How Good is Josh Allen Really?

[hondo in seattle]

We all know fans who believe McD should be fired if we don't get to the Super Bowl when we have Josh Allen as our QB.

 

But Josh has given us some clunkers.  There are games when he bails out of the pocket when he doesn't need to, makes bad decisions with the ball, and delivers errant throws.

 

But are Josh's subpar games truly his fault?

Sometimes I put the blame squarely on Dorsey for poor play design and bad play-calling.

 

And when I blame Dorsey, McD deserves his share of blame too.  He made Dorsey the OC and oversees the entire team.  He doesn't escape culpability.

 

But sometimes I blame the receivers who, at times, struggle to gain separation.  (Though maybe that's more of a Dorsey problem).  

And some games I blame the OL.  Josh has spent much of his career in Buffalo scrambling for his life.

 

Of course, Beane deserves some blame, too.  He's never prioritized the OL.  You would think that when you've found a generational QB, you'd build a line to protect his health and well-being as well as give him time to throw.  Beane didn't do that.  

 

There are days when Josh looks like one of the best to ever play the game.  Other times, not so much.  So, I've been wondering how good Josh really is and who's principally to blame when he's not as productive and efficient as he 'ought' to be.  

[Motorin']

I heard he's a parody of an NFL quarterback because math. 

[WotAGuy]

He’s really good. 

[thenorthremembers]

Hes the 2nd best QB in football right now.   If he keeps up the numbers he's a hall of famer.  So overall, really good.

[JaCrispy]

Greatest QB we will ever have…period…👍

[Big Turk]

Just now, JaCrispy said:

Greatest QB we will ever have…period…👍

 

This.  

 

1st ballot HOF QB. End of discussion.

 

/Thread

[GoBills808]

1 minute ago, Big Turk said:

 

This.  

 

1st ballot HOF QB. End of discussion.

 

/Thread

Add this 

Then /thread

[78thealltimegreat]

7 minutes ago, hondo in seattle said:

We all know fans who believe McD should be fired if we don't get to the Super Bowl when we have Josh Allen as our QB.

 

But Josh has given us some clunkers.  There are games when he bails out of the pocket when he doesn't need to, makes bad decisions with the ball, and delivers errant throws.

 

But are Josh's subpar games truly his fault?

Sometimes I put the blame squarely on Dorsey for poor play design and bad play-calling.

 

And when I blame Dorsey, McD deserves his share of blame too.  He made Dorsey the OC and oversees the entire team.  He doesn't escape culpability.

 

But sometimes I blame the receivers who, at times, struggle to gain separation.  (Though maybe that's more of a Dorsey problem).  

And some games I blame the OL.  Josh has spent much of his career in Buffalo scrambling for his life.

 

Of course, Beane deserves some blame, too.  He's never prioritized the OL.  You would think that when you've found a generational QB, you'd build a line to protect his health and well-being as well as give him time to throw.  Beane didn't do that.  

 

There are days when Josh looks like one of the best to ever play the game.  Other times, not so much.  So, I've been wondering how good Josh really is and who's principally to blame when he's not as productive and efficient as he 'ought' to be.  

He’s the best player this franchise has had in 30 years. He has so spoiled parts of this fan base that they don’t honestly know how good they have it. 
Jalen Hurts who has 7ints and 7tds this year and was rated the second best QB in football hardly ever gets criticized like this. 

Edited October 20, 2023 by 78thealltimegreat

[BuffaloBillyG]

Ugh...I can't wait until the season starts....

[RobbRiddick]

Josh Allen is the most handsome, butch, masculine QB I've ever pictured naked

[Big Turk]

2 minutes ago, 78thealltimegreat said:

He’s the best player this franchise has had in 30 years. He has so spoiled parts of this fan base that they don’t honestly know how good they have it. 
Jalen Hurts who has 7ints and 7tds this year and was rated the second best QB in football hardly ever gets criticized like this. 

 

At his best, Hurts is a 70% Allen who can't run over and thru players the same way or hurdle them.

[Logic]

Fair question.

I think that Josh Allen is a no-doubt-about-it top five QB. Probably top 3. 

He is on pace to have a Hall of Fame level career. One championship will make it a no-brainer.

I think that Josh Allen can sometimes be beaten mentally. Certain defenses and defensive coordinators know how to get into his head, make him question what he's seeing, not trust his eyes, and overthink things. We've seen it against the Jets. We've seen it two years in a row against the Jaguars. We saw it against Wink Martindale and the Giants. The Steelers gave him fits the first two times he played them.

Josh Allen's greatest opponent is his own mind. When he's feeling confident, gets into a rhythm, and trusts what he sees, he's nearly unstoppable. That's not hyperbole -- when he's in that zone, he very literally CANNOT be stopped. When he can't get into a rhythm, is lacking in confidence, is not trusting what he's seeing, he becomes his own worst enemy. He starts pressing and overthinking things and the offense grinds to a halt.

So to answer the original question succinctly: Josh Allen is elite, and may go down as one of the greatest of all time. He is not without weaknesses, though, and his primary weakness is the ability of the opposition to beat him mentally via quality defensive scheming and by making him question what he's seeing.

Edited October 20, 2023 by Logic

[RunTheBall]

Josh is the best QB we will likely ever see on the Bills in our lifetime. As a HUGE Jim Kelly fan, it’s pretty clear Josh is better in almost every aspect except leading his team to Super Bowls (so far).

 

Josh isn’t perfect, no QB is, and some of the offensive woes (like the Jets game) fall squarely on his shoulders.

 

BUT, that’s why you want to have a balanced team so Josh doesn’t have to be perfect all the time. We’ve got a running game now. I’d like to see Dorsey step up and scheme Josh easier throws when he’s not playing his best.

 

I’d also like to see someone besides Diggs step up to be that safety blanket that Beasley was. Knox hasn’t done it, Davis hasn’t done it, so maybe Kincaid or Shakir can develop into that guy.

 

 

Edited October 20, 2023 by RunTheBall

[dock581]

There are no perfect quarter backs ( or other humans) but Josh is d..mn good!!!

 

 

[Special K]

1 minute ago, Big Turk said:

 

At his best, Hurts is a 70% Allen who can't run over and thru players the same way or hurdle them.

 

Hurts is so small he can run under their legs instead of hurdling them.

[stuvian]

A cross between Mahomes and Cam Newton 

[BuffBillsForLife]

Allen has possibly the greatest combination of arm talent and size in a QB ever.  When he's on, he's unstoppable.  But he also seems prone to the jitters in high pressure situations or primetime games which causes him to make very bad decisions on the field.  Although his "deer-in-the-headlights" look has declined in frequency over the years, whenever it shows up I start drinking heavily.

 

Basically, if we played all of our games at 1pm on Sundays we would go 17-0.

[Success]

Mahomes has clunkers. Burrow DEFINITELY has clunkers.

 

I find myself watching Mahomes, and when he makes a mistake, thinking "Allen would get slammed for that."  

 

It always seems to me like JA has much less margin for error, and when he makes mistakes, the reaction is more about "a pattern" than the fact that he's just a great player who makes mistakes or has bad games once in awhile.  If I had to guess, I'd say it was because it took him awhile to become the QB he is today, and people formed opinions about him during his 1st couple of years, which were very different.

 

[Drew21PA]

9 minutes ago, Big Turk said:

 

This.  

 

1st ballot HOF QB. End of discussion.

 

/Thread

Hard for people to grasp but yes he’s better than Jim Kelly

 

no question 

[machine gun kelly]

When his career is finished, he’ll go down as the best BuffaloBill in history.  Even more noteworthy than Kelly, Bruce, Reed, or anyone else.  The only thing hampering this point is if god forbid he has a career ending injury.

 

The point is no one is perfect.  Not Manning, Brady, or anyone else.  They all have occasional clunker games including Josh.  I’m not quick to rush to judgment on Dorsey, but I’m also not opposed of McD can find someone better and more skilled, to make a change.  I don’t see that happening mid season.