As the calendar shifts to July, the NFL offseason will hopefully pick up some steam. After a seemingly endless offseason due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, teams and fans now look forward to more action on the field.
Ahead of players reporting for training camp on July 28, there are still some questions that organizations will consider as they work toward welcoming their players back into the fold.
For the purpose of this mini-series, the questions will focus on roster issues. Here are three questions to consider for Buffalo’s offense before the team comes together for training camp:
1. Can Josh Allen take a major step forward in his development as the team’s franchise quarterback?
Allen enters his pivotal third year in the league. Even though it wasn’t the original plan, he took the reins as the Bills starting quarterback during the second game of the 2018 season. While many knew his learning curve would be steep, Allen did show glimmers of why the Buffalo sought him out with the seventh-overall pick in that year’s draft. .
The Wyoming product took steps forward last season, improving in several statistical categories. His completion percentage, interception percentage, touchdowns scored, and average passing yards per game all improved in his second year in the league. Most importantly, he helped guide the Bills to their second playoff berth in three seasons.
Now, it’s time to see if Allen can move into the upper tier of quarterbacks in the NFL. General manager Brandon Beane has rebuilt the offense with weapons at every skill position. Can he put the doubters to sleep with further improvements in the passing game?
This will go beyond mere traditional statistics. Can Allen improve his deep ball accuracy–a category that brought him on to the national scene during his rookie year? Can he continue to reduce mistakes in the passing game? Will he reduce his number of turnovers, namely fumbles? The last image that many people remember of Allen’s 2019 campaign was his frantic play at the end of the Wild Card matchup. While he can’t erase those, he can bury them by guiding the Bills to the top of the AFC East for the first time in over two decades.