The Buffalo Bills are heading into their preseason finale against the Pittsburgh Steelers with one of their most important roster questions still unresolved: who will back up Josh Allen.
Coach Joe Brady said both Kyle Allen and Shane Buechele will play on Thursday at Highmark Stadium, keeping the competition alive right up to Sunday’s cutdown day. Brady also made clear he likes what he has seen so far, saying both quarterbacks have played really good football, led the offense down the field and handled the system well.
That matters because the Bills have spent the summer looking for stability behind Josh Allen. Mitch Trubisky provided that insurance over the last couple of years before leaving in free agency, and Buffalo is now trying to settle the job with a new pair of candidates.
Kyle Allen has put together the stronger statistical preseason line so far, completing 24 of 28 passes for 236 yards with one touchdown and no interceptions. He has also been on a noticeable path over the course of camp. During training camp at St. John Fisher University, he was described as a little ragged, but he has steadied since then.
His two preseason outings show that progression. In the opener against Carolina, Kyle Allen led three drives, including one shortened with 29 seconds left in the first half. In Cleveland, he played the entire first half and produced a pair of touchdowns in five possessions. For a backup quarterback battle, that is the kind of clean work coaches want to see.
What Brady wants from the backup job
Brady said his confidence comes from both players operating within the structure of the offense rather than trying to be Josh Allen. That is the key point for Buffalo. The backup does not need to match the starter’s ceiling; he needs to keep the offense moving, make sound decisions and avoid mistakes if called upon.
Brady said he does not need either quarterback to be Josh Allen. He needs them to play within the system, and he said both have done a really good job with that. For a coach, that kind of reliability simplifies play-calling and gives the team a better chance to function if the starter is unavailable.
Kyle Allen also framed the preseason as a useful step in his own return to game action, saying it has been good experience and that the live reps have been valuable after not playing for a year. That is often the point of these late-August auditions: not just to win a job, but to prove a player can handle game speed again.
There are still other roster battles to sort out before Sunday, including several receiver spots. The Bills are also trying to sort through six receivers as the preseason ends, so Thursday’s game will have meaning beyond the quarterback competition. But the backup job behind Josh Allen remains one of the clearest decisions still on the table.
By the time the Steelers leave Highmark Stadium, Buffalo should have a much better sense of where the quarterback depth chart stands. Until then, the competition is still open.
