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How many games will it take for Josh Allen to start for the Buffalo Bills?

Over the past couple of seasons, most rookie first-round quarterbacks didn't start right off the bat.

NFL: Buffalo Bills-OTA Timothy T. Ludwig-USA TODAY Sports

Combining the 2016 NFL Draft and the 2017 NFL Draft, six quarterbacks were taken in the first round. The majority of the players in this group weren't Day one starters, and sat for a period of time before they were given the chance to show why they were first-round picks.

AJ McCarron will most likely be the starter for the Buffalo Bills to kick off the 2018 season, but recent history shows that Josh Allen could be named the starter sooner rather than later.

Jared Goff of the Los Angeles Rams was the first overall pick in the 2016 NFL Draft. With Case Keenum as the opening starter, it took nine games before Goff was given the keys and the Rams have never looked back.

Carson Wentz wasn't originally supposed to start, but then the Philadelphia Eagles saw great things during camp and the preseason and robbed the Minnesota Vikings for a first-round pick in exchange for Sam Bradford. After the trade, Wentz was the only quarterback in this group to start Week one.

Paxton Lynch sat behind Trevor Siemian for the majority of his rookie season with the Denver Broncos. He only had two starts that year, appearing in a total of three games. Lynch hasn't lived up to the expectations of a first-round quarterback thus far and has played in just four games over his first two seasons in the NFL.

Mitchell Trubisky, who the Chicago Bears moved up just one spot to take in the 2017 NFL Draft, sat for the first four games of the season. The Bears chose Mike Glennon as their bridge quarterback; unsurprisingly, Trubisky had to start sooner than later due to Glennon’s poor performance.

Patrick Mahomes was drafted into the best situation with the Kansas City Chiefs where he could sit for the almost the entire regular season behind Alex Smith, a proven starter in the NFL for many years. Mahomes sat for the first 15 games of the season before Andy Reid gave him the nod in Week 17 to let Smith rest for the postseason.

DeShaun Watson of the Houston Texans was given the ball at halftime of Week one. Tom Savage was sacked six times in the first half, and Bill O’Brien was ready to see the future of the franchise. Watson started the next six games before being sidelined with an ACL tear for the remainder of the season.

Poll

Given the recent history of first-round quarterbacks, how many games will it take before Josh Allen becomes the starter?

This poll is closed

  • 22%
    1-4 games
    (473 votes)
  • 34%
    5-8 games
    (715 votes)
  • 21%
    9-12 games
    (441 votes)
  • 21%
    13+ games
    (454 votes)
2083 votes total Vote Now