Hard Knocks, James Cook, and Bills Training Camp Stock Watch | Film Room - The Film Room - Bills Breakdowns and Analysis

Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:30):
What's good, folks, Welcome to another edition of the Cover
one Film Room, the show that gives you the hows
and the whys behind both the good and the bad
of the Buffalo Bills. I am one of your two hosts,
Anthony Prohaska, joined us always by Eric Turner and Eric.
We are in chang ever so closer to real football.
We got training camp and that started, and then we

(00:51):
got the scrimmage, and then we got Hard Knocks debuting
last night. We have preseason football for the Bills that
starts this weekend. We had preseason football debut last week
for the NFL with the Hall of Fame game. We
are getting closer. Feels like it feels like the closer
we get, I feel like we're getting farther away, because
it's like every day I'm just like come on, like,
get there already. We'll have real tape to go through

(01:12):
and real pieces to break down. But nonetheless, we are
here another episode of the Film Room to talk about
Hard Knocks, to talk about several players in position groups
throughout camp and some stock up, stock down, and you know,
the watches there like we've done previously on the show.
But before we get into that how you doing, how
you feeling, how's it going good.

Speaker 2 (01:32):
It's kind of odd to go from the low period
where you have like no content and you have to
like create content to almost to a point now as
the season is right ahead of us of content like
overload because you have all the stuff that's happening in camp,
all those projections, all the stock reports, like we're gonna

(01:52):
talk about today, but then to add in HBO Hard Knocks,
Josh Allen Trey, why Dion Dowkins the Buffalo Bills on
Hard Knocks, it's, uh, it's almost like too much content
where I'm still catching up because we do have day jobs,
so you know, and so uh, it's it's fun. I'm happy,

(02:12):
I'm excited to talk about Hard Knocks. I'm excited to
talk about some of the news surrounding the team. But
like you said, man, I'm the most excited about the
season being right in front of us, right around the corner.
Bill's first game of the season, the preseason game is Saturday,
so it's it's right here, It's right around the corner. Guys.

Speaker 3 (02:32):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (02:32):
Literally, it's funny how you know you outline that you
just go from talking about you know, projections and future
things and so many things, and then out of nowhere,
it's just like bang, it's here. It as much of
we kind of anticipating and waiting for it, it just
kind of hits you. And then everything stacks and builds
and snacks and builds, and you know, let let's lead
off Eric with that Hard Knocks piece the debut episode

(02:54):
last night, episode one. I'm still it's still I was
talking to my wife about it last night, just like
about how because she didn't really know much about Hard Knocks,
and I just I'm still kind of wrapping my head
around the idea and the notion of like the Bills
being on Hard Knocks. It's still weird for me to
see them have as many primetime games, yeah, as they do.
And I've thought of all the teams that have been

(03:15):
on there throughout the years and the access they used
to get as a fan. I remember the very first
season was with the Ravens back in the day. I
think the the year after they won their first Super
Bowl and then they moved on from Dilfer brought in
Elvis Gerbach I believe, or maybe it was Kyle Bowler
years and everything that started to go through from there,
and I remember the Jets being on it and all
these teams, and they have the Bills now and cameras

(03:36):
at Saint John Fisher and the Bills be this focus
and it's still really cool to kind of see that.
I think last night was very much a like a
baseline episode, and I'm interested to see where they go
from here. I'm very interested to see if they do
any James Cook contract stuff going on.

Speaker 2 (03:51):
I have. It was kind of the episode one was
kind of a setup, of kind of a foundation, and
that's why I liked the It was very very wholesome,
you know, manuine, just okay, these are the players, these
are the characters, right. There is no drama, there's no real,
real like heavy storylines. They kind of just this was

(04:13):
the introduction to everyone. This was the introduction to the team.
And that's why I think coming away from that first episode,
I just felt lucky as a fan and as for
someone that covers this team, I just felt lucky that
this team. I know they haven't won it all, but
the success that they sustained over the years since we've
been covering this team, I feel lucky. I feel lucky

(04:36):
that as a fan and analysts we've gotten to track
Josh Allen throughout his career that we have as fans
and analysts. A quarterback like Josh Allen, a guy that
understands the city, understands how he grew up, understands what
he needs to do for the city and this team
in order to sustain sustain that success. And so the

(04:59):
other thing is like guys like Brandon Bean and Sean
McDermott in charge. You can see why they hold the
character of these players and those you know, the backgrounds
of these players and how much work they put into
getting to know the person, not just the player, but
the person and their families. Because at the root of

(05:22):
that show the first episode, you could just feel and
sense how important the team, the Bills is you know,
are to these players, but how they are families as
well in the communities. It's just all ingrained. It's all
you could see it and sense it just in that
first episode. I thought HBO did a great job of
relaying that to outsiders.

Speaker 1 (05:43):
Yeah, I thought that was really cool for them really
focusing on that, especially for a baseline episode right to
really establish everything you said, like, the the Bills are
a fabric of the community and the city to a
tremendous degree. And I know that exists for some other teams, right,
Like I know Packers have a huge piece for that,
and I'm sure there's a lot of other like.

Speaker 3 (06:03):
Major City you know, quote unquote teams that it hits with.

Speaker 1 (06:05):
But yeah, that piece was really cool for them, just
to tie it to how much the team matters, and
even you know, Alan speaking on it and the players
speaking on it of what the community means and the
city and what the team means of the city, and
then even time then into guys like you know, Trey
White and highlighting like multiple you know him saying it,
but also being talking about like you know, him feeling

(06:26):
comfortable being home and you know, his family's back here,
and showing the interaction with him and Dion Dawkins's kids
and the whole Uncle Trey bit. It was nice to
to see that again for a I think it was
more of a fluff episode.

Speaker 3 (06:38):
Maybe.

Speaker 1 (06:39):
I wonder how many people who aren't Bill's fans like
like that episode and we're like this is boring, Like
I don't care about this. I'm sure people tuned in
because they were like, oh, I want to see what's
going on with James Cook or I want to see
what's happening behind the scenes. I think this was an
episode very much for Bill's fans and Bill's mafia, and
I think that worked out well and we'll see where

(06:59):
it was from here in terms of what stars they
try to establish, what storylines we get, and again they'll
have content going forward with this James Cook stuff. The
preseason games right around the corner, and then we started
to get into the cuts and all the different things.
But I thought this episode was a very fine baseline, obviously,
more so if you're a Bills fan.

Speaker 2 (07:17):
Very fine baseline, I'm sure from the perspective of Sean
McDermott and Brandon being no drama. There's no drama here,
like it's all family, it's all great everything, But they're
setting they're setting it up because obviously there's some friction
right now when it comes to the James Cooking. We're
gonna talk about that later. But I thought it was
interesting and it's a consistent message that you have heard

(07:39):
from McDermott over the years, that growth mindset and that
speech he had prior to day one of camp.

Speaker 3 (07:45):
And so on brand, so on brand, what he.

Speaker 2 (07:47):
Said, yeah, and it's just when he's when he's talking
about that mindset of you know, practice is important and
don't be afraid to fail. You know, this is the
time you need to do that. When he gave that speech,
it just flows so naturally like he had said it before.
He just that's his thing with him. You can say
anything you want about him, but he is super consistent

(08:08):
and his message is not any different. And you know,
I know a lot of these guys this roster, it's
there's not a lot of turnover, and so a lot
of these guys have heard this message. But it's funny
because when you talk to players, they always say everything
around here is consistent. And Sean McDermott obviously showed that.
And I just love that fact of he was preaching

(08:29):
it's okay to fail. It's okay to fail, just learn
from it. This is practice. This is the time that
you need to do that special if you're young, like
this is the time to grow and grow as a team,
not just as a player, but as a team going forward.

Speaker 1 (08:44):
Yeah, and I think that the quote was there some
of along the lines like you need like kind of
you need to fail in order to become the best
version of yourself or the best of what you can
become or something. And it was just so between that
and him wearing the Playoff Caliber shirt, I was just like,
this is so our brand, Like this is our brand
for McDermott, for the team, even him, you know, even
talking to Terry Pagola and asking Pool, asking about like

(09:07):
Max Harston and then McDermott already being like, you know.

Speaker 3 (09:10):
He's gonna compete.

Speaker 1 (09:10):
He's here to compete with Trey. You know, he's talking
about everything. He's just like I feel like he just
naturally ticks those buzzwords that he's always preaching like and
for as much as he keeps it close to the vest,
I don't think there's much like acting for him on
the show, Like I think this is.

Speaker 3 (09:24):
That was how he is with the cameras are rolling
and when they're.

Speaker 1 (09:27):
Not, Like he he has his credos and his matras
and his buzzwords that he hits them on that Sean
McDermott bingo and continues to just drive it home with
the team.

Speaker 3 (09:37):
Yeah, that right reflected with him right off the bat
for that.

Speaker 2 (09:40):
Yeah, and the obviously Josh Allen was you know, kind
of the star as he should be, you know, And
I love I liked how you heard every player kind
of like pitching their two cents about Josh and Doc
and Dawkins joke, you know, jokingly, he's saying, like we've
seen him grow up before our eyes and even as
fans and analysts like we have too, like we have

(10:03):
really seen him come a long way and everything that
he's earned, like kudos to him, because there have been
several times along the way, whether you're talking back to Wyoming,
back to Ridley College or even as recent as you know,
just a couple of years, even last year, once Diggs left,
he was supposed to regress. He was supposed to regress
after all those weapons that he had at his disposal

(10:25):
for a couple of years. And then what did you do?
Last year? He lit up and he became the MVP.
So it was awesome, you know, for to hear guys
talk about him like that way, and honestly, whether it's
Sean McDermott, Brandon Bean, Joe Brady, I mean, this team
wouldn't be as good as they are without Josh Allen
and Joe Brady even said the only reason I'm here
is because of Josh Allen, and that's true, and so

(10:48):
Josh has made a lot of people's careers. And like
I said, that's why I just feel like we're so
lucky across the board to have that quarterback in Buffalo.

Speaker 1 (10:57):
I think it's still this is another one that like
it maybe hasn't fully hit me, just like the Bills
being good now, has it still fully hit me? Like Yeah,
the magnitude of having Allen, even him talking in like
the lead ups to hard Knocks and even a bit
last night, like that's also go to kind of hit
me to him like damn, like, yeah, he's been in
the league like eight years, like he's going in like

(11:19):
he's closer to thirty now. It's it really does feel
like just yesterday when he was drafted and it was like, oh,
like he's still a bit of a wild horse, but
his mechanics were all over the place and he was
just trucking dudes and he had a canon And I
was still believing that Robert Foster could be a wide
receiver receiver and I still believe it if he didn't
get hurt going into that.

Speaker 3 (11:38):
Next year's camp. That's a conversation for another time. Conversation
for another time.

Speaker 1 (11:42):
But yeah, to see his trajectory as the quarterback of
this team, but just as a player in the league,
and then how the team has kind of been focused
and circled around him, and the different iterations of the
team that's been around him as we progressed year from
yere five a coaching standpoint, from a peace standpoint. Yeah,

(12:03):
that's been cool to see and even just a little
tidbits like Dawkins about to do a rap in him
just being like, this is what we're paid for to
make sure like nobody touches seventeen, even Bobby Babbage and yeah,
that they're in the film room with the defense and
he gave our line. He talked about, you know, the
coverage and the rush have to be like married and
more together. But he says that and leads right into
like nobody touched seventeen. We got to make sure we

(12:24):
don't touch seventeen. You know, he's kind of he says
something along lenges and like him being the meal.

Speaker 3 (12:29):
Taker this and that.

Speaker 1 (12:29):
So even like even in the defensive beating room, it's
just like reminder, Josh Allen is important and very good.

Speaker 2 (12:37):
Yeah, and the cool part obviously this year with like
such little turnover. Where there is turnover, it's almost the
most important piece to a quarterback, and that's a wide
receiver position. There's obviously some turnover there. But we got
to hear and it's not anything new to Bill's fans,
but we got to hear Josh talk about how important

(12:59):
that rapport is with his his wide receivers, which you know,
when he was with Cole Beasley, that was like the
huge storyline every single training camp and it's no different
this year. But it's awesome to hear the communication aspect
of it and how Josh is able to verbalize to
the wide receivers on you know, where he's going to
release it, the trajectory of it. You know, Josh is

(13:22):
huge into golf, and golf is all about muscle memory,
and you could tell Josh has that mindset where he
wants to when he's trying to make a certain throw
to say, Josh Palmer on a fade route which you
saw them practicing a bunch, he wants to drop it
in how Josh Palmer likes to catch it. We've talked
about this, right the different weapons they have in the

(13:43):
wide receiver room. That basketball team approach. Guys that say
they're all running fades. Every single receiver is in a
line the running fades. Each guy is gonna like the
ball places differently. Each guy is gonna want the ball
speed to be differently based on their high height, their length,
you know, how fast they get into that route. Stem

(14:03):
there are many factors that go into that. It was
cool to hear Josh kind of verbalize it and then
work on that fade route to Palmer and if you
guys were paying attention closely, he said that Palmer likes
it dropped in a bucket, whereas when you watch ke
on what's he want to do? He wants to go
up and get it or he wants it on the
back shoulder so he can adjust. Each wide receiver is different,

(14:24):
and you got to see glimpses of that when Josh
Palmer and Josh Allen were working together on that fade route.

Speaker 1 (14:29):
Yeah, that was a really cool piece to see just
in general and especially for myself. I noted that I
think it was on. I mean, they were doing stuff
like that and Brady was getting involved, especially after practice
on day one. But that film piece that we saw
last night was really on day two and I remember
posting about it and it was just cool to see that,

(14:52):
Like I could tell what was going on, but it
was almost exactly like what was going on. They were
taught and Palmer was going over, Yeah, how he he
likes the ball, and was talking to him about the
timing and the tempo, the route and what he looks
for and when he's trying to throw it and what
he's going to do. And that was happening so much
early on with Palmer and Alan and then yeah, Joe

(15:12):
Brady would come in and talk to Palmer about some things.
And that's important, you know, especially with the role that
we anticipate Palmer having, and especially with the injuries we've
seen thus far in camp, with some guys being banged up.
We need to see a lot from Josh Palmer. He's
got to be that man, you know, separator. He's going
to be towards the top of the depth chart. He's
going to give us probably the best chance of that

(15:34):
true X presence this year for that team. So their
report needs to be on point and their timing and
their chemistry and understanding and yeah, you know, he's right
up there. I think, you know, Shakira is Shakir and
Coleman is still developing. But Palmer, it's really good to
just see them aligning and what we surmise is happening
in camp being actually what's happening when the mics are

(15:57):
on and the footage is rolling, and you know, being
able to kind of put those together and that those
two are going to be even if Palmer it's not
like Palmer used to be a ninety catch, one hundred
catch guy, even if it's like fifty to sixty five.
But where he matters is going to be when Allen
needs him on those third downs, maybe red zone stuff,
like he matters schematically to this offense.

Speaker 3 (16:14):
So that was cool to see.

Speaker 2 (16:16):
Yeah, and in that segment you kind of saw Josh
making some like awesome throws, like his throwing motion, his
I would say, like the stroke of his throws, like
they're just so on point.

Speaker 1 (16:29):
Now, the rotational aspect of it, like I remember some
quarterbacks like rotational athletes, and it flows so well with
the golf swing, like you can see him just following
through biting the burger.

Speaker 3 (16:38):
The motion.

Speaker 2 (16:39):
Yeah, it's it's so much different than when he came
into the league. Everything was violent. It was so violent,
and it was more of like a whipping motion, but
now it's it's that torso that rotational twist to his
body and his frame, and you can see it all
all that energy being directed, you know, all the way
out of his eye, of his arm and hands onto

(17:01):
the ball and just and he's dropping it down to
different platforms, like just some of the throws that they
obviously were putting a slow motion, you know, because they
look cool. You can just see how far he's come.
And again, I just it's been so much fun to
cover him because of his success, you know, the success
on the field, but also how he's changed literally everything

(17:22):
about his life on and off the field, but more
so the mechanics of how he throws, which is obviously
the most important thing for a quarterback.

Speaker 3 (17:29):
Yeah, you and you nailed kind of how he threw.

Speaker 1 (17:32):
Initially, I was I, I don't know why I went
back and I was watching like a bunch of YouTube
highlights of his rookie season stuff and even the that's
the throw to Robert Foster against the Jags.

Speaker 3 (17:42):
Like he was almost like he threw like first.

Speaker 1 (17:47):
Of all, his motion, his mechanics were like inconsistent they
changed almost from throw to throw. But yeah, he threw
almost like the way I always compared to like a
like a person on like a track team throws like
a javelin. Like it was just this weird like his
body would be too in front of his should and
it was like he was pushing but also violently snapping
the ball and yet to see where he is now,
you can almost see the energy transfer, especially on those

(18:08):
slow motion throws, like going from like the lower body
through the upper through the arm, all the way through
the fingertips to the spin on the ball, like it's
just and like you said, it's just so effortless, and
it's really nice to see because we were sitting here
at this point last year before this past season talking
about he's got to clean up some of his mechanics stuff,
and we didn't know if that lack of offseason were

(18:30):
due to injury or anything else.

Speaker 3 (18:32):
Was kind of compromising that a bit.

Speaker 1 (18:34):
And then we spent a bunch of the twenty twenty
four season here in the film room highlighting his mechanics
and his throwing motion and all of those pieces, and
it really paid dividends for him last year and for
the offense.

Speaker 2 (18:44):
Yeah, and this is a scene fro him. I'm not
going to hit play or anything, but I wanted to
talk about real, real.

Speaker 3 (18:49):
Quick Steven goznew wide receiver war Yes.

Speaker 2 (18:51):
And Brady is in the background kind of narrating how
the mechanics and communication between Josh and his receivers has
been so good. And this was a play where Josh
hit Gosnell. Who is this wide receiver right here hopefully
you can see it, but he's this guy right here,

(19:12):
He's the number two guy in that set builds in
a trip set to the top of the screen. Gosnell
runs a deep corner. The guy inside him, the number
one inside right up the hash there, he runs a
post and then the number one outside, who's kind of
trailing a couple of yards behind them, runs just an
inbreaking route's kind of it's called the divide route. And

(19:33):
so you have a post safety DeMar Hamlin on the
bottom hash right here, he's getting back to the post.
So that post route, by the I don't even know
who it is, honestly, but he runs a post route.
This guy right here runs a post takes a post safety. Yeah,
And so this is a really good, like too high
safety beater. Well, Gosnell is really running is what I

(19:54):
think Joe Brady calls like the love of the game route. Right,
He's kind of just trying to clear this corner out
so that this guy right here can get it under underneath.
But Josh sees Gosnell gets some separation, he hits him
deep for a deep touchdown. It was, you know, one
of those those plays that's like, Hey, Brady was kind
of giving props to Gosnell and saying, Hey, this is

(20:17):
one route. I'm just gonna run it all out. If
he didn't run it all out, he would have gotten
a touchdown. And one of the few opportunities early on
that Gosnell got, he took advantage of it, went all
out and earned that touchdown on this play.

Speaker 1 (20:29):
Yeah, and then Brady mocked his spike the spike came
through yeah.

Speaker 3 (20:34):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (20:34):
And I think Brady was talking about it in another
clip too. I think he literally called him like a
Joe Brady route, yeah.

Speaker 3 (20:41):
Which I thought was super funny.

Speaker 1 (20:42):
That, like, that's the verbiage they use for the yeah,
for the you know your hey, you're just pulling coverage.

Speaker 3 (20:48):
Hey, it's for the level of the game route.

Speaker 1 (20:49):
I like that that that's kind of understood, like, hey,
you got a Joe Brady route on this.

Speaker 3 (20:53):
One and that's the end. Then Alan put it right
on Gosnell.

Speaker 1 (20:57):
This was one I think that was highlighted a bunch
by people at camp that day, especially because this was
one of those days too where it felt like every
receiver was dropping like flies. And then got Snell made
that catch and all of a sudden it was like,
oh man, is this the new Andy Isabella?

Speaker 2 (21:10):
Oh yeah, who just I think he was too, uh no,
it was. There's some cool stuff like there. Unfortunately for
us here in the film room, there's not many like
cuts that we can kind of analyze, which we'd love
to do if in training camp footage. But one guy
that you just almost have to talk about because he's

(21:31):
just so likable. And my wife even was like, God,
Trey is awesome. Trade like to have him back, like
it just it hits me in all the fields right,
like to have him back, to have him healthy. He
just you can just see in sense that he feels
at home and his family feels at home, and when
you're comfortable and you can just worry about work in

(21:55):
your craft, you have a guy that can really help
this Bills defense this year if he stays healthy. And
we'll talk about Harriston in a second, but Trey White,
I'm happy is back. And I think it was such
a smart move by Brandon. Mean, it's a perfect and
they painted the picture beautifully, Yeah they did. And Try

(22:15):
admitted that he sees a lot of himself in Harriston,
whether it's the first round pick and all that stuff.
I think it was such a smart move by Brandon,
being one of the smarter moves that we've seen in
the last few off seasons.

Speaker 1 (22:28):
Yes, especially with Harston unfortunately getting banged up now. And yeah,
it just seemed like such a great answer for depth
and potential competition. You've got someone who is so well
liked and respected in the building, with the front office,
with the players, you know, on the field, off the field,
within the community, with the families of you know, he

(22:48):
talked about it like he built he has genuine friends
on this team, and you know we mentioned earlier, you know,
him interacting with Dean Dawkins's kids, and it really it
really was great from a culture standpoint, in and off
the field standpoint. And then we've seen him just rocking
out in camp so far and even a bit last night.

Speaker 3 (23:07):
I think it was, you know, coach, a guy who
just kept yeah T White, Yeah T White, squeezing T
White like this.

Speaker 1 (23:13):
Just a hollering for him almost every clip through through
some of the Hard Knocks pieces, and Trey was locking
dudes down at different points, and yeah, this has gone
from a nice depth signing, potential competition and a feel
good moment to a guy who has looked very good.

Speaker 3 (23:30):
And McDermott said it to Terry Pagola.

Speaker 1 (23:31):
When Pegola asked, he was like, you know, he's been
trending up like this positive trajectory, you know, the past year,
and has been completely healthy, no setbacks, was the verbid,
Sean McDermott used, And we noted that with us seeing
him in person, he just looks healthy. He looks confident
physically and mentally, and I'm sure not to kind of
play into it too much.

Speaker 3 (23:51):
I'm sure being back home quote unquote yeah helps.

Speaker 1 (23:53):
You play like that, especially when we know that his
road to recovery off the first injury. He talked about
being in dark place and the mental side of it,
like that's an aspect that every player feels and you
can tell that he feels good physically and mentally and
it's manifesting on the field.

Speaker 2 (24:07):
Yeah, he's in a great headspace too. It just it's
all working out for him. You see the quickness in
his feet, But more importantly you see that quickness one
because he sees it and he anticipates it. He's seeing
a lot in the length of his career and he
trusts that his body is going to react how he
wants it to. That health is important, that trust from Again, Hey,

(24:32):
your brain's telling you I need to break on this
ball because they're running a speed out. His body is
now able to do that now that he's healthy, and
that's why you're seeing. And you saw in a bunch
of these clips where he was straight locking guys down.
Here he gets keon Coleman along the boundary, but he
was doing a lot of things where he was choking

(24:52):
routes in zone where you know he's in zone and
maybe they're running a high low right and then there's
some guy coming on a route and he is taking
that away. He's beating them to that spot and choking
that route off in elimiting that eliminitting that guy as
a threat in his own coverage and you're just starting
to see that more and more, and that is something

(25:13):
he was so good at years ago.

Speaker 1 (25:14):
Yeah, the ability to choke that space and squeeze that space.
And you know, we we talked about it leading into
camp and or actually going through camp, I should say,
just that spatial awareness and the ability to collect and
pass guys off and not just cover grass and function
and he was just seemingly in the right place at
the right time for a lot of coverage reps. Now, no,

(25:37):
that doesn't mean he was perfect. That doesn't mean he
was this he's back to being completely all portray so
on and so forth. But yeah, this went from It
was nice to see in the episode, like the nice
pieces right in the hymn at Pittsford Dairy, which man,
I wish I had some Pittsford Dairy.

Speaker 3 (25:53):
That was like one of my.

Speaker 2 (25:53):
Big Yeah, we had to stop there when I took
the Family's so good.

Speaker 1 (25:57):
I want to get some chocolate from there, like a
seven of ice cream. But like that, it was him
with Benford and the whole trade. A Sunday piece was cool,
but him actually on the field, very effective. Like again
you see him here on Shakir just in lockstep with
him the whole way. I remember this route too, because
he picked him up coming from across the field, like
you just see, you just see really good functionality coming

(26:21):
from him. And that was important in general, right, But
then with Harriston picking up that injury, if he can
just get closer to versions of himself, and it was
really cool seeing him get the extra work running on
the hill. I thought that was awesome.

Speaker 3 (26:33):
And he said, what did he say?

Speaker 1 (26:35):
Like everything that you can do to kind of get
an edge on your competition, bump yourself up a little bit.
Like he's here to work. He's here to compete. He's
not here to just be home and be a nice story.
He's here to be that CB too and be that starter.
And he's looked every bit the part of it in camp.

Speaker 2 (26:49):
If he stays healthy, I just don't know how Harriston
can really take that cornerback to position back.

Speaker 3 (26:59):
Especially with him missing.

Speaker 1 (27:00):
I'm now and it's not even really a competition anymore,
Like it's I already thought Trey was getting the Lion's
share and looking to be the CB two before Harrison
went down. And then Harrison went down, and yeah, I
think it's not a lock, and you know fingers crossed,
no jinks.

Speaker 3 (27:16):
And all that. By yea, I completely agree.

Speaker 2 (27:18):
And even with Harrison down, you saw Trey White hitting
the hills, running the hills. He just yeah, he's got it.
And I think it was Babbage that said it that
there's two guys that are on a mission this year,
and one of them is Trey White, the other one
is Greg Russo. And you saw some of those tidbits
and breadcrumbs in this episode. So now let's take it

(27:39):
and talk about Harrison. And this was one play we
everyone has seen. I think the Bills haven't posted. It's
a play.

Speaker 1 (27:47):
From the end zone angle, so we are behind Hambler
and Harriston.

Speaker 2 (27:50):
Right, so there's an inbreaker here. Harrison's kind of entrail.
I can't tell it just based on this angle if
if this is even his zone. But that recovery speed,
the ability to get back in the play was really
on full display right there as you see him come
back and make a play on the ball. And that's
something we talked about with him when we broke him down, right,
the ability to recover, and it almost looks like he

(28:13):
baits the quarterback here too. Because his eyes and hips
are down. He's just waiting. He's waiting, and then as
that ball is thrown, you see him immediately boom, come
flat across, break on it, and make a play on
the ball. That is what Harrison brings to this defense.
And again, I don't know if we'll see him this year,
but that is the ability that I'm sure this regime

(28:38):
has wanted at the cornerback position over the last couple
of years.

Speaker 1 (28:41):
Yeah, and this was right after you know, I think
they actually showed the play right before on for a
positive for Josh and hard knocks. Right before this, he
broke on an underneath rout from Samuel by the sideline
and almost got the PBu or almost got an interception,
but Allen put it right on the money and Samuel
got it. And this was like literally the next play,
which is part of why Harrison's so amped up when

(29:04):
he gets his hands down and gets the PBu because
he just missed it on the play before gets it
on this one.

Speaker 3 (29:08):
He's feeling it as soon as he gets up.

Speaker 1 (29:10):
Yeah, that was again what we highlighted with him coming
out of Kentucky, like that recovery speed is his calling card,
Like not even just the explosion in the juice, but
the recovery speed, especially where if he does get beat
or if he is in an disadvantageous position, he's got
the athleticism the juice to kind of make up for it.
I and I'm trying to remember I feel like he Yeah,

(29:31):
from that angle, it looks like he baited him on purpose.
And now I kind of want, like I want like
the all twenty two like bird's eye view from Fisher
to really confirmed, because I remember off like.

Speaker 3 (29:39):
My naked eye at camp.

Speaker 1 (29:40):
I was like, oh, he got beat but recovered before
there to your point, Yeah, it kind of looks like
he's just sitting.

Speaker 2 (29:45):
Waiting, squatting too. That's what it looks like, the way
he opened.

Speaker 1 (29:49):
And and then seeing where Hamlin was, I remember being
or Ham Yeah, DeMar Ham Hamlin and Hamler. That's gonna
drive me in saying on the same place. Yeah, like
where in relation to where DeMar Ha Hamlin was. Yeah,
that's a cuvery speed.

Speaker 3 (30:03):
That's all the matters.

Speaker 1 (30:04):
Play Got Dead plays down, PBu nice play for Harriston.

Speaker 3 (30:07):
You was feeling it.

Speaker 2 (30:08):
Yeah, I'm excited about Trey. I'm excited about the future.
Harrison I think eventually he will get some playing time,
but there's no rush at this point given the injury
and really the disaster that the Bills and Harriston escaped
with that that obviously that leg injury. So but it
was again, it was cool to hear Trey and to

(30:30):
see Trey in his element and how you heard Spencer
Brown talk about it today and his press a after practice,
how important and how much juice Trey White brings to
the team and especially some some of that like swagger
and looseness in the cornerback room, a room that you know,
over the last couple of years as good as Ben
for you know, Ben overall is a collective unit. There

(30:52):
have been some some pretty down times when it comes
to big games.

Speaker 3 (30:57):
Yeah, we've highlighted it too much at this point on
this show.

Speaker 1 (31:02):
And if if he can just be a calming presence,
if he can just be to what Rasoul Douglas was
a couple of years ago, that's much better than what
the Bills were in twenty twenty four, and again potentially
even more so from even from a ceiling perspective versus
what they were at Rasoul because of you know, we
thought Rasoul was a good fit he was for that

(31:23):
first year.

Speaker 3 (31:24):
Yeah, Trey is a.

Speaker 1 (31:25):
Good fit for this system because he's been in this
system so long and he knows what to do and
knows where to be and how to be there. And
he has the trust and respect of his teammates and
the coaching staff. And if he's feeling good physically, like
it looks like he is, and he's feeling good mentally,
it's cool. And again he always had that you have
good call there from Ron two. Yeah, Milano continues to flash.

(31:47):
Just it's nice to see him without braces on any
of his extremities legs or arms and just watching him
flow sideline to sideline and just wrap after rep or
seeing that juice and that that that trigger come back
to his game.

Speaker 2 (32:00):
Matthew says, Trey's probably lost a step that he won't
get back, but if he comes in and locks it
down in the red zone while Max develops, that would
be the best case scenario. Yeah, he probably like he
doesn't have the long speed he had in you know,
prior years, but he's still got that trigger in the
short area, especially if you're talking in off coverage. And
in the end, we know that the primary you know,

(32:23):
defense for the Bills being nickel with tearing in there,
that five man weave on the back end, those defensive
backs all work together. It's more system oriented, you know,
when it comes to coverages, it's not often where the
Bills ask a lot of one on ones. Now we
want to see some of that in certain situations, and
I think Trey's going to surprise a lot of people

(32:44):
in those situations because he's still got enough to be
competitive in one on one. You know, scenarios if we're
talking man coverage and be pesky and irritating to an
opposing wide receiver, but overall, the system really kind of
protects these guys from being exposed all too often. If
we're talking about getting beat deep down the field and

(33:05):
that long speed that you know Matt is kind of
referencing here.

Speaker 1 (33:09):
Yeah that's fair and uh yeah, that was tied into
like my biggest takeaway from him. I just wasn't expecting
to see that short area closing ability from him, you know,
where he isn't off coverage and someone runs a hitch
or a speed out and he triggers and he gone
like after him like it's a quick plant and bang,
And I was like, oh, that's nice to see and
him doing similar things like you know, on whip routes

(33:31):
underneath and jerk routes, the same thing, like being able
to just plant on both legs, being full movement plant drive.
He's not having to take multiple steps and hitch and
gather and kind of move.

Speaker 3 (33:41):
It's just a quick he's reading and reacting.

Speaker 1 (33:44):
He looks healthy, and I feel like he knows that
he's healthy, so he's able to play faster because he
doesn't have that hesitancy knowing, oh, man, is my knee good?

Speaker 3 (33:52):
Is my ANKI good? Or my is my achilles good?

Speaker 1 (33:54):
Like you don't have to play with that trepidation and
you can just play free totally.

Speaker 2 (33:58):
Yeah, it's uh, it's gonna be fun to watch as
the season progresses and you know, guys get healthy and
hopefully stay healthy. So with that said, I thought it
was a great first episode. We're gonna transition to another topic,
but I thought it was a great episode and we
got to really you know, meet the see the fabric
of this team, see the fabric of their star players,

(34:21):
and the important cornerstones to this franchise, you know, over
the last few years, but also ahead of us like
this year, these guys are going to be the main
characters in this movie.

Speaker 1 (34:32):
Yeah, it was cool to see that, even for a
guy like you know, I tweeted earlier today, like my
favorite piece from the episode was Harston going down and
Benford normally a guy who is very stoic and like
I did, very calm and reserve and kind of just
keeps to himself, being like, hey, you all right, and
he's like you to say a prayer, and he grabbed
him and did the I just thought that was so

(34:53):
cool to see from somebody who is an ascending player
already one of the best players on the Bills becoming
one of the best better players at his position in
the entire NFL. But that leadership and that compassion, like
those are those are the type of dudes you want
leading your football team. And again, we're still last year
was a big transition with Diggs going and Morse and

(35:15):
Hide Employer and and Trey and then Trey came back,
but we're still in the process of establishing that new
leadership with that new culture taking it forward. And it
was h Yeah, pretty pretty indicating to see, like who
got some shine last night? And because you know, hard
Knocks is going to identify those guys. They want to
put the main characters out in the forefront so that
people can see that. And yeah, really cool to see

(35:37):
an episode one, a nice feel good reepisode for Bills fans.

Speaker 3 (35:41):
We'll see what episode two brings and we'll see.

Speaker 1 (35:44):
How much James Cook is I focus and how much
feel good are there is there potentially as we go
through the rest of this weekend into episode two.

Speaker 2 (35:51):
He will one be the lead off character.

Speaker 1 (35:55):
I was gonna say, I think sure the episode starting,
he's just in street closed riding the bikes on the
bike ye, and he was riding it all jokes aside,
that's how he was riding it, like just chilling, like
as if he was like just yeah, it's just it's
so easy to hear.

Speaker 2 (36:09):
Yeah, it's it's coming, it's coming, and so expect it.
So he's our next topic. James Cook. I think today
it was technically his third day of the holding.

Speaker 3 (36:19):
Yes, but it started Sunday. Yes. Yeah.

Speaker 2 (36:21):
So there's some pretty big news that dropped yesterday when
it comes to contracts in the running back position. Kyron Williams,
who's a very good back man, like super underrated if
you're just protector. Yeah, if you're just an average NFL fan,
you're prov like, Okay, he's not really a big name,
but he is a feature back in n LA and

(36:43):
he got paid. It was something in the in the
realm of what three years, thirty three million, uh, And
it's very It's a very good number for a running back,
first of all.

Speaker 1 (36:53):
Yeah, and he's right around like the Aaron Jones type
of range of running backs, and Aaron Jones is a
very good running back.

Speaker 2 (36:59):
It's a very good starting point and blueprint for the
James Cook contract. So I'm gonna get your thoughts on
those two players, Cook versus Williams. Some of the differences,
some of the you know, the stylistically, the roles and
things they're asked to do. What are you looking for
in James Cook's contract? On top of again, the differences

(37:19):
between those two.

Speaker 3 (37:21):
Man, I'm so torn on.

Speaker 1 (37:23):
This is the range that I thought, realistically he could
get anywhere from ten to thirteen million per season if
we're just talking from an average annual value standpoint. Before
the Kyrone contract came out. It was kind of always
my thought and I would be comfortable giving him like
eleven million per season. I'm still it's tough because so

(37:43):
many of my players have been running backs and I
love running backs.

Speaker 3 (37:46):
It's still tough.

Speaker 1 (37:47):
We're running back a second contract knowing kind of like
what we know in football, but with how good he
is and his mileage isn't really too much on the
tires considering how he's been used these first several years
in his career, I would be okay with this kind
of contract coming his way from him three years, thirty
three million.

Speaker 3 (38:02):
We'll see if he is.

Speaker 1 (38:03):
You know, he might be sitting there and being like, well,
I'm ten times better than Kirad Williams, so I need
that fifteen million per But I thought this was a
good benchmark, and yeah, they are different kinds of players.
I had talked about this last night on the show,
and I feel like a lot of people on Twitter too,
were kind of just using it as the benchmark because
people just don't know, like the raw stats bang and
there we go like, but Kyron and not to keep

(38:24):
you know, banging this drum. He gives you the ability
to be on the field for all three downs because
he can give you quality raps as a runner, as
a pass catcher and especially as a pass protector.

Speaker 3 (38:35):
Cook I think is the superior runner.

Speaker 1 (38:38):
I think he's a better pass catcher or better with
the ball in his hands, I should say. But then
the pass protection is just not close. So the snap
share really isn't there. Like Kyron was almost never leaving
the field, almost to the point last year where because
they drafted Blake Korham last year and it was like, oh,
Korum's gonna get injected, and it was just like nope,
Kyra Williams is gonna be on the field for like

(38:58):
eighty five percent of the snaps. But Cook is, Yeah,
more explosive, more jews. But Kyron is just this, and
I mean this in a positive way. This real just
steady eddy at the running back spot that can do
a multitude of things at an above average or quality level,
and he provides a really nice, calming and effective presence
in that offense.

Speaker 2 (39:16):
Yeah, I mean, Cook, including the playoffs, has fifty six
games to Kyen's forty one, thirty one touchdowns to thirty
two touchdowns by Williams. You said it, James Cook is
more explosive yards per reception if we're talking to the
receiving game, eight point eight yards per reception in the
receiving game to six point one from Kyron Williams one
hundred and eleven receptions for Cook versus Kyroen's eighty and

(39:40):
then four in the running game four point nine yards
per rush to four or five by Kyron. And it
is I think if we're talking explosivity, it's obviously James Cook.
I think it's James Cook, but I also think Kyron.
Where Cook is explosive, Kyron is he is consistent and
he has as a thing for scoring touchdowns in and

(40:02):
around the goal line. Like he's a good short yardage back.
He's a rock man. He's like a little he's a
mini version of a muscle hampster. Like he a run
so hard. He's not fast. He's actually kind of slow.

Speaker 3 (40:13):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (40:14):
I think he ran like a four to seven. Yeah,
like a four to six. He's a yeah slow.

Speaker 2 (40:17):
Yeah, but he can make plays when you know you're
at the low red zone and you need a touchdown.
He scores a lot of touchdowns in that low red zone.
But you're looking at some of these advanced stats, surprisingly
Cook a scene more eight man boxes, and I think
that is has a lot to do with the offense

(40:38):
in Joe Brady and going under center, a lot condensed formations, right,
bringing everyone into the box. I think that's a big thing.
But a lot of these numbers are pretty close, except
for again the explosive percentage from scrimmage eight point eight
again for James Cook in six point two for Kyrom Williams.
So I like the contract to Williams. I honestly didn't

(41:00):
think that being would go anywhere near that. Yes, but
when when you consider everything where this team's at, and
let's be honest, James Cook is probably their most explosive
player on offense aside from Josh Allen, and he is
very important, and you know, you want to argue he's

(41:21):
who's more important than Josh Allen aside from Josh Allen,
Cook's in the conversation and.

Speaker 3 (41:27):
Between like Cook and Dawkins Hawkins.

Speaker 2 (41:29):
Yeah, and let's be honest here, we're also this, you know,
guys that love running backs kind of the position we played.
That offensive line has a big deal.

Speaker 3 (41:40):
It has a.

Speaker 2 (41:40):
Lot to do with that. And and so James Cook
has averaged I don't want to say it's like four
point nine two yards before contact, whereas Cairo and I
think was four or five. I'm gonna have to pull
it up. I know I sent it to Joe. I
don't see it on here. But obviously James Cook consistently

(42:02):
has a better offensive line last few years.

Speaker 1 (42:04):
Yes, and yeah, the Rams, I mean the Rams line
the past couple of years has been just plagued and
marred by injuries. They can't they lost guys in free agency,
they haven't been able to stay healthy. They've got like
third and fourth string guys at multiple spots, especially in
twenty twenty three. Twenty twenty three was worse, but far
significantly worse than twenty twenty four. But yeah, they've been

(42:26):
affected with a bunch of injuries and they have some
again going into this year.

Speaker 3 (42:30):
Yeah, I think for.

Speaker 1 (42:31):
And we've applauded this Bill's offensive line so much, and
for as good as this offensive line is, and it
is very good, and for what they afford Allen and
the offense and the run game, there are plenty of
examples of Cook kind of playing above the scheme and
his ability. You know, we talk about it so much
with the core concept the core concepts that the Bills run.

Speaker 3 (42:52):
He fits all of them so well.

Speaker 1 (42:53):
The gap scheme, stuff like duo and dart and the
tackle long trap stuff, every all the tackle pull outs,
but then the zone pieces as well.

Speaker 2 (43:01):
Go ahead, So I found I found those numbers that
was way off. Okay, so yards before contact per rush
for James Cook one point nine two not four nine
two one point ninety two Kien Williams one point five
to five. So it kind of gives you not all
of the contexts, but let you know, hey, the offensive
line's blocking up more, it's creating more displacement for James

(43:24):
Cook than Kyron Williams. And then yards post contact per
rush for James Cook two nine four Kyen Williams two
point nine six. I honestly thought Kyroon would be higher
when it comes to that, but again I think it's
fair to say you outlined it. Injuries have been a
huge factor in la complete opposite for the Bills when
we're talking the offensive line.

Speaker 1 (43:42):
Yeah that you know, fingers crossed, no chinks for this
season the Bills. Mine has been healthy and functional and
and that's what makes them, that's what makes them so
deadly with what the Bills do, because you could function
so well on the zone runs and then on like
the true gap scheme stuff. But then even the pieces
like duo where there are people moving on the line,
if they or the defense inserts and fits on the inside,

(44:03):
he just bounces it and he's there's a good chance
he's gonna beat that corner one on one, either to
the corner to get upfield, or he can run through
him a little bit with some of the strength he
showed last year.

Speaker 3 (44:13):
He just fits this offense so well.

Speaker 1 (44:15):
And that's why it's such a conundrum for me, potentially
because I don't want to pay a running back a
second contract, but he also doesn't have a ton of
mileage on the tires, and I really do believe in
the offensive line in the system, but he also shows
the ability to play above the offensive line in the system.
And the only reason that really causes the most trepidation
for me is knowing Connor McGovern's a the UFA next year

(44:38):
and so is David Edwards. And if it comes down to, like,
can you use some of that money to keep one
or both or is it Cook and one of them
or Cook in something else to mitigate like that's where
we kind of play this game. But I do think
Cook deserves to get paid. It's just a matter of
whether or not it's by the bills.

Speaker 2 (44:56):
And if that number is high enough to stay in
bu Buffalo versus another team, maybe he wants to go
to a bigger market.

Speaker 1 (45:04):
You know what I mean, Like there maybe or maybe
somebody will come close to being like you know, we
put some feelers out there and we think there are
some teams that are going.

Speaker 3 (45:11):
To give him fourteen or fifteen million a year.

Speaker 2 (45:12):
And then it's like, oh yeah, And Jason says here
he only plays fifty percent of the snaps though, And
I know when you compare a snap percentage of Cook
versus Kyroen, it's almost two to one ratio. It's it's
it's damn near close two to one ratio. Kyroen has
been more of a feature back. And but that doesn't
mean that's it's almost goes back to scouting one to one.

(45:33):
That doesn't mean that James Cook isn't as good as
Kyraen Williams. Though. That just means that this approach by
this staff, whether you're talking to coaches or the front office,
they have a different philosophy when it comes to running backs.
They only want Cook and on certain certain situations, now
you could say, oh, it's because he doesn't block well well.

(45:53):
The Bills also don't ask their running backs to block
a whole hell of a lot. So again, that tells
you something about that. And so it also tells you that, hey,
Brandon Bean's pretty freaking good because he puts Ty Johnson
out there, he puts Ray Davis out there. It's not
a steep drop off. So again, just because the snap
percentages are what they are, doesn't mean that James Cook

(46:16):
isn't as good in most areas of Kyron aside from blocking.
I think it's pretty obvious Kyroen's a better blocker, especially
anchoring and lighting dudes up, like he can anchor and
take on a blitzing linebacker from the second level. Cook
an idea, but not can't always be consistent and you know,
consistently anchor at that point of attack. But so get

(46:37):
I get what Jason saying here, but again go back
to scouting one to one. Doesn't mean he can't do it,
doesn't mean he can't get eighty percent of the snaps.
It just the Bills are built different when we're talking
the roster in how they want to approach things philosophically.

Speaker 1 (46:50):
Yeah, and I also think too, like that's it's not
even necessarily a knock on Cook, even though it kind
of like is with the blocking stuff, Like if Cook
was a really strong, above average, there's a chance he's
like a top five or top three running back in
the league.

Speaker 3 (47:03):
Like those guys aren't.

Speaker 1 (47:05):
Like you've got Saquon, You've got Bijon, like you've got Mcamp,
like you've got a few handful of like true quote
unquote three down running backs in the league. But also
to your point, the idea of like the three down
belcow running backs still doesn't really exist. Like all these
teams do have a lot of like the one A
or the one B or the one and a close

(47:27):
to so scheme and usage and structure of an offense
tying into the skill set in the trades I think
matters so much. Yeah, it's it's a very i think
contextual conversation, but a good reference point because they are different.
But that contract does come into play and is a relevance.

Speaker 2 (47:45):
So and to kind of round out the segment and
to kind of give you a little more context to
pass blocking and we're talking James Cook and how he's
maybe not as good as a Ti Johnson or even
as a Kyrien Williams ty Johnson obviously their third down bellcow.
Last year, he only stayed in the past block thirty
one times, thirty one times.

Speaker 3 (48:06):
James Cook two times a game.

Speaker 2 (48:08):
Yeah, James Cook fourteen, Ray Davis eleven.

Speaker 1 (48:11):
So you can say, we talk about all the time
how the Bills tried to get like all five out eligible.

Speaker 2 (48:16):
And they've they've been top five in that department of
getting all of their eligible guys, you know, running backs,
wide receivers and tit ands out in the routes. They've
been top five in that category the last few years
and last year was no different. So again, it's not
that he can't get into that eighty percent TOL and
we're talking snat percentage because he's not a good blocker. Well,

(48:37):
I could live with James Cook blocking thirty one times
for the year if that meant he's going to get
more touches and get eighty percent staying. I could live
with that one. Because you have a great offensive line. Two,
your your OC Joe Brady believes that the front five
up front can hold down the four and or Josh
can bail him out because he doesn't take sacks to

(48:58):
turn it over. Yeah, don't chang hopefully don'tchink that.

Speaker 3 (49:02):
Yeah, fingers cross.

Speaker 2 (49:03):
So again, that just just adds some context of that conversation.
But I do think that's a great starting point. And
whereas two weeks ago I was like, you know what,
James Cook, let him play it out. That number is
pretty enticing. If you're talking about spreading it out over
the next three years, you know, from from the final

(49:24):
year of his deal, I think I could work with that,
and I would not be mad if being did that
and extended him for you know, again three years or so.

Speaker 1 (49:33):
Yeah, and his again, the importance not even just in
this year like their Shakir is Shakir, and we're talking
from a pure weapons standpoint, the most important weapons to
this offense after you know, it depended on if you're
counting Josh Allen or not, are Shakir and Cook, And
you can make the case I think for either one
being above the other, potentially Cook. My my biggest great

(49:54):
from that Chiefs game is why I wanted Cook to
get the ball more early and then even late like
I just especially when Allen was struggling or lear in
that AFC Championship game. I was like, just ride Cook,
just give him the just give Cook the ball, especially because.

Speaker 3 (50:04):
I thought he was fresher.

Speaker 1 (50:05):
Yeah, it's a it's a very interesting conversation. And yeah,
you to your point. I really didn't think the bills
would come anywhere close, Like I thought Bean was given
a lot of lip service and Cook was probably gone,
but maybe not now based off some of the things
that being has said, some of the reports, and then
this contract, you know if it kind of again or
Cook could be just sticking to the rumored guns that

(50:28):
he has and it's you know what, No, I want
fifteen million per I want to be the second eyes
paid running back. And if that's the case, Okay, the
kirrent contract doesn't mean anything to you, Good luck, godspeed,
have fun going to play for.

Speaker 3 (50:38):
I was gonna say the Raiders, but they have Gente
who to jags for? Somebody that's gonna a you that.

Speaker 1 (50:43):
But yeah, it's very interesting now, especially with the hold
in like and being talked about it like this is
the first person he's ever had like not practice or
whatever due to contract stuff. Like I wonder does that
push them closer or does that cause more friction and
push them farther and I'm very interested to see if
we get any of that on camera, and if they.

Speaker 2 (51:02):
Put it on yes, yeah, seriously, let's it. They'll they'll
go the whole week and like highlight the drama and
the friction, and then like Monday, probably Tuesday, sometime before
the episode actually airs, they'll extend him.

Speaker 3 (51:20):
Right at seven thirty. Yeah.

Speaker 2 (51:23):
Yeah, yeah. So yeah, with that said, let's let's move
on to some other, you know, training camp stuff. The
James Cook thing. It's it's going to be there for
the foreseeable future and hopefully we get some resolution there.
But who are some guys if we're we're talking camp
stock report to kind of run out this episode that
have stood out to you over the last week or so?

Speaker 1 (51:45):
Uh, you know, I think Tyrol Shavers has been one
for me. I was really bummed last No, not last Sunday,
whatever the Sunday was before. Yeah, two Sundays ago when
he hurt. When he got hurt, people were crowding around him.
They brought hired out for him. Like I thought he
was done. His ankle looked like not to be in
a good way. But then he was back and he's
been practicing and I think he's been someone who's benefited

(52:08):
from the multitude of injuries at the wide receiver spot,
like they've been throwing a bunch of dudes in to
get reps with the ones. And again he's got like
he's not the most athletic, but he's athletic. He's not
the biggest or the longest, but he's got some size
and some length to him. Like he's this weird he's not.
He's not the best route runner, but he's also a
decent enough route runner. He's got some bend to him,

(52:29):
like he's got a bunch of you know, eggs and
different baskets within the trades of a wide receiver. And
for a team that has Curtis Samuel banged up again
and you know Elijah Morris kind of penciling in. Is
that fifth dude, But also maybe not, he's been he
missed a day or two. I think he's been trending
up and he has been a nice piece to see

(52:50):
and he's made some plays at different points throughout camp
the past couple of years.

Speaker 3 (52:53):
I think he's one that's uh trended up a bit.

Speaker 2 (52:55):
Yeah, big special teams player has that size and catch radius,
and I think his game probably resembles Coleman in a
lot of ways. And we talked about having a wide
receiver room that has built like a basketball team and
having different skill sets and body types. I think Shavers
is in along that you know, frame of Coleman and

(53:18):
a guy they obviously would like to keep around. But
you know, you see Shavers just consistently make plays win
given those opportunities, and guys like him with his size
and body and frame, they extend that the strike zone
for quarterbacks. And that's very important when you're talking about
a niche down player like we've seen Coleman become early
on when they're in the red zone, the low red zone,

(53:41):
or they need that fifty to fifty ball, that back
shoulder catch, Guys like Shavers have shown that they can
do that. Guys like Shavers can make those plays on
the back line like you saw him make a couple
of days ago at practice. And so if I'm thinking
about this team, this wide receiver group as a bad
basketball team, I think he has skills, you know, physically,

(54:04):
but also skills that translate on the field to certain
areas or roles that the Bills want. From Coleman, they
can also get it from Shavers again, if something were
to happen. He's a nice guy to have around and
he just he always gives it hundred and ten percent
and that's obviously they love that.

Speaker 1 (54:22):
Yeah, and he just I find him at least in
camp like he just consistently gets open with the ones
like he's just open and like the low intermediate and
underneath especially between like the numbers and around the hashes
when they let him rock inside like that, he just
finds space and is able to settle and box guys
out and use that size and use that frame. And Yeah,

(54:42):
he's got some things that you can't teach, which is
which is really nice to see. Who else we got here, Eric,
who's been a stock up guy for you.

Speaker 2 (54:50):
Yeah, I mean it's a throwaway at this point because
he's been talked about pretty much every day in practice,
and that's wide receiver. Key On Coleman, good or bad.
He has been inconsistent at times, and I want to
bring up a couple clips from practice to kind of
highlight something that I'm beginning to see as a trend.
I want to keep tracking it when it comes to

(55:11):
Keon Coleman and how he catches things. Okay, so or
how he doesn't catch things.

Speaker 3 (55:15):
Or how he does that.

Speaker 2 (55:17):
All right, So this is Keon Coleman the courtesy of
Mike Rose on this play. This is one of his
drops and it's something that he did in the Blue
and Red we saw when we were there. Uh dbreaker
over the middle dig route and let me shut the
volume off on this one, and you see him drop it.
But this is what I need him to start focusing
in on. Is slowing down as the ball's approaching. Sometimes

(55:42):
he jumps unnecessary movement here he doesn't need to, and
you gotta understand it's something like that was talked about.
I broke down when Josh Allen he's throwing. He would
always kind of bounce, and that screws with your vision,
It screws with your ability to focus on that ball
being thrown at your face. And so he does not
down here, he actually jumps, and I think he could

(56:03):
catch us without having a jump. But that kind of
makes your head shake, It makes your eyes shake, and
you see him not able to look the ball in
and it goes.

Speaker 3 (56:12):
You also miss times the jumpy he goes too early.

Speaker 2 (56:15):
I don't know why he's doing that. I think again
he could have caught that without having a jump. But
I want to show you what his teammate did in
the very same same practice and drill and Josh Palmer.
Look how smooth he is, and you see him he
slows down, he doesn't jump. It's almost like when you're

(56:36):
going to fit up a running back to go make
the tackle, you slow down, you break down, you have
to do something similar with your body when you're catching
the ball. And you see him look it right in
even though it's kind of on his back hit. But
those the helmet's not shaking because he's not jumping in
the air, those eyes aren't shaking because he's smooth through
the catchpoint. And we don't always see that from Kean Coleman.

(56:57):
Sometimes we do, but we do not see the consistency there.

Speaker 1 (57:00):
Yeah, and I think that's part of still, you know,
the aspects that we're looking on, looking for him to
improve on, just more of those refinement pieces, the tempo
wing and the pacing and you know, stem work and
coming out of the break and being at the right
spot at the right time when the quarterback needs you
to be there. And yeah, I saw this one from
Coleman earlier today and again watching it now, it just
looks everything is just the timing is off on it,

(57:23):
even if you're going to jump. He's trying to catch
it as he's coming down to the ground. But to
the point then you think that he could potentially get
this without having to jump. But even if you're going
to jump, the timing is off with it. It just
it looks kind of just clunky. And then to your point, Yeah,
we don't have those index fingers connected, and so he's
doing more of the Miami U than.

Speaker 2 (57:43):
He is the Yeah, and that's why again you can
see that ball right through slip right through his hands.
So I do think overall though, he's had a great camp,
and I do think that he is going to play
a huge part in the Bills offense. He was doing
a lot of the stuff in the run, that dirty
work the mac Collins was doing, digging guys out and

(58:03):
duo and stuff like that. He's going to be at
the point of attack because he is a good blocker
and he's physical and he likes to do that and
get physical with people. So I think he will be
I think he's gonna be a huge part of the
Bills offense. He just has to He reminds me, I
said on turf to tape with Sale. He reminds me
of early stage Dawson Knox where he makes the difficult
catches look so easy, but he makes those gimmeis much

(58:26):
more difficult than they should be.

Speaker 1 (58:28):
Damn, you're just sitting You just want to put him,
want him to put it all together with the size
and frame and athleticism and.

Speaker 3 (58:33):
Watch him start to do that.

Speaker 1 (58:34):
Yeah, but I mean, the Highs have been really nice
in camp and the scrimmage. But I think this is
part for the course, the inconsistency and the rawness, and
we'll see what we get going forward with kios.

Speaker 2 (58:44):
So one guy that we saw stand out at the
Blue and Red scrimmage on the defensive line at the end.
I know it's a numbers crunch game. Talk about who
you think has had a really good camp this year,
so much so that there's a good There's been a
lot of rumors and speculation that if the Bills were
to make a trade, they would ship out possibly ship

(59:06):
out a A Panessa, the Python Hunter, because this guy
has really flashed so well.

Speaker 3 (59:14):
He know it's funny Upanessa has picked it up recently too.

Speaker 1 (59:16):
He'd beat Dawkins really clean at camp last week, had
had a pick six at camp as well. But yeah,
Javon Solomon just continues to live in the backfield as
a rusher, as a run defender. Against the third team,
against the second team, against the first stringers. He eats
up tight ends. I think the most encouraging thing for
me has been even when it's against tight ends, but

(59:39):
it's been against some tackles. To watching him drive guys
into the backfield and be able to compress the pocket
a little is really exciting. So much of his tape
at Troy, and there was a lot of good tape
at Troy because he had a ton of production, but
it was usually him winning around the arc and winning
around the corner.

Speaker 3 (59:54):
And I was like, if he can just.

Speaker 1 (59:54):
Put an inside move or more of a through you
type of speed to power bull rush piece, he could
really start to put it together. And we started to
see flashes of that, and he's winning. We know he
understands rush plan and angles and hand usage. He's a
smaller guy, but he's got good hand size, he's got
enough length for his size, he's got the production. Yeah,

(01:00:15):
he's I'm very exceeded one of the top guys. I'm
excited to see this preseason because I feel like he'll
get a lot of snaps considering what the edge room
looks like and another chance to prove himself.

Speaker 3 (01:00:23):
And also just from the eye test, he just looks
like a good football player.

Speaker 1 (01:00:29):
If you don't know anything about football, you'd watch everybody
come out of the locker room and you'd see fifty
six and be like, Oh, that guy's probably one of
the better guys in the team.

Speaker 2 (01:00:35):
Right.

Speaker 1 (01:00:36):
He just looks like a good football player, and he's
really starting to put it together on the field.

Speaker 2 (01:00:40):
Yes, he's gotten a few compliments from the coaching staff
and players. And like you said, coming out, he always
knew how to get after the quarterback. Could he he
needed to add some different changeups, that's fine, but he
always knew how to rush the quarterback. And at his size,
being in what the six to one range, you were

(01:01:01):
kind of worried about how he would have fit. He
kind of went against the traditional base DM that the
Bills go for, but they wanted some of that again,
that that closer mentality, that pass rusher mentality, So they
went with Solomon, who was kind of undersized when it
comes to who they you know specifically like, but he's
showing now that he can not only do it as

(01:01:22):
as a pass rusher, but he's making plays in the
run game at the point of attack. And not just
in the edge, right, not just setting the edge and
making them cut back. No, he's setting the edge, disengaging
in making the tackle. He's taking it to that next level.
He's making plays at or behind the line of scrimmage.
And that is standing out probably that much more this

(01:01:42):
year because, as we talked about, the Bills wanted to
get bigger. Everyone they drafted is bigger. Along that D line.
He's the smallest guy, but he's still making plays. I
think that contrast is actually highlighted how well he is
playing at a guy that is, again, way more undersized
than what they traditionally want.

Speaker 1 (01:02:01):
Yeah, and you know it's funny like last year in
the preseason and even then in that Week eighteen game,
he made more plays as a run defender than he
did as a rusher, and I thought that was like, Oh,
that's a really good thing for him because of how
important it is for them to defend the run at
that spot and if he could start to develop the
other aspects of the passers to the NFL level.

Speaker 3 (01:02:20):
But I had more faith in that.

Speaker 1 (01:02:21):
And yeah, seeing the run piece, Yeah, you're watching him
take on pulling tackles and guys in the backfield. Yeah,
it's not just let me smash for the sake of smash,
like hit a guy, disengage, make a play. But he's
not losing, you know, penetration and trigger and shooting and burst.

Speaker 3 (01:02:36):
Yet it's a really nice thing to see.

Speaker 1 (01:02:39):
And he could be for all the Bosa and Landon
Jackson talk and fins and everything else, all of a sudden,
maybe Javon Solomon could.

Speaker 2 (01:02:45):
Be the prince that was promised, no doubt. And Zach
at the beginning of the show said, Bale Inspector got released.
Did we discuss this, No, we did not. You know,
they did release him. He's injured yet again. So that
battle has been fun to watch. Andresen versus Spector especially
we're talking Mike, and I think Andresen was ahead off

(01:03:06):
before he was healthy, before he get was injured. Andrewson
has just made plays all up and down the line
of scrimmage. He's always around the ball. It's kind of
his thing. And he's so good at processing run blocking
concepts and to the point where he's so much quicker
than the guy that's scooping up to go block him.
He can beat guys to the spot and get ahead

(01:03:27):
of the block and make plays in the backfield. But
more importantly, he's just available and he's a tackling machine.
And so Specter was released today and it's no surprise,
And honestly, I don't think it even mattered that he
was injured. I think Andresen was still gonna win the
mic position and he's earned it. He's definitely earned it.

(01:03:47):
And it's not just because of the injury that I
think that he was going to become linebacker.

Speaker 1 (01:03:51):
Two and and reason started to make some plays and
coverage to get into his spots better, picking up routes,
more roboting a little bit, being more aware of guys
coming in and out of his own and with him
starting to do that, yeah, like I kind of felt
like the writing was on the wall a little bit
with everything that he brings as a run defender, like
you mentioned, Yeah, it's just unfortunate perspector that I feel

(01:04:13):
like if your spector, you're feeling, like, you know, injuries
kind of derailed you, not even just this year, but
the past couple of years with you know what potentially
he could have been or still could be. So yeah,
I wish him all the best, but yeah, Andrees started
to have the inside track there.

Speaker 2 (01:04:26):
So to kind of wrap this up, we're trying to
get to the last question that we have. William Colin,
one of our insiders, says, for when you get to it,
has Walker looked better with Nielsen's coaching because Rousseau has
I think you see all these video clips Rousseau, He's
gonna be a problem this year. Colin will says, I
thought he looked better and clips sell put out today. Also,

(01:04:46):
Sanders looks awesome. So we have to understand One, Walker
is a rookie, so he's got a lot on his
plate and having to learn things. Two, they're also playing
him at a position that he didn't necessarily major in
in college. And his best year not last year, but

(01:05:07):
the year before twenty twenty three, he was playing a
lot of on the on the edgend more of an
oder email of three and four eyes, So he's not
necessarily he's got the size of a nose tackle, but
he's getting a lot of reps there in training camp,
so it's a different ballgame. There's a lot of learning,
But more importantly, it's it's a position that is very

(01:05:28):
selfless and it's not going to be making a lot
of plays on the ball himself.

Speaker 1 (01:05:32):
Yeah, this one, for me is a question that I
really think the preseason is going to go a long
way towards answering. I want to see bullets live in
terms of what he can do. I will say, you know,
we noted this. I was very impressed with how much
he seemingly kind of trimmed down already, like he looked better. Yeah,
he looked better proportioned. He's moving well. I don't know

(01:05:53):
how he's feeling physically or how his back and that
the issue that he has there is going on. And
but he he's penetrating, he's moving well, and he just
looks better proportioned. He looks healthy from an outsider's perspective.
And yeah, I'm very interested to see he's penetrating. He's flashing,
not to pooh pooh that, but I don't care about that.

(01:06:15):
I need to see him anchor against the double team,
especially with where he's.

Speaker 4 (01:06:18):
Aligner Milano free and clear, I need to see you
drop the knee or anchor and knock it just placed
off the ball, in addition to being able to penetrate
and line up anywhere from like a wide nine to
a zero like he did at Kentucky, which was just real.

Speaker 2 (01:06:34):
No, it's it's something that I think your question will
be answered a little more, as Anthony said in the press.
So before we wrap, we appreciate everyone joining us live.
If you you know, miss this show live, catch a
replay on YouTube. But more importantly, don't forget We're on Spotify,
our iHeartRadio, all the audio podcast platforms.

Speaker 3 (01:06:54):
I know.

Speaker 2 (01:06:55):
At times during the year and during the season, it's
difficult to kind of listen to this show and the
audio form because we do a lot of film and
visual stuff. But obviously this is when you can catch
later on audio wise, and if you've missed out on
Turf to Tape with Salini, that's a show we're gonna
be doing every single week. That is all audio, not

(01:07:15):
we can't use film on that because he is credential.
But it's been fun so far the first few episodes.
That is also on the Cover One YouTube channel, but
also in All you Know Audio podcast platforms. Whatever you
listen to, we're there. Go find it, Turf to tape, Salini,
good show, Anthony, that was fun Hard Knocks episode one

(01:07:36):
in the books. Brother, Yeah, I'm very.

Speaker 3 (01:07:37):
Excited to see what episode two brings.

Speaker 1 (01:07:39):
Preseason Week one programming note, I will be disguised.

Speaker 3 (01:07:43):
Covers will be.

Speaker 1 (01:07:43):
Live immediately following the Bills preseason game this Saturday against
the Giants and the subsequent preseason games as well for
Week two and week three. So bang it there for that.
And yeah, we appreciate all of you folks tuning in
this Wednesday afternoon edition of the film We're slowly getting
back to regular time and schedule close a little bit
as the season creeps closer, so do we in the

(01:08:05):
Film Room towards our regularly scheduled times. We appreciate forever
everyone who joined us live or watched you know, post later,
post later, post live, falling apart, I had no flubs
until that moment, post live audio, whatever former fashion, your
episode consumption comes in, we greatly appreciate it. Drop a
light here on YouTube, rate review and subscribe on the
audio platforms. Turn on notifications here for the Film Room

(01:08:27):
playlist on YouTube, and then check out the multitude of
content across the entire Cover one channel, including Turf to Tape.
Like Eric just mentioned the Cover one Buffalo, they'll be
live later tonight. You got Under Review with Joda Rosa,
You've got the air Rad Hour with Steve and Tilt,
and then you've got disgutiched covers with myself, And I
think that will do it for us here in this
episode of the Cover one Film Room. We appreciate you, folks,

(01:08:51):
and we hope you and your family and friends and
loved ones are all doing well and staying safe. Be
kind to one another, take care of one another. For myself,
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mister Eric Turner, we will see you. When we see you, godspeed,
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.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}Hard Knocks, James Cook, and Bills Training Camp Stock Watch | Film Room