Orchard Park, N.Y. -- Jon Gruden never got a chance to coach a highly drafted quarterback. If he had, maybe the former Buccaneers and Raiders coach turned ESPN analyst wouldn't have been on a conference call with reporters previewing the NFL season Wednesday.

Gruden has experienced enough success with unheralded quarterback prospects to know a good one when he sees one. He also gets an up-close look at the draft-eligible quarterbacks each year when ESPN runs Gruden's QB Camp. In that show, which has run for eight seasons, Gruden spends time with the quarterback prospects, breaking down film and going through on field workouts. This spring, Buffalo Bills fifth-round pick Nathan Peterman jumped out at him.

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"You know the cool thing about the Gruden QB Camp show that we have is I get a chance to spend a whole day and sometimes two days with these guys," Gruden said Wednesday. "We've had almost 60 shows in the last several years. To make a long story short, I really felt that Nate Peterman was very similar to Andy Dalton coming out of TCU. Similar size, similar personalities. Athletic guys that can throw the ball. Team guys, leaders. There's a lot of intangibles I see in Peterman that I felt Dalton had. When I watch the tape in the preseason, I see a young Andy Dalton. He's making accurate throws. He has anticipation and touch. He can handle a lot of offense. He played in two colleges. We said that during the show. This man knows the game. He loves the game, and it shows in the way he performs."

Peterman has impressed during the preseason, and with Tyrod Taylor and T.J. Yates both in concussion protocol, there's a chance the rookie could open the season as the starter. Some have wondered whether he's a better fit for Rick Dennison's version of the west coast offense than Tyrod Taylor is. Gruden doesn't think the offense matters for a guy like Peterman.

"I don't know what offense they're running in Buffalo," Gruden said. "I don't know what the 'west coast' is anymore, but whatever offense you want to run, Peterman can run it. He's athletic. He can run the read option and he can handle a lot of football. He's a mature young man. I think he's going to be a starter in the NFL whether it's in Buffalo or some place in the next year or so."

Gruden also said if he were coaching, he would put a rookie quarterback in the fire to learn, because there aren't enough reps in practice to see what you have. If a player is ready to handle it mentally, the bumps that come with starting as a rookie should be no problem.

Whether it's Peterman or Taylor who starts opening day, the Bills have an uncertain future at the position. But with six picks in the first three rounds of the 2018 NFL Draft, they have the flexibility to find another guy if need be next spring.

"I think it's pretty easy to see the teams that sustain winning, they have one," Gruden said. "They have a guy that can make the throws. The guy that can dominate at the line of scrimmage. The guy who doesn't waste plays. These guys are coaches on the field. They have football aptitude. They have the great arm quickness, they have arm strength. They just have a way of making the other players better. They make the defense better because the defense they fight harder knowing if we just get this guy the ball back, we have a chance. The offensive line plays better because they don't want this man hit. The meetings are better, the practices are better, life is better when you have a blue chipper playing quarterback in the NFL. You even have a chance to sell some luxury boxes and jerseys too. Man I'm envious of some of these guys that have been able to coach a quarterback like (Ben) Roethlisberger for that many years or Aaron Rodgers, Drew Brees. That's an envious position for those guys."

Suffice to say, the Bills don't have one of those guys at this point. You can bet Sean McDermott and Brandon Beane share Gruden's envy for the coaches and general managers that do.