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Episode 3 - RJ Salute and Bills 53 Man Roster Selection
78 Plays2 years ago
3 buds. 2 teams. 1 city - The "Let's Go Buffalo" Podcast. Your new favorite podcast for all things Sabres and Bills.
The boys take a moment to pay homage to the late great Richard Jeanneret and then debate our way through a Buffalo Bills 53 man roster projection!
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Transcript
Remembering RJ: The Sabres' Legendary Voice
00:00:02
Speaker
Hey, everybody, what's going on? First, Jake and I as the Sabres guys just wanted to do a quick shout out to losing RJ. It's absolutely brutal. I can't speak for you, buddy, but I know for me, as long as I've been watching the Sabres, he's been the guy calling the games. And that was the thing that hooked me and my pops. And yeah, dude, I don't know. It's a horrible, horrible loss for the Sabres community.
00:00:30
Speaker
Yeah, it's it's devastating. I mean, it's he's an older guy. It's not something you thought was was long in the future, but it sucks when the day comes, you know, he's synonymous to me with watching savers games. Like you said, you and your pops, me and my pops, too, like when whenever the game was on national television, we would mute the national broadcasters and turn the radio on to listen to our dude like he it's not just a play by play guy like he he was the voice of the he's the guy you want to listen to. Like you remember back in the day when the games used to be on versus
00:01:00
Speaker
Yeah, like same thing dude my dad and I would be like, I don't know who these guys are Shut them down put on RJ while you're watching the live game If you're listening to something on radio delay with a couple seconds because you want to listen to this guy's voice, you know Just over the years, but well like before we like what were some of your favorite calls? Give me give me one that you really latched on Oh man, dude, I just for me just cuz I saw live dude. It's got to be the Palminville overtime game against Ottawa. Yeah, that was
00:01:29
Speaker
And like there were a lot of big ones like Mayday was obviously huge. Also saw the jury goal live in overtime. Yes. But for me, do just because I had gotten the gotten the got the point basically where I was like a huge Sabres fan and remember jumping up and down watching Palminville put that game away in overtime, short handed, no less against Ramrick.
00:01:52
Speaker
Yeah agreed agreed to meet like these guys are good scary good is something always and it makes me it makes me sad too because he tried to bring that back if you remember during that 10 game week a couple years ago where it wasn't it wasn't real they were not scary good unfortunately no they were not but you like to think they
00:02:10
Speaker
It made me wish that they that he could call a better team before before he passed the torch on it's a bummer It's it's it's gut-wrenching that he never got to call a cup game. That's what really sucks Cuz you want to talk about a guy that deserved that like RJ deserved every bit of calling that game
00:02:25
Speaker
Absolutely. Yeah, go ahead. He lived and breathed Buffalo Sabres and just wanted to see himself. He never wanted to do anything else. He was always right where he was. That was his spot. And for those of you who don't know who maybe are more of Bill's focus to him, he was a 51-year play-by-play caller for the Sabres, inducted to the Buffalo Hall of Fame, the Sabres Hall of Fame, the Hockey Hall of Fame. The highest broadcasting awards he earned throughout his career.
00:02:53
Speaker
just an incredible guy and truly the voice of buffalo yeah yeah you want to talk about a goat as a broadcaster rj is up there i can't this oh no can i remember his name there was a the la dodgers baseball team had an had an announcer for a long long long long time and i'm blanking on the name but that's another guy that comes to mind as like these guys that have just done it for
00:03:13
Speaker
forever basically, and they just become synonymous with the team itself, so. Yeah, legends, it goes beyond the game at that point. They're speaking to you, and I think during the RJ tribute night that happened at Key Bank Center a year or two ago, that speech was tear-jerking, right? Unbelievable. Just unbelievable. I think he said directly, from my voice to your heart, I love you, I will be here. Yup, three words, I love you.
00:03:42
Speaker
do you have I know we talked about favorite goals do you have just like I guess this could be kind of similar I guess I'll go first because this is what I'm talking about I'd my favorite just memory with RJ I know we both talked about our dads being like that was one of the things we just got on the same page about but being at
00:03:57
Speaker
that farewell game for RJ. And being able to see him with the team and make that speech live and come out with the guys after Casey Middlestadt won an overtime. That is such a core memory that I'm so thankful that I have with my dad. And it's just awesome. You always want those kind of core memories that really mean something to you.
00:04:21
Speaker
Like having that one is just so huge for me. So like I guess that's what I'm talking about Like anything like that like RJ for you. That's I know that's like almost like kind of being like That's a big one at the farewell game Yeah, I can't top that but just yeah, I don't know he just it's just I think for both of us It's just it's just who you know, like that's just who you know with the saber
00:04:45
Speaker
Yeah, there's there's no there's no key core memory like that for me like you have with that farewell game And that's awesome, but I think we both could say just a longevity of every time you you turn the game on you know You're listening to RJ and nope it could be the worst game They've played it could be a blowout seven to one and you're still gonna like listening to yeah He's gonna lift you up, and that's just so rare. Yeah, yeah
00:05:07
Speaker
So it's a sad day. We wanted to do a little tribute to him and say, you know, rest in peace. We love listening to him. Yeah, we might not know we're doing a podcast, but we know what this guy meant to this community and the Sabres team. And it's it's worth taking this time to talk about. So rest in peace, RJ. Unbelievable that you're gone. We got thank God for YouTube because I never have to, you know, go forever without listening to it again. But
00:05:33
Speaker
Rest in peace to an absolute goliath in the Buffalo community and it's weird to think about it going on without you. So rest in peace, RJ. Thoughts out to you and your family. And we will forge ahead nonetheless, say, Thorpedo. Yeah, go Savers. All right, go Savers, baby.
Introduction to Let's Go Buffalo Podcast
00:05:58
Speaker
You're listening to the Let's Go Buffalo Podcast, your new favorite podcast for everything, bills and sabers. What's going on, everybody? How we doing? You're listening to the Let's Go Buffalo Podcast with Nigel, Tom, and Jake. You're with the boys. Tom, how we doing on this lovely Wednesday evening?
00:06:26
Speaker
Man, I'm great. I'm good. Been just kind of cruising. It's getting into the fall. It's starting to feel a little folly up here in Vermont, and I'm loving it. It's air is crisp, and I'm here for it, man. I'm glad. I'm glad to be here. We're here hanging out tonight. Nice, dude. And Thorpedo, how we doing, brother?
00:06:43
Speaker
I'm great, man. Can't can't wait to get to that fall weather because it does not feel like it here right now. That's for sure. Oh, dude, I know. I just I work in these days, man, like working outside. There's been a couple of days where it's cooled down a little bit, but I'm like, oh, like like today, dude, just like I love being in the sun with the humidity and the heat and I'm cut lungs and I'm like, oh, my God, somebody help me.
00:07:05
Speaker
So yeah.
Bills' Highlights and Roster Predictions
00:07:06
Speaker
Before we go too far here, can we just appreciate that Josh Allen is on the cover of Madden 2020? Oh, dude, mine came today. It came today? Dude, it's literally right behind me. It's sitting in the plastic. He looks incredible. I can't wait to dive in. It's good. Is it? Yeah, it's good. Joshua.
00:07:29
Speaker
Patrick Allen is on the front cover. If you told 12-year-old Tom that while I'm sitting here futzing around playing Madden 2004 and playing as Michael Vick, that a Bills player was going to be on the cover of a Madden game, I would have thought you're the craziest person in the world. Insane. No way that was going to happen. Dude, it's sick.
00:07:52
Speaker
Um, Tom, real quick, just give me like, can you think of, uh, your favorite, favorite cover athlete, like your favorite Madden game? Who was on the cover? That's a better way to say it. Um, man, I think, I mean, I played the, the, the crap out of Madden 2004. Yeah. My buddy across the street and I played that a ton. Um, and then. Yeah. And I think that was Michael Vick. I want to say.
00:08:22
Speaker
Yeah, I did mine was definitely I think I want to say was Madden. Oh, seven. Which which one had Shawn Alexander on the front? Dude, I don't remember. I don't remember either. You keep going. I'm a Google. Yeah. All right. Jake, do you remember Madden guy growing up?
00:08:39
Speaker
I played some here and there, but not a ton to be honest with you. I'm surprised you didn't call in sick to our podcast here to play the game. You know, dude, I was honestly like when we, when we set this up, we planned to record tonight, right? Wednesday, Wednesday night. And I was like, okay, great. That'll, uh, that'll be perfect. Um, and then I got the notification that my Madden, he was going to deliver and I was like, wow.
00:09:03
Speaker
How do I figure out a way to get out of this? And I would never do that to you guys. I love you guys too much. But yeah, man, Tommy, you're absolutely right. Unreal that we have a bills player on the cover of Madman. It's super fun. Yeah, I'm super excited. Sean Alexander was Madden. Oh, seven. You were right. I was right. Oh, seven. He was a beast. Oh, man. I always forget about this guy. Yeah, he was sick, dude. So what? What do we say here? Should we fire up a beverage to get things get things going here the right way?
00:09:40
Speaker
Tom, kick us off. What are you drinking? This was bought by one of you two fellas when we hung out this past weekend. It's a Vermont clown shoes called Road to Hoplins, which was really tasty. Had it for the first time in brewery last weekend, and it was good. So I'm glad one of you bought a can. Nice. That was yours truly. I meant to drink that one, but... Well, you know, I'm not going to save you any. I hope you enjoy it. I hope you enjoy it, pal.
00:09:52
Speaker
I think we should. Here we go. Three. Yes, please. Three. Yeah, go ahead. Go. Three, two, one. One.
00:10:09
Speaker
Torpedo, what are you guzzling this evening? I have from Adirondack Brew Pub near Lake George, the bare naked ale, an all natural, like myself, amber ale.
00:10:21
Speaker
also bear naked natural like yourself. That's very true. Please tell me they spelled bear like like how I want. It has to be B.A.R. B.A.R. B.A.R. B.A.R. No. Wait. No. Yeah. You guys. Yeah. I whatever, man. That's why I teach music. Good God. I hate that. That's humiliating.
00:10:44
Speaker
all right crew well folks tonight we're going to do things just a hair different it's going to be a little bit more like our very first episode where we kind of just did the bills and the reason we're going to do that on this episode is because we are going to get deep into the woods on a full 53 man roster projection
00:11:01
Speaker
for the Buffalo Bills. And we had saber stuff planned, but we got to thinking, Tom and I just love the sound of our own voice, and we love to talk. And we kind of got to thinking that doing a roster projection is going to take some time. We're probably going to disagree on some things. And we didn't want to rush anything. So we're going to give ourselves the full pod slate tonight doing the Bills roster projection. And then next time, we'll get back into some saber stuff for you. But I think that's the plan tonight. Tom, go ahead.
00:11:27
Speaker
Why? So, Nige, why are we doing this right now? Like why? What is a rocket projection? And why are we doing it today? Ah, Tom, great question. The reason we are doing our full 53 man projection today, which is Wednesday, August 23. And you'll hear this at a different time, but the
00:11:46
Speaker
Final roster cuts for the NFL teams take place this coming Tuesday. And I'm scrambling to get to my calendar this coming Tuesday, 29th. So the 29th. Do you know what time off the top of your head, Tom?
00:12:00
Speaker
I want to say it's 4 PM. I feel like that's always been caught off. Like that's usually 4 PM because it gives them most of the day. Yeah. So the 29th at 4 PM, all 32 NFL teams have to have their final rosters cut down to that final 53 number. So with that being in a week, we typically, us three guys record on Tuesday or Wednesday nights. So we figured since that is going to be next Tuesday, that we would get ahead of it now
00:12:28
Speaker
and drop our projections so that nobody can say well you just saw the projections so we're gonna get ahead of that a little bit tom was i think i sound nicer than that but all right yeah well maybe tom was kind enough while jake and i were finishing up our evening activities to put together a really dope spreadsheet here um that will eventually
00:12:47
Speaker
Put on our Instagram page, which by the way, if you're not following us on Instagram, you can find this at let's go buffalo pod. Is it the it's not the right guys? Correct. It's just let's go buffalo. Let's go buffalo. And that's it's the same same address for your your Twitter handle. So go find us on Twitter. Go find us on Instagram.
00:13:08
Speaker
Yes, absolutely. And in addition to that, while we're doing the shameless plugs real quick, wherever you're listening to us, whether it be Spotify or Apple Podcasts, it helps us out a bunch. If you get in there and you and you leave a review and a rating and all that stuff, just you all know how it works. The algorithms, the more reviews and stuff like that we have, the more likely we are to get pushed out in other places. Share it with your friends, share it with your grandma.
00:13:32
Speaker
Yeah, grandma's love the bills. So yeah, your boys are trying to get some sponsorship. So go leave us a like leave us stars and reviews and comments and all those fun things. All right, boys, what do you say? Should we get into this here a little bit? Yeah, take what you got, but real quick question before we get get rolling. What happens to man 54 and below when they set the 53 man roster, they automatically practice squad or just toss to the curb?
00:13:57
Speaker
Yeah. They're stripped of all bills, regalia and all that. No. So it kind of depends. It's either they're set to, to go on the waiver wire or they become free agents. It depends on how long they're in the league.
00:14:14
Speaker
So if a younger players, if they don't have, I don't remember the number of years, so I'm not going to say it and pull it out of my butt. A younger player will go to waivers where other teams in reverse or in the order of that one team is drafted in the previous draft. We'll then have an opportunity to go and pick up players if they'd like.
00:14:32
Speaker
However, they would need to sign them to their active roster and then kick somebody else off their roster. Then if they are veteran players, they become free agents who can then sign, they're not subject to that waiver wire and they can be signed wherever. They don't have to go in a certain order and teams can't jockey to have opportunity to talk to that player first and sign that player first. They can sign with wherever and with whoever. Gotcha.
00:15:03
Speaker
Cool. Let's let's get into it. Let's dive in. Yeah. Tom, you want to tell the folks how we're going to be doing this? Your idea. Pre-show was absolutely killer.
00:15:12
Speaker
Yeah. So our thought is everybody knows all the stars, right? Everybody knows our beautiful Josh Allens and, uh, um, Stefan Diggs and Jordan Poirier. So we're going to kind of briefly touch on those guys to say, yes, absolutely. They're making the team. However, um, we're going to spend a lot of time talking about those teams, those players who maybe are less recognizable, maybe not people that you know quite as well that are on the roster bubble. So meaning they may or may not make the roster.
00:15:40
Speaker
And just to kind of get those names on in your head, so when you've seen them play in this preseason game, there are people who are playing for their jobs and hopefully gonna make that roster. Yeah, so the other thing there that we kind of talked about too earlier was that with Jake being the less expert Bill's guy that's here, Jake is gonna be kind of handling the more obvious ones in each position.
00:16:03
Speaker
And then when we get into the nitty or grittier ones for each position, Tom and I will touch on those a little bit more as the quote unquote experts.
00:16:13
Speaker
Give me that low hanging fruit, let's do it. Hey, we're gonna get that pinata. All right, Jake, here we go. Let's start with a quarterback. Who's gonna make the team for quarterback, Jake? So I like Matt Barkley a lot. I'm kidding. I don't dislike him, but this one's an easy one. It's Josh Allen. There's no debate on that one. So to throw that conversation around a little bit, who do you guys think is the number two? What do you like about the other two guys that are competing for it?
00:16:43
Speaker
It's been it's been really interesting so far because so the first preseason game. I'll back up a little bit more all throughout training camp. Most beat reporters that were at Bill's training camp were.
00:16:56
Speaker
talking not super positive things about the game that Kyle Allen was playing and it wasn't that Matt Barkley was playing incredible but he was a little bit more consistent than Kyle was now fast forward to the first preseason game that kind of stayed in place Matt Barkley absolutely balled out the first preseason game and
00:17:17
Speaker
where Kyle Allen did not look as good. Fast forward to now the second preseason game, and I'm kind of just expediting this process of hair, but the exact opposite was true. Kyle Allen looked better, and Matt Barkley was the one that really looked like he struggled. At this point in time, you have any thoughts on that before I give my
00:17:36
Speaker
Dude, I'm not thrilled about either of them. Yeah, neither am I. I want to say that we're going to go, if we go familiarity route, it's we met Barkley. If we go with twosly, twosy, twosy, excuse me. And possibly. Yeah. Holy cow. That one was onesie twosies. And, uh,
00:17:55
Speaker
Um, go with the tool, like possibly a higher ceiling player. It's Kyle Allen, but man, I'm not thrilled about either. But, um, so now I don't let you make this pick, which one do you think should be put on the active roster? Because generally I NFL teams only keep two on the active roster. Correct. And my prediction at this point is Kyle Allen. Um, I think playing against the better defense of the two preseason games in the Steelers versus the Colts, um, kind of did a lot for, um,
00:18:24
Speaker
It did a lot for Kyle Allen's case, in my opinion. Matt Barkley looked really bad against that deep Steelers defense. And I agree with you, Tom. I think it's probably more likely Brandon Bean and Coach McDermott are going to opt to go with the more tools the player in Kyle Allen. So that is my guess. I think the backup is going to end up being Kyle Allen. Yeah, I agree with that, especially because Matt Barkley will almost always
00:18:51
Speaker
Like he's not going to be assigned to another team. He can, we can get it back in the practice squad and he can still have them be incorporated with the team. So yeah. Yeah. Even if it's a, even if it's a mannequin, I hope we don't see him. Uh, unless the bills are up by 30 points. Yeah. Yeah. Let's let him just come on close. Come on, close the game up. Right. Yeah. Go seal it. Here we go. So running back. Who do you think?
00:19:14
Speaker
Do you want me to give you the one name or do you want me to give you who I think makes the team at running back? As many from this list, as many from this list that you think that you feel comfortable with. And if we question it and we have maybe some thoughts, maybe we'll try them in. But I think just give me as many as you can. I got you. I got you. And I'll go in order of where I think they rank, maybe. And feel free to disagree. I'm going to ignore the names that I don't know on the list.
00:19:37
Speaker
But off the top, I think James Cook, we've talked about him before. I think he'll get the opportunity to start and see how he looks. If he struggles, then my first instinct to tap in would probably be Damien Harris.
00:19:53
Speaker
So I'm going to go with that. Yeah, I'd agree. Yeah, I would also agree that. And so far so good. And then I'll say I'll say third string, maybe punch in a few few runs, that kind of thing. Latavius Murray, who I think is like one of the oldest backs in the league. No, he is. He's like 33. The oldest back in the league. I'm pretty sure still older than us. So it's nice that there's still a few players that are older than us guys. Yeah. Enjoy that. Yeah, dude. Oh, my God.
00:20:20
Speaker
I it's even worse with hockey man. Like these guys like, yeah, drafted at 18. I'm like, oh, my God, dude, I'm not sure I could spell my name properly when I literal children. It's crazy. Yeah. Cool. Yeah. So those are my picks. You guys tell me what a team roster more than that usually.
00:20:37
Speaker
Uh, dude, you're spot on. The only thing that you're missing a little bit here is, and this is, this is not something that's like, Oh, Jake, nice mess. You nailed the three running backs and you nailed the, in my opinion, what the correct depth order is in cook Harris Murray. The only thing you might've missed there, just a hair is the fact that, um, Reggie Gilliam, he is, he's on the, like he's listed as a running back. Um, but he is going to be more of a fullback kind of a situation. So Reggie Gilliam will.
00:21:07
Speaker
run full back and like blocking tight end rolls and will occasionally like because he's a bigger athlete, he's a bigger dude, very toolsy, that kind of thing. That's why he would be a fullback as opposed to like a regular running back for those who might be wondering. Yeah, he'll have three to five catches this year out of the backfield. Maybe he'll surprise everybody and catch a Todd in the red zone last year. And then he did. He did. I'm going to ride with Brother Bill, maybe a baby. And I'm going to I'm going to go. I'm going to put some money on Donna and Reggie, Reggie Gillian to get in. You sick piece of shit.
00:21:35
Speaker
Dude, ready? Let's go!
00:21:38
Speaker
Oh, number 41, baby. Get in there. Now, there's one person here that I think we kind of look at is Ty Johnson. He was just signed like today or yesterday, like very, very recently. And just signed to the team. He's a legitimate NFL running back. He has played on many active rosters. He just came from the Jets. I think it's a very high possibility that he could squeak his way on the team, especially if there is an injury or something like that.
00:22:07
Speaker
I think he's out for now, so I'm not gonna put him in, but I am gonna kind of give a little highlighter. All right, Jake, now we're going deeper, bud. Yeah, we're getting down there. So we're going O-line. So I think I'll give you who...
00:22:20
Speaker
I have heard about
00:22:39
Speaker
roster. Do you remember off the top of your head? Typically it's nine or 10, usually nine or 10. But this is where it's going to get interesting, right? This is where we're going to, this is a big, this is a big unit. Usually you have a lot of linemen on both sides of the ball, O line and D line. Um, so this is, I think we're going to be coming back to this list, but let's get as many as we can for now and we'll probably come back to it later on.
00:23:00
Speaker
Yeah, the starting five and then if there's like one or two guys that you're like, they are 100% making the team and then we'll come back later. Absolutely. First name that pops off the list of me, Dion Dawkins. He's a legend. He's coming. And he plays right
00:23:20
Speaker
The left. Yes, dude. We'll, we'll, we'll studio magic that one out. All right. So Dion Dawkins on the left, go tackle kind of like left wing center, right wing, like that's kind of thing, right? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. All right. So he's there. Uh, I feel like I've heard Osiris Torrance's name being thrown around for the right.
00:23:51
Speaker
Yep. Guard. Guard. Very good. Second round draft pick this year. He's a rookie, which is significant. Keep going, Jake. You're crushing it. Spencer Brown, I feel like has, has a lot to prove, but we'll definitely make the team. Yep. And we'll let it be a starter.
00:24:06
Speaker
Uh, Connor McGovern, I think is, is coming. He, he was a recent pickup. No. Yes. Reagent signing this off season. Well done. The Dallas Cowboys is a starter. So yeah, I'm actually excited to see what he does this year. Okay. Okay. And then I think the center is Mitch Morris unless I'm mistaken. This is the guy I want to be my uncle.
00:24:25
Speaker
Like, I would love to hang out and have a beer with Mitch Morris. He is such a cool dude. If you ever need to pick me up, dude, just go watch a Mitch Morris interview. You're going to feel better about life, your family, your friends. He's just got his vibes due to the best.
00:24:39
Speaker
I didn't know that. I gotta go check him out. He's just so kind and so smart, but he plays like a bet out of hell on the field. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. He's a big boy. He's a slightly smaller boy, but that's fine. All right. Keep going. Sorry. Sorry. Sorry. Yep. So quick check-in. The five guys that I've said already. Dawkins, Torrance, Brown, McGovern, Morse. Is that who you guys think are starting five? That's my guess in this point.
00:25:02
Speaker
That's my guess. Yeah, Jake, good work, dude. Yeah, I say they are. They are the leading pack. If things change a lot in this preseason coming up, preseason game coming up, then maybe some movement. But yeah, I think this is these are the leaders in the in the hen house here. OK, clubhouse. Tom, what about this? It's just popped into my head here because the whole line depth here. So we're up to five. Do you want to do you want to roll with nine for right now, Tom, just to keep it on the low side in terms of offensive lineman? Sure.
00:25:29
Speaker
I was going to say I had three more than I think. Oh, oh, oh, Jake, I'm so sorry. Do you let her know? No, no, no, no, no, no, please. But I was saying the same thing. Yeah. Maybe we maybe we pop those three and Ryan Bates. I think. Yeah. I like Bocker. Yeah. And David Quesenberry. Cool. Any disagreements? Yeah. Anybody leave it off? Yeah, I do. Yeah. Tom, go first, buddy.
00:25:53
Speaker
So before we go too far, I think everybody should know the name Ryan Bates. He is an incredibly versatile player. He's probably going to be the first person off the bench at almost every position. Yes. He's worked his way and made himself an NFL career at being really good at almost everything, like a jack of all trades kind of player. So he's not going to. He and Osiris Torrance have been kind of bopping back and forth at left guard. But because Osiris Torrance is right guard, excuse me. Yep, thank you.
00:26:22
Speaker
Uh, Cyrus Torrance is a rookie and he doesn't have much experience at other places and probably won't have other experience at other places. Um, Ryan Bates, Bates is most useful aspect to the team as being the first person off the bench. So I think he will absolutely be. Yes, he's a great one. Now, um, the two that I'm thinking of, um, yeah, Ike Bacher, I think it's an injury thing. I think it depends on if he's, cause he's coming back off of, I want to say an ice ACL tear, right?
00:26:48
Speaker
Achilles, right? I think it's Achilles in any event. So I think if we go back to episode one, I think one of you posed the question of just predicting or like a dark horse to make the team, right? We kind of talked about this a little bit last time. And Ike Botker was mine.
00:27:08
Speaker
And I would like to ask permission to walk that back rapidly Because he has looked he has looked like dogshit this entire preseason. He has not looked good at this point in time And this this was my guy. I'm like, yeah, dude. They love him. He's look terrible I do not think Ike Barker is gonna make this 53 man roster at this point in time. That's my opinion. I
00:27:33
Speaker
And I think another big reason is that I don't, as I don't think he'll be picked up by somebody else. So I bet he gets back to the practice squad and he's a depth player for us down there. I agree with that. Tom, would you go ahead and add our, add our next guy after Ryan Bates, unless Jake, did you have any more that you wanted to talk about or.
00:27:49
Speaker
No, we're into, we're into unknown name territory for me now. Yeah. These guys are deep. These guys are deeper cuts. My two people I'm looking at are Ryan Vandermark. He's a tackle young picked up. I want to say he's in his second year and is really developing and looking really great in these preseason games. And then David Edwards, who's been just a depth stud guard and has played, started lots of games. I think his veteran qualities and his experience is going to be a big asset to this team.
00:28:15
Speaker
Tom, I do not disagree with you in the slightest on either of those guys. David Edwards. Yeah, like you said, tons of starting experience. Vandermark is the surprise. Vandermark is a UDFA, which stands for an undrafted free agent. So in his draft year, all through all seven rounds, nobody picked him off the board. But often what always what happens after the draft is those guys that still signed up to be drafted and didn't get drafted.
00:28:41
Speaker
They are then eligible to still be signed by teams. That was Ryan Vandermark. Super, super, super, super, super athletic toolsy guy. There's something we should all be familiar with called
00:28:55
Speaker
an RAS score, which stands for raw athletic score. And it's on a 1 to 10 scale. And the cool thing about the RAS numbers is they take into account the height and weight of the player, and they compare those based on their athleticism. So an offensive lineman that's 6'6", 350, is not graded the same as a running back that is
00:29:20
Speaker
six foot and 220 pounds or whatever. So with that in mind, Ryan Vandemarck was almost a 10. I think he was a nine fours. If I remember right, I could be that might have been a hair high in the nines, though, which is based on RAS scale numbers in elite athletes. So
00:29:39
Speaker
What you're getting with Ryan Vandermark is a really, really, really toolsy insanely athletic guy who, like Tom said, has looked killer coming in off the bench for Dan Dawkins at that left tackle position. Um, so yeah, I just want to make that, I thought that was a good opportunity to talk about the RMS. No, absolutely. And, um, I think that's, I think it's so cool that we, we are getting these contributors that are.
00:30:02
Speaker
Deep, uh, deep draft cuts, right? Excuse me. Excuse me. Deep draft picks and undrafted picks, right? Like, I think this is awesome. And this is just speaks to that, um, the scouting department and Brandon being at, that's finding these players. Let's hop over. Let's leave it at eight. So we have two quarterbacks, four running backs and eight offensive linemen, a total of 14 out of 53. Let's keep rolling. We'll come back to this. And I think we will add at least one or two more players here, but let's come back to it. Let's move on to wide receiver. Jake.
00:30:32
Speaker
What do you got, pal?
Receivers and Tight Ends Selection for the Bills
00:30:33
Speaker
Come on down. All right. Give me give me digs, of course. He's going to give me Gabe Davis in the two. All right. Now we get a little deeper. I feel confident about Khalil Shakir. Yep. Dude, I hope he fucking just blows up. We'll talk about him in a hot second.
00:30:54
Speaker
At this point, I think I want you guys to take over. I think there's a lot of names that I recognize, but as far as who makes the team or not, I don't feel confident. Yeah, throw those next two on there, Tom. You know who they are. I'll let you talk about them as you're adding them. So we're going to throw on Deontay Hardy. He is a player that we picked up from New Orleans. He's incredibly athletic, very speedy, small guy. And he has a lot of experience at returner, both punt and kick returner. So he has a lot of special team
00:31:22
Speaker
experience which is important for those depth players right the most starting wide receivers so one two three four at the at the top of the depth chart they maybe don't have to contribute on special teams but if you're further down the depth chart you absolutely need to contribute in some way so i think that's a big plus in his column
00:31:39
Speaker
And then Trent Sherfield, who is a really interesting player who I actually don't know a ton about, but I know he's coming from the Miami. He's an incredible run after catch RAC player. So he'll catch the ball and make and do something with it, which to be honest, the bills have lacked over the last couple of years. So I'm excited that we have some players in both Trent Sherfield and
00:31:59
Speaker
Deontay Hardy and our stud, uh, uh, rookie tight end. Um, we're very, very excited about, um, but we'll get to him on another day. Um, so those are the five that, uh, that were the next two. Um, Nigel, who's, who's next? Who's next off the bench? Cause I, we usually, the bills generally roster six, six wide receivers is where we usually go.
00:32:20
Speaker
this is this is where it gets a little bit interesting yeah for sure okay so real quick I just want to toss this out there because at this point
00:32:31
Speaker
I am not 110% sure that Khalil Shakir is not a bubble player. And I'll get into that in just a hot second here. But we have five on our list right now. We have Steph, Gabe, Khalil, Deontay, Trent. Trent Shurfield, Deontay Hardy, Khalil Shakir, Gabe Davis, Steph Diggs.
00:32:51
Speaker
At this point I'm between two guys for that six wide receiver and those two guys are this year's fifth round pick in Justin Shorter and a guy we picked up off just signed off the street Andy Isabella. Now Justin Shorter has the benefit of being a draft pick by Brendan Bean
00:33:15
Speaker
He is a little bit more along the lines of like a Trent surefield Gabe Davis in terms of his build. He's a bigger guy, strong at the catch point, not super, super, super fast. He's not going to create a ton of separation, but he's got good ball skills and he's a big body. Andy Isabella has been I don't know, dude, I'm and I'm not one of those people that typically gets, you know, into the camp darlings.
00:33:40
Speaker
with the bills, meaning those like no name players that crush it at camp and everybody freaks out about them. But dude, I just, I hope.
00:33:49
Speaker
If Andy Isabella doesn't make this team, I hope somebody grabs him due because this guy has checked every single box that being in McDermott have asked him to try and check. And if he doesn't make this bills team, which he very well might not, I hope somebody, one of these other 31 teams has seen the value this guy can bring. He is incredibly fast. He's a sick route runner.
00:34:15
Speaker
also offers some special team ability as a returner and as a gunner. I just the only downsize with any any Isabella is his size. He's so freakin small. And we've got those guys, right? You got Deontay Hardy, you got Khalil Shakir, the smaller body guys. So if you're gonna put a gun to my head, and I have to pick right now,
00:34:37
Speaker
I'm going to go with Justin Shorter just because GMs love their picks. And now here, Tom, is why and Jake is why I say I'm not totally sold on Khalil Shakir being a roster lock. I've seen more from Andy Isabella, this training camp, and these preseason games than I have from Khalil Shakir.
00:34:59
Speaker
And I think if we go back to last week when Josh Allen played, I think it was around 18 snaps. He played something like that. Khalil Shakir was only on the field, I think for like two, three or four of those. It wasn't a lot.
00:35:13
Speaker
so on
00:35:31
Speaker
Yeah, I got to be honest. I don't know off top of my head those different snap counts and things like that in the last couple of preseason games. Maybe we didn't see as much of him because he didn't play as much because his spot is more assured. I would like to keep him there. I'm going to go to bat for him. I think his experience in this team, his development with that wide receiver room, I think he should... I'm excited to see what he does this year.
00:35:58
Speaker
especially not being number three or number four. He's gonna be number five or number six. I think he's there. So between these two, Andy Isabella and Justin Shorter, you say Justin Shorter because of the draft pick. So I think, predictably, that's correct. My hope is that it's Andy Isabella, which should we put on? Because this is our list. This isn't Brandon Bean. I want to put Andy Isabella. I'm fine with it. Yeah, you could talk to either of them.
00:36:22
Speaker
If we have room, maybe we shirk the trend here and we get seven wybers on this team. I don't know, we gotta see. So, all right. I just feel good for the guy. Yeah, he's just been grinding, man. He's put his fucking nose down and went to work. I'm loving him. I would love to have him on this team. I would love to. Sorry, go ahead, bro.
00:36:45
Speaker
Quick question. So Justin Shorter is a draft pick. Is it similar to hockey where you retain his rights for X number of years, or is it same with him? Pack your shit and get out of our locker room. He would be subject to waivers. So as I talked about the beginning of this conversation, he would go to the waiver wire where every team has an opportunity to go sign him and it would be in reverse order or sorry, in the same order, um, of the draft selections and, um, he could possibly get picked up though. Um, we usually, especially after trading camp, all of Bill's mafia and all of Bill's Twitter is all
00:37:15
Speaker
on Twitter and gets all upset and then nobody gets signed and we can sign them to the practice squad. So it's very possible he gets signed. I'm willing to bet probably 80% chance that he makes it back to the team and it's not a big deal. All right. Should we move on to tight end? Jake, let's do some tight end. Who do you got, bud?
00:37:41
Speaker
Well, Dalton Kinkade, for sure. Dawson, I should have said Dawson Knox first. The seniority angle there. It counts. But interchangeable. I think they're both locks, absolute locks, and I'm excited what they do. After that, I don't know, like, is more than two tight ends reasonable for a team? Is it usually three? Yeah, typically three.
00:38:03
Speaker
Typically three and especially because I believe this year we're going to be running a lot of two tight end sets where we have two tight ends on the field. Um, so if we only had two and one went down, then all of a sudden the game plans out the window and we're screwed. So my imagination is that we're going to be doing at least three and hopefully keep at least another one on the practice squad too. So.
00:38:24
Speaker
Of these two that are left, Quinton Morris and Jay Sternberger. Joel Wilson, I think, is just a camp body. I don't really know much about him. So Nigel, go ahead and correct me if you want. I think Quinton Morris is probably going to be making this team because of his familiarity. And McDermott is just such a sucker for people who like his system and fit his culture, kind of knows what is expected of them. So that's my pick, unless you have a big case where Jay Sternberger, Nigel.
00:38:51
Speaker
No, Sternberg will probably go to the practice squad. Quentin Morris will make this team. He is another guy that just he'll catch a couple of balls. He's a great, great blocking tight end and just offers a just offers another wrinkle. Very athletic and maybe not definitely not as athletic as Dawson Knox or Dalton Kincaid, but the guy can move and that's how you nailed it.
00:39:13
Speaker
Sweet. All right. So getting through the offense. We maybe are going to add another O-line member, but we're at 23 out of the 53. Let's transition over to defense. Jake, we're going to go start with the D-line, starting at defensive end. Who are we keeping at defensive end? How many are you going with? You have any thinking here, Tom? Five? I don't know. We're going to have to get there. OK. This is a question I have. So I'm right there with you. I just wanted to know what you were thinking. I don't know. This is why we're doing this right now. All right. Little rip for Pito.
00:39:42
Speaker
That's the debate. All right. Give me, give me Greg Russo off the rip. Yes, sir. Um, sorry. Wait, well, actually, wait, quick, quick aside. Von Miller is a defensive end. Yep. Correct. But he's injured. So he does not count towards the 53 is my assumption. Go ahead, Tom.
00:40:03
Speaker
Okay. He is going most likely because, um, so Von Miller, uh, is recovering from an ACL tear that he suffered on Thanksgiving. Generally that's a nine to 12 month recovery. And at coming up on end of August, September here, we're at nine months. So technically he could.
00:40:20
Speaker
However, he is an older player. And my hope is that we don't play him. But technically, he might be clear and ready to play, but most likely going to be a few weeks into the season. So he, in my mind, is going to be starting on what's called the pup list or the physically unable to perform list, meaning he is not done for the season, but he is recovering from injury. And he's going to be ineligible to be part of the 53-man roster for at least four weeks. So my guess is we see him.
00:40:49
Speaker
Six week seven somewhere around that range Which hopefully it's week six because we're going to that game. So that would be fun So So yeah, so right now I in my mind he's gonna be on the pop list So I have to I have him over to the side and you will not count against this 53 number noted noted We can do a pod from the tailgate
00:41:10
Speaker
I don't think that's a good idea. I don't know if we're gonna be able to put two and two together, bud. I can't put two and two together on a typical day, so... I'm going, but I'm full of hot dogs at that point, so... All right, keep going. All right, Jake, we got Greg Russo. Who else? Greg Russo. A.J. Appanessa. Yep. Great camp, right? Oh, yeah. Very good. Looking good. Yep. Give me... Give me your thoughts on who else.
00:41:42
Speaker
That's perfect. That was perfect. That was perfect. So Mr. Leonard Floyd, who is sneaky, one of my favorite pickups from this past offseason. And I am so excited to see him in action, because we haven't really seen him in action. I'm so excited. Yes.
00:41:58
Speaker
Tom, I just had a thought. I'm so sorry. I interrupted your train of thought. You should have put some sleeper names in this list of people that are not anywhere at all NFL athletes. Yeah. See if I'd pick them. What's some like your names and like musicians names? Like some 1930s saxophonist or something. Just sneak them into the defensive tackle list or something. Maybe you did. Maybe this is some, I don't know. Maybe I'm getting ahead of myself. I'm so sorry. I had to interject, but please continue about Leonard Floyd.
00:42:30
Speaker
Uh, you know, I'm excited to see Leonard Floyd. He's definitely making the team. Nice. Who else is going to make it? So we got three. Yeah. I, um, with, with Novon Miller at this point.
00:42:40
Speaker
I'm confident that both Boogie and Shaq Lawson will make this team at this point. The question then becomes, because I don't think we're going to keep six defensive ends. The question then becomes, who comes off the list once, um, first bow Hall of Famer, Vaughn Miller is ready to come back.
00:43:03
Speaker
Man, I think it's going to be either Bo Gershach. I think the Bills are going to let them let it play out. And who knows? Maybe? Knock on wood.
00:43:13
Speaker
maybe an injury will, will kind of make this kind of answer this for them, right? Maybe there's a player who does need to come off and maybe, right? I'm not going to, what, hopefully we, hopefully we don't. Cause we've had terrible injury luck, but who knows, right? Injuries happen in the NFL. So that could, but I think it's either boogie or shack. And I think it's depends on who's, who's looking, who's performing how I was expecting.
00:43:35
Speaker
I'm gonna get ahead of it a little bit. I'm gonna predict that Boogie is off the team when Von Miller comes back. And I only say that because Shaq Lawson is just so fundamentally sound as a football player.
00:43:51
Speaker
He's not a great run defender. Yes. That's just it. Tommy's such a good run defender. He's never going to over pursue. He's never going to be out of position. And I just, I like his length more than Boogie Basham. I don't know, man. I just, I think when Vaughn comes back, Boogie's going to be.
00:44:09
Speaker
on waivers. For now, I'm going to highlight both of them. So we come back. If we have some extra numbers, we can go back and check those guys out. All right, Jake, let's go to defensive tackle. So these are the guys who play in the middle of the defensive line on there.
Debating Defensive Positions for the Bills
00:44:22
Speaker
Is there if there's anybody, if not, then, hey, pass it off to us, Bill. No, I got I got Ed Oliver. Yep. Yeah, you do. That's that's a reassigns to a four year, five year, sixty eight million dollar deal. He's yeah. He's easier for a couple of years.
00:44:37
Speaker
Cortez Broton sounds like a pirate name or something. I have I have no idea on the rest. I'm not going to lie to you. All right, dude. I want to go want to go for tit for tat here. You pick one. I will just. Yeah, we'll just go one one. OK, good. Dick, Dick one Jones. OK, I'm so excited to see him back going forward. Yes, sir. OK.
00:45:08
Speaker
I think he could be a roster bubble guy, considering his contract situation. I think he could be cuttable. And also hearing that he hasn't really shown up at camp again. He came in and hoping to kind of step up into a new role and a new team last year and didn't quite show out how we wanted him to. So I'm interested to see how he does this here. He could absolutely make this team. I have no idea what the,
00:45:36
Speaker
um central office is thinking but can i okay so can i can i list myself a call just to like just one parameter here then which is why i went tim settle if you can look me in the eye and say nige guaranteed jordan phillips stays healthy healthy this season i'm going jordan phillips 110 over tim settle jordan phillips has has given me no competence that he can stay healthy through an entire nfl season which is why i go with tim settle here because the best ability
00:46:05
Speaker
will always be availability. And Jordan Phillips can't seem to get through a season without getting hurt. But when he's healthy, he's great. He can be dominant. So if you can look at me and say, nah, she's going to be healthy. I'm 100% swapping. Jordan Phillips for Tim Settle. But at least I just have more confidence in Tim Settle being available for this football team and not putting us in a position where we are going to call up Eli Anku.
00:46:34
Speaker
Yeah, I think it's absolutely possible. So let's do that. Let's head over to linebacker. So at this point, we are one, two, three, four, five, six, seven positions in, and we have 32 players on our 53 man roster.
00:46:49
Speaker
Jake, my backer, who do you got? Matt Milano's the easy one there. That was the meatball I was tossing you up. The meatball. The veggie cucumber ball I sort of tossed up for you. Condescending, but we'll move on.
00:47:09
Speaker
Um, this one's a tough one. I mean, it's the replacement for Tremaine Edmunds. So I got, I have very little, I mean, I I've heard two names that are in the mix to replace him. Terrell Bernard and Tyrell Dodson. Which one it goes to. I have no idea if the other one is. Roster too. I also have no idea, but who do you guys think replaces and who do you think fills out that position?
00:47:33
Speaker
Next question. I think that's absolutely some great, some great points. I think Tyrell Dotson, I think is a lock for this team. Yes. He's a lot regardless if he's a starter, but I think he's a lock for the team. Lock for the team. Yes. I forgot. We're just, I think Darrell Bernard is a lock for the team considering he's a draft pick. He was a third round draft pick last year and has been in that conversation for starter. I think that, um, Doran Williams is clearly going to make the team. He was our, um,
00:48:00
Speaker
third round back draft pick this year. Bean likes those linebackers in the third round. And he is in my line going to be the first one in after Matt Milano. He's going to be at that outside linebacker playing that downhill or not sorry, excuse me, not downhill, playing more free and going on playing the weak side linebacker side. And then, Nite, anybody else we need to include? You got to include Medikavich. He's going to make this team, dude. You can set your watch to it.
00:48:28
Speaker
Yep. And you, and, uh, why would that be? Tyler Medicevic is a probably a top, I'd go as far to say he's a top five special teams player in the NFL. He's, he's just an elite special teamer. Brandon being loves his special team guys. We had, um, Taiwan Jones for if my watch is right close to a hundred years on the team, just for his year by year, maybe.
00:48:54
Speaker
So, OK, well, while I'm talking here, can I can I get on my soapbox for a minute and expose to the people exposed? I will set it up. Yeah. Oh, yeah. I'll give you a crowd. I'll get you a horn. I'll get on that, but introduce the people to the tapped side of of Nigel, a sports fan. I dude, I. I'm simply nothing short of pissed off about this linebacker situation, and I'm pissed off at Brandon Bean.
00:49:23
Speaker
The tackle depth is another hot button issue within Bill's mouth here right now. I can give him some grace, him being Brandon Bean, can give him some grace on that because you had.
00:49:33
Speaker
Brandon shall retire, which, hey, Brandon, if you ever hear this, suck one dude that's really shitty. And then second, you're not anticipating Tommy Doyle getting that god-awful knee injury. So I can give him some grace on this one. At what point did Brandon Bean look in the goddamn mirror and say, after losing Tremaine Edmonds, yes, let's run with this line-backing core. I am so fucking upset.
00:50:02
Speaker
that I'm looking at a situation where my starting middle linebacker is either Tyrell Bernard or Tyrell Dodson, dude. These guys look like dog shit in terms of a starting defensive middle linebacker. I'm really pissed off about it. I'm getting worked up. I'm sure you can hear it right now. It's just like the hubris there, dude, to think, okay,
00:50:27
Speaker
The pterodactyl's gone, but we can make it work with these guys. Pull your head out of your ass. These guys look absolutely terrible. And I know, Tom, last pod you said someone's got to have the 26, 27, 28th best linebacker. I don't think any of these guys are going to be the 40th best linebacker. They look absolutely terrible, and I'm really upset about it.
00:50:49
Speaker
It's absolutely possible, especially seeing all these other serviceable linebackers get signed to other teams. Bobby Wagner got signed for five and a half million dollars. That's less than Deontay Hardy. That's less than our fifth wide receiver.
00:51:03
Speaker
right? And could have been a starting linebacker. Um, there's a, there's a couple other names. I'm still, um, I can't remember off the top of my head, so we're not going to get into it right now, but yeah, I, I'm there with you. I've been trying to stay on the Rosie side and just be like, all right, we got to see it in action. We got to see this new Sean McDermott, but, um, yeah, I think it's going to be a problem. And you know what? Like,
00:51:27
Speaker
Hey, at least we got a gunslinger back there at number 17, who can go put up 30, 40 points if we need to. Yeah, I know you're right. And, and right. Yes, you're absolutely right. And one more thing, dude, and then we can, we can move on. I'm so sorry. I just, I, I was thinking about this literally today. I'm like, am I going to, am I going to do this spiel? And I was like, I'm going to do it.
00:51:49
Speaker
Can we at least get a look at Dorian Williams at middle linebacker in a preseason game? I know he was there for like a second at camp and they immediately put him back to the outside, which probably means he's just simply not ready. But I might be more athletic than Tyrell Dodson.
00:52:07
Speaker
And the fact that they won't even give Dorian Williams, who is flying around this preseason, by the way, I know he's playing a different position. I know he's being asked two different things. But give the kid a look, dude. Get somebody back there with a pulse. That's the last thing I'll say.
00:52:22
Speaker
Especially since both bean and uh remind me of the name bobby bavitch jr. Uh the linebacker coach, um, correct. Am I correct me from wrong? Yeah, no, i'm 99 percent sure bavitch has been the linebackers coach Um have both said that they wanted more athletic more toolsy players in at linebacker Which is kind of why we let germane edmunds walk other
00:52:44
Speaker
also that he was paid $18 million. But also, so if they truly want the more athletic, rangy players, like that's Dorian Williams. Put Matt Milan on Dorian Williams out there. Let's go. And I agree. I want to see it.
00:52:58
Speaker
I can't wait to see what the Tremaine Edmonds haters have to say this season. I really can't wait. Yeah, I know. Because I'm going to. It's going to be blatant. Take the overs on every Bill's game because we're there's going to be a lot of points in the board. Hopefully we can do that to just go on that. That massive rant there. All right. So Jake, let's head over to corner. Let's let's corner it up. Let's go. Well, obviously the true Navy is white 100 percent. I'm excited to see him back full year, full health.
00:53:28
Speaker
Bust my Trey White jersey back out. I think Kyair Elam makes the team without a doubt. Yep. I would love to see him kind of settle down and go play some good ball. But yeah, I agree. Keep going. And then I'm going to give you Christian Benford. Nailed it. Yep. Dane Jackson. Yep. Nailed it.
00:53:57
Speaker
Probably going to be starting cornerback Dane Jackson. More than likely. And Taron Johnson. I'm cheating. I remember talking to you guys about him. No, that's the rule. There it is. That's the rule. I think you I think you know. Well, OK, so Tom, what about Saron Neal? Oh, yeah. OK. He's definitely more of a special teams player, but yeah, he'll fit into this room. You're right. And I think right now he's actually I think as of right now, he's Taron Johnson's backup.
00:54:24
Speaker
And I think Cam Lewis has a very active possibility of making this roster. But let's see what this looks like. I think he will be my first person. Of the highlighted people that we haven't included, he's going to be my first that we add back on. He's the first one to go to bat. Agreement with you 100% on that, Tommy.
00:54:40
Speaker
But right now I'm not sure because we're still, we're 10 players away and we still have to do safety and our three specialists. So, so do you want to, why don't we jump? Well, why don't we jump to the specialist real quick because get them on the board. Yeah, just get them on the board. All three of those folks at home are going to be just the one-off positions. This is our kicker.
00:54:57
Speaker
Tyler Bass, our punter, Sam Martin, and our long snapper, Reed Ferguson. Those three, they're not going to be any backups. They're not going to be what, but they are studs. We have a great specialist group and I, all three will be making a team and they're going to add another three. So at this point, we're at 46. We have seven positions available. We still have to do the entire safety room and then we can add some little dinks and dunks here as we go. So Jake, who do you have for safety, Val? What do you think?
00:55:26
Speaker
It's Michael Hyde and Jordan Boyer. Is there a better safety? The boys are back in town. I can't wait, dude. That was my big thing I was excited for back in episode. We are going to do some bold predictions today. And my bold prediction includes those two. So wait for that, folks. A teaser. So I think we need two more safeties. Is that fair? Yeah. I'm going to say Demar Hamlin.
00:55:54
Speaker
You'd be correct. One of them. I can't wait to see him walk on an NFL starting. Oh, God. Gonna be so cool. Do you want? Sorry. Oh. Or not. Sorry. Sorry. I just interrupted you, so I just got all of a sudden I got there. I'm between Taylor Rapp and Dean Marlowe.
00:56:16
Speaker
Those are the two, those are the tough ones to sort through there. One of them is, those are the two that would be in the most competition there. Take a guess, Jake, if you had to guess. I'll go tailor wrap. You'd be correct. Nice one, pal.
00:56:30
Speaker
50-50 shot pal. Yeah, Taylor is gonna make this team for sure great free agent signing from from LA this past season he was a starting safety for That team that's the Rams there and He he's looked really nice this camp, dude Every every account that I've been seeing from about Taylor rep the guy is thick
00:56:53
Speaker
Dude, like absolutely yoked up Taylor rap. So he's a he's yeah, he's an athlete. Not a small boy. Is that the safety room, Tom? I think it is. I think it alone doesn't make the team.
00:57:08
Speaker
Man, I think we try and get him back in the practice squad. I think, I mean, I think his big, his big point is that he has such experience with Sean McDermott that I think is definitely a possibility. But I mean, we're at 50 people, right? We have 50 players right here. So we have three other spots. Do we give one to him? I could be convinced. You don't have to twist my arm that bad. Well, so we're here. Let's go back through who the bubble players are now before we pick those three.
00:57:34
Speaker
I've got real I've got some two guys that I see below that are at least one guy that I'm quite positive is going to make the team as a special teams guy. And that is Baylon Specter as a out of the linebacker column there. Oh, yeah. Yep. He's going to get us to 51, I believe, just because he's again, another special teams guy that just plays good ball, man. Yeah.
00:58:02
Speaker
So two guys left to add in here. I think the first place we have to go is to go to O line. Having eight is very light. So I think we need at least one more player of our, uh, I think, and I think we need to be at least at night. I agree. And I think based on what I'm seeing there, Tom, what can we, should we say at the exact same time? Ready? Yeah. I'll go three, two, one. And then we say it. Yeah. Okay.
00:58:27
Speaker
Three, two, one. David question very OK. We were not the same time at all, but that's OK. That's that's the recording. But it's still funny. Yeah, it'll be question very though. Question very should make that team as a swing tackle. Yeah. Um.
00:58:45
Speaker
And then I think it's your boy, Cam Lewis, Tom. I'm with you on that entirely because he offers you, he offers you a little bit of a special teams ability first and foremost. Um, he, but he can play either safety spot. He can play free. He can play strong. I think he's playing quarterback. Yeah, exactly. So, I mean, he's listed as a quarterback. He, that's what he's listed at. He would be, he was extended to be at safety. So yeah. Yeah. Position versatility there, which Sean McDermott will always get a chubby for.
00:59:18
Speaker
So let's let's real quick we let's get out of here soon But I think we should hit who we left off and maybe a quick reason why Ty Johnson you guys said just signed him Why'd we leave him off? Because we just signed him Yeah, I think it's right there. I think it's not yet unfamiliarity. I think he could definitely if there's an injury or knock on wood or if there's a
00:59:44
Speaker
Yeah, or if he's somebody he outplayed, all of a sudden he's somebody else completely drops off. I think he could make the team, but I think he's somebody that they just wanted to get into camp and get eyeballs on. Because you're going to need bodies. At some point throughout the year, at some point throughout the season, you're going to need players to sign. And having players in camp is the best way to get eyeballs on them and know, OK, what can this player offer? I think that's a big reason why he was signed. Yeah, fair enough. Fair enough.
01:00:10
Speaker
And Justin Shorter, we're good with him. As I'm, as I'm looking at our guys left off the board here, they were highlighted. He's the biggest toss up for me. The, you have your, your, your top four in terms of the wide receivers, them being step on Diggs, Gabriel Davis, Deontay Hardy, Trent, Sharpfield are as locked as locked can be. In my opinion, that fifth wide receiver.
01:00:38
Speaker
is at this point to me it's a three way battle dude which is crazy at like yeah you got Andy Isabella you got cool Shakira you got Justin shorter or excuse me that that yeah it's gonna be the fifth and sixth player sorry because we're gonna keep six
01:00:55
Speaker
Yeah, I don't know. The fifth and sixth fighters you response to me are insanely up in the air. Tom, I think you make a really good point when you said Khalil Shakir. Maybe he's such a roster lock in the eyes of this coaching staff that that's why he didn't play very much. But for him to play that much less than Trent Sherfield and that much less than Josh Allen and all that stuff,
01:01:24
Speaker
But he's not competing with he's not competing with yanti hardy and trancher field. Well, no, you're you're right He's right. He's competing with andy isabella and cliche in um, and just insert did we see them play with josh alan? I don't know I can't remember. I was not paying 100 attention during that that preseason game. Yeah. Well, that's because we were uh, we were podcasting Yeah, hey watch out for that bonus episode
01:01:46
Speaker
Yeah, later on. Man, my big thing, ready? So Justin Shorter's biggest argument is that he was a draft pick. Take that argument out. Is there a reason, other than he was a fifth round draft pick, that he should make this team?
01:02:05
Speaker
big body and four phase special teamer would be my argument. Is he a four phase special teamer? He was in the preseason or the last preseason game. He was a four phase special teamer because he needed to be or because he's good at it. Well, I'm not sure that that's you know, maybe they were just getting looks there. I know for a fact that against his dealers, he played all four phases of special teams. OK, just so everybody knows, Tom, should we go through the four phases of special teams?
01:02:30
Speaker
Yeah, go for it. Okay. So we have kickoff. We have kick return. We have punt and we have, oh, wait a minute. No, I'm, what am I, how am I screwing this up? Great. You have punt, punt return.
01:02:47
Speaker
So we have, so we have kickoff, you have return, you have field goal and, and then there's the, yeah, the, the, oh my gosh, we're doing great here, guys. We're over, we're over, we're over four. I'm face specialty. We've added a face. Let's go. I'm more confused than when we started.
01:03:08
Speaker
No, we clearly do that. Justin Shorter was on all the special teams units. So that to me, and again, I just keep coming back to it, dude. And I don't think Khalil Shakir is. Now, that might be because they view him as a lot for wide receiver five, and they don't want him doing that.
01:03:28
Speaker
That has been a knock against clear security. So I think that is a very valid argument. Yeah, I don't know, man. I just don't think I don't feel that he is as much of a lock as people might think. I just haven't I haven't seen it. He's he's he's had drops in training camp and.
01:03:43
Speaker
I just keep thinking about Andy Isabella, who has done everything that everyone has asked him and he's done it well. Yeah. So I don't know, ma'am. I'm OK. OK, so if we're doing if if you said Nigel, this has to be a predictive 53, I would swap Andy Isabella and Justin Shorter. But I'm with you, Tom, in the sense that.
01:04:06
Speaker
Andy Isabella has just done a lot and I would love to see him make the team. I just don't, I just, it's working against him that Justin Schroeder was a pick and Andy Isabella was not a pick by this regime. I agree. But I also hope that we don't get stuck into that. Oh, it's a draft pick. We need to keep him. We need to keep the best player who's the best player because there's a very good chance with Justin Schroeder going to make it back to the practice quad and we would develop him there and then he makes the team next year. Like fantastic. That's what I like. That's, that's the route I want for him.
01:04:34
Speaker
You want to know what I want to see happen? Send Bailon Specter to the moon and keep all three Isabella Shakir just in shorthand. Could happen. Well, this is our roster projection. Do you want to do it?
01:04:48
Speaker
I would love to do it. This team in their base defense runs two linebackers, and you feel the need to keep seven, Brandon? We're doing it. Or six? Excuse me. See ya. Well, hold on. We're at 52, unless I'm crazy. So there's another name to be added. So you could throw Bailin back in there and keep shorter in there as well. Oh, shit. What just happened? We even had this spreadsheet do the math for us, and we messed it up. All right, yes. Well, no, no, no, because we had eight offensive linemen, and we tossed another one in there, and then we were
01:05:18
Speaker
thrown around what what other position might need to be added. So is nine offensive linemen where you want to leave our projection based on the guys that we have off the list right now? Yes. I think and I think predictably that's what they've done in the past is nine. Yes. So I think that's a fine. Yeah. Wait a second. Thanks, Jake. Somebody's reading. Everybody's happy. Everybody's happy at
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01:05:41
Speaker
all. We got them all in there. All right, guys. What do you think? Is this it?
01:05:44
Speaker
I think this is our spot. Yeah. All right, boys. Sweet. Well, hey, everybody. Thank you so much for hanging out with us. We appreciate you all. We love you all. And please go out to Instagram. Let's go Buffalo Pod. Please go out to Twitter or the X app and let's go Buffalo Pod. Give us a like. Give us a follow. Interact with us. We'd really appreciate it. Let's get the
01:06:07
Speaker
the word out that there's this cool new podcast bumping around. And go Bills, go Sabres. This is Jake and there's Nigel and I'm Tom. And thank you for listening. I hope you guys have a lovely day, evening, afternoon, wherever you are at.