AIDAN POLLARD
Assistant Sports Editor
Between Josh Allen, Tremaine Edmunds and Rasmus Dahlin, the 2018-2019 year could be an exciting time for Buffalo sports.
“It couldn’t have fell any better,” said Buffalo Bills General Manager Brandon Beane in an interview with the Buffalo News, regarding the team’s ability to take Edmunds after getting Allen to the number seven spot. “It was funny. I was very excited about getting Josh at seven. I was fine with what we gave up. We got a guy that we believe in that warranted that pick.”
Josh Allen needs to be taken with a grain of salt, though.
Allen left high school with no scholarship offers. He played one season for a community college before being noticed by Wyoming’s coach, Craig Boehl.
He has only two games with over 300 passing yards, both against lower-level teams an NFL prospect should be able to dominate. He also threw 44 touchdowns and 21 interceptions in his 27 games at Wyoming.
To top it off, he’s lost all three of his games against Power Five schools Nebraska, Oregon and Iowa, throwing only one touchdown and eight interceptions between the three.
Beane spoke in defense of Buffalo’s pick of Allen again with the Buffalo News.
“We put in a lot of time, energy, effort, sleepless nights,” Beane said. “I can’t tell you how many times I’ve watched these guys. You see their highlights, and I go, ‘I know what’s happening here. It doesn’t matter, what team, what the score was, whatever, I’ve seen it over and over and over.’ There’s a lot of emotion invested in that. So we thought that was the right move for our team.”
For a team looking to continue their upswing, though, the Bills really need a consistent quarterback and they could have very well just found that in Allen.
Speaking of consistency, the Sabres may have gotten a pivotal break in their win of the NHL draft lottery.
The Sabres now have the first chance to snag Rasmus Dahlin, Swedish defenseman and top 2018-2019 NHL draft prospect.
It’s hard to be hopeful about the Sabres at this point, but grabbing Dahlin would be massive to say the least.
This isn’t to say that one player is going to fix the Sabres, because it won’t. We all know it won’t.
The Sabres just need somewhere to start.
After the New Jersey Devils got the first round pick in 2017, they moved up 27 points with the help of Nico Hischier. Likewise, the Toronto Maple Leafs moved up 26 points in 2016 after getting first round pick Auston Matthews.
Rasmus Dahlin will not fix this program — no individual player will. However, he could spark a change in the culture of the team, which is exactly what the Sabres need.
If the Sabres can start to have any glimmer of chemistry next season and not just rely on Dahlin to carry the program, they may just be able to sneak back into relevancy.
Buffalo sports have long been a disaster, but maybe it’s finally time for a change.