Bills pull off trade to get their quarterback
The Buffalo Bills traded up to the seventh overall pick of the 2018 NFL draft Thursday night and selected University of Wyoming quarterback Josh Allen.
To move up, the Bills gave Tampa Bay pick No. 12 and two second-round selections.
While the team signed former Bengal A.J. McCarron in the offseason, Allen is now their quarterback of the future.
It’s easily one of the biggest boom-or-bust selections of the draft this year.
The logic is sound in selecting Allen. He won’t turn 22 until after the draft, he has exceptional size and poise, and he’s deceivingly mobile for his size.
That assessment doesn’t even factor in Allen’s absolute Howitzer of a throwing arm.
When Allen was being scouted at the Senior Bowl, the velocity on his throws was an unfathomable 66 mph.
From North practice, courtesy @ZebraTechnology – tracking players this week:
Fastest Throw = Josh Allen – 66.14 MPH
Longest Throw = Tanner Lee – 54.7 yards
Highest Rotations Per Minute = Luke Falk 721.6 RPM
Most Throws = Luke Falk 112 throws pic.twitter.com/Lo0ZjEBZYT— Reese's Senior Bowl (@seniorbowl) January 24, 2018
The fastest velocity recorded at the NFL combine is 60 mph, according to Ourlads’ NFL Scouting Services. Compare Allen’s 66 mph with Eagles star Carson Wentz’s 57 mph throws, and it paints a clear picture of just how much raw arm talent Allen possesses.
Of course, the mere ability to throw a football fast hardly constitutes a franchise quarterback. According to the Ourlads chart, the best rookie quarterback last year in the NFL, Deshaun Watson, threw a paltry 45 mph.
And the NFL legend who threw for 60 mph? The immortal Bryan Bennett of the football powerhouse Southeastern Louisiana University in 2015.
Unfortunately for the fans, Allen’s biggest weakness is arguably the most important thing a quarterback is expected to do — throw the football with some semblance of accuracy.
Allen finished his collegiate career with a putrid 56.2 completion percentage, and a cursory glance at some of his game footage makes it painfully obvious why.
these are back-to-back throws from Josh Allen against Hawaii. misses high on a simple screen pass, then leaves his shoulders wide open on a throw to his left that should've been a pick six. woof. pic.twitter.com/LCiERy4nFx
— Jordan Zirm (@JordanZirm) January 2, 2018
but guys, Josh Allen has a bad supporting cast. It's all the supporting cast's fault. No really, I swear. pic.twitter.com/XOGgDW9ie3
— Ryan McCrystal (@Ryan_McCrystal) January 22, 2018
Those last two video clips aren’t against elite college football defenses like the University of Miami. That’s Hawaii and Colorado State.
Inaccurate college quarterbacks don’t magically become more accurate as the competition gets significantly faster and smarter. Fans had better hope that Allen will be the one to shatter that mold.
With perhaps the glaring exception of Baker Mayfield, no quarterback has such a glaring chasm between worst- and best-case scenarios. He could Ben Roethlisberger 2.0, or he could be Christian Hackenberg 2.0.
That’s a big difference.
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