Buffalo Bills: Can Derek Anderson salvage the season?
Derek Anderson has been a journeyman in the NFL for over a decade. With Josh Allen out on injury, can the new free agent signing somehow salvage the 2018 season?
The Buffalo Bills‘ quarterback situation has been less than ideal in the past few weeks. From Josh Allen‘s injury to Nathan Peterman actually seeing an NFL field again (and throwing two more interceptions), Buffalo’s signal-callers are in total disarray.
To try to put a band-aid over the quarterback wound, general manager Brandon Beane has welcomed a new face into the Bills Mafia. Free agent quarterback Derek Anderson, formerly of the Baltimore Ravens, Cleveland Browns, Arizona Cardinals and Carolina Panthers.
Yes, Anderson has been a journeyman for well over a decade now, and the 6-6 quarterback will likely continue his constantly-traveling ways after the season is over in upstate New York. But in the meantime, the former Oregon State product can still try to salvage the Buffalo Bills’ 2018 campaign.
It won’t be an easy task, as the 35-year old quarterback’s best season came 11 years ago, leading the Browns to a 10-6 record. In his last NFL appearance, Anderson came in on mop-up duty for the Panthers in a 22-19 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
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So the question still remains, does Derek Anderson have what it takes to lead the Buffalo Bills out of the basement of the AFC East and salvage the season?
Maybe not, because the talent around him at skill positions and on defense just really isn’t up to snuff. But, Anderson is certainly the best option until Josh Allen gets back.
After all, he was able to lead the Browns to their best season since 1999, and nearly passed for 4,000 yards that year. But, Anderson is a shot fighter by now, if he ever even had a fighting chance. Anderson has been a backup ever since the Browns benched him the very next year, and 2007 has become one of the great anomalies of football. And yet, this was a smart move by Beane and the Bills.
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Buffalo’s quarterback situation is perhaps the most dire in the league. The NFL is a passing league, and the Bills just don’t have anyone to pass the ball. Nathan Peterman is not an NFL quarterback, and Josh Allen could be out for quite a while. Derek Anderson might not be able to salvage the 2018 NFL season in Buffalo, but he’s the best chance they’ve got.