By Nick Wojton / Billswire.usatoday.com
The Buffalo Bills had six captains in 2018: Patrick DiMarco, LeSean McCoy, Kyle Williams, Lorenzo Alexander, Stephen Hauschka, and Taiwan Jones.
Could Bills quarterback Josh Allen be included in that bunch sooner rather than later? Buffalo general manager Brandon Beane, in an interview with Adam Schein on Mad Dog Sports Radio, hinted at just that.
“(Allen) is a guy who has the intangibles you want as a quarterback,” Beane said. “He’s a big time leader. I think he will… year two walking in as the guy, he will feel himself. Hopefully he shows that he earns that ‘C’ on his chest.”
The reasoning Beane discussed for why he believes Allen could be a captain was a hot-button topic when the Bills introduced their new free agent signings last week. Most of them, including wide receiver John Brown, said the first person they heard from on the Bills was their new quarterback after word got out that they had signed.
“Josh called them within minutes of it getting out. They really thought that was cool. It was good for me to hear that Josh had taken that initiative to call those guys and welcome them,” Beane said.
However, the decision on the ‘C’ might not be up to Beane. Usually it’s up to the team’s coaches or it’s voted on by the players in the locker room. Of last year’s listed captains, two are on defense, two on special teams and two on offense.
Via Williams retiring and Jones remaining unsigned, there’s two vacancies for captains. However, DiMarco and McCoy are returning, so they might keep their captaincy, unless the Bills want to go off-beat and want to give another ‘C’ out on offense.
But if that’s the case, or in one way or another Allen is given a captaincy, you can bet that Buffalo’s head coach in Sean McDermott is on board. This past December, he already came out and said it: Allen’s a locker room leader.
“Josh, Josh is the leader,” McDermott said. “That’s a little bit different for a rookie to be the leader, but the position he plays and the way that he’s played and earned their respect, he’s the leader on the offense.”