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What does Josh Allen need to do to quickly seize Bills’ starting job?

By Sayre Bedinger

ARLINGTON, TX - APRIL 26: Josh Allen of Wyoming poses with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell after being picked #7 overall by the Buffalo Bills during the first round of the 2018 NFL Draft at AT&T Stadium on April 26, 2018 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images)
ARLINGTON, TX - APRIL 26: Josh Allen of Wyoming poses with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell after being picked #7 overall by the Buffalo Bills during the first round of the 2018 NFL Draft at AT&T Stadium on April 26, 2018 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images) /
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The Buffalo Bills executed their plan of adding a franchise QB in the 2018 NFL Draft, but how long will it take Josh Allen to seize the starting job?

Buffalo Bills head coach Sean McDermott has let it be known that prized rookie quarterback Josh Allen will work in with the team’s starters this week at minicamp.

The Bills maneuvered their way around this year’s draft starting last offseason when they began accumulating draft capital and making trades, gutting the roster of the former regime and replacing it with their own players.

Allen was simply the final (and perhaps most important) piece of the initial rebuild.

With so many players traded or cut from the Bills in the past two years, it might be hard to even figure out who will be joining Allen in his first-team reps, but the Bills seem to be comfortable bringing his development along rather quickly.

At this point, why wouldn’t they?

What does Allen need to do to win the job in Buffalo?

This team is in a situation where any winning they do will be above expectations. They overachieved last season and actually ended up making the postseason.

It was one of the more shocking developments in the NFL in 2017, but it showed what kind of a coach Sean McDermott is, and it proved that the Bills were able to compensate in certain areas of weakness with areas of great strength (their secondary being one of them).

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With Tyrod Taylor gone and the whole position group revamped, Allen may not even have to ‘beat’ A.J. McCarron for the starting job unless McCarron performs so well the team can’t justify keeping him off the field.

In that case, it’s a win-win for Buffalo, which would get to dangle McCarron and his team-friendly contract for some great trade value or reap the benefits whenever he hits free agency in the form of a compensatory pick.

But unless McCarron plays at a tremendously high level, it seems like Allen simply has to look good enough to warrant the struggle of a 16-game schedule.

Last season, the Cleveland Browns lost every single game on their schedule while watching DeShone Kizer struggle through his rookie season.

There’s no telling what that kind of move can do to a team’s psyche but the Bills have the utmost confidence in Allen to be their franchise quarterback and despite the opinions of many who felt Allen was least equipped to start immediately in transitioning to the NFL, it’s quite possible he will be the first rookie quarterback to be officially named the starter of his new team.

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