One could argue that every season is a “prove-it” season in the NFL. At any time, players could find their job taken by another, more productive player. Even so, some athletes earn the benefit of the doubt and gain an extra chance or two due to circumstances.
Pro Football Focus sees this season as a “prove-it” year for Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen. Allen is entering the third year of his pro career, and it’s no surprise that he’s listed by PFF because of that. As is the case with many third-year players, especially quarterbacks, that’s when you’d like to see the full package come together.
Allen improved in several categories during his second campaign in the league. He improved his touchdown-to-interception ratio, yards passing per game, touchdowns thrown, and interceptions tossed. This growth was promising for the Bills, as this trends in the right direction for the (hopeful) franchise quarterback.
However, there were still some concerns with his game. While his decision-making seemed to improve, there are moments where his ability to do a bit to much came to the forefront (see: Wild Card game versus Houston). In addition, the deep ball, which was a staple of Allen’s during his rookie season, faded off the charts last year.
Here’s what PFF’s Sam Monson wrote about Allen’s upcoming season:
Josh Allen isn’t under the same degree of pressure as some of the other players on this list — his team is firmly in his corner and the franchise is heading in the right direction, but even his most ardent supporters acknowledge he still has a ways to go in his development. Allen’s box score numbers looked dramatically better in Year 2, but his PFF passing grade showed only a marginal improvement (58.0 to 61.4). Allen ranked 31st in the league in adjusted completion rate and was arguably the worst deep passer in football. Yet, his baseline of perception skews positive because the team has improved around him and he ranked top-five in terms of perfect ball-location throws up to 20 yards downfield. Allen needs to show a much more significant improvement in 2020 if he is to match the optimism that last year created.
Now, PFF is a bit more critical of Allen, as they have not given him the benefit of his improvements over the past season. Nevertheless, Allen will need to take a step forward for another reason. With the team’s improvements surrounding Allen, the onus is on the Wyoming product to completely support why he was drafted in the top-ten pick in 2018.
In addition, about 10 months from now, the Bills will need to decide if they will exercise the fifth-year option on Allen. With this in mind, there’s no way not to think of this as a “prove-it” season for the signal caller.
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