By Rich Kowalski / billswire.usatoday.com
To little surprise, the Buffalo Bills’ signal callers received little commendation from the people over at Pro Football Focus. The analytics website recently ranked every team’s quarterbacks going into 2018 and the new guys in western New York did not fair well.
As one could expect, the Bills Mafia’s foe, the New England Patriots’ Tom Brady, received the highest praise. Buffalo, on the other hand, had AJ McCarron finish dead last in the potential starting quarterback rankings and Josh Allen in the rookie quarterback rankings.
It might be slightly surprising that they’re dead last in their respective rankings but it’s not quite surprising that they’re included in the bottom of the list. Both McCarron and Allen have a tremendous amount to prove.
McCarron has a small sample size and isn’t seen by people as a long-term answer but a bridge quarterback for Allen. He may have won national championships at Alabama but hasn’t seen the field much in the NFL.
Below is what PFF had to say about McCarron:
McCarron has only a handful of starts under his belt in his career, grading at 65.1 in 2015 on his 186 dropbacks.
Allen, on the other hand, was considered as a wild card by people leading up the draft. Analysts lauded his strong arm but gave him poor marks for his completion percentage and erratic throws.
Here’s what PFF has to say about ranking Allen last:
The first thing mentioned about Allen’s game is his tools and there’s no denying his size, cannon for an arm and athleticism. He can make spectacular plays outside the pocket and that showed up in his 2016 season that put him on the map. However, accuracy and decision-making is a major concern for Allen who ranked only 36th in the draft class in adjusted completion percentage and 29th at avoiding turnover-worthy plays last season.
Whether it’s Allen or McCarron who starts for the Bills in Week 1, the man under center will have a lot to prove to people on the outside. The same can be said for second-year pro Nathan Peterman, who’s also getting a look at the starting job. Buffalo starts with one of the NFL’s toughest schedules so Bills fans might end up seeing multiple quarterbacks play early this season.
Along with Brady at the top of the list, Green Bay’s Aaron Rodgers and Atlanta’s Matt Ryan ranked second and third, respectively. As for the rest of the AFC East, Miami’s Ryan Tannehill ranked No. 24 while New York’s Josh McCown barely edge out McCarron at No. 31
On the rookie scale, the other rookie first-round quarterbacks ranked, in order, were Baker Mayfield, Sam Darnold, Josh Rosen, and Lamar Jackson.