Why Nathan Peterman?

[Donuts and Doritos]

At this point who cares.

 

Asking about Peterman is like asking why the Bills drafted a TE Tony Hunter with their first 1st round pick instead of Jim Kelly, who they took with their second pick. Who cares, it worked out.

[The Jokeman]

2 hours ago, The Real Buffalo Joe said:

In 2018, we drafted Josh Allen. He was a project QB, with a lot of potential, but also a lot of work. We were told that we would see little to no Josh that season, because he would be riding the bench and learning his first year. 

 

I still don't understand, five years later, why Peterman was the guy he was to learn behind. Let's even forget the now legendary 5 INT game. Let's give the benefit of the doubt that Peterman truly did majorly improve to be relatively serviceable, he was still just barely a rookie himself with almost no playing time. 

 

Why was McDermott and/or Beane so adamant about this kid? Wouldn't the best bet have been to get a Fitzpatrick-esque guy. An experienced veteran, who might not light up the leauge, but would win some games for you, and most importantly play an important mentor role in Josh's development. Seems to have worked for Tua.

 

Because instead, Peterman sucked, as we all thought, and Josh got thrown to the wolves his rookie year. Obviously it worked out, but it very well may not have.  

You forget AJ McCarron was signed as an UFA that off-season. He came off a season in which he lead the Bengals to a playoff victory. Yet he was horrible in the preseason and sulked when he lost the starting job, kudos to Beane for moving him for a draft pick. Adding Derek Anderson mid season was ultimately I think what helped Allen. 

[GunnerBill]

Beane by his own admission screwed up the QB market. The guy they wanted was Keenum. He went to Denver. Then they decided to wait it out and take whichever vet was left when the music stopped. That was AJ McCarron. It become clear quickly that was a mistake. 

 

And they loved Peterman as a person. He couldn't play football though.

[Billy Claude]

7 minutes ago, The Jokeman said:

You forget AJ McCarron was signed as an UFA that off-season. He came off a season in which he lead the Bengals to a playoff victory. Yet he was horrible in the preseason and sulked when he lost the starting job, kudos to Beane for moving him for a draft pick. Adding Derek Anderson mid season was ultimately I think what helped Allen. 

 

Allen was never supposed to be in the competition,  McCarron was supposed to be #1, Peterman #2, and Allen was supposed to be #3.  However, Peterman played great against the third stringers (the Kelvin Benjamin revenge game), McCarron looked awful and sulked, so they traded him away and ended up with Allen number 2 behind Peterman.

Edited January 3 by Billy Claude

[FireChans]

7 minutes ago, GunnerBill said:

Beane by his own admission screwed up the QB market. The guy they wanted was Keenum. He went to Denver. Then they decided to wait it out and take whichever vet was left when the music stopped. That was AJ McCarron. It become clear quickly that was a mistake. 

 

And they loved Peterman as a person. He couldn't play football though.

It was really the best thing to happen to Allen that AJ was garbage and Peterman was their guy. 

 

Peterman was so awful that even when Allen was awful, there was no clamoring for the backup. The fans and the locker room knew it was Allen or nobody.

 

it made Allen look pretty good by comparison. He had a shaky rookie year, but every time he made a play, guys like Shady McCoy were loving it.

 

it forced Allen into action earlier than they wanted. I am a firm believer in rookie QB’s starting. Guys like Lamar and Josh would not be the QBs there are today if they didn’t take their lumps early. Remember when Josh couldn’t beat cover zero, and the light finally turned on vs the Ravens in 2019 and he almost won that game? That doesn’t happen without playtime.

 

You also don’t know if your QB is the guy if they don’t play enough. You don’t see that incremental improvement. The only QBs who benefit from not playing are the bad QB’s. Bryce Young may suck, but they will know if he sucks soon enough. If he played 6 games this year, they’d be sitting around saying he’s basically a rookie still for 3 years.

 

In short, @The Real Buffalo Joe, you should be thankful for the Nate Peterman experience.

[Ethan in Cleveland]

Why is this so hard? 

McDermott is not that good at talent evaluation.

He believes in the small undersized no talent character guys. 

How many examples do we need?

Peterman, Teller, Murphy, Star, Lawson, Gilmore, and numerous other roster bottom feeders like Sweeney. Multiple good guys he let walk and multiple bad players he kept and played. 

And we are still seeing it with Fournette sitting on the PS. 

[Just in Atlanta]

Seems crazy we were in this situation not too long ago.

 

 

[CincyBillsFan]

3 hours ago, The Real Buffalo Joe said:

In 2018, we drafted Josh Allen. He was a project QB, with a lot of potential, but also a lot of work. We were told that we would see little to no Josh that season, because he would be riding the bench and learning his first year. 

 

I still don't understand, five years later, why Peterman was the guy he was to learn behind. Let's even forget the now legendary 5 INT game. Let's give the benefit of the doubt that Peterman truly did majorly improve to be relatively serviceable, he was still just barely a rookie himself with almost no playing time. 

 

Why was McDermott and/or Beane so adamant about this kid? Wouldn't the best bet have been to get a Fitzpatrick-esque guy. An experienced veteran, who might not light up the leauge, but would win some games for you, and most importantly play an important mentor role in Josh's development. Seems to have worked for Tua.

 

Because instead, Peterman sucked, as we all thought, and Josh got thrown to the wolves his rookie year. Obviously it worked out, but it very well may not have.  

The reality is that McD & Bean screwed up Allen's rookie year about as badly as you could.  Allen himself and DaBall are responsible for his surviving and towards the end even thriving. 

1 hour ago, uticaclub said:

Huge mistake by McDermott & Beane. If they didn't sign Derek Anderson & Matt Barkley mid-season, we wouldn't have had any fire McDermott threats in 2023 because he would have been long gone & Allen would have busted.

Agree 100%.  Bean & McD completely screwed up the plans for Allen in 2018.  To their credit they shook the cobwebs off and fired those two horrible WR's (Bengiman & Holmes) and brought in veteran help for Allen.  But the credit for Allen not busting goes to DaBoll and Allen himself. 

[CincyBillsFan]

3 hours ago, PatsFanNH said:

Maybe because they rather Peterman get killed facing teams like NE and allow Josh to learn and grow for that year.  They probably knew the O was not good enough for Allen to learn anything under center. 

Bean & McD deliberately blew the offense up that season. The problem and it's one of the reasons I'm not thrilled abut McD or Bean is they completely misread the value of McCarron and Peterman.  After Peterman set another impressive NFL record in QB futility, NINE straight possessions without a 1st down, to go along with his 5 INT first half performance the previous season. the Bills ad no choice but to throw Allen to the lions.  Can you imagine the fans reaction had Peterman been put on the field against Sand Diego in week 2?  As it was Allen's first 3 games were against three of the best D's in football at that time:  the Chargers at home and the Vikings & Packers on the road.

 

 

[NoHuddleKelly12]

3 hours ago, TheyCallMeAndy said:

Hopefully I can get this in fast enough:

 

Peterman was FANTASTIC in training camp, preseason, and in practice. 

NP legitimately won the starting job over Josh and McCarron that year—just go back in the archives and review the TC/preseason threads to see it! 

[CincyBillsFan]

3 hours ago, TheyCallMeAndy said:

https://www.buffalobills.com/news/how-nate-peterman-earned-the-starting-qb-job
 

For those curious. 

If fans know not to trust preseason game results shouldn't coaches be expected to also know this?  The only consistency we ever saw out of Peterman in actual NFL games was his amazing ability to set NFL records for sucking.  Who can forget his two pick sixes in only two games, after Allen went down with an injury in 2018.  That McD & Bean thought Peterman could play is a major mystery to me.

 

 

[hondo in seattle]

3 hours ago, The Real Buffalo Joe said:

In 2018, we drafted Josh Allen. He was a project QB, with a lot of potential, but also a lot of work. We were told that we would see little to no Josh that season, because he would be riding the bench and learning his first year. 

 

I still don't understand, five years later, why Peterman was the guy he was to learn behind. Let's even forget the now legendary 5 INT game. Let's give the benefit of the doubt that Peterman truly did majorly improve to be relatively serviceable, he was still just barely a rookie himself with almost no playing time. 

 

Why was McDermott and/or Beane so adamant about this kid? Wouldn't the best bet have been to get a Fitzpatrick-esque guy. An experienced veteran, who might not light up the leauge, but would win some games for you, and most importantly play an important mentor role in Josh's development. Seems to have worked for Tua.

 

Because instead, Peterman sucked, as we all thought, and Josh got thrown to the wolves his rookie year. Obviously it worked out, but it very well may not have.  

 

I remember we started Dennis Shaw the year we drafted him and put him behind a crap OL.   Shaw never developed into the QB we hoped he would be and lasted three years as a starter before finishing his sad career as a backup.  Some said we ruined his poise and confidence his rookie year and he never got it back.

 

I don't think starting Peterman was about Peterman at all.  I think it was about either McDermott's and/or Daboll's philosophy on how to effectively develop a young, talented - but raw - Josh Allen.  I think they wanted Allen to spend more time with the coaches on the practice field and in the film room before they lined him up under center under the bright lights of game day.  

[nedboy7]

Why do I have to read about this guy every other day on here. 

1 hour ago, Donuts and Doritos said:

At this point who cares.

 

Asking about Peterman is like asking why the Bills drafted a TE Tony Hunter with their first 1st round pick instead of Jim Kelly, who they took with their second pick. Who cares, it worked out.

No come on now. Let’s discuss it 50 more times.  Then claim McBean sucks cause of it 5 years later.  

[CincyBillsFan]

1 hour ago, Donuts and Doritos said:

At this point who cares.

 

Asking about Peterman is like asking why the Bills drafted a TE Tony Hunter with their first 1st round pick instead of Jim Kelly, who they took with their second pick. Who cares, it worked out.

I disagree.  Looking at how McD & Bean handled Allen his rookie year is an insight into how the Bills have handled him and the offense over the last 6 seasons.  My and other peoples arguments about why we need to move on from McD have been twofold:

 

*  As a defensive coach McD will commit more resources to the defense then to the offense. And he will always be more comfortable with defensive players and schemes then offensive players and schemes starting with the QB.

 

*  Both Bean & McD are much less effective at judging offensive talent then they are defensive talent.

 

I truly hope I'm wrong and McD/Bean can find a resolution to this quandary.  But until we make a Super Bowl with the current coaching/management group I remain skeptical.  The idea that teams with elite caliber QB's should have offense minded coaching is compelling to me.

 

 

 

 

[CincyBillsFan]

7 minutes ago, hondo in seattle said:

 

I remember we started Dennis Shaw the year we drafted him and put him behind a crap OL.   Shaw never developed into the QB we hoped he would be and lasted three years as a starter before finishing his sad career as a backup.  Some said we ruined his poise and confidence his rookie year and he never got it back.

 

I don't think starting Peterman was about Peterman at all.  I think it was about either McDermott's and/or Daboll's philosophy on how to effectively develop a young, talented - but raw - Josh Allen.  I think they wanted Allen to spend more time with the coaches on the practice field and in the film room before they lined him up under center under the bright lights of game day.  

That's fair but in the end Allen was thrown to the wolves in week 2 without having taken very many 1st team reps in training camp and the preseason.  Even worse he was thrown into the fire with an offense that had been dismantled by management in the off season.  The reality is that McD & Bean's best laid plans went up in smoke when Peterman could not generate a single 1st down after NINE straight possessions.

 

The fact remains that a complete misjudgment by McD & Bean about Peterman AND MaCaran ruined any chance that their reasonable plan for Allen would work.  And for some of us this can be directly attributed to the fact that the Bills management & coaching embraces a defense first philosophy.

 

[uticaclub]

1 hour ago, CincyBillsFan said:

Agree 100%.  Bean & McD completely screwed up the plans for Allen in 2018.  To their credit they shook the cobwebs off and fired those two horrible WR's (Bengiman & Holmes) and brought in veteran help for Allen.  But the credit for Allen not busting goes to DaBoll and Allen himself. 

I couldn't agree more. We were in a tough spot with the salary cap, but there was no help for Allen at the start of the season.

1 hour ago, CincyBillsFan said:

I disagree.  Looking at how McD & Bean handled Allen his rookie year is an insight into how the Bills have handled him and the offense over the last 6 seasons.  My and other peoples arguments about why we need to move on from McD have been twofold:

 

*  As a defensive coach McD will commit more resources to the defense then to the offense. And he will always be more comfortable with defensive players and schemes then offensive players and schemes starting with the QB.

 

*  Both Bean & McD are much less effective at judging offensive talent then they are defensive talent.

 

I truly hope I'm wrong and McD/Bean can find a resolution to this quandary.  But until we make a Super Bowl with the current coaching/management group I remain skeptical.  The idea that teams with elite caliber QB's should have offense minded coaching is compelling to me.

 

 

 

 

Who thought it was a good idea to bring in Harty & Sherfield?

[KingBoots8]

A few things to remember: 

 

1. Peterman actually looked competent in preseason

 

yes, it’s true. When the game doesn’t matter and players are learning their schemes he can complete a pass to his own team. 
 

2. Remember how bad that line was in 2018? Here’s a reminder:

 

Dion Dawkins - the ONLY good piece

Vlad Ducasse

Russel Bodine

John Miller

Jordan Mills

 

…you don’t want to line up your future franchise QB behind that unless absolutely necessary.

 

3. We had pathetic weapons for him to pass to.

 

Kelvin “lumpy” Benjamin

Zay Jones in his “naked in a hotel hallway” era

“Ol’ Stone-hands” Charles Clay

lil’ Robert Foster 

 

nooooobody is gonna make that squad look good. It’s a total set up for failure and everyone with eyes  old see it. The only reason we trotted Josh out there that year was because we had to. 

 

[The Jokeman]

2 hours ago, Billy Claude said:

 

Allen was never supposed to be in the competition,  McCarron was supposed to be #1, Peterman #2, and Allen was supposed to be #3.  However, Peterman played great against the third stringers (the Kelvin Benjamin revenge game), McCarron looked awful and sulked, so they traded him away and ended up with Allen number 2 behind Peterman.

My exact point.

[BuffaloButt]

5 hours ago, TheyCallMeAndy said:

Hopefully I can get this in fast enough:

 

Peterman was FANTASTIC in training camp, preseason, and in practice. 

True.  He was what we call a practice player!!  Like in basketball, he could make every shot in practice and warm up but when the game starts, brick central!!

[Dr.Sack]

Peterman had a cool name and a punchable face.