Long time thread peruser, first time poster. I’d like to thank you all for the countless hours of mental stimulation you have been responsible for. That being said...
From what I gather many of the people here seem to be leaning towards either AJ starting a few games, whatever that number may be, and then handing over the reigns to Josh Allen.
Me personally. I believe even just based on his Senior Bowl development and the seemingly huge strides in his footwork, that Allen truely does have a 50/50+ shot at starting, and I would love to see that because those defenses he will be seeing will really give him an idea of what will be coming for the rest of the year/career, and really after LA, you would hope that...as far as pressure related decisions go...coaches as well as Allen himself will have A TON of high caliber film to review. And I feel as though JA has already shown an above average ability to adjust and correct problems in a rather swift fashion based on intelligence. (As shown by his tone with Palmer and the Senior bowl)
As far as him losing confidence, I feel he has had enough trials and tribulations not to let a few hiccups (non-injury related) slow down his growth. It will only serve as more processible information as opposed to a reason to shy away from trying to make play.
Based on how well his testing went in the wonderlic, I think one could argue that the entire NFL game could slow down for him immediately after going up against Bosa and company.
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My vote is for Allen. But I would like to raise a question I haven’t really heard yet.
IF we don’t start Allen, let’s say he is a 5-6, and we want him at 7-8 before starting...does it make sense to just go ahead and throw NP in and keep AJ an unknown for the rest of the league?
I ask this because, if we assume JA will start soon enough and AJ = NP(or at least close) I would think that Beane would at least be entertaining the thought of using AJ as potential trade bait for the eventuality that someone’s QB1 goes down. QB needy teams love to overpay for bridge/fringe starters when in need—and no team would be hesitant to pick up AJM’s absurdly cheap contract in exchange for draft capital. With him being an unknown, wouldn’t that trade value stay higher than if he were to go out and have a string full of 1 TD games behind an unsettled Oline before we hand Josh the keys?
I know it’s an out there question, just wondering if anyone else had considered it?
All his trade value goes away especially in the event that he ends up injured while the line is getting cohesive. Does that make Nate the best bridge to preserve overall QB room value? Or does AJM just give us THAT MUCH better chance to win?
Jeez. That was long. Sorry!