The Rockpile Report is a Buffalo Bills podcast hosted by Buffalo Bills season ticket holder Drew Gier & produced by former radio production assistant Chris Krueger
Rockpile Report - 294 - Smart People Summit: Dr...
We've reviewed NFL DRAFT everything...right?
This week we turn to the smart people among Bills podcasting to answer the last of our pre draft quandries!
We talk draft aggression for the Bills & how their picks might not give them the flexibility we as fans think, positions we all covet, dream/nightmare scenarios for Buffalo & more!
67 min
452
Rockpile Report - 293 - Draft Preview Series - ...
Some careers ending, others still developing...the Bills DE room is in an odd place. Will the Bills give it a boost in the 2021 Draft?
Draft analyst & host of "Bootleg Football" Brett Kollmann joins us for our final positional preview, looking at the 2021 DE Draft Class:
🔸️ 1st draft without an "alpha" DE?!
🔸️ Picks for BUF of the 1st/2nd round prospects
🔸️DT depth that could cause teams to reach
Plus we break down Bretts insights on some of BillsMafia's favorite players like J. Phillips, T. Shelvin, C. Basham & more!
82 min
453
Rockpile Report - 292 - Draft Preview Series -...
68 min
454
Rockpile Report - 291 - Draft Preview Series - ...
Between Beane's latest comments on Edmunds 5th year option & the future of our SAM LB position, LB could be a sneaky need for BUF...but can this class provide?
EJ Snyder of the Bootleg Football Podcast joins us to discuss it all!
🔸️ Where Edmunds ranks against this LB class and potential 4-3 MLB talents
🔸️Bills fan favorites Zaven Collins& JOK, and what their projections to the pros may be
🔸️Highlights of this LB class BUF could look at for depth purposes & more!
72 min
455
Rockpile Report - 290 - Draft Preview Series - ...
The Bills spent on their OL in free agency, but there's still longterm questions to be answered & the NFL Draft might provide them!
In this show, Cover1 host & radio personality Russ Brown joins us to look at the 2021 OL class:
🔸️ Russ's view Beane's draft OL avoidance
🔸️ BillsMafia favorites like Dickerson & Humphrey
🔸️ Bills offensive philosophy & the mid-round OCs/OGs that may fit our scheme best
We also look at value picks, sleepers, some multi-position talents with upside & more!
92 min
456
Rockpile Report - 289 - Draft Preview Series - ...
Cats & dogs living together...MASS HYSTERIA! Drew actually WANTS to talk about Mock Drafts!
This week, fellow Blue Wire podcaster Pat Moran of Talking Buffalo joins the show! Together we talk about him, his podcast history & then Drew holds a discussion with him about the merits of something he loathes...Mock Drafts.
Jokes are made, merits are debated, we look at what Pat has learned about "reasonable expectations" for the Bills in 2021 through his shows live mock drafts. And ultimately, Drew just might have learned something!
77 min
457
Rockpile Report - 288 - Draft Preview Series - ...
RB at pick #30 for BUF? Harris or Etienne as RB1? Strap in because Matt Waldman is going to blow your doors off!
In this show, with the help of RSP Filmroom creator & Barry White sound-alike Matt Waldman, we take an in-depth look at the 2021 RB Draft Class:
🔸 Matt's shocking RB1 (seriously...don't be drinking a beverage...)
🔸 The makeup of the class & where Buffalo might be able to find some speed without sacrificing early capital
🔸 Our assessment of the Bills "needs", the philosophy he'd employ at the position & some free psycho analysis to boot!
78 min
458
Rockpile Report - 287 - Draft Preview Series - ...
Its DraftSZN & our annual Preview Series is finally here!
USA Today's Mark Schofield helps us kick things off as we take a detailed look at the 2021 WR & TE crop & how the Bills can navigate it including:
🔸️ How scarcity at other positions could push an already deep WR class's talent down the board
🔸️ A look at TE & WR prospects that could be a fit in BUF, including BillsMafia favorite Kadarious Toney!
🔸️ TE scarcity, candidates BUF could look to in preparation for 2022 & more!
74 min
459
Rockpile Report - 286 - Quarantine Podcasting!
1 remote show in 5 years of podcasts...until now.
This week, we look at the Bills stories that have flown under the radar of NFL Free Agency & Draft Prep mania:
🔸 Bills announce full attendance for 2021!
🔸 Ticket price increase & surprising findings when league-wide increases are actually analyzed!
🔸 A divisive new stadium name
We also look at Drew living in a bubble & more!
75 min
460
Rockpile Report - 285 - Relaxed FA Recap Part 2...
We can't seem to keep shows with Nate short, but who's complaining? Not us!
In Part 2 of our 2021 Free Agency recap, we take what we know about the Bills & look outward to the rest of the NFL:
🔸️ Hilarious FA "Winners & Losers"
🔸️The State of AFC "Contenders"
🔸️How Free Agency Has Set Buffalo Up for the Draft & more!
58 min
461
Rockpile Report - 284 - Relaxed FA Recap Part 1...
Kick holder & radio personality Nate Geary joins us as we take a relaxed but nuanced look at the Bills approach to free agency over the last week!
Together we look at the state of our ST units & return of our former starters effect on our expectations, the lack of acquisitions outside of the team that the Bills made on defense & the ways we're going to be OK, the reason the Emmanual Sanders signing trumps anything we might have added at TE & more!
84 min
462
Rockpile Report - 283 - AFC East Round Up - Dr...
Free Agency is here and the moves are already coming fast & furious!
This week our panel of Divisional podcasters joins us for an indepth look at the early free agency storylines around the AFC East, and setting expectations for the week to come:
🔸️ Dolphins eerie silence & needs in the trenches
🔸️Patriots spending spree & Belichick's potential swan song
🔸️The Jets early moves that had Drew rage-eating
We also look at how the Bills stack up vs conference contenders & more!
Saluti to the Don!
This week we take a look at how our GM, "Contractual Gangster" Brandon Beane, beat Free Agency to the punch by pulling off some of the most unlikely deals in recent (or maybe all) Bills history!
We take a look at the philosophical & monetary in's & out's of "The Trifecta" being retained, and how the picture these 3 signings paint for people outside of the franchise could bear fruit for us in the weeks ahead as NFL Free Agency progresses!
We also look at early Free Agency trends we didn't see coming & more!
In our 2nd installment of roster review & free agency discussion, Matt Parrino of NYUp.com joins us to dig into the Bills defense:
🔸️ Matt's surprising pick for QB2
🔸️ The state of the OL, and how impending cuts could dictate Beanes decisionmaking
🔸️ The TE conundrum, Drew's "outside the box" solution to it & more!
NFL Free Agency could be CHAOS - and we've brought in a ringer to chat about it!
Tyler Dunne of GoLongTD.com joins our podcast to wax poetic on some of the wrinkles that threaten to muddy the waters of the 2021 Free Agency cycle:
🔸️QB's flexing their muscle & player empowerment
🔸️How much a canceled NFL Combine effects the free agency process
🔸️The impending onslaught of veteran cuts
We take all of that, and tie it back to Buffalo's efforts to continue progressing towards what they hope is a SB caliber roster - don't miss it!
In our 1st installment of roster review & free agency discussion, Ryan Talbot of NYUp.com joins us to focus on the Bills defense:
🔸️ Our expensive Defensive Line, young DE free agent class & analysis of some rarely discussed pass rush metics that provide some surprising insights!
🔸️ A secondary still looking for an answer at CB2 & an aging market that may not bear fruit
🔸️ Our LB conundrum, players we like for Buffalo to sign this offseason & more!
100 min
467
Rockpile Report - 278 - Watt the Heck Was THAT?...
We were all set to start talk Free Agency conversation...and then JJ Watt put pen to paper in the first headscratcher of 2021!
In this show, we're joined by RocSportsNetwork anchor Ryan Lasal to discuss the supremely anticlimactic Watt decision to join the AZ Cardinals!
We look at historical flaws in chasing "names" for BUF, the Cardinals desperation play that this represents & how it could blow up in their franchises face, the fact that this makes me feel BETTER about the Bills & our GM & more!
55 min
468
Rockpile Report - 277 - AFC East Round Up - Off...
Our final divisional offseason preview takes us to South Beach as we look at the importance of the 2021 offseason for the Miami Dolphins w/Alf's help:
🔸️ Watson Trade Drama
🔸️ Draft Capital Conundrums
🔸️ Fixing Offensive Inconsistency under a new pair of OCs (yes...pair.. ) & more!
So much Free Agency conversation has already taken place, and yet there are some MAJOR stumbling blocks that have to be resolved before the Bills offseason plans can really be laid out & Bruce Nolan of BR fame comes along for the ride!
We get analytical & wax poetic on topics ranging from how the ripple effects of the franchise tag this season could skew the Bills offseason plans & how the Watson situation could impact the market, to how signing JJ Watt could potentially keep the team from finding its next young star & more!
86 min
470
Rockpile Report - 275 - AFC East Round Up - Off...
Loads of cap space, extra draft capital, a new HC...haven't we seen this movie before?
The Jets are arguably the AFCEs most interesting team this offseason & "Play Like a Jets" Scott Mason joins to discuss:
🔸️ The Deshaun Watson Saga
🔸️ The Jets Sizable List of Needs
🔸️ Darnold Lip Service, California Dreams referneces & More!
You gotta walk before you run, and you've gotta understand where the Bills are looking before you can guess at who they'll draft!
This week, we're joined by Dean Kindig of BillsFAMbase (cough - BillsMafia.com - cough) for an indepth look at the Bills scouting activity over the past year!
We discuss the importance of this draft & and how last years class was quietly a home run, while also looking through Deans data to discern whether the Bills are thinking about trading back, what positions they're most heavily scouting (which has a history of dictating their selections), and more!
63 min
472
Rockpile Report - 273 - AFC East Round Up - Off...
The Patriots franchise is in a unusual state of flux this offseason & we're here for all of it!
This week we look at the New England Patriots ahead of the 2021 offseason:
🔸️ Front Office Turnover
🔸️ Lack of Attractiveness for UFAs?
🔸️ Rebuildings vs Reloading & more!
45 min
473
Rockpile Report - 272 - 2021 Bills & AFC Salary...
ITS FINALLY OVER - And now the building starts again.
We open with a conversation about SB 55 & how little we all truly cared about it. Then we host Paul Wanecski of Hashtag Sports for our annual Bills Cap Primer!
Instead of focusing on just Buffalo, we instead look at where the market trends are in terms of positions we might spend at & around the AFC East and AFC contenders to illustrate how the Bills, despite their lack of current cap space, can still enter 2021 in the drivers seat both in their division & possibly the entire AFC!
The Band is BACK TOGETHER!
This week, we re-live the 2020 season through the eyes of podcasters, a corporate shill & a professional broadcaster!
We talk about the seasons unsung hero's & storylines, our individual experiences & how Sean McDermott has grown.
Then we put a bow on the 2020 discussion by giving away season superlatives, talking about the future for BUF & more!
120 min
475
Rockpile Report - 270 - AFC East Round Up - The...
"Haves & Have Nots" is the theme of the 2021 offseason in the AFC East, and this week we catch up with our expert panel to look at how our div. opponents are have fared while BUF was competing in the playoffs:
🔸️ Another year, another starting QB quandry for the Patriots
🔸️ Early reactions to the Jets hiring of Robert Salaeh as HC
🔸️ Miami's search for an OC, and reports of internal unrest over their QB of the future
🔸️ Buffalo's offseason outlook by comparison, Beer Watch results & more!