2018* QB Draft

[GoBills808]

Just now, Buffalo716 said:

McDermott's planned the entire time was to sit Josh Allen.. he started the preseason as the QB 3

yeah, in favor of Peterman who he not only himself drafted but watched w his own eyes play football

 

just screams i know how to develop QBs right

[Buffalo716]

7 minutes ago, GoBills808 said:

yeah, in favor of Peterman who he not only himself drafted but watched w his own eyes play football

 

just screams i know how to develop QBs right

 

Peterman was a good practice quarterback.. everywhere he's went coaches has lauded his ability to practice very well

 

And again the history of NFL football says grooming a quarterback from the bench is the correct way to do it.. it didn't matter if it was Nathan Peterman or gibran hamdan... McDermott was not going to trot out Josh Allen week one he was going to give the veteran every chance 

 

Josh Allen took years and years to get rid of a lot of his flaws which would be corrected from the bench easier

 

Coaches just don't have the time to sit a quarterback on the bench for 3 years learning anymore.. but it is the correct call.. no quarterback will get hurt sitting and learning the NFL game

 

Every single quarterback can benefit from learning the game from the bench in the NFL.. most coaches just don't have the time to do that

Edited September 26 by Buffalo716

[GoBills808]

1 minute ago, Buffalo716 said:

 

Peterman was a good practice quarterback.. everywhere he's went coaches has lauded his ability to practice great

 

And again the history of NFL football says grooming a quarterback from the bench is the correct way to do it.. it didn't matter if it was Nathan Peterman or gibran hamdan... McDermott was not going to trot out Josh Allen week one he was going to give the veteran every chance 

 

Josh Allen took years and years to get rid of a lot of his flaws because we did throw him to the fire.. he would have corrected his flaws sooner from the bench which is what McDermott wanted to do

i don't buy it sorry

 

i don't believe it was some master plan that they had to abandon after one half of the first game of the season lol. if you do, kudos

 

they tried their hardest to ruin allen imo 

[LEBills]

7 minutes ago, Buffalo716 said:

McDermott's planned the entire time was to sit Josh Allen.. he started the preseason as the QB 3

 

Even if we had tyrod Taylor level play they weren't going to throw Josh in until the next year.. Peterman being historically bad made the change happen 

 

If we had even average they're not making the change that year... A bad organization names the top pick qb1 right out the gate... And throw them to the fire.. we literally gave Josh Allen development from training camp as the qb3 and were trying to hold off

 

Ryan Fitzpatrick or tyrod Taylor would have kept him on the bench for one season and it would help

My friend, Peterman was terrible and had shown it multiple times to that point in his non-preseason career. Not only did they peg him as the starter going into the season, they were so sure it would be ok that they traded away AJ McCarron before the season. They massively missed on that QB decision. Then they had to turn to Josh or risk losing the locker room. And it was the beginning of Josh covering up for flaws of this regime. 
 

I still think McDermott is a good coach, Beane an ok GM and both are good enough with Josh to win a Super Bowl. But Josh is the main reason it will happen.

[Buffalo716]

5 minutes ago, LEBills said:

My friend, Peterman was terrible and had shown it multiple times to that point in his non-preseason career. Not only did they peg him as the starter going into the season, they were so sure it would be ok that they traded away AJ McCarron before the season. They massively missed on that QB decision. Then they had to turn to Josh or risk losing the locker room. And it was the beginning of Josh covering up for flaws of this regime. 
 

I still think McDermott is a good coach, Beane an ok GM and both are good enough with Josh to win a Super Bowl. But Josh is the main reason it will happen.

Sitting a rookie quarterback is always the right decision

 

It will never hurt a quarterback learning the NFL game from the bench which is what the bills wanted to do .. Josh would have cleaned up some of his flaws sooner if he didn't get thrown to the fire... Getting thrown to the fire sharpened him like iron but he also didn't correct his flaws for a while.. he was Brett favre.. a play making machine with 15 turnovers a year.. that could have got coached out from the bench sooner...

 

Go bills

Edited September 26 by Buffalo716

[LEBills]

Just now, Buffalo716 said:

Sitting a quarterback is always the right decision if you can 

 

It will never hurt a talented quarterback learning the NFL game from the bench which is what the bills wanted to do 

 

Doorbells

No one is disagreeing with that, but their execution of that plan was very bad. They fixed it a bit later in the season when Josh got hurt and they brought in some experienced backups to play and learn from, but by that point the cat was out of the bag and Josh really couldn’t keep sitting once he was healthy.

[SoTier]

12 hours ago, FireChans said:

I will believe the Bills will attack WR in the draft when I see it.

 

I agree with this, but it doesn't bother me at all.   Top class WRs (ie, those with speed, size, and good hands) tend to be mercurial, ie, unpredictable, if not outright head cases.  It seems that the most consistent WRs come from lower in the draft, which means that they usually lack one or more of the physical attributes of the top guys.   

[Ray Stonada]

On 9/24/2025 at 6:55 PM, skibum said:

2018 vs. 1983: Pretty equal if you ask me!

 

Allen - Elway

Lamar - Marino (not terms of playing style, but as in talent vs. results)

Baker - Kelly

Darnold - Ken O'Brien

Rudolph - Tony Eason

Rosen - Todd Blackledge

 

If you think Baker Mayfield is as good as Kelly then I think your judgment is clouded indeed.

[Billy Claude]

1 hour ago, Ray Stonada said:

 

If you think Baker Mayfield is as good as Kelly then I think your judgment is clouded indeed.

 

Agree.  Also O'Brien >> Darnold and Eason >> Rudolph

 

O'Brien was really good for a four year stretch including being AFC player of the year in 1985. Eason was the QB when the Pats got killed by the Bears in the Super Bowl. 

 

Darnold would need another three years like last year to get to O'Brien level.  Eason wasn't very good but at least he started in 51 games while Rudolph is most likely a career backup.

 

 

Edited September 26 by Billy Claude

[GunnerBill]

9 hours ago, BillsFanForever19 said:

 

Is the 2027 WR Draft Class considered an all time great class bc it's deep or just because of Jeremiah Smith and Ryan Williams at the top?

 

Because if it's just because of them, that really doesn't matter for us. Unless something catastrophic were to happen to us, it would play out just like the 2024 Draft. Those guys are going in an area that will not be feasible for us to get to.

 

Even if we were able to put together a deal that was fair to get there, no shot that a team wouldn't just stay pat and select the player (like they did with MHJ and Nabers in 2024) or be willing to move that far down the board.

 

Teams willing to move out for someone to select that level of a prospect require a kind of trade that eclipses to greatly eclipses the value chart and also involves them not moving too far from where they are. See Travis Hunter this year and some of the reported offers to the Cardinals and Giants that were turned down in 2024.

 

Well it's a long way out and it depends with some guys if they come out this year instead. But there is also Wesco at Clemson, Coleman at Auburn and there are others too. I think it is potentially a 6 or 7 round 1 type guys class. 

 

I agree top 10 might not be feasible for the Bills but getting into the teens definitely is. And right now I expect there to be potential #1 receiver type talents available in the teens. Because it isn't just a good looking receiver class. Right now 2027 looks like a hell of a potential draft class. In a year's time that might have changed, it has happened before. But right now.... has the potential to be one of the best collections of first round talent we have seen in the 20 or so years I have been watching the draft.

6 hours ago, HappyDays said:

 

Yeah it is kind of impossible to play the "what if Josh Allen had this roster?" game, because him being with that team since 2018 would mean their roster would be totally different. Since drafting Allen, Beane has only owned one pick inside of the top 20. And that trickles down to every round in the draft. Some teams get to pick #5 and #37 with their first two picks. For those teams their 2nd pick might fall in the same tier as our 1st pick. And we've had that disadvantage for 6 years now so there is a snowball effect. It is not easy to find elite talent in that area of the draft, although you think Beane would have gotten one just by pure luck by now.

 

The Chiefs are the only real comparison to our perennial draft position and their talent has dropped off significantly over the years. The Ravens had a top 15 pick in 2022 and got Kyle Hamilton with it. The Eagles have had three top 10 picks since 2020 and came away with Devonta Smith (elite #2), Jordan Davis (meh), and Jalen Carter (elite). The Bengals got Chase in the top 5. These are opportunities that we just haven't had.

 

On the flip side, I've said this before but having an elite franchise QB creates a compound positive effect that is impossible to quantify. It creates stability in the organization which means the coaches don't get fired, so every new player is joining a very well established culture and system. You get to stop spending draft picks on the QB position. In training camp you aren't splitting reps, the starting offense is the starting offense and they get all of the reps together. You get first dibs at reclamation projects that are looking to rebuild their image with a good team, especially on offense. There are certain free agents and tradeable players every year that only a few teams have a chance at getting and you're one of them. Your QB's mere presence on the field elevates everyone around him which makes their development track easier. All of these positive effects compound over the 10+ years that you have that QB.

 

So if the Browns had drafted Josh Allen 1st overall I 100% believe they would be a Super Bowl contender right now. Hue Jackson probably would have still been fired after 2018 and I have no doubt Kevin Stefanski could have had the same success or more with Allen that McDermott has had. They wouldn't have wasted all those draft picks and money on Watson so if anything their roster today would be significantly better even after accounting for lower draft picks every year. They might be considered a super team by now honestly.

 

 

I agree mostly. But I have more confidence in the Browns ability to screw things up than you do. Not least because they have an interfering owner who thinks he knows more about football than the football guys. I'd have the same confidence in Carolina to screw things up for the same reason. 

[FireChans]

7 hours ago, GoBills808 said:

i don't buy it sorry

 

i don't believe it was some master plan that they had to abandon after one half of the first game of the season lol. if you do, kudos

 

they tried their hardest to ruin allen imo 

There’s something funny about how some folks in this topic vehemently argued how good of a situation Mahomes got drafted in, and how he would have sucked here and never won any Super Bowls throwing to Kelvin Benjamin, but now suddenly the 2018 Bills was QB development mecca.

 

Anything and everything in service of the McD cause I suppose.

[LarryMadman]

8 hours ago, GoBills808 said:

correct

 

Allen has succeeded in spite of McDermott and Beane, not because of

and likely would have anywhere else

Yup and I don't think for a minute McDermott was the one that developed Allen, I believe it was all Daboll. 

[GunnerBill]

9 hours ago, GoBills808 said:

i don't buy it sorry

 

i don't believe it was some master plan that they had to abandon after one half of the first game of the season lol. if you do, kudos

 

they tried their hardest to ruin allen imo 

 

I do think it was a master plan. Just a terrible one. Peterman was a dreadful Quarterback. I didn't even think he was draftable let alone startable in the NFL. They planned to have Josh sit at least most of the year and after one half of Peterman in 2018 they were like "we keep trotting out this guy he will get us fired." 

 

It was a predictable disaster. 

[SoTier]

2 hours ago, FireChans said:

There’s something funny about how some folks in this topic vehemently argued how good of a situation Mahomes got drafted in, and how he would have sucked here and never won any Super Bowls throwing to Kelvin Benjamin, but now suddenly the 2018 Bills was QB development mecca.

 

Anything and everything in service of the McD cause I suppose.

 

Did somebody pee in your cornflakes or are you just one of those people who can never see the positive in anything, but especially in the Bills?  It's like the better the Bills play, the more negativity about the team you spew.  

[GunnerBill]

9 hours ago, Buffalo716 said:

 

Ryan Fitzpatrick or tyrod Taylor would have kept him on the bench for one season and it would help

 

Would it?  I dunno. There are Quarterbacks who learn from the bench, no question. But I think the one element of the Bills development of Josh where they (organisationally) deserve some element of the credit beyond just Josh being incredibly talented and incredibly driven to improve and succeed is that they exposed him to things. They were willing to keep calling pass plays and exposing Josh to different rushes and different coverages and the sort of high level opposing defensive scheming he just hadn't been exposed to in the Mountain West even at times when nothing was working. They never went to, right let's just run the ball and get out of dodge here. They prioritised giving Josh the opportunities to get better and he absolutely maximised them. 

 

I actually think not only was their original plan wrong because Peterman predictably sucked, I am not sure their original plan was the right plan for Josh Allen. If he'd sat in 2018 my strong suspicion is 2019 might have looked a fair bit like 2018 for Allen (possibly a little better but still up and down), and 2020 might have looked a fair bit like the first step forward that 2019 did. Then they'd have been going into 2021 (year four) not really knowing whether he was definitely the guy. In a sense they got slightly lucky that their original plan worked out so poorly they had to abandon it so quickly. 

 

 

Edited September 26 by GunnerBill

[Buffalo716]

21 minutes ago, GunnerBill said:

 

Would it?  I dunno. There are Quarterbacks who learn from the bench, no question. But I think the one element of the Bills development of Josh where they (organisationally) deserve some element of the credit beyond just Josh being incredibly talented and incredibly driven to improve and succeed is that they exposed him to things. They were willing to keep calling pass plays and exposing Josh to different rushes and different coverages and the sort of high level opposing defensive scheming he just hadn't been exposed to in the Mountain West even at times when nothing was working. They never went to, right let's just run the ball and get out of dodge here. They prioritised giving Josh the opportunities to get better and he absolutely maximised them. 

 

I actually think not only was their original plan wrong because Peterman predictably sucked, I am not sure their original plan was the right plan for Josh Allen. If he'd sat in 2018 my strong suspicion is 2019 might have looked a fair bit like 2018 for Allen (possibly a little better but still up and down), and 2020 might have looked a fair bit like the first step forward that 2019 did. Then they'd have been going into 2021 (year four) not really knowing whether he was definitely the guy. In a sense they got slightly lucky that their original plan worked out so poorly they had to abandon it so quickly. 

 

 

Realistically nobody knows how he would look like if he sat 

 

 in my opinion it cannot hurt a quarterback, especially a talented one... Six games or one year or two years.. can only help a pro adjust

 

 

Go. Bills

Edited September 26 by Buffalo716

[Dan Darragh]

On 9/25/2025 at 10:29 AM, Dan Darragh said:

Yeh, I used to be a lawyer too but I got over it.

 

14 hours ago, Bob Chandler's Hands said:

Well, in fairness, your point was internally inconsistent. 

That's the benefit of having retired.  

[SoTier]

The Bills' evil genius who ran the team to maximize profits, Russ Brandon, was fired shortly after the 2018 draft, and Pegula turned the team over to Brandon Beane.   IMO, that action enabled the Bills to develop Allen into a great QB because then Beane had the power to change the team's focus from maximizing profits to winning football games.

 

Ryan Fitzpatrick was sent packing in 2017 because Brandon didn't want to pay him.  Tyrod Taylor was sent packing because the Bills' plan was always to eventually have Allen start some time in his rookie season.   I thought that another veteran QB, maybe AJ McCarron, was in the 2018 training camp, but I think he got hurt and was eventually cut.   I think that "the plan" for Allen was always to start JA some time in his rookie season, but Peterman was so bad that it was probably much sooner than the Bills intended.   Later in 2018, the Bills added Derek Anderson and Matt Barkley as backups.

 

Immediately after the 2018 season, the entire offensive staff except for OC Brian Daboll, was fired.   Among the new offensive coaches was Ken Dorsey, the first  "QB coach" the Bills ever had who had experience developing an NFL QB (Cam Newton).  In 2019, the Bills kept Matt Barkley as backup QB, added veteran WRs Cole Beasley and John Brown  as well as veteran C Mitch Morse.   They also drafted TE Dawson Knox in the 2019 draft.   IOW, the Bills brought in real mentors for Allen, they gave him better targets, and they improved his protection.   They did, in fact, intentionally help Allen develop his talents, JA was dedicated enough to work tirelessly at his craft, and, as the saying goes, the rest is history.

 

Edited September 26 by SoTier

[ChronicAndKnuckles]

On 9/25/2025 at 7:29 AM, BillsFanForever19 said:

 

Sterling Sharpe got in.... as a "Seniors" finalist, 30 years after he retired. In large part bc his brother kept his name relevant by pushing for it in the media for 20 years.

 

I don't agree with that opinion about Josh making the Hall of Fame if he retired after this season. There are a grand total of 2 Quarterbacks in the Hall of Fame that played in the Super Bowl era and didn't play in a Super Bowl. Dan Fouts and Warren Moon - and each of them played 15+ years in the NFL.

 

No bigger fan of Josh than me. And again, I think if he continues on the trajectory he's on and he plays for a long time - he'll make it. But after just 8 seasons and no Conference or Super Bowl Championship? I don't see it. If he did, it would probably be a long wait like Sharpe.

I don’t know if people understand how incredible Allen’s achievement of 5 consecutive 40+ TD seasons is. 

[GoBills808]

4 hours ago, GunnerBill said:

 

I do think it was a master plan. Just a terrible one. Peterman was a dreadful Quarterback. I didn't even think he was draftable let alone startable in the NFL. They planned to have Josh sit at least most of the year and after one half of Peterman in 2018 they were like "we keep trotting out this guy he will get us fired." 

 

It was a predictable disaster. 

that's what I'm saying

 

i am not going to simultaneously believe these two things-

 

1: a coaching staff could draft Peterman, watch him play, and plan on Allen sitting his rookie yr behind him 

2: these same people are responsible for developing Allen

 

my contention then as now is the circumstances here were about as ill suited for QB development as could possibly be, and Allen succeeded in spite of them