Although rookie quarterback Josh Allen is undoubtedly the future of Buffalo Bills, he will have to wait a while to get a taste of NFL regular season game. Bills announced on Monday that Allen, seventh overall pick in the 2017 draft, won’t be the team’s Week 1 starter and that Nathan Peterman will take the job instead.
“Nate has earned the right,” – said Bills head coach Sean McDermott while speaking to reporters. “I thought his total body of work, all the way back from the spring through the summer and fall camp to this point — he has certainly earned the right.”
Nathan Peterman played exceptionally well in the offseason, completing 33 out of his 41 passes for 431 yards, and managing three touchdowns. But the Bills’ fans won’t be too excited, considering Peterman’s antics last season. The 2017’s fifth-round pick received several opportunities to start for the Bills last season, and he wasn’t able to deal with the pressure. The most memorable feat of Peterman’s 2017 season is Week 11 game against the LA Chargers in which he threw five interceptions in the first half alone and ended up being benched. Maybe things will be different this time?
Josh Allen, on the other hand, showed flashes of his talent in the preseason, but that wasn’t enough to win the starting job. He started the Bills’ third preseason game against the Cincinnati Bengals but had a poor showing which included completing 6 of 12 passes for 34 yards while getting sacked five times.
According to coach McDermott, the team is now focused on Allen getting used to the NFL and developing in the right direction.
“Josh is on schedule,” – he said. “I’ve been very pleased with the way he’s developed to this point in time. Listen, you learn a lot from the first game of the regular season, whether you’re playing or not playing when it’s your first time. I can just go back to my first time and being a part of the first game in my career. You learn an awful lot. But that being said, I expect that Josh will be ready to go when his number is called, whenever it is called. That’s his focus right now.“
