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Good article on Josh (The Ringer)


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4 minutes ago, Seasons1992 said:

The Ringer is quickly becoming one of the most important sites for sports and pop culture in the world. Love it and love Bill Simmons.

Yup, has for a while.  They've built up a really nice stable of talent post-Grantland across the sports and entertainment landscape.  Their podcasts are great, too. 

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13 minutes ago, Brother Hesekiah said:

Mays has been one of Josh's detractors over the past year and a half, so it's nice to see an even-handed article from him.   

But isn’t that the whole point of the article? I think the people skeptical over Allen aren’t making it personal.  A 56% passer from Wyoming 99/100 times isn’t going to be a good nfl qb.  If Allen makes it, it is an extremely rare exception and the Bills are geniuses.  If not, they will look dumb for ignoring the obvious flaws.  
 

Let’s hope he is the exception to the rule.

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Again: Josh's high degree of self-awareness, introspection and intellect give him as much of a chance to be successful as his physical traits, if not more so.  It's what gives me hope.  Lots of strong-armed athletes have flamed out of the NFL quickly.  Josh puts in the work to critique, think about and improve his game.  Golf is a good analogy for him.  I like him more and more every day.

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32 minutes ago, C.Biscuit97 said:

But isn’t that the whole point of the article? I think the people skeptical over Allen aren’t making it personal.  A 56% passer from Wyoming 99/100 times isn’t going to be a good nfl qb.  If Allen makes it, it is an extremely rare exception and the Bills are geniuses.  If not, they will look dumb for ignoring the obvious flaws.  
 

Let’s hope he is the exception to the rule.

Agreed that most people aren't making it personal, as in having something specifically against him as a person.  But a good number of people are so wedded to their pre-draft takes that they're unwilling or slow to see the real improvement that's taken place. 

 

Also, how many times out of 100 does a small-school, 56% passer with Josh's physical skills and "intangibles" make it?  I bet you the number is higher than 1.  There's more to scouting than the stat sheet.

Edited by Brother Hesekiah
typo
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59 minutes ago, Da webster guy said:

 

That is a good article.

 

Two key take-aways:

-last year, 48.8 percent completion rate on passes from 10 to 20 yards.

-this year, 64.7 percent completion rate on passes from 10 to 20 yards

Close to 16% improvement.  And those are the money throws

 

Why?

"His primary goal this offseason was to improve the way he shaped throws to the sideline from 12 to 22 yards past the line of scrimmage, so he and Brown began working together tirelessly after practice. Allen would routinely direct Brown to stand at a spot in that range on the left sideline, and he’d pepper his receiver with 50 identically lofted passes. “You just kind of feel that rhythm, how your body adjusts to it, the way it’s coming off your hand, the angle of your shoulder, the bend in your knees,” Allen says. “After about 25 throws, once you kind of find that rhythm, it all kind of locks in.” "

 

I think that's what McDermott means when he talks about "rep count".  Allen comes across as a very savvy and self-aware guy.  He looked at what his biggest gaps were, and identified the most important point to improve: those 10-20 yd passes that move the chains.  He's been repping them hard, and that's why they're improving.  In contrast, the longer passes he was better at last year have taken a back-seat in the "rep count" and that's why they're rusty, and why Allen isn't worried about it. 

 

I love this anecdote:
"With no help over the top, Brown dusted the slot cornerback and sprinted wide open down the middle of the field for a would-be touchdown. But when Allen finally uncorked the throw, it landed a solid 5 yards over the speedster’s head. Later in the game, with Buffalo holding a commanding lead, Allen approached his veteran wide receiver and apologized for the gaffe. “I said I owed him one, and he said, ‘Look at the score,’” Allen recalls. “‘I don’t care about any of that. We’re winning.’ To hear that from a guy who’s played in the league for so long—and a receiver no less. Those guys want to catches passes; they want to score touchdowns. He didn’t care about any of that. [Because] we’re winning football games.”

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It's difficult to NOT believe in the kid after you read stuff like this. He's a humble, hardworking dude who is very aware of both his strength's and weaknesses. He's determined to get better and the fact that he's shown genuine improvement is huge. Sometimes guys put in the work and take to coaching but for whatever reason, it just never comes together. It might take some time, but at this point, he's definitely shown he can make adjustments to his game, and if he can keep doing that consistently, then yeah, there might come a time when he's the best QB in the league, like he said. 

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The article points to the biggest improvement I see in Allen’s game. Touch. He is grasping the idea that sometimes a little air on the ball is better than trying to rope every throw into a tight window. 
Quoting Parcells doesn’t hurt either.

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6 minutes ago, PaattMaann said:

good article, also clearly explains why hes missing disastrously on long throws, hes scared of throwing a pick  

 

I'm ok with that. I'd ask the resident scouts around here like @Virgil or @Blokestradamus to tell us about who the fastest WR is coming out in the draft this year, so we can shore up the deep pass.

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Great read!  And it reinforces the point that Josh is still a work in progress.  He is still growing and progressing into his potential.  The growing pains are painful of course but the end result will be well worth it.  Last year he struggled with the short and intermediate passes, this year he is among the best in the league.  He leads the league in 11-20 yard completion percentage according to this- https://nocheckdowns.com/app/location-accuracy/  This is a clear sign of growth, and the coaches work with him on this important aspect of his game.  The other pieces will come together, including the long ball.  

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I think it's hard to read this article, to watch every Josh Allen snap in these first two years, to think through the narrative about him pre-draft (specifically how raw he was) and to not come away thinking he's the guy. Just great. It's also incredible that this is essentially his second year getting proper coaching... Like it said, no Camps, no prestigious HS, no big name school... Just Allen growing as an individual, and now he's being shown how to be a professional QB. Also- this is the line of the article:

 

"Allen’s biggest gains in 2019 have come where he faltered most as a rookie."

 

 

 

3 minutes ago, Seasons1992 said:

 

I'm ok with that. I'd ask the resident scouts around here like @Virgil or @Blokestradamus to tell us about who the fastest WR is coming out in the draft this year, so we can shore up the deep pass.

 

Henry Ruggs III

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6 minutes ago, Coach Tuesday said:

Again: Josh's high degree of self-awareness, introspection and intellect give him as much of a chance to be successful as his physical traits, if not more so.  It's what gives me hope.  Lots of strong-armed athletes have flamed out of the NFL quickly.  Josh puts in the work to critique, think about and improve his game.  Golf is a good analogy for him.  I like him more and more every day.

 

Allen's physical talents are among the best the league has seen - size, speed, strength (general) and arm strength.  But it's his mental makeup and maturity that set him apart.  His willingness to be introspective, accept his shortcomings and work (and work and work) at improving them are extremely impressive.  To put in simpler terms, he's a guy that "gets it."  Over the course of the last year, he's greatly improved his mid-range passing game and in just a few short weeks, he's made a remarkable improvement in cutting down on interceptions.  Next, he needs to work on ball security.  Although the Bills have recovered many of them, he's had too many fumbles while running the ball.  (The one late in the first half against Philly turned the entire game around and the Bills never recovered.)  Given Allen's willingness to address his shortcomings, I fully expect he will get that corrected too, and of course, he can then focus on the deep ball.  Allen is progressing nicely and the future looks bright for him.  

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