OBL 3/26: How Would You Split Up Bills Draft Picks, Pete Prisco's Optimism For Buffalo This Season

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Love y'all boys. We're not doing much of this work.

He is a beast for the capital B. The truck is in the kitchen.

Looks now the sideline he's got contained for a 23 yard touchdown.

And it's intercepted. Jumping up on the air is meant for...

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This is One Bill's Live, presented by Collider Health.

Thursday edition of One Bill's Live, Chris Brown, Steve Tasker with you.

As we sit exactly one month away from the 2026 NFL Draft,

which we're coming to you live from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

So, and our top of your discussion deals with the draft as it pertains to the bills.

We'll get to that in just a little bit.

But yeah, NCAA Tournament starts up again tonight.

Sweet 16 games begin this evening.

More on Friday to determine the Elite Eight, which we'll then play on Saturday and Sunday.

Eight. Getting down to it.

Yeah. Down to it.

First weekend's awesome. This one not so much.

You don't like it? Wow.

I'm not out. I'm just saying it's fun when you got high point in the thing.

Not a lot of underdogs left. It's all like top four or five seeds at this point.

Is it 48 teams? Yeah, 48 teams are gone.

And you have 48 fan bases that could not possibly care less about the remainder of that.

Well, so it's hard to drive. Right. Right.

So for a casual like me, it's hard to jump on that bandwagon with nobody else.

You don't have, you know, Loyola of Chicago. That's right.

Still hanging around. You don't have Butler. Yeah.

You don't have Valparaiso. Yeah. All that.

Yeah, like that. That's a nice pull. Right. Valparaiso.

So, you know, you don't have those.

And now it's, you know, and I get it.

There are some teams in there that are a little bit unexpected.

I guess I haven't even checked my bracket lately.

Not, yeah, not terribly surprising.

So I'm...

Tell me who gets the final four, maybe I'll watch two weeks.

Fair enough.

I got stuff going on this weekend.

You got stuff.

Yeah.

Important stuff, apparently.

I quick trip to the city.

Yeah.

You know.

I get it.

So, you know.

I got a life.

That's fine.

Shocking isn't me sound.

I don't have any time for the NCAA.

I ain't got no time for that.

No.

I get it.

You know, the weather's here. Let's go.

I'm, uh, yeah.

So I'm...

I'm very happy for all those teams. Don't get me wrong.

I don't want to disparage anybody about this not being a huge life event for some of us.

But...

Yeah.

There...

You will be able very easily this weekend in New York to find a bar that's...

Oh, yes.

Johnny St. John's Game.

Oh, yeah.

7 p.m. on Saturday.

Oh, yeah.

We're gonna be...

Or sorry, Friday.

It's tomorrow night, 7 p.m.

Yeah.

Oh, it's tomorrow night.

Tomorrow night, 7 p.m.

You might have to go to a watch party.

Just...

I got a couple of places.

Do you?

Oh, yeah.

I can...

Yeah.

Text him to me.

I'll go.

Well, I think I will.

We have family.

Oh, you're gonna need some space.

We have extended family that's coming in from all over the world.

So, you know, it's kind of...

It's a big...

Oh, it's not a big deal, but it's an important deal, right?

Right.

And time for sure.

None of them are gonna be Johnny's fans.

You know, I mean, they're gonna be...

They can for a day.

No, right.

I'm gonna tell them who they're cheering for.

No, they're not playing Kansas this time.

They're playing Duke.

Well, I can get on board with, hey, Duke being a duke hater for a weekend.

For a weekend.

Do me a favor.

Just for a weekend.

Because I'm not a...

I don't hate anybody, man.

Let alone college basketball team for anything.

Sure.

NFL franchise.

There's a...

NFL franchise.

There's a couple of that I passionately dislike.

We have to go around the NFL, Steve, because there is...

There are some interesting developments.

There's some doons around the league.

We're seeing the NFL Referees Association.

So on Wednesday...

On Wednesday, we told you about the by-law proposal by the competition committee

that would empower the league's officiating department to correct obvious miss calls on the field

by replacement officials if they had to be employed.

Now, there's news and it explains why the league took that step in advance of their owner's meetings next week.

The ongoing labor negotiations between the NFL and NFL Referees Association,

according to ESPN, broke off earlier than scheduled this week

as the sides were unable to make progress toward a new CBA.

Talks were scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday this week,

but ended after Wednesday morning session.

They barely got started.

The NFL RA's collective bargaining agreement expires May 31st with the league

and concern about the distance between the sides

has prompted the NFL to begin the process of vetting and hiring replacement officials

for this coming season.

The NFL RA reportedly refused to engage on one of the league's priorities

to improve officiating performance.

Now, this sounds counterintuitive.

NFL RA executive director Scott Green said in a statement that he made a counter proposal

that the NFL rejected.

Quote, today the NFL RA negotiating team showed up to what was supposed to be the start of a two-day session

with the league to make progress toward a new CBA.

Unfortunately, it was soon clear that the NFL did not arrive with the same level of commitment.

Green also added we asked that they responded to our offer with the goal of making forward progress.

We then learned that no one in their delegation was authorized to negotiate beyond their original proposal

and at that time they chose to leave after less than half a day of talks.

So this is supposed to be Wednesday and Thursday.

They didn't even get to lunch on Wednesday and they were gone.

I think it was, yeah.

It sounds like for what you just read that from Scott Green's statement that they come in

and said, you guys don't even have any...

You can't even negotiate.

You have no authorization.

Why are we here?

Yeah.

The NFL...

I have seen it.

The NFL has offered...

Listen to this, though.

The NFL has offered a 10% increase in game fees across the board in the regular season

and up to 30% for those who work the Super Bowl.

The league is also seeking agreements to improve officiating performance in part

by redirecting annual bonus money toward high performing officials

and increasing the probationary period for new officials which currently stands at three years.

The referee association is hoping to lower that probationary period.

So there are some items that are on the wish list of both sides here.

But man, I'd take a 10% raise.

Sign me up.

Where do I sign?

Yeah, I get that.

I realize there's probably some fine print there but...

Right.

10% raise across the board?

Right.

I would also anticipate that there would be an added...

Because the league has been working towards full-time employees for a minute.

Right.

And I imagine...

And I don't know this because it wasn't said here.

I don't know.

But I would say, you know, that's what the league is at.

You've got to have a bigger commitment.

You've got to be...

Do more in the off season.

You've got to spend time at training camps.

Well, it sounds like it's a performance-based bonus that they're trying to institute here.

Right.

It's almost like...

To some degree, I guess it's like the performance-based pay for NFL players on rookie contracts.

Like, hey, you get graded well by the coaches

and the clubs of the league, you're going to get rewarded.

So do better.

Yeah.

Easy to say, not easy to do.

And what do the...

I mean, what's it look like to get...

Upticked by...

Yeah.

Like, what happens if one team loves this guy's the best thing ever

and this guy on the other side of this field says he's the worst thing ever?

Well...

Depending on how you call a game.

That could be a problem.

It's going to be very subjective.

Yeah.

I don't doubt that for a second and maybe that's the rub.

Here's the interesting thing for me, Steve.

As we know, NFL officials are not full-time officials.

They have full-time jobs outside of the NFL.

That's right.

They can hang out and wait.

It's not like NFL players who only play football.

Right.

Do you know what I'm saying?

Yeah, yeah.

That guy's collecting an income from other employment.

So, you know, yeah, I'd like to make the extra 300K as a head official.

But I already make 150 over here.

So I can hang out and wait until he gives us what we want.

Yeah.

That's a part of this.

The wherewithall of the officiating association and be able to kind of hang out.

The problem is just what we're reading and what got this all started on our radar

in fact, the league said we're just going to go on without you.

Thanks.

Which they did back in 2012.

With disastrous effect.

That's right.

In certain cases, disastrous in moments, league-wide plus at that time,

the eye in the sky was nowhere to be seen.

Not a part of the equation.

Now, what it may do is be a heavier lift for the eye in the sky,

for the overarching official in the booth,

who's got all the stuff in front of them.

That may be a heavy lift for them,

because they may be doing it every single snap of the game saying,

hey, you missed the spot.

Hey, hey, you got to call that.

Hey, hey, you got to do that.

You know, he may be having six footballs in the air trying to keep them all juggled.

Some of them actually with officiating.

But yeah, it's going to be less offensive this time around.

Then it was in 2012.

Right.

So just some data for you.

And this was courtesy of NFL ref stats.

A good follow on Twitter.

If the NFL does hire replacement officials for this season,

here are some of the noteworthy statistics from the 2012 experience.

Home teams had a significantly higher win percentage over that three week period

versus the historic win percentage in that category.

Second, just 46 and a half percent of penalties were assessed on home teams,

versus 49 percent, once regular officiating returned that same year.

So it's logical to believe that inexperienced officiating is intimidated

by home crowns more so than regular officials.

And the numbers reflect that.

I'll be it slightly.

So if we have replacement officials again, this season could be an advantage

for teams with home games front loaded on their schedule.

If it goes to three, four games, you never know.

Could happen around ahead of it there.

We're very sensitive to that.

One other stat from the 2012 replacement officiating defensive pass interference

was called any much higher rate than normal.

Replacement officials only worked the first three weeks in 2012.

But almost 25 percent of the defensive pass interference calls for the entire

2012 campaign, made in the first three weeks.

That's not too bad.

That's what it's only 16 games.

Four games is 25 percent.

Yeah, and they did a little high, little high wasn't outrageous.

It was enough to convince the league to say, you know, we got to get an agreement

with the regular officials.

This thing's got to end quickly.

Sign the deal.

This is bad.

Sign the deal.

But I'm telling you, man,

if they'll bring in replacement players like they've done,

the officials aren't even a speed bump.

Right.

They'll have...

You were talking about the Interplanetary Pandemic that still got all 256 games played.

That's right.

Intergalactic Pandemic.

That's right.

In 2020.

The Intergalactic Pandemic didn't even stop the NFL.

Yeah.

So the officials know they're up against a heavyweight at the negotiating table.

But I'll say this, these officials, they're all guys who have...

Like you said, they're pros.

They're pros.

Yeah, they're pros.

Some of them have businesses.

Some of them are more serious.

Some more space engineers.

Exactly.

They're not going to bat an eye.

And they've got some pretty sharp guys at their table too.

Yeah.

And interestingly enough, they probably made the big...

So they counteroff...

You made us this offer.

This 10% across the board, 30% and raised the probationary period.

No.

How about this?

We'll do this and this and this and this and whatever their proposal was.

And they go, we can't even move because we're not even authorizing it.

What are we doing?

Why are you here?

We're writing...

You know, you're having this meeting.

You could have done it with an email.

And no donuts, either.

And no donuts.

The coffee sticks.

And my chair's uncomfortable.

I'm getting out of here.

Let's go.

You're going to get a donut, dang it.

This is...

Yeah, that is...

Call us when you're ready to negotiate.

What are you going to do for a day and a half if you've got guys at the table

can't even negotiate?

Yeah.

What are you doing?

So that's...

For me, it's another element of the posturing by the NFL.

Absolutely.

And the NFL, I mean, let's face the NFL, that's nothing going on.

They don't care.

Yeah.

They have plenty of time before they kick the ball off.

The guys that run the NFL have been through this with...

I'm going to finger quotes.

Like important stuff.

Like, you know...

A thousand times.

Yeah.

Like...

They're not talking about...

I didn't think they became billionaires in the first place.

Right.

So they don't...

You don't scare those guys.

Right.

The only thing that moves that needle is a big fat lever.

Mm-hmm.

Or a deadline.

And they don't have any kind of lever to pull right now.

ESPN is also reporting that Alabama quarterback prospect Ty Simpson

has a private workout tomorrow with the Jets.

The Jets top decision makers will have dinner tonight with Simpson in Tuscaloosa

followed by the workout tomorrow morning.

GM Darren Mouji, head coach Aaron Glenn, offensive coordinator Frank Reich

and quarterback coach Bill Musgrave will all be on hand.

So the Jets, as we know, have two first round picks.

Sounds like there's a good chance.

They will use their second pick on a quarterback, Steve.

And that second pick, in case you're wondering, is pick 16.

If they got in the sauce gardener trade.

So they pick it two and they pick it 16.

Or do you think they wait until pick 34 in round two?

No.

I think whatever player they've got at 34 pegged, they could probably get...

I mean, they want the extra year on Ty Simpson's contract if he doesn't...

That is a valid point.

50-year cost control.

Yeah.

Ty Simpson's not the guy.

One-year starter.

And I read down a list of college quarterbacks that started for one year

who were drafted in the top 100 selections since 1999.

It wasn't a great list.

Let me just say this.

The best name on that list.

The best name was Mack Jones.

And Ryan Tanhill.

Ryan Tanhill was probably the most productive guy.

Both one-year starters, along with people like Mark Sanchez,

Achilles Smith, and some other names that will forever be lost in...

Quarterback failure.

Yeah, there was some bad, bad names on that list.

And then to counter that.

To counter that.

To counter that, think about the last couple of draft classes

and the quarterbacks with a wealth of starts under their belt.

Whether it's Jane and Daniels who had 61,

Bonyx who had 64.

Right.

Those guys adapted well to the NFL.

They had seen just about everything.

Yeah, better anyway.

But yes.

Ty Simpson is not that.

15 career starts.

Yeah.

I just...

But we also know this.

The jets are masters.

The jets can adjust.

Self sabotage.

Will they do it again?

We'll see.

Other news.

Around the NFL.

Concerns.

Puka Nakuwa.

Because a woman in Los Angeles has filed a civil lawsuit against Nakuwa,

alleging the Ram's wide receiver made an unprovoked, anti-Semitic statement,

and later, bitter on the shoulder.

The lawsuit cites gender violence, assault, battery, and negligence.

The plaintiff, Madison Atiabi alleged the events happened on New Year's Eve in Century City.

She is of Jewish heritage.

The woman filed for a temporary restraining order, but that request was denied a hearing has been set for April 14th.

That does not sound great.

Joe Flacco isn't disappointed about resigning with the Cincinnati Bengals on a one-year deal,

but if it were up to him, he'd be competing for a starting job elsewhere in the NFL.

With other QB needy teams, ultimately opting not to sign him to compete for a starting role,

Flacco wasn't shy about voicing his belief that teams made a mistake by passing on him.

Here's a direct quote, believe me, I wish I was the guy somewhere.

Flacco said, and I think teams are dumb for not having me be that guy.

Flacco said, quote, not being one of those guys to go sign somewhere, yeah,

it pisses me off a little bit, but at the same time, very happy to be here.

I can't say without laughing.

He's still playing.

Yeah, but he knows I would agree.

There are a couple of teams out there.

He's an upgrade.

No question about it.

You can't convince me that whoever the guy is in Arizona, and I don't even know.

It's Jacobi Berset.

I think he's still under contract there.

Is he still under contract?

I think so.

He's a wide ways move.

I mean cool.

Yeah.

There's some guys whose teams think he's the guy that Flacco is better than.

Flacco is the best option they would have in Cleveland, and I would take him over Bryce Young.

They have Jacobi Berset.

I would take Joe Flacco over Bryce Young.

Because of his arm strength, his ability to put it in accurately is understanding the whole thing.

It's small.

You got to have some physical.

Arizona's Jacobi Berset and Gardner Minchew.

I rest my case.

I re-rest my case.

I re-rest my rested case.

Joe Flacco would at least be a sideways move from a guy like that we've mentioned, all these guys.

Patrick Mahomes, the chiefs star quarterback, posted a short video clip of himself in a training session,

where he dropped back and threw the ball.

The first public footage of him doing so since he had surgery in December to repair the torn ACL and LCL in his left knee.

Mahomes posted the four second clip on his Instagram account.

His movement doing the dropback at a moderate tempo probably demonstrates some measure of progress that he's made during his rehab or a sleeve on his left knee.

Was able to plan his left foot allowing him to put some weight on it and throw the ball,

which looked like an intermediate throw inside his training gym.

Mahomes is now 100 days removed from ACL and LCL knee surgery.

I'm not saying it's going to be a race, but it's going to be pretty close for him to get clearance for a week one.

Well, don't forget, he got hurt week 18.

That's early January.

I don't know, I don't know, Pat Mahomes's knee situation.

I know this generally speaking, there's always a point, there's some injuries, particularly on the knee, where the doctors will say,

listen, he's not going to hurt anywhere.

It's structurally it's sound, but the athlete's like going, man, I don't know.

And it's not going to feel right.

It's not going to feel the same as it did before the injury.

It never will.

And so his ability or the doctor's ability to say, yeah, he's good to go.

His knee structurally fine.

Will happen before he feels like himself.

But the more he plays, the more he'll feel like himself, the more he'll get to that new normal.

I wouldn't, don't put it past him.

He may be ready on week one.

He may.

Oh, sorry, it was week 15, not week 18.

He may be ready to play in opening day.

Nine months, yeah.

He might be right there.

It's on the cuss.

And depending on what other options they have, how much practice time he's able to get in the run-up to that?

That's the other element.

He strikes me as the guy who's going to say, I want to give it a go.

Because he's smart enough, and we've seen him, the guy's slippery as an oiled eel.

I'm good enough.

I'm smart enough.

People like me.

He's, slippery as can be.

He'll know how to mitigate the contact.

And can he play well enough in that limited capacity of where he's kind of trying to play it safe?

Yeah.

Can he play well enough to win?

We should note, I mean, just last week, the chief's executed a trade for Justin Fields.

To me, that's the security blanket to have somebody athletic to run around and do stuff.

In the event that my home's isn't ready for a week one or two.

Fields is a guy.

I would be interested to see what Andy really does with Fields.

Yeah.

You know, because Andy's, I mean, he's accepted as one of these cornerback whispers.

And he's also creative enough to say, well, he can't do that.

But you know what, we can expand this part of our offense into what he does really well.

That kind of thing.

That's really interesting to me.

Fields is never going to be anywhere near a pat my homes.

But he does bring something to do.

I mean, he's an athlete. He's there for a reason.

I mean, he's shown some stuff in his past, only flashes.

And that's what we're all, that's so frustrating about him.

But I think that's compelling.

You know, what does Andy read going to do with that guy?

He's going to have him run around a lot.

That's my guess.

If he has to play him, well, and they're hoping they don't have to.

I don't know if Andy's going to have him run around a lot.

Or he's going to wish he didn't run around a lot.

That's the real question.

It's a matter of semantics.

So that is around the NFL.

Yeah, some interesting stuff today.

I'm really intrigued by the referee, CBA talks.

Yeah, that's May 31st is when the current labor agreement expires.

Yeah, but then who cares?

Well, you know, the expiration of the labor agreement doesn't matter as much as week one of the regular season.

They got June, July, August and September.

Well, a little bit of September.

Yeah.

It's interesting.

And it's not nothing.

I mean, if they go with replacement officials in the run-up to the season,

the league will put out a mandate to all their head coaches and their head coaches

and their GMs and the ownership.

And they'll say, listen, get these replacement officials.

Get them in.

Start getting them acclimated.

Start talking to them, getting them up to speed.

Start having them watch practice.

Do some scrimmages with these guys.

Let these guys go to your joint practices.

Let's go.

We don't want them.

We want them to disappear.

I mean, they'll do it, man.

I know.

It's been done before.

So it's been done before.

And now they're set up way better than they were in 2012 when it was a little bit outrageous.

More technology to work with.

That's right.

So that's around the NFL.

Topic of discussion for you today concerns the bills and the draft.

How would you divide the bill's seven draft choices between offense and defense?

I think most people would agree that Buffalo's defense needs a little bit more attention

in terms of reinforcements.

But how do you divvy it up?

We realize that most GMs in the league don't approach the draft that way.

That's not how they approach it.

But what's your split?

How are you dividing these seven draft choices between offense and defense to best help the bills?

You let us know at One Bill's Live.

That's where you send us your comments on Twitter or X, whatever you call the app these days.

And we will get to some of those comments when we return.

Here on One Bill's Live, stay with us.

How will you divide the bill's seven draft choices between offense and defense?

You have the choice to do it.

What's your break down there?

We're going to go right to the tweet sheet to get some thoughts from you on that very subject.

But chime in at One Bill's Live at your leisure.

Be happy to read your thoughts here as well.

Jacob, who leads us off, says, would you trade up for a wide receiver?

I think using our number one and a future draft pick to move up is warranted to get the guy you want.

Okay, so much for the breakdown.

He's sacrificing draft capital to get a wide receiver.

I think there's a decent chance there's still some decent receiver talent to choose from at 26 if you stay put.

If there's a run and it happens in front of you well, then maybe you think differently.

Why is?

I would say if you look at the offensive side of the ball right now as it's currently constituted.

The one position you can make an argument for to add is probably wide receiver.

Because I think they have young depth on the offensive line that's there.

Maybe you want to add a veteran to just for insurance or going to camp and then make the best guys make the roster.

But tight end is pretty much set.

You have three guys there plus a fourth in Kalecki Latu.

You know, running backs pretty much set with the three guys you have plus Frank Gore is your practice squad guy.

And then offensive line as we said, pretty much set even though you lost Vandemark.

You still have four offensive tackles with Chase Lunt and Tylan Grable behind the two starters.

So to me, like receivers, the only place where you're definitively adding.

Right.

It's a money's position. You always want to be deep there.

You always want to have talent there. I get all of that.

My question is when you look at the current roster, I'm like, why are you even thinking about the offensive side of the ball?

You can tell me that when the board drops that there's a guy who's really going to be a good pro at a spot on the offensive side of the ball.

And that's and he's going to far outshine any player left on the board.

I'll listen to that other than that.

No, I'm not taking anybody on that side of the ball.

Unless there's a guy who stands so far above the rest of the board in your eyes that you got to take him.

Now, that's not going to happen. I don't think.

And if you think about it all already, the bills have traded draft assets to acquire a receiver in the form of DJ Moore.

You already gave up some major draft capital to get a proven receiver.

I just don't see them doing it again and sacrificing more draft capital to move up and round one.

Even with a slide by somebody because you've already taken that step with the DJ Moore deal giving up a two.

The bills scored more points than anybody in the conference last year.

Seattle scored 30, almost 34 points a game.

Carolina scored 31 and then there was bills.

They scored 20 and a half that nobody in the AFC scored more points per game in the regular season.

I'm sorry, that's postseason. Hold on. Let me see this regular season.

Yeah, they were they were behind LA New England and Seattle.

So they're fourth in the league second conference behind New England at 28.5.

The bills were and the New England was 28.8.

Playing a last play schedule.

Playing the last play schedule.

So, you know, the bills played a first play schedule and they're still scoring 28 points a game.

I'm done with that side of the ball for now.

I'm generally speaking, unless the circumstances that I just mentioned happen,

unless there's a guy out there that dropped and whatever that is way ahead of everybody else left,

which I have a hard time seeing at number 26.

Just get a defender somewhere, somehow, some way.

How would you divide the bill's seven draft choices between offense and defense?

Jim on the tweet sheet says five on offense.

Two wide receivers and interior offensive lineman and offensive tackle and a fullback.

Eight on defense.

I think we need to help Jim with some math here.

Got seven picks, buddy, not 13.

I want 10 picks on the defensive side and 10 picks on the offensive side.

They could trade down four times and still not end up with 13 draft picks.

In any event, I'll read Jim's tweet.

Eight on defense, two cornerbacks outside, one slot corner, one DT, one tech DT,

two outside linebacker edges, one inside lineboard.

That's nine.

You didn't even add up the guys on defense, right, Jim?

Get a calculator, buddy.

Jim, you can tweet at us anytime you want.

I like where your head's that.

He's got nine on defense.

What he said, eight.

I love it.

That's 13 total picks.

I love the total irrationality of that entirety.

That is an elite.

That is an elite tweet.

Elite.

How would you divide up seven picks for the bills on the draft?

I gave him 14.

But I'm only going to say 13, but really 14.

Because that's how you make seven picks into 14.

That's right.

Holy cow, Jim.

That's great stuff.

I will say this.

Jim doesn't have an editor for his tweets, obviously.

Jim listed one fullback.

As we know, Reggie Gilliam is now a New England patriot.

And the bills have not made any effort whatsoever to replace the fullback position.

Do you think that could be an indication of a shift in offensive philosophy?

Because I'm thinking of the old Saints' offenses.

And I don't recall a fullback having much of a role in that offensive scheme.

Could this be an indication that there's going to be less power run here

and maybe more throwing of the football?

That's a great point, Brownie.

I think it's an indication.

It might be.

And it might be a little bit of a nod towards Jackson Haas as well.

Who could double in that role?

Yes.

I get what you're saying.

Because he's an elite run blocker.

But not in the same way.

You're not going to throw, you're not going to, you know,

it's not going to be in the eye for a lot on the offset eye.

I mean, you could, I guess, but.

Because they did a lot of eye formation and offset eye last season with Reggie.

I mean, he might have got the most steps.

I don't know.

I don't know where to start with that point.

Is it a shift that Joe Brady is finally saying, all right, thank you.

Now I'm going to give me this.

11 personnel.

Let's go.

Exactly.

11 personnel or 10 personnel or whatever.

Let's go.

Which then might make you think twice about adding a receiver in the draft

and how early you do that.

That's right.

If that's what you're shifting to,

you may have to consider wide receiver sooner in the draft.

Let's just go out.

That's the direction we're headed.

I'm totally, I see it.

Maybe, I don't know if I want to read into it, but I've always said,

their actions tell you what they believe.

And if they're letting Reggie Gilliam walk, does that say something about their

philosophy going forward offensively?

Are they getting lighter and faster?

Are they going to step away from 50, 50 run pass, 51, 49 run pass?

Maybe.

That's the kind of, that's the kind of,

that's the kind of decision that head coaches make.

I mean, I remember the Saints had Heath Evans as a full back under Sean Payton.

And I think whenever he was asked about full back,

he would say, oh no, it's, it's a part of my offense.

And he does have, he does have full backs in Denver.

So he still utilizes them.

So I don't know, maybe they pick one up late in the draft as Jim suggests

with his 13 draft selections.

Pick him up 14.

In the 14th round.

So maybe that happens.

And you know, this is all a mood conversation, but it has me wondering.

It has me wondering with, with as easily as they let, you know,

and look, full back is not a position that's terribly difficult to replace.

I think it just stings a little because I would argue that Reggie Gilliam was coming off

the best season of his career, which is one of the big reasons he got the contract

he did from the Patriots for years, $12 million.

So you can replace a full back.

That is not a heavy lift very often.

Number one, because the majority of teams in the league do not necessarily have one on their roster.

So demand right now does not terribly outweigh supply.

So you can usually find a capable one if you need one for your offense.

We just haven't seen that kind of movement yet, and maybe they already said,

we'll address it in the draft, get a guy on a bookie contract.

We don't have to pay a ton of money.

They may have the guy pegged, you know, exactly the guy they want to, who knows.

But I hadn't really thought about that.

I guess we did briefly when we heard Reggie Gilliam signed.

Yeah.

But it was more about saying goodbye to a good dude rather than a philosophical shift,

which we're talking about now.

We'll see.

We don't know.

We will see.

There is no full back on the roster.

I think it's a strong indication that who takes that roster spot?

Is it another running back?

Is it another tight end?

Or is it another offensive lineman?

I think they're probably keeping six receivers no matter what.

I get that.

They have Kalecki Latu who could be on the practice squad.

Who's a tight end?

Who is a tight end, but not one that's going to be doing a whole lot of blocking.

Because he's six seven.

Yeah, he could be a fourth back.

Could be on a game day.

A return guy.

Yeah, I mean, but Ray Davis is that, right?

Well, yeah.

There he goes.

And he's already on the roster.

I don't know.

That's a good question.

Or does it go to the other side of the ball and they could take an extra edge guy or something?

Yeah.

I mean, you got four linebackers on the field now.

So you might carry eight linebackers instead of six.

Yeah, that's true.

Might go there.

Yeah, that's true.

And then you have six D lineman.

Yeah.

Eight linebackers, six D lineman.

So that's 14.

You got to have what?

10 DBs.

It's 24.

That's your number.

There it is.

And then you can still have 26 on offense.

Yeah.

Are you specialist?

Yeah.

Yeah, and you're specialist, sir, the last three.

Joe, fortunately, has the math right.

He says five defensive picks and two offensive picks.

If a team scores anywhere near 30 points for game, I think it's obvious where the help

is needed.

Let's get Jim Leonard, whatever help he needs, including free agents and the draft.

As we said earlier this week, we are now in the portion of free agency where it is one

year deal season.

A lot of the money has been spent.

The cap space is limited.

And you, you're signing guys on one year deals, ideally for the veteran minimum, veteran

exemptions, et cetera.

You're not spending big money because you need to leave some cap space for your rookie

pool, even when you're drafting as low as the bills are at 26.

So they don't have a second round pick right now, which lowers the number needed.

But you got to leave yourself a cushion there.

The guys are going to sign now are going to move the needle about like Jordan Phillips

or Larry Oganjoby would move the needle, signing those guys back.

That's about what you're looking at.

And even the fact that you may not know who this next guy is, he may not recognize his

name like you do those other two I just mentioned, it's going to be that kind of player.

I like the balance though, five defensive, two offensive.

I could totally see that happening.

That's for the bills in this draft.

That's standard philosophy when you got a guy like Josh taking snaps.

Josh is going to carry that offense.

He's going to make chicken salad, even with the receiver room and the shambles injury wise

it was last year.

They scored 28 points a game.

They were hanging touchdowns on everybody and they just they can get it done.

They figure out a way if you get an offensive head coach and all of a sudden he starts

making sure on that side of the ball like he takes a wide receiver at 26 and now he's

got got and now they start trying to score 38 points a game instead of 28 and they try

to do that and win games and just let the defense do what it can do.

I don't know if that'll work and I'm kind of exaggerating to make a point but that's

what we don't know.

We are up against the break so we're going to step aside here but when we come back I'm

going to have Steve answer this question.

If there are only two offensive players taken by the bills in this year's draft what

positions would he prefer to see them selected?

That's next.

All right.

Back here on One Bills Live.

We're asking you today of the bill seven draft choices.

How would you divide them up between offense and defense?

We realize front office execs don't look at the draft that way but how do you want them

to come out in terms of balancing offense and defensive needs with their seven selections?

You can hit us up at One Bills Live on X and let us know your thoughts.

One of our tweeters told us five on defense to on offense.

So Steve if they make those two selections on offense with their seven picks what two

positions on offense do you want them to hit on?

I would say if they're going to hit on them, if they're going to hit on them, well I mean

where you think they want money spot.

I'll take a wide out and I would probably take to me an offensive lineman.

I think the picks one twenty six, one sixty five, one sixty eight, one eighty two.

So they got one twenty six, one sixty five, one sixty eight, one eighty two.

They have twenty six and ninety one two.

So two two picks before all those picks and then one pick after those.

I think those middle four picks between one twenty six and one eighty two, two of those

spots, whatever two they are are going to be offensive players.

So you're going to wait, okay, so the first two picks on defense.

It might be, first two picks are going to be defenders, maybe the third pick the one

twenty six pick goes offense but I'm saying I'm, if they're going to pick two offensive

guys, I think it's going to be between one twenty six and one eighty two.

So day three for all these offensive purposes.

And I was asking you this at lunch today, are you a traits guy or are you an intangibles

guy when you get down deep in the draft?

I think intangibles are important later in the draft because those, those players are,

they've got an uphill battle to begin with being a late pick to just make the roster.

So if you have enough talent to play in this league, if you have intangibles to go with

them, I think your chances are greater that you're going to stick because you're going

to do the requisite things necessary to be successful in the league.

Right.

You'll do whatever it takes to hang out to be a survivor.

There's three things you look, for me, this is the old guy way of looking at things.

One is traits, physical, fast, strong, jump high, all that.

The second one is your character.

Are you a right kind of team mate?

Are you unselfish?

You work hard.

Do you, you know, are you a team guy, unselfish, all that stuff?

Those are the two of them.

The third one is, are you a smart guy?

What's your level of intelligence?

I don't care about your, how many, you know, football, I want to know how smart you are.

Smart guys always improve if they've got character to back it up.

And enough ability.

If they've got enough ability to get in the door, they're going to get better.

Smart guys always use whatever they have to maximize it.

Some guys have the character, they're great dudes, and they've got just enough ability

to get in the door, but they can't pick up the offense, they're not committed enough,

they don't have, you know, they don't, they don't understand, or they're getting bad

advice too.

If they're not smart enough to recognize bad advice, that's on them.

But intelligence is the one thing that maximizes every other tool you've got.

And if you've got that, you've got something that's going to elevate you.

These teams do give these guys intelligence tests, at least they used to, and they,

some of them do.

Oh, I think they still do that.

Some of them are probably in a different form now.

Exactly.

And it's not, and I'm not talking about, can you pick up the blitz from the Mac in an

under front kind of thing, you know, I'm talking about raw intelligence, because you can

learn, if you're smart enough, you can learn anything.

And that's, I think, the one characteristic that is really hard to pinpoint, because

all the character stuff clouds how smart the guy is.

You cheer for guys with high character, that doesn't make him smart.

Right.

You know, you tend to shade intelligence toward the character, and it's not always true.

Doesn't always apply.

And there are a lot of guys who I wouldn't introduce to my mom, but man, they're smart.

Yeah.

You know what I mean?

Yeah.

Because it can go the other way.

It can go the other way.

Yeah.

I mean, the guys that are looting to him.

Yeah.

But they're, they're lights are on.

Yeah.

They get it.

They don't care.

Right.

They don't have a moral company.

They're intelligent.

Except when they step between the lines and lose their mind.

Well, even so, I'm talking about like in life, but that's the thing.

It's traits, physical traits, it's character, and it's intelligence.

Those three things in the mix that you get, you get different outcomes with the same,

with the same intelligent and different, you get different outcomes.

And the same physical traits with different character and different intelligence, you

get a different outcome.

It's a lot of variables.

Those are the three things that I look at that I think affect a guy's future.

And you got to, you got to get the right mix.

You got to get the right mix.

And I'm, that's why when you get down to the bottom half of the draft, that's, you

know, not that there's not important at the top, but carry's more weight.

But if you got a guy who's off the charts smart, he's gifted beyond belief, and he's

the smartest guy on in the room, yeah, pick him, pick him.

That's how it fits was.

Seven-throwed pick.

Smart as a whip, you know, 49 on the Wonderlick, and he had, had enough ability, had enough

ability.

We told you at the top of the show about the impasse and negotiations between the referees

association and the league.

Scott Green, the executive director of the referees association issued a statement, and

now the NFL has issued a statement from NFL executive vice president Jeff Miller who

said we continue to focus on investing in accountability and performance in our officiating.

Scott and his team haven't changed their approach in almost two years, continuing to

demand raises at almost double the rate of increases realized by the players over the

course of this CBA and in addition, millions of dollars in marketing fees that rank and

file union members never see.

You are ready to continue negotiations to reach a fair and reasonable agreement, but

in the meantime, while the union refuses to engage in a meaningful way, we will continue

to prepare for the expiration of the current agreement because we will be playing football

in August, end quote.

So now they're accusing the refs of not negotiating to reach a fair and reasonable agreement, even

though it was their people that left the negotiating table.

Taking an early lunch, we're out.

We'll see it.

See you in August.

Yes, right.

See you in August.

It's the legal posh ring here is tantalizing.

And I know baseball opening night was last night.

This is hardball.

Mm-hmm.

Got to take a break here, but our number two is going to begin with our good friend Pete

Prisco, CBS Sports Senior NFL writer.

He's got a mock draft and a name that might be familiar to some.

We'll talk about his pick for the bills when we return here on one bill's life.

Love y'all boys.

We don't do much of these work.

He is a piece for the Capitol V. The Cook is in the kitchen.

Looks now.

The sideline he's got contained for a 23-yard touchdown, and it's intercepted.

Jumping up on the air is fed for-

This is one bill's life, presented by Collider Health.

Second out of the show on the Thursday here at First Brown.

Steve Chastler with you and happy to welcome in now, CBS Sports Senior NFL writer Pete Prisco,

who's been hard at work on his latest mock draft with the draft exactly one month from today.

We figure we get Pete on and get his thoughts on the class as a whole and his bills pick as well at 26.

So, Pete, how you doing? Thanks for some time.

And, you know, we'll start right off the rip with this because the general consensus,

because I know you were out at the NFL Combine last month as well.

And, indeed, the general consensus we had gathered was limited blue chippers, you know, six to eight maybe,

which is going to make Pickens pretty slim in terms of value at 26 where the bills sit.

What is your overarching view of the class as a whole?

Well, you're right. There aren't a lot of blue chippers in this class.

What there is is a lot of guys that are going to be good football players.

And, I think that's why value will come in rounds two through four, at least in my mind.

When I do the evaluation of the players, I think you're going to get a lot of really good football players in rounds two to four.

You might not get star of stars, but you're going to get guys are going to be productive starters who are going to go get second contract somewhere.

And so, I think that's where the value is in this draft. You're right.

The top of the draft is not loaded with star potential.

And when you look at some of those positions where people do consider a star potential,

Jeremiah Love running back sunny styles off the ball linebacker Caleb Downs safety.

They're not positions of great value.

And so, I think that's why you look at this draft and you kind of stack it up and you realize there's a lot of good players,

but they're not might not be a lot of great ones.

And you had and as you get into this everybody starts to evaluate their own roster fan base to start to think,

okay, where do we really need a player?

You think the bills at the current moment, you've got them top three in your power rankings,

the way their roster is sitting down and projecting forward.

What are some of the reasons I obviously Josh taking snaps helps the power rankings of any team,

but where else do you see the quality of the bills roster ranking third out of the 32 teams?

Well, I think one of the things, two things actually.

You mentioned Josh and I think Josh Allen will be looser and freer this year under Joe Brady.

And I'm a big believer in that.

I argue all the time with our guys and that look, cook's a great running back, nice to have them,

but you're only going to go as far as Josh Allen takes in terms of driving the ball down the field,

chunk plays in the passing game, the attestructure stuff.

So I think they're going to put more on Josh and let him play freer and looser.

And I know people will say, well, he might turn the ball over.

I'd rather have a guy throw over 375, 3 and 2, then 180, 1 and none.

And so I think that's where you're going to get more of that A.

So I'm a big believer in that.

Two, I think Jim Leonard's going to really help the defense be much more aggressive than what they've been.

And I know Sean McDermott that defense got a little more aggressive in the second half in the season last year.

I think we're going to see more and more of that as they reshape that defense.

So there's a reason for optimism.

They still have questions like every team in the league, but I think they're right up there at the top in the NFL.

All right. So with that in mind, let's kind of pivot to your pick at 26 for them and your latest mock,

which has them taking cash as howl, the pass rusher from A&M,

who may slide down there because of arm length, you know, and maybe a couple other reasons.

But I like this pick because Pete, while they have added Bradley Chubb in free agency,

and they're going to make Russo an outside linebacker in this three, four scheme,

they don't have a juice guy off the edge like a bender that's just going to bend the corner and win with speed.

And I would argue they haven't had that in the nine years of the bean regime.

So just your thoughts on on why you like howl as a fit for the bills.

And you're right. He has his short arms, but when you put on his tape, he can pop.

He goes after it. And you know, we've gotten so caught up in arm length.

And if you go back and look in history, yeah, arm length has mattered for some guys,

but it hasn't mattered for a lot of other guys as well.

And so as somebody said to me the other day, when you measure the arm length,

where are they measuring it from? And there's inconsistencies on the measurement of where they do it from.

Who does it? How it's done? A, B, do you ever see anybody play in football with their hands out like this?

And yet that's how they measure the arm. They play like this. They don't play like that.

And so I think arm length gets so caught up in this draft process of being such a factor,

and it shouldn't be. It should be some factor, but it shouldn't be the end all be on.

I think this kid, when you watch his tape, he's explosive. I think you stand him up.

He can rush the passer and he does have that juice and you mentioned it.

How long have the bills been chasing the juice? I mean, for years and years and years,

they chased the juice and then they went and tried to get Vaughn Miller and he got hurt.

Then they tried to get Bosa and he wasn't the juice he used to be.

And so you have to get that guy. So I think they need to address that.

I've heard people say off the ball linebacker in that spot will be something else that they should strongly consider.

If you go back and look at the bill's history, they don't use those premium picks on the off the ball linebacker.

The main end binge was one that that workout. I don't think that worked out well.

I mean, it wasn't a great. He wasn't bad, but he wasn't a star.

I didn't get to a second soundtrack to here. Yeah.

Correct. Correct. And then when was it? You look at Bernard was a third.

Williams was a third. Milano was a fifth, I think.

Yeah. I think he was a fifth.

So what the last aside from Edmond was the last off the ball linebacker.

They use it. It was a Tom Kuzano.

Yeah. I mean, even Puzz Luzni was the second round or so.

Correct. Yeah. So I think you look at the bills.

You have to do one of two things in that spot, at least in my estimation.

You either see a receiver you love and you fall in love.

You know, you got DJ Moore. You can still get another one who can run.

Or you take that guy who can rush the pastor because that's something they really need.

So we've been talking about, you know, the bills needs and how they're going to

parse out their six or seven draft picks that they have, seven of them.

And how do you feel about the top of the draft, even if it is a 26th pick

and not a 10th pick or a 7th pick, you're picking 26th, first round of the draft.

How much weight do you give money's positions as opposed to like a corner

as opposed to a safety or wide receiver as opposed to a guard?

How much weight do you throw on your choices in that first round or high in the draft,

even if it's a high second rounder or late second rounder?

How much weight do you throw on the money positions rather than others?

Well, I think you have to. And I mentioned safety early on in this

about the value of that position, calmed down.

You know, people say top five, top 10.

But I always go back and you look, you look at the Super Bowl teams.

Look who won the Super Bowl last year.

It was Seattle with Kobe Bryant and Julian Love playing safety.

They're both converted corners.

You go back the year before.

It was re-black and chip who was undrafted.

And Chauncey Gardner Johnson who's now in Buffalo and was on his third, I think, team.

And he was a fourth round pick.

You don't have to put value on that position.

Now, if you like a guy in that spot, I get it. I understand that.

But if you build your front lines, both of them, by the way, offensive and defensive lines,

you're going to be a good football team, provided you have the quarterback

who can make enough plays to win games and Buffalo clearly has that.

So I think the value has to be on the front on both sides.

And if you have that, then you can start maneuvering outside now.

Last year, getting hashed into play corner back, I think that was a really good pick.

I loved him. I thought he was one of the best corners in the trip.

Now, he got hurt. And he got hurt again.

But I think this is a guy that has to be in there in this defense

and be able to plug and play and cover and play man defense.

And I think he can.

There's value in that spot as well. There isn't great value in the safety position,

contrary to what everybody makes you believe.

And then with respect to the best value in the draft,

which you said earlier in your estimation is between rounds two and four,

what merit do you give the prospect of, you know, the bills moving back from 26

and not picking in round one at all?

And, you know, maybe slide back to 35 and picking up an extra three.

And now they've got three picks in those meat and potato,

or four, four picks in those meat and potato rounds between rounds two and four.

Yeah, unless you have a guy right there that you truly love.

And he's the end all be all in your scouting evaluation.

He's going to be the difference in this team in the next three years.

You can move back. I would move back.

I would get more picks. This is a draft where more picks will matter.

So if I'm Buffalo and I'm sitting there and let's just say for the sake of the argument,

they like cash is how and they think he's the end all be over the defense.

He can be a guy that's going to be a difference maker late in the game when they're in a playoffs

and they got a third and seven and they play the Denver Broncos and they need

there was a third and nine or whatever it was.

They need to knock the quarterback down.

Maybe he's the guy. Then you go, you make that pick.

But if not, trade down and get extra picks.

What was a third and nine or third and seven?

I'm not going to remember.

That's not one I choose to remember very fondly, Pete.

I just might understand.

Yeah, it could easily be third and 14 too.

Let's talk a little bit more about this class at the top.

Obviously, Mendoza is going to go first to the Raiders.

I guess I should just ask it.

Is he the guy you think he's going to?

Because we couldn't find anybody who said one negative thing about him at the combine.

Well, he's a great kid.

He's a little robotic.

But I think some of his other side started coming out in some of those interviews.

You've seen that.

But what he has toughness and accuracy.

And you've been around.

You guys have been around the league.

You know, if you have toughness and accuracy and play in that position,

you're going to be a darn good quarterback in this league.

And he's also one of those guys that seems to elevate his game in the big moments.

And so for me, he's the clear number one.

I know a lot of these guys are lost.

And those guys are all starting to talk about Simpson being right there with him.

I don't see it.

And the people I talk to his league haven't mentioned that to me at all.

I like Simpson.

But I think there's a clear separation between Mendoza and Simpson.

Just like there's a clear separation from Simpson to the next guy, whoever that may be.

Yeah.

And the track record isn't great for one-year starters at quarterback in this league anyway when you draft him high.

You did kind of assess the free agent market as well.

It wasn't, you know, overrun with elite talent.

So some guys that were perceived to be close to that got a lot of money early.

But we were at the second wave of free agency by Friday of, you know, the league year.

How do you assess, you know, what the bills did in free agency, obviously rolling in the trade for DJ Moore?

Well, DJ Moore, look, do I love DJ Moore as much as maybe some other guys know,

but is he an upgrade to what they have?

Absolutely.

And so I get it.

You have to address that position.

I think, I think he upgrades that position.

Is he a star wide receiver?

I would say no.

Is he a darn good one?

I would say yes.

So it's clearly an upgrade and clearly in need.

And we know Joe Brady knows him.

So it makes sense from that standpoint.

So that works.

I think what they did, the rest of the free agency.

Yeah, look, you got to hope like D offer can step in and be the nickel corner.

You got to hope that Sean C. Gardner Johnson come in and be one of the safeties.

I mean, if that happens, then you've upgraded a secondary that needed it.

You know, Terran Johnson was a good player, but he wasn't the same player last year.

You guys know that.

He wasn't as good.

I didn't think.

You know, and so they've been looking for a second safety next to Cole Bishop for how long now?

I mean, they tried to, you know, they had hamlin there and they, they just need to upgrade that position.

So I like it.

You know, they, they were kind of limited by what they had.

Getting, getting the center back is important.

I thought that was huge for them.

I thought that was the most, one of the most important things that they did.

They did lose David Edwards, but you know, they can replay it.

You're a guard.

You can replace a guard.

And I think he is definitely replaceable.

So if the bills do not buy.

And now some outlandish turn of events pick the guy that you had for them.

Cashus.

I mean, listen.

Cashus.

How?

If by some outrageous turn of events, they don't pick cashus.

How?

Who do you have?

What other position or what of the player is going to be there?

Well, by the way, I, I also will do about two more of those.

So probably change.

Exactly.

There's actually a guy I really like in this draft process.

And he, I think he would fit Buffalo perfectly.

And it's our Mason Thomas.

And I had him going to the Cowboys early in the draft.

And you know, a lot of people looked at that.

They said, what?

I don't see him as the first round pick on anybody's situation.

Anybody's bored.

But you talk to teams around the league.

He's going in the first round.

And I think he'd be a great pick for the bills.

You know, he's a guy that he gives you that juice.

You talk about the juice off the edge.

He gives it to you.

He's explosive.

He's just not a big guy.

But with the Buffalo bills and they're restructured and reformatted defense,

like to have Nick Benito on that defense.

Because that's exactly what that kid is.

He's Nick Benito.

And oh, by the way, he's a South Florida kid.

So you know, he comes with an edge in an attitude.

And I think that would be good for the Buffalo bills.

Yeah.

Our Mason Thomas was the guy that I was kind of hoping might get there.

And now I'm hearing more and more than he might not get to 26.

And you're not helping Pete with your mock.

Change that up.

Yes.

Will you?

Do it in the next one.

Yeah.

You know what I do?

I go through the scouting process.

I do my own work.

And then I talk to guys around the league and say, hey, I think this kid should be a first-round

pick.

And he knew I am.

And they go, oh, no, he's going to be a first-round pick.

And I go, okay.

I thought so.

And he has a look to it.

By the way, there are good edge rushers in this draft class.

Yeah.

I think that's one thing.

You know, we sit here and we say, well, there's not the Miles Garrett type of past rushers

at the top.

You might have one or two guys that you really like.

But there's a group of them.

You know, the kid from UCF.

You know, he's another one that can rush the passer and would fit in the bills.

So, but I think of all the guys out there.

If I was the Buffalo bills of all the guys out there that I could put my, have my wish list

on, it would be Armace and Thomas.

That's who I would want.

And that's fine.

Yeah.

And I was going to ask you two, what is, are there, because we talk about Armace and Thomas,

we talked about Cassius Howell.

We talk about all these edge rushers who, who we think are pretty sure, kind of sure,

that they're going to be there at 26.

Are there any limitations for you physically to, because all you can do is a fan is go online,

see how tall and how heavy the guy is.

You can watch his highlights, but you can't really, you know, you can't stand next to him.

And you know how it is.

Sometimes you stand next to these guys and they look like pro athletes.

Some of them don't.

Is there anything that keeps you back, any physical trace that keeps you back from,

from guys, or is it all about the tape?

I'm a tape guy.

And by the way, both those guys have shorter arms than you would like at the position.

But in the one knock on Armace and Thomas is he's not creating against the run.

And yet I put on the tape and I see him play in the run.

He's tough.

He's willing.

And he's not a big physical presence, but that scheme, he'd be perfect to play outside

Russia linebacker in that scheme.

Here's the other thing.

He played the tackle proctor from Alabama and had some really good rushes against him.

And that guy's going to be a first round pick against the Texas left tackle

who's going to be a top 10 pick next year.

He had a lot of really good rushes against him.

So I usually, when I evaluate tape, I want to see good on good.

You can see a guy against, and they played Illinois State Oklahoma.

You can see him play Illinois State.

Where he's rushing against guys, they're going to be bouncing at the bar

in a couple of years.

And so you're part of valuation that standpoint.

So when you see good on good, and the guys haven't success against good,

that's usually something that stands out for me.

Yeah.

And Malikai Lawrence was the other guy that Pete referenced also from CS4F.

From UCF.

And by the way, he's got some real twitchiness to him.

I just think he's a little more, he's more of a raw football player than maybe Armace and Thomas is right now.

Yeah.

Better arms too.

33 and 5 eighths.

Oh, very obsessed with arm length.

Brownie is, Brownie is a little bit of an arm length.

No, I like Armace and Thomas.

Pause at arm length guy.

Pete, thanks as always for the time.

We appreciate you keeping eye out for your next mock coming down the line soon at CBS Sports.com.

You got it guys.

Take care.

All right.

That's Pete Prisco joining us.

Has a pass rusher for Buffalo at 26.

Cassius Howell.

Who, you know, you can do a lot worse than Cassius Howell.

We all have our favorite Steve.

Yeah.

Nobody's going to complain if the bills take an edge guy.

So nobody.

Late last month, we get field yates on at the combine.

And I said, look, I love Armace and Thomas.

Where do you think he's going to go?

Now, as of late last month, his belief was that Armace and Thomas could go anywhere from pick 20 to pick 35.

So now, based on the people Pete's talking to, it sounds like that might be even higher.

Which means it's less likely that he gets to Buffalo at 26.

It's just 15 to 30.

Yeah.

I get it.

Which is disappointing.

Because I was kind of hoping he would be there.

Disappointing the guys so good.

Well, because he's a, he's that speed and juice off the edge.

Not to mention the fact that he's a team captain.

And we know these, we know the bills like team captain.

So, yeah.

And, you know, you heard Pete describe him to Nick Bonito.

Nick Bonito also went to Oklahoma.

As a matter of fact, I've read that Armace and Thomas trained with Nick Bonito.

The last two off seasons down there in Norman.

When they get connected to guys like that, you think, I hated that guy when he was with the Broncos.

He's a really good player.

Yeah.

You know, you pick those guys.

Oh, yeah.

I'd love to have that guy.

You know.

And, you know, Armace and Thomas is a different guy than Nick Bonito.

But still, that, you know, that's what you're looking at.

Yeah.

That's, I don't know.

Yes.

That's, that spot, whether it's a guy like Armace and Thomas or it's Cash's Owl or Malikai Lawrence.

Malikai Lawrence, Kendrick Falk, TJ Parker.

You know, take a pick.

People are going to be like, okay, let's go.

And I, we fight against this all the time.

We have this conversation with Brian.

Listen, just because they take the same position but a different guy than you liked,

it just means they have a different opinion.

It doesn't mean they're thinking completely differently than you.

And people get caught up in the fact that they should never have taken this guy.

I wanted to like my guy.

That's right.

Don't get caught up in that because these, they dig deeper than we're able to.

And I have no problem trusting the scouting department, all those guys who've actually looked the guy in the eye

and have a conversation with him before they draft him.

I'm like, okay, at least they got the guy, the position I wanted.

That's, that's about as happy as you can be.

And I think most bills fans would be like, yeah, okay.

Give me the edge guy.

If that's the best one they like, let's go.

Yeah, I hope he slides.

Now he's got a slide to get to us.

I thought we don't have a shot at him.

It's always like, we're picking 26.

We're picking 25.

We're picking 23.

Well, I'm not 28.

Not for nothing.

But like, I was kind of going through the teams that are picking in front of Buffalo

to assess their, you know, quote-unquote top three needs.

Based on what they've added in free agency and then seeing what they still have to fill.

So between pick one and 25, I have one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, 10, 11, 12, 13 teams that have edge rusher as one of their top three positional needs.

13.

Now that doesn't mean they're all taken one, but only half of them have to take one and the cupboards bear.

By the time you get to 26.

That is correct.

Which means you might have to pivot and take a guy like C.J. Allen.

Stand up off the ball linebacker like a T.K.O. Spikes kind of guy.

Or trade the hell out of there and right back to 35.

Or just move back and get a couple of guys.

Yeah.

All right.

That's the rub.

And that's the problem that you're running to when you're one of the last five or six selections of the round every year.

Right.

So.

Right.

I mean, we gotta wait and see what happens.

You know, maybe there, maybe there's only two or three edge rushers in that top tier.

You know, the David Bailey's R.ville Reese.

If he's seen as a edge rusher, some team see him as a off the ball backer.

You know, and some of those guys that are better fit for a four three as a true hand on the ground defensive end.

You know, some people think T.J. Parker is a four three defensive end.

He's not suited for outside linebacker that can help also.

You know, push the three four guys down to us, but maybe.

Yeah.

May it.

It's a hard maybe.

Yeah, hard maybe.

We got to take a break here when we come back.

More your thoughts on the tweet sheet as we are asking you to break down the seven picks for the bills and the draft.

How many you want on offense?

How many you want on defense of those seven?

You tell us next here on one bills live at one bills live on Twitter.

All right, back here on one bills live.

First brown Steve Tansky with you.

How would you divide the bills seven draft choices between offense and defense?

Jack on the tweet sheet says, get us a wide receiver in the first or third.

Spend the other early pick and all the picks in the fourth, fifth and sixth rounds on defense.

Finally, use the seventh for a fullback since our boy Reggie jump ship or maybe a punter.

They did resign Mitch Wyshnowski.

The punter, you know, they covered the second half of the season for the bills last year to a new one year deal.

So he's back in the fold may not need to do that.

I can get behind that approach.

I don't have to take the wide receiver in round one.

You can take it in round three and I think it's somebody that will still be able to help you.

I'm just very bullish on getting a speed rusher on the edge.

Yeah.

Just the bills have just never had that during the bean era here.

Just a juice guy off the edge.

I mean, Von Miller was the closest thing to that.

But he was age 33, not 23.

So I'm in favor of getting a guy like that.

And look, if it's not in the first round, so be it.

You slide back to the top around two.

You got a guy you like that fits the value.

You better take him there or use one of the picks you added in the third to get one.

Yeah.

I just think somewhere in the first two days, you got to get a guy with speed to burn off the edge.

You've got to speed up the quarterback on the other side of the ball, which they have not been able to do the last two years.

That's why they can't get off the field on third now.

Well, it's one of the reasons.

Yeah.

They have bolstered the secondary so far.

We've seen that.

The job is going to help.

He's a quality productive NFL defensive end who's going to know what's going on.

He'll help.

But you're right.

They don't and haven't had a guy that can outrun everybody on the defensive front and out on the offensive front to get around the corner.

And they made they made grab a guy at the edge.

And I know two.

They'll probably draft a stand up guy behind the ball who has been a good blitzer.

One of those guys that he runs the ball down from the inside.

Yeah.

Just a lot of stuff back.

I'm with you.

That's one thing we have not had.

The bills have not had enough of and that's speed.

A couple of years ago it was everywhere.

Now I think more so with Max Harrison out there, Benford playing the way he's playing.

They don't miss the speed in the secondary as much.

Bishop is much more athletic.

But up front, they have lacked that.

Particularly when they've got their front guys hurt.

Frontline guys hurt.

Ed being out.

Bernard being hurt.

Milano being in and out of the lineup.

That really their speed suffers because of that.

I think that needs to be one of the more important traits they get in these draft.

Andrew on the tweet sheet says I would say after you pick up a nose tackle,

then a linebacker, then defensive end.

After that, whether it's offense or defense, you take best player available in the draft

and then you get on the phone.

ASAP and start contacting players that went undrafted.

Which is like the stock market.

A lot of phone calls.

A lot of negotiating.

A lot of signing bonus discussion.

To get a player to come to you that went undrafted.

Nose tackle, Steve.

First, there might be some guys worthy of the 26 picked down there.

Like a Caden MacDonald from Ohio State, for example.

I'm okay with that.

Who I think is having watched him.

Caden MacDonald is more than just a two down nose tackle.

He can do more than that for you.

You get a guy like Lee Hunter, the Texas Tech kid.

He's more of a two down traditional run stuffing guy.

He can push the pocket a little bit, but he's not getting to a quarterback.

He's just not doing that.

It's hard to...

I know the three down guys opposed to the two down guy, meaning one guy is a really good run stopper,

but he can't rush the passer.

The three down guy does both.

He can really rush the passer, but he's also responsible in the run game.

Way offences are running the NFL these days.

If the guy is out there and he has limitations, the offense is going to exploit them.

If you got your run defenders on the field, they're going to be throwing on first down or second down.

No matter the distance, because the quarterback is going to have time to do it.

You need as many guys who can play as many different situations and play it well as you can get.

I'm positionless football is on its way, and a lot of places is here.

And that goes for the big heavies up front, too.

They've got to be able to do everything and do it well.

So I'm all for a front seven defender at the top of this draft, particularly drafting at 26.

I don't know.

It wouldn't change if they were drafting sixth.

I wouldn't put it past them that they take three players that would line up in the front seven.

I mean, if you have an Andrews way, nose tackle, linebacker, pass rusher.

That's three right there out of the seven picks you have.

The board has to follow a certain way for that unfold and happen as well.

But I wouldn't put it past them.

They need answers in the front seven on that side of the ball.

And I'm with you, Brownie.

And look, last year they did the exact same thing.

They drafted three defensive lineman.

TJ Sanders, Landon Jackson, Dion Walker.

All in succession.

Three of the first to the other.

And that was after Max.

Yeah.

So the first four picks were defensive players before they took Jackson Haas.

Keep doing it.

Just get there.

If they get the right guy, nobody cares.

Yeah.

None of us care, right?

I mean, let's face it, nobody cares.

If you get a guy that turns into an all pro, it doesn't matter if you take him one or seven, take him.

Nobody's going to care about the draft spot.

But you got to keep, you got to keep taking swings at it.

Yeah.

Pete on the tweet sheet says, trade our number one for a second and third, giving us eight picks, five on defense, and then three on offense.

Pete says, edge, two linebackers, nose tackle, and corner on defense.

The two on offense, wide receiver, and all line.

I can get behind that approach.

Right.

If you're looking to get into this into this, what you can get for your 26 pick of the draft on the value chart I'm looking at, say the number 26 pick is worth 700 points.

You've got to go, it would be equal to two late in the round, second round picks, like a 56, 57 picks, right?

It would be worth the 55th and the 56th pick, or you could get higher, you could go down to the 40s, you could get the 40th pick, and then you'd have to go all the way to the, you know,

to the top around three.

So you can get a high two, and a high three, or two mid to late round twos, for what the bills have got at number 26.

Now, you know, whether which team, I don't think there's very many teams who have two high twos, they're going to trade to get up nine spots or 15 spots.

Right.

So that's a hard thing to get people to say yes to.

So it sounds really good to trade for that number 26 pick and get the bills out of the first round.

You've got to find somebody to say yes, and that's not easy.

That's not easy, because they're going to see the board at least in a similar fashion to you.

Anybody worth 26?

You know, I'm saying this in this scenario.

So we're not going to, we're going to give up these two picks for that one.

There's nobody there we want that bad.

We're just like you.

Although,

old takes his one, and there are some teams out there who are desperate for help.

Pete Prisco in this last segment said,

the bills are the top three rosters in the league.

Yeah.

So I'm just trying to look at the value chart here.

Like if the bills went from 26 and slid back to 41 in a deal with Cincinnati,

they could get Cincinnati's pick at 41,

and then their pick at 72 and round three.

So that puts him in the first eight picks in round three,

and then they still have their other pick at 91.

If the bills did that, they would have to throw in.

I don't think they have to throw in much of anything.

They got the pick 41s.

I got four 90 and the two 30.

It's seven, it's seven, 10.

They can do that.

They would throw in.

They would throw in, have to throw in there.

Just do the deal.

You're off by 10 points.

Yeah.

You kidding me?

You're not going to do it.

You have to throw in your 182 pick back.

No, not doing the Cincinnati.

You can have my seven.

Take my seven, please.

Just do the deal.

It's a 10 point difference.

That's nothing.

They're not going to do it.

Oh, stop it.

They're not going to do it.

Throw in your seven.

It's never exact.

Throw in your seven.

It's close.

Swap, swap their sevens,

which are one pick away from each other.

220 and 221.

Let's swap our sevens and it's a deal.

No, nobody's going to do that.

You see those all the time?

The pick swaps.

Yeah, but it's the 217 for the 241 swap.

That's what it is.

You're not going to get it done.

Well, then swap the sixs.

It depends on the player that's up there.

If Cincinnati covets a player at 26,

that's what they have for 10 points.

They'll do the deal.

That's what they would have to give up.

They'd have to give up the 10 points on the value chart,

which is equivalent to something other than like us.

A late six round round.

A late six.

A mid six.

You want the guy do the deal, man?

10 points.

What are we talking about here?

Come on.

That's the sacrifice.

I mean, really.

You're not going to get the guy you want

because of 10 points on the value chart.

You are Cincinnati more than I thought you were.

You know what I mean?

In this scenario, yes, I am.

Ray on the tweet sheet says,

no particular order.

Defense for edge, middle linebacker,

safety, nose tackle, offense three,

wide receiver guard,

and then a fullback slash H back.

One more thing based on some of our recent

horrendous officiating calls,

I'll take the replacements.

Wow.

From the top rope.

Ray coming in hard.

Drop him.

Give me the replacements.

Until they mess up royally and cost us a game.

Right.

Get the where are the real refs?

Get them back.

Sign the deal.

I get it.

Ray from the top rope.

Give me the replacements.

Hurrendous officiating calls.

He's not wrong.

We're in March.

We're like March.

He's like, give me the replacements.

Not a catch.

That was a pick.

Okay.

Wow.

Yeah.

Ray's running hot for late March.

I'm right there with him.

I love it.

I love the passion.

I get there.

But four defense, three offense.

I don't...

I think the max is two on offense.

Unless the board falls some kind of wonky way

and, you know, best available as an offensive player.

You know, later in the draft.

Well...

I think it's five, two.

I don't know.

You could get the third guy if it's...

You could.

You could back H.

Back.

If you get a guy that all the sudden turns into Reggie...

Gilliam.

Reggie was undrafted.

Yeah.

Just get undrafted for him.

Well, okay.

But if you're going to draft him,

he's in Reggie Gilliam.

Nobody cares, right?

Sure.

So, yeah.

I'm okay with that.

At the seventh, you know.

You got to get your first four, though,

in your first five pitch.

I think four defenders in the first five or six picks.

I find safety an interesting choice here

for some of his defense.

He's got four defensive picks.

Edge, middle lineback, or safety, no stack.

Now, they signed two veteran safeties.

They have Jordan Hancock and they've got Cole Bishop.

Like, they've got five safeties on the roster.

I don't think they need to draft another young guy.

You got your young guy on the pipeline.

That's Hancock.

Unless they have other plans for him.

Yeah.

One of those lifetimes.

Hancock has disappointed in some way,

shape, or form that we're not aware of.

In fact, that he couldn't get on the field last year.

Maybe it was a complexity of the defense.

Maybe Jim Leonard, being a former safety himself,

can cultivate some growth.

Tutor him.

Yeah.

He's like, wow, we're this, we were his Hancock last year.

Right?

That kind of thing.

Maybe.

That's on the table.

My point is that you have, you got some guys.

You got guys.

So.

Or four.

If four.

What am I doing?

Math is four.

I guess you can add a fifth if you really want.

I mean, you still might add a fifth and free agency.

Right.

Because their, their prices come way down.

That's what right.

Gardner Johnson and Gina Stone on one of your deals.

And that was a week ago.

Imagine where the market is now at safety.

Right.

You get somebody for the minimum.

So.

That's an option too.

Yeah.

Last break of the show here, when we come back,

an interesting story that will make everybody smile

about the state of society today.

It's, it's one you don't want to miss.

We'll share it with you next.

Here on One Bill's Live, presented by Collada Hill.

All right.

Back here on One Bill's Live.

And every so often, things pop up in our feed, shall we say,

that don't run in concert with the main aim of the information gathering

that we do for this show to entertain you.

But they are nonetheless entertaining all by themselves.

And Steve relayed this one to me while we were preparing for the show today.

And it is such a, it's such a, I don't know how to describe it other than to say,

it's such a piece of modern Americana.

It's relatable.

Yeah.

And so this takes place at a popular fast food restaurant

that will remain nameless.

But Steve has the story.

So the guy wrote this about six months old, and it came across my timeline finally.

And the guy says he pulled up to the restaurant with his dog.

Dog named Nugget.

And the guy threw out his dog.

The guy in the drawer, he drive, drive through lane.

And the guy in the window says, oh, that's a cute dog.

What's his name?

And I said, Nugget.

He asked if Nugget wants a treat.

And I say, yes.

He's going to think it's going to be a dog bone or some other former treat like,

you know, some of the other restaurants do.

And the guy disappears for a minute.

He comes back and hands the driver an entire bag of chicken nuggets.

A bag, not one, a bag.

It hands him.

His dog is happier than he's ever seen him in his life.

I thank the guy, the kid.

And the kid goes, no sweat.

It's my last day.

I'm giving out free stuff like crazy.

You want to hat or something?

Absolutely.

Legendary Nugget rates the place five stars.

A guy, an entire bag of chicken nuggets says, you want anything else?

Like you want to hat?

You can't, you can't beat that.

That is good timing.

And there's a picture of Nugget sitting next to the bag is bigger than Nugget.

Oh, my God.

He ate himself.

It's full of Nugget, chicken nuggets.

That is great.

I'm giving away, it's my last day, I'm giving away stuff all the time.

I just don't care.

You want to hat?

Oh, that's the best.

I've come across people that do some special things on their last day at work at a place

that they no longer care for.

Yeah.

Bless their heart.

They're just like, I came here to just make some money.

And I don't need this job anymore.

ABC later.

And I'm going to have some fun here on the last day.

I am, I am checked out.

Giving away bags of nuggets and God knows what it has.

Anything else you want.

What do you think he also handed out for free?

Oh, it got to be like packages and like napkin package.

You know, people always have napkins in their car stuff.

Here, here's a package of napkin hell.

You know, stuff like that.

Yeah, for the hat.

You need a peril.

That's great.

You want an apron?

That is awesome.

I got an extra broom back here too.

Oh, my gosh.

Because I'm not cleaning at the end of my shit.

I've never been in the spot where it was my last day and I was like, you know, kick him

as I went out the door.

So I've never really been in that spot.

But man, oh man, I can imagine.

I would say the closest I came, me and my buddy got hired to paint a house for the summer.

We had to scrape the house first, seat or shake, had to scrape it first, then paint it.

Primate paint it.

Two of us.

And this is a big house.

It took us almost the whole summer.

And this guy could not have been more difficult, like, well, I need you to put an extra coat

over here.

And I'm dodging beehives.

Oh, yeah.

It was miserable.

And so I think the last day, I can't remember what equipment he had.

He had built a can of paint on his front door.

He had some stuff with a garage and he had a carpet.

And it was accidental.

My buddy knocked a can of paint onto the carpet.

We didn't tell him.

Because it was our last day.

We were like, he can find out on his own.

There you go.

We got out of there.

It's on him.

He deserved it, Brownie.

It's me, Chris.

We're the best.

Tomorrow, Steve's off.

We'll see you on Friday at 1.

OBL 3/26: How Would You Split Up Bills Draft Picks, Pete Prisco's Optimism For Buffalo This Season

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