Talking Buffalo Blue Wire

On this episode of Talking Buffalo, Patrick Moran is joined in studio by longtime friend and recurring guest Tone Pucks to discuss a potentially effective Bills free agent singing flying under the radar, two potential breakout candidates this season for the Bills in addition to plenty of Buffalo Sabres talk.
Chase Claypool was the noticeable name that signed with the Bills late last week, a move that Tone calls out Patrick for his negative overreaction, but the addition of Dawuane Smoot mostly slid the cracks and/or was quickly dismissed by many as non-relevant news. Tone advises that shouldn't be the case, pointing out the structure of his contract shows it's highly likely Smoot's going to be part of this roster and defensive end rotation. The guys talk about that very possibly be a good thing considering Smoot had four consecutive seasons of at least six sacks before being slowed down last year in recovering from a torn achilles. Can Smoot be this year's version of Leonard Floyd?
After the Smoot section Patrick gets into two incoming second-year players he may be higher than most; wide receiver Justin Shorter and linebacker Dorian Williams. In the case of Shorter, Brandon Beane's excellent day three draft record is pointed out as well Shorter never getting going last year after a hamstring injury. Williams was a different story---we saw his athleticism immediately but it was apparent that mental gaffes on assignments led him to Sean McDermott's dog house, so much so that he mostly watched from the sidelines as AJ Klein got helplessly torched by Travis Kelce in the playoffs. Patrick feels confident that if Williams grows on the mental side of things in year two that he could carve himself out a significant role in this defense and on this roster, even if not as a starter.
They also talk about what the Sabres may do with UPL's next contract, even more Jeff Skinner talk, Tone snubs Patrick's birthday and much more. Follow Tone Pucks on Twitter @TonePucksRedux
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On today's Talking Buffalo, it's another edition of The Podbag---the episode where the audience controls the narrative and Patrick Moran is answering questions and reading takes sent it from listeners and viewers of the show, mostly focused around the ongoing Buffalo Bills offseason.
The Bills lost a ton of veteran players and leaders this offseason, particularly Micah Hyde, Jordan Poyer, Tre White, Mitch Morse and Stefon Diggs. This coupled with their inability to get past the AFC divisional round the past three years has created a strong national perception, at least among media and fans that Buffalo's Super Bowl window is closing if not closed for this regime. As one fan of the show points out, it's a load of crap and uses multiple examples of great quarterbacks winning Super Bowl far older than Josh Allen currently is. Patrick talks about agreeing that the Bills window to win a championship with this core is still very much doable but does admit that it won't get any seemingly easier than it was the past handful of seasons, when Buffalo put themselves in great position to get it done.
There's several other interesting submissions this week, including a more predominant running game on the way, someone locked in on the development of second-year linebacker Dorian Williams, Sean McDermott's storied history of developing linebackers and Diggs' attitude being gone a positive for the Bills. There's also someone extremely happy that Lindy Ruff is here to coach the Sabres and plenty more.
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On this episode of Talking Buffalo, Patrick Moran is really starting to wonder if the Buffalo Bills are having a crisis of identity with their offense based on recent decisions and it's up to friend and recurring guest Anthony Marino to convince him it's not headed toward a downward spiral.
it's been well documented in conversation, data and film study that Bills quarterback Josh Allen has enjoyed the majority of his success working the passing game with smaller receivers who excel at separation and getting open quickly as opposed to bigger, physical lumbering receivers who excel more in traffic and catching contested balls. General manager Brandon Beane talked about this just a week or so before the NFL draft, yet the Bills appear to be getting away from what their standard of receiver has been, first drafting Keon Coleman in the second round and then signing free agent wide receiver Chase Claypool last Friday.
Patrick absolutely hates the Claypool signing and immediately overreacted on social media when it happened, something Anthony immediately called him out on. At any rate, the guys have a pretty detailed discussion over what they think this Bills offense is trying to be. Does factors like drafting a big guy like Keon Coleman over a Stefon Diggs/Khalil Shakir type like Ladd McConkey, and cutting Mitch Morse to move a much bigger Connor McGovern over to center, or drafting bowling ball style running back Ray Davis in the fourth round symbolize that Sean McDermott is looking for the Bills to be more physical and methodical with their offense as opposed to speedy and explosive?
It certainly feels that way. Also, there's no use crying over spilled milk but do the guys think the team is going to rue trading Diggs instead of finding a way to make things work for one more year and does the departure of Diggs and not doing anything of note other than a draft to replace him put a lot of instant pressure on Coleman?
What about the notion that Sean McDermott doesn't care about the offense as much as the defense, despite the fact the Bills have now drafted a pass catcher with their first pick in the past two drafts. That plus their "Finish the Sentence" segment and a whole lot more . Be sure to follow Anthony on Twitter @AnthMarino 
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On this episode of Talking Buffalo, Patrick Moran is joined by frenemy and recurring guest Joe From Queens for a conversation on a handful of topics, highlighted by the Buffalo Bills wide receiver room and where it stands compared to its peers around the league.
Patrick went through each team around the look and took a look at the top four wide receivers on each of their depth charts. In the end he created a power ranking for all 32 teams in addition to putting them in six separate tiers---as the difference between being ranked 13th to 20th feels a lot more distant than it actually is. In compiling the list he took into account their current talent, projected talent going forward and what teams he'd be willing to trade the Buffalo wide receiver room for.
Patrick's assessment concludes that the Bills top four of Curtis Samuel, Khalil Shakir, Keon Coleman and Mack Hollins slides into the fifth of six tiers and more specifically ranks just 25th out of 32 teams. The guys have a conversation about the Bills group, where they slot in on the chart and how much more could they realistically rise in the reasonably near future.
Also, Tim Graham of The Athletic recently posted a fascinating story about the Pegula's, including the revelation that Kim Pegula is now legally incapacitated with Terry as the guardian in addition to Terry's daughter Laura playing a much more prominent role in the the Bills and Buffalo Sabres organization than almost anyone knew about. Tim followed it up with several interesting viewpoints on his Tim Graham and Friends podcast and the guys have several thoughts on this story that's starting to have the feel of a HBO drama.
That plus Joe wants to know if Bills fans are going to obsess more over what Stefon Diggs does in Houston or Xavier Worthy does with Kansas City, Patrick absolutely can't stand the Bills Chase Claypool signing and much more. Follow Joe on Twitter @BuffaloWins.
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On this episode of Talking Patrick, Patrick Moran discusses with friend and recurring guest Tone Pucks whether new/once again Buffalo Sabres head coach was the right person to get tasked with putting an end to the team's historic playoff drought in addition to a conversation about the general direction of the team.
Tone was on the show yesterday when the discussion centered on if the Buffalo Bills look like a team that's still going to be good in 2024. Today it's almost entirely about the Sabres. Following a 13th consecutive season of missing the playoffs, not only an extension of their own record but tying the New York Jets for the longest in major pro sports, Terry Pegula fired Don Granato and within a week Ruff was hired to once again take over. The guys talk about if have a problem with a wider coaching net not being cast before landing on Ruff as well as how much of the hire is about hockey and how much to perhaps help win back fans.
There's also plenty to talk about with the team in general. Despite nearly everyone saying it's not going to happen, Tone is still convinced that the Sabres are going to end up getting rid of Jeff Skinner this summer, whether that comes through buy out or a trade and even uses an interesting Bills situation as a baseline for comparison. He also has thoughts on Matthew Fairburn recently saying on this show Dylan Cozens could eventually become a captain on this team in addition to thoughts on trading Casey Mittelstadt rather than paying him long term, not having a rush to get anyone in the pipeline onto the main roster and plenty more. Follow Tone Pucks on Twitter @TonePucksRedux
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On this episode of Talking Buffalo, Patrick Moran's joined in studio by friend and recurring guest Tone Pucks for a conversation on a handful of topics, including how good they think the 2024 Buffalo Bills are internally and compared to the rest of the league now that the NFL draft has passed.
It's certainly been an eventful offseason for the Bills---one which has seen significant change. Gone are several veterans and leaders such as Mitch Morse, Tre White, Jordan Poyer, Michael Hyde and Gabe Davis. Of course, the Bills also traded top receiver Stefon Diggs to the Houston Texans for 2025 draft capital. They've also added free agent talent to the team such as Curtis Samuel, Mike Edwards and Austin Johnson in addition to their draft class highlighted by Keon Coleman and Cole Bishop.
It feels like on paper it's clear they've taken a step back--but is that the reality? The guys both have a variety of opinions on how this team looks as presently constructed and how they stack up against their peers around the league.
That plus the Boulevard Mall has shut down, learning that a high school football & baseball coach from nearly 35 years ago is still alive and well---and plenty more. Follow Tone Pucks on Twitter @TonePucksRedux
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