Nathan Peterman, Buffalo Bills rookies leave stamp on Week 11

Another week, another crushing blowout loss for the Buffalo Bills on Sunday, this time against the Los Angeles Chargers. Bills fans can share in a bit of optimism though as the team’s top three rookies all performed well. It continues to look like the team mostly hit the 2017 draft out of the park.

CB Tre’Davious White

White was not targeted in coverage much throughout the game (which is sometimes a complement in itself) and when his receiver was thrown the ball, White was there for the tackle, limiting any functional yards after the catch. Pro Football Focus had him down for allowing only two catches for 19 yards. White continues to be a solid starting corner, which is a very good return for the former 27th pick in the draft.

WR Zay Jones

After a very disappointing start to the season, it appeared that there wasn’t much chemistry between Jones and Tyrod Taylor. He uncharacteristically dropped passes and Taylor was missing him on throws. The past few weeks, Jones has started to come in to his own and on Sunday had 4 catches for 68 yards. Granted, most of those yards came after Peterman was benched and Tyrod entered the game, but any progress is welcome.

LT Dion Dawkins

While the right side of the offensive line struggled to protect Peterman in the passing game, Dawkins, who was primarily matched up against Melvin Ingram, had a decent day in pass protection and a very good run blocking performance. Dawkins was the lead blocker on Lesean McCoy’s 37-yard run in the first quarter and on the very next play when McCoy ran 27 yards for a touchdown. Dawkins is a big man, but his athleticism when getting out in front of McCoy is impressive.

LB Matt Milano

Ramon Humber got the start over Milano again, but Milano was able to collect a decent amount of defensive snaps. However, he didn’t make much of an impact, as he finished with no statistics. He continued to be a stalwart presence on special teams.

QB Nathan Peterman

Peterman’s first game as a starting quarterback in the NFL can be described as a rare perfect storm of misfortune. He was benched after throwing five interceptions and achieving a passer rating of 17.9. Not all five of the interceptions were totally his fault, as a couple came when he was pressured and one was just plain bad luck. The rest of the picks though were very poor decisions by the rookie. Peterman was a fifth round pick for the team and played like it. Now that McDermott has made the switch back to Tyrod Taylor, Peterman man not see the field again, perhaps until the Bills are eliminated from the playoffs.