Josh Allen-QB-Wyoming-2018

I've been hearing the hype about Allen for awhile so about a week ago I took some time to watch some games and I was pretty impressed. He's raw, he is erratic, he does things that confound you but in terms of his overall traits for the NFL, he might have the greatest upside since Andrew Luck. He needs work but when he flashes, he is scary good. He has a very strong arm that can gun passes into the tightest of windows, he has outstanding size at 6'5" and 225+ pounds, he has terrific mobility and agility for a guy that big, most of the time he shows pretty good touch but like a lot of guys with very strong arms he tends to try and force passes when he shouldn't even attempt them, his footwork can be clunky but overall I'm pretty wowed by his level of skill. If he can improve on some of his weaknesses and be more consistent he has the potential to be an absolute monster of a quarterback.



Looking at his stats you won't be amazed, but watching him for a few games you can see his high level of talent, when he's hot he is like some crazy hybrid of Joe Flacco and Aaron Rodgers. If he puts it all together he has #1 pick potential, either next year or in 2018.


As a bonus he comes out of the same offense as Carson Wentz featuring a lot of snaps from under center. Like Wentz he is another big bodied passer that can get out and run but I actually think Allen's upside is higher.




Watching some of these plays you can see the upside that Allen possesses.






https://twitter.com/SharpFootball/status/805256263290548229/video/1



https://twitter.com/WurthDraft/status/805262155511660544/video/1



https://twitter.com/WurthDraft/status/795891174347276292/video/1

Allen would be a great pickup as a developmental guy this spring, but I never seriously considered him as a prospect for 2107. I'd be shocked if he declares this year. He's such an inconsistent mess, but for a guy who seems so frustratingly all over the place, he does stand a real chance to be #1 overall in 2018 with more maturation (at the position, not in life; I have no idea what he's like off the field), and further development of his skills. His talent is impressive, as you already said.

Bill Magnusson knew what kind of quarterback Josh Allen was.


As a 180-pound gunslinger for Magnusson at Firebaugh (California) High School, a school of 650 kids in a two-stoplight farm town, Allen didn't garner much recruiting attention.


Many in Firebaugh believed Allen would end up at nearby Fresno State, but the Bulldogs said they were looking for a bigger quarterback. As a three-sport athlete, Allen spent more time on the field than in the weight room, but Magnusson knew that once he grew into his body, Allen would be something special.


"He was doing things with a 6-foot-3, 180-pound body that if he ever gets to 220, he's going to be the most dangerous QB on the planet," Magnusson said. "And I'm sure they thought I was trying to sell them a car, but I'm not that guy. I'm a Christian guy. I wasn't trying to sell them anything. I was telling them what I actually believed he could do."


After a season at Reedley Community College, Allen's only offers came from Eastern Michigan and Wyoming.


Now a 6-foot-5, 225-pound redshirt sophomore with the Cowboys, few teams would turn down a second chance at Allen.


He has already been dubbed Mountain West Offensive Player of the Week twice this season and the Manning Award Quarterback of the Week once.


And it doesn't appear he is about to peak anytime soon.


"It was very frustrating having coaches overlook you and it still fuels me every day that multiple coaches have done that," Allen said. "I come out every game with the same mentality: 'I don't like your team. You didn't recruit me.'"


His arm is strong enough to make passes that can only be described as "NFL throws." His legs have added a whole new component to Wyoming's offense. And his size, speed and agility would seem to make him the complete package.


Allen's emergence this season, his first as a full-time starter, is arguably the biggest reason Wyoming has gone from a two-win team to one contending for a conference championship.


Back at Firebaugh, kids are wearing Wyoming shirts to school on Fridays. Players on the junior team are begging to tag along with Magnusson and watch Allen play at UNLV on Saturday instead of playing in their own championship game.


Bohl compares Allen favorably to Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Carson Wentz, whom Bohl coached at North Dakota State.


"We were excited about it when we signed him," Bohl said of Allen. "But I could see some other people say, 'OK, he's from a small town. He's played one year at a junior college that was kind of off the beaten path. There's 20 other guys (like him) out there.'


"Yeah, I don't think so. I think we got a special player."


***


Allen is accustomed to being "the guy."


As a quarterback, he was a part of a building process at Firebaugh not unlike the one happening at Wyoming. In eighth grade, his team won one game. By the time he was a senior, Firebaugh was a 10-win team.


"We don't get people transferring in, so you're basically talking about the same kids playing from eighth grade through their senior year in high school," Magnusson said. "And when you get to see and be a part of that, you realize that the quarterback, he's just a huge part of that."


As a point guard, he brought the ball down the court for Firebaugh's basketball team, even when he grew from a 5-10 freshman to the tallest player on his team.


It helps explain how as a 6-5 college sophomore he still has the agility to make defenders look silly.


"You don't really expect a guy to put a move on you that's my size," Allen said.


As a pitcher, he learned to take command, despite playing first base until playoff time his senior season.


"We had a great pitching coach at the time, who was my head coach in high school, and he did a great job with him and just making him understand that," said Alex Gutierrez, Firebaugh's baseball coach and quarterbacks coach. "You're not a first baseman anymore. You're on the mound, and you're the man. He learned it, he picked it up really fast, and he was our guy in the playoffs."


Allen, who pitched in the high 80s his senior year, credits his current arm strength to his baseball background.


Defending a 6-5 quarterback with the arm of a pitcher and the moves of a point guard is tough enough as is. But throw in the intangibles that come from being a multi-sport athlete, and you've got a quarterback that Bohl predicts will be one of the best in the country by the time his college career is over.


"If you're a year-round football guy, you're only competing for three months, and in college, let's face it, you'd better be ready to compete from August to January," Magnusson said. "So as much as blocking or catching or any of those individual skills are habits, so is competition, and if you're used to competing and giving your best all throughout the year and you get to college and that's what they expect, you're ready to go."


And make no mistake, Allen is a competitive player. In his first collegiate start, he suffered a season-ending collarbone break against Eastern Michigan. He has shown no hesitance to put his body on the line in his return. A year later, against Eastern Michigan once again, Allen attempted to hurdle over multiple defenders for what was initially ruled a go-ahead touchdown.


"That's just who he is," Gutierrez said. "If he's limping or something, come game time he just seems to forget. He just loves to compete, and that's something that I wouldn't want anyone to take away from him in any way, because that's what makes him who he is."


As do his parents.




"His dad's a farmer," Magnusson said. "His mom runs the top restaurant in town. They're winners. They're competitors. They were athletes in their younger years, and even what they do now -- she wants her restaurant to be the best, and Joel wants his ranch to be the best."

Magnusson recalls watching Gutierrez and Allen play long-ball catch and seeing just what kind of arm the high-schooler had.


"He'd sit there and play catch 50 yards away, then 55, then 60, then 65," Magnusson said. "I'm sitting there just looking at him, going, 'This is beauty. This is special.'"


Allen put on about 20 pounds before playing at Reedley, where he passed for 285.3 yards per game, seventh most among California JUCO quarterbacks. Former Wyoming secondary coach David Brown first caught sight of Allen when Wyoming's staff was recruiting before its game at Fresno State in 2014.


Vigen liked what he saw, but Wyoming thought it was about to get a commitment from quarterback Eric Dungey. Dungey instead committed to Syracuse, leaving Wyoming with just enough time to sign Allen, who wanted to transfer at semester instead of waiting.


"It was a deal where sometimes you get in recruiting and, 'Is this too good to be true?'" Vigen said. "... We were like, 'We might have something here,' but at the same time in recruiting when you don't see a kid throw live, it's a little bit of a guessing game. But we liked the things we saw enough to go full steam there, and by the time he got here, it was about re-transforming that body."


Allen put on muscle and shed unnecessary weight while recovering from his collarbone injury. Now, he's a physical force at quarterback, and who knows if he's done growing yet.


"He's a sophomore and doesn't shave yet," Bohl said. "There's something to be said for that. His trajectory looks really good."

http://trib.com/sports/college/wyoming/football/wyoming-s-turnaround-headed-by-josh-allen-the-can-t/article_dfb5009b-01ab-532d-8d43-c8ca8e13453c.html

Originally posted by WRATHman44:
Allen would be a great pickup as a developmental guy this spring, but I never seriously considered him as a prospect for 2107. I'd be shocked if he declares this year. He's such an inconsistent mess, but for a guy who seems so frustratingly all over the place, he does stand a real chance to be #1 overall in 2018 with more maturation (at the position, not in life; I have no idea what he's like off the field), and further development of his skills. His talent is impressive, as you already said.

I think he definitely needs to stay in school. He's got a good coach, he's playing in a good scheme, he just needs to continue to improve and get more consistent but man, there's throws that he makes that I don't know many QB's in the NFL can make. Just a very gifted guy, big but elusive in the pocket and his arm allows him to still complete passes in some very poor circumstances, throwing off balance, off his back foot but it comes out like a damn laser at times.


Especially when he is throwing on the run. His ability to throw on the run, with velocity, touch and accuracy, that is just special.


And yeah, he does have that #1 pick potential if he can really start putting it all together, the consistency, improved footwork, adding some more weight, just becoming a more well rounded quarterback.

Originally posted by Phoenix49ers:

I've been hearing the hype about Allen for awhile so about a week ago I took some time to watch some games and I was pretty impressed. He's raw, he is erratic, he does things that confound you but in terms of his overall traits for the NFL, he might have the greatest upside since Andrew Luck. He needs work but when he flashes, he is scary good. He has a very strong arm that can gun passes into the tightest of windows, he has outstanding size at 6'5" and 225+ pounds, he has terrific mobility and agility for a guy that big, most of the time he shows pretty good touch but like a lot of guys with very strong arms he tends to try and force passes when he shouldn't even attempt them, his footwork can be clunky but overall I'm pretty wowed by his level of skill. If he can improve on some of his weaknesses and be more consistent he has the potential to be an absolute monster of a quarterback.



Looking at his stats you won't be amazed, but watching him for a few games you can see his high level of talent, when he's hot he is like some crazy hybrid of Joe Flacco and Aaron Rodgers. If he puts it all together he has #1 pick potential, either next year or in 2018.


As a bonus he comes out of the same offense as Carson Wentz featuring a lot of snaps from under center. Like Wentz he is another big bodied passer that can get out and run but I actually think Allen's upside is higher.




Watching some of these plays you can see the upside that Allen possesses.






https://twitter.com/SharpFootball/status/805256263290548229/video/1



https://twitter.com/WurthDraft/status/805262155511660544/video/1



https://twitter.com/WurthDraft/status/795891174347276292/video/1

Wow. Thanks. I love to grab to Josh Allen for the 49ers and top draft him in next year 2018 better than 2017.

Originally posted by BuZzB05:
Wow. Thanks. I love to grab to Josh Allen for the 49ers and top draft him in next year 2018 better than 2017.

Odds are that if Allen does put it all together, he's going with the #1 pick. Odds are that the 49ers won't have the #1 pick, so really its a moot point. I think he has the talent to be a special QB for someone eventually, it likely won't be the 49ers.


Of course he could also continue to struggle with his consistency, never put it all together and just be another cautionary tale of a guy with ridiculous physical talent that never was able to play up to what he was capable of.

Originally posted by Phoenix49ers:

Originally posted by BuZzB05:

Wow. Thanks. I love to grab to Josh Allen for the 49ers and top draft him in next year 2018 better than 2017.

Odds are that if Allen does put it all together, he's going with the #1 pick. Odds are that the 49ers won't have the #1 pick, so really its a moot point. I think he has the talent to be a special QB for someone eventually, it likely won't be the 49ers.


Of course he could also continue to struggle with his consistency, never put it all together and just be another cautionary tale of a guy with ridiculous physical talent that never was able to play up to what he was capable of.

OK I understand it.. relax.. Just easy for me. If the 49ers order the #2 picks Draft 2017 then 49ers can trade down 1st round 2nd round between 3rd round and next year plus 1st round. Then if 49ers got two of 1st round at 2018 then trade up for grabs to Josh Allen.

Originally posted by BuZzB05:

OK I understand it.. relax.. Just easy for me. If the 49ers order the #2 picks Draft 2017 then 49ers can trade down 1st round 2nd round between 3rd round and next year plus 1st round. Then if 49ers got two of 1st round at 2018 then trade up for grabs to Josh Allen.

Hablamos ingles aqui senor.


Mowimy po angielsku tutaj.

Thanks for making this thread!!!

I could've sworn I mentioned Allen on this board somewhere, but yes would love to have him. Yes he can be erratic, but when he's on watch out!!!

Even though the 49ers take a QB in this upcoming draft they need to take another one next year.

I also had a chance to watch Austin Allen, Arkansas, that's another one to keep an eye out for in 2018.

2018 is shaping up to what could be one of the best QB drafts in a long time. IMO.

He definitely got on everybody's radar after that BYU game a couple days ago. 2018 is going to be great for QB's all the more reason not to reach on one this year.

Originally posted by shmuck:

He definitely got on everybody's radar after that BYU game a couple days ago. 2018 is going to be great for QB's all the more reason not to reach on one this year.

This! What I've been saying all along? Draft one this draft, but not at #2 and draft one high in 2018... Also I was highly impressed by Josh Allen!

Originally posted by shmuck:
He definitely got on everybody's radar after that BYU game a couple days ago. 2018 is going to be great for QB's all the more reason not to reach on one this year.

People thought 2017 was going to be great for QBs as well. It could be a good QB class or it could be a flop.


Rosen fell off quite a bit from his freshman year, if that doesn't turn around, is he a prospect that you get excited about? Jackson is an outstanding athlete but his accuracy and passing ability is pretty limited at this point. Does he improve in that area or he is another Michael Vick type that will struggle to beat teams from the pocket? Allen has all the potential in the world, does he put it together or continue to be erratic? Browning was fantastic at times but questions about his arm strength and physical ability will continue to plague him going forward.


There is nobody that is close to being a "sure thing" and these guys will start to be overanalyzed like crazy next year, much as what we are now seeing with Trubisky, Watson and Kizer.

Originally posted by Phoenix49ers:
People thought 2017 was going to be great for QBs as well. It could be a good QB class or it could be a flop.


Rosen fell off quite a bit from his freshman year, if that doesn't turn around, is he a prospect that you get excited about? Jackson is an outstanding athlete but his accuracy and passing ability is pretty limited at this point. Does he improve in that area or he is another Michael Vick type that will struggle to beat teams from the pocket? Allen has all the potential in the world, does he put it together or continue to be erratic? Browning was fantastic at times but questions about his arm strength and physical ability will continue to plague him going forward.


There is nobody that is close to being a "sure thing" and these guys will start to be overanalyzed like crazy next year, much as what we are now seeing with Trubisky, Watson and Kizer.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaand:

If he stays, Falk needs to gain 10 pounds of muscle and ensure that his mechanics works translates the added strength to more velocity on his out-breaking routes. Staying likely won't alleviate any of the concerns about his offense, unless Goff plays much better under a new coach in 2017.

Rudolph needs to work on his decisiveness, accuracy, and on-time delivery with the short stuff.

If he stays, Mahomes needs to play within the script of each play call a little (a lot) more consistently.

I hope rumors about Allen declaring for the draft arent true. I think it would be foolish for him to declare. He is super talented but inconsistent as hell. Most who follow college football and the draft think he should go back.


He has a great situation at Wyoming right now with Wentz's QB coach and OC, he could use another year to develop some sort of consistency

Originally posted by Phoenix49ers:
I hope rumors about Allen declaring for the draft arent true. I think it would be foolish for him to declare. He is super talented but inconsistent as hell. Most who follow college football and the draft think he should go back.


He has a great situation at Wyoming right now with Wentz's QB coach and OC, he could use another year to develop some sort of consistency

It'd be good for us if he declares though as we're almost certainly going to take a qb within the first 3 rounds