It’s a conundrum that most NFL head coaches deal with at some point in their career. What is the best way to ready a rookie quarterback, who’s expected to be the face of the franchise at some point, for the starter role? Does he start right off the bat? Do you ease him into such a role over the course of his first year in the league? Or do you essentially keep him on the bench all year, maybe even multiple years, as he learns the tricks of the trade?
Such is the dilemma that Buffalo Bills head coach Sean McDermott faces with Josh Allen. The seventh overall pick of the 2018 NFL Draft is one of three potential starters duking it out in training camp along with A.J. McCarron and Nathan Peterman. It’s a unique situation in that neither McCarron nor Peterman is particularly experienced themselves. In their five combined NFL seasons, the tandem has all of four NFL starts.
Sean McDermott on Timetable for Josh Allen: “We Are Not Rushing Him”
But two days before the preseason opener against the Carolina Panthers, McDermott is preaching patience when it comes to exposing Allen to first-team reps. It shows in the current depth chart which lists McCarron and Peterman as co-starters and Allen as the third-team quarterback. It’s part and parcel of the oft-cited process McDermott continues to espouse in year two of his tenure in Buffalo.
“We’ve got a plan,” McDermott told BuffaloBills.com Tuesday. “We are going to stick with our rotation.”
That rotation will likely see McCarron and Peterman splitting the first-team reps when McDermott’s former club comes to New Era Field Thursday. While Allen himself has played with the first-team offense at times during training camp, it remains to be seen how much time he’ll receive with that unit in preseason action, if any.
But the fact remains. Allen is a top-ten pick and with that distinction comes expectations from the fanbase and subsequent pressure on the coaching staff to throw him into the mix as soon as possible. There are myriad cautionary tales on jumping the gun. But at the same time, there are success stories. Last season, DeShone Kizer provided an example of the former while Deshaun Watson, until an ACL injury in practice ended his season, did so in the latter case.
In discussing Allen, McDermott brought up two quarterbacks he’s well and truly familiar with: Donovan McNabb and Cam Newton. The Philadelphia Eagles drafted McNabb the same year McDermott joined their scouting department. And the two remained a part of the franchise for the next decade. Ironically enough, McDermott took the Panthers defensive coordinator position in 2011 when the team drafted Newton first overall.
The two are case studies in contrasting approaches. McNabb didn’t start until Week 10 of his rookie year whereas first-year head coach Ron Rivera thrust Newton into the spotlight right off the bat. There certainly were growing pains for both signal callers. McNabb went 2-4 as a starter in 1999 while Newton’s opening two seasons in the league saw him go a combined 13-19.
But if history is any indication, their long-term success in this league is unquestioned. Though McNabb retired in 2011, Newton’s story still has a few chapters left to be written. But up to this point, the two have a combined nine Pro Bowls under their belt and appeared in one Super Bowl apiece. Newton won league MVP in leading Carolina to their second Super Bowl appearance in franchise history back in 2015.
It’s those two experiences that McDermott, in his first head coaching gig, is using to evaluate how to groom Allen into a legitimate franchise quarterback. And as of right now, he appears committed to relying on the “take it slow” approach. That certainly explains his current status on the depth chart just a few days before the preseason begins.
“We are not rushing him,” McDermott noted. “We want to make sure that he is ready to go.”
