Joey Bosa's level of importance to the Buffalo Bills defense | DC - Disguised Coverage

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What's good? Folks, family, friends, loved ones, enemies. Friend of
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(01:38):
to this show on. I'm your host, Anthony Prohaska. Find
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at pro ant no underscore is there just p r oh,
A and T. In this episode of Disguised Coverage, we
will be diving into some conversation around Joey Bose after

(02:01):
the injury news dropped earlier today that he picked up
a calf strain and it looks like he is going
to be out until training camp, depending on the reports
you look at it. And we're gonna be diving into
specifics as we go forward in this episode, and I
thought this episode would be interesting to do. First of all,

(02:21):
I'm gonna be dropping two episodes this week. Apologies for
not doing the regular Tuesday episode last week. Life got
very busy, not in a necessarily bad way, just very
hectic week last week. I wanted to try and drop
it later in the week last week, didn't get the
opportunity to. So this will be one of two episodes
that will drop this week for Disguise Coverage. The original
episode that I was going to do tonight, I'm pivoting

(02:42):
towards the back end of the week given the Bosa
injury news and the resulting All right, Jay with the
nice South Park reference. Oh look, Joey Bosa is finally
healthy and it's gone. I thought this conversation would be
fun to have given well, not fun, I guess fun
is relative and you put it in quotes. But given

(03:04):
the injury news today and Bosa's importance or non importance
in the eyes of some fans to the Bills defense,
to the position group, I thought this would be a
good conversation now that the roster is really starting to
kind of take shape. I know we have preseason in
training camp and cuts and all this stuff, but given

(03:25):
where we are on the off season, free agency, the draft,
I feel like the Bill's roster of in terms of
who is going to make the roster, ninety seven percent
of the candidates are already on this roster right now.
So what this team ends up looking like, we still
have to get to cut down days and all that
kind of stuff. But for the most part, and for
the largest part, what this team is going to be

(03:46):
in twenty twenty five is what we currently see on
the depth chart and on the roster right now. We
just have to get to some of the particulars. And
Bosa's injury history and juxtaposing that with his performance and
what he could be was already a muddy conversation going
into twenty twenty five, and then a further muddied conversation
given the Bills signing Michael Hoyt and Michael Hoyt being

(04:07):
suspended for the first six games, Larry Ogunjobi, a defensive tackle,
all to be suspended for the first six games, and
it was all just kind of this muddying of an
important player, an important group being the edge grouping to
a unit in the Buffalo Bills defense that the team
really made a concerted effort to try and improve this
year in a multitude of forms, given what they did

(04:27):
in the draft, given what they did in free agency,
and so much of the conversation around Bosa, rightfully so,
not just saying it because of the news that dropped today,
but rightfully so, was around his injury history. Could he
stay healthy. When he is healthy, he is an impactful player,
seeing what he's been in the past for the Chargers
when healthy went on the field. Even when he's going

(04:49):
to like sixty five to seventy percent, he's still effective.
He's capable of playing on all downs. But that ability
as a pass rusher to be that kind of closer
for the Bills was an important piece in this offseason,
but looming over it was the injury history. And now
here we are, we haven't even gotten into the season,
we haven't even started practicing and contact and playing games

(05:09):
and having quote unquote meaningful snaps, and he's already picked
up an injury. So I thought it'd be again fun to,
you know, have this discussion again fun being relative in
terms of what expectations are for him in twenty twenty five,
but also what his role is on this team and
the importance of what that role is within the position group,

(05:32):
because I think he's more important to this team in
twenty twenty five than is necessarily being discussed. And I
don't know if that's because folks are just immediately writing
him off because of the past injury history. I don't
know if it's because folks are completely writing him off
now because he's already picked up an injury injury and
it's just another type of red flag and an already

(05:53):
medical book littered with red flags. But I do think
he's more important than is being discussed or that he
is getting credit for, and I want to talk about
that in this episode, all while putting it together with
his injury history to Bill's defense, so on and so forth.
Anything and everything, as we do here on the show.
Any questions, thoughts, comments, concerns, anything and everything you folks have,
whether it's Bosa related, Bills related, defensively, offensively, OTA's training camp,

(06:17):
anything and everything that you folks may have on your mind,
put it up into the chat. I will get to
anything and everything as much as humanly possible. As always,
super chats get priority because I respect the monetary donation,
and the color attracts me away from my notes and
caused me to pretty much automatically see it like a
cat with a laser pointer or so, anything you folks got,
put it up into the chat there. And I hope
everybody had a fun and enjoyable holiday weekend and holiday

(06:40):
and any cookouts or parties or fun things and festivities
that may have accompanied that holiday. So the first thing
that I want to get into when talking about Joey
Bosa's importance level to the Buffalo Bills, and again that's
the focus of this episode, right like it With him
picking up this injury already, I think it further puts
in a position how much does he matter to this team?

(07:04):
Seeing this injury? Is it Oh boy, that's not good.
Are you hoping? Are you hoping for more? Is it
fingles crossed? What are you trying to do?

Speaker 2 (07:11):
Oh?

Speaker 1 (07:12):
What's up? Eagles? Eric? Appreciate you? He Eagles Eric does
very good work over on I don't even want to
put into kind of the wrong perspective of but just
like a lot of good metrics and kind of prediction
based things via platform called Oasis. Pull it back up there, Yeah,

(07:34):
Eagles Eric. If you guys aren't already following him, give
him a follow over there on Twitter. I was looking
it up while I was talking here at Eagles x's
and o's. Yeah, he, what's up Eagles Eric? Thanks for turning.
I appreciate you. Yeah. So I think his importance level
is higher to this team in twenty twenty five that
is necessarily being discussed, even pre injury, even before what
happened today, anything and everything. I already thought his importance

(07:56):
level to this team for even if it's just for
one year, wasn't more important than it was getting credit
for Oh what's up? Joe and Joe saying yeah Eagles Eric,
great work on the Oasis site. Checked it out today
and will definitely refer to it during the season, So
another shout out there for Eagles Eric for you folks. Yeah,
it's unfortunate that he picked up this knock, but I

(08:17):
just feel like it's it warrants a discussion around what
he is for this team, for this edge grouping, and
if he doesn't play this year due to injury. I
already thought he was gonna get injured at some point
this year. I wasn't counting on him playing all regular
season games going in the playoffs. I really thought he'd
be kind of on more of a snap coount or

(08:38):
a pitch count like von Miller was. I expected him
to be more of a closer type of guy, peer
pass rusher, even though he is a competent run defender
and when he was healthy he was one of the
best complete edges in all the football is both a
pass rusher and as a run defender. But given the
makeup of the Bills edge grouping where Bosa is in
his career in terms of health and trying to kind
of bubble wrap him a little bit, I didn't expect

(09:00):
him to play a lot of early down stuff and
all with that notion of just kind of getting him
healthy and keeping him healthy into the playoffs to kind
of unleash him and let him be that closer that
the Bills would need off the edge. He's already picked
up an injury now, I think that warrants the discussion
for what we will see going forward. As Mary says,
she says he will be fine come training camp. Training

(09:21):
camp an important kind of marker for him within this
whole discussion. So if you don't know, Bill's had OTAs
and some activity today, and Sean McDermott confirmed some things.
Long story short, Joey Bosa is dealing with a calf
injury and Sean McDermott said that he will likely be
out until training camp as a result of that calf injury.

(09:45):
I definitely don't like the soft muscle nature of it.
Anytime there's anything muscular, if it's a calf, strained quad,
strained hamstring, like anything that is muscular, that worries me
more than like a broken bone or a sprained ankle,
things that are more definitive in terms of what's wrong,
how to heal it, how to correct for it. That's
just me that may be wrong. Other people may do

(10:07):
other things, But I tend to find those soft muscle
injuries more problematic than anything. And for a guy who's
had a lot of muscular injuries in BOSA, like lower
back injuries and like hip and growing stuff and things
that are more muscular and tendon basis, is obviously less
than ideal for a guy with that history already. So
that's the injury news kind of coming into today and

(10:29):
coming into this episode. And as Joe says in the comments,
McDermott saying he was quote unquote very concerned does give
merit to how important he will be to this pass
rush rotation. In my opinion, Pete says, the calf was
last year's injury too, right, I know the back was
the major one. It was his back, and I thought

(10:51):
it was growing or hit, but I know the back
was the major one that caused him a lot of issues.
And as James says also in the comments as well,
around this injury, lingering and a high chance of reinjury. Yeah,
anytime you have muscular stuff, that's the issue, right, allowing
it to heal properly? Does it linger? Are you playing
through it? What's your chance of reinjury? How are you
protecting it? How are you rehabbing it? Especially for something

(11:12):
like a calf injury where it's like you can't rest
it unless you just don't walk, and that's kind of
hard to accomplish on a daily basis. So that's the
injury news kind of coming in into perspective in this episode.
And they dropped earlier today. And the biggest thing around
this conversation for me and Bosa's importance level to the
Bills defense. And you folks have heard me say this

(11:32):
if you watch the show regularly, if you watch the
film room, if you watch this guy's coverage, talked about
it throughout this offseason, even once they signed Bosa. I
don't think if you remove Joey Bosa from the conversation,
I don't think the Bills have a true pass rushing
edge one at edge the depth chart without Joey Bosa. Again,

(11:54):
without Joey Bosa, Greg Russo, aj Panessa, Michael Hoyt, who
was suspended for the first six games, rookie lamb To Jackson,
and second year player Javon Solomon. I know there's some
other guys on the roster in depth chart as well.
I'm not going to I just that's not a realistic
conversation to have all these guys that are further down
right now and kind of put expectations on them or
for them into this season. So I wanted to mention
the meat of that position. Greg Russo, elite run defending edge.

(12:19):
We know this right force multiplier is a run defender,
one of the best run defending defensive linemen in all
of football on tape via advanced metrics. He had a
tremendous rookie year as a run defender and is built
on that each year. He's also built on his pass
rushing repertoire. Each year he's incrementally improved. And if you
watch the show, you know this is what I allude to.

(12:40):
You've heard me say this. I think he's still an
edge two. I don't think he's necessarily a true edge
one as a pass rusher right now. I think he's
more of a robin that needs a batman or needs
other robins alongside with him to kind of if he's
going to be your number one. Right in an ideal
world where Greg Russo is right now as a known

(13:01):
quantity as a pass rusher who again has improved. He
uses his length well, He's able to go through guys.
He's developed more of an inside move. As he's gone
through the years, he understands hand placement and leverage and technique.
I just think he's more of an edge two. So ideally,
if he is the top of your depth chart at
edge you either are pairing him with some kind of

(13:24):
pass rushing specialist that's your edge one, is a pass
rusher on known passing down in distances, or you've surrounded
a guy like Rousseau with a with more edge twos.
So if ed Greg is your if Greg Russo is
your best pass rushing edge defender, then ideally you have
another Greg Russo or another one and a half Greg Russo's.

(13:46):
If that kind of makes sense, I think you need
another edge two and preferably a high end three or
one of those, or minimal levels of that in conjunction
with a true edge one to pair with Greg Russo again,
because he's more of a robin, so get him a batman.
If you look at the rest of that depth chart
again without Joey Bosa, greg Uzzo, aj Panessa, Michael Hoyt, Landon,

(14:08):
Jackson Javon Solomon, aj Panessa took a bit of a
step back as a pass rusher last year. I don't
know if it was more of the run defense focus
for him last year, and I don't know if that was,
you know, kind of emphasized from the coaching staff or
just kind of how the season played out for him,
given where his focus was, or his work was, or

(14:29):
where his mentality was as an edge player. But for
a guy who had really good efficiency metrics as a
pass rusher in twenty twenty three and who we had
high hopes for in twenty twenty four, we saw a
bit of a step back for aj Panessa as a
pass rusher in twenty twenty four, though he did improve
as a run defender. I've talked about this, and I
want to get into too much of it, but he

(14:51):
improved significantly as a run defender on tape and from
an advanced metrics standpoint in terms of stops and stop percentage.
I don't think I was talked about enough last year
what he as a run defender and playing the edge
opposite of Greg Russau and just what he's kind of
turned into. But at the end of the day, took
a step back as an edge rusher last year. I

(15:12):
think he's still best suited to be like an edge
three in terms of a pass rusher, maybe even like
a high end edge four load to mid tier edge three.
Then he got Michael Hoyt, who I like very much.
You folks know this. I think he's built to be
a movable piece that can moonlight as a true edge
three or a load to mid edge two. Also within

(15:33):
that for Michael Hoyt suspended for the first six games,
and even when he comes back, he is not a
guy that I like Michael Hoyt, and I don't want
to be misconstrued. I don't want to see him just
lined up at edge and being an edge defender. I
want him use the way the Rams used him. That's
part of what I like so much about him and
his skill set, playing that spinner role for the Rams,

(15:57):
kind of like what the Packers did with Clay Matthews
when they were really cooking with him back in the day.
Taking a guy and sometimes he's at edge, sometimes he's
in the B gap. Sometimes he's an off ball linebacker
and he's blitzing. Sometimes he's dropping into coverage. Sometimes he's
rushing the center. Sometimes he's in the A gap. Using
him kind of all over the place. And in order
to do that, you have to move him all over
the place and not just leave him kind of statute

(16:19):
or locked into one spot at edge. If he does
stay there, you don't have to worry about physicality, you
don't have to worry about run defense. I still think
he can affect the game if he just plays a
true or traditional edge role, but I would like him
kind of moved all over the place on the defense,
particularly on the defensive line and in the box. Landon Jackson,
rookie from Arkansas, We don't know. I don't care how

(16:42):
much somebody likes him, how well you think he's going
to do, how much you loved his highlights or whatever
you saw from him in college at Arkansas. We have
no idea what kind of pro Landon Jackson is going
to be, so he is an unknown quantity at this point.
He could be amazing. He could win Defensive Player of
the Year as a rookie. He could also a healthy
scratch every week and not play at all. We have
no idea. And then he could be anything anywhere and

(17:04):
anything in between. And then you've got Javon Solomon, who
we know a little about, but we still don't really
know what Javon Solomon is So I say all that
to say, Joey Bosa, for better or for worse, is
still the best option for the Buffalo Bills and having
a true pass rushing edge one or again provided he's healthy.

(17:29):
Even at his worst, he's a high, high, high end
edge two as a pass rusher. And any absence for
Joey Bosa in this defense, especially early on in these
first six games with Michael Hoyte being out muddies this
edge grouping a lot for the Bills defense. This doesn't
mean that they're done for and while I do think

(17:49):
his absence can be mitigated something else we're going to
get into in this episode. I do think his importance
to this team is being a bit undersold, and that's
kind of what I wanted to lead off with. If
you just take everybody at their known quantities right now
going into this year, the Bills don't have a true
edge one coming off the edge. If you take Joey

(18:10):
bos off the depth chart, that's gotta kind of take
him out of the depth chart, is what I'm saying.
And again, I like Greg Russo. I am fine with
what the Bills paid him, especially considering the trajectory that
he's on incrementally improving year over year as a pass rusher,
as an overall player in terms of football IQ and
responsibility and being assimon sound. You see him impact the

(18:30):
game regularly on tape. I just don't think he's there
right now is a true edge one. And when I
say that, as a true edge one, I mean is
a guy who you know, like, uh oh, it's third down.
He's getting there, like he's gonna be a problem. You
just don't see it. He's more of a pressures in
bunches guy guy. He eats up bad tackle play, which
is good, But I just don't think he's he's paid

(18:53):
like a top ten edge right now. I don't think
he's a top ten edge as a pass rusher. He's
one of the best run defenders, which gives him significant value,
like I continue to talk about, but I just don't
think he's there as a true edge one. And then
the rest of the guys we talked about known quantities.
Unless a J. Vanessa somehow swings the pendulum back and
we see more of the efficiency this year than we

(19:14):
saw on twenty twenty three, there's just a lot of
questions for this grouping. So within that you talk about
mitigating anything if folks that is out or if he's
unable to play. Actually, let me grab some questions here, folks,
or thoughts or whatever. Charles saying, And what do you
make of McDermott saying Grout needs to be more physical?

(19:36):
I did not see this today, so I was unaware
that he said this. That's very interesting. I wonder I'm
gonna have to go back and kind of look more
into the OTA pressors and see what mc dermot said,
because I find that very interesting. I wonder what the
context is or like, where he's looking for him to
be more physical or in what capacity I should say.

(19:57):
James says, seriously, if Joey is healthy and productive after
th Thanksgiving, I'll be happy. Roy says if I was
an offensive coordinator for an opposing team, I wouldn't be
overly concerned with the Bills pass rush. I think that
is a fair, fair comment. Actually, Nick is very high
in Javon Solomon, saying, Javon Solomon masterclass in coming. I
would welcome it and take it. R J says, I'm

(20:17):
planning on Bosa being slightly better than Vaughn the year
he came back from the ACL tear. I know it,
says Ack here, but I think I know what you mean.
Anything more is a bonus. Charles says, I don't care
about Bosa stats. I just want him there on God
to have it plays. Pete says, agreed on Grout, and
I liked extending him. Without him, I shudder to imagine
what our defensive line would have been in recent years.

(20:39):
Roy says, does Group remind you a little of Jerry Hughes?
Gets pressure but can't quite finish with more sacks? I
guess from maybe from an ideology standpoint. I just think
from a play style standpoint. No, he's just Jerry Hughes
was a good pass rusher, and I know towards the
end of his years in Buffalo it was like, oh,
all these pressures and no sacks. But he had planned,

(21:02):
he had hand usage, he had moves. He could beat
you outside, he could beat you inside like he was athletic,
he was tenacious. I think that's kind of under selling
Jerry Hughes a little bit and maybe over selling Group
a little bit as a pass rusher. And I also
think Groots' abilities as a run defender are significantly different
than Hughes. So I think they're both different as pass rushers,

(21:24):
and I think they're all both different in terms of
overall play style and how they impact the game. I
think Hughes not saying Hughes wasn't a good run defender,
but his sliders were skewed more towards pass rush. I
think groots are skewed more towards run defense. And then
the size profile, the play style, the skill set, the trades,
how they all kind of coalesce into one. I do

(21:44):
think they're different stylistically. So if Bosa is your best
chance at having a true pass rushing edge one in
twenty twenty five and he's out, what do you do
to mitigate that? And I think that's a conversation I
want to have to kind of steer this episode now
towards that conversation. I think, first off, and this is

(22:05):
I think the trickiest of all of the mitigation options.
You need multiple edges to have to step up to
kind of fill that role. Even even if Bosa is
healthy and the edge one that's awesome, you still need
other guys to kind of improve and be support players

(22:25):
in that role. When you talk about rushing the quarterback,
but if we're just going off of the known quantities
right now, forget incremental improvement, forget anybody continuing on an
upward trajectory, forget about progression, forget about anyone improving. If
we just go off of the known quantities, meaning nobody

(22:46):
in the edge grouping takes a jump or improves in
their game, which is possible, it's a questionable group at
edge from a pass rush perspective for this grouping again,
if we take everybody at face value known quantities for
what they are right now, you have Grout, who is
more of an edge two as a pass rusher. You

(23:06):
have aj Panessa, who's more of like an edge three
edge four. Maybe an edge two is a run defender,
but more of like an edge four to three as
a pass rusher. You've got Michael Hoyt, who's this movable
hybrid type of player in peace. And you've got land
In Jackson who's a question mark, and Javon Solomon who

(23:26):
has some known quantity but really is a question mark
as well, not as much as land and Jackson. So
look at that grouping like without Bosa giving you that
firepower as a pass rusher, your edge grouping is Greg Russo,
AJ Panessa, Michael Hoyt, Landon Jackson, Javon Solomon, and again
Hoyd is suspended for the first six games. I hate

(23:47):
having to mention that caveat because it puts us in
all these different like tangents and avenues and conversations and
all that kind of stuff. But that's your edge grouping
right now. Who's getting Say Bosa misses week I'm just
making this up. I don't know if that's in jeopardy now,
but say he misses week one, and you're going into
week one with Greg Russoe, aj Panessa, Landon Jackson, and

(24:08):
Javon Solomon as your four edges, and maybe they bring
someone else up to kind of eat snaps to be
a fifth. Like, but those guys are your top four.
How confident are you that they're gonna be able to
get to the quarterback with regularity? With Greg Russoe, Aja Panessa,
Landon Jackson, and Javon Solomon. I think that's a scary proposition.
Even when Hoyt comes back, that's still kind of a

(24:31):
scary proposition because you don't have a straight up guy
that can just play iceo ball out there. You don't
have a bucket getter on the outside at edge like
that's what they hoped Von Miller was, and he was
until he got hurt. Bosa is the move in that direction. Again,
This is saying nobody improves. This is saying nobody takes
a step. If you just take everybody at face value
and they're known quantities right now, the edge grouping from

(24:55):
a pass rushing perspective is a little worrisome. If you
are the Bills as a run to You're fine, You're fine.
You're gonna get that from Groop. You know what you're
getting from group right, and you know you're gonna get
that from Ajpanessa. Again, an aspect of his game that
I think was underappreciated, underappreciated, a bit overlooked last year.
Landon Jackson will give you that, and I think Salomon

(25:17):
will actually give you that. But in terms of pass
rushing productivity or fear being struck into the offense, you're
not getting that with this group. If nobody improves and
nobody takes a jump. So again, if Bosa's out, how
do you mitigate that? You need multiple guys to step up.
I think the most likely guy who can continue to

(25:37):
incrementally improve and quote unquote step up, either in the
absence of Bosa or even if Bosa's there, just because
the progression that we've seen is Greg Russo he has
made improvement year over year over year, literally every single
year that he's been in the league, he's improved as
a player. I don't think it's unreasonable to think he
improves again this year and starts to get to more

(25:58):
of a true edge one as a pass rusher. I
don't think he's gonna go from being an edge two
as a pass rusher to all of a sudden being
like a top ten overall edge, but I think at
the end of this season he could be in terms
of a load to maybe mid tier edge one is
a pass rusher. If you get that, that is a
huge win. If he continues to incrementally improve, his contract

(26:19):
looks better the age that he's at his play style,
pairing it with what he is as a run defender.
If you get that, you're over the move with what
you have with Greg Russol. But say you do get that,
which again I do think that is it's hard to
always say that a player is going to improve, But
given the track and trend we've seen for Rousseau the
past several years and really throughout the entirety of his career.

(26:41):
I don't think it's unheard of or unrealistic to think
he improves again and starts to become more of an
edge one as a pass rusher. But even if you
get that, that's not enough if you don't have Bosa there,
because you have Groot who could improve. That means you'd
also need improvement from a Japanessa. You need Panessa to
go from being more of like an edge four or

(27:03):
an edge three to an edge three or an edge two.
You would need Landon Jackson to be impactful as a
rookie right out of the gate. You would need Javon
Solomon to show that athleticism and that pass rush plan
and that moves package in the NFL like he did
at Troy. You need multiple guys to step up to
fill the hole that Bosa would leave. Again, this is

(27:26):
this is the problem with kind of having to play
musical chairs at this position almost year in and year out,
even on the defensive line in general, but at this
edge grouping for the Bills like they have these past
several years. If someone goes down, you need to fill
that spot, but then you also kind of need to
fill that spot again the next years. You kind of

(27:48):
rotate around and kind of see what happens. Even with
Bosa banged up a bit, he's still an impactful guy
because he raises the floor of the room and adds
to the depth of the room. But if he's healthy,
he is the best pass rusher off the edge. There
is no question about that for me. Even if he's
banged up, he's still an effective and impactful player off
the edge. So even if he's just available, he raises

(28:10):
the floor and increases the depth of the room. But
if he's healthy, and I've said all off season, that's
a big if, and given the news we saw today,
it seems like an even bigger if than maybe we
even initially thought, depending on how pessimistic or optimistic you
were about it. But if he's healthy, he's a high
high high end edge two, which is very good, or
I think he's still low. He can be a low

(28:31):
to a mid tier edge one. So without him in
the lineup, you need multiple guys at edge to step
up because the rest of the group is more lower
tier depth than it is high end depth. I don't
think this edge grouping is you know, a bunch of
bs and B pluses. I think it's, you know, a
couple of B pluses, maybe a potential to have some

(28:52):
A minuses and then more B minuses, maybe even a
C plus here or there, right, And I think that's
kind of being hopeful with guys in some aspects. So
if you remove one of the known B pluses or
one of the A minus potential, guys, now you need
a B minus to become a B, or a B
to become a B plus or a C plus to
become a B because you're lacking that depth. You're lacking that.

(29:15):
Not only are you lacking depth if Bosa is hurt
and unavailable, you're also lacking that ceiling for the group.
That's what it is with Bosa so much. He impacts
not only the depth and the rotation at the edge grouping,
but he if impacts the ceiling from a realistic standpoint
at the edge grouping. Yes, Javon Solomon could take a jump. Yes,

(29:36):
Landon Jackson could be a super impactful rookie. Yes, Ajfpanessa
could get back to you know, being more efficient as
a rusher and having you know, better impact and productivity
as a pass rusher like he did a couple of
years ago. Michael Hoyt could be very effective, and I
think he will be effective, although again I want to
see him moved around more instead of just having him
line up at traditional edge. But I say all that

(29:57):
to say I think all of those things have a
lower probability than Joey Bosa just being an impactful player
for them. And if he's healthy, he's their best shot
at having a true edge one. So if he's out
and unable to play, you need multiple guys to step up,
and it starts from the top down. You need group
to take a jump, and then you need two other
guys to take some kind of jump. And that's just

(30:19):
that's hard to expect that and want that. And that's
part of why I think his importance level to this defense,
rightly or wrongly. Like if you want to if you're
frustrated at what I'm saying, that's I don't don't yell.
Let me yell at Brandon Beef for putting the eggs
in this basket. I don't know what to tell you,
but I think that's what's being undersold a little bit
in this conversation. With his importance level to the Bills

(30:40):
defense because all things considered from a known quantity perspective,
if everyone is healthy at edge, from a known quantity perspective,
he is the Bill's best pass rusher and he's their
best chance at having an edge one. If you want
to say it's groot, then yeah, I'm sorry. I saw
this and just laughing. I said, I see what you're saying,

(31:00):
and you want to see Dion Walker and Dwayne Carter
take snaps at edge like they did at college. Well played,
well played, Well done, Nick. If all things are equal
and everyone is healthy, Bosa is the best shot for
the Bills at having a true edge one. Is a
pass rusher off the edge, and even if he's banged up,
he's still in kind of an edge two conversation, and

(31:21):
he's still impactful, which helps the depth and helps the rotation.
I think him being unable to play or significantly hindered,
that's it too, right. The more he misses time or
the more he's significantly hindered, the greater the impact is. Obviously.
I just don't think that's being talked about enough. I
think people think it's more of like, yeah, if they
get bos in he's effective cool if not, like, no

(31:43):
big deal. You know, they got Javon Solomon waiting the wings,
they drafted Land and Jackson. I don't think it's as
easily cut and dry as that. I think there's this
group is much more questionable than the conversation is or
the narrative is around this group. And I think a
Bosa injury impacts this group much more significantly than gets

(32:05):
talked about. And that's why this injury already. For me,
I wasn't hanging my hat on Bosa this year and thinking.
I wasn't thinking that he was going to be healthy.
I was hoping that he would. But I just think
he's more important to this edge grouping for this year
than he's being talked about because again, if he's out,
multiple edges have to step up in his absence. From

(32:28):
a pass first perspective, now the other way you can
mitigate his absence, you know, and all of this too.
I'm not gonna get into too much of the scheme
and structure stuff tonight because I'm gonna get into some
of that as we go forward in the offseason. But
you can mitigate with creativity, right, simulated pressures creepers, you know,
five man rushes, six man rushers, coverage stuff on the back,

(32:50):
and there are schematic ways that you can mitigate, you know,
a talent deficiency or a lack of rotational quality or
depth by doing different things from a schematics perspective, right,
So that's also kind of in there. I just want
to put that on the back burner a little bit
and focus more on the roster and the players and
the individual aspect more so than the higher level schematic
conversation which will happen later in this offseason as we

(33:12):
go forward. So that is another piece, right, So if
he's out, how do you mitigate it? You can do
it schematically, right, You can do with the x's and
o's and structure. You can do it by having multiple
people at edge step up. I want to emphasize that
it has to be multiple. Even with Bosa being there,
you still ideally need group to take a jump or
someone else to take a jump to really make this

(33:34):
group impactful, especially for the first six games with kind
of Hoype being out a little bit. I know that's
not the end all, be all. I'm not trying to
continue to drill down on the you know hoiping out
in the first six games and what that means, but
it matters. So you can do it with scheme, do
it with structure, You can do it with multiple edges
stepping up or and this is what I would look
for the Bills to kind of hang their head on

(33:56):
more from an individual standpoint, from a talent standpoint, I
hope that the inside rush from the Bills defensive line
is enough that it takes heat and pressure no pun
intended off of the edge grouping and the inside is
what drives this defense. The interior defensive line is what
drives this defense. But again that still requires some projection

(34:19):
and some effectiveness. So inside rush at Oliver if Joey
Bosa is out, or even if he's playing but he's
banged up, whatever, you need group to take a jump
this year, and you need Ed Oliver to get back
into form this year. Now. Eric and I talked about
some things for Ed Oliver last week in the film
room and talked about, you know, kind of how he
had a bit of a down year in twenty twenty

(34:41):
four and didn't really build on the strong year he
had the previous year. We talked about why so I
don't want to get into too much of it. But
you need ed Oliver to be more of the guy
that you pay. You need him to be more impactful
down in and down out, week in and week out,
game in and game out. You need that in general,
even with Bosa. You need that at Oliver. You need
more of twenty ti twenty three at Oliver than twenty

(35:02):
twenty four at Oliver, or you need the twenty twenty
four at Oliver that showed up in the AFC Championship
against the Chiefs, against the run and the pass, blowing
up Joe Toney, drilling Mahomes, stopping the run. You need
that at Oliver weekend in, week out, regardless of what
happens with Bosa. But you need it even more so
if Bosa's out and unavailable. And then also within that

(35:24):
the firepower that they've added on inside inside. I really
do think they genuinely improve the inside rush from a
pass rust perspective. The only thing that Mundy's ad a
little bit, you know, yeah, Larry Ogunjoby Sweet also suspended
for the first six games. I do think TJ. Sanders
will help. I do have questions around him in terms
of what he's going to be as a run defender

(35:45):
mainly against double teams. The violence, the motor and the
tenacity and the gap shooting will play very much against
the run. My issue with TJ. Sanders is just more
of someone more of a narrow bass and how he's built.
I know he's gonnap. I think he's gonna up playing
around three O five three ten. We'll kind of see
what way he plays at, but just his size frame

(36:07):
and narrow base a little bit. While that's gonna play
against double teams, I continue to worry about displacement and
teams being able to blow the bills off the ball
within their spine. I'm talking about both defensive tackle spots
gettingto the linebackers and just creating problems and people moving
the bills left and right on the interior. I worry
about that. I'm still worried about that, even when the

(36:28):
defensive line is entirely healthy. I'm still worried about that
because when the defensive line is healthy, three of your
four top interior guys are going to be Ed, Oliver, Larry, Ogunjobi,
and TJ. Sanders. Ed is undersized. We'll see what weight
and size Sanders plays at. But he struggles with double
teams at times, Larry Ogunjobe struggles with double teams, he'll

(36:49):
get displaced. And then you've got day Quon kind of
mixed in with that as well. We'll see what you
get from Dwayne Carter, We'll see what you get from
Dean Walker. Hopefully you get something from one of those guys,
because again Ogin Jobe is suspended for the first six games,
so you need Walker to step up, you need Carter
to step up. And as where's this comment, Nick says,
t J Sanders might just get a pretty big role

(37:10):
early on, especially you know, with what's going on. I
think he will get a significant role early on, in
a big role early on. But it's just what are
you gonna get from him? Again, he is an unknown quantity.
Even if you love TJ Sanders, and I like TJ
Sanders a lot, I like that pick. I wanted, as
folks know, I wanted more presence from a run defense standpoint.

(37:31):
I wanted more plugging capability, I wanted more stout. I
wanted Tyler Williams very very very very very badly. But
I like t J. Sanders. The penetration, the juice, the
lateral agility, the explosion, the violence is all very real
with him. But I like him more than I like
Landon Jackson. But just like Landon Jackson, and just like
any rookie, it's all projection. We have no idea what

(37:53):
kind of pro TJ. Sanders is going to be with.
He could be Warren Sap as a rookie, or he
could be Dwayne Carter as a rookie. And I know, though,
you know, those skill sets are different, and I'm not
saying he's the same as either of those players, but
it's all just unknown. Everything with rookies and draft picks,
it's all projection. It's an inexact science. That's why guys

(38:14):
are paid highly to scout and evaluate, and it's why
teams don't have crazy guy hit rates. If you hit
two or three draft picks out of the seven you
normally have, that's a strong class. It's hard to hit
on dudes. So Sanders is another dude who is an
unknown quantity on the interior. I think it's tough to
hang your hat on another unknown quantity on the interior.

(38:35):
But if you're building out the interior defensive line right
now again for Week one, because Ogen Jobey suspended, your
top three dudes are at Oliver, Daikwon Jones, and TJ. Sanders.
But with everything equal again, once Ogun Joby comes back,
and once you do have a top four of at Oliver,

(38:55):
Daikwon Jones, Larry Ogunjobi, and TJ. Sanders. I do think
the's inside rush will help if Bosa is out or
if Bosa is banged up. I think the inside pass
rush will be a key component of the Bills defense
this year. I think they did a good job improving it.
I think the jury is still out on how they'll
hold up against displacement and how they'll hold up against
the run, specifically double teams, combo blocks, anything that's trying

(39:18):
to people move them a little bit. I think we
will see what that looks like the more we kind
of get in season. Baltimore will be a good test
early on, especially with Ogun Jobe out. Baltimore their gap
scheme runs and their people moving capability and their displacement capability.
I mean, they ran all over the Bills in the playoffs.
They ran all over the Bills in the regular season.
They pretty much run all over everybody. Let's be honest,

(39:39):
whether it's Henry or Mitchell or Hall or Lamar like
they run all over everybody, So it'll be a good
test for them, especially without Ogun Joby, who isn't necessarily
a premier run defender at all. He's more juice and
penetration and rush like they like. But I think the
inside rush can do a lot to mitigate any ineffective

(40:00):
or absence from Joey Bosa. The issue again is early
on you just have to kind of hang your hat
on another rookie, same thing that you would have to
do at edge. If Bosa's out, you have to hang
your hat a little bit more on land In Jackson
and hope he's kind of ready. You got to do
that on the interior regardless of what happens with Bosa.
You have to do anything on the interior with TJ. Sanders.
I just think that's tough to expect that right away,

(40:22):
to be like, hey, we need this second round rookie
to come in and be an impactful player right out
of the gate and make things happen. And that's why
he's still trying to learn the game. He's going to
have run defense responsibilities, so having to holistically or completely
I should say, lean on the inside rush and that
inside rush having significant contributions from a rookie early on,

(40:45):
that's a hard way to live again, it can happen,
but this is all part of the conversation I wanted
to have in this episode tonight, Like if Bosa's out
or unavailable, it's not the end of the world. You
can still mitigate it. Again, not talking scheme right now,
we're just talking even though it's part of the conversation.
But you can mitigate it with scheme, and you can
mitigate it from an individual standpoint. But you need a

(41:06):
lot of things to click, You need a lot of
things to fall into place, You need a lot of
things to go right on the interior and at edge,
all from one guy just being out, and the odds
of him being out at some point we're already decently high.
But then the fact that he already picked up an
injury before we even got into the season probably increases
those odds even further. So it's a little scary black Man.

(41:30):
There's this Joey Bo's a good break his foot on
a blade of grass, where Charles says, I think I
mitigate the pressure on the d line by having Bernard
blitzing more like in twenty twenty three to support the
pass rush. I would, especially Millonald's healthy I'm looking for
simulated pressures and creeper pressures from the bills all day,

(41:50):
especially in No. One passing down in distances and situations. Blitz.
Bernard's a tremendous blitzer. Milonald's a good blitzer. I would
lean into that aspect and the coverage versatility on the
back in addition to little things like playing more press
or just playing even more offman and letting Bernard and
Harston kind of sit and then close and trigger. I
think you need to lean into some of the versatility

(42:12):
that you've got with those guys at the second level
being Milano, Bernard, Taron Johnson, Benford Harriston, who I'm assuming
wins the corner two job, and even Cold Bishop a
little bit right like, use Cold Bishop in and around
the line of scrimmage as much as possible, let him fly,
let him lean into that skill set and his traits
and his athleticism. Again is I think most of you
folks know. I do think Cold Bishop is significantly better

(42:34):
the closer he is to the line of scrimmage and
the more he plays coming forward as opposed to dropping
deep and going back. But yeah, you could see you know,
more traditional blitzes and more sims or creepers from the
bills with Bernard and Milano if they need to. Again,
the only issue with that is then you open yourselves
up for you know, you have to win with the
scheme or you have to win with the call, and

(42:55):
if you don't, then you're either lacking numbers in coverage
because you brought traditional brick blitz like a five or
six man pressure, or you've brought a sim or a creeper,
meaning you have a non traditional coverage player in a
coverage role. I'm meaning a defensive tackle or a defensive end,
which again I love because I love that type of work,
but it does come with some risk. But if they

(43:16):
have to, they have to. Jim jack says, if Landon
Jackson is even a shade better than Epanessa or Solomon,
I think that will make a big difference. I would
agree with that from especially from an Epanessa standpoint. If
Landon Jackson is a shade better than aj Panessa, I
think that helps a lot. Like if you especially a

(43:38):
Bosa is able to play, or when Bosa plays and
you've got a top four of you know, Bosa or
I'm not putting this in order, but Bosa, groot Hoyt, Jackson, Epanessa,
I guess top five that would be. That's a nice
rounded out group, especially from a run defense standpoint and
known quantity standpoint. Then if you just get a little
bit more of an uptick from Jackson is a pass rusher,

(44:01):
I think that helps a little bit too. But yeah,
if Jackson's a shade better than Epanessa, I think that
matters a lot. I would just like that in conjunction
with group also taking a jump or something like that.
I just think you need multiple of those kind of
shade jumps or this guy plays a shade better than
this guy. But yeah, if Jackson is a shade better
than Epanessa, I think that helps a lot. Even if

(44:24):
both even if boasts out, that still helps. Because a
top three of Groot Point, Jackson and Epanessa. Again, I
think there's still gonna be questions as from a pass
rush standpoint, from a true get you a bucket pass
rush standpoint, but you can get some violence and effectiveness,
some pocket compression, and then some run defense as well.
So I do think that's a that's a fair comment there.

(44:47):
Where's this coming from James? James says, do you think
the new d line coach will make a difference? Supposedly
very good? Yeah, Ryan Nielsen. I do like Ryan Nielsen.
I liked him as what he did schematically as a
defensive coordinator of the Falcons in twenty twenty three. I
like the sims and his creepers, especially for a defense
that didn't really have a lot of talent. And I

(45:08):
know the Jags were dumpster fire last year in a
multitude of ways. But and again, he's supposed to be
more you know, he's a consultant or whatever he's labeled
as for the Bills this year, but he's more on
the defensive line than he is anywhere else. But I
liked how much press he played with the Jags last year.
I do think the Bills need to play more press
and restrict airspace as much as possible. But I do

(45:31):
think he'll make a difference. I think we'll see more
violence up front, and I do think we'll see more
schematic creativity as far as sims and creepers, just because
that's the world that he lives in. So I think
we'll see Epanessa drop into coverage. I think we'll see
t J. Sanders or at Oliver drop into a low hole.
I think we'll see that from Hoyt. I think Nielsen
is a guy who really could unlock Michael Hoyt, just

(45:53):
with again with his schematic creativity and what he did
in Atlanta, and then having a guy like Hoyt who
has alignment versatility and schematic flex I do think that
could be a really good piece. I like that Claude
says the offense is going to be better. That should
give the d some rope until the suspension's end. Except

(46:13):
for week one. Yeah, I think the offense will Even
if the offense isn't better. I think the offense is fine.
I'm not really concerned about the offense, even from and
I don't want to say this is like a huge jinx,
but even from a pass perspective, I don't think they
have the best weapons at receiver if you're going to
pass the ball forty or fifty times. But if they

(46:35):
run the offense that they did last year, which is
what I'm expecting, they're fine. They're gonna go condensed. They're
gonna go with thirteen personnel and twelve personnel and have
six offensive lineman sets, and they're just gonna mash teams
and run the ball. Like the foundation of this offense
is running the football down, down defensive throats and through
their face, and I think they're fine for that, and

(46:58):
then leaning on Allen to be an MVP and guys better.
I like the addition of Josh Palmer, even though I
think some folks are overblowing it a bit more than others.
I don't think he's this you know, vertical threat that
some of the statistics kind of make him out to be,
or some of the reps that people cherry pick and
kind of point to. But I do think he's got
a good release package. I think he's got some explosion

(47:19):
zero to ten yards. I think he can work well
in the underneath and intermediate and he can separate definitively
in those areas, which helps Alan. I'm interested to see
who fills the Mac Collins blocking role. I know that's
a stupid, by by stupid thing for some, but man,
he was so he was at Collins was an effective
pass catcher last year when called upon, but he was
really good as a blocker. So I'm concerned in kind

(47:41):
of seeing who fills that role, and James said, don't
forget Spencer Hawes. Nice reference. Yeah I am. I'm excited
for the additional Hawes. I like him as a blocker,
and I think he can do some things in the
underneath and low intermediate as a pass catcher, but just
him as a people mover. What they can do in
the run game. One game is what moves this Bill's offense.

(48:01):
I know, Allen's the MVP quarterbacks, the most important position
in football, YadA, YadA, all that, but the run is
what stirs the drink for this Bill's offense and even
makes the drink for this Bill's offense. The run game
is what moves this team. So yeah, I think the
I think the offense will be fine overall. Miguel says,
do you think Cole wins the job over DeMar this season? Man?

(48:27):
I hope so. I hope I think he does. If
he doesn't, I think that says more about Cole Bishop
than it does DeMar Hamlin. I don't think, and I
don't mean this negatively, I don't think DeMar Hamlin is
getting better. I think he is very much a known quantity.
His ceiling was always limited. He was a higher four

(48:48):
kind of guy. He works in this defense because of
his familiarity with similar thing with the defense schematically and structurally,
coming from Pitt and what he was in college. But
I just think your ceiling is so capped as a
defense with Hamlin, and his ceiling as a player is
so capped that if Cole Bishop doesn't win, if Cold

(49:08):
Bishop doesn't beat out to mar Hamlin, you got a problem.
Like that says a lot about Cold Bishop in a
negative way. No offense is to mar Hamlin. I actually
think like I think the starting safety opposite of Taylor Rap.
I think it'll end up being Cold Bishop, and I
think they want it to be Cold Bishop. I'm not
ruling out Derek Forrest. I know that might sound crazy,
but he's just got this weird mix of traits in

(49:31):
a good way. Not necessarily weird, but he's got an
overall good mix of traits where he's like a six
to a six point eight or seven on almost everything.
He's not sexy in any one area, but he gives
them some good versatility and he kind of pairs well
with Taylor Rap that it wouldn't surprise me completely if
he won the other safety spot. But I do think
it's cold Bishop. And then they love Hamlin and they

(49:53):
love known quantity, so he's always going to be in
that mix. But if cold Bishop can't beat out to
mar Hamlin, you got a problem. Like that's scary for
Cole Bishop, Like you should be able to beat up
to mar Hamlin. If you don't, that's a problem. And
then that I wouldn't write off Bishop in that mold,
but like, do your second round pick coming into your
second year and you can't beat that guy out like

(50:14):
like that, Uh, that's no Buno. Where are we nick? Saying?
Bishop lived in that apex role in college. Not sure
how much of that work he gets at the Bills though, Yeah,
that's something I continued to say, like I think his
his fit in the Bills defense is more projection than
it is anything. I thought he was better suited for

(50:36):
a defense like the Ravens or like the Patriots, where
he can play a safety role that's you know, some safety,
some apex and he can blitz from the slot, and
he can blitz from an off ball linebacker spot, and
he can drop as a low hole player, and he
can cover tight ends and man up on tight ends
and running backs and live anywhere and anywhere in and
around the s line of scrimmage, sideline to sideline, in

(50:57):
and around the box. But the Bills had that and
Taron Johnson, and then they use their safeties interchangeably but
more traditionally from a coverage standpoint. So that's why I
questioned the fit. But he's got a really good athletic
profile and they picked them, so we got to hope
it works. Oh WHOA, thank you very much for super chat, yo, miss,

(51:22):
and thank you much for being here. Thank you very
much for super chat and the monetary donation. I appreciate you.
The comment here is, hey, aunt, huge fanning ers all,
thank you very much. As a fan, it's fine to
be optimistic about your team. But I checked every Super
Bowl winner since nineteen ninety and found, oh, this is
a good one, and found at least three game changers

(51:43):
slash all pros. Who are the Bills game changers? This
is a tremendous question, and this is something I've talked
about for the past several years. I thought that the
Bills have have had a good amount of depth on
the roster, but not a lot of high end or
or top tier players game changers, if you will, kind
of I thought for years it was just really Allen

(52:05):
and Diggs, especially offensively, and then they got rid of
Diggs and that was happening as like Poyer and Hyde
were starting to decline. Sudevias White was injured, Like you
went from having all Pro caliber receiver and the quarterback
and an all Pro corner and some all Pro safeties
and then that kind of changed a little bit. So
who are the Bills game changers? So I'm not even
gonna say Josh Allen because I feel like he doesn't

(52:26):
count because that's a given. So who are the Bills
game changers? So, and I'm gonna put this with a
caveat too, right, like the game changers for the Bills
is what I'm gonna name. I don't know if these
guys would necessarily be put into the game changer category
if they were on other teams, but given their role
on the Bills, and given while the Bills are built,

(52:49):
they would be the game changers for the Bills. I'll
say Greg Russo because he's a force multiplier against the run.
I'm hoping, I'm hoping one of them is Christian Benford.
I'm hoping he starts to put himself into a conversation
in terms of like an all pro corner lockdown aside.
I think Christian Benford can be in that conversation in

(53:11):
terms of being a game changer. I think he's starting
to grow into a guy that can shut down a
side of the ball and match up with anybody that
kind of gets put up against him with his size
and athleticism profile. We've seen him bang bodies with bigger
bodied wide receivers, and we've seen him go toe to
toe with speed receivers like Tyreek Hill and still be
able to function and actually win and take the ball
away in that regard, but probably the like the best

(53:36):
game changers from the perspective of like if you put
them on other teams and they'd still be game changers.
Probably Dean Dawkins and Spencer Brown, Like, I think they've
grown into a really good tackle combination. Dean Dawkins is
already one of the really good left tackles in the league.
I think Spencer Brown is starting to put himself into
a conversation of being a really good right tackle and

(53:56):
maybe even one of the best. I think, like if
you put Spencer Brown on a lot of teams, he
would be a good right tackle for a lot of teams.
I think if you put Dion Dawkins on a lot
of teams, he'd be a good left tackle on a
lot of teams. I think that's kind of how I
wanted to find it. I also think you could maybe
put James Cook into that category just with how he

(54:18):
elevated the Bills run game last year. And I think
Khalisha Kiir is in the game changer conversation with the
year that he had last year. If Mlanal can be healthy,
I think he's a game changer because he's an All
Pro caliber linebacker. I just don't know how much of
that Milana is still left there given the age, given

(54:39):
the miles on the tires, and some of the injuries
that he's picked up. And I think at Oliver can
be a game changer, he's just inconsistent. Again, those are
all like really for the Bills. The only guys that
I really think if you took them out of the
Bills and put them on other teams would still be
you know, top tier guys on other teams or like
classified as game changers. I think it would be Spencer
Brown and Deonda Hawkins. I think that's kind of where Yeah,

(55:07):
I'm trying to think. Hmmm, yeah, I think that's what
I'll go with. That's what I'll go with. Oh you honest?
Another thank you for the other super chat here, and
he says thanks for answering. I'm from Norway, hence the
n okay so the montery do nation? Cool? Shout out
to Martin Nodegard, who is I think the only Norwegian

(55:31):
athlete I know or major one at least for those
of you who don't know. Midfielder and captain for Arsenal.
He's pretty sweet. Jim Jacks says Alan Cook Shakir in
my opinion, Yeah, I think that's I Cook had a
significant jump last year. Let's see Pete saying it's a
tough box to fill. Is the question. History is written
by the victors, and guys get a legacy boost from
Super Bowl. For example, Bernard causing fumbles in a Super

(55:54):
Bowl rather than in an early exit has a new lens.
That's fair. I classify it more is like if if
I'm going with a game changer, especially off of the
way like it was phrasing the question, I'm thinking of
like guys who I equated to guys that are like
top tier players at their positions or like S tier
a tier, blue chip kind of guys, and then if

(56:15):
you put them on other teams would still be that. Like.
So I mentioned Benford because I think Benford is getting
to a spot where he could be a corner one
on a lot of teams. And I think Greg Russau
is gonna be a really good edge for a lot
of teams. I think at Oliver can be that guy.
He's just up and down. Spencer Brown and Dean Dawkins
from here are the biggest known quantities with it, just

(56:37):
because of the way that they both play, their play styles,
their skill sets, their trade size, frame, athleticism, all that
like they translate into multiple schemes. Spencer Brown is still
getting better, so that's kind of why I lean into them. Shakira,
I think, is an interesting one because I think I
really like Shakira and I think he's really good. But
I do think he's somewhat scheme dependent, which is why

(57:01):
I don't necessarily just put him in like the same
type of game changer categories like Stefan Diggs was. But
to your point, P Yeah, it is a tough box
to fill, is a question, and that's actually really good.
I'm gonna make note of this, Like I don't want
to make a full scale episode about this, especially as
we go forward in the offseason, because there's like it's
hard to find content. You want to do stuff and
break things down. This is a really good one. I

(57:21):
might actually mark this down and make this a full
tier episode, especially when juxtaposing them, like like for the
Chiefs for example, like you know, well, maybe Kelsey's fading
a little bit, but you know it's like, Okay, Mahomes,
not gonna count him, but create Humphrey, Trey Smith. It
was Travis Kelsey, he's fading a little bit. But you know, McDuffie, Jones.
I think Justin Reid was a game changer, not necessarily

(57:46):
at the top tier like McDuffie and Jones, but like
you had kind of easier known caliber quantity guys there,
like I think the Ravens. You got Lamar and you
have Henry Mark Andrews was at times, but then defensively
you've got rokwand you've got Metabik, You've got Kyle Hamilton. Yeah,

(58:07):
oh good call. I could believe forgot two from Curtis.
I'm so I feel so terrible. Taron Johnson is up
there one thousand percent on thousand thousand percent. Taron Johnson
is an all pro caliber corner. Uh. I can't believe
I've forgot Aron Johnson. Taron Johnson is a Yeah, it
is a is an easy Ooh, I don't know. I
don't think Benford's a top five corner. I do think
he's still ascending and very good. I don't think Benford's

(58:30):
the top five corner. Taron Johnson is an easy. Top
three slot Dawkins in Brown, top five left tackle, right tackle.
I'd have to think about that. I'm not dismissing it.
I think it's a possibility, which is fun Teraron Johnson.
I definitely think top three slot Dawkins and Brown is interesting. Benford,

(58:50):
I don't think it's a top five corner, though. I
think he's still ascending and by the end of the year,
I think he could be in a conversation for like
top ten to seven. I don't know if I'm ready
to put him into that top five category yet though.
Oh yeah, and I know Jim Jack saying Brentford was
number was DVA number four cornerback and lowest target rate

(59:12):
ten percent should have been in the Pro Bowl one.
I don't think target rate necessarily means you're crushing it.
It could just be that you could not get targeted
just because the corner on the opposite side of you.
I'm not saying this is the case of the Bills,
but you could have a low target rate just because
the corner on the opposite side of you sucks and
they're just going after that guy instead. So low target
rate doesn't necessarily mean we're not going to we're not

(59:35):
going at that guy because we're scared of him. It
could just be like, well, the better matchup is literally
anywhere else as we're so we're going to go over there.
And yeah, he had several good advanced metrics areas. I
just think it's tough with corners and advanced metrics stuff
and also scheme dependent things too, right, like you know,
are you a zone corner? Are you a cloud corner?
Are you a quarter's corner? Are you a match guy?

(59:56):
Are you a man guy? Are you a press man guy?
How do you work? How do you function? I do
think Christian Benford is a very good It's a very
good corner, and I think by the end of the
year he could be in that conversation of you know,
top ten corners, like I think Taylor's is a here

(01:00:17):
Benford top nine to twelve. Yeah, I think that's fair
for Christian Benford. Right now I want to look up oh,
like if I had to link. Yeah, So for me,
I'm just looking at like list of corners right now
to kind of put in my thought, Like I think
Derek Stingley is a better corner than Benford. Again, they're

(01:00:39):
different too, like the kind of coverage of Stingley functions in.
Even Benford's a better run defender and a forced player
and a tackler than Stinglee. Like again, Benford's no slouch.
I just think top five might be a little generous
right now. But yeah, I think Stingley's ahead of them.
I think Pastor Tan is ahead of them. I think
Denzel Ward is ahead of him. I don't think Jalen

(01:01:04):
Johnson is top five, but I really like Jalen Johnson.
And that's all. That's only just four off the top
of my head. Depending on what you think of Jalen Ramsey,
jy R, Alexander aj Terrell, Marlon Humphrey inside outside versatility
depend on what you think of Tret McDuffie. I still
think you can play outside, but there's again scheme and

(01:01:26):
structure and usage kind of plays into it. But I
think Christian Menford is very good and I like Christian
Bedford a lot. Man. That's a good question to have. Mmm.
Now I'm just really thinking of like all the game changers,
and like if you took the Bills players off teams,
off the Bills and put them on other teams, what
that would mean and what that would do. That was
a fun little segue. I appreciate that. Be honest. I

(01:01:49):
think it's the honest. It's gotta be honest, right Yo,
N I s I'm horrible with names. I think it's
the honest. If I'm mispronouncing that, I significantly apologize. But
thank you very much for being here thinking for the
super chats. I like that. But again, so to kind
of put that on a perspective within the Bosa conversation,
I know we got off track. Shocker that I got
off track on a show. I can't. I know, everyone's like,
oh my god, I can't believe that happened. Crazy. I

(01:02:13):
think the injury concerns for Bosa are worrisome obviously because
he comes with an injury history, so it's not like, oh,
this is flash in the pan, he'll be find I
just think his importance to this team is a bit understated,
and I think his importance level to the Buffalo Bill's
defense is higher than it's being covered or being given

(01:02:34):
credit for just what we broke down off this episode. Again,
I think without him you don't necessarily have a true
pass rushing edge one unless Greg Russou takes a jump.
So in order to mitigate the absence of Joey Bosa
or less impact or less effectiveness if he's banged up
all the time, were significantly banged up, you need multiple

(01:02:55):
guys to take a jump to kind of fill his role.
And even within that, you're still kind of hoping someone
can push that ceiling. Like he not only rounds out
the depth and raises the floor, he is one of
the guys who can stretch the ceiling for this edge
grouping from a pass rushing perspective, and again, he is
a good run defender. I just don't think he's gonna
be used a lot in that role if he's healthy,

(01:03:16):
because the Bills have that in groot Epanessa, hoyt Land
and Jackson, Like I do think folks will be more
of a pass russ specialist. They don't, but they don't
have anybody like him who man just is so good
at getting tackles off their game and off leverage and
getting them to misstep, and how he understands how to
create space and take angles, and his efficiency at getting

(01:03:38):
to the quarterbacks drop and understanding rush plan and path
to the quarterback and quarterback drops. He just I think
he matters a lot more than the conversation is being
focused or centered around him right now. And if he's
if he's unable to go, if he's injured, if he
misses time, or if he's so banged up that he's
just not very impact, you need other guys to step

(01:04:02):
up because you don't have from a known quantity perspective
right now, he is your best chance at having a
pass rushing edge one off the edge obviously, because I
don't know why I said that twice known quantity. Right now,
if everybody's healthy, Joey Bosa is the Bill's best shot
or option at edge one from a pass rushing perspective.
That doesn't mean group can't take a jump. That doesn't

(01:04:24):
mean any of these guys can't take a jump or
heavy ear. I'm talking purely from a known quantity perspective,
off of what we've seen from these other guys in
the league to this point. Sample size uses all that stuff.
He's their best shot at having a pass rushing edge one,
and at worst he's a high high high end edge two,
which pairs very very very well with Greg Russo. Again,
this edge grouping needs either a running made for Greg

(01:04:47):
Russo or someone to be the batman to Greg Russo.
Unless Greg russoe makes another jump and suddenly becomes batman,
which he could. I just think that's a lot to ask,
given the incremental improvement he's had, rather than and just
you know, shooting kind of to the mood moon, I
should say pizza is. In twenty twenty four, bols To
have played four hundred and fifty regular season snaps and
was effective in the playoffs. We just need to duplicate that.

(01:05:09):
That's it. Put him in bubble wrap, let him be healthy.
Let again he is a good run defender. The tape
shows that. His career shows that when he was healthy.
But he doesn't need to be a run defender for
the Bills because they have Group they have that Vanessa,
they have Hoyt, they have Landon Jackson, even Javon Solomon.
Like they've got guys who can mash and play the

(01:05:30):
run and do that. Like they don't need Bosa to
do that. Can he? Sure well, they have him do it,
probably sparingly, but they don't need him to do it.
And to peach point here, yeah, get some snaps. Just
be effective in the playoffs. That's it. Give me enough
that you can just go and be eighty five to
ninety five percent in the playoffs and just do that. Please, please, please,

(01:05:51):
Argie says, do they bring Von back on a Batman contract?
He still hasn't sign anywhere yet. Correct, No, I don't
think he's signed anywhere. Maybe they kick the tires on him.
That would be interesting if but I mean it boats
is out long term, It boastes out long term. I
think they have to bring in somebody just because especially
for the first six games, like it's just I don't

(01:06:12):
think you can play the first six games with the
top four of Group A, Panessa, Landon Jackson and Javon Solomon.
There's just too many unknowns with There's too many unknowns
overall with Jackson and Solomon, and there's way too many
questions from a pass rush perspective. So yeah, Boats is out.
I think they minimum they need to bring in some
kind of known quantity as a pass rusher for the

(01:06:33):
first six games, maybe even longer, depending on what goes
from there. Curtis says, over under six and a half
sacks for Land and Jackson, I'm gonna say under if
he get I would maybe again it playing time is
gonna matter so much, so how much does Bosa get hurt?
But yeah, I'll say like four. I think four to

(01:06:55):
five is faster. I think that's faster. Jim Jack says,
do you think the Bills need to send faster guys
on Blitzer against someone like Mahomes? Seems like our downfall
has been getting to him and not getting him down
like the Eagles did. I think the biggest issue is
a lot of the guys the Bills gravitate towards the
defensive line are pocket compressors and not great change of
direction guys. So when they have to get Mahomes down,

(01:07:17):
they don't necessarily have the body fluidity or the athleticism
to kind of move with him and get him down.
I don't think it's necessarily about faster guys. I think
it's more about the body types they've leaned into those
body types more. Again, like Landon, Jackson and Grout are
similar in being not being very change of direction based,
especially Jackson, who's very high cut. It is more of linear,

(01:07:38):
straight line type of player than he has changed direction,
bounce around athleticism type of dude. I think it's just
more about I think it's more about past Russ integrity
from a past Russ lane perspective, not getting too much
out of your gaps, and multiple guys winning together. I
think that's the biggest thing. You need multiple guys to
win against Mahomes. That's what the Eagles had, and I
mean multiple guys like overall down in and down out,

(01:08:00):
but like on the same down, like the Eagles had
guys winning off the edge and guys winning inside. You
need that against the Chiefs. It can't just be oh man,
your edge beat their right tackle. Cool. Mahomes can just
step up and avoid that. Oh Man, your defensive tackle one.
He might be able to side step that and step up.
You need multiple guys winning on the same down and
down to down. Like he's just tough in general, and

(01:08:21):
you need the right body types. But considering the Bills
don't really have the right body types, they need multiple
guys winning and the pocket compressing in together and in conjunction,
which is tough. Oh and Pete says there will be
pastors available at the trade deadline if need be. Zidarius
was last year. That is true. Zidarius got moved at
the last minute last year on the trade deadline. So yeah,

(01:08:42):
I say all that to say, I do think Bosa's
importance to this team is being a bit undersold and understated.
I think it matters more than is being talked about
in circles small or large. And this is not a
good sign. That he's already picked up an injury and
we haven't even got into the season yet, and the
fact that it's a muscle injury and then it's a

(01:09:03):
lower body injury not not good. But we'll see what
that means going forward. You know what is good though,
One Pie pizza the best pizza in Buffalo, New York.
If you live in the Buffalo area and you have
not had some one Pi Pizza. You're doing yourself a disservice.
Online menu can be found in the episode show notes,
whether here on YouTube or whichever podcasting app or platform

(01:09:24):
you're listening to this show. On sweet Sauce, pie cup
and chart Pepperoni. They chop up other toppings to evenly
distribute them across the pie. They make their own homemade
blue cheese, which is absolutely amazing, and they do a
great job giving back to the community at large in Buffalo,
whether it's partnering with roswelld and Knockout Cancer. They have

(01:09:44):
partner with the SBCA, Toys for Top, the Alzheimer's Foundation.
They just do a lot to give back and they're
very generous. They're really good people making really good food.
Go get yourself some one Pie Pizza. They also have
a catering division now called Elevated Catering of Buffalo. I
am having them cater an event for me this Saturday,
and I will be taking pictures in posting because I

(01:10:07):
had them catering event last year and it was awesome,
especially just the just the mac and cheeses alone are amazing.
But I'm getting some pizza, some mac and cheese, some salads,
some other stuff. Yeah, so go check again. That can
be found in the episode show notes as well, whether
you're here on YouTube or whichever podcasting Apple platform we're
listening to this show on One Pie Pizza and then
their catering division called Elevated Catering of Buffalo. So if

(01:10:29):
you're doing grad parties, birthday parties in the summer, cookouts,
whatever you want, you're just trying to have somebody catering
event for you indoors, outdoors, whatever you got living it
up in the summer, One Pie Pizza has got you
covered with their Elevated Catering Division of Buffalo. So look
at yourself some of that and I'm gonna put up

(01:10:50):
the banner. This is tootles, folks, because we're gonna start
to wind down and say goodbye in this episode. If
you have not already, please please please think you drop
alke on this episode. If you enjoyed this episode, James says,
is that red white and blue theme on the tree,
it is. I went with the May Memorial Day, So
I went with the Memorial Day theme. Got a little
red white and blue with American flag snoopy and then

(01:11:11):
a little red white and blue garland for Memorial Day,
and then I'll change some summer colors for June, and
then we'll be back to a similar color palette and
design for July, because fourth of July that's the holiday there,
and then we'll move forward. Good hye, James, I appreciate you. Yeah.
If you folks enjoyed this episode, please please please, and
then you drop alike on this video here on YouTube.
Likes the lifeblood of these streams that matter a lot

(01:11:33):
towards helping us to track and trend in front of
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(01:11:53):
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If you're listening on one of the podcasting Apster platforms,
please rate and review and subscriben to Disguis Coverage. And
word of mouth is also tremendously appreciated. So if you
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Without having a flubb all episode. If you enjoyed this show, please, please, please,

(01:12:13):
thank you. Tell your family, friends and loved ones about it,
whether they're a Bill's fan, football fan, whatever have you.
Try and you know, bring them over to Disguis Coverage
and to cover one as a whole. If you hated
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your enemies about this show and try and make them
watch it and ruin their day by making them watch
this show. Oh, I appreciate you. I see the kind

(01:12:37):
words coming in. I don't like to bring up, especially
when I'm solo. I don't like to bring up positive
things for myself up because I think it's a little corny.
But I appreciate that nice comment. Jim Jack, thank you
very much. That was super cool. Thank you so much.
I really appreciate that. Sincerely, Thank you everybody in the
chat for the engagement to back and forth with each other,
with myself all that stuff. I thought it was really fun.
Thank you very much to Yonus from Norway. We're global

(01:12:59):
here one and on Disguise Coverage. Appreciate you Yonis for
multiple super chats and uh yeah, a really good question.
I'm looking at it again about who the Bill's game
changers are. I think I might make that into an episode.
I made note of it, and I think we might
do make that an episode at some point this offseason
because I think that's a really good, really good conversation points. Yeah,

(01:13:22):
think a ruch to Yonis and thank you very much
all you folks again likes, ratings, reviews, subscriptions, kind words,
word of mouth, all that kind of stuff. And yeah,
we'll see what happens for Joey Bosa, how his health
progresses throughout this offseason. Again, Sean McDermot said he's likely
out until training camp. We'll see if he suits up

(01:13:43):
on day one. We'll see how much work he gets.
We'll see if they ease him in during training camp.
We'll see what that ramp up schedule looks like going
into the regular season. I think he's gonna be a
guy that we're gonna have to kind of watch with
baited breath week in and week out during practice and
the games, just to see what that health looks like.
But regardless healthy or now, I think he has much
more importance to this team than he's being given credit for.

(01:14:06):
And I outline those points tonight and I hope you
folks recognize that and liked it. Thank you very much
for the more kind words that are coming through from me, folks,
I greatly appreciate it. Have a good night, Nick, James, RJ. Claude, Jim,
anybody and everybody who is watching live now, watching later,
listening later, whoever you are, Pete you as well. I'm
just going off the names that I'm recently seeing here

(01:14:27):
in the chat. Appreciate you, folks. Enjoy your night, enjoy
your Tuesday, enjoy your week. I will be dropping some
more content later this week again to make up for
not going last week because I had some crazy hecktedness.
So yeah, thank you for bearing with me. Thank you
for tuning into this episode and watching. I helpe 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. I will see you when

(01:14:48):
I see you, godspeed, and as always, go Bills,

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Joey Bosa's level of importance to the Buffalo Bills defense | DC

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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;}Joey Bosa's level of importance to the Buffalo Bills defense | DC