Nihilarian

Exactly what this years current team needs as Allen is a very mobile QB. A running game is a QBs best friend which is often stated by NFL people and it should be even more so for a rookie QB. Allen would do so much better with a solid run game working for the offense as it would take so much pressure off him to be the entire offense. He could pick and choose his pass plays in a run option offense if the run game is working. It is imperative that this team go back to its run first roots and build a power run game. The Bills O line did look like they were better at run blocking over pass blocking in the preseason. Currently the 2018 Buffalo Bills are 29th in run blocking. I kept hearing all offseason from the Kool-Aid drinkers that losing Wood, Glenn and Incognito wasn't that big a deal. Well, it looks like a pretty big deal now.

Defenses usually let up when a backup QB comes into the game because they don't have film on him. That said, Mayfield looked like a Drew Brees out there most of the time in one half of a game. Still, Mayfield has an actual team around him that can run the ball as they are #1 in rushing attempts, #4 in rush yards, #4 in rushing TDs. The O line gave him time to throw AND he has a star WR that catches most everything in Jarvis Landry. Plus, the Browns look to have a pretty good defense. Right now Allen has none of those things. I think if he is able to develop in this craptastic Buffalo offense it's my belief that Allen with be the better QB of that draft class. On a side note I'm happy the Browns beat the NY Jets for their first win in three seasons AND they intercepted Darnold 2x

Are you forgetting how bad Whaley's offensive lines were and that was with Wood, Glenn. He brought in guys like Chris Williams for 4 years at 13.5 with 5.5 mill guaranteed and the guy lasted 3 games! He also brought in bums like Doug Legursky. It was Rex who wanted Incognito signed and Richie made a huge impact to both Wood, Glenn as they both elevated their play next to him. Rex was also chasing OT/OG La'el Collins who ended up signing with Dallas. It's my take that Juan Castillo the Bills O line coach/ run game coordinator is telling the Bill FO that he can get better results with the players on the roster. Something I find very hard to believe. Castillo should have been fired along with Dennison last year. Currently the Bills are ranked 29th in run blocking, 26th in rushing attempts, 25 in rushing yards. Man, what a far cry from last year when the team was 4th in attempts, 6th in rushing yards 15th in rushing TDs, 14th in YPC average. And two years ago the Buffalo Bills were #2 in rushing attempts, #1 in rushing yards and rushing TDs and yards per carry average.

Hey, Sam Darnold committed 22 turnovers last year at USC all on his own. Mayfield with no first team reps looks like he just might be the best of the bunch so far. But then he actually has a team around him, star WR, good run game, decent line. Me, I prefer Josh Allen.

When you look over the history of the NFL teams it stands to reason that most teams follow the same procedure in having an NFL experienced QB coach, an experienced NFL OC and an experienced NFL veteran QB as all contribute to teaching this rookie QB the NFL ropes. Now, his OC and QB coach are his bosses. I would think that a player might be able to relate to another player and what they have to say vs getting hammered or yelled at by a boss when you make a mistake. Some players say that they respond better to being yelled at "coached hard", and others don't respond well to that treatment. I've trained many people in my job, to do my job and the bosses didn't train them, I did. Someone who has actually done that particular job is someone who knows exactly what you need to succeed in doing that job. When Kyle Orton came to the Buffalo Bills EJ stated he learned more from watching him prepare for a game then he had ever learned from his coaches.

The problem is that you need that veteran QB during the season to go over plays and why they worked or didn't work. What the QB sees in pre snap reads as those QBs usually consult after every series to discuss what happened. Yes, they can also look at their tablets and talk it over with the OC after each series it's just not the same as having another experienced QB to talk things over with. That said the OP stated that Beane had said that AJ McCarron was not the guy we thought he was as could mean that he wasn't helpful at all to other QBs in preseason. Still, this is no excuse as to not bring in a vet QB to help out that rookie. Just make certain to that vet QB that the primary reason he is being brought in is to be the backup and help the rookie.

Probably didn't help as he threw 9 TDs, 18 INTs with a completion percentage of 52.9% and went 0-11 in 1989. The team also took Steve Walsh in the supplemental draft who was later traded to NO the next year. Walsh started four games and actually won a game going 1-4. The next season in 1990 the Cowboys did sign a vet QB in Babe Laufenberg. On another note, Maroon/Whaley had his first round pick rookie QB EJ Manuel with basically a rookie QB in Thad Lewis and rookie undrafted FA QB Jeff Tuel all on the roster in 2013 with no veteran QB. No experienced NFL OC and no QB coach at all. How did that work out for them? Not to mention that year the offensive line was pretty bad in being ranked #22 and this was with Cordy Glenn at LT, Eric Wood at center. Allen wishes he had Wood at center.

even on one leg he has got to be better then three of the five

From what I understand is that when you have a rookie QB starting. The center is the one who should be calling the line protections. Simply because the QB has little idea of what he is looking at pre snap. That is of course if you have an experienced center. Another issue is what I see in line protections as they have been somewhat of a clusterfluck of missed assignments, whiffed blocks and blocking the wrong man. Both the TEs and RB's missing blocks, not seeing them, not looking for them or not caring. That's all on coaching! Not having a veteran QB on the roster to show the kid the ropes his first year is simply the wrong thing to do. Marrone/Whaley did it with EJ, Lewis and Tuel and how did that work out for those three? This rookie QB needs all the help he can get to develop properly and from what I've seen his O line stinks, the protections stinks, the Bills don't have a power run game anymore and are 29th in the NFL in run blocking. His receiving corps is nothing special so he is holding the ball far too long waiting for someone to break open. Then again he doesn't always see the open guy, which should come in time... if given time. Allen was lucky last week as the Chargers best pass rusher was out with an injury and as it was the line couldn't block Ingram. I shudder to think of how many sacks the two of them would have had on Allen. The line coach needs to remove his cranium from his posterior.

Allen's release time is probably one of the fastest in the NFL at .38 of a second. The problem is he needs to get the timing down with his receivers which should come with time. Plus he needs his receivers to find ways to get separation and get open and this is why he is holding the ball too long.

And what would help this young QB play better? How about a solid rushing attack that makes the defense work to stop the run so it opens up the passing game. Allen isn't at the level of a top ten QB so he will need a bunch of help from his OC, the run game and the defense. So far the defense had let this team down big time by not stopping any drives and putting the team in a hole to start off. Fix the damn defense! The run game as of right now the Buffalo Bills are 26th in rushing attempts, 25th in yards. The best player on the Bills offense is Shady McCoy and his OC needs to get him 25 touches or more each game. So far he has had only 21 touches in two games. Shady needs the ball and in space so he can gain yardage. Stop getting drive killing penalties by the O line, TE's. Stop whiffing on blocks! Stop blocking the wrong guy! The Bills are 29th in the NFL in run blocking, with a 50.9 score

Allen doesn't yet know what he is looking at when he steps behind the center and sees the defense. It's going to take time to learn how to "read" defenses and they will attempt to confuse the hell out of him with different looks each Sunday. Much like Rex Ryan used to do against Brady as nobody knew which defender was going to blitz. Eventually NFL offenses learned how to read Ryan's blitz's and defeat them. I don't know that any QB can learn how to read 32 different defenses after a few games. Kind of why Andy Reid sat Patrick Mahomes for an entire year so he could sit, learn and develop. The really good new is Josh Allen was "off the charts" on the NFL whiteboard in learning and understanding how NFL plays work. He is an extremely bright kid who usually doesn't make the same mistake twice. All we Bills fans can do is hope he survives the season enough to develop properly. Then we have to hope that Beane will give him a better supporting cast around in and forgo using all the early draft picks for the defense in 2019.

It is my belief that Allen could be another Aaron Rodgers/Big ben only with a stronger arm and in fact probably the most powerful arm the NFL has ever seen. He has a lot of the same physical traits in that he is very mobile, huge at 6'5' 240lbs difficult to tackle at times. Allen's release velocity is 72 MPH which is sorta insane. Four tenths of a second release time is in the elite category in the NFL and Allen has a release of point three eight seconds (.38 seconds.) The thing is Allen was supposed to sit this year to learn and develop. His coaches/GM are letting him down by starting him too soon. No veteran QB on the roster to help him learn the ropes either. Allen doesn't know how to read NFL defenses or know how to set pre-snap protections. His offensive line is so lame that they can't help with that like 90's Bills center Kent Hull would bark out protections for Jim Kelly. By starting Allen so soon this regime is taking a huge chance at ruining his development. Watch the entire video

The QB isn't the only one that should be calling protections especially if he has only played one half of an NFL game and is learning as he goes. The center is also supposed to call protections and duties for the line. On one play I can recall Dion Dawkins blocking the DT and leaving the edge rusher in Ingram free and untouched to sack Allen. Now the announcer stated that Allen should have seen this and thrown to the RB who was the outlet. The play happened so quickly that Allen would have needed to throw as soon as the ball touched his hands. All things considered I put this one on the offensive line as Dawkins simply blocked the wrong player. I watched other plays in which the RB and TE whiffed on blocks. Croon has done this several times at times in different games. As someone else put it when you have defenders in the backfield to tackle the RB/QB as soon as he touches the ball the problem is with the line.

It's not just the coaches as it's more about the supporting cast around him this year. Of all the QB prospects for this year the one QB I wanted the Bills to draft was Josh Allen, Metz wanted him also. I'm happy the Bills drafted the kid. I never said Allen should sit because the alternative in Peterman is he is useless. A better question is why Peterman is still even on the roster. Why hasn't Beane brought in a veteran QB to help show Allen the ropes. My problem is I'm mad as hell at Beane that he didn't do a better job of surrounding Allen with better talent. There is still the waiver wire, trade deadline and things a GM could do to bolster the current team so Allen survives this season. I don't want to be reading at the end of the year that he sucked because he sucked from the start!

What he said!

How is it nonsense if Manning, Aikman didn't start on bad teams and were just playing poorly to begin with? Aikman went 0-11 because he threw 9 TDs, 18 INTs @ a 52.9 completion percentage. Nobody is twisting the stats as they are the reality! As is the fact that Aikman was only sacked 19 times all season. That means he had time to throw all season and was simply bad at doing so or no one to throw to. No idea where you are getting stats from but the reality is that 89 year the Cowboys had 513 passing attempts vs 355 rushing attempts. It also didn't help that David Shula was his OC. During their SB years the OC was Norv Turner, Zampese with Switzer as HC. It's my contention that if Steve Young had stayed on that bad 2-14 1985 Tampa Bay team that he would have never amounted to anything. Much less win super bowls or be a pro bowler/all pro. His completion percentage at TB was 52.2% with 3 TDs, 8 INTs his first year in 5 games. His second season at TB he went 2-12 with a 53.7% completion percentage 8 TDs, 13 INTs. As it was it took a few years of sitting and learning behind Joe Montana with Bill Walsh as his HC before he started playing well. I'd say Steve Young is a perfect example of a good to great QB starting on a bad team and playing poorly, developing poorly. Another QB is Jim Plunkett who played for the NE Patriots on bad teams for 5 years, went to SF for two years and never won more than 7 games in 7 seasons. Went to a great Oakland Raiders team and sat for a season then went on to win two super bowls on a great Raiders team. Again it's my contention that had Plunkett stayed with that bad NE Patriots team he would have never amounted to anything, much less win two super bowls!

Bottom line is this team needs to fix the defense so the offense isn't starting off in a hole every game. Then they need to get the run game working to help take pressure off this rookie QB, control the clock and keep the downs, distance in manageable situations. The team needs to fix the offensive line because the Chargers best pass rusher didn't even play in this past game and yet couldn't even block Ingram successfully. Shady McCoy is the best play on offense and the coaches need to find ways to get him the ball in space. We all have seen some signs that Josh Allen could be "the one" who becomes that elusive franchise QB for the Buffalo Bills. And if he is the one he will still need a far better supporting cast then is currently around him.

I've already made the case that both Aikman and Manning were on teams with far better than average offensive lines as each were only sacked 19 times, 22 times in their rookie seasons. Steve Young was sacked 22 in four games in 85 and was battered around with 47 sacks in 14 games in 86. Young never did play a full season for Tampa Bay and had veteran QB Steve DeBerg to lean on for those back to back 2-14 seasons. Young then went to SF where he was coached by arguably the brightest offensive mind the league has ever known in Bill Walsh. Plus, like with Aaron Rodgers sitting behind Brett Favre for years while learning. Young sat behind Joe Montana for 5 seasons before starting in SF. While I agree that the best thing that can happen for a rookie QB to properly develop is to go out and actually play. However like others have outlined this particular situation for Josh Allen is he is in probably the most difficult, untenable state of affairs for a rookie QB to properly develop. If you look at how Joe Flacco developed you would see that he went to a solid playoff type team that went 11-5 and made the playoffs his rookie season. They ran the ball to help that rookie QB develop!!! Flacco had 433 passing attempts while the Ravens had 592 attempts rushing. In Flacco's second season the Ravens beat the New England Patriots IN New England by pounding the rock 52 times for 234 yards, 4 TDs. Meanwhile Flacco threw 4 of 10 for 34 yards, 1 INT. To win that playoff game against NE 33-14.

Well said and so true. And hopefully he survives that long... It really is a sad state that Allen is currently in as I can't think of another NFL QB becoming successful after starting for such a bad team. The only bright spot on offense this year is McCoy and the team can't seem to get the run game working. If Allen fails at the end of the season most Bills fans will probably say he was never good to begin with...

Wouldn't you agree that a rookie QB drafted in the first round has a much better chance at succeeding by going to a good team then say a QB going to a bad team? As it looks right now Josh Allen is going to get the snot beaten out of him this year because he is being thrown to the wolves. Even his HC stated he wanted Allen to sit this year. Lamar Jackson was drafted in the first round and he is playing sporadically on a good team and perhaps might start at some point down the road. Logic dictates to me that one looks to have a better chance to make it in the NFL as he won't be a tackling dummy this year. Has nothing to do with just my opinion.

Look back at that team. Kelly had LT Ken Jones, LG Jim Richter, C Kent Hull, RG Will Wolford, RT Joe Devlin. Pretty gosh darn good line in my view. Pete Metz, Andre Reed to throw to and Rob Riddick Ronnie Harmon at RB. 4-12 huh, Hank Bullough was the HC for 9 games that year.

Did I really need to mention more than the one the article mentions? You don't watch football enough to know how many QBs the Cleveland Browns have drafted in the first round in their history to see that *nearly all of them have ended up on the scrap heap? Really? The entire league is littered with failed QBs that went to bad teams...oldmanfan...

This is baloney. QB's that go to bad teams usually end up on the scrap heap and the some that do succeed like Peyton Manning, Troy Aikman didn't go to teams as bad as the current Buffalo Bills. Manning was only sacked 22 times his first year at Indy and Aikman was only sacked 19 times at Dallas. Meanwhile Allen has already been sacked 8 times in a game and a half. While David Carr was sacked 79 times and referred to as a tackling dummy...the Bills QBs are on a pace to beat that number with 88 as Josh with 8, Peterman with 3 in a little over a half. The article mentions Manning but doesn't say he was only sacked 22 times because he also had some decent talent on his offensive line to protect him. He also had Marshall Faulk, Marvin Harrison on that team. It was Manning learning the ropes with a 56.7 completion percentage and with 26 TDs, 28 Ints. As for Aikman his offensive line was arguably the very best the NFL has ever seen with LT Mark Tuinei 15 years with Dallas, LG Nate Newton 13 years with Dallas, Center Tom Raftery 14 years with Dallas, RG Crawford Kerr 6 years with Dallas, RT Kevin Cogan 7 years with Dallas, 14 in the NFL. Aikman learning the NFL ropes 9 TDs, 18 INTs with a 52.9 completion percentage. **What's interesting to me is the same year the team drafted Aikman #1 overall they also drafted OG Steve Wisniewski with the 29th pick (second round) and center Mark Stepnoski with the #57th pick (3rd round). So, it looks like the Cowboys FO went out of their way to make sure that pick at QB was well protected. Like I said, you throw a rookie QB on a bad team that can't protect him and he usually ends up on the scrap heap. If Allen even survives this season it will be a miracle.

Man that's a lot of passing, 727 attempts passing in one season is crazy. The most Rivers ever attempted was 661. Brady 637. Brees 673.