I am going to reserve judgement. If Beane and McDermott are willing to stake their careers on Allen I will support this. We got the least polished of the top QB prospects. Every other prospect has some potential red flags too. We had better have a QB whisperer on staff and a front office who is patient. The best thing that can happen for Allen is for McCarron to get us into the playoffs thereby forestalling his start until he is ready. Allen looks 2 years away from being NFL ready whereas Mayfield, Rosen and Darnold look ready now.
I recognize that we had to do something at QB. I don't think we overpayed in that we didn't mortgage next years draft to get to 2 or 4. There is no escaping that Allen is far from a finished product. Yes, Allen has the highest ceiling of the big 4 and there is the very real possibility that Darnold, Rosen, Jackson and Mayfield have their best football behind them not in front of them. I just hope that Terry and Kim didn't force this because if they did we have much bigger problems than this pick.
As for the positives, I like the fact that he is a cold weather QB. Looking at his tape there is plenty to be reasonably optimistic about in that there appears to be real talent there. I saw no such reason for optimism when we drafted EJ Manuel. Comparisons to Manuel or Jamarcus Russell are unreasonably pessimistic. His physical stature alone should make him less injury prone than the other QBs. Of the top 4 he appears to be the best scrambler and has the strongest arm.
So I will be a good fan and support Allen just like I did Edwards, Losman, Fitzpatrick and Taylor but I will have one eye on the rest of this year's QBs as well as Mahomes and yes I will make comparisons.
Personally I wanted Lamar Jackson who I still think will outshine everyone. As for my expectations for Allen, there are somewhere in the Mark Rypien/Joe Flacco range - good enough to win in all in a year where we have the best supporting cast.