These are the same excuses that fans can make for Darnold, Rosen, and even to some extent Mayfield. And for pretty much any highly drafted QB because the bad teams are usually the ones picking first. Sometimes the QBs get off to slow starts and turn it around, sometimes they don't. Not saying one way or another what Allen will become, but Bills fans are more excited than they should be right now. Like how Jets fans were overly excited after the Colts game.
The national media tells the story they think will sell. After the first few weeks, Darnold was the best in the class and now he sucks because he hasn't been good in a while and people like to shit on the Jets. Allen meanwhile is good because it's a controversial story. If Allen plays badly the rest of the way, everyone will forget about the good stuff and he'll be back to being a bust because shitting on the Bills is fun too. And I saw quite a few fire McDermott articles a month ago. But maybe those weren't serious, I don't know.
There will be fans that make any argument for any situation. You have guys who hate the player, so everything they do is bad. There are homers, who think everything is good. Confirmation bias is everywhere, but that’s always the case. You have to sift through the debris and search for objectivity. What you want to see your rookie QB do is progress a little more each week. If he’s doing that, you’re in good shape. Allen has definitely done that, and he went from a nervous small school rookie to literally carrying the entire offense on his back. He’s going to have bad games. He’s going to miss passes (he missed an easy TD last week), but generally, you want to see progression and you want to see them fix mistakes instead of continuing to make them. I haven’t seen Darnold, but if he’s doing those things, be excited.
It’s going to take more then OL upgrades to get Sam where we want him, but I believe that’s where it starts. Can’t run the ball so everyone’s prepared for the pass, and our skill guys aren’t good enough to get separation. If they actually build around him, he’ll be more then fine.
I don't believe Allen will become a great QB, but I don't disagree he has a huge amount of physical potential, but I can identify with your excitement for your potential FQB. Our two franchises have been among the most joy-starved in the NFL, and while you guys are division rivals, and therefore I can't really root for you, I'm happy that you're getting some joy finally.
I dont disagree that we may be TOO excited at the moment. Its a poor year record wise, and it brings an excitment that we havent had in quite some time. Its fun to be jazzed about a rookie qb. Having said that, whos to say what too excited is? Back in training camp i remember people here proclaiming Sam was already the Jets best qb since Broadway Joe. Is that too excited? Are the posts here stating that Sam was the best of the rookie qbs bc he was the first to start too excited? Were the subsequent posts stating that Darnold was the only non-bust of this class too excited? It may be blind optimism, slight ignorance, or simply being jazzed about your rookie qb. Any of those options simply ignore its not even something anyone can answer about any of them at this point. I dont think its fair for you to judge how excited Bills fans are when youve admittedly only watched the hilights. Folks get excited. IMO, as long as its done respectfully, its not something to get annoyed or frustrated about. Hell, both could be total busts and out of the league in 5 yrs and we look back sadly and laugh. Progress is fun, especially when you are open minded to it all.
The problem will be - and it can happen very quickly as most bad habits do - when he continues to rely on his scrambling ability instead of being a true NFL QB. I would say this is what happened to RGIII and led to his eventual injury and now where is he. He's going to have to suffer some regression to learn how to improve his accuracy, and rely on his arm more than his legs. The running can be a huge difference-maker for him, but not if that's what he relies on. You fans are going to have be patient and endure some real poor play as he learns how to be an NFL QB and not a flash in the pan runner.
Lol of course the homer posts about Sam were too excited. You should see some of the stuff Defense Wins Championships posted here, it makes you seem like a Dolphins fan by comparison.
I like when other teams fans ('specially AFC East) come here to discuss football in a civil manner. Even a bit of homerism is expected. The avatar fits because love Namath and I'm stuck out here in LA.
For sure. And i think thats generally what Bills fans would tell you. I think partially why last week (and even the jax game) was considered such a step was that he wasnt bailing just to bail anymore. He only had 9 rushing attempts. Im not sure if he come out with 30 yrds if its viewed the same way. The fact he hit 135 after 101 the previous week (officially 99 w 2 kneel downs) makes it SEEM like hes running a ton. 9 for 30 is nothing but 9 for 135 seems like a ton of rushing. Of those 9, 6 were break or get sacked and 3 were technically early bails. Earlier in the year that would have been reversed. Anywho, last week he ran much safer than the Jax game and avoided hits. The Fins went man and had kiko spy. Allen was able to exploit that. Once that is able to be game planned against itll be a different ball game. One would also hope that at some point he is no longer leading in the yrds per attempt. Its nice that he is showing the ability to hit the 15-25 yard throws on a rope BUT youd think check downs would only help. Im not so sure the avg of 17 odd yrds per attempt is a good thing. Most importantly for both these QBs, they were both kinda faltering or seemingly starting to struggle. Josh got to sit and learn from a vet FOR THE 1ST TIME EVER (LOL) and it seems to make a difference. Hopefully Sam shows that his time off was a good thing in that regard too. I don't think either of them could be pulled bc itd screw w their heads... but a well timed injury could have made all the difference. Do you guys think someone like Quincy has been a big benefit to Sams development? I think we hoped KB would be that, but in the end he ended up hurting his comp % and now his 'weapons' minus zay are all guys who were on PS earlier in the year. Buffalo fans were wondering if having a go too guy like you guys have would have been a big help
Both Darnold & Allen are the 2 QBs from the class that really need an offense catered to them. Allen needs an OL that can execute slide protections on every play to open up space for him to scan the field & potentially take off.Ideally you have big boundary players who can get down field,down the seam & able to box defenders out. Darnold needs Big Ben style OL who can give a clean pocket,stay on their feet & block till the whistle to give Darnold a chance to extend plays. He needs route runners who can make YAC for his anticipatory skillls as well as catching radius type who can come back to the ball & box out defenders on extended plays. Theyll be hard to evaluate early & may not have lasting effect if a cast is not build to their skillset
I don't think Bills fans think Allen has arrived......we're excited because we actually seen our rookie QB carry our entire offense basically by himself the past 2 games with no running game, below average oline and mediocre receiving options. He's actually made watching Bills games exciting unlike the previous 4 games(minus that Jets game lol) he missed.
I don't think anyone can really judge how good or bad Darnold is until we see changes in the playcalling and on the offense - as is evident from how badly McCown has played - the offense as a whole stinks and you cannot really judge how much of the blame lies in what area
Cant argue w that! Before Sam went down, where were you guys at? Still generally optimistic, or was there a split? I feel like before the year in Buffalo everyone said let the rookie start and lets deal with the bumps etc. Then before he got hurt there was an impatient group that wanted him pulled even though only 5 weeks earlier said they wanted the bumps
I think this is a good assessment. Allen proved in college that he had a big arm, but the question was about his accuracy on shorter throws, and throwing them too hard with no touch. He's going to need to learn how to fix that, and his receivers are going to need to learn how to catch hard throws,
There's a similar split here. Some didn't want Sam to start at all, although I think a majority did. Then when he began struggling, some switched over to the "sit him" side, although again, most wanted him to play through it. The injury and subsequent sitting has caused controversy, and now some more are saying (like me) why play him at all at this point, with this CS, play calling and OL? On the other hand, if he doesn't play, there is absolutely nothing to care about with this team for now.
I was optimistic and excessively so after week 1 but was losing it game by game - its not great when your QB still leads the league in interceptions despite not playing for a few weeks - I fully expect him to turn out to be another Sanchez because its the Jets and they seem to have whatever the opposite of a Midas touch is - but I cannot give up entirely because its still way too soon; he is very young; we don't have anyone else to root for; the entire offense is terrible (in every facet)- I just hope they don't kill whatever chance he has at success. Certainly if I was a top tier QB prospect I would not want to get drafted by this franchise.
Still any team with a rookie QB is going to struggle - the bottom 3 ranked teams for passing are the Jets, Cardinals and Bills (and the Browns are 26th)
