BigHornWY

Die hard Wyoming fan here. Apologize, I didn't read through the entire thread, but here are my thoughts. In 2016 when Wyoming played for the MWC title, Josh Allen was incredible, maybe not if you look purely at stats, but he really carried that team to a lot of the wins they had. That 2016 team had a lot of NFL talent (starters and fringe NFL players), including, Josh, Chase Roullier, Tanner Gentry, Jacob Hollister, Brian Hill (who was a beast in college), and Rico Gafford. We all still look back and wonder how this team was not undefeated. The simplest answer is coaching. As much as Bohl gets toted as this magical QB whisperer, he is far from it. Every QB in this system has regressed, including Josh. Coach Bohl is a hard headed old coach that appears to be unwilling to coach to the players he has, rather tries to fit a square peg in a round hole. In Josh's case, the o-line was not very good at pass blocking either year. In 2016, Josh more or less did Josh things, running for his life and making plays. When those aforementioned teammates declared for the NFL or graduated, the only piece left in 2017 was essentially Josh. On top of that, after the hype of potentially going #1 overall and deciding to come back for another year, the coaching staff appeared to try and keep Josh protected in the pocket (which he wasn't) and not really let him run and scramble to make those a-typical Josh Allen plays. For the people that watched him week in and week out, could tell he was special, the rocket arm, the athletic ability, the cocky/confident leader attitude, was really something. The 2017 team was so bad, absolutely zero run game, no receivers, and always playing in down and distance situations. One big difference between 2016 and 2017, is that the defense in 2016 was terrible and 2017 was actually pretty good. I believe if they even had a marginal D in 2016, that team would have been a lot more successful. I only bring that up because in 2016 Josh had to play from behind often and get in shootouts, which doesn't really let you settle into the plan of the offense, and in 2017 he had to do everything, with very little help. A lot goes into stats and domination in a lesser conference, but man, without him those two years, those teams would have been lucky to win 3 or 4 games.

Hey all, Wyoming Cowboys fan turned Bills fan (with the draft of Allen). It is interesting reading opinions on Allen from your perspective. I wanted to pipe in an give a perspective from a guy that follows Wyoming very closely. First off I will say that there is obviously no certainty that Allen will end up being a great NFL QB. With that being said, here are a few observations to think about. 1. In the Iowa game alone there were, off the top of my head, 4 or more easy perfectly thrown balls that ended up being drops, one in the end zone, and the others were complete drive killers. If the receivers catch those balls, not only is it a closer game but Allen's completion percentage goes above 65% (the magic number right?). 2. Before Allen got to Wyoming (and in the two games at the end of the year last year when he was injured), this team had a very hard time winning, as proven by losing to the worst team in FBS, San Jose State at the end of last year. Allen really made that offense go. 3. This may be the most frustrating thing as a fan, play calling. The O coordinator often times called running plays on first and second down (with a horrid running game), only to have the offense in third and long situations. That, along with an O line that made him run for his life, and try to make things happen, probably made up for some forced throws that didn't move the chains. 4. The lack of a running game last year. As football fans, you all know the importance of having a successful running game and how that opens up the passing game. This was one of, if not the worst running offenses, I have ever seen at Wyoming. 5. There were certainly times where Allen missed a throw he should have made, or forced a throw he shouldn't have, but the guy absolutely won Wyoming more games than he ever lost. The dude is a competitor and has that "it" factor. It is a little frustrating to hear different opinions about completion percentage and playing against weaker opponents etc. Carson Wentz played against weaker opponents but he was driving a Cadillac of that division. In recent history the QBs that have been drafted from Oklahoma, USC et.al. have tanked for the most part. They also were driving Cadillac's in addition to running spread systems. Allen ran a pro system in college and I do believe that gives him a leg up. In 2016 Allen had a lot more weapons and really had a lot more productive year, but was still lining up behind a poor offensive line. But to reiterate, there is no guarantee the he will be the savior of the Bills, but he has just as good of chance as anyone in my opinion. Time will tell.