Sports Illustrated is bit hot and cold on Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen. Because of this, in their recent QB room rankings in the NFL, Buffalo’s trio of Allen, Matt Barkley and Davis Webb slot in at No. 23 overall.
SI acknowledges some improvements in Allen, and then calls some concerning, too. Then also predicts there’s a chance for further improvement next season.
Here’s the full roller coaster:
23. Buffalo Bills
Josh Allen grew immensely last year and has the tools to make another leap in Year 3; the question is whether or not it will happen. I think some of the statistics behind Allen’s breakout season are concerning, though an upgraded weapon set and another year of experience for his offensive line may prove us wrong.
The analysis isn’t far off on Allen, although the ranking is certainly questionable. Allen improved in Year 2, which instills some belief that he can improve, even if ever so slightly, once again in Year 3. The target area for his improvement is the deep ball.
Allen has the arm strength, but not exactly the accuracy. In the NFL, you’d like to see your quarterback have a completion percent above 60. Allen went from a 52.8 completion rate as a rookie to a 58.8 percentage last season. In acquiring wideout Stefon Diggs alone, Allen could complete a few more deep balls with the way Diggs brings in contested catches, and inch him closer to that benchmark.
Still, Allen, as it seems to often be, takes a bump here for his playing style. The surprisingly mobile quarterback gets knocked for moving the stick with his feet. On the flip side, the Ravens’ Lamar Jackson and the Seahawks’ Russell Wilson lead their QB rooms to the No. 3 and 5 slots in SI’s rankings, respectively, for their dual-threat style.
Those two, especially Wilson, are more proven passers to this point. But that still makes the list a bit curious.
Allen should not a top-10 candidate, but there a few folks ahead of him that are questionable. Those include the Panthers’ Teddy Bridgewater (22), the Bears’ Mitch Trubisky and Nick Foles (23), the Browns’ Baker Mayfield (19) and even the Rams’ Jared Goff (15).
Bridgewater has started only six games over the past three seasons while the others listed all took significant steps back last season.
However, there is a bit of a nice silver lining: the Bills have the best-ranked QBs in the AFC East, edging out the Jets (24), Patriots (28) and Dolphins (30).
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