks and Team Spirit
01:07:40
Speaker
until they prove me otherwise, I'll continue to have no faith in them, but is what it is.
01:07:47
Speaker
Dude, there's a lot to talk about today. Yeah, there was a lot to talk about. Kind of fun, though. Kind of fun. There's always something, always something to talk about in a film. That's the cool part, man. I freaking love draft talk, dude. I know this one of my favorite times of the year is right now. I know, dude. I think we're going to be able to get one more one or two more conversations in before the draft. I know you're out next week, but yeah, some more conversations. So I'm excited. But yeah.
01:08:13
Speaker
Thank you so much for hanging out with us. We really, truly appreciate it. This is fun. I hope you guys have fun too. If you're here live, please give us a like. If you're here post live, please give us a like, a follow, a share, do any of those cool things. Please find us on Instagram X, TikTok, and YouTube channel at Let's Go Buff Pod. That's buff with two Fs.
01:08:35
Speaker
That's my buddy, nice. My name is Tom and you're listening to the Let's Go Buffalo podcast. We're sending you love wherever you are. Go Bills. Go Sabers. Let's go Buffalo.