The Buffalo Bills lost a veteran quarterback to retirement. His absence shouldn’t change much thanks to a certain coach on the staff.
Derek Anderson announced his retirement this week after spending less than a full year with the Buffalo Bills.
It was hard to argue with his decision, as it is one he was close to before even joining the Bills in 2018. Remember, he was never supposed to step on the field in the first place so the added injuries helped his decision.
What he could have done this year is serve as a mentor to Josh Allen. The same job he was brought here to do last year.
The departure of Anderson now leaves Matt Barkley as the veteran of the group. Tyree Jackson is currently the third man in the room and he has zero NFL experience being an undrafted rookie.
But while Barkley is the only veteran on the roster, the coaching staff has a young member that can fill Anderson’s void.
Ken Dorsey is the team’s quarterbacks coach. He is only 38 years old and isn’t too far removed from his playing days. A Pro Football Talk article by Darin Gantt brought this up as well in an article published Friday.
There is the argument that having a mentor on the actual roster is better because there is a different dynamic when the mentor is a coach versus a player. But Dorsey is young enough to where he can basically act like a player, just with more authority.
This also allows the Bills to mold another young quarterback in Jackson, who could end up being Allen’s long-term backup in a perfect scenario.
I doubt anyone was freaking out about Anderson’s retirement. If anything, it was good to see him hang it up and go enjoy his life.
The only concern was losing a mentor to Allen and Dorsey should fill that void just fine.