Interviews/Commentary about Josh Allen (WY OC, Palmer, Joe B etc)

[Rochesterfan]

On 4/30/2018 at 6:10 PM, Hapless Bills Fan said:

 

To be truthful, if I were Darnold and his client just as much, I'd be kinda pissed except that Darnold went #3 overall and got the big payday and is supposedly tight with Allen after their 3 months as beach-house buddies, so maybe it's "all good"

 

I listened to a bunch of different Palmer clips and you are correct - he almost always was talking up Josh Allen’s work ethic and improved footwork, but only mentioned Darnold some - never really talking him up.

 

I think Darnold with the USC pedigree and coaching probably did not need or get as much out of Palmer.  He has been groomed for this for years - so this was mostly fine tuning for Darnold.  For Allen - I believe this was boot camp 101 and he needed to absorb the training like a sponge and therefore was going to show improvement that was not available to Darnold.

 

I also think Darnold was a bit more settled in his draft position- he was never really mocked to fall past 3.  It could be 1 to Cleveland or 2 in a trade/NYG or 3 with the Jets.  Allen on the other hand was mocked as high as 1 and down in the teens - so for Palmers own career- talking up Allen and getting him in the top 10 improves his cache with clients.

 

I do think it is funny how repeatedly he talked about how close Allen and Darnold were during this training and what great guys they were and now they are rivals in the same division- funny how that works.

 

[PaattMaann]

On 4/30/2018 at 1:54 PM, NoSaint said:

Of course it’s possible to fix- but history shows he’s likely about a coin flip and those would be high on the list of things that might land him on the wrong side. 

 

Itll be an an exciting season. Fingers crossed for good outcomes.

 

Hopefully an exciting season of McCarron playing alright enough QB to give us a chance to win games next year while Allen rides the pine and develops

[JerseyBills]

On 4/30/2018 at 3:19 PM, Badanswer said:

 

Wow that was an amazing watch.

He is probably the first QB of the internet heavy era talked about so openly with words like jaw dropping, amazing , unreal ,etc..

Guys who have been around the game their whole lives are blown away by the kid. This got me pumped,thx for sharing

[Augie]

On 4/30/2018 at 9:15 PM, The Dean said:

 

Thanks you for this. I  had not seen it (believe it or not). Someone should make it a point to play this to the Bills top brass, every week or so, if things start getting dicey with AJ.

 

 

 

 

 

Like, maybe every Sunday morning? 

 

I’m not sure if I’ve ever heard any player gushed about quite like that. 

[Wayne Arnold]

On 4/30/2018 at 1:22 PM, Dr. Who said:

Thanks for the videos.  Some folks have suggested hiring Palmer to work full-time with Allen, so it has not gone unnoticed.  I was also impressed with Dilfer's opinion of Allen.

 

Why would we need to hire Palmer?

 

Our QB coach is a 62 year old who hasn't coached quarterbacks since Ronald Raegan was President.

 

Our OC has done nothing but fail as an NFL offensive coordinator in each of his three appearances. But he coached under Belichick and Saban so it's ok.

 

Allen is in great hands, you guys!

 

[Dr. Who]

1 minute ago, Wayne Arnold said:

 

Why would we need to hire Palmer?

 

Our QB coach is a 62 year old who hasn't coached quarterbacks since Ronald Raegan was President.

 

Our OC has done nothing but fail as an NFL offensive coordinator in each of his three appearances. But he coached under Belichick and Saban so it's ok.

 

Allen is in great hands, you guys!

 

As you seem to surmise, it's possible to like Allen's potential and be unsure/skeptical we have the proper folks in place to develop his talent.  

[ngbills]

On 4/30/2018 at 1:46 PM, Domdab99 said:

I mean, Palmer talking up Allen is a little suspect, because it benefits Palmer and his job as a QB guru to have Allen be a success. Saying how much Allen has improved will obviously get other QBs to hire Palmer. 

 

Something else - we don't know how this has improved Allen's play, as he hasn't played a real game since hiring Palmer. I hope it has helped! 

 

That being said, the kid is doing all the right things and working hard. 

Bingo

[transplantbillsfan]

On ‎4‎/‎30‎/‎2018 at 12:53 PM, ColoradoBills said:

 

Thanks.  I heard about this interview and have been wanting to see it.

This is just another arrow in my "don't rush this young man's" quiver.

 

If I see Josh Allen on the field against the Ravens, Chargers or Vikings defenses and/or in a shootout with Aaron Rodgers I will not

believe in the McBeane "process" talk any more.

 

That being said I don't believe I will.  Do the right thing OBD.

 

What if Allen wins the QB competition?

 

Beane already said Allen is coming in as the #3.  McDermott always says every position is an open competition.

 

I've really been coming around more and more to thinking that Allen should just start right away, as long as he feels ready.  But what's great about Allen is he actually said, amazingly, that he's ready to do whatever the coaches want him to do, even if it means being the backup for a couple of years.

 

I don't remember where that interview was, but he didn't say that as a coward.  He said it as a team player because you could tell he really wanted to start, but unlike Rosen, Allen won't pitch a hissyfit if coaches want him to sit and learn.

 

I think Allen might actually be ahead of the game of all the rookies in terms of knowledge of an NFL offense, already.  Watching all the videos I could of his throws over the last couple years at Wyoming, I'm thinking some of the accuracy concerns are a bit overblown.  Allen isn't like Manuel was in 2013: a complete teardown in terms of mechanics.  EJ never really got that opportunity.  I don't know that Allen needs it.  He has things to fix, but I don't think he's nearly as raw as advertised... and I'm certainly guilty of thinking he was too raw for us to draft in the first place.

 

But while I think there's a decent chance McCarron is our starter this year, I'm also starting to think Allen might be close to the favorite to win the week 1 gig, and I don't think anymore that would be the worst thing, either.

[LabattBlue]

Jordan Palmer has proved nothing.  When Allen gets in an NFL game and his reported flaws are no where to be found, then he can be crowned king. 

[ColoradoBills]

18 hours ago, transplantbillsfan said:

 

What if Allen wins the QB competition?

 

Beane already said Allen is coming in as the #3.  McDermott always says every position is an open competition.

 

I've really been coming around more and more to thinking that Allen should just start right away, as long as he feels ready.  But what's great about Allen is he actually said, amazingly, that he's ready to do whatever the coaches want him to do, even if it means being the backup for a couple of years.

 

I don't remember where that interview was, but he didn't say that as a coward.  He said it as a team player because you could tell he really wanted to start, but unlike Rosen, Allen won't pitch a hissyfit if coaches want him to sit and learn.

 

I think Allen might actually be ahead of the game of all the rookies in terms of knowledge of an NFL offense, already.  Watching all the videos I could of his throws over the last couple years at Wyoming, I'm thinking some of the accuracy concerns are a bit overblown.  Allen isn't like Manuel was in 2013: a complete teardown in terms of mechanics.  EJ never really got that opportunity.  I don't know that Allen needs it.  He has things to fix, but I don't think he's nearly as raw as advertised... and I'm certainly guilty of thinking he was too raw for us to draft in the first place.

 

But while I think there's a decent chance McCarron is our starter this year, I'm also starting to think Allen might be close to the favorite to win the week 1 gig, and I don't think anymore that would be the worst thing, either.

 

I've already gone on record predicting that the "Should Allen Start" type threads will eclipse the Tyrod Taylor controversies on this board.

That being said I will summarize what I have written in other threads.

     Note:  I am considering composing one quick reply and one in depth reply to have at the ready to copy and paste into the 100's of threads

to come on this subject.

 

1.  Winner of QB competition:  Bill's have 3 inexperienced QB's.  The "winner" of this competition will most likely be subjective at best.

Poster will be making arguments about who should start based on a few preseason games.  So, unless AJ McCarron has proven to be a complete

disaster one will be able to "argue" that he is the best to start the season.

 

2.  Allen should start as long as he "feels ready":  I'm sorry but how Josh Allen "feels" has nothing to do whether he should start or not.  NFL Coaches are

paid well to determine this for all rookies on the team.  When it comes to rookies at Non-QB positions, these players can be brought in for a

few plays here and there and evaluated in a slow and methodical way.  A QB is either earmarked to play the whole game or not.  Comparisons

like this will be made over and over in the next few months but you can only compare QB's to QB's.

 

3.  Allen may be ahead of all the rookies:  Allen is the Bill's QB and what other teams do with their rookie QB means nothing to me.

Almost every football pundit, evaluator, mock drafting expert and NFL team GM's and Coaches have said Josh Allen is VERY RAW.

You admit that you didn't even want to have the Bill's draft him because of this.  Suddenly you and a very significant amount of poster who felt the

same now want him to start immediately.  I am in the Palmer, Dilfer and Mayock camp, give him SOME time.

 

Numerous threads have been started (and will be started in the near future) stating that the Bill's do not know how to develop a young QB.

IMO throwing a raw small school rookie QB with a limited amount of playing time into the NFL against the 4 teams the Bills are scheduled

to play (3 on the road) is the definition of how NOT to develop a rookie QB.  If the Bill's are really wanting to get him in as early as possible do

it after the first 4 games.

 

If both AJ McCarron and/or Nate Peterman stink up the field in the first 4 games so be it.  The result will prove they both need to be released

from the team and another QB needs to be signed to replace them.  The Bills have a better chance of going 0-4 to start rather than 4-0.

[racketmaster]

Here is an in depth interview Draft Wire has with Wyoming’s OC. Some good information in there especially regarding what Allen was asked to do at the line of scrimmage. Confirms what Beane thinks of Allen, not as “raw” as many people believe  he is. 

 

https://draftwire.usatoday.com/2018/05/07/josh-allen-nfl-draft-bills-wyoming-brent-vigen/

[MrEpsYtown]

Thanks for sharing. Some highlight imo:  

JM: At this point in time, which aspects of his game would you say are the most developed?

BV: He’s a natural passer. Some kids just pick up a football and it comes naturally to them. They don’t have to be coached from a young age. As youngsters, they don’t have to go to a quarterback camp or anything like that. For Josh, he’s been throwing the football since he was a kid. Footwork-wise, that’s another piece. I think his upper body mechanics are something to behold. From a physical development standpoint, you don’t have to put any weight on him. Right now, the Buffalo Bills’ strength and conditioning coaches aren’t talking about having to beef him up. He’s very physically developed.

 

His understanding of a fairly sophisticated offense that we ran at Wyoming is there. There’s not gonna be this dramatic shift for him. He can speak the language. He can recite a play. He can make decisions at the line of scrimmage. These are all things he’s already done. For some kids who go from college to the pros, that’s a transition for them. He is not perfect by any means, but he’s already been exposed to a lot of things. I don’t think the transition is gonna be great as a lot of people out there seem to think.

JM: What is your take on his footwork, and where it is today?

BV: I think his footwork is fine. I think how pressure affects him and what that does to his footwork at times is something that he’ll have to continue to work on. He made really good strides from his sophomore year to his junior year with us.  As a sophomore, I thought he let his feet get away from him a little bit when he felt the pressure. I think that happened unconsciously at times. He was trying to catch up to his arm. That didn’t happen nearly as much this past year. I know he’s worked exceptionally hard from January on to continue to correct that. He has the ability to self-correct. He’s now a little more conscious of how it all fits together. When you make the jump from college to the NFL, you naturally listen to the criticism a little more.

 

You can get away with some things in college that you can’t get away with in the NFL. I think he has the basis for his footwork to become everything it needs to be. He’s good enough of an athlete back there where trusting the pocket is something he has to continue to do. He did a better job of that for us this year. We weren’t as good up front this year. The pocket wasn’t always as stable as I would have liked it to be. I think he made strides there and will continue to do so. He understands how everything works together. He didn’t understand that three or four years ago. His understanding grew in his time with us and I think it’s been amplified over the past three or four months.

JM: You mentioned that he worked out of a fairly sophisticated offense. How empowered was he to make checks at the line of scrimmage?

BV: Very much so. Everything was on his shoulders in the protection game. I’d much rather have a guy out on the field who understands how the defense is affecting him rather than him feeling like he has to completely react after the snap. He was in control of the protection side of things. In the run game, we had him making checks. I’m talking run-to-run checks, sometimes it was run-to-pass or pass-to-run. He’s been exposed to all of that. Sometimes, it was based on numbers. Other times, it was based on specific looks.

I don’t think there’s anything from an NFL decision-making standpoint at the line of scrimmage that’s gonna be foreign to him. The volume at which he might be asked to do a few of those things might be greater, but I don’t think there’s gonna be anything that’ll be an entirely new concept for him.

 

Here is what he said for people concerned about completion percentage: 

 

JM: Those who aren’t as high on him point to his career completion percentage of 56.2. They’ll say it’s hard to find successful pro quarterbacks that were under 60 percent in college. What’s your take on that?

BV: Numbers are numbers, and his completion percentage number did not improve from one year to the next. I know that I saw a marked improvement on his ball placement and decision-making. You can go through every single one of these quarterbacks that were just drafted and put together a low-light reel. You really could. That’s just football. That’s playing the quarterback position, the toughest position to play in all of sports. I’ve seen all the low-light reels, and those plays frustrate me. Each one of those plays has a story. It’s not always about what Josh Allen did wrong. He wasn’t perfect, like I said. I think completion percentage is a lot of times a function of your offense. Albeit, we had a first-round quarterback, but we underachieved as an offense. That’s not all on him. He has to bare the brunt of the criticism for that completion percentage.

 

We ran the ball for 108 yards per game compared to 207 the year before. I haven’t heard anyone talk about how that effected Josh’s completion percentage, but I can tell you that had a huge impact on our passing game. I haven’t heard that from one person. Nobody talks about how our dip in production effected his completion percentage. It is what it is. I know he has the capability to be an accurate passer. I’m not concerned about that. It’s an easy target. I think it’s easy to point at. He played at a Group of 5 school versus lesser competition, and he didn’t shine in the games against the Power 5, but there’s more to the story than that. He has to prove it. I think we all understand that. I would say that I’m fully confident that he can prove all his doubters wrong.

 

All in all, he is probably the most pro ready quarterback of the bunch outside of Rosen maybe. He also has the most physical talent and is the most physically developed. He is also the smartest guy with the highest wonderlic. So people can keep harping on a percentage number, or get on the train and enjoy the ride. 

Edited May 7, 2018 by MrEpsYtown

[Hapless Bills Fan]

59 minutes ago, racketmaster said:

Here is an in depth interview Draft Wire has with Wyoming’s OC. Some good information in there especially regarding what Allen was asked to do at the line of scrimmage. Confirms what Beane thinks of Allen, not as “raw” as many people believe  he is. 

 

https://draftwire.usatoday.com/2018/05/07/josh-allen-nfl-draft-bills-wyoming-brent-vigen/

 

Really good read, thanks. 

 

Biggest Understatement: "We weren’t as good up front this year. The pocket wasn’t always as stable as I would have liked it to be. "

 

I liked what he had to say about the "low lights" - I thought it was a classy example of a coach responding to criticism of his star QB without throwing the rest of the team under the bus.

[hondo in seattle]

1 hour ago, racketmaster said:

Here is an in depth interview Draft Wire has with Wyoming’s OC. Some good information in there especially regarding what Allen was asked to do at the line of scrimmage. Confirms what Beane thinks of Allen, not as “raw” as many people believe  he is. 

 

https://draftwire.usatoday.com/2018/05/07/josh-allen-nfl-draft-bills-wyoming-brent-vigen/

 

Thanks for posting.  Good stuff.

The more I read about Allen, the more I like him and his chances.   But my final prognosis remains the same: we won't know until we know.  

[billsfan1959]

6 minutes ago, Hapless Bills Fan said:

 

Really good read, thanks. 

 

Biggest Understatement: "We weren’t as good up front this year. The pocket wasn’t always as stable as I would have liked it to be. "

 

I liked what he had to say about the "low lights" - I thought it was a classy example of a coach responding to criticism of his star QB without throwing the rest of the team under the bus.

Haha - it was quite an understatement. I know a lot has been made of his surrounding talent in 2017 and the counter-argument that he was also playing against inferior talent. It is all relative; however, you would like to think that the level of talent around you is close to the level of talent you are playing against. I watched a lot of film on Wyoming from last year and, from an offensive line and offensive skill position perspective, many of those players often were not even close to the level of talent they were playing against. I am not making excuses, just an observation.

 

Like you, I thought Vigen did an excellent job of articulating his point without specifically criticizing other players - while still holding Allen accountable as well.

[Ramza86]

Good read. Glad to see coach confirm the crappy team around him. lol

[Drunken Pygmy Goat]

Good read, thanks for posting. I know a lot of people will chalk it up as "coach talk", but I thought it was very honest, and he actually touched on several of the things that I've been posting here lately, as far as "defending" Allen goes, and contradicting what all the media pundits have said (that many fans run with). They lost 2 good pieces of their offense to the NFL after 2016, their offensive line wasn't great, completion percentage isn't necessarily an exact measure of accuracy, etc. Allen had some issues, but we cannot simply look at numbers and put it all on him. Too many factors and variables in football, and his OC mentioned several. But what I really took away from this is just how well a "fit" Allen appears to be for the Bills and Buffalo in general, and the mental traits you look for in a QB and leader, and I really think Beane and the staff looked at those things and it helped make their decision easier. 

26 minutes ago, hondo in seattle said:

 

Thanks for posting.  Good stuff.

The more I read about Allen, the more I like him and his chances.   But my final prognosis remains the same: we won't know until we know.  

 

My thoughts exactly. I've definitely warmed up to the pick much more since the draft, with every piece that I read (many of which were posted before the draft). Of course, many are a bit "fluffy", but I can see past that. 

 

All things considered, I think we're in good shape. The way Beane has handled the roster and cap has been very good, and should allow for a nice window to compete in a couple years if he continues to build the team properly. like said, we jus don't know what Allen will become. 

[One Buffalo]

Good read... thanks for sharing!  

 

I like his reference to the team factors and how that contributed to Allen's lower completion %.  As he says, Allen is being unfairly blamed for what was a team problem-

 

Quote

He wasn’t perfect, like I said. I think completion percentage is a lot of times a function of your offense. Albeit, we had a first-round quarterback, but we underachieved as an offense. That’s not all on him. He has to bare the brunt of the criticism for that completion percentage.

We ran the ball for 108 yards per game compared to 207 the year before. I haven’t heard anyone talk about how that effected Josh’s completion percentage, but I can tell you that had a huge impact on our passing game. I haven’t heard that from one person. Nobody talks about how our dip in production effected his completion percentage. It is what it is. I know he has the capability to be an accurate passer. I’m not concerned about that. It’s an easy target. I think it’s easy to point at.

 

[Kwai San]

Nice write up - I have been and remain very excited to see what he brings to the table.  That said - I sincerely hope and have said so several times that AJ is able to keep Josh firmly on the bench for at least a year so he can soak up the NFL expectations and atmosphere.  Throwing him in there because they "feel a need to change things up" will not be good for him at all.  Look what has happened to Peterman.  Not saying NP is good/great or otherwise - just saying throwing him up the wolves didn't help him on many many levels.

[Foxx]

4 hours ago, racketmaster said:

Here is an in depth interview Draft Wire has with Wyoming’s OC. Some good information in there especially regarding what Allen was asked to do at the line of scrimmage. Confirms what Beane thinks of Allen, not as “raw” as many people believe  he is. 

 

https://draftwire.usatoday.com/2018/05/07/josh-allen-nfl-draft-bills-wyoming-brent-vigen/

excellent read! thanks for posting.