Case Keenum may need to start this week for the Bills. Here's what to know about the QB

ORCHARD PARK — If you were to put together a list of the most irreplaceable players on an NFL roster, Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen might be at the very top.

There are others, to be sure. There’s a guy in Kansas City named Patrick Mahomes, for instance. But Allen’s unique skill set — the cannon for a right arm, the size, the toughness, the running ability — and the absolute God-given talent makes him a unicorn of sorts.

There’s really no one like him, and that’s the guy that Case Keenum might have the unenviable task of trying to replace Sunday afternoon when the Bills play host to the Minnesota Vikings.

Of course, Keenum knows he can’t just step in and be Allen. No one can do that. But that doesn’t mean the 10th-year veteran isn’t confident in his abilities to take the reins, if need be, and keep the Bills offense humming.

NEVER MISS A MOMENT: Follow our sports newsletter for daily updates

“I feel great,” Keenum said after practice Wednesday during which he got all of the first-team reps while Allen rested his injured elbow. “I’m doing the same thing I do every week; I prepare to play every week, every day, every period, every practice, every meeting, so it’s the same. Just got a few more reps today.”

The likelihood is high that Allen is not playing. Any injury to a quarterback’s throwing arm has to be treated with the utmost care, and with half a regular season and, hopefully for the Bills, a postseason run still to come, rushing Allen back into action probably wouldn’t be the most prudent plan.

However, the fact that the Bills have an experienced backup like Keenum — a player who has 64 career starts in the NFL and has played in playoff games — should make the decision a little easier for Sean McDermott. Not that McDermott offered any hints Wednesday as to what he might do.

“We’ll see how he does,” McDermott said of Allen. “We use common sense and obviously we factor a lot of things into it, medical report being one of them, and our doctors wisdom and knowledge.”

How the Bills acquired Case Keenum

The possibility of an Allen injury is exactly why the Bills traded a seventh-round 2022 draft pick to Cleveland to obtain Keenum. They know how important this season is, one where they fully expect to get to the Super Bowl and win it. And so, they knew they couldn’t just sign anyone to be Allen’s backup; they needed a player they could trust to go in and steer the ship in the event Allen were to miss time.

“He’s been through this before,” McDermott said of Keenum. “We have full confidence in Case and Matt Barkley and we shape a game plan accordingly based on what we know right now.”

Last season, Keenum stepped in to start two games in place of Baker Mayfield for the Browns.

In a Week 7 Thursday night game in Cleveland, he completed 21 of 33 passes for 199 yards and a touchdown during a 17-14 victory over the Broncos in what turned out to be the last game his new Bills teammate Von Miller played for Denver.

And then in the season finale, also at home against rival Cincinnati, Keenum completed 17 of 24 passes for 176 yards and two touchdowns as the Browns won 21-16 in a game started by Brandon Allen as starting Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow was resting for the playoffs.

“I’ve been in all situations,” Keenum said. “I’ve played a lot without any practice, so I know how to do that, step into the middle of the game. I’ve practiced some and then played, and I’ve practiced (as the starter) and played. I’ve literally been in any situation you could probably think of throughout the week. I’ll take it a day at a time and see what the plan is and and get ready to go.”

Case Keenum's career

Keenum had a record-breaking college career at the University of Houston where he played in a wide-open spread offense where running the ball was merely a distant thought. He set all-time NCAA records for career passing yards (19,217) and touchdown passes (155), but no NFL team drafted him because none believed what he did in the gimmicky Cougars offense would translate to the pros.

Keenum ultimately signed as an undrafted free agent with the Houston Texans in 2012, and in 2013 he started eight games in place of injured Matt Schaub. He spent one more season there, mainly as a backup to Ryan Fitzpatrick in 2014, then began a world tour during which he has played - and started - for the Rams, Vikings, Broncos, Commanders and Browns.

Add it all up and he’s 29-35 as a starter with a 62.3 completion percentage, a 190.8 passing yards per game average, 78 touchdowns and 48 interceptions.

“Me and Case go way back,” said wide receiver Stefon Diggs, who played one season with Keenum in Minnesota, the year Keenum went 11-3 as a starter and led the Vikings to the NFC Championship Game. “He’s a true pro. He’s been around this league for a long time so I anticipate him preparing the right way.

“He’s a winner, he’s a dog. When he gets out there he’s still competing at a high level. He gives you that confidence that you can win, whether it’s with his arm or whether he’s improvising or making things happen. So I have complete confidence in him. I’ve seen it in action.”

Keenum laughed when he was asked whether he’ll be a little more jazzed up playing against the Vikings who let him walk in free agency after that great 2017 season and signed Kirk Cousins to replace him.

“I’ve played a lot of my former teams before; that’s what happens when you have a lot of former teams,” he said. “You only say those type of things when it’s your first time doing it, but I’ve done it a bunch of times so I know how to treat those weeks, too.”

Obviously, offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey will have to alter some of the play-calling because Keenum can’t do some of the things Dorsey often asks of Allen. But that doesn’t mean he can’t craft a game plan that can still bring out the best in the weapons Keenum has around him.

“You always want Josh out there; there’s no perfect time for the backup to come in,” center Mitch Morse said. “But we have extreme confidence in Case, if that’s the way we go. Hopefully he has confidence in us. It’s not like we have to change our game or change how we block because Case is in there. He’s a seasoned veteran, a guy who commands the pocket in his own way. He just has a different little spice that he brings to it. And if he’s the one that we roll with, we have the utmost confidence that we’ll fly around and compete.”

This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Case Keenum may start for the Bills vs Vikings: What to know