# Joe Marino: Marino shares his personal ballot for the Locked On network's top 100 NFL players, with Josh Allen first and Myles Garrett second, plus the players he ranked who missed the consensus list. He also calls Christian Benford a top-five NFL corner and says the Bills have a good chance to win their division. **Claimed:** Aug 11, 2026 **Pundit:** Joe Marino — https://missedtakes.co/pundits/joe-marino **Outlet:** Locked On Bills (podcast) — https://missedtakes.co/outlets/locked-on-bills-podcast **How it reached us:** said on air, transcribed by us **Original:** https://dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/pdrl.fm/8c06ff/lockedon.simplecastaudio.com/d5c86183-3556-42ef-a0fc-3e82326ec162/episodes/fa57e7a6-7756-4d2d-b75d-baa94831c76a/audio/128/default.mp3?aid=rss_feed&awCollectionId=d5c86183-3556-42ef-a0fc-3e82326ec162&awEpisodeId=fa57e7a6-7756-4d2d-b75d-baa94831c76a&feed=LIaoLB9Y 3 checkable claims — 1 division winner, 1 positional finishe and 1 top player list — each graded on its own rather than as one all-or-nothing bet. It names 2 players and teams, each linked to their own record. None of them have settled yet — they grade once their results are in. > I had Josh Allen as my number one player in the NFL. *(their words, quoted for attribution)* ## The claims - **Christian Benford to finish top 5 at his position, by interceptions** - Kind: Positional Finishes · About: Christian Benford, Buffalo Bills - Verdict: too vague to check - **Buffalo Bills to win the division** - Kind: Division Winners · About: Buffalo Bills - Verdict: not settled yet - **I had Josh Allen as my number one player in the NFL... I did have Miles Garrett number two... I had him at number 57 [James Cook]... my highest rated player to not make it was number 40 on my ballot, Zach Bond... number 49 on my ballot. It's Jack Campbell... At number 55, I had wide receiver, Zei Flowers... At number 64, I had Davante Adams... At number 65, I had Tee Higgins... at number 69. I had Packer safety Xavier McKinney... At number 76, I had patriots defensive lineman Milton Williams... At number 78, I had Darnell Wright... At number 84, I had Kobe Turner... At 87, I had cornerback Christian Benford... At number 89, I had Jesse Bates... At number 91, I have cornerback Joey Porter Junior... number 93, I have offensive tackle Ronnie Stanley... At number 94, I have Cooper Dejene... At number 95, I have edge rusher Tully Tui Polo... number 96, I have Bucks defensive tackle Vita Baya... At number 97, I had Devin Lloyd... Number 98... Jags defensive end, Trayvon Walker... my one numb number 100 player was Peter Skoronski** - Kind: Top Player Lists - Verdict: not settled yet ## Who this take is about - Christian Benford — https://missedtakes.co/nfl/players/christian-benford - Buffalo Bills — https://missedtakes.co/nfl/teams/bills ## What others said about the same people - Connor Rogers on Buffalo Bills: Rogers predicted the Bills would beat the Lions in their new stadium on Thursday night, winning by a touchdown. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/feddcc68-c714-4448-9a45-6679a6dbd34e (scored 100) - Chris Simms on Buffalo Bills: Simms went through the entire Week 3 slate with straight-up winners and predicted final scores, taking Jacksonville, Buffalo, Cincinnati, Detroit, Houston, Carolina, Kansas City, Seattle, the Giants, Baltimore, New Orleans, Minnesota, San Francisco, Denver and Philadelphia. He also expected Zay Flowers and Puka Nacua to sit, Kyler Murray to play, and said Marvin Harrison Jr. projects as no better than a good No. 2 or high-end No. 3 receiver. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/662b7ba3-1bf6-4ad0-9f93-9f2ab83143fd (scored 100) - Chris Long on Buffalo Bills: Long liked the Rams over the Broncos on Sunday night even without Puka Nacua, and expected the Bills to beat the winless Chargers in Buffalo. He also backed the Bengals over the Steelers, expected an angry Detroit team to handle the Jets, and still thought both the Lions and Vikings could win the NFC North. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/3df9ea25-e57f-4fd7-b20c-c910a1c3633a (scored 100) - Ralph Ventre on Christian Benford: Ventre expects Christian Benford's toe injury to sideline him for at least the Week 4 game against New England, and believes the Bills will have to add a cornerback to the 53-man roster this week — likely by moving Benford to injured reserve — with practice squad rookie Kani Walker the most likely player elevated. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/94b844fe-bb22-4517-81f5-6263eb0213f1 (scored 0) - Carmen Vitali on Buffalo Bills: In the show's weekly picks segment Vitali took the Broncos over the Rams, the Ravens over the Cowboys in Rio, Tampa at home over Minnesota, the Bills over the Chargers and the Eagles on the road in Chicago. She also agreed that Caleb Williams would be out roughly two to three weeks. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/948bc684-6a05-4cb4-a5ff-72861da00102 (scored 100) - Tracy Sandler on Buffalo Bills: Sandler predicted Caleb Williams would miss two to three weeks with his hamstring injury, and in the picks segment took the Broncos, Ravens, Vikings, Bills and Bears (switching off an earlier Tampa pick). — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/74f12600-9587-488a-af00-2e8c11643531 (scored 100) ## More division winners The same kind of call, about other players and teams. - Daniel DiBerardinis on Atlanta Falcons: Danny D predicts Sonny Styles goes in the top ten (maybe top five), doesn't think Ty Simpson goes before late first round, says Kenyon Sadiq lands with the Rams at 13, and picks the Falcons to win the NFC South while naming the Bengals an AFC bounce-back team. He also gives a Final Four of Michigan, Florida, Purdue and Arizona with Michigan winning. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/8a8e0b7c-9f1c-4c13-8138-1332d73b9b02 (scored 0) - Colin Cowherd on New York Giants: Cowherd projects the NFC East with the Giants winning the division ahead of Philadelphia, Washington and Dallas, pegging the Cowboys as a six- or seven-win team. He also expects Malik Willis to land a big free-agent deal, Kayvon Thibodeaux to be moved, and Baltimore to lose Isaiah Likely, and he floats the Rams reaching on Ty Simpson late in round one. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/cd243624-9451-4824-a8a4-7b468d681c8f (scored 0) - Colin Cowherd on Los Angeles Chargers: Cowherd unveiled his top 10 NFL teams entering next season, with Seattle first, the Rams second and the Chiefs tenth, and separately picked the Chargers to win the AFC West. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/78de302a-c2f9-41b4-8897-87943ca44caa (scored 0) - Colin Cowherd on Baltimore Ravens: Cowherd likes Jacksonville, Chicago and Pittsburgh (with DK Metcalf back) in the wild-card round, ranks the league's head coaches with McVay first and Ben Johnson seventh, and predicts Lamar Jackson has about two strong years left. He also names the Rams as a possible team to draft a receiver and floats next year's draft having seven first-round quarterbacks. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/432d7268-d5b1-49f6-9435-12c9442d3023 (scored 0) - Danny Parkins on Baltimore Ravens: Parkins lays the points with the Eagles and Cowboys, takes Baltimore to beat Pittsburgh and win the AFC North, picks Carolina over Tampa Bay and Seattle over San Francisco, and says he'd probably pick the Rams to come out of the NFC. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/23bf1e09-f607-4b9a-bdb4-888da7992c89 (scored 0) - Rich Eisen on Jacksonville Jaguars: Eisen forecast the Week 18 results and the entire wild-card field: Buccaneers over Panthers but Carolina still gets in as the 5 seed when Atlanta beats New Orleans, 49ers over Seahawks, Ravens over Steelers, Jaguars beating Tennessee to win the AFC South, and six wild-card matchups (Seahawks-Panthers, Bills-Jaguars, Texans-Ravens, Packers-Bears, Chargers-Patriots, Rams-Eagles), with Houston upsetting Baltimore. He also tabbed Saints rookie Tyler Shough as a possible Offensive Rookie of the Year. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/34345186-876a-4c4b-9567-9c289a6cbace (scored 100) --- Accuracy is 0-100 against what actually happened. The naive guess is what a strategy requiring no knowledge would have scored on the same call — the difference is the skill, and it is what the MissedTakes Score averages. Full method: https://missedtakes.co/methodology We summarize what a pundit said and quote a short span for attribution; we never republish their article. If this is wrong, tell us: https://missedtakes.co/corrections?pundit=joe-marino