Buffalo Bills: 3 reasons why Josh Allen will start Week 1

3. He is already being endorsed by Bills players

Speaking of becoming smitten with Allen’s toolkit, it appears that the youngster is already beginning to win over some of the team’s more prominent players. Most notably, star running back LeSean McCoy expressed glowing praise of Allen during the team’s minicamp:

"“I have to be honest, he’s pretty good. I’m not a big fan of rookies. The best rookie I’ve probably liked in my career has been Tre [White]. Tre’s really good. A lot of guys as rookies, they’re not like him. The quarterback is on that level: he’s good, he’s smart, [but] he has to learn of course. He’s thrown some passes that probably shouldn’t have been thrown, but other than that he has a strong arm, [he is] very intelligent. He’s too smart…”"

Some may view this as McCoy simply toeing the company line and being on board with whatever the Bills decide to do at the quarterback position. Besides, “Shady” was also a vocal proponent of Taylor the past few seasons, which may seemingly illegitimize some of his statements.

I could not disagree more.

McCoy uses words like “intelligent” and “special” when speaking of Allen, while admittedly not being a fan of rookies in general. The perennial Pro Bowl running back would have been well within his rights to be diplomatic when solicited for his views on the team’s new quarterback, but he wasn’t.

For a team that just lost two interior offensive line stalwarts in Richie Incognito and Eric Wood, McCoy could easily have pouted about the team’s new direction. Instead, he likely sees that the Bills were on a conservative quarterback treadmill that limited their prospects at winning big.

Allen’s former Wyoming Cowboy and current Buffalo Bills teammate, Eddie Yarbrough, also spoke highly of the rookie’s character:

"“He’s just a guys, guy. Everybody wanted to be around him,” said Yarbrough. “People just like to gravitate towards him in a sense. Josh is just one of those guys. A face, a look. He just keeps things light.”"

Sign me up for someone who works hard, has players gravitating towards him already, that just happens to have all-world skills.

Next: A post-minicamp look at the battles along the offensive line

See you Week 1, Josh.