Buffalo Bills Futures Bets and Training Camp Insights
Transcript
00:00Welcome back to Newswire here on Sports Grid.
00:05We continue to take a look at NFL training camp as we get you ready for the season.
00:09Dan Fates, of course, covers the Buffalo Bills and all Buffalo sports.
00:13ABC 13 in Buffalo joins us now.
00:15We'll break down exactly how the Bills have looked thus far and what they will look like
00:19during the regular season.
00:20Dan, thanks again for coming here on Newswire.
00:22It's great to meet you.
00:22Thanks for coming on.
00:24Yeah, thanks so much for having me, Craig.
00:25Appreciate it.
00:26Yeah, so Dan, I think that this is a strange year for the Bills going in.
00:31It's like for the first time in a while, we're going into a season where, at least
00:35from the outside looking in, there are some people that are a little down on the
00:39Buffalo Bills.
00:40The last few years, they've been sort of that, hey, let me pick the Bills as a
00:42sleeper to win the Super Bowl.
00:44You know, first time ever, they're probably...
00:46Well, not ever, but first time in the last few years, they're not in that situation.
00:49In the division, some people feel the Jets have caught them.
00:53Maybe the Dolphins will catch them.
00:54And, you know, certainly that's the perception on the outside looking in.
00:58Do you feel that same perception going into training camp or preseason?
01:03Super Bowl for sure.
01:04I don't think they're necessarily there right now, but we all know how weird and
01:09some seasons can take a turn.
01:10You talk about the departures.
01:11This team lost six out of their seven captains from last year.
01:15It's not just starters.
01:16You're talking about mainstays that have been in Buffalo the entire Sean McDermott
01:22era, Micah Hyde, Jordan Poirier, Mitch Morris, Stefan Diggs, Gabe Davis.
01:26Like, the list goes on.
01:27Like, and the team has acknowledged it.
01:30And while fans may say, oh, it's so great, you know, thank goodness Diggs is gone
01:36and all that drama, they've lost leadership.
01:39And that's the big thing.
01:40And where is Josh Allen?
01:42We're two minutes into this and we haven't talked about Josh Allen.
01:45They still have Josh Allen.
01:46So there is that sense of, can they put pieces back together?
01:52And that's what they're still trying to figure out.
01:54But talking to Deion Dawkins, talking to other guys on the team,
01:57like they admit it feels different.
02:00There's different voices being heard.
02:02Different guys have to step up as leaders.
02:03They're being put into ask to do new roles that they haven't done.
02:08As for the product on the field, I still think that this is still a really good
02:12football team.
02:13And I still have a ton of faith in Sean McDermott to put together a high-level
02:17defense.
02:18And then it's kind of figuring out, can Josh Allen raise the talent of the
02:24players around him now that there's no Diggs, now that Gabe Davis is gone,
02:28now that you're trying to bring in some new pieces and bring them along,
02:31where will the offense be in a first full season with Joe Brady,
02:35who took over in the middle of last year when Condorsi was fired?
02:38So there's a lot more questions than answers heading into this year than,
02:42like you said, Craig, in years past.
02:44Yeah, and look, Joe Brady had so much success at LSU with Joe Burrow,
02:49not as much with Carolina, but I've always been a big fan of his.
02:52I thought that he'd be a head coach at this point.
02:54Maybe the Bills are fortunate to have him.
02:56Maybe just having him for a full season will be the answer because, you know,
02:59the additions in the offseason were very menial at best, just adding Hollins,
03:03Samuels, about the scantling to the offense.
03:06I mean, if those players are a major part of the team, I think, Dan,
03:09that something has gone wrong because they drafted Keon Coleman,
03:12who was fantastic at Florida State in the second round,
03:16but I have not been at camp, so I don't know.
03:19I mean, you tell me thus far, Dan,
03:20is it looking like he's going to have an impact like they want him to?
03:23Because if he does not, then we go back to those names that we just discussed.
03:28Yeah, Craig, I was a little skeptical about Keon from his time at Florida State,
03:33and I know analytics can do one thing or another.
03:36I know people freaked out about his 40 time not being where it was,
03:38but his gauntlet was the fastest,
03:40and that everybody makes the comparison of Puka Nakua and all these things.
03:44Like, that's great, but you can't always just point out one thing
03:47that you like about somebody because somebody else did it
03:50and then go, well, he's going to be the next Puka.
03:52Like, that's not fair either.
03:54What I have, like what I've seen, is that nothing seems too big for Keon.
04:00He has made multiple splash plays at training camp
04:03where we all take our phones out right after and go like, whoa,
04:06like that was next level.
04:08Like, he isn't necessarily a guy that right now
04:12has a full tool belt of separation at the line of scrimmage.
04:16He has been getting jammed in man coverage drills when they just go one-on-one,
04:20but he's got a really good vision to find zone.
04:23I know it's a dumb buzzword, but everybody's like, it's true.
04:26He can play above the rim.
04:28Josh Allen has had to learn this offseason
04:30because he's got Keon and Matt Collins, who's like 6'4",
04:34and Marques Valdez-Scantling, who's like 6'3".
04:36He has learned how to throw the ball higher
04:39because we've joked before at training camps,
04:41it's been Cole Beasley, John Brown, Stephon Diggs.
04:43Like, it's kind of been like McDermott a few years ago
04:46called the wide receiver room the Smurfs.
04:48Like, now they've got guys that have size and things like that.
04:51So I've been impressed because I had a lower expectation maybe
04:56of where I thought Keon would be coming out of Florida State
05:00where I'm not going to break down the all-22 on Keon,
05:02but I didn't think he really ran a whole bunch of routes.
05:04It was kind of like, go down the field, I'll throw you the ball.
05:07He has shown a little bit more polish and maturity early on.
05:11He's just 21 years old, but his size...
05:14He catches the ball so well.
05:17We see guys that have late hands
05:19where you always talk about, like,
05:21cornerbacks play through when they see the wide receiver's hands go up.
05:25He brings them up real late.
05:26He's very confident in catching the ball.
05:28All of those things are pluses,
05:30and it's just a matter of going back to the original point.
05:33What can Joe Brady do with it?
05:35He's got a brand-new blank slate.
05:37There's no number-one wide receiver.
05:39They've kind of talked about earlier in training camp,
05:42Sean McDermott called them,
05:43was asked about the wide receiver room.
05:45And he goes, it's kind of like your utensil drawer.
05:48And he goes, sometimes you open it up
05:50and you don't really know what you have,
05:52but you know it's in there.
05:54And he goes, and sometimes when you're putting,
05:56you're unloading the dishwasher,
05:57you're like, where does this thing go?
05:59That's kind of what this Bill's wide receiver room is.
06:02They're trying to figure out who's going to go where.
06:05And when I've asked Joe Brady,
06:06and hey, do you need a X wide receiver or this wide receiver?
06:10He wants the entire team to know the philosophy,
06:13the system in place,
06:15so that guys can interchange and play on the outside
06:17and play on the inside.
06:18So there's a lot of versatility there.
06:20It's just, how will it pan out?
06:22That's what we need to find out.
06:24Yeah, we do.
06:25I need some forks at my house here, Dan.
06:27All right, so a win total for the Bills.
06:29Everyone is pounding the under at 10 and a half.
06:31It's minus 150 on the FanDuel Sportsbook.
06:33This is trending toward 10.
06:35Let's just call it what it is.
06:37Are betters on the right side here
06:39or will the Bills surprise some people?
06:41I think the Bills will surprise a few people.
06:44I think so much has been made of the pieces that they've lost.
06:47They still have Josh Allen
06:49and they still have a really, really good defensive coordinator
06:52or head coach in Sean McDermott,
06:54however you want to break it up.
06:56Even with all the injuries the defense had last year
06:58to Matt Milano, Daquan Jones, all these guys,
07:00they were still a damn good defense.
07:02I expect them to be a really good defense.
07:04Again, they may not be as high scoring offensively,
07:06but I think they'll be solid.
07:08All right.
07:09Thanks again, Dan.
07:10Great to have you here on Newswire.
07:11Appreciate the knowledge.
07:12Thanks for having me.