CorkScrewHill Posted January 6, 2021 Share Posted January 6, 2021 https://www.espn.com.au/nfl/story/_/id/30656535/how-bills-qb-josh-allen-went-mediocrity-mvp-contender 11 3 11 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
loyal2dagame Posted January 6, 2021 Share Posted January 6, 2021 Good read. Thanks for sharing 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ta111 Posted January 6, 2021 Share Posted January 6, 2021 Great article and I give Kudos to the author. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stank_Nasty Posted January 6, 2021 Share Posted January 6, 2021 (edited) Just finished reading this and was headed over to share it. Thanks for sharing. A nice read for sure! my biggest annoyance with the people finally admitting to this is when they reference his first TWO seasons and still cant believe what they are seeing.... if they paid any sort of attention at all to the improvements from year 1 to year 2, and his overall production last year, then this season wouldnt be so mind blowing. We all know theres a handful of members around here that refuse to show up on the same daily basis that they used to. But when they do they talk about how nobody ever coulda saw him being a good qb and that they werent wrong. BS, if people couldnt see the steady improvement and generational talent that was accenting it, then thats on them and they should feel as foolish as they look now. Edited January 6, 2021 by Stank_Nasty 8 1 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FastFreddy22 Posted January 6, 2021 Share Posted January 6, 2021 55 minutes ago, CorkScrewHill said: https://www.espn.com.au/nfl/story/_/id/30656535/how-bills-qb-josh-allen-went-mediocrity-mvp-contender Great read! Go Bills!! JA17!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sammy Watkins' Rib Posted January 6, 2021 Share Posted January 6, 2021 5 minutes ago, ScottLaw said: Good article.... Allen passed the eye test since the game against Jacksonville in 2018. You could tell he was a player from that game on, IMO. Interesting. For me it was that Miami game that was nearly won on the final play. He pretty much showed what he was all about in that game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillsToast Posted January 6, 2021 Share Posted January 6, 2021 33 minutes ago, Stank_Nasty said: Just finished reading this and was headed over to share it. Thanks for sharing. A nice read for sure! my biggest annoyance with the people finally admitting to this is when they reference his first TWO seasons and still cant believe what they are seeing.... if they paid any sort of attention at all to the improvements from year 1 to year 2, and his overall production last year, then this season wouldnt be so mind blowing. We all know theres a handful of members around here that refuse to show up on the same daily basis that they used to. But when they do they talk about how nobody ever coulda saw them being a good qb and that they werent wrong. BS, if people couldnt see the steady improvement and generational talent that was accenting it, then thats on them and they should feel as foolish as they look now. I have to say that it is mind-blowing to go from the bottom 1/3 of QBs for throwing stats to top 5. No serious analyst could imagine that happening, maybe from bottom 1/3 to top 10-13 maybe, but to go into the top 3? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sammy Watkins' Rib Posted January 6, 2021 Share Posted January 6, 2021 One comment. Fourth paragraph, it's funny to me as a native California that people outside of California don't realize the difference between the Central Valley and the images of Southern California and the Bay Area in their head. The Central Valley IS Buffalo just with complete opposite weather extremes and a majority Hispanic population. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billsfan1959 Posted January 6, 2021 Share Posted January 6, 2021 31 minutes ago, ScottLaw said: Good article.... Allen passed the eye test since the game against Jacksonville in 2018. You could tell he was a player from that game on, IMO. 26 minutes ago, Sammy Watkins' Rib said: Interesting. For me it was that Miami game that was nearly won on the final play. He pretty much showed what he was all about in that game. For me it was his third game at Minnesota. He showed (1) he could be accurate with the ball, (2) what he was capable of athletically, and (3) the competitive desire he possesses. I have been a big fan since the beginning. He is exactly the kind of QB I have wanted for this team since Kelly. He is Buffalo. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProcessAccepted Posted January 6, 2021 Share Posted January 6, 2021 58 minutes ago, Stank_Nasty said: Just finished reading this and was headed over to share it. Thanks for sharing. A nice read for sure! my biggest annoyance with the people finally admitting to this is when they reference his first TWO seasons and still cant believe what they are seeing.... if they paid any sort of attention at all to the improvements from year 1 to year 2, and his overall production last year, then this season wouldnt be so mind blowing. We all know theres a handful of members around here that refuse to show up on the same daily basis that they used to. But when they do they talk about how nobody ever coulda saw him being a good qb and that they werent wrong. BS, if people couldnt see the steady improvement and generational talent that was accenting it, then thats on them and they should feel as foolish as they look now. My biggest thing is describing him as bad or mediocre. Sure there were just as moments of head scratching hero ball as there were moments of awe and wows, but mediocre QBs do not have as many 4th quarter come backs that #17 had in his first 2 seasons. Mediocre QBs turn the ball over in the red zone. The Thanksgiving day game was as clear a foreshadow to the league that Josh Allen was becoming the player he is today. There were a few who not only saw the potential but actually stated it on camera. For others it was made clear that the host may not give you camera time if you do not spout the desired narrative. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeGOATski Posted January 6, 2021 Share Posted January 6, 2021 1 hour ago, Stank_Nasty said: Just finished reading this and was headed over to share it. Thanks for sharing. A nice read for sure! my biggest annoyance with the people finally admitting to this is when they reference his first TWO seasons and still cant believe what they are seeing.... if they paid any sort of attention at all to the improvements from year 1 to year 2, and his overall production last year, then this season wouldnt be so mind blowing. We all know theres a handful of members around here that refuse to show up on the same daily basis that they used to. But when they do they talk about how nobody ever coulda saw him being a good qb and that they werent wrong. BS, if people couldnt see the steady improvement and generational talent that was accenting it, then thats on them and they should feel as foolish as they look now. The biggest piece that's missing from the career football analyst's formula: they don't follow the team. Like he says in the article, all the "data points" (not just stats, but also circumstances) pointed to Allen being a failure. But career football analysts have their vision clouded as they look at those data points for all players around the league. This is what separates football from other major sports, in my opinion: the intangibles and team aspect factor in to the results to a much higher degree. Anyone who chose to focus in on Allen saw those intangibles early on in the first two seasons, which some career analysts did...and some of them DID change their mind. I hated the pick, but I follow the Bills closely and it only took one season for me to say "wow, this kid's got it." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stank_Nasty Posted January 6, 2021 Share Posted January 6, 2021 (edited) 15 minutes ago, ProcessAccepted said: My biggest thing is describing him as bad or mediocre. Sure there were just as moments of head scratching hero ball as there were moments of awe and wows, but mediocre QBs do not have as many 4th quarter come backs that #17 had in his first 2 seasons. Mediocre QBs turn the ball over in the red zone. The Thanksgiving day game was as clear a foreshadow to the league that Josh Allen was becoming the player he is today. There were a few who not only saw the potential but actually stated it on camera. For others it was made clear that the host may not give you camera time if you do not spout the desired narrative. the sad thing a guy like foxworth literally didnt move off this stance until about 2 weeks ago..... funny how he works for a huge network and his change of tune came right after racially charged comments about allen and the fans that he got drilled for. he was on the same show this morning saying Allen has the best shot of any qb without a title to get his first one and argued he should be a favorite amongst any qb to win the title. Edited January 6, 2021 by Stank_Nasty 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freddie's Dead Posted January 6, 2021 Share Posted January 6, 2021 1 hour ago, ScottLaw said: Good article.... Allen passed the eye test since the game against Jacksonville in 2018. You could tell he was a player from that game on, IMO. I was locked in when Josh did the Superman TD in Minnesota, while staring into the pylon cam. I jumped off the couch and screamed, "THAT'S MY *****IN' QUARTERBACK!!" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Not at the table Karlos Posted January 6, 2021 Share Posted January 6, 2021 1 hour ago, ScottLaw said: Good article.... Allen passed the eye test since the game against Jacksonville in 2018. You could tell he was a player from that game on, IMO. I don’t remember who it was against but it was his rookie year. It was 3rd and manageable and he completes a pass for a first down. Penalty. 3rd and long. Josh completes pass for first down. Penalty. 3rd and really long. Josh completes another pass for first down. Penalty. 3rd and dumb long we call a draw or something and punt. That sequence convinced me that Josh had a legit shot at developing into an elite QB 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RochesterLifer Posted January 6, 2021 Share Posted January 6, 2021 This is the article, the acknowledgement from the sports world establishment, that we dreamed of in August. I am (and enjoy it) a Kool-Aid drinking Bills fan - always have been. I never even dreamed of Josh performing at this level. If you tell me you did, I will not believe you. Let's take a breath, smile and enjoy it. This is a special time for Bills Nation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shaw66 Posted January 6, 2021 Share Posted January 6, 2021 2 hours ago, CorkScrewHill said: https://www.espn.com.au/nfl/story/_/id/30656535/how-bills-qb-josh-allen-went-mediocrity-mvp-contender Pretty cool article. Thanks. However, I think the author continues to miss the point. The question is why did so many people, including the author "miss" on Josh when looking at the draft? The answer is NOT they didn't see that he actually could improve his accuracy. That's a cop out. He gets Jordan Palmer to talk about these little details in Allen's mechanics, and then implies that, well, it was okay for him to have missed on Allen, because who knew that he actually could improve that much by changing his mechanics. That's BS. The scouts knew there was nothing major wrong with Allen's mechanics. That's why so many people said he had the highest ceiling in the draft class. He had the best arm, the best speed (other than Jackson), the best size. The scouts knew that in shorts, the guy could hit any target, anywhere on the field, better than any other candidate. That's why he was projected as the number 1 overall pick heading into his final college season. So if the author had been paying attention to what was known at the time, he would have known that accuracy was not Allen's problem. Allen's problem, as so many people said, was that he was "raw." What they meant like that varied - some just meant that he played like a wild man, untamed. Others meant he hadn't had the training that a guy like Josh Rosen had - he hadn't had it high school, he hadn't had it in clinics, he hadn't had it in college. What that meant was that he was pretty far behind Darnold and Rosen and Mayfield, and even Jackson, in terms of his development as a QB. That's why he had a low completion percentage, not because his mechanics were a mess. What the author missed during the draft, and frankly what every team that drafted ahead of the Bills missed, was the one thing that Beane and McDermott value the most - football character. They could see Allen's ceiling, just like everyone else could see it; what McBeane wanted to know, and what they found out before the draft, was that Allen was an intense competitor, that he was smart, that he wanted to learn and get better, and that his teammates loved him. In other words, what they found out was that his head and his heart were ready to take control of the exceptional physical talents he had. That's what the author and so many other people missed. Most of the fans missed it, too, because most of us failed to understand that McBeane were looking at the most important criteria while we were watching video of his throws, and most of us had no way evaluate his football character. All I know is that the day I saw him throw that TD pass to Ray-Ray in that preseason game his rookie season, I was convinced. Any guy who could see that opening AND had the ability to put the ball into that opening was the guy I wanted on the field. 5 5 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Straight Hucklebuck Posted January 6, 2021 Share Posted January 6, 2021 From a National Perspective, Allen's improvement could be seen in the Dallas game on Thanksgiving. If you hadn't watched him in 2018, and were only looking at numbers, that was the game, to me, that showed real improvement in his ability to stay calm in the pocket, and the Bills figuring out that they needed to shorten his average depth of target and take the middle of the field. It was that game that he showed he can be accurate by firing lasers in the 10-20 yard range. Coming out of 2018, the Bills also put emphasis in improving the depth and competition of the offensive line with veteran FA signings. The receivers we have now fit the mold of Allen's strengths. He is a fastball thrower on intermediate routes. The WR's are smaller, quick, and get separation on those types of routes. Top three are all accomplished veterans. Also, he continues to work in the offseason with Jordan Palmer, who has outlined the improvement in Allen's throwing motion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bills6969 Posted January 6, 2021 Share Posted January 6, 2021 People just underestimated him because he went to Wyoming and didn’t put up crazy numbers. But, he had the physical traits, the arm talent, the athleticism, and, most importantly the mental makeup (leader, IQ) to be a very good QB, he just needed to work on some things to get it to all come together. Especially with QBs, I think some guys (example Tua, Darnold, Haskins) come out of college over hyped because they played on really good college teams and this inflated their stock. Don’t overlook the guy from the little school. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shaw66 Posted January 6, 2021 Share Posted January 6, 2021 1 hour ago, BillsToast said: I have to say that it is mind-blowing to go from the bottom 1/3 of QBs for throwing stats to top 5. No serious analyst could imagine that happening, maybe from bottom 1/3 to top 10-13 maybe, but to go into the top 3? Sorry, but I think this is wrong. Before the season started, I said - and I was not alone - that Allen probably would be a top 10-15 QB and possibly top 10. I said that sometime by his fifth season, and maybe earlier, he'd be recognized as one of the top QBs in the league. I'm not saying this to say how talented I am - as I said, other people saw this, too. All you had to do was watch the parade of great, great plays he made in his first two seasons, the almost unbelievable throws, throws that were as good as the best we see from Rodgers, watch his improvement, watch his leadership, and listen to what his coaches and teammates were saying about him. It wasn't an absolute certainty that he would become a star, but it seemed pretty likely. In fact, all you had to was watch Allen's first season in Buffalo. In May following his first season, I wrote this about him: Quote I think Allen is destined for greatness, because he has all the tools, mental, physical and emotional, and he has the perfect mentor. It's incredible to watch, for sure, but that doesn't mean people didn't see it coming. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billsfan1972 Posted January 6, 2021 Share Posted January 6, 2021 Well they did say mediocre.... Again year 1-2 regardless of what others say had much to do with 1. No talent around him & 2. A coach who didn't believe Offense and often this resulted in bad situations (down & distance) for him. Yes he improved greatly in year 3, however I will say it..... So did the coaching 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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