Buffalo Bills

No. 5 Buffalo Bills

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 5:07 p.m. ET

Sports Illustrated, Andy Benoit/Sports Illustrated via MMQB

This discussion might be academic, since there are multiple reports suggesting that offensive coordinator/interim head coach Anthony Lynn is The Guy. If that’s the case, this job is more appealing simply because it answers the question of, Why in the world did owner Terry Pegula fire Rex Ryan after only two seasons? What you’d have is a Dirk Koetter-Bucs or Ben McAdoo-Giants scenario, where a hot offensive coordinator became a leaguewide head-coaching candidate. And so in order to keep the coordinator, the franchise made him their head coach.

But there’s one enormous difference between Buffalo and the Koetter/McAdoo scenarios: the quarterback. Koetter and McAdoo had their guy; whoever takes this job will not. Which is what makes Lynn’s soaring stock harder to reconcile. We really don’t know what kind of offense Lynn would run because the one he’s called here was watered down to accommodate Tyrod Taylor. It’s clear Taylor doesn’t have the field vision or pocket prowess to be a quality NFL starter. The Bills are picking 10th in a 2017 draft that many believe lacks a franchise quarterback. The QB woes that have plagued this team are likely to stay a few more years—which means general manager Doug Whaley probably won’t. Whoever gets this job might soon have to survive a front office regime change.

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Best Fit for the Bills

Anthony Lynn, Bills’ offensive coordinator and interim head coach

Pegula knows more about him than outsiders do. Let’s cautiously give the benefit of the doubt here.