HEADLINES

Nathan Peterman To Start Week 1 For Bills

September 3rd, 2018 at 9:43am CST by Andrew Ortenberg

After trading away A.J. McCarron to the Raiders, the Bills’ quarterback competition was down to two. Nathan Peterman has prevailed over Josh Allen for now, as the team announced Peterman will start Week 1 against the Ravens.

Peterman, a fifth round pick last year, struggled heavily in limited regular season action in 2017. But the Pittsburgh product was excellent this preseason, and performed well enough to stave off the start of the Allen-era, at least temporarily. While Allen will almost surely take over the job at some point, the team apparently decided he wasn’t ready. Allen’s preseason was a mixed bag, his potential was clear as ever, but he wasn’t always consistent.

The Bills’ schedule to start the season very likely has something to do with the decision to start Peterman. The first three weeks of the season, they play the Ravens, Chargers, and Vikings. That’s a tough slate of defenses for any quarterback to face, let alone a rookie making his first career starts, so it makes sense why they’d want Allen to avoid that.

The Bills traded Tyrod Taylor to the Browns this spring, all but confirming they planned to take a quarterback in the first round of the 2018 draft. The team used significant draft capital to move up to number seven overall to select Allen, and even if Peterman plays reasonably well, it’s only a matter of time before Allen is under center in Buffalo.

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