Center Stage with Eric Wood: Breaking Down the Bills’ 53-Man Roster

0:00I'm going to be a great player. Welcome on in to center stage with Eric Wood. I'm your host, Josh Read. Eric, how are we doing? I'm all good. Join a little time off. I mean, 17 days between the final preseason game and the regular season seems like a ton of time when I'm sure it'll fly by for us all with all the news and roster updates and everything else. That's absolutely right. It is crazy how much of a layover we have between that end of the regular season and the preseason beginning of the regular season. 53 man roster announced on Sunday. What are your initial thoughts? My initial thoughts is this is just different from when I first ended the league and you had six or seven practice squad spots and you couldn't have veterans on there. And so I feel like that final cut down was more indicative of what your actual roster, your actual game day, activations would look like the guys in uniform. And nowadays it's okay. Well, let's keep him because

1:01he likely would get claimed. And we can likely stash this guy and you know, we all fall in love with the Ian Wheeler's and Frank or juniors and can I walkers in all of them. And then as we sit here on Monday afternoon recording this, one guy that we cut, Tori on a pride junior got claimed. And so we lose one guy of all the guys that we cut. And so you assume that most of the guys that we think could potentially play in a bill's uniform this year, that were released by the six o'clock Sunday deadline. They'll likely be back on the practice squad and we'll see how it all shakes out. You know, initially you're thinking, wow, we're not keeping a fullback. Well, a lot of teams don't keep a fullback nowadays. And you know, we'll see if, you know, we bring one back, you to assume it would be that Van Sumer and we'll get him back. And then we'll see how it all shakes out. And so we've completed the Graham Ramsey.

2:14Next week, we hear about, then at volcanoes, now we have questions for the water. Remember one important thing up or if they simply say D Alfred has outside corner experience, we love Jordan Hancock in the slot as well. And so if Alfred's got to go out, Hancock's in the slot, you know, that fills that need. And so we'll get a lot more clarity, I guess, when we hear from Bean and Joe Brady this week at their press conferences. But I don't know. It just to me, these the six o'clock deadline yesterday, like there wasn't a ton shocking to me. So huge vet releases, you know, contract wise or anything else. And so, you know, I feel like I'm just more patient nowadays, just the way this day and age is with these massive practice wads where you can keep 16 guys and six guys that are vested into the NFL. I said it on BKL last week that Ben Van Sumer and if he doesn't make the 53 man roster,

3:16I would be interested to see if there is some sort of plan for Jackson, Haas there. I mean, because if he can fill in that H back kind of full back role, that really does. It's a whole other dynamic then for their offense because you've got a guy who clearly is a really good blocker and a guy who is an absolute threat out of the backfield. I know that, you know, Reggie Gilliam has had that role, but let's face it, Reggie was a little limited in the past game where Jackson Haas, he actually can make plays. Yeah, that's a fair point. And a lot of Reggie Gilliam's alignments were, you know, kind of hipped off the tight end where he wasn't necessarily playing in a true eye back formation. And I would assume Jackson Haas can do those things. Dawson Knox may be able to do those things. And, you know, and some of it may just be, you know, Joe Brady saying, you know, my offense doesn't need to operate with a full back to where we need to put one on the roster right now. We're not willing to get rid of some of these other guys to keep a full back on the roster

4:20early. Like I said, that could all change. He comes back on the practice squad. It could be a week one elevation for Van Sumerin. He's playing special teams in some full back against the Texans and that wouldn't surprise me one bit. You know, I think part of it is you release Kalecki Latu and he likely gets claimed after the preseason he had and you spent all this time developing him over the last couple of years on your practice squad, called him up at the end of last season, you know, with Jude Bowrie not going to IR yet, you know, we don't know how that all shake out. That keeps Tendo Lyman. You know, I believe they thought that Reed Adams would, if they got, if they cut him, then you'll lose him. And so you keep Tendo Lyman for now. And so yeah, I'm with you that I think Jackson Halls can be that player and you're not super concerned about Van Sumerin getting claimed, which he hasn't signed anywhere yet.

5:20Let's stay. You mentioned the offensive line there. Let's let's go with that a little bit. I get two part question. It reportedly, Alec Anderson's going to be the starting left guard. When's the job over Austin Corbett? What are your thoughts on how he was able to win that job? And just in general, how this whole offensive line has now constructed. Yeah, I felt like it was his job to lose. He's played well for this organization when he's gotten his opportunity. He starts his that locking tight end last year. He played tackle and it did well against the Steelers. He's filled in that guard at times. He's filled in that center. I feel like he's earned that opportunity to get a starting chance and you give him all those reps through OTA's, through training camp. And he made the most of it and earned that spot. Austin Corbett's a guy that has positioned flexibility where he can back up either guard spot. He actually played tackling college. And we'll see how it shakes out if there's injuries along this offensive line. If Alec Anderson becomes, I'm going to pop out the tackle because I've done that.

6:24And now Austin Corbett's in that guard. They have a lot of flexibility behind him. Jude Bowery, we were hoping that he would have a stronger preseason. The book's not written on Jude Bowery after a couple of rough preseason games. That's not fair to these guys that the college game is so much different than the NFL game at the offensive line position. Tyler Engrable played better against the Steelers to where you feel pretty comfortable about him and in that back up swing tackle role. And then we got to hope that Conor McGover is going to be good for Houston. And if not, I think having Kush and Mary as a veteran as part of what made Van Prang Granger expendable where we trade him for a six round draft pick and we give up a seven to the Colts. But it made him expendable because if we do need to rely on a backup center early with as much talent as you had up in this team, you really want someone more experienced than Van Prang Granger in the pivot. We saw three preseason games.

7:25What was your kind of biggest takeaway after getting to see these guys with some reps on the field? I mean, it's always nice to win those games. And you know what? You know what? Real quick. You know, normally I wins and losses in the preseason are what they are. But I feel like it was a little more important because it's Joe Brady, right? If they go O and three in the preseason, one of the fans saying, right? Meanwhile, they go three and O and the fans are like, wow, it's the preseason. No doubt, no doubt. You also have 50, 60,000 fans in the stands of Buffalo. You're trying to go out there and put on a show for him as opposed to maybe 25,000 and half of them are kids for kids day in the preseason in Old Heimark Stadium. But you know, I just feel like this is, it's a testament to the roster that we built with the depth and competitiveness that even games where we don't play our starters and other teams are playing their starters longer. Like at Cleveland and you know, we can go out there and compete with those guys and you

8:28switch the defensive scheme this year. And I was encouraged by, I won't even say the overall unit of the defense, just some individual effort, you know, just individuals playing in this new scheme, a Deon Walker against the Panthers. We got to see him for three series, looked like a game record out there. Some of the other guys that we've got to see, you know, individually a landed Jackson. Okay, he's capable of playing that four-eye technique. I saw it with my own eyes. Okay, that checks the box for me to where I got to see him do it in training camp. Okay, now I also got to see him do it against, you know, other team starters out there. And so, you know, I was encouraged by what we saw in the preseason. You can't put too much stock into it. You know, we got two series, I believe, with the first string offense and they look pretty sharp out there that DJ Morty Josh Allen connection was strong and yeah, there's a lot to be excited about heading into this year. You roll into the season, the number two betting favorit to win the Super Bowl. You'd like to see them look sharp when their guys play throughout the preseason. They certainly did.

9:30Max Harrison, Joe Brady was real bullish right after that game. He was like, look, that's our starting corner back. And I think that to me, that's something you needed to do. I think you don't waver on it. I think Max seems like a guy who maybe needs a little bit of that positive reinforcement right now as a young player has been battling the injuries, the talent I think is there. He's just got to find a way to stay on the field. Surprised at all or is that, you know, is that kind of the way you thought this would all shake out? It's how I thought it would shake out. Now, there might be games where Ignosen plays in packages early. And if he impresses enough, you know, potentially there's matchups where they have a bigger, more physical receiver on the outside. And you say six foot two, 200 pound Ignosen, maybe is a better matchup this week. We'll see how that all shakes out. But I mean, Max, we only got to see him in a limited basis last year because of injuries. When he was healthy and playing out there, there was a lot to be excited about.

10:32As much man-to-man defenses will likely run this year. You would think with his skill set that he should be able to lock guys down in this league. Look, the screen pass that goes for a touchdown and he misses the tackle. You never want to see that happen. But I also think it's a teachable moment. Okay, Max is much size. He's going to give up on the outside. If you're singled off on the backside of what looks like a run play, you might need to be in a tighter position to not let that receiver get too much momentum, get him too much space where you have to make a huge open field tackle. Or it's, you know, kind of wall him off until the troops get there and not make, not necessarily go take your shot at his legs and whip and give up a touchdown. So you like to learn those lessons in the preseason? I know it was ugly in the moment, not overly concerning for me. I think he's a heck of a ball player. We drafted the first round for a reason because he's got the skill set that he does. And I would hope that, you know, with Benford likely playing on their top receiver each week,

11:33that Harrison will be a good starter for this bill's defense. Concern level on the punt returner spot. I mean, Ray Davis with the muffed punt, you know, I think in an ideal world, they would be able to use Ray Davis in that spot because now the sudden, you're filling two roles with one player. But, yeah, I guess where's your concern level there? There's concern just because of how good we are. You'd hate to see a game be decided by a muffed punt or, you know, kind of like last year, where you put Shakira back there and you tell him not to take any shots. That's what appeared to be the coaching, you know, or Mike, to hide in the past where you're not getting anything out of that where, you know, a lot of teams are picking up, you know, nine to 12 yards in those situations, which over the course of a game add up in the field position battle. So you'd like to have a weapon back there. Ray Davis emerges an all pro kick returner last year. And you think, man, if we could get him there too. And a guy that is just in a very crowded running back room with James Cook,

12:33emerging the way he did last year, tie Johnson, Josh Allen calls him the best third down running back in the NFL. So Ray Davis, you know, kind of has to just find his spots throughout the game to get in when Cook needs a breather on normal data distance. So you'd love to get the Paul and his hands more because he's a playmaker. You know, the punt that he dropped, I mean, that's, that's tough. And you hate to see it. Like I said about Harrison, maybe it's a coaching moment that we laugh about this at the end of the year because he had a great year returning to football. I also think there's some nuances to punt returning where I think experience plays a big factor as far as, okay, it's, they're punning from the 50. So now I'm, you know, maybe let in one bounce inside the six, not necessarily just the 10. They're punning from backed up. If this ball sells over my head at the 10, that's got to go in the end zone. There's some, there's a lot of decision making back there where I would say I'm concerned just by the lack of experience. I think that's what I think is going to be the best way to get back there and how good this team should be.

13:37And you would hate to see a season derailed or playoff season seeding affected based upon our punt return situation. Yeah, I thought it was pretty telling before that third preseason game that Joe Brady was asked about. What he's looking for in a punt return and he said, I need a guy that's going to get my offense back on the field. You know, I don't think he's necessarily sure to be great to have a home run hitter, but his home run hitter is 17. Hey, Eric quickly. I know you got to run real quick. Aaron Donald. I mean, I mean, God blessed a few of us. And it wasn't this guy right here. I mean, what an incredible story, though. And you see some of the videos of him practicing already. And it's like, he's still shoving the sled six yards down the field. So apparently he's been working his tail off. My concern is just for him personally is that and the Rams. I mean, how do you manage one of the best defenders of all time who made a name for himself as an undersized detaco by never coming off the field by going

14:39hard as heck on every single play? You know, can his body hold up to that at 35 years old after taking time off and all of that. We'll see, but I mean, he's an absolute problem. And I mean, you look at that defensive line. I mean, you can look at the two top ones in Miles Garrett and Aaron Donald, but then the list goes on across their front to where I wouldn't want to be playing them early in the season. I know we go play them fairly early in October, but yeah, we'll see how it shakes out. I expect him to make plays. I think in an ideal world, Sean McVeigh, he even said, you know, I want to limit him early and let him get his feet wet. But Aaron Donald goes out there. Let's say he doesn't start the first series. They get an obvious pass rush situation. He rushes the passer and they say, okay, Aaron, you're out. He's going to say no. Like I'm staying. Let me make an impact on this game. Let me help out this team because that's who he's always been. And I can't imagine he'll be any different. So, you know, hopefully you could stay healthy just for him personally.

15:39I don't know him personally other than the times we played against him, but got a lot respect for that, dude. He's he's the classic, the whole NFL overthinking. I know he was still a first round draft pick, but after watching his college tape and runs a 4 6 5 at the combine, the fact that he fell out of the top 10 is just the classic like, well, maybe his arms are too short. Well, and let's face it. His entire career, he faced double teams, but now Miles Garrett on the field. You can't double team both guys. I don't know if he's still that type of guy, but to one on one is going to be an interesting thing to watch. He's Eric Wood. I'm Josh Reed. Thanks for watching and listening to Center stage.