Bucky Brooks: The Blueprint Buffalo Should Replicate to Maximize Josh Allen's Abilities

[Chandler#81]

On 12/14/2018 at 8:53 PM, LSHMEAB said:

Brooks pointed out the lack of weapons on offense. Do you really think casual readers want to hear these points you made valid as they may be?

Obviously not in your little world, where jumping to conclusions and administering Last Rites is the mantra for ‘being in the know’.

 

’round these parts, that’s called crusading.

[26CornerBlitz]

Another plan for the Bills.  This time it's Greg Gabriel.

 

Gabriel: What Do Bills Need To Be A Playoff Contender? | Buffalo Sports Page

 

 

by Greg Gabriel, Buffalo Sports Page NFL Expert

 

Needless to say, the 2018 NFL season for the Buffalo Bills has been a disappointing one. With the Bills getting into the Playoffs last year in the final game of the season, having only four wins to date this year is not what Head Coach Sean McDermott and General Manager Brandon Beane were looking for. That said, this season showed us exactly what the Bills were lacking as far as being able to compete for the Playoffs again in 2019.

 

In the last two years there have been two other NFL clubs that were in similar situations to the Bills. In 2016, the Los Angeles Rams drafted Jared Goff with the first pick in the Draft. The plan was for Goff to sit in 2016 but after a half season of struggles, the Rams made Goff the starter and like many rookie quarterbacks, he struggled.

 

In 2017, the Chicago Bears selected Mitchell Trubisky with the second overall selection in the ’17 Draft and they had a similar plan as the Rams. Let Trubisky sit and learn as a rookie. Just like in L.A., the plan never materialized and Trubisky was made the starter after just four games of the 2017 season. Like Goff the previous year, Trubisky struggled.

 

CAN ALLEN BE THE NEXT GOFF & TRUBISKY?

WHAT THE OFFENSE NEEDS

LOTS OF HOLES TO FILL

[transplantbillsfan]

 

[Troll Toll]

I’d say Josh is an A+ runner because he looks to throw first and makes good judgment on what will yield the most yards. He is forcing defenses to play honest in a way that was sorely lacking in the past 20 years. We watched teams squeeze the line of scrimmage to stop the runs and short passes, knowing we weren’t a threat to beat them in the intermediate and deep throws. If the Bills play their cards right, they could have one of the great downfield offenses in NFL history.

 

 

[Matt_In_NH]

On 12/15/2018 at 9:57 PM, One Buffalo said:

 

The numbers actually indicate that Benjamin was a factor... here is the stat- 

 

 

 

That is skewed though, if you take away throws to outside WR's for any QB their percentage will go up.   What is left is screens, shorter passes to backs, TE's and slot WR's.   For what it is worth, Allen's completion percentage has gone DOWN since they waived those two guys.   I would be surprised if anyone watches Allen and does not see that there is an accuracy issue, it was an issue coming out and we have seen it all year.  Having said that he has made a lot of strides since coming back from his injury.  He plays smart, gets guys to jump and throws it deep, gives players a shot on 50/50 balls, his balls have had a better shot at being complete than earlier in the season but not sure how to measure that.   He can throw a nice bubble screen, would like to see more of that.   He has to develop touch on short passes but if he continues to improve we might have something special.

[One Buffalo]

3 hours ago, mattynh said:

 

That is skewed though, if you take away throws to outside WR's for any QB their percentage will go up.   What is left is screens, shorter passes to backs, TE's and slot WR's.   For what it is worth, Allen's completion percentage has gone DOWN since they waived those two guys.   I would be surprised if anyone watches Allen and does not see that there is an accuracy issue, it was an issue coming out and we have seen it all year.  Having said that he has made a lot of strides since coming back from his injury.  He plays smart, gets guys to jump and throws it deep, gives players a shot on 50/50 balls, his balls have had a better shot at being complete than earlier in the season but not sure how to measure that.   He can throw a nice bubble screen, would like to see more of that.   He has to develop touch on short passes but if he continues to improve we might have something special.

 

Fair enough... but my only point in this is that KB's inadequacy is a factor in all of this.  There are many factors, and I don't really care for simple narratives or blanket statements.  Allen for sure has struggled with inaccuracy at points, but I don't think it is fair to label him as incredibly inaccurate (like some have).  He has thrown an increasing number of great throws.  By nature, he is going to always have a lower completion percentage, if his style (and the play calls) is primarily pushing the ball down field with longer throws.  But if you couple that with WR's who are better at separation, making contested catches, and catching the "catchable" balls that this year have been incomplete, we will see some incredible things in the years to come.  I would much rather have Allen's style of play than Captain Checkdown/ high percentage stats.  

[WhyteDwarf]

On 12/16/2018 at 6:51 AM, oldmanfan said:

Don't know if you ever played football, but I did when I was a kid.

 

Oh boy, here we go!  I bet you walked 10 miles in the snow to school as well?

[oldmanfan]

10 hours ago, WhyteDwarf said:

 

Oh boy, here we go!  I bet you walked 10 miles in the snow to school as well?

Way to cherry pick quotes.

[dubs]

On 12/14/2018 at 3:45 PM, LSHMEAB said:

How are the numbers deceiving? We've had a few more drops than the average team, but nothing egregious.

 

Josh needs to get better as a passer and the hope and expectation is that comes with time. There was nothing grotesquely unfair in that snippet.

 

- They don’t get open as quickly or as often

- They don’t win contested balls

- They drop more catchable balls 

- Josh makes much more intermediate and deep throws than an average QB, especially as a percentage of total attempts. 

 

 

 

 

[RocCityRoller]

I see Bucky actually making a case for JA in these posts and tweets.

 

It is frustrating seeing coverage fawn over Watson and Jackson as the next wave of dual threat QBs, with JA being considered marginal.

 

Watson is a better passer to this point in his career, and I think he will have a solid NFL career. I like Watson a lot. Watson is also in his second year, and is passing to D.Hopkins, D Thomas, Will Fuller and Sutton. Lamar Miller is no bum at RB. Houston has a great Defense.

 

Jackson has fewer games and is doing what JA did in his earliest games. But Jackson gets the attention. Jackon has Crabtree, Snead, and Brown to throw to. They are loaded at RB with Collins, Allen, Edwards and Dixon. The Ravens are also a great defensive team.

 

Josh Allen has Zay Jones, McKenzie and Foster to throw to. Shady has dropped off, Ivory is out and then what? The Defense has played well, but has produced few scoring opportunities this season.

 

Put Allen in the Houston or Baltimore offense and see what he does. There is no Hopkins and Thomas or even a Crabtree and Snead on this roster. Yet JA is starting to elevate guys like Foster and McKenzie.

 

Buffalo MUST get Allen some legitimate weapons. I'd take a mix of Hopkins and Brown, or Thomas and Snead over anything Buffalo can put out there. Young legs are needed at RB also. Tate or Williams have to be a priority FA WR, and a round 1-3 receiver needs to be drafted.

 

The O-line has to be improved, though they looked much better last weekend. We saw what JA can do with a little time.

 

Watson, Allen and Jackson are all dual option QBs and will be the type of QB the NFL will look to emulate in the coming years. Buffalo has one of them, they need to get him some help.

 

 

[Thurman#1]

On 12/16/2018 at 9:14 PM, oldmanfan said:

I think Allen probably had more time than he thought and could have set his feet more.  And when you say hit him in the numbers, that's all well and good.  But how many QBs even when being set with their feet hit a guy right in the numbers from 50 yards away?  Very few.  Bottom line is Clay has to catch that ball. 

As for all the stats and junk, as I have pointed out a number of times now, people confuse accuracy and precision.  I will mention the dartboard analogy once again.  If you surround the bull's eye consistently but don't hit the center of the bull's eye, you are accurate.  But you are not precise.  If you throw every dart on top of each other, but you are two inches away from the bull's eye, you are precise, but you are not accurate.

 

Allen is pretty accurate; most all his throws are within the catch radius of his receiver where they can make a play.  Last game I saw two throws, one to Thompson and one over the middle to Ike, that were truly inaccurate.  He like may Qbs could stand to be more precise, while also being accurate.  Guys that have high accuracy and high precision are your stars. 

 

Now as for this completion percentage stuff, a true statistical interpretation of such would involve adding a lot more variables into the equation than most do.  Things like the play call on both sides of the ball, quality of the WR and the DBs playing against such, atmospheric conditions, as just a few.  I think it is fairly well established in the college game that many guys have high completion rates because they throw a lot of very short passes to WRs that are better at what they do than the DBs trying to cover.  In the pros you have so many different route combinations, preferences of the OCs, etc it's hard to compare.  Watching the Bills offense, it seems clear their preference right now is to throw down field a lot more than other teams, and that would of course affect completion percentage.  Last game I counted three throw aways and three flat out drops by Allen's receivers, which would have moved his completion rate into the 60's.  Which is why using completion rate for some measure of accuracy is a fallacy.

 

You want to assess his accuracy, the best way is to actually look at all his individual throws.  He is fairly accurate, but needs to be more precise with placement.  The kid, and I emphasize kid, has work to do.  Like many young QBs the game has to slow down, and it looks like it is.  He seems quicker at making reads now, still needs to work on the correct read of course, and he has thrown some very nice balls the past few weeks.  Still misses a few, but all this should improve with time.  Unfortunately in a world of Internet and smart phones and drive through McDonald's the impatience of society at large and Bills fans in particular think a kid with 8 games under his bely should already be a mature, finished product.

 

 

 

"Bottom line is Clay has to catch that ball," you say? Nah.

 

Or rather, if you're going to say that, you'd have to add this: And the other bottom line is Allen has to throw a ball that is more catchable.

 

And he simply didn't do that. No, he doesn't have to hit him in the numbers. But you absolutely can't throw the ball eight yards away from the guy and far too low.

 

"How many QBs," you ask, "even when being set with their feet hit a guy right in the numbers from 50 yards away?  Very few." Yeah, fair enough. Now ask, "How many QBs - pros - even when being set with their feet throwing from 50 yards away, throw it eight yards short and a bit behind as well"? And yeah, the answer is indeed, "Very few."

 

Ah, I tried to download a snipped photo from the All-22 and got told I could only download 204 KB. Too bad. But the fact is that Clay is a yard or two in front of the end line and drifting right. Drifting right was a reasonable choice, as one Jet defender is caught between two Bills. At that moment he's right in front of Clay, but is sprinting left to try to cover Benjamin, who has three or four yards on the defender and is also stunningly wide open and headed towards the middle of the field where there is absolutely nobody. The ball was thrown from the 40 yard line to a yard in the end zone. It was thrown eight or so yards in front of Clay and forced him to change directions to go make the play. It was a bad throw, a very significantly bad throw.

 

It forced Clay to attempt to make a very difficult play. After the game, each of them said it was his fault. They were both right. They share the blame.

 

And I wish Allen was pretty accurate. It would be really nice if he was. But that simply hasn't been true, unfortunately. He throws a lot of nice balls, but a higher percentage of bad ones than just about any QB in the league. Yeah, yeah, you're right that completion percentage is far from a perfect gauge of accuracy, and that you have to look at the throws. I have. So  have the pundits. The reason they say he's got accuracy problems is that he's got accuracy problems. It's not real difficult to comprehend.

 

Does Allen need more time? Hey, you won't get me to argue there. He absolutely does. It's way too early to know what he's going to be. But it's not at all too early to know what he is thus far. And thus far he's a QB who's doing far better than expected in terms of running and is doing exactly as commonly expected in the pass game in terms of having some real highlights but not being very good overall. They expected a guy who was simply not consistently accurate, and that's what he's been.

 

Edited December 18, 2018 by Thurman#1

[oldmanfan]

1 minute ago, Thurman#1 said:

 

 

"Bottom line is Clay has to catch that ball," you say? Nonsense.

 

If you're going to say that, you'd have to add this: And the other bottom line is Allen has to throw a ball that is catchable.

 

And he simply didn't do that. No, he doesn't have to hit him in the numbers. But you absolutely can't throw the ball eight yards away from the guy and far too low.

 

"How many QBs," you ask, "even when being set with their feet hit a guy right in the numbers from 50 yards away?  Very few." Yeah, fair enough. Now ask, "How many QBs, pros that is, even when being set with their feet throwing from 50 yards away, miss their guy by eight yards or so"? And yeah, the answer is indeed, "Very few."

 

 

 

And I wish Allen was pretty accurate. It would be really nice if he was. But that simply hasn't been true, unfortunately. He throws a lot of nice balls, but a higher percentage of bad ones than just about any QB in the league. Yeah, yeah, you're right that completion percentage is far from a perfect gauge of accuracy, and that you have to look at the throws. I have. So  have the pundits. The reason they say he's got accuracy problems is that he's got accuracy problems. It's not real difficult to comprehend.

 

Does Allen need more time? Hey, you won't get me to argue there. He absolutely does. It's way too early to know what he's going to be. But it's not at all too early to know what he is thus far. And thus far he's a QB who's doing far better than expected in terms of running and is doing exactly as commonly expected in the pass game in terms of having some real highlights but not being very good overall. They expected a guy who was simply not consistently accurate, and that's what he's been.

 

Just one time you should have the sense to admit you're wrong and learn something from others who have a greater understanding of things like statistics, accuracy, etc.  You are confusing accuracy and precision, like many. Allen is pretty accurate in that his receivers can make a play on his passes.  He needs to be more precise.  Really good QBs are both.  And to say the pundits are looking at every throw is , to use your favorite word, nonsense.  Most of the stuff I read harps on the completion percentage stuff, and even Rodak posted the other day that if you look at the adjusted rate he's middle of the pack.

 

Statistical analysis in general for pro sports is overly simplified and does not use multivariate analysis to take into account the multiple variables that can affect something as simple as whether a pass gets completed or not.

 

And missing Clay by 8 yards is simply silly reasoning.  The ball hit him in both hands.  Was Clay supposed to just stand still in the back of the end zone, or does he have any responsibility to adjust to the throw.  Professional football players are supposed to catch balls that hit them in the hands.

[Thurman#1]

34 minutes ago, oldmanfan said:

Just one time you should have the sense to admit you're wrong and learn something from others who have a greater understanding of things like statistics, accuracy, etc.  You are confusing accuracy and precision, like many. Allen is pretty accurate in that his receivers can make a play on his passes.  He needs to be more precise.  Really good QBs are both.  And to say the pundits are looking at every throw is , to use your favorite word, nonsense.  Most of the stuff I read harps on the completion percentage stuff, and even Rodak posted the other day that if you look at the adjusted rate he's middle of the pack.

 

Statistical analysis in general for pro sports is overly simplified and does not use multivariate analysis to take into account the multiple variables that can affect something as simple as whether a pass gets completed or not.

 

And missing Clay by 8 yards is simply silly reasoning.  The ball hit him in both hands.  Was Clay supposed to just stand still in the back of the end zone, or does he have any responsibility to adjust to the throw.  Professional football players are supposed to catch balls that hit them in the hands.

 

 

I'd be glad to admit I'm wrong. But first, I'd have to be wrong.

 

I am wrong plenty of times. But this time, I'm just not. It was both their fault and he absolutely threw the ball behind and short of Clay. Clay chased it but by the time he got there, the ball was an inch or two off the ground and it's very hard to get your hands under the ball in that position.

 

Pro QBs are supposed to make much better throws than that.

Edited December 18, 2018 by Thurman#1

[Thurman#1]

I'm confusing accuracy and precision? Good lord, that is one pretentious distinction you're trying to make there. They both refer to the ball going where you want it to go. Problem is, right now Allen is not consistently either one as often as other NFL QBs.

 

There are plenty of plays when Allen's recievers can make plays on the ball. Unfortunately, he throws a significantly higher percentage of balls than just about any other QB where the receivers can simply not make plays on the ball.

 

And as you hint here but try to avoid saying, beyond that there are also a bunch of balls which could be more easily catchable, lead to more YAC and yield better results if they were placed better.

 

This could all change. I hope it does. It seems that he'd started fixing his mechanics in the offseason but has returned to bad habits. Hopefully he can eventually get these issues addressed.

 

 

[oldmanfan]

Just now, Thurman#1 said:

I'm confusing accuracy and precision? Good lord, that is one pretentious distinction you're trying to make there. They both refer to the ball going where you want it to go. Problem is, right now Allen is not consistently either one as often as other NFL QBs.

 

There are plenty of plays when Allen's recievers can make plays on the ball. Unfortunately, he throws a significantly higher percentage of balls than just about any other QB where the receivers can simply not make plays on the ball.

 

And as you hint here but try to avoid saying, beyond that there are also a bunch of balls which could be more easily catchable, lead to more YAC and yield better results if they were placed better.

 

This could all change. I hope it does. It seems that he'd started fixing his mechanics in the offseason but has returned to bad habits. Hopefully he can eventually get these issues addressed.

 

 

By indicating accuracy and precision are the same you show your ignorance of statistical concepts.  They are different and I will use the dartboard analogy yet again.  If you want to hit the bulls eye and throw say 10 darts, if each missed by an inch but surround the bulls eye  you are accurate but not precise.  If you throw the same The and they hit the exact same point, but that point is three inches away from the target you are precise but not accurate.  This is a basic tenet of statistics.

 

QBs throwing passes strive to have both high accuracy and precision.  Allen is accurate in that his passes are around his receivers by and large and allow them the opportunity to make a catch.  He needs to work on improving precision while also being accurate.  And that should come as he gains more experience, makes better reads, and such. We are seeing a young QB making progress his first year.  No reason to think he won't continue that especially if he is given more talent around him.

[Thurman#1]

4 minutes ago, oldmanfan said:

By indicating accuracy and precision are the same you show your ignorance of statistical concepts.  They are different and I will use the dartboard analogy yet again.  If you want to hit the bulls eye and throw say 10 darts, if each missed by an inch but surround the bulls eye  you are accurate but not precise.  If you throw the same The and they hit the exact same point, but that point is three inches away from the target you are precise but not accurate.  This is a basic tenet of statistics.

 

QBs throwing passes strive to have both high accuracy and precision.  Allen is accurate in that his passes are around his receivers by and large and allow them the opportunity to make a catch.  He needs to work on improving precision while also being accurate.  And that should come as he gains more experience, makes better reads, and such. We are seeing a young QB making progress his first year.  No reason to think he won't continue that especially if he is given more talent around him.

 

 

How could I have ever accused you of making a pretentious distinction? What was I thinking? Good lord! Silly me.

 

How 'bout this instead ... Josh doesn't hit what he's aiming at nearly as nearly as high a rate as other QBs.

 

See what I'm getting at here?

 

Hopefully, that will change and he will begin to hit what he's aiming at more often.

 

You keep saying that he gives his receivers an opportunity to make a catch. Problem is he does so a lower percentage of the time than average NFL QBs. That's why so many laughably silly people who don't care about the distinction you're trying to make here say he's inaccurate.

 

 

Edited December 18, 2018 by Thurman#1

[WhyteDwarf]

11 minutes ago, Thurman#1 said:

 

 

How could I have ever accused you of making a pretentious distinction? What was I thinking? Silly me.

 

How 'bout this instead ... Josh doesn't hit what he's aiming at nearly as often as other QBs.

 

I hate to say it, but I think this will be THE prevailing argument the whole of Allen's career.

 

One side you will have those who worship at the altar of Allen, and all his passes will be prefect, and all receivers are trash.

On the other side you will have reasonable fans who see things with their own eyes.

 

 

Edited December 18, 2018 by WhyteDwarf

[oldmanfan]

Just now, Thurman#1 said:

 

 

How could I have ever accused you of making a pretentious distinction? What was I thinking? Silly me.

 

How 'bout this instead ... Josh doesn't hit what he's aiming at nearly as often as other QBs.

The difference between accuracy and precision is an important distinction and affects critical things such as interpretation of laboratory tests and other critical medical data and in a less important area how NFL QBs perform.  It is not a pretentious distinction; you call it that because you are clearl wrong on this and you can't stand being called wrong.  So you start your snarky crap; did it on the BBMB and do it hear.  Try learning something for a change.

1 minute ago, WhyteDwarf said:

 

I hate to say it, but I think this will be THE prevailing argument the whole of Allen's career.

 

One side you will have those who worship at the alter of Allen, and all his passes will be prefect, and all receivers are trash.

On the other side you will have reasonable fans who see things with their own eyes.

 

 

You should try learning something as well.  Allen needs to improve precision, he is pretty accurate.

[Thurman#1]

7 minutes ago, oldmanfan said:

The difference between accuracy and precision is an important distinction and affects critical things such as interpretation of laboratory tests and other critical medical data and in a less important area how NFL QBs perform.  It is not a pretentious distinction; you call it that because you are clearl wrong on this and you can't stand being called wrong.  So you start your snarky crap; did it on the BBMB and do it hear.  Try learning something for a change.

 

 

It's an important difference? Fine. Go over to the university and talk to other pedants there about it.

 

In the meantime the point here is that Josh doesn't make the ball available within catching distance as often as other QBs do. See how I avoided your petty distinction there? For the third post in a row, by the way.

 

But feel free to keep on with this. I'm talking football. If you feel the need to continue talking physics and linguistics, do so, but I just couldn't give a crap. I won't be listening.

Edited December 18, 2018 by Thurman#1

[WhyteDwarf]

5 minutes ago, Thurman#1 said:

 

 

It's an important difference? Fine. Go over to the university and talk to other pedants there about it.

 

In the meantime the point here is that Josh doesn't make the ball available within catching distance as often as other QBs do. See how I avoided your petty distinction there? For the third post in a row, by the way.

 

But feel free to keep on with this. I'm talking football. If you feel the need to continue talking physics and linguistics, do so, but I just couldn't give a crap. I won't be listening.

 

Yeah, it's all about catch radius.  If the ball is only in that radius ~55% of the time (people here want to assume 5% is due to trash receivers dropping the ball), that's on the QB.

Edited December 18, 2018 by WhyteDwarf

[oldmanfan]

56 minutes ago, Thurman#1 said:

 

 

It's an important difference? Fine. Go over to the university and talk to other pedants there about it.

 

In the meantime the point here is that Josh doesn't make the ball available within catching distance as often as other QBs do. See how I avoided your petty distinction there? For the third post in a row, by the way.

 

But feel free to keep on with this. I'm talking football. If you feel the need to continue talking physics and linguistics, do so, but I just couldn't give a crap. I won't be listening.

You act like a child.  You're shown your wrong on something, then you take your ball and go home.

52 minutes ago, WhyteDwarf said:

 

Yeah, it's all about catch radius.  If the ball is only in that radius ~55% of the time (people here want to assume 5% is due to trash receivers dropping the ball), that's on the QB.

Allen ahs the ball within the catch radius of receivers a lot more than that.  You continue to not understand the slightest bit about stats.  How many throwaways did he have?  Tho

[26CornerBlitz]

 

[26CornerBlitz]

12-18: Bucky Brooks on One Bills Live (16:07)

[Over 29 years of fanhood]

On 12/14/2018 at 6:03 PM, 26CornerBlitz said:

Saquon Barkley validating Giants' decision; Pete Carroll for COY

 

By Bucky Brooks - NFL.com Analyst

 

Former NFL player and scout Bucky Brooks knows the ins and outs of this league, providing keen insight in his notebook. The topics of this edition include:

 

The Blueprint Buffalo Should Replicate to Maximize Josh Allen's Abilities.

 

All aboard the Josh Allen Experience? OK, it's definitely too premature to be comparing the Billsrookie quarterback to Michael Vick in any capacity -- as in, alluding to the former dual-threat playmaker's memorable Nike commercial. That said, it is time to view Allen as a unique talent at the position with an unorthodox game that can produce positive results.

 

Now, I will be the first to admit to being critical of the Wyoming product during the pre-draft process -- his scattershot accuracy was quite concerning -- but I did believe he could be a Cam Newton-like playmaker with a unique game that a team could build an offense around. When Buffalo selected Allen seventh overall, I immediately thought of Bills head coach Sean McDermott and general manager Brandon Beane, and how they'd both been in Carolina for Newton's MVP season that ended in the Super Bowl.

 

Then I saw Allen's second NFL start in Week 3, when he accounted for 235 yards of total offense and three scores in a 27-6 upset win at Minnesota. The shocking performance gave the football world a glimpse at Allen's talent and potential in an offense that's tailor-made for his skills as a mobile playmaker with A-plus arm talent.

 

Studying the All-22 Coaches Film from that stunning win over the Vikings, I noted that the Bills used a variety of designed QB runs and zone-read concepts to showcase Allen's talent as a runner. The 6-foot-5, 237-pound quarterback bedeviled Mike Zimmer's defense with his combination of skills as a run-pass threat at the position. From his quick-rhythm completions on screens to his teardrop-like deep balls to his impromptu scrambles, Allen terrorized the Vikings as a mobile playmaker. Although it wasn't always pretty, it was effective. And the Bills' coaching staff certainly flashed enough creativity to build a dynamic offense that would help the rookie play to his strengths as a runner and deep-ball thrower. That said, it was apparent Allen was still a work in progress as a QB1 and his coaches would need to find a way to minimize his weaknesses to give Buffalo a chance to win games.

 

After watching Allen become the first quarterback to rush for 100-plus yards in back-to-back games while surpassing Vick as the quarterback with the most rushing yards in a three-game span (335 yards from Week 12-14), I had to go back to the tape to check out No. 17's evolution over the course of his first NFL season. Before I really dug in, though, I took a look at Allen's numbers and was shocked by his inefficiencies as a passer. Allen ranks last among qualified quarterbacks in completion percentage (52.4), pass yards per game (169.4), touchdown-to-interception ratio (5:9) and passer rating (63.3). He also ranks 31st in yards per attempt (6.3). Those numbers are not inspiring, to say the least, but Allen was expected to struggle as a rookie starter, especially given Buffalo's suspect receiving corps. The Billsnot only lack a legitimate WR1, but the team doesn't have an established complementary playmaker outside of Charles Clay and maybe Zay Jones. To his credit, Allen has shown glimpses of being an effective passer between the numbers on intermediate routes like curls and digs. He also flashes enough arm strength to make "wow" throws on the move, which makes him a dangerous player.

 

Am I missing the part where we conclude what the blueprint is? 

[26CornerBlitz]

5 minutes ago, Over 29 years of fanhood said:

 

Am I missing the part where we conclude what the blueprint is? 

 

If the Bills can build a passing game that features isolation routes (slants, quick outs, skinny posts and comebacks) outside the numbers with some basic play-action passing concepts (post/dig/shallow cross) over the middle, Allen can become a competent passer with the capacity to succeed despite a low completion rate. Now, in order to enhance Allen's game, I would advise the Bills to add a speed receiver (vertical threat) and a big-body pass catcher (possession receiver) to the lineup this offseason.

 

In the running game, Buffalo would be wise to steal some of the designed quarterback runs and option plays the Panthers have used in the past with Newton, thus making Allen a more dangerous weapon in the backfield, particularly in third-down, short-yardage and goal-line packages. Considering Allen's success running quarterback powers and sweeps near the goal line as a rookie, it's a move that could pay huge dividends for the Bills.

[WideNine]

On 12/14/2018 at 5:45 PM, LSHMEAB said:

How are the numbers deceiving? We've had a few more drops than the average team, but nothing egregious.

 

Josh needs to get better as a passer and the hope and expectation is that comes with time. There was nothing grotesquely unfair in that snippet.

 

This statement is not true.

 

Our number of dropped passes is truly egregious, and only ranks a hair behind Arizona for NFL WORST.

[freddyjj]

55 minutes ago, 26CornerBlitz said:

 

If the Bills can build a passing game that features isolation routes (slants, quick outs, skinny posts and comebacks) outside the numbers with some basic play-action passing concepts (post/dig/shallow cross) over the middle, Allen can become a competent passer with the capacity to succeed despite a low completion rate. Now, in order to enhance Allen's game, I would advise the Bills to add a speed receiver (vertical threat) and a big-body pass catcher (possession receiver) to the lineup this offseason.

 

In the running game, Buffalo would be wise to steal some of the designed quarterback runs and option plays the Panthers have used in the past with Newton, thus making Allen a more dangerous weapon in the backfield, particularly in third-down, short-yardage and goal-line packages. Considering Allen's success running quarterback powers and sweeps near the goal line as a rookie, it's a move that could pay huge dividends for the Bills.

Agreed here 26CB.  

 

Brooks was on WGR today at 2 and spoke about Josh Allen as potentially a very effective Play Action QB from the pocket with intermediate / deep pass effectiveness.  He said he sees that already and trusts that with a retooled OLine and a revamped Running Game in 2019, that the 10-25 yds routes really open up for Josh and that Daboll will scheme it effectively.

[Over 29 years of fanhood]

2 hours ago, 26CornerBlitz said:

 

If the Bills can build a passing game that features isolation routes (slants, quick outs, skinny posts and comebacks) outside the numbers with some basic play-action passing concepts (post/dig/shallow cross) over the middle, Allen can become a competent passer with the capacity to succeed despite a low completion rate. Now, in order to enhance Allen's game, I would advise the Bills to add a speed receiver (vertical threat) and a big-body pass catcher (possession receiver) to the lineup this offseason.

 

In the running game, Buffalo would be wise to steal some of the designed quarterback runs and option plays the Panthers have used in the past with Newton, thus making Allen a more dangerous weapon in the backfield, particularly in third-down, short-yardage and goal-line packages. Considering Allen's success running quarterback powers and sweeps near the goal line as a rookie, it's a move that could pay huge dividends for the Bills.

 

Yep definitely missed it

[26CornerBlitz]

1 minute ago, Over 29 years of fanhood said:

 

Yep definitely missed it

 

3 hours ago, 26CornerBlitz said:

12-18: Bucky Brooks on One Bills Live (16:07)

 

He added additional insight here in an OBL interview from this afternoon.