It was Thursday, April 26th, 2018, when the Buffalo Bills made a franchise-defining moment in their history by trading up from #12 to #7 with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and selecting quarterback Josh Allen. The Bills had been in a quarterback drought for the longest time, going back to the days of Jim Kelly and Doug Flutie. While Tyrod Taylor had some success with the Bills the prior two seasons, he was not a franchise quarterback and most fans knew that. Sean McDermott was heading into his second year as the head coach of the Bills and the 2018 NFL Draft featured great quarterback talent in Baker Mayfield, Sam Darnold, Josh Rosen, Lamar Jackson, and of course, the best one to come out of this class in Allen.
There is no question that Allen has had his growing pains. He was playing carelessly and turning the ball over. At the same time, he was drafted into a horrible situation, yet still showed flashes of greatness despite a weak offensive line and some of the worst wide receiver help he has ever had. Going from 2018 to 2019, Allen showed a jump in production with a better supporting cast around him and was able to bring the Bills back to the playoffs but unfortunately lost an overtime heartbreaker to the Houston Texans in the wild card round.
Then in 2020, the NFL was put on notice of who Allen became and how he has performed since then. Had it not been for Aaron Rodgers’ MVP season that he put on for the Packers (51 total touchdowns and only 5 interceptions), Allen would have easily won the MVP award without question. He went from taking the next step forward to taking a massive leap in year three that helped the Bills not only win the division for the first time in 25 years, but included a trip to the AFC Championship game.
Since then, Allen has established himself as one of the best quarterbacks in the league and has kept the Bills’ offense as one of the top units in the league up to this point. There is no question that the offense will look different in 2024. Stefon Diggs is no longer there with being traded down to Houston. Gabe Davis walked in free agency and is now in Jacksonville. Even center Mitch Morse was released and also signed down in Jacksonville. Brandon Beane has built an interesting wide receiver room this offseason that has Khalil Shakir, Keon Coleman, Chase Claypool, Curtis Samuel, Marquez Valdes-Scantling, and Justin Shorter. Shakir is the only receiver on this list that caught a pass from Allen last season.
Despite a lot of changes for Buffalo, Gennaro Filice from nfl.com still believes that the Bills will have a top ten offense in 2024.
Filice placed the Bills as the 8th best offense ahead of the Houston Texans and the Indianapolis Colts. The one factor that put the Bills on this list according to Filice is none other than Josh Allen. Filice discussed how Allen has led the NFL in total touchdowns since 2020 with 174 total and how he has been one of the highest rated quarterbacks in recent memory.
It’s simply called the “Josh Allen effect”. He is a dynamic athlete playing the most important position on the field, who can hurdle and truck defenders that are coming at him. Even though he is getting older, he has shown no signs of stopping. Filice is proving that there is a belief in what the Bills’ offense will look like next season despite all of the major renovations it went through this offseason.