It’s a cliché uttered by NFL broadcasters nearly every Sunday during football season: Teams have to put their playmakers in a position to succeed.
And, by all accounts, the Buffalo Bills have gone all-in for rookie quarterback Josh Allen.
After trading up five spots to take him in April’s draft, the Bills have given the Wyoming product plenty of practice time with the first team offense throughout offseason workouts.
The problem, however, arises from just who is on that practice field surrounding the 22-year-old.
Coaches constantly preach how important it is for young players to learn from not only veteran leadership, but also veteran talent.
In Allen’s case, he’s essentially walking into an offensive wasteland. Yes, the Bills still have LeSean McCoy, who has proven time and again that he is one of the league’s top backs. Having a productive rushing attack will be fundamental to a rookie’s success. After McCoy, though, the offense is a bottom five unit at best.
The Bills were dealt two unfortunate blows this summer with center Eric Wood’s forced retirement due to a neck injury and then Pro Bowl guard Richie Incognito’s request to be released. It’s not easy for a signal caller with the laurels of Tom Brady or Aaron Rodgers to overcome the losses of two talented linemen, let alone a quarterback who hasn’t even taken an NFL snap.
There have been plenty of examples of a promising NFL career derailed by a lack of protection. There’s David Carr (sacked 76 times in his rookie season with Houston in 2002) or Joey Harrington (knocked down over 50 times in his debut season with the Lions in 2002). And while the Bills pass blocking situation doesn’t look as dire as it was on those two teams, it sheds some light on just how important having time in the pocket is for rookies.
Both Carr and Harrington’s careers flamed out, both lost their starting gigs by 2007, and neither even came close to living up to their franchise quarterback aspirations.
Make no mistake, Allen will be given every chance to be the face of the organization. Even if A.J. McCarron or Nathan Peterman start on Week 1, Allen will be under center before too long.
But the Bills have smartly placed a veteran backup (McCarron) and the second-year long shot (Peterman) behind Allen to practice some patience and ease the rookie into his eventual franchise-leading role.
And no matter which of those three guys is slinging the ball around the most next year, they’ll have to deal with more than just a patchy offensive line.
Both CBS Sports and ESPN have ranked Buffalo’s wide receiving corps the worst in the league, and it’s hard to blame them.
To general manager Brandon Beane’s credit, he’s tried to address the unit — but even that has been besieged by some bad luck.
Last year’s second round draft pick Zay Jones led the team in drops, and hasn’t done anything to help himself off the field, either. After getting arrested in March, Jones then underwent knee surgery and hasn’t even been able to take the field during minicamp. What were once questions on whether he could develop as a pass-catcher have now turned into whether he is healthy enough — mentally or physically — to take the field in 2018.
Beane also traded for ultra-talented WR Kelvin Benjamin in October of last year, only to see the veteran struggle with injuries and catch just 16 passes and one touchdown over six games.
Instead of attempting to bolster the position with high draft picks or a splashy free agent signing after last season ended, the team has instead elected to bank on an array of journeyman players to line up across from Benjamin.
The next most experienced receiver on the roster is Jeremy Kerley, who is six seasons removed from his best season in the NFL.
After that, it’s names like Andre Holmes, Rod Streater, Ray-Ray McCloud and Brandon Reilly that scatter the depth chart. Not exactly the quartet that is going to intimidate opposing secondaries, but it also gives plenty of players the chance to step up and make a name for themselves — just like Allen.
The Bills and their faithful legions of fans should be hopeful that Allen is the guy that can develop into the franchise quarterback that the team has been craving since Jim Kelly retired in 1996. Despite some question marks throughout the drafting process, Allen has passed nearly all of his offseason tests with flying colors. And while he still has plenty of hurdles left to clear, there aren’t nearly as many red flags with him as there were with other first round selections like E.J. Manuel or J.P. Losman.
The question now becomes what exactly Sean McDermott and Brandon Beane plan to do to address the situation between now and the season opener against the Baltimore Ravens. If the answer is nothing, and Allen struggles in his rookie season, most of the blame will fall squarely on the shoulders of Buffalo’s decision-makers.
