Should Bills Draft a Back-up QB? Who?

[GASabresIUFan]

Not until Josh is 31

[SoMAn]

No.
Draft one when the time approaches to replace the starter. 
Why draft (presumably) a day two or day three project QB who will have little opportunity to improve in real game action? He’d ride the pine for 4 years and because of inexperience would contribute next to nothing on the clipboard end.

As long as Josh is in his prime with several more years of elite-level play, I believe the best course is to find veteran FA QBs who have game experience and fit the Bills’ culture. Someone like an Andy Dalton for example. 

Edited December 8 by SoMAn

[Sierra Foothills]

2 hours ago, gonzo1105 said:

Yea, all I know is Shane Buechele aint that guy as the future # 2 behind Allen

 

Yeah but you're talking about the 4th QB on the Bills... Josh, Trubisky, and White, then Buechele.

 

 

1 hour ago, Kelly to Allen said:

I'm of the opinion that even if Tom Brady or Joe Montana is your QB you should always be drafting and developing a QB every other year. If you have a good backup. Still draft a QB every other year to develop the 3rd string QB. It's the most important position in sports and that's just what I believe.  It has nothing to do with Allen and more so I want to have the best QB room in the NFL. Full stop. 

 

Now obviously I'm not talking about the first Rd or even second Rd right now but you understand what I'm saying.

 

Obviously when Allen is 33-35 and an excellent QB prospect slips similar to a drew breed or Aaron Rodgers, yes I'm taking that QB. Even if he has to sit for a few years similar to Rodgers or Love. 

 

The Packers recently and the 49ers with Montana and young are the models 

 

The pats had the perfect succession plan with garappolo but Brady went to Kraft 

Right now I like trubisky and white as the backups. You can do worse than tribs, but if a really good QB fell to the second Rd , 3rd round I would think about it. 

 

If I'm not mistaken the pats drafted Ryan mallet in rd 3 when Brady was like 32 I think 

 

An organization's approach to the QB position is not the same for every team. A team with a superstar quarterback in his prime will take a different approach than a team that doesn't have a clear number one. Things like if you're a playoff team or not come into play too. Also whether you are an ascending team or a rebuilding team.

 

These things all come into play so rules that might apply to one team might not apply to another.

 

Edited December 8 by Sierra Foothills

[Richard Noggin]

4 hours ago, Ed_Formerly_of_Roch said:

 

So you want to take a guy drafted in the 5th 6th, or 7th round and only NFL experience is playing in a couple of pre season games against other guys drafted in the 5th 6th, or 7th round and think he is going to better than Mitch T?  LOL  Trubisky may have been over drafted, but he's still better than a guy drafted that low with zero experience.   1st round picks have a 50/50 shot at success, unless they draft the next Tom Brady, you'll never even know and with Allen on the bench as soon as he's healthy he's back in the line up.  I've heard suggestions of drafting the backup QB in 3rd round which is even a dumber idea as basically one of the complaints about Beane is how many 2nd and 3rd round picks he drafts have failed. Now using a higher pick on player that hopefully will never play is even worse.

 

If they did draft a QB, likely the plan would be to stash him on the PS so they better draft him no earlier than the 6th otherwise when the cut him at the end of camp, another team will grab him so better draft him real low and then will just sit on PS for possibly as long as 4 years and then once a FA will sign with another team where he actually has a chance to play.  And the other likely thing that may happen wit ha QB on PS if injuries hit some other position and the team needs to make a roster move the QB on the PS would be one of the 1st to go.

 

 

Every couple of months I read a one of these threads suggesting the same, my suggestion is change the title to "I want to throw away a draft pick". 

 

The Bills don't need to develop a QB for the next 4 or 5 years.  When Allen hits around age 33/34, then can start to think about developing a new QB

 

Let's not overcomplicate this position group evaluation: Mitchell Trubisky is HOT GARBAGE. With the exception of his 2nd season (and to a lesser extent, his 4th and final season) in Chi, with Nagy calling the shots (and providing easy answers in general and defined reads in the RPO game), the guy has had a serious issue with pulling the darn trigger. His years away from Nagy's/Reid's system (years 1 & 5-7) have shown him to be similar to Tyrod Taylor: athletic, conservative, reluctant. His time in Pittsburgh really seemed to illustrate this point, with Kenny Pickett providing the anticipatory confidence/aggression (despite limited arm talent) to inject at least some life into that offense. 

 

Please replace Trubisky ASAP or at least bring in some developmental talent. Thank you.

[GunnerBill]

In theory you want a young developmental guy. But you take a shot at one in a good QB class IMO where someone who could go round 4 in a bad year might be there in round 6 say. This class does not appear to be that.

[Richard Noggin]

58 minutes ago, SoMAn said:

No.
Draft one when the time approaches to replace the starter. 
Why draft (presumably) a day two or day three project QB who will have little opportunity to improve in real game action? He’d ride the pine for 4 years and because of inexperience would contribute next to nothing on the clipboard end.

As long as Josh is in his prime with several more years of elite-level play, I believe the best course is to find veteran FA QBs who have game experience and fit the Bills’ culture. Someone like an Andy Dalton for example. 

 

Drafting a developmental QB should be seen as smart cap management tbh. Grab a guy on day 2 or 3 who hopefully fills your backup QB position at a crazy savings for 2-4 years. That's just smart roster building, when executed. Trubisky ain't exactly doing Allen's homework for him and piping in the answers on game days. Come on. Might even bring out yet another level of leadership in JA17 to have another talented young QB on the roster. 

[Kirby Jackson]

13 hours ago, Big Turk said:

Who cares?

 

They aren't winning anything without Allen.  On a long list of things to worry about this would be at the very bottom.

Not picking on you but this is a GIANT pet peeve of mine. The backup QB role isn’t about, “can the team win the Super Bowl if the starter is out?” While that has happened a few times before (Foles, Hostetler, etc), that isn’t the purpose. If Allen were to miss 4 weeks(ish), could the Bills win 2 or 3 of those games to maintain their playoff seeding? If you’re looking at a backup QB any other way, you’re doing it wrong. Mitch is okay but I liked him more before the move to Pittsburgh. Tyrod would be the perfect backup for this team but don’t know his contract situation.
 

You should always be drafting and developing a guy as well. You need to do that every 2 or 3 years. I am not talking about some guy with no physical skills like Peterman or Fromm. Those guys didn’t have the physical traits to ever get better. Don’t buy game managers from college in the late rounds. You can throw a rock and find backups around the league like that. Buy physical tools and hope to develop them. Riley Leonard is a name that comes to mind. He’s 6’4” with a good arm. He’s skinny now but maybe you can bulk him up some. He has a high school track background as well. Its worth a 5th and a couple of PS years to see if he can become a player. 

Edited December 8 by Kirby Jackson

[GaryPinC]

I'm ok with Beane picking up last day QB prospects to develop but now is not the right time to invest any significant draft capital in one.

Our Superbowl window is wide open and first priority is finding difference makers and addressing roster weaknesses. 

Give it another 4 years or so before trying to target developing Josh's replacement. 

[gonzo1105]

6 hours ago, Sierra Foothills said:

 

Yeah but you're talking about the 4th QB on the Bills... Josh, Trubisky, and White, then Buechele.

 

 

 

An organization's approach to the QB position is not the same for every team. A team with a superstar quarterback in his prime will take a different approach than a team that doesn't have a clear number one. Things like if you're a playoff team or not come into play too. Also whether you are an ascending team or a rebuilding team.

 

These things all come into play so rules that might apply to one team might not apply to another.

 

White was signed after Buechele was put on IR. Would have been the PS guy if he didn’t get hurt. I will be interested after having both Trubisky and White pretty much all year if they want one back next year as # 2 or if they let both walk and go a different route 

[brianthomas]

this topic keeps coming up because of a couple things. 1st, people have seen Trubisky play & have little faith that he'd be able to win us 1-3 games if it were ever needed. Perhaps thats up for debate, but i wouldn't bet my season on it.  2nd is that we have a mobile QB who while he does protect himself better, still takes a lot of shots & has played through injuries the past couple seasons. And our entire offense runs because of Josh & through Josh. If Josh were to miss significant time, our offensive philosophy would have to change, as Mitch can't run the same offense Josh does. I think many fans would think differently on the situation if God forbid Mitch was needed to be QB1 right now. There'd be panic. Some solid insurance sure would be nice, thats all i think many fans would like.

 

Now I dont think you'd want to spend a valuable draft pick on a backup qb, as many others stated, at least not yet. I'd prefer & always have preferred, we just get a competent backup vet. Ideally one in which our QB's are interchangeable on the field & can both run the same system & offense, or close to it. And i do think Beane has this in the back of his mind as well. Trubisky just became available once again after his failed stint quarterbacking the Steelers. Mitch was given a 2 year contract back in March, but its nothing we can't walk away from. I'll be curious to see if Beane does anything to upgrade from Mitch in the offseason.

 

I hope a backup QB is never needed, but when accidents happen, you want All State, you dont want a Trubisky imho

 

[The Jokeman]

I'd take a late round flier on someone like Jackson Dart. 

[SoMAn]

7 hours ago, Richard Noggin said:

 

Drafting a developmental QB should be seen as smart cap management tbh. Grab a guy on day 2 or 3 who hopefully fills your backup QB position at a crazy savings for 2-4 years. That's just smart roster building, when executed. Trubisky ain't exactly doing Allen's homework for him and piping in the answers on game days. Come on. Might even bring out yet another level of leadership in JA17 to have another talented young QB on the roster. 

If Josh misses time to injury while Mr.Developmental 3rd rounder is still learning his way to the stadium, the rookie would be worthless to a team that is built for annual playoff appearances and while paying other producers on 2nd contracts.  
It would effectively be a lost season if they were dependent on him. 
If they want to bring in a prospect with potential to fill out the practice squad, fine. But, if the team stands any chance of progressing in Josh’s absence, they’d need an experienced signal caller who can identify sophisticated defenses and has leadership experience. Each year there are numerous retreads. Some never pan out and some just need a change of scenery (Darnold, Wilson, Winston, Baker, etc) 

Edited December 8 by SoMAn

[B-Man]

 

 

You don't draft backup quarterbacks.

 

 

 

.

[JESSEFEFFER]

13 hours ago, NORWOODS FOOT said:

The Bills are really good team built to contend year in and year out.

 

(Congrats and thank you, McBeane.)

 

That said, I hate the fact that if something bad happens, which I refuse to name, we would basically be out of Super Bowl contention with Mr. T at the helm.
 

I’d love to see us draft someone in the mid to late rounds that had some special traits and/or tons of game experience that we could build a scheme for to try and at least give ourselves a chance. 
 

What do you think and who might fit the bill in this upcoming draft?

 

If he fell far enough (who knows at this stage?) I’d take a crack at Dylan Gabriel from Oregon. Watching the Big 10 championship and I could see him excelling in the right scheme surrounded by the right people.

 

What say you?
 

 

No point to doing that unless they were to keep 3 QBs on the 53.   No late round rookie is going to be Josh's primary backup, imo.

[Sierra Foothills]

As a relevant point of comparison, the backup QB in Kansas City is Carson Wentz.

 

[Buffalo716]

9 hours ago, GunnerBill said:

In theory you want a young developmental guy. But you take a shot at one in a good QB class IMO where someone who could go round 4 in a bad year might be there in round 6 say. This class does not appear to be that.

I think with Josh Allen team you want the opposite probably 

 

If you draft a quarterback you want a high floor game manager late 

 

We aren't going to be developing a backup who needs a lot of stuff to learn yet keep him on the roster ... And God forbids if he ever has to play, I don't think they're sending out a raw kid

 

I think we will continue to get veteran backup quarterbacks... I Don't believe we will draft a physical yet raw prospect and try and coach him up as a backup

 

I would think a guy like cam rising as an UDFA fits what the bills would like as potential PS guy who could be the emergency 3

 

Tough locker room guy, pretty mobile , older and experienced 

 

I would rather do that then take a flyer on a guy in the 3rd like Ryan mallet.. who has all the physical talent but not much else and didn't have the playing time to develop anything 

 

I don't need physical talent out the yin yang ... Give me a guy like a young Brian hoyer or young Fitz who can play within a system 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited December 8 by Buffalo716

[947]

15 hours ago, gonzo1105 said:

Im not sure how high he’ll go yet and I’m biased to the University but a very intriguing name that might not even be Day 3 is Mark Gronowski the QB at FCS South Dakota State. 
 

He doesn’t have eye popping statistics  in the passing game but he’s in a very balanced offense there and has great size at 6’3 230. He’s also a mechanical engineer so you know he has smarts. Plays in obvious cold weather and is mobile as well as he has averaged around 400 yards rushing and multiple TDs. 
 

He has some mechanical things he’s have to change at the NFL level and his arm looks above average. 
 

 

 

This kid is from my home town & I've been following him since HS. He's won 2 FCS National Championships & probably would've won a 3rd but he tore his ACL on the first drive of the championship game in his freshman season. SD State is still alive this year as the #3 seed, so he could still win a 3rd title. I think he'd be a great option in the later rounds.

[GunnerBill]

36 minutes ago, Buffalo716 said:

I think with Josh Allen team you want the opposite probably 

 

If you draft a quarterback you want a high floor game manager late 

 

We aren't going to be developing a backup who needs a lot of stuff to learn yet keep him on the roster ... And God forbids if he ever has to play, I don't think they're sending out a raw kid

 

I think we will continue to get veteran backup quarterbacks... I Don't believe we will draft a physical yet raw prospect and try and coach him up as a backup

 

I would think a guy like cam rising as an UDFA fits what the bills would like as potential PS guy who could be the emergency 3

 

Tough locker room guy, pretty mobile , older and experienced 

 

I would rather do that then take a flyer on a guy in the 3rd like Ryan mallet.. who has all the physical talent but not much else and didn't have the playing time to develop anything 

 

I don't need physical talent out the yin yang ... Give me a guy like a young Brian hoyer or young Fitz who can play within a system 

 

 

 

Oh I am not sure I'm looking at a developmental guy to be any more than a practice squad guy. At least initially. That's why I'm talking about taking someone in the 6th or 7th round... but in draft where there is some depth and you might get a guy who another year may go earlier day 3.

[Buffalo716]

9 minutes ago, GunnerBill said:

 

Oh I am not sure I'm looking at a developmental guy to be any more than a practice squad guy. At least initially. That's why I'm talking about taking someone in the 6th or 7th round... but in draft where there is some depth and you might get a guy who another year may go earlier day 3.

Absolutely 

[billsfan89]

Bills currently have 5 picks in the first 4 rounds and 3 picks in round 6. The Bills are also projected to get 2 additional comp picks one in the 4th round range the other a late rounder. The Bills also only have 3 significant free agents in Douglas, Hamlin, and Cooper. The Bills also have cap space so they can resign 2-3 of those players or go out in the mid-level market to replace them. So going into the draft the Bills aren't likely to have many glaring needs and what glaring needs they do have they can address with 3 picks in rounds 1-2. 

 

So with the volume of late round picks they are likely to have (they already have 3 picks in round 6 and projected to get a comp pick in either round 6 or 7) I think adding a developmental QB behind Mitch in round 6-7 is not the worst idea.

 

TLDR: The team has a ton of picks, is not likely to have many glaring needs they can't address higher up or in free agency, and can afford to spend a 6th or 7th on a developmental QB prospect.