On Monday morning, the Buffalo Bills announced that Nathan Peterman will be leading the offense when they face off against the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday. The former Tennessee and Pittsburgh QB got the nod over rookie Josh Allen, who was drafted at No. 7 overall in the 2018 NFL Draft. Peterman had a good preseason, totaling 431 yards passing and three touchdowns, which the Bills took as a sign of good things to come after he struggled in 2017. Last season, Peterman played in four games and threw for 252 yards, two touchdowns and five interceptions. All five of those interceptions came in an abysmal week 11 performance against the Los Angeles Chargers. In response to this news, CBS Sports writer Barrett Sallee couldn’t help himself from reminding everyone that former Tennessee head coach Butch Jones once had three NFL quarterbacks on roster, and decided to go with Justin Worley.<doc-sep>The Buffalo Bills have named second-year quarterback Nathan Peterman as their Week 1 starter. IT’S OFFICIAL: Nathan Peterman has been named our starting QB! #GoBills pic.twitter.com/KOLzmufZyM — Buffalo Bills (@buffalobills) September 3, 2018 As a rookie last year, Peterman struggled. Playing in four games (two starts), he went 24-for-49 (49.0% completion percentage), passing for 252 yards, two touchdowns and five interceptions, owning a passer rating of 38.4. All five of Peterman’s interceptions came in his debut last season. After selecting former Wyoming quarterback Josh Allen in the first round of this year’s draft and signing A.J. McCarron, it was believed that Peterman would be buried on the depth chart. Against all odds, Peterman stood out during the preseason and secured the starting role with his play. McCarron has since been traded to the Oakland Raiders. Allen will be one of the four first-round rookie quarterbacks to not start. Sam Darnold is the only rookie starter in Week 1. Peterman threw the majority of his passes in the short field during the preseason, which carries over from last year. In 2017, he averaged just 5.1 yards per attempt. However, he went 33-for-41 (80.0% completion percentage) passing for 430 yards, three touchdowns and zero interceptions. Baltimore has a defense that prides itself on takeaways, leading the NFL last season with 34. The Ravens also led the league in interceptions in 2017 with 22. Though Baltimore will miss Jimmy Smith due to suspension, who had the third most interceptions on the team (3), they will have Eric Weddle (6), Brandon Carr (4), Marlon Humphrey (2) and C.J. Mosley (2) in coverage to defend against Buffalo. Last time the Ravens played against Buffalo was in 2016 - another Opening Day game. Baltimore won 13-7.<doc-sep>Brett Carlsen/Getty Images Entering training camp, AJ McCarron looked like the present and Josh Allen looked like the future at quarterback for the Buffalo Bills. As it turns out, neither the veteran stopgap signee nor the first-round pick will be under center when the Bills open their regular season against the Baltimore Ravens on Sept. 9. Instead, head coach Sean McDermott has decided to let Nathan Peterman captain the offense following one of the most underwhelming starting debuts in NFL history a season ago, the team announced Monday. A 2017 fifth-round pick, Peterman was thrust into action after the Bills abruptly benched Tyrod Taylor last November—and the results were disastrous. In his first career start, Peterman went 6-of-14 for 66 yards with five first-half interceptions against the Los Angeles Chargers. By season's end, the Pittsburgh product completed 49.0 percent of his passes for 252 yards, two touchdowns and five picks. However, the 24-year-old made improvements throughout the offseason and worked with QB guru Tom House to help refine his mechanics. Those tweaks helped Peterman impress with 119 yards and a touchdown on 9-of-10 passing in Buffalo's preseason opener, and his stock continued to climb as the Bills ramped up preparations for the regular season. Video Play Button Videos you might like His progress and Allen's status as the QB of the future led Buffalo to trade McCarron to the Oakland Raiders on Saturday for a 2019 fifth-round pick. Now offered a chance at redemption, Peterman will be tasked with leading a Bills offense that features a group of skill-position players highlighted by running back LeSean McCoy and No. 1 receiver Kelvin Benjamin. Based on recent history, though, it won't be surprising if McDermott keeps Peterman on a short leash with Allen waiting in the wings.<doc-sep>The Buffalo Bills made several changes to their quarterback room this offseason. First, they traded former starter Tyrod Taylor to the Cleveland Browns for a third-round pick. Then, they signed former Bengals backup AJ McCarron to a two-year, $10 million deal. A little more than a month later, they traded up in the first round to select Wyoming quarterback Josh Allen. During the preseason, McCarron and Allen engaged in a three-way competition with 2017 fifth-round pick Nathan Peterman. McCarron suffered a broken collarbone, knocking him out of the competition, and he was then traded to the Raiders on Sunday. Monday morning, the Bills announced that it was Peterman, not Allen, who has been named the starter for Week 1. Across three preseason contests, Peterman completed 33 of 41 passes for 432 yards, three touchdowns and an interception, while Allen completed 24 of 44 throws for 210 yards and two scores. Peterman started one game for the Bills last season, famously throwing five interceptions in the first half against the Chargers before being unceremoniously benched at halftime. It's fairly clear that Allen will take over the team's top job sooner or later, but the Bills want him to wait a little while before ascending to the QB spot. Buffalo's early-season schedule is pretty tough, with the Ravens, Chargers, Vikings, Packers, Titans, and Texans on tap in the first six weeks of the season. It's possible Allen takes over at some point during that run, but the Bills also might elect to keep him on the bench until the schedule eases up a bit over the second half of the year.<doc-sep>
The Buffalo Bills announced Monday that they will open the season with quarterback Nathan Peterman under center as their starting signal-caller. Nathan Peterman has been named the Bills starting quarterback. — Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) September 3, 2018 In his first game of the year, Peterman and the Bills will face the venerable Baltimore Ravens’ defense on the road this Sunday. Peterman became infamous last year for his Week 10 NFL debut where the then-rookie threw five interceptions in one half against the Los Angeles Chargers. Peterman finished his rookie season completing 24 of 49 passes for 252 yards, two touchdowns and five interceptions in four games and two starts. Peterman has played against the Ravens once before. In an Aug. 2017 preseason game, Peterman completed 11 of 23 passes for 93 yards in a 13-9 loss. Though he didn’t enter the year as the favorite to win the Buffalo quarterback job, Peterman netted the gig by virtue of outperforming veteran quarterback A.J. McCarron — who was traded to the Oakland Raiders on Saturday — and possessing more experience than rookie quarterback Josh Allen. Though fans may be licking their chops at what appears to be an enticing matchup for Baltimore, Peterman admittedly had an impressive preseason, completing 33 of his 41 passes for 431 yards, three touchdowns and one interception. If 2017 tells us anything, it’s that Peterman needs to be respected. Fans last season were excited to see the Ravens face what appeared to be inferior quarterbacks in the likes of Blake Bortles, Case Keenum, Mitchell Trubisky and Jacoby Brissett, yet all managed to hold their own against Baltimore.