Each NFL offseason, Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen has worked with Jordan Palmer. The one-time former Bill himself in Palmer describes himself as a “quarterback consultant” which means he’s pretty much an offseason coach for NFL QBs.
Allen isn’t alone in working with Palmer, plenty of others do, such as the Jets’ Sam Darnold and the guy who’s going to be the first-overall pick at the 2020 NFL Draft, Joe Burrow.
At the NFL Scouting Combine this week, Palmer made an appearance, making the rounds seeing as he’s working with some rookie QBs as well as vets, such as Burrow. It’s well known that Allen works with Palmer, so Palmer jumped on the Bills’ radio show on Thursday and provided a status update on Buffalo’s signal caller.
“He’s ahead of where I’d thought he’d be right now, by the way,” Palmer said. “I was chirping all draft, telling everybody how awesome this guy is going to be. With that being said… because what’s interesting about Josh is he never took over and dominated and won a single game at Wyoming…
“The question mark is, was he going to be a gamer [in the NFL]?” Palmer continued. “Is what (Allen) has proven is that [his game] does more than translate, he’s getting really good at winning games, managing the clock, managing situation football, completing balls that need to be completed, making plays that weren’t there.”
Well, situational football? Kind of, we still remember that attempted lateral to Dawson Knox in the playoffs, but that’s still just an example of how Allen is certainly a “gamer” in the NFL. He’s proven that and has the fourth-quarterback comebacks to prove it.
But, Allen’s not perfect. Ahead of schedule still means that the Wyoming product is probably… a middle of the pack kind of QB and there’s things Allen has certainly improve upon. Palmer admitted that.
“I think everybody has some throws they’d like back,” Palmer said.
For Allen? That’s a lot of deep balls. Palmer said improving that’s been a focus this offseason and he’s seen improvements in it thus far. But Palmer also broken down a deep ball in an interesting light, describing it as something not only on the quarterback.
“It is absolutely a two-person deal. A lot of it is what you’re seeing and what you’re doing and what you’re feeling… but I do think the feel you have throwing to guys is a piece of that,” Palmer said.
“He’s throwing it to a moving object and they all move differently,” Palmer explained.
The QB coach said Allen has never ever blamed any of his targets for his struggles. But these comments certainly shine some thought on what the Bills might need next. A bigger deep-ball threat for Allen.
Based on what Palmer said, that’d be a useful thing for the Bills to invest in this offseason, and perhaps with another year of seasoning, Allen will start connecting on some more deeper passes to John Brown & Co. next season too, just based on more reps. A positive outlook for Buffalo’s boy.
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