Scout Report – Josh Allen

• Position: Quarterback (Pro-Style, Spread)
• Previous Team: Wyoming Cowboys
• Status: 2018 Draft Prospect

Age: 21, Height: 6’5, Weight: 233 lbs, Experience: 2 year starter (College)

• Average Opposing Defense Rank: 70.1
• Average Opposing Passing Defense Rank: 61
• Average Points Allowed rank: 74.8

Resume:

• 8:3 TD/INT ratio in 2016 with 16 TDs – 6 INTs on the season
• Ranked 75th in Adjusted QBR with 52.2
• Best Game: vs. Gardner-Webb (W 27-0)
  • 22-32 (68.8%), 328 yards, 2 TDs, 91.1 QBR
• played against 1 Top-25 Defense, finished 0-1
  • @ Boise State ranked 23rd, (L 14-24)
• played against 3 top-25 passing defenses, finished 3-0
  • @ Utah State ranked 16th (W 28-23)
  • @ Air Force ranked 20th (W 28-14)
  • Potato Bowl: Central Michigan ranked 23rd (W 37-14)
• 2nd Team All-Mountain West (2016)

Strengths:

• Exception Arm Strength, can bolt the ball down the field wherever, whenever.
• Superb pocket presence and top notch radar seems to always know where the blitz is coming from.
• Great mobility allows for extension of the play, or a needed scramble when pressure becomes too great.
• Throwing on the Run a useful asset when dealing with broken down plays or tenacious rushers.
• Has fairly good vision of the field in the pocket.
• Difficult to sack because of size and mobility.
• Not afraid to take the ball and run with it.

Weaknesses:

• Can be inconsistent on accuracy, especially in the mid range throws (6-15 yards)
• Weak scrambler
• rarely slides, takes hits he should not be taking.
• Has a habit of eyeing only one receiver on plays, especially on out routes.
• Tends to force throws he shouldn’t if deprived of big plays.
• Gets antsy if trailing in the 4th Quarter. Symptoms include tunnel vision, over powered throws, and taking sacks when he should throw the ball away.
• Easily influenced decision making. Can be goaded into some stupid plays.

Overview:

Josh Allen has been hyped since week 1 as a Top-10 draft pick by analysts. His play has earned him a selection as the 3rd best QB on the draft board for 2018, and overall is highly touted for his leadership and overall play on the field. Watching Allen, I can definitely see where the love is coming from. Allen has many strengths to his game, and many of which compliment the other strengths. His pocket presence, plus his mobility, plus his arm strength and size make him a truly disastrous threat for defenses to deal with. The problem with Allen is his resume. Playing for Wyoming and being in the Mountain West conference unfortunately means that Allen has not played against very difficult competition. While Utah State and Air Force were statistically top notch pass defenses, they amounted to little this season. The truly telling game for Allen was against Boise State. This game was not only against a future ranked team and a strong defense, but also forced Allen out of his comfort zone, as Wyoming was trailing by 3 at the begin of the 4th quarter, and was then losing by 10 for the last 10 minutes of the game. This game showed a lot of Allen’s strengths and weaknesses. While the young man was able to throw the ball fairly well, there was a small but important dip in his accuracy. On top of that, Allen was shown to be easily flustered, jumping in and out of the pocket and being more aggressive with his play style when he didn’t need to be. A good example featured a play action pass that was called. The play action featured the slot receiver running an out route  while the X ran a post. In previous runs of this play, Allen favored the out route run by the slot, and also utilized the TE drag across the middle of the field. This this case, however Allen immediately aired the ball out to the X’s post route, and straight into double coverage. This play best exemplifies Allen’s major weaknesses; His mental fortitude when needed is lacking. Similar to his strengths, his weaknesses also exaggerate his problems on the field. He at times only watches a single receiver, will throw the ball into double coverage, and gets restless if he did not manage to have a big play. Overall, Allen is a good work that has problems when his game is broken down into details. If called upon to place a great amount of pressure on himself, he rarely shines in this moment, and his success and failures can be streaky, which could be a problem at the next level. Is Allen a good talent? of course. Is he a Top 10? I’d need to look at more prospects.