transplantbillsfan

And before you say that was last year... has there been a single game he's played where he hasn't thrown a pick or a shoulda-been-a-pick with one of the most standard passes there is in the NFL: the short to intermediate out-route?

Shady, you gotta learn to read. I just redid the poll completely since we're down to just Josh and Nate. Brand new poll now. For the collective poll from the Summer ending today 479 votes cast. 149 were for Allen 218 were for McCarron 112 were for Peterman 45.51% of the people who voted saw the guy they thought would start week 1 traded away.

So I'm actually going to reopen the poll now and take McCarron out so people can recast their votes. Just note that on cut day as McCarron is traded, there were 479 votes cast. 149 were for Allen 218 were for McCarron 112 were for Peterman

I locked the poll after word of the McCarron trade just so that 45.51% can sit there for a bit. I can always open it up again if people want. Seems like about everyone voted who was going to vote, though. Shady, you're doing just an incredible job ignoring me. As for the giggles at my 5% guess... well... 5% is still a chance. And honestly, I stand by my initial number. He doesn't have a 5% chance anymore, but it was a confluence of events that had to happen for him to have a chance to start, primarily that he had to kill the offseason by being better than the other 2 guys in training camp AND he had to virtually play flawlessly in the preseason AND McCarron had to basically fall on his face given the opportunity AND Allen had to demonstrate he's just not ready. All those things had to happen for Peterman to be named the starter. The McCarron one obviously happened. It doesn't appear the 1st one quite happened. The 2nd one appears on the surface to have happened. The 4th one is still up for debate. Notice that the starter still hasn't been named. I think holding the announcement back still gives Allen a slight edge over Peterman, even now. Shady, you're never going to make a shot if you're always sitting on the sidelines.

Yes please

I thought it pretty unlikely they'd just cut McCarron. But I absolutely think they're shopping him right now to see if they can get a 5th-7th round draft pick.

What are you drinking? Beer? Wine? The hard stuff? This is drunk Fig. It's gotta be.

Trust not what he says, only what he does. 4th preseason game where starters typically rest and the fringe guys play and AJ played the entire game.

Respectfully... I disagree. 4th preseason game. I think everyone should realize very little of what McDermott says publicly actually means anything. Come on now... how often do his actions conflict with his words? He said he thought Tyrod Taylor was his Franchise QB. He said immediately after the Saints game Tyrod was the starter. He's saying right now he doesn't know who his starting QB will be. That's just randomly off the top of my head. Everything McDermott says needs to be taken with a huge grain of salt or you need to read it in context. Right now, the context is that saying anything negative about AJ McCarron would only hurt his trade value, so why do it? 4th preseason game--and the 2nd half of the 4th preseason game, nonetheless--has gotta be one of the most meaningless assessment sources in existence for an NFL coach. This is about the most direct insult I've ever seen from you, Fig. So... only those who want Allen to sit are football savvy? I'm just playing... that's the most indirect direct insult I think I'll ever see.

Problem is I think McCarron is clearly behind Peterman or Allen. And I actually thought when we got him it was a good acquisition. But I just don't think McCarron is starting material.

The poll is now set to close September 8th at 8 PM

Still chuckling at your comprehension of the word "ignore"

All I have to do is lock the poll by adding today as the date the poll should be closed. I figured I'd make the date the day before the game, September 8th. No need to lock the thread. It's still pretty much a guessing game... why lock the poll? I'm not changing my original vote... people can, though.

So the narrative very widely held here seems to be that for those who believe Peterman will start the season, Allen will take over in week 4 or 5 or thereabouts. Which begs the question: why does Allen take over in week 4 or 5? Is it because he's ready in week 4 or week 5 even though he wasn't in week 1? OR Is it because Peterman just sucked that much in weeks 1-4 that Allen obviously had to be thrust in? Th first question seems, to me, an obvious no. If Allen isn't ready now, one month isn't going to suddenly make him magically ready to take the reins. So that leaves us with Peterman sucking for the first month. And I think most here saying Allen will start by week 4 or 5 but won't start the season believe it will largely because Peterman isn't playing well and the team is losing. Well, if average joe message board guy knows that's the reason, don't you think the coaches at One Bills Drive know that, as well? And if the coaches know that Peterman will force their hands in a month or so because of poor play--and I'm sorry, call this a leap but I think McDermott and Co. understand that teams don't scheme for players in the preseason, which was a massive part of Peterman's preseason success and that he is probably SIGNIFICANTLY easier to scheme for than Allen is--why do you really think the coaches would choose to keep Allen on the bench if they're going to play him anyway in a month? If Nate is terrible in week 1 against Baltimore, McDermott is going to look foolish on a national scale again. At least you have some wiggle room if Allen has a bad game in Baltimore since he's a rookie. I just think the more time this takes to announce the more likely it's Allen. If the Bills hold back the announcement until Baltimore and Allen goes out as the starter, no matter what the outcome, people across the nation will understand the move to hold back the announcement. If Peterman trots out there and if he has a bad game, McDermott is going to (I think rightfully) be pretty seriously criticized in a number of ways.

TheFunPolice would have to arrest you for missing such obvious sarcasm

About where I sit, but I still lean a little towards it still being Allen. There's more of a reason to continue this cat and mouse game for Allen than there is for Peterman. Sounds like McDermott truly doesn't know yet. But also sounds like it'll end up being Peterman. Interesting that Lorax genuinely seems to not know.

Peterman might start, but every single sentence in this post is sheer and utter crap. That's the game I'm going to this year. I'd be happy with that

I seriously doubt AJ is actually being considered at this point. Last night was one of those showcase games McBeane's hoping garners them a 5th-7th round draft pick. Doubt it

Inevitable??? Yet, he hasn't been named the starter and the last time he actually saw the field with the 1st team offense was against the Panthers. And I just know you wouldn't vomit that his stats were SooOOooo much better so he earned it over anyone else because have some football knowledge and understand that preseason stats are meaningless because coaches are looking at film after the games most importantly to examine what happened.

I get it. I also think that thought process is one that largely resigns us to sucking this year and I don't think McDermott is resigned to sucking. I think he wants to win now while building for the future just like he's been saying. And I don't think he would've been able to get Kyle or Lorax back if it were different. So, while I agree Peterman very much could be the starter in Baltimore, he's going to be on a short leash. If Allen is the starter, that leash will be a mile longer.

I just think there's more to this preseason than Peterman's production. Don't you get the sense that it's manufactured production? https://www.instagram.com/p/Bm_hoi3hzI7/ McDermott admitted Daboll showed too much on offense vs the Panthers, thus severely holding the offense back, since then, making it difficult to grade the other QBs. I don't think anyone has a clue at this point, but I'll stick with my original prediction that Allen is our starting QB week 1. I think that last preseason game shuffling OL in and out was as much a test as anything else. Allen definitely didn't produce the way he had the previous 2 games, but he also protected the football... something McDermott clearly values considering he gave Picked-off-again Peterman just a half before recommitting to Taylor as the starter last year. I think McDermott simply can't ignore the pick-six per game that Peterman is solely because of his weak arm. I think that there's a good chance that this preseason was as much about building up Peterman's confidence again after his abysmal start in his limited regular season action as it was about seeing if Allen is ready to start yet. After all, backup QBs might need to play, and if they do, you'll prefer they don't throw 5 INTs in a half. Both of those missions look like they're about accomplished.

We're going right up to the wire folks and even the coach doesn't know... (even if he obviously knows)