The Buffalo Bills are a few short weeks away from arriving for training camp in Western New York. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the preseason festivities will be diminished; the team will not hold their sessions at St. John Fisher College, their training camp location since 2000.
Nevertheless, the aim of the training camp remains the same. The organization must prepare players for the preseason, which depth players will compete in their final battle for a roster spot.
Training camp could hold greater importance this year, as the trimmed down preseason slate leaves fewer opportunities for players to impress the coaching staff.
The Bills Wire will complete a position-by-position analysis of each group on the Bills roster. This edition will focus on the quarterback position:
Players (age)
- Josh Allen (24: 3rd season)
- Matt Barkley (29: 8th season)
- Jake Fromm (21: Rookie)
- Davis Webb (25: 3rd season)
2019 recap
Josh Allen did exactly what the Bills hoped for him to do last year: Make improvements to his all-around game. Allen, for the most part, made better decisions than his rookie year. The arm strength and athleticism were on display, still, but Allen improved his touchdown to interception ratio (10:12 in 2018 to 20:9 in 2019) his passing yards per game improved by 20 yards per game, and Allen’s completion percentage also trended in the right direction, improving by six percent from his rookie season. Add in nine rushing touchdowns, and Allen was the most essential cog in the Bills offense last year.
Even with the improvements, everything was not completely rosy last year. His 58.8 percent completion percentage was still well below the league average. Allen’s bad throw percentage was 20.3 percent, the fifth-highest in the league, as per Pro Football Reference. He also struggled mightily in completing deep passes, which should be a strength considering his arm power.
Allen had several highlight moments throughout the year as he guided the offense to its second playoff appearance in three years. The Wild Card game started out as a dream for the Bills. Unfortunately, the lasting impression of Allen trying to make things happen at the end of the game is what many in the nation will remember.
Still, it’s the progress that makes Buffalo happy. Allen improved with a new cast of talent at skill positions, and it benefited the second-year pro. In addition to Allen, Matt Barkley played in the Bills’ season-ending, meaningless contest against the Jets.
Now here’s a rundown of storylines to follow in this position group:
Can Allen take another step forward in his development?
Make no mistake: this year is all about Josh Allen. The team has rebuilt the roster over the past three seasons to position itself in the best vision that head coach Sean McDermott and general manager Brandon Beane could imagine. The team has several reliable and explosive receiving and rushing options.
Now, it’s up to Allen to make it all come together.
Allen is a bit of a complex individual for defenses to figure out. His unpredictability has led to many highlight-reel plays. In the same regard, this has led to some chaos.
Allen has fit the ball into tight spaces. His arm strength is exceptional, which is nothing new. The gradual increase in his accuracy still has some distance to improve. It’s more about developing a bit more consistency with Allen. Offensive coordinator Brian Daboll has done a great job at focusing on what Allen does well, Allen just needs to do more well, like the deep ball.
The next step for Allen is to further eliminate poor plays. He’s on the right trajectory if he continues his development from last year. With wide receiver Stefon Diggs in the fold, there will most likely be more space for Allen to find receivers in the passing game. It’s up to him to consistently make the right reads and allow his playmakers to excel. If he does this, the stats will go up, the wins will come, and the critics will get a little less loud.