Hapless Bills Fan Posted February 11, 2020 Posted February 11, 2020 18 hours ago, LSHMEAB said: Randomly talked to a fellow Bills fan named Mike while visiting Las Cruces, NM. You here bro? Guy was wearing a Bills shirt so I had to ask if it was just a shirt or if he was a Bills fan. We're everywhere! Anyways, Josh's name never came up in the 20 minute convo. Wasn't intention. Just didn't happen. I feel like it's indicative of the sentiment most rational Bills fans have; WE'RE JUST NOT SURE. What else is there to say? He's shown flashes and has dramatically raised his FLOOR since draft day. I'm not convinced he's raised his ceiling, but I'm not convinced his ceiling isn't still very high. I enjoy the convo as much as anyone, but his play is really the only thing that matters. If he can improve his read/recognition/release, sky's the limit. But that's in no way a given. As one poster stated, his mechanics tend to break down under duress and this is where he needs to improve. When he properly analyzes the field and releases on time, the accuracy issue is greatly diminished. It's generally when he's hesitant that we see the wildly inaccurate throws. I know the kid is going to work his () off, so there is reason for optimism that he can improve this with experience. I just don't KNOW yet. Given the importance of QB in the NFL, that's actually a bit wierd that it didn't come up in a 20 minute convo between Bills fans, unless it was a convo strictly about the D? As far as your final paragraph is concerned, I think you've pretty much nailed it. I would add he can also throw positively snap-your-head-around-Exorcist-style completions when he's on the move or off platform, and I disagree that when he's hesitant we see "wildly inaccurate" throws - those are more when he knows where he's gonna go but he's under pressure and his footwork regresses from what I see (I think sometimes what you may be seeing is miscues between the WR route and what Allen thinks the WR route is, Another Story...) A big part of his improvement was, IMO, having 2 better weapons at WR. A big gap was not having a 3rd quality WR and the reliable, experienced TE Kroft was signed to be. But those are all pretty much nits to your bottom line which is spot on. Right now there are too many gaps in his basic QB game. Lord knows I hope he fills 'em, and I believe he will continue to work like a beast to fill them so optimism, but Damn Straight it's in no way given, and I agree that many fans, like ourselves, are Just Not Sure. We want to believe but we just can't based on results to date. Josh is a long long way from being a candidate for league MVP IMHO, but he doesn't have to be - as someone else said up-thread, if he makes another incremental improvement to completion percentage, passer rating, and YPG similar to what he did last season and/or does enough to put our offense into the top 10-15 range, we can win games and return to the playoffs. 1
LSHMEAB Posted February 12, 2020 Posted February 12, 2020 26 minutes ago, Hapless Bills Fan said: Given the importance of QB in the NFL, that's actually a bit wierd that it didn't come up in a 20 minute convo between Bills fans, unless it was a convo strictly about the D? EVERYTHING but Josh. The guy was pretty much up on everything including FA'cy and the draft. I harped on edge rushers and he was all about a replacement for Levi. So yeah, alot of defense, but OL, WR, etc. as well. I may have subconsciously avoided the topic because it was a positive convo and didn't want to express any critique, but it's odd that he didn't bring it up. He was ALL IN on the process, so I'm fairly confident I know where he stood on JA. Entirely TMI, but yeah; it struck me as odd as I drove away that Allen never came up.
BigBillsFan Posted February 12, 2020 Posted February 12, 2020 On 2/10/2020 at 4:36 PM, atlbillsfan1975 said: I believe he already is in that range you presented. What do you base that on? I was referring his to his stats as a passer. I'm open to hearing what you have to say. Thank you
LSHMEAB Posted February 12, 2020 Posted February 12, 2020 33 minutes ago, Hapless Bills Fan said: Given the importance of QB in the NFL, that's actually a bit wierd that it didn't come up in a 20 minute convo between Bills fans, unless it was a convo strictly about the D? As far as your final paragraph is concerned, I think you've pretty much nailed it. I would add he can also throw positively snap-your-head-around-Exorcist-style completions when he's on the move or off platform, and I disagree that when he's hesitant we see "wildly inaccurate" throws - those are more when he knows where he's gonna go but he's under pressure and his footwork regresses from what I see. In retrospect, this likely happened far more frequently than the inaccurate throws caused by perceived hesitation. Probably just noticed the "off throws" more vividly when he had time/an open man and seemed to wait too long to release because it's frustrating as a fan.. He's young. It happens. But he's gotta clean some things up.
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