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00:00With Will Kunkel in Houston, Mike Shope and the Bulldog here, we wanted to talk about DJ Moore as well,
00:07who just a couple of days ago was on your podcast, Kicking It with Kunkel.
00:11How do you know DJ Moore?
00:13DJ and I worked together. I said worked together.
00:15He was with the Panthers, and I was covering the Panthers in Charlotte.
00:19So we were there. He came in the league the same time I started covering the league.
00:23We got to know each other. Our families got to know each other.
00:25We got close and have stayed in touch a bunch, clearly, ever since then.
00:30So we came on the show. We chopped it up. We got a tour of the house.
00:32We hung out on YouTube, and, man, y'all are getting a good one, a great family, a good wide
00:38receiver.
00:39He will play through anything.
00:42People have no idea the injuries that he's played through.
00:46So if he doesn't play, know that it's not good.
00:49And one thing I will say is that he took a lot of blame on that last play,
00:54that interception from Caleb Williams, and that was a play that was installed on Wednesday.
00:59No one really knew what they were doing, and it went awry, and he took all the flack
01:03because it looked like he wasn't hustling when, in reality, he was where he was supposed to be.
01:06So you guys are getting a good one.
01:08I mean, it's got to be close to a given that he's tough like that because he never misses.
01:13Like, his career, he's been super – he's on the field, like DJ Moore.
01:18So there's no doubt about that.
01:20I wonder – I'm not trying to push back against you here, Will.
01:24Like you said, great family, good player.
01:26I wonder how good a player that is, this is, for the Bills.
01:31I mean, the one thing about DJ Moore, his whole career – and I respect this – is he doesn't
01:36have a league quarterback.
01:38And, you know, we have guys like this.
01:40We had Alan Robinson for this.
01:41We have DJ Moore for this.
01:42Certain guys, they just seem a little bit trapped.
01:44Last year is different.
01:45I mean, the year he had with Justin Fields is off the charts.
01:49So, I don't know.
01:50Like, you're probably hearing a lot of that, too, because this is what we say after this trade.
01:54It's like, all right, Josh Allen, okay.
01:56I'm in fantasy circles and, you know, people are going to be more excited about him, I guess, certainly than
02:02earlier in his career.
02:03So, how high is the ceiling, in your opinion?
02:06Well, it depends how Joe uses him.
02:08He and Joe have a history together.
02:10Joe was there with the Panthers when he was the offensive coordinator.
02:14And DJ was a wide receiver for him.
02:17We talked about that as well in the episode.
02:19But it depends how you use DJ.
02:21DJ's got the ability to kind of do everything.
02:24And if he's in an offense, which he is now with Joe, that's been around, that's established, that has an
02:29identity, that knows what they're doing,
02:30and he's not with a rookie quarterback.
02:32Like, there was a lot of movement and a lot of change in Carolina, whether it be Matt Rule was
02:38his coach, Ron Rivera was his coach, Kyle Allen, Taylor Heineke, a bad Cam Newton,
02:44how Teddy Bridgewater quarterbacks, I mean, Caleb Williams as a rookie trying to learn a horrible offensive line.
02:50And he's still produced every single year.
02:52And I'm not trying to carry DJ Moore's water, but I will say going to a situation with an elite
02:58quarterback, a guy that's called plays in that building for a period of time where there's a culture established and
03:03there's an offensive game plan established,
03:05I think will do wonders for him.
03:07And he's willing to do almost everything, including come out of the backfield like he did last year.
03:11How did you, did you have a, I haven't had a chance to listen to this or watch this appearance
03:16he made on your podcast, Will.
03:18I'm curious if the subject at all came up that, you know, yeah, his resume is he's never had a
03:25good quarterback really until last year.
03:27Williams kind of broke through and suddenly DJ Moore's a spare part.
03:31I mean, he lands in a great spot here with Josh Allen.
03:35So, you know, certainly Allen is proven more in the league than Caleb Williams.
03:39But I wonder if the guy felt a little bit like I finally have a guy and I, problem is
03:46I'm not the guy for the guy because they've got other guys that they have drafted and developed.
03:52And so he's getting passed.
03:53And I just wonder if that, how much that dinged him emotionally, if at all.
03:57Oh, I think it definitely did.
03:59Like it bothered him because whenever he was called on, he made plays.
04:04I mean, he's got the biggest plays in Bears history against the Packers.
04:07Like every time the ball was thrown his way and his number was called, he came up with huge numbers
04:12and huge plays.
04:13So I know it did.
04:14And understandably so.
04:16But also I get it.
04:17Like if Ben Johnson, for whatever reason, wanted to go to his players that he drafted and his guys, which
04:23we see all the time in this business, then OK.
04:25Now the now the Bills clearly want him.
04:28They want to showcase him or else they wouldn't have gotten him.
04:30And the Bills, I mean, let's be honest, like they haven't had a number one wide receiver since Steph Diggs
04:34left.
04:35This time they finally do.
04:37It'll be interesting how they use them.
04:38Yeah.
04:39Left for Houston in a trade a couple of years ago.
04:42Will, I mean, if you don't mind my asking, because it's the news of the day, what do you think
04:47about this Miles Garrett trade?
04:49Man, crazy.
04:51Kind of saw it coming from last year because he demanded the trade and they played through, not wanting to
04:56be there, just a bad team.
04:57I love it from the standpoint of we get to see one of the best players of our generation on
05:03a relevant team.
05:04Like the Browns just waste careers every single year.
05:07So to be able to see Miles Garrett somewhere relevant, I think will be a lot of fun.
05:11Imagine if now Aaron Donald's like, I'll come back.
05:13That would be insane to even think about.
05:17But what a haul the Browns got.
05:19Oh, my gosh.
05:20To get what they got in return and burst and all the picks.
05:23Good on them.
05:24I can't wait to see how they blow it and continue to destroy their franchise.
05:29There's some chance of that, I suppose, to be frank.
05:32Do we trust that, like, if you're a Browns fan and you're sitting there like, oh, hell yeah, now we
05:36can really go after it, finally.
05:38No.
05:39You know what?
05:40I would say this.
05:41Because I tend to lean toward teams like the Browns in trades like these.
05:47I mean, I can't quit the draft capital stuff.
05:49If the Browns weren't the Browns, and they were even the Titans, or they were some team that's relatively new
05:55to losing, oh, they would get a lot more credit, probably.
06:00And I'm not saying that that's fair or unfair.
06:03Because, you know, talking about how a Browns fan feels, I mean, you're asleep already.
06:08You're not even necessarily alert to this.
06:11Because it's just been so many times.
06:13We have the Sabres, who got good this year, but there were so many of these kind of moves where,
06:18like, okay, well, wake me up when it matters.
06:21And, I mean, that could be Watson this year.
06:24I don't know.
06:25I just...
06:26I mean, if they had a competent front office, I think everyone would be like, holy crap, hell yeah, let's
06:31go, versus, I mean, okay, we'll see what happens.
06:36At least you got the player here in this trade.
06:39And not just picks.
06:40At least you got the player.
06:42And there's a lot to like about him.
06:44You went to the Sabres.
06:46Quick question for y'all.
06:47Please.
06:47Do you guys view Buffalo as a Bills or Sabres town?
06:51It's really not one or the other.
06:53Yeah.
06:54That's our list.
06:55I mean, the Bills are a bigger deal.
06:57I mean, they're in the NFL, which is a bigger deal.
06:59Fair.
07:00But, you know, around here, Will, I'll take a kick at this answer.
07:03I mean, it sort of woke us all up this year, having the Sabres, you know, get relevant again and
07:09sort of re-energize the fan base.
07:11It's always very much to me been a city thing versus suburbia to me.
07:17Like, the Bills planted their flag in Orchard Park 25 minutes south of the city.
07:21And they've got a great scene there.
07:23But to me, like, I live in the city and I've lived in the city almost the entirety of my
07:28adult life.
07:29Things that make the city itself percolate always resonate more with me.
07:34And the Sabres are a city thing.
07:36They're, you know, little taverns in that part of the town.
07:39It's just a different thing than, you know, the NFL feels more like a really nice mall.
07:45And, you know, the Sabres are more like a city sports team to me.
07:49Like, it's just because the NFL is just so big.
07:52So, I don't know.
07:53That's a try and an answer anyway.
07:55We're definitely both.
07:56Yeah.
07:56I mean, no shortage of love for either team.
08:00And we just finally got to experience the Sabre.
08:03Right.
08:04Excitement.
08:05Y'all deserved it.
08:06Yeah, right?
08:0715 years without a playoff appearance.
08:09That's crazy.
08:09Yeah.
08:10Real quick before you go, Will.
08:11Like, what?
08:11Is it division title again or bust?
08:13Like, who's in the rearview mirror for Houston?
08:16Oh, I think they have to take the next step.
08:18Like, they have to get to an AFC championship game.
08:20They've never done it.
08:21And I know it's not.
08:23That's not a realistic thing to say.
08:25But when you have this defense, like, it's not easy to win an AFC championship.
08:29It's just not.
08:31Despite what fans think.
08:32Like, however, playing that Saturday 3 o'clock game year in and year out, only to go on the
08:38road.
08:38Like, you need to put yourself in position to have home field advantage through the playoffs.
08:43That way, your defense can show up and show out like they did against that Bills team last year.
08:49Like, that was a buzzsaw to run into for the Bills.
08:51Like, it was just like a bad recipe.
08:53And if they don't put themselves in position and they can't do it again, then you're – the thing is
08:59with the Texans right now, they have an entity in that defense that they're wasting if they can't get over
09:05the hump.
09:05Because the offense is so bad.
09:07It's not like you're asking the offense to score 40 a game.
09:10You've got the entity that is elite in defense.
09:13Now you just need to be average at best on a consistent basis to get to the next level.
09:19But as I was saying, it's like looking at a pretty girl coming down the street.
09:23It can be good from far.
09:24And then all of a sudden, you get real close.
09:26And you're like, damn, far from good.
09:28These Texans are under a microscope right now.
09:30So you're seeing all the imperfections.
09:32And that's where they're tweaking right now.
09:34That's what they're doing on the offensive line.
09:36But that's also what is on display the most in those games.
09:40So in the biggest moments against the best teams, can those – are those flaws going to show themselves?
09:45Or have they fixed those and can they win those games because they're now at that next level?
09:51It's so easy to go from three wins to like eight wins.
09:54It's so hard to go from 10 to 13 or 13 to 14, whatever it is, because the fine-tuning
10:00is so difficult.
10:01Will Kunkel, our guest, check out his podcast to sit down about a half an hour with DJ Moore.
10:06Thanks for your time, Will.
10:07I hope we talk again maybe before week one.
10:10I appreciate you, boys.
10:11Take care.
10:12Thanks for having me again.
10:13You're welcome.
10:13Our pleasure.
10:14Will Kunkel at WillKunkelV on Twitter.
10:20X, if you prefer.
10:21Come on with that.
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