Jake Fromm and the Buffalo Bills: Good match or not?

Jake Fromm was drafted by the Buffalo Bills who already have a young starting quarterback. So what does this mean for the former Georgia football star?

No one expected Jake Fromm to drop to the fifth round of the 2020 NFL Draft. Even the analysts on ESPN and NFL Network were at a loss as to how Fromm kept sliding. There were references to his poor outing at the NFL Combine and some lack of physical skills scouts had noted, but he still had a very high draft grade.

One after one the quarterbacks went. First the “sure thing” prospects — Joe Burrow, Tua Tagovailoa, Justin Herbert. Then the Packers unexpectedly grabbed Jordan Love in the first round. Most felt that Fromm and former teammate Jacob Eason would come soon thereafter in the second or third round.

When the fourth round came with Fromm and Eason still sitting among Mel Kiper Jr.’s best available players, people began to wonder what was up. The experts seemed perplexed, and the fans were getting nervous for Fromm.

In round four, Indianapolis took Eason. A good fit for him, and obviously the Colts saw something in Eason they liked. Okay, fine.

Then the New York Jets selected James Morgan out of FIU three picks later.

What the…

The teams who actually needed quarterback help — even for a backup — were really whittled down at this point. Two teams showed a serious interest in Fromm — Indianapolis and New Orleans. The Colts went with Eason and the Saints were out of picks.

Was Fromm destined to go undrafted and have to go the free agent route to make his dream happen?

Finally, with the 22nd pick in the fifth round, Fromm’s name was called. He was heading north to join the Buffalo Bills.

The same Buffalo Bills who just drafted Josh Allen with the number seven overall pick in 2018, and who were trying to build a team around him as their franchise quarterback.

Can Jake Fromm survive in Buffalo?

So, is this the equivalent of banishment to the great white north for Fromm, or was this a message to Allen that the Bills weren’t going to have a ton of patience with his inconsistencies and development?

The truth is, anywhere Fromm went he was probably going to be holding a clipboard and possibly competing for the number two job. The same is still true in Buffalo, but he could actually be competing for a starting job there.

One thing is certain about Jake Fromm, he’s no stranger to competition and won’t shy away from it. Head-to-head, Fromm held off both Jacob Eason and Justin Fields to keep his starting job at Georgia. That’s the mark of a young man who rises to the challenge when presented.

He doesn’t have the makeup to walk into the locker room in Buffalo loudly making his presence known and tossing down the gauntlet of challenge to his new teammate Josh Allen, but he’ll definitely make the quarterback competition interesting.

Allen and Fromm are two completely different types of quarterback, and with what’s being assembled there in Buffalo, you might have to think, advantage Jake Fromm. Allen is a big guy with an even bigger arm, but he’s struggled with reading defenses, throwing touch passes and timing routes — things Fromm happens to excel at doing.

The Bills just went out and grabbed Stefon Diggs from the Vikings to be their number one wide receiver threat, but they are a defense-first, pound the ball kind of team, much like what Fromm just came from at Georgia.

It will be fun to watch and see what happens, but Fromm may have just landed in the right place at the right time. If he can play up to the level he’s capable and show that his confidence hasn’t been shaken by a slide in the NFL Draft order he could eventually supplant Allen as the starter, possibly sooner rather than later.