The Ringer NFL Show - How to Improve the AFC’s Playoff Teams Through the Draft

Episode Date: April 7, 2023

Nora and Steven return to break down how the playoff teams of the AFC can improve through the draft and free agency. Hosts: Nora Princiotti and Steven Ruiz Associate Producer: Stefan Anderson Additional Production Supervision: Arjuna Ramgopal and Conor Nevins Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Did your favorite NFL team win the Super Bowl? No? Then the NFL draft is your Super Bowl. I'm Danny Haifitz, and for now until the draft, we are turning our fantasy football show feed into the Ringer NFL draft show. Every Tuesday, we talk about the top players and most important storylines for the NFL draft. So join us on the Ringer NFL show. Hello, and welcome to the Ringer NFL show.

I'm Nora Pintziotti. I am here with Stephen Ruiz. As always, Stephen, how are you doing? I'm doing great. I just joined TikTok. I hear you just joined TikTok. It's a new era. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.

I've been on TikTok. I made a TikTok yesterday. You made a TikTok. You were lurking. We're glad to have you. We may be ruining democracy and definitely ruining attention fans. But the content is good. So, first day of the rest of your life, always. We are back continuing our team needs series here.

We're going to talk about some AFC playoff teams. This is a fun one. This is like the cream of the crop of the NFL. So I'm pumped for this show. shall we kick it off with the dolphins? Let's do it. One of my favorite teams. Never keep track with you, okay?

They might be. Because you know what? I think this one is an easy one. I have offensive line down here with like nine exclamation points. Beyond that, this roster is stacked. Outside of the quarterback questions, I think they have a very easy path forward in terms of what they need to add to this roster.

Because protect to it. just protect Tua. Keep batting there. Easy does it. Clear answer, right? Like, we've seen the movie before with what happens when he's not well protected. He's obviously not the biggest guy coming off the concussions. It's particularly scary. But that is like, this is one of those examples where there's just one glaring need and go fix it. Simple as that. Yeah. I think if you look at last year's results, most people would default to the defense because the defense was bad. The offense was obviously good. But I think, like, changing defensive

coordinators, getting Vic Van Joe, kind of fixes the problems they did have. They had some issues generating pass rush, and we saw Josh Boyer have to blitz a lot. And that became a problem for the team. I don't, I think just getting... The world's most chaotic

defense. He's so, like, Boyer was too chaotic. My analogy, I just wrote about the dolphins this week. My analogy was, he's that Charlie Kelly mean. Like, he's pointing at the board. He's got the yarn connecting all the dots. Like you don't need to call a blitz every down man.

Just call a four-man rush. Every once in a while, just sprinkle it in. Keep the defense, or the offense honest. But I think, like, you look at the defensive line and it's good. Like, you have Christian Wilkins. You have Jalen Phillips.

They traded for Bradley Chubb. You have something there. I think you can beef up the interior. Like, the secondary, it looks good on paper. I do think that that's one of my needs. I think you have to keep adding depth to that cornerback group. I know they get Jaylorams. Even after the Ramsey thing.

even after the Ramsey thing, they've thrown a lot of resources at that position. It really hasn't worked out. And like Xavier and Howard, it seems like there's been trade rumors surrounding him for like two years straight. Eventually,

like this relationship is going to end. I don't even like, every time I look at the depth chart and he's on the roster, I'm like, oh, he's still here. But maybe it's not though,

right? Maybe that goes in the other direction where they're just that like toxic couple that's always fighting with each other, but they're going to stay together forever. They thrive. But yeah, but quarterback.

I don't think we can overlook that position. Unless we can change the rules where quarterbacks are not allowed to be touched and not allowed to hit the ground. I just don't know how you move forward being confident that Tua is going to be available. It just seems like he's one more head injury away from this being. I mean, I already think we're at that point where it's not even a football discussion. It's like a concern about his health discussion at this point. So do you think that that's, I mean, they did, they signed Mike White.

for two years, eight million. So it's not like, it's obviously, that's a backup deal. It's very odd to me that we live in a world where Jared Sidham gets, gets five million a year. And Mike White gets four just because I don't understand why you would look at those two careers and go, yeah, Jared Sidham is more promising here. Anyway, so I think, like, I think that is their version of doing that. Are you saying that you would like to see them add somebody else or maybe make a trade back

that accrues some future capital so that if in the future they need to do something in the draft at quarterback what's the path towards if they're feeling like we need some insurance against to his future here? Like how do they do that?

I think they need a guy that they're comfortable starting for a whole season or starting for a playoff game because that was the position they were in last year. Obviously they get to the playoffs but they don't have their quarterback and they're forced to start a backup. And I think that's how you have to treat this quarterback room

as if you don't really have a starter. Just because, are you sure you two is going to be playing in December? Are we sure about that? Like, it's really risky. I think you have to start. I don't think it has to be a first round pick. Obviously, they don't have a first round pick. They only have a second and a third.

But I think you could draft a quarterback who you could see one day developing into a starter level player. I just don't think Mike White is a guy. Like if they're starting a playoff game and Mike White has to start, they're not happy about that. I think Mike like to find backup for the regular season for like two starts at a time but not key games.

The flip side of that though is that with this roster it's a better situation than they were in last season which is not saying all that much. But I think like it's certainly not perfect. But I I just think that there are limited

and what they can do about that because I think they've made a clear decision that they're not turning the page from two others. They're continuing that commitment. And once you've made that decision, you have to roll with it. I would totally be in favor of them taking, you know, a day two quarterback,

someone who seems developmental, like keep throwing darts at that position. Absolutely. Because even if we have a best case scenario and he never has another head injury, it really prioritizes how he plays in that regard and that all works out as well as possible and he stays healthy in terms of more concussions and that side of things, which is really scary. Just even like his build and his size, he's not a quarterback who you can feel like this guy's going to hold up for years and years and years.

So I would like to see them do that sort of regardless. I do think, though, that just because they have made that commitment, shoring up the protection is a thing that you can do now that helps that problem for 2023 and 2024. Just because, look, they've worked on the left side, although Toronto Armstead, even though they made that big commitment, he's older, he had injuries last year. That still should be his strength. But I think you want to work on right tackle. Austin Jackson struggled with health.

Leah Mikenberg was a real weak link. Connor Williams is the center. I think he was pretty, he was one of their better alignment last year. That's fine. But you really need to do some more work there. I remember last, this time last year, I think we were talking about this is an even more pressing issue. And obviously the way that they went about that was the Armstead deal. And that's great. But, but again, that's on the left side with Tua, which is not his blind side. And there's more work to be done there. And I think that is the thing that they could do in the short term to make their situation at quarterback in terms of, to his availability, a little bit less, you know, you're sort of white knuckling it through the entire season.

Can I throw out a position that I don't think, I don't think people would list this anywhere near the top of their list of needs, but I think it's going to become a need maybe soon, but wide receiver, I think, is a position that they still need to, I don't know what upgrade. would say upgrade. Their depth isn't good behind Waddle and Hill. They don't really have depth behind them. Hill is apparently just talking about retiring in two years. Uh, Waddle we've seen Waddle we've seen have health issues before. And Tyree Kill has a game that may not age the best. I mean,

he is a speed merchant and what happens when that speed starts to fall off. I think he's a much better player than that. Don't get me wrong. But Jalen Waddle is a guy that's had health injuries in the past. And then who's behind them? River Cicraft? Rast and Berrios? Like this, I don't know. Like, I think they need to maintain their strengths too. I think they need to keep an eye on that. It's not just roster holes with this team.

I'm less, it's hard for me to get worried about the Dolphins receiver room, but you're very fair to point out like those weaknesses crop up faster than you expect them to. The thing about Tyreek retiring in two years was so weird. Like, I don't believe him. him, but okay. I think he saw Aaron Donald do that thing, like kind of flirt with retirement and they get paid immediately. And I think he's probably trying to do a similar thing.

But also, like, just body type-wise. Like, this isn't a diverse receiver room. And we saw them have trouble with press coverage later on in the year. And that's what happens when you have smaller receivers. I think you need a receiver deterrent against press coverage. Because I think that's going to be, like, the blueprint, quote-unquote, for this team in 2023. And they're going to have to prove that they can beat it.

Our co-worker Austin Gale, who's on the Zoom with us, points out that it's River Craycraft. Very important information. I'm not learning how to pronounce his name, okay? I'm not learning what Matt Eberfluse looks like, and you're not learning how to say River Craigraft. Force me to learn your name, River. Next year we're going to be talking about the Dolphins' needs.

And it's going to be like, oh, well, we really felt like wide receiver was coming down the pipeline, but wasn't expecting that awesome career year from River Crave? Put some respect on the man. All right. Ravens. What do you have for team needs for the Ravens? How about sign the quarterback?

Yeah. This is sort of like tricky because Lamar question mark. That would be good. Yeah. How about sign your quarterback? How about finding a Lamar Jackson type at quarterback? That's the top of the list of needs. I don't know.

I don't know how they're going to get that guy. It's just hard to, they don't know. They don't grow on trees. They really don't. But no, receiver, which has been a need for this team since it's moved to Baltimore. And then edge rusher, which I also think is always a need for this team, just based on how they treat the position. It's kind of like a conveyor belt. They get these guys.

They're productive and they ship them out in free agency. They get a comp pick. But the crazy thing this year is they don't really have comps. They don't have a lot of picks. And that's rare for this team. They don't have a lot of draft capital. And it's kind of hard to see where the obvious upgrades are going to come from. I really think if this team wants to position itself to be a Super Bowl contender,

and like that's always the expectation in Baltimore, like they're going to have to swing a big trade or something, and that's just something this franchise doesn't do. It's not going to happen in the draft, and obviously they have to get the Lamar situation. That goes without saying. I don't even think we have to say that. If they don't have Lamar, then who cares?

This team's not going to work. But I don't see how they fix anything in the draft, really. I think they need to go out and make a big move. And I think that's one way to kind of repair the relationship with Lamar because he, it wasn't just the franchise tag. He put in their trade request before the franchise tag was placed on him. I think he's starting to realize this team hasn't really built around him. And if we start making moves, if you start being proactive about that, I don't know. I don't know.

Maybe his price comes down. Maybe his asking price comes down a little bit. Maybe he's more willing to negotiate in good faith. I don't know. But they need to make a move between now and some. September. And I just don't think it's possible with the draft based on their capital. There are reports out there that they, as well as the Jets, have an offer into O'Dell, really curious to see what happens there because I do think that that would go a long way. First of all, he would be

the best receiver on their roster, which like, O'Dell is not what he used to be. So that's a little bit of a, that's not the highest bar. It's not quite as high of a bar as it sounds like maybe. But it would still be a, I think that's a real difference maker when we're talking about, you know, oh, we brought in Nelson Aguilor. Odell is a little bit more of a, he's a little bit more exciting. And I think that goes just in terms of the strength of that receiver room, but also how it would play with Lamar. And I think you're absolutely right to point out that the trade request was not about the tag

from the limited amount because like the information coming out of there and certainly with Lamar's camp being a little bit different. different is sketchy and limited. And I would not say that I feel like I have total clarity on what the offers are and what's going back and forth. But the sense that I've gotten is that like it's not just that they're squabbling about numbers and guarantees and just the money. It's sort of like everything has taken on meaning.

And that is a tough place to be in. and you're just hoping you find something, right, where everyone can chill out a little bit and be like, look, we want to be friends here. We want to figure this out. And maybe I'm putting too many eggs in the O'Dell Beckham, you know, like cures all ills basket. But if there's something that they could do in terms of acquiring a receiver that might go a long way towards like being a gesture of good faith that would mean something to Lamar, I do feel like Odell, who has a really good reputation among players. Like he's someone who, I think guys in locker rooms tend to really like him, tend to look to him as someone who's sort of like been a player who's famous and who's been out front and out in the open and sort of articulated the things that he wants and that garners a lot of respect. I just think it might matter. And that would be like if that's true, then Odell is so much more valuable to the Ravens than he would be to the Jets. Because it could smooth things over there.

the other thing is that if we got some breaking news we got some breaking news the Ravens have traded a third round pick for Dolphins receiver River Craycraft No I'm joking I'm joking I hate that up but that's going to be like the big offseason sign they're going to get him

also the joke is on you because you just said his name right damn it if they could get like the other reason I like the O'Dell thing for them is because I think in a perfect world they should really be thinking about trying to trade back from 22, because they just need more picks. Because you're right,

they didn't get the same number of comp picks. I think just because those defensive guys, okay, so they lose Clayus Campbell, JPP, Justin Houston. There's some of those, Campbell's with the Falcons, but I don't think JPP and Houston, neither one of them is signed anywhere, right?

So that doesn't factor in. And they're just old. Like, they got good years from those guys, but they're not going to merit the types of contracts that figure into the compensatory pick formula and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. So they really need some draft capital. And if they could move back from 22,

which is probably easier said than done, just because I think there's going to be a lot of teams that want to move back in this draft because people aren't super jazzed about it, that would go a long way in terms of getting some younger talent on this roster. The caveat with that is, I really do think this team very,

badly needs an impact receiver. So if you don't get that elsewhere, I do kind of think you have to have to think about doing it in the first round, you know, depending on the board falls and everything. But if you could get Odell, then I think you feel good about trying to just get some more picks at that 22 spot. Yeah, I'd be very surprised, just given this franchises and this front offices track record, if they make a pick at 22, I would be very surprised.

All right. I feel like we're going through the Stephen Ruiz's greatest hit. teams because of next we're going to talk about the chargers, but we're going to take a little break first. All right. We are back. The Los Angeles Chargers. I have receiver and run defense for their needs. What do you think?

Yeah, I try to get really hyper-specific with this one. I have everything outside of quarterbacks. No, like fix the right tackle spot for fuck's sake. Gee, how long has this been going on? No more storm. Norden. No more Tray Pippkins. Storm Norton is a New Orleans saint now.

I know. None of those types. No more Trey Pipkins. Like, please get someone to protect Justin Herbert from that side. But like running back, they're going to need a running back because Austin Echler is upset with his contract situation. It sounds like he's willing to play this year at least. Yeah, I think he'll still be on the team. Yeah, he'll be on the team this year at least.

But I think you have to look forward to replacing him. And the guys they've drafted the last couple of years haven't been so good. I would say front seven outside of edge rusher, they still need beef inside. They still need linebackers who can play. Like linebacker has been an issue for this team for long. Ever since Staley has gotten there. And I thought Staley did a good job of figuring it out, like figuring out how to work around the linebacker position with his play calls late last year.

But against the best teams, it's hard to hide bad players. And then cornerback, I think, is another one. Like the J.C. Jackson thing, he just wasn't a good fit. he was busting coverages. Then he gets hurt. And that's an injury. I believe he hurt his Achilles. That's an injury that may take a toll on him as a player.

And then my other thing is speed at receiver. I was really disciplined. Dear, please, please, please, football gods, football overlords, deliver unto us a receiver for Justin Herbert who runs like faster than a four or five. It is all, I beg of you. I will never ask for it. I probably will. But please.

Yeah, I was so disappointed at the beginning of this offseason. I thought this, they were going to use it to kind of reset the roster. But then they restructure Keenan Allen. They restructure Mike Williams, I believe. You know what else has been restructured? Keenan Allen's hamstrings. Many times, many times. Dear, goodness.

I don't, I think Tom Telesco, the GM, I think he has a good record drafting guys and he, I don't know, gets attached to those guys. it seems like he doesn't move on from them when he needs to and that's it's a ruthless business and building a good roster is a ruthless business you have to churn the roster and they just haven't done that and I think that it leads to this perception

that this roster is stacked because you hear names that you've heard before oh Mike Williams I know him I know he nails the first round and the NFL in general has trouble moving on from first rounders and forgetting about draft status and then I think you're right that Telesco has a little bit of like got sentimental about those guys and then it doesn't, like, he doesn't get called out for it. And like, I'm kind of in the Telesco hive in general,

just because I think if you can nail top picks, like that goes so far in roster building. But it's very hard to be like, you shouldn't prioritize keeping Keenan Allen. And I'm not saying that they shouldn't, like, the Chargers should be very glad that they still have Keenan Allen. He's still a very useful player. But it's just when you, what it's combined with,

okay, your wide receiver room is Keenan Allen. Mike Williams, who's not particularly fast. and like neither is Josh Palmer. And all of a sudden you have a quarterback who might have, you know, who is one of the best arms in the game. And it's just like, give this guy something that he can thrive with. And if you like ask the coaches, and they've been asked many times over the last two years,

why the offense has been, the passing game has been so conservative. Why they, why Justin Herbert's A-DOT is so low. They'll say it's the other, it's the personnel. It's not necessarily the play calling. Like, we don't really have the offensive line to protect. deep drops. We don't have the receivers to get down field. Well, then go get those players. It's been two years. And you're restructuring Keenan Allen after a down year. He's been on decline and he's on the wrong side of 30. These are moves that they're concerning. But I think

like the key for this draft is just finding speed and finding young talent and resetting this roster that has really aged. I know there are a lot of names that you recognize, but this roster is not very good. And it's more named than game. at this point. And it is like, I like, so the, their big, it wasn't that big because they just didn't have a lot of money, but like their biggest pre-agent move was to get Eric Kendricks from Minnesota, which I think is smart because I think he will help their run defense. And those linebackers were such a liability last season.

And Kendricks is not an amazing cover player at this point, but I think he can help them against the run. The thing is, it's like, that's just, that's another player over 30. He's 31 years old. And it's, you know, it was two years, 13 million. That's not,

no one's breaking the bank. It's fine. But it, it would be nice to see them get, you know, look to the future there, as you said, just because it's not just their homegrown talent

that's a little bit over the hill. It does get concerning when some of the free agent moves are for those guys as well, where it's just like, here is this, franchise quarterback who can be with you for years and years and years and years and years and years. And it's a pretty good roster around him, but it's old.

Yeah. And it's not as good as people think. Like there are questions about like, oh, you're paying, when you pay Justin Herbert, you're not going to be able to keep this roster around him. I honestly think it will be a good thing when they pay him because they'll be forced to, like part ways with players like Keenan Allen, rather than kicking the can down the road and committing even more money to him, which, again, it doesn't make sense. Wow. That was a real galaxy brain. They should...

In zone. I'm coping. I'm coping over here. All right. The Jacksonville Jaguars are up next. What do you have for their needs? I think this is a team with a lot of needs. I think it's hard. There are no like glaring needs, but I think like defensive line... They're like one of those decent everywhere could upgrade anywhere. What was your analogy? The playing chess with all pawns. It's not quite... It's not quite that. bad, but it's like a little bit one of those. Like even receiver, I think, is a position that needs some attention. Even after they're getting Ridley, obviously, after trading for him,

Christian Kirk was a good player. Zay Jones was productive, I guess. But I think you need like a legit number one receiver. Maybe Ridley is that, but we haven't seen him play in two years. And he's not like the prototypical body type that you usually see in that spot. And it's the same question I had about the dolphins. Like what happens when you have these smaller receivers in teams? seems to get physical with you.

And in the playoffs, that's an even bigger issue because the refs tend to allow a little more physical play in the past game. I think that's one of the things, is figuring out a way to be a little more, I want to say,

create more havoc on defense. I think when they lost to the chiefs, one of the big things was like, they were getting pressure on Patrick Mahomes. They just couldn't finish the place. They couldn't sack him. You need play-enders. Danny Hyphitz, our colleague,

wrote something this week that I thought was really interesting and pointed out that they had the same number of quarterback pressures last year as the Eagles and they were tied for second it was 168

but Philly turns that into a league leading 70 sacks the Jags only had half of that. So my question there is does that mean that you try to shore up your defensive line or do you maybe think about the secondary? Is the issue that

you know Trayvon Walker doesn't quite know how to finish a play, or is it that if you could just have opposing quarterbacks hanging onto the ball for a split second longer, those linemen would be able to get home with more regularity because they are getting pressure. And I think I don't have a strong opinion on which one of those is right.

I honestly think, like, you do either, and the results are going to be better. they're probably a positive regression candidate in that area, regardless, because some of that is just, it's just luck. But I do think defensively, like, if they just did a little bit more either on the back or the front, things could get more chaotic in a positive way pretty quickly. Right. You have to get, you have to get to the point where one of those is a clear strength.

And I don't, I think both are like, like you said, like, it's like, it's fine. It can go either way. And I also think you have to look at the type of pressure you're getting. when it's interior pressure, I think that's harder to escape for quarterbacks, especially these quarterbacks. Like the new crop of quarterbacks have really no problem. Like, I don't want to say no problem,

but they're really good at avoiding that edge pressure, like spinning out of the pocket and then creating outside of the pocket. When you get interior pressure, you're kind of funneling the quarterbacks to those guys rather than those guys being the ones pressuring them outside of the pocket. So I think getting some interior pressure would really go a long way for this team. But cornerback was second on my list. I think quarterback, either way, even if the past rush improves,

I think cornerback position has to get better outside of Tyson Campbell. And then I would also throw tight end on there just because Evan Ingram was franchised. I don't think he's the type of tight end that you pay a long-term deal, and I think you're going to have to replace him eventually. And then I think Doug Peterson just likes having two functional tight ends in general. And it's a great draft for them. And particularly because I think, as you mentioned, and I think Calvin Ridley, I mean, there's a lot of projections.

that goes into this because we haven't seen him play in a while. I think Calvin really can be a number one for them, assuming that you sort of get like middle of the road projection of how he plays after a season off. But they need size because, as you said, that room is small. And I wonder if the way that they can address that is by adding a tight end, just because first of all, terrible draft if you want a big receiver. and a good draft if you want a tight end.

So I wonder if they end up being one of the teams that goes that way. Doug Peterson loves to play with a couple of those guys. You can have the two tight endsets while you have Ingram on the roster. Then maybe he moves on next year and you have someone who's had a year to start developing. We know that tight ends coming from college often take a little bit longer than sometimes teams hope to catch on, understand the NFL route concepts. So I would, I think one of the, I'm noticing that I haven't put tight end down in a lot of places just because it's, you know, it's not the highest value position around the league. But I think more teams are going to end up going there just because of the strength of the draft. And the Jags could definitely be one of them.

Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. And I don't necessarily think they need a wide receiver one. I think they need a like that type of body type. Like a Mike Williams is a perfect example. I don't think, like, Mike Williams is viewed as, like, a legit number one receiver, but he plays that role for the charters because of how he plays and his body type. All right. We're getting to the end of this.

But we are going to take a break and then come back and talk about the Bengals. We are back. Cincinnati. What do I have? Right tackle is the question. They got Orlando Brown, obviously, for the left. And then the line looks like Cordell Wilson, Ted Caris, and Alex Kappa. But if they're trading Jonah Williams, not sure what's happening there.

Lyle Collins had the huge injury. If neither one of those is your answer, you're either getting someone new in there or we're doing the Jackson Carmen Hakeem-Denogy show again, which was not fun. So... It's never been fun. It's getting into third season.

I personally did not have a good time. Would not like to see it renewed. Let's let's... No more. Also had tight end just because they've been rolling through guys there. They lost CJ Azoma last year and then Haydenhurst this year. And again, really good tight end draft. And then the last one is just safety.

They lost Von Bell and Jesse Bates and free agency. They added Nick Scott, but I think some youth there would be important to them. The Bengals in general look like one of those teams where the losses are more significant than the gains. other than the Orlando Brown deal, which I think is, you know, I know opinions vary on this. I think it was a good signing for them. It was affordable. I think the thing that is getting a little bit lost when we talk about Cincinnati's offseason is that managing to keep Lou Anerumo and T. Higgins, who at the end of the 2022 season after the Super Bowl,

I think probably, I don't think this was like 99% consensus, but I think more people around the league than didn't thought that they were going to look to, to trade T in anticipation of having to pay Burrow and Chase and keep that roster healthy and keep their cap situation healthy. T. Higgins is still on this roster. Lou Aniromo is still the defensive coordinator. I am calling that an offseason win for the Cincinnati Bengals. No, that's a big W for them. But my needs for them, I have the offensive line, obviously.

I think interior line, even outside the right tackle position is something that needs to be addressed still. but I'm looking towards the future. I think you could draft a receiver. I think maybe you draft a receiver just as a precautionary measure in case you do end up losing Higgins to a contract dispute. I also think you need to get more talented on defense. I think the defense is very, well, they lost safety.

So safety is obviously a pressing need. But I think Lou Anerumo was really good at making the defense better than the sum of its parts. And he's going to leave eventually. I know he didn't leave this offseason, but next off season, I can't imagine he's still there, unless the defense regresses, which in which case, that's a problem on its own. but I think you need to get star talent because the next guy is not going to be Big Lou. I'm sorry.

There's only one Big Lou out there. You're not going to replace them. You need to win with talent. You need star talent to win on defense if you don't have that great defensive coordinator, which I think is a position they'll be in. If it's not next year, it's going to be the year after.

But eventually Big Lou is not going to be around. And they're going to have to, I think getting that work done early is very important. But I also think like just accruing draft capital should be a goal for this team. because you are going to have to pay Joe Burrow. You are going to have to pay Chase. And in order to keep talent around them,

you better have draft picks because we know you're not going to spend a lot in free agency when you have to pay those guys. So I think setting up that talent pipeline right now, getting a head start on it before you have to pay those guys would be a good idea for this team. They have what? They have all seven of their picks.

If they can turn that into maybe like two extra picks next year, I think it's a successful draft for them. Totally. is running back a need for them? What is, I guess they're keeping Joe Mixin. Yeah, and they lose Samaji Pirine, who played a, I know he's a backup running back and like running backs tend to not be valued and especially backup running backs,

but he played a big role for that offense down the stretch last year. Like as a checkdown outlet for Burrow, I do think they need, they need not just one running back. I think they need seven running backs. Wow. A whole whore of them. I don't know why that, like, conjured an image of just, like, a stampede of running backs. All right.

A team that is trying desperately to have a stampede of running backs, but I'm not sure if they're totally succeeding, is the Buffalo Bills. Our next team. Who do you have for needs or what do you have for needs? I have a receiver who can win quickly at the top of their list of needs for me. There are obviously questions about that defense and how it's aging, but I tend to think that Sean McDurham. is going to do a good job developing the next,

whatever the next generation of that defense looks like. As long as they draft them, as long as they're humans. A lot of 30 plusers. But I thought when this offense was at its best last year, it was early in the season, Josh Allen was playing the best football of his career. I had a number one in my quarterback rankings for, I think it was at least one week,

maybe it was two weeks after, I remember, the MVP candidate after a month. And it's because they, they were playing, they were throwing a lot of quick game. They're calling a lot of quick game. And then Josh Allen has the elbow injury. His short area accuracy falls off the cliff and they stop calling quick game. And then we saw the offense kind of devolve into this thing that really was relying on big plays.

But I think if you can get back to that early season offense when Josh Allen was getting rid of the ball quickly, I think you can get back to that best in the league offense, that MVP level Josh Allen. But I think you need a guy. The fact that they signed Cole Beasley. in the middle of last year was a bad sign. The fact that they couldn't get Isaiah McKinsey going was a bad sign, and that's why you saw the offense become what it became. But I think if you find a guy that Josh Allen can trust,

like he trusted Cole Beasley for some reason, I think you get that version of Josh Allen back, and maybe you can sustain it for a whole season. And if you do that, I think they're right at the top of the AFC again. He was sacked 33 times last year, and it's been interesting. I have a little, I think a lot of people get very nervous about the bills. I'm not like on, they've Josh Allen.

They're going to be okay. I'm not on like Bill's panic mode. That said, their off season makes me just a little bit nervous because I think we've seen Brandon Bean make a lot of comments about wanting Josh Allen to better protect himself. And that's a totally fair thing to say, particularly after the season that they went through last year where he was sacked 33 times. and ended up getting injured.

It just always sparks this little thing when I hear him talk about that where it's like, you protect him. You do it. Like, what about some, what about some better alignment? Like, what about upgrading

on the offensive line? What about, like, I fully agree that they need a better, they need someone who can win quickly at the receiver position and just in general, a better wide receiver to than Gabe Davis. I don't,

Gabe Davis is a useful player, but I don't think that has quite reached the heights that they, were hoping that it would after he had that amazing playoff game. I'm a little concerned that they think that they are addressing that with Deonté Hardy and Trent Sherfield. You're not. No.

Brandon? So I'm worried they don't see it this way, but like I think I fully agree with you that receiver is a big need here. Offensive line is a huge need for them. I thought that was the biggest problem with the team last year. Anywhere other than then Dionne Dawkins at left tackle and Connor McGovern. at left guard, they could upgrade. That right side of the line was,

it was impossible to call like traditional run plays. Ken Dorsey and Ken Dorsey got a lot of criticism last year, but I thought he did as good of a job as he possibly could have with that personnel. But they had to do so much in the run game like schematically to just get like four yards. Well, and again, like this goes back to all the beanstuff as a lot of it is talking about like wanting Josh Allen to protect himself by running less. But the problem is they couldn't call the running. running back runs because the offensive line was terrible.

So then the quarterback's running. Help him. Don't ask, don't make him do it. And also just to bring this full circle, running backs, their running backs stink. Like they don't know how to read,

they're not good runners. They don't know how to read holes. They don't have to read blocks. They don't have to set up blocks. It's, it wasn't good last year. So I think improving the running back position would help the run game too.

I know that's crazy to say in this day and age, but yes. I have no issue. Damien Harris. No, that was a good step forward, but you can't go into the season banking on Damien Harris. I don't think Cook is a special back, the second year player out of Georgia, James Cook. I think he's a decent receiver,

but he's not a very, he's not like a good pure runner at this point. So I think they have to do something. They have to add another back to. They're all a little, like I don't, Cook, Damien Harris, Naim Hines, like, none of those are, like, again,

I think all of those are useful players. They're just all a little bit too, like, scat backy. for the protection that they're able to provide and also I think what they're looking for, which is a more traditional runner. So I could see them do that as well. Last but not least,

the Kansas City Chiefs, what do they need? They don't need anything. They're fine. Who won the Super Bowl? Actually, I think they need some things. I think they need a pass rusher. They lost Frank Clark.

I think they could use some more depth there. Compliment Carl Offtus and Charles Omenahue. And then they'll be fine at receiver. I think last year kind of gives us proof of concept for that. But I would not mind a little something for Mr. Mahomes other than MBS, Skymour and Cadarius, Tony. I think we can do a little better than that. Yeah, at the top of my list was possession receiver.

They haven't really replaced Juju yet. And I know like last year they kind of skimped on the receiver position in a way by trading Tyreek and replacing him with like bit parts. but I did think Juju played a big role in that passing game where he was the reliable guy against man coverage.

If it wasn't Kelsey, if the defense took away Kelsey, which is something you can do, he had Juju to fall back off. Now you don't really have that reliable guy. Skymore isn't that reliable guy. Tadaris, Tony, definitely isn't that reliable guy.

Just a lot of jet sweeps. And then MBS is, we know his role. He's going to be a deep threat. He's going to be like a blocker in the run game. He's not, a guy that's you can trust to win on a slant route on third and five. I think that's what they need.

They need that guy. And then I would say like keep adding to edge rusher, keep throwing picks at the secondary, which has kind of been their strategy over the last couple of years. I think they need to maintain it. They have a lot of picks. They have 10 picks. They have 10 picks.

So they can throw a lot of darts at the dartboard and just hope that four of the picks hit and can contribute in 2023. And I think that's a win for them. It's funny. They sort of get into that. that old Rams thing, where when you're paying, when you're paying the quarterback a lot of money and you're trying to, you know, everybody talks about the FM picks thing.

But the secret when the Rams were actually good was that they made a lot of picks. They just didn't make the high picks. And then at a certain point when you are capped out, it actually does matter that third rounders, fourth rounders on rookie contracts are cheaper than first and second rounders. because when you, you know, I think we all talk about the value of rookie contracts, and that's absolutely true.

Even when you're talking about the top of the first round, usually the value those players can provide if they're good picks is so surplus to what you have to pay them. It's not nothing. And when you get into the later rounds, it kind of by NFL standards is nothing. And that's going to matter to them.

So like, stock up. Totally. Like I think they're in a great position because they get to just sort of throw a bunch of darts of the dart to the dart board. Yeah. I think that's a good point. is like the Rams, they nailed a lot of day two and day three picks.

I think they didn't find superstar talent. I'm not saying that, but they found players that could start. And they weren't liabilities. And I think that's where the chiefs are. And they've been that since Patrick Mahomes became a superstar. So that's all that every draft from here until whenever Patrick Mahomes falls off a cliff is going to be about just adding depth and adding talent. Because Patrick Mahomes, you're going to be in Super Bowl concession every single year.

All right. That's the list. Those are the AFC playoff teams. We're going to be back next Wednesday and we'll do the non-playoff teams from the NFC and then we'll finish up next Friday with the NFC playoff teams. Very exciting. Steven, this was a delight. Yes.

And apologies to River Craichraft. Kerouff. Craft. Crecraft. I'm going with Kerrcraft. Yeah. It's better. It's better.

If it's not Kerrcraft, change it to Kirkcraft. Sorry. Maybe I would know. know your name. River Craig Craft has done nothing wrong. It's done absolutely nothing. And he didn't deserve this. He didn't. I'm sorry, man. This is Ben the Ringer NFL show.

I'm Nora Pinciotti. He's Stephen Ruiz. We will be back next Wednesday. Before that, Sheal Kapadia and Ben Solak will have extra point taken. That'll be on the feed Monday. Thank you, as always, to Stefan Anderson for production on this episode and to Connor Nevins and Arjuna Ramgapal for additional

production supervision.