Josh Allen's Running Ability

[Mikie2times]

2 minutes ago, 947 said:

If you've seen Josh's 40 from the combine, it's clear he had no idea how to run a track sprint. His technique is awful & his arm movement is wacky. I doubt he trained with a running coach.

 

But running as a QB is different. You have a ball in your hand so your arm movement is more natural, and you don't start from a stance. In that regard, Josh's speed is elite. Same reason you see elite sprinters in the league who aren't good football players except when they run a fly route.

I think a lot of this is based on him being a stride runner. I think stride runners have that slower start and stop, but sneaky top end and if you put that in a TE's body with a FB's brain. The Josh Allen experience is certainly what to call it. Nothing like him exists. 

[pennstate10]

Pretty sure I remember that in year one nextgen stats clocked him at 21+ mph in a game. One of the top speeds for any player that year

[Mikie2times]

2 minutes ago, Buffalo716 said:

 

I would break this down to a few things 

 

First some players play faster than their 40 time.. the juice and adrenaline of a game hype you up 

 

Second the offenses that Josh and Lamar Jackson were running were completely different.. Lamar got the benefit from a college offense that ran a spread option 

 

Josh was also under center a lot more which makes it harder to run effectively... They weren't running standard read options like is typical in college ball 

 

On the flip side.. Josh Allen's JUCO rushing stats were amazing 

 

In 8 starts he had 660 yards and 10 TDs  5.5 average

So did the Bills REALLY know?  

[JY422]

This is a unique thread about our unique QB. 
Good read for sure

[Dr.Sack]

To be fair Allen is such a duel threat that his passing ability gets more respect than his running. Allen is a pick your poison QB. Sit back in Cover 2 and he'll run over one linebacker spy. Blitz him and he'll hit the hot route, or find a way to juke the blitz and take off for 30. 

 

Why is Allen a better runner in the NFL than college? I presume its because he has become stronger, smarter, and his supporting cast is better. 

[Buffalo716]

Just now, KzooMike said:

So did the Bills REALLY know?  

Yes 

 

I made a thread here when we drafted Allen saying his rookie season the thing that's going to save him and surprise us most are his legs 

 

I knew he would be a huge running threat cuz when he got moving he's literally like a tight end down field..  hard to stop

[Andy1]

Josh averaged only 2.2 and 3.7 yards per rush in his college years so no one expected that to be anything in the NFL. He was definitely not at top speed at the combine. He was definitely elusive in the pocket in college but many didn’t think that would translate to the NFL either. His running ability is what makes him the unicorn.

[BrownNgold]

Honestly I bet a lot of GMs thought he ran to much in college and that wouldn't translate to the pro game.  Plus his low pass percentage didn't help on paper.

 

Josh made sport center top 10 multiple times during his 2016 campaign at Wyoming. With crazy roll outside for tds.  One weekend against UNLV he made it twice and they lost.  

 

He is a special talent and I'm glad he led me to be a Bill's fan.

[Mikie2times]

2 minutes ago, Dr.Sack said:

To be fair Allen is such a duel threat that his passing ability gets more respect than his running. Allen is a pick your poison QB. Sit back in Cover 2 and he'll run over one linebacker spy. Blitz him and he'll hit the hot route, or find a way to juke the blitz and take off for 30. 

 

Why is Allen a better runner in the NFL than college? I presume its because he has become stronger, smarter, and his supporting cast is better. 

He's a passing scrambler, which is pretty rare. A few have existed. Probably the most comparable in ability to do both in my eyes would be Steve Young, but Josh is clearly much different than Steve Young. Both are passing scramblers but Young was like a symphony and Allen is like a Metallica concert. Young was much more refined. Allen is just a savage. Russell Wilson also has a similar game, but again, just much different. Any comp you can think of needs a touch of amphetamine, 3 inches, 30 pounds, and some uncle Rico.    

[BrownNgold]

7 minutes ago, Dr.Sack said:

To be fair Allen is such a duel threat that his passing ability gets more respect than his running. Allen is a pick your poison QB. Sit back in Cover 2 and he'll run over one linebacker spy. Blitz him and he'll hit the hot route, or find a way to juke the blitz and take off for 30. 

 

Why is Allen a better runner in the NFL than college? I presume its because he has become stronger, smarter, and his supporting cast is better. 

He is a better runner in the NFL because he needed to be.  In college at least in 2016 he had a better running back that did the heavy lifting.  Not a slight against Singeltary the offense at Wyoming was based around Brian Hill(dude has the school yardage record in basically 2 seasons).  Josh just balled out when they got behind in yardage.

[Warcodered]

 

[Simon]

50 minutes ago, Dr.Sack said:

To be fair Allen is such a duel threat that his passing ability gets more respect than his running. Allen is a pick your poison QB. Sit back in Cover 2 and he'll run over one linebacker spy. Blitz him and he'll hit the hot route, or find a way to juke the blitz and take off for 30. 

 

Why is Allen a better runner in the NFL than college? I presume its because he has become stronger, smarter, and his supporting cast is better. 

 

Yeah, he's reaching the point where his patience and vision are making him virtually indefensible with any traditional defenses. I wonder who's going to come up with something that can give him consistent trouble (Spagnulo is probably the best candidate right now ). If they protect him and he continues to stay patient he's going to dominate this league for as long as he wants to.

To keep it on topic, may favorite thing about watching him run is seeing all the bad angles guys take on him. Especially when it's guys seeing him in front of them for the first time. Nobody EVER takes the right angle on him. 

[Warcodered]

1 minute ago, Simon said:

 

Yeah, he's reaching the point where his patience and vision are making him virtually indefensible with any traditional defenses. I wonder who's going to come up with something that can give him consistent trouble (Spagnulo is probably the best candidate right now ). If they protect him and he continues to stay patient he's going to dominate this league for as long as he wants to.

To keep it on topic, may favorite thing about watching him run is seeing all the bad angles guys take on him. Especially when it's guys seeing him in front of them for the first time. Nobody EVER takes the right angle on him. 

It is pretty fun when he just blows past some guys like they're barely moving.

[Over 29 years of fanhood]

1 hour ago, Coach Tuesday said:

Josh was the rare athlete who was continuing to develop physically well into college and beyond.  His running ability has simply and improbably improved post-college.

Yep.. late bloomer

 

also he’s not quick but he’s fast

[Sammy Watkins' Rib]

1 hour ago, Warcodered said:

Plus he really has a feel for what he can do and get away with.

Absolutely. His agility for a man his size is off the charts. He’s just a natural runner. And a great example of that was Allen breaking that Patriots DB’s ankles. Breaking a DB’s ankles as a 6’5” 240lb QB should not be humanly possible. 
 

Sam Monson of PFF tweeted just this week something I was glad to see finally mentioned by someone in the media/analytics side of things. He basically said what everyone missed on Allen coming out of Woyming was just how great of an athlete he was. 
 

Yes, he has become a better passer but he’s seemingly become a better runner as well.

 

No doubt Allen could have had a HOF career as a TE in the NFL had he not chosen to make over half a billion in career earnings as HOF QB instead.

 

 

[Doc]

14 hours ago, LV Bills fan said:

Maybe he throttled it down on his 40 run at the combine hoping he’d fall to the Bills? 

 

14 hours ago, 947 said:

If you've seen Josh's 40 from the combine, it's clear he had no idea how to run a track sprint. His technique is awful & his arm movement is wacky. I doubt he trained with a running coach.

 

But running as a QB is different. You have a ball in your hand so your arm movement is more natural, and you don't start from a stance. In that regard, Josh's speed is elite. I have no doubt he could greatly improve his 40 time by working with a track coach, but who cares about that now.

 

Same reason you see elite sprinters in the league who aren't good football players except when they run a fly route.

 

I watched his Combine runs and I swear he was running just to put up a respectable time and not hurt himself.  IMHO He could easily have run in the 4.5s.

Edited January 18, 2022 by Doc

[Mikie2times]

47 minutes ago, Warcodered said:

 

He looks so tiny in that video. He's developed so much physically. 

[Sammy Watkins' Rib]

1 hour ago, mattynh said:

I liked the way his rushing was trending his first three years.  600 500 400….last year he mostly slid and got out of bounds.  I want him to play til 40 and to do that he needs to be carful.  Second half of this year he is full RB mode.  It is effective and in the playoffs in good with it.   

 

Agree with this too. Would rather him be at or just below 500 yards or so in the regular season. But then put up over 200 yards on the ground every postseason in just 3-4 games. I'm all for Josh risking it in the postseason. 

[jimmy10]

2 hours ago, EmotionallyUnstable said:

I first realized it when he totally embarrassed the dolphins just outrunning everyone a few years ago. I remember thinking to myself, “well, at least this kid is fun” as he burned Kiko Alonso up and down the field 

 

Little did I know he turned out to be electric. 
 

Am I the only one who always yells “No Josh, what’re you— wait, what, alright!!!!

Ha! I always tense up when he takes off, like dammit Josh don’t get hurt…and then he runs by everyone and makes them all miss. Alrighty then!

[butch rolle]

I was just talking about this today with a friend of mine.  I know that his mobility was certainly a factor in the Bills drafting him but I think his rushing prowess to this extent is just found money.  The more he puts on tape of him throwing in scramble situations (see the first Knox TD on Saturday) makes it even harder to contain him as a runner.  Pick your poison!  He does look like a bit of a giraffe in his combine sprint and I truly believe that his 4.75 40, while still impressive, is way off of his actual game speed.  When he hits his stride, just look at how he pulls away from LB's, some of which who ran 4.5-4.6.  I wonder how much Josh truly weighs at this point.  He looked so babyfaced when he was first drafted at 6-5/237.   He looks much more like a man now and I can't help but think he's added another 5-10 lbs just as most players do when the enter the NFL in their early 20's and fill out.  I'm sure glad I don't have the task of spying him.