Josh's off-season improvement goal: deep ball accuracy

[BuffaloBillyG]

1 minute ago, Bleeding Bills Blue said:

 

He's always had more of a trajectory issue.  It doesn't need to be a mile high but it has often been thrown too hard with lower trajectory.  

He had one season where he was noticably putting some nice trajectory on the ball at the beginning of the year. I want to say it was either Diggs's first year or the one before it. 

 

Problem has been many seasons it seems like Josh gets some kind of shoulder/arm injury and that probably affects his touch as well. Or the foot injury not letting him plant properly. I wish we could see 1 whole Allen season without injury that reduces his ability 

[NewEra]

1 hour ago, Fan in Chicago said:

Allen has not consistently had a good deep ball catcher. In the couple of seasons that he had John Brown and Sanders, memory tells me he hit a fair number of those deep balls. But his WR and TEs have basically been good in the short and medium game. His ability to finesse that skill has been due to lack of opportuities. Coupled with the fact that such WRs have not been on the field for the past two years (Palmer and Cooks have been in game for very short periods), how is he to show off his skills? It does take two to tango.

 

Pointing this out is not being sensitive about criticisms against him. He has rightfully taken heat for turnovers and the unwillingness early in his career to take the checkdown. But recognizing that there are other mitigating factors is a balanced take. 

What you said is not being sensitive.  Others say things that are. 
 

Josh even admits he needs to improve on his deep ball.  Just like he’s said he needed to limit his turnovers.  He’s missed the mark in crucial spots 

 

if one would say that delivering an accurate deep ball is one of his better traits, I would disagree.  I think it’s one of his lesser talents, especially in rhythm.  I like his deep ball better off script.  Jmo.

[Ridgewaycynic2013]

7 hours ago, BVBILLS said:

More screens!

If four different offensive players don't handle the ball by design, you aren't trying. 🤨

[Buffalo716]

Like a couple others have alluded throwing a deep ball is more timing than others think

 

You're throwing it to a spot.. something you've practiced 10,000 times 

 

Allen has not much Arc but there's not a lot of strong armed quarterbacks in this modern day who have cannons and pristine arc

 

Aaron Rodgers in his prime threw a great deep Ball but it was more like Josh it was flatter compared to your Tom Brady or Drew Brees deep ball... He just had better control of it 

 

Josh with that Cannon is in a hard place because if he put the ball up high he might throw it 75 yards and overthrow a bunch of people... Putting it flatter gets it their quicker but makes the margin of error smaller 

 

It's one of those things where Josh is going to get more dialed in as he gets older cuz even if he loses 7% of his arm strength..  he's going to gain it in touch 

 

Statistically hes actually a better deep ball thrower than most realize.. but if he ever figures out the Deep touch it's game over for NFL defenses

 

It will get there eventually 

Edited May 21 by Buffalo716

[finn]

17 hours ago, NewEra said:

All of this is correct. It’s also correct that he is not consistent enough on throwing accurate deep passes on streaks.  He knows it. He’s said it.  
 

It’s a weaker point for him (as great as he is) and pointing this out isn’t “criticizing” him.  The thread is about what HE, himself, said.  He knows he needs to improve on that part of his game.

 

While there are a handful of annoying facets of this board, the one I find most annoying is the how sensitive people are for pointing out Josh Allen’s faults.  He has faults.  He’s not perfect.  It’s ok to discuss them.  It’s ok to admit them.  Josh does both.  

As was going to overtime.  2 chances on the final drive in regulation (cooks and Knox).  He missed both.  

Agreed, although Allen saying he needs to improve has to be taken with a grain of salt. Yes, he can improve marginally, but he's already elite. His teammates and coaches are not. They're the ones that needs to improve to get the team over the hump. Also, pointing out Allen needs to improve his deep ball is fine (I agree); saying his deep ball "sucks" is going to get a reaction out of me. Call it sensitivity to stupidity hyperbole.

Edited May 22 by finn

[transplantbillsfan]

22 hours ago, PoundingDog said:

After 2023 season, Josh's goal was to reduce turnovers. After 2024, he said he wanted to improve pre-snap reading. After 2025, he said he wants to improve his deep  ball accuracy, specifically mechinical issues. I thought Eric's point of having to have the real guys to practice may not be valid. To me, it's all about projecting where the ball needs to be at what time, and you can practice it without anybody running the route, with different arcs of the ball (Tua came to mind). Maybe the issue is Josh not able to project the location the ball needs to land with different guys running the deep route?   

 

A couple of other notes.

• You can really feel for him when he said he "hated" not being able to celebrate the 1st Xmas with his daughter.
• I noticed when Eric asked Josh about what kind of liquor he's drinking. For the first time I'm hearing the answer that I want to hear: a lot of water. For him to have that longitivity I'm hoping for, look no further than Tom Brady, and keep alcohol to a minimum.
• Allen is well tapped to the wind considtions in the new stadium. Unfortunately it probably helps opponents more than the Bills in that regard.
• Allen is fully aware he hasn't played well in Houston. You can bet he may start watching some Texans films well before the season openner.

 

 

 

I think I might be gay...

 

I just realized I smile like a teenage girl when I watch Josh Allen in interviews like this.

[97bills]

12 hours ago, Brand J said:

That deep ball to Gabe Davis in the playoffs against the Chiefs, the 74 yard pass or whatever it was, was the prettiest deep ball I’ve ever seen him throw. I liked it more than the one to Foster. Just perfect touch and placement, I was wondering why it couldn’t be like that at least half the time.

And the one to Gabe against Pitt. 

[Alphadawg7]

On 5/20/2026 at 7:24 PM, Dan said:

And WRs that could make contested catches. 

Or just not commit the dumbest fumble in history to end the half on a dead play to give the opponent free 3 points in a game we kicked a FG to go to OT instead of win.

 

Love Josh - but man that was just unreal.

 

17 hours ago, finn said:

Agreed, although Allen saying he needs to improve has to be taken with a grain of salt. Yes, he can improve marginally, but he's already elite. His teammates and coaches are not. They're the ones that needs to improve to get the team over the hump. Also, pointing out Allen needs to improve his deep ball is fine (I agree); saying his deep ball "sucks" is going to get a reaction out of me. Call it sensitivity to stupidity hyperbole.

Josh is not an elite deep ball thrower, not even close.  He’s elite everywhere else, including medium throws for him that would be deeper shots for others where he can throw a rope 20-30 yarder.  But his deep ball pass with an arc is not good at all, it’s by far his worst throw.

 

But - that being said, he may be the best ever at most other throws and plays.  

Edited May 22 by Alphadawg7

[Dan]

13 minutes ago, Alphadawg7 said:

Or just not commit the dumbest fumble in history to end the half on a dead play to give the opponent free 3 points in a game we kicked a FG to go to OT instead of win.

 

Love Josh - but man that was just unreal.

 

Josh is not an elite deep ball thrower, not even close.  He’s elite everywhere else, including medium throws for him that would be deeper shots for others where he can throw a rope 20-30 yarder.  But his deep ball pass with an arc is not good at all, it’s by far his worst throw.

 

But - that being said, he may be the best ever at most other throws and plays.  

Can’t disagree, at all.    

[In Summary]

The arcing deep ball hasn't been Josh's thing. It was certainly a Jim Kelly thing. 

[The Firebaugh Kid]

It seems to me like it’s the deep ball every year but maybe I’m delusional.

[GoBills808]

On 5/20/2026 at 4:55 PM, BuffaloBillyG said:

I've always thought Josh's deep ball placement was bad. He had one season early in his car where he would have success with John Brown. A few nice ones to Robert Foster. 

 

My dream WR for Josh, like many, has been one of those 4.2 40 type guys. Just let him fling it as far as possible and let a speedy WR run under it. I know, sounds way less complicated than it is. 

you've been wrong

 

[machine gun kelly]

On 5/21/2026 at 4:29 PM, BuffaloBillyG said:

He had one season where he was noticably putting some nice trajectory on the ball at the beginning of the year. I want to say it was either Diggs's first year or the one before it. 

 

Problem has been many seasons it seems like Josh gets some kind of shoulder/arm injury and that probably affects his touch as well. Or the foot injury not letting him plant properly. I wish we could see 1 whole Allen season without injury that reduces his ability 

As much as I love him scrambling, the reduced injuries requires he either throws it away more and be boring like Brady at the end, or  he slides more quickly.  Evade the hits, and you’ll stay clean longer.  We have a good O Line, but they can only hold so long, and our receiving core has been atrocious minus Shakir.  Kinkaid is great when he’s on the field, but he’s often not on the field.

 

Now we do have the running game, maybe the TEs can handle it, and we added DJ and Bell.  That may do it.  That’s the easy fix plus Whats above in him escaping hits that improves his health and thus leading to better deep passes.

On 5/21/2026 at 7:36 PM, transplantbillsfan said:

 

I think I might be gay...

 

I just realized I smile like a teenage girl when I watch Josh Allen in interviews like this.

When all else fails, find the right Seinfeld reference.  Literally one of the funniest shows ever made.

[BuffaloBillyG]

4 hours ago, GoBills808 said:

you've been wrong

 

Not this argument again. 

 

Look, I don't know who decided 20 yards was "deep ball" territory. But it's not. 30 years ago, sure. These days 20 yards is a fairly routine throw. 

 

When people discuss "deep balls" they are not typically talking 20 year outs, deep slants or things of that nature. They are talking 40+ yard "Go Routes". The home run ball. 

Edited May 23 by BuffaloBillyG

[GoBills808]

1 minute ago, BuffaloBillyG said:

Not this argument again. 

 

Look, I don't know who decided 20 yards was "deep ball" territory. But it's not. 30 years ago, sure. These days 20 yards is a fairly routine throw. 

 

When people discuss "deep balls" they are not typically talking 20 year outs, deep slants or things of that nature. They are talking 40+ yard "Go Routes". The home run ball. 

so this is the part where I ask you for your data showing Allen's actually bad at whatever you deem a 'deep throw' is 

 

then we suddenly realize 90% of this board only watches bills games and the highlights they show during halftime...many of which consist of **surprise** amazing deep TDs...leading everyone to assume it's some regularly completed play

 

 

[13 Seconds to Mars]

On 5/20/2026 at 9:50 PM, ganesh said:

If we saw anything in Denver, it still remain on how to reduce turnover.  4 turnovers in divisional playoff game is not going to get you to the big dance.  

And it almost did too that’s the funny part. 

[fergie's ire]

On 5/21/2026 at 9:18 AM, Brand J said:

That deep ball to Gabe Davis in the playoffs against the Chiefs, the 74 yard pass or whatever it was, was the prettiest deep ball I’ve ever seen him throw. I liked it more than the one to Foster. Just perfect touch and placement, I was wondering why it couldn’t be like that at least half the time.

Some will point out air yards numbers to disagree, but as we've discussed, there are two kinds of deep balls for Josh.  There are the ones where he throws it 40 yards on a rope.  He has even gotten better at those with a little hump to them...that will go over linebackers and drop in.  It's the classic deep ball that drops down in front of the receiver that he struggles with, and always has.  I'd like to see him get better, but I'd also like to see some calls that play to his strength.  I remember one of the Bills opponents (Jacksonville in the playoffs, maybe?) that ran a play where the safety was occupied and two receivers ran go routes on the right side of the field.  Because the Bills were in zone, Tre was stuck having to cover both receivers.  He played it masterfully and stayed in the middle and broke to break up the pass when he saw it was going.  However, if Josh were throwing the ball, on a line (because the db is not on the receiver)...with his arm strength and ball speed, there is no way a db is able to break on it.

Edited May 23 by fergie's ire

[nosejob]

On 5/21/2026 at 7:18 AM, BillMafia716ix said:

Josh sucks throwing the deep ball which is surprising given his arm strength. Josh under threw that deep ball to Cooks vs. Denver. A better ball, Cooks catches it in stride and we’re playing for chance to get to the Super Bowl. 

That's the thing. The defense against us  can play man, a heavy box and design blitzes. The " between the 20 s "crap is ....crap if he can't hit a few deep now and then.

[SCBills]

On 5/20/2026 at 11:24 PM, nedboy7 said:

McD kept putting his arm in a bad position for accuracy.  

You joke, but McD and his overly conservative gameplans to protect the defense absolutely led to some of Josh Allen’s poor decision making. 

[Since1981]

On 5/20/2026 at 8:58 PM, PoundingDog said:

Allen is well tapped to the wind considtions in the new stadium. Unfortunately it

This wind topic ticks me off. Look threads in the pre build past. I was 100% concerned about wind (vs. cold, snow). And it appears they fixed it by only 50%. That spot is one of the windiest spots in the USA. May 24, have you guys felt the wind today? Nowhere else has this.  Awful.