The Buffalo Bills spent the offseason bolstering the offense around Josh Allen.
From pass-catching additions (John Brown, Cole Beasley, Tyler Kroft, Dawson Knox) to running back depth (Frank Gore, T.J. Yeldon, Devin Singletary) to needed offensive line upgrades (Mitch Morse, Ty Nsekhe, Cody Ford, Quinton Spain), Buffalo has made improvements at every level.
Now it's on the second-year quarterback Allen to take those enhancements and excel.
Thus far, coordinator Brian Daboll likes the strides the signal-caller has made this offseason.
"I think from year one to year two, for any player, is huge," Daboll said Tuesday, via the team's official transcript. "Usually you make a big jump because there are so many unknowns when you come in here. You can talk to some of these young rookies that are going through rookie meetings and they don't know their way around to a Tim Horton's, shortcuts to the stadium, all the little things that you take for granted, it's all new to those guys. On top of that, you're playing a pretty difficult position, both physically and mentally, and you have so many things going through your head...
"Heck, some of these guys can't get the play call out just yet. Josh is understanding of what we try to do here. His input, too, it's a give and take. I have a lot of respect for him and I really appreciate coaching him. He has grown mentally, physically, off the field, on the field as a leader. Again, it's a short time, we have only had three OTA's. Back to phase one, he's been really helpful for all of the new guys, whether it's the rookies, whether it's the guys we signed, trying to build relationships with them and grow off the field as well as on the field."
By most accounts from early in offseason workouts, Allen has improved. During an up-and-down rookie campaign, the big-armed signal-caller showed flashes of playmaking ability with bouts of struggles. His improvements down the stretch, however, portended to a developed Year 2 if he made strides in the offseason.
According to Daboll, the work his quarterback has done this offseason has helped, but there are still more advances to be made.
"I think that the more reps we get the better off it is for him," the OC responded when asked how the team can help Allen's accuracy improve. "That's just not out there in a 7-on-7 or a team skelly, or a perimeter period. That's routes on air that we have been doing since phase one and phase two, making him move off the spot and reset, ball location on underneath throws where we have a better opportunity to catch and run. It's not just catching the ball from the skill guys, it's making sure that the skill guy is in the right spot doing the right thing when they're supposed to do it, too. A yard off here or there can be a big difference in the throw. We have been working on it, Josh has been working on it very diligently along with Matt (Barkley) and Tyree (Jackson). We'll keep at it."
The Bills' 2019 fortunes rest on Allen becoming the franchise signal-caller he was drafted to be. Hype is offense overvalued in May, but it's better to hear a young QB is making strides in the spring rather than struggling.
