One of the most controversial quarterback prospects in the 2018 NFL draft class is Wyoming’s Josh Allen who in this last season passed for 1,812 yards, 16 touchdowns while being picked six times.
His stats are not very good at all, yet he continues to get first-round buzz from NFL teams and has even been mentioned as a potential number one overall pick.
Allen is a rare blend of size, athleticism, and arm strength and he’s skilled enough to produce great plays when he’s on the move. This season he proved he can throw passes of a high degree of difficulty when he’s on the rollout and off balance.
He’ can do things that few quarterbacks can do, especially when he’s on the move and his natural arm strength allows him to get away with throws that most quarterbacks can’t and from positions that would normally lead to mistakes and interceptions.
His mobility allows him to avoid the pass pressure that frequently came from being behind a bad Wyoming offensive line. Allen operates well from the one-read offense as he gets the ball out of his hands very quickly and also thrives in the play action where he showed he can hit guys right in the numbers.
He’s as close to the NFL’s ideal quarterback from a trait standpoint as he has the frame, the height, the mobility and the arm strength that most clubs covet.
But Allen is far from perfect as he struggles when throwing from his back foot and his decision making is questionable at times as he frequently throws into double and triple coverage. He also tends to stare at his wide receivers revealing where his throws will go and ends being picked as a result.
He can be wildly inaccurate as he frequently throws too early, too late, too high or too low from his open wide receivers. That explains why Allen completed just 56.3 percent of his passes, a considerably low figure for today’s college football standards.
Most concerning for those considering drafting Allen is the fact that on his second year as Wyoming’s starter he failed to show progress and his performance failed to elevate his teammates.
If NFL teams carefully study Allen’s tapes and spot his many flaws he will end up being picked in the third or fourth rounds, if instead they just focus on his strengths and his huge potential he could end up being picked in the first or second rounds.
