Wyoming's Josh Allen is considered one of the top quarterback prospects in the 2018 NFL Draft, with many noting that he has prototypical size and arm strength, and he can make things happen off-schedule when the play breaks down. Of course, Allen also has his detractors, who note that he is not an accurate quarterback and compiled mediocre stats against inferior competition at Wyoming, and struggled against big-conference schools.
Allen addressed some of those concerns on Pro Football Talk Live, telling Mike Florio that the accuracy criticism bugs him.
"Going back to college having a 56-percent completion percentage," Allen said. "Obviously, it's not great. But I think that it's a little blown out of proportion. I do think that I'm accurate. Jordan Palmer's helped me out a lot throughout this process with getting my feet right. Once we did that [I'm] throwing the ball a little easier. The ball's coming out and where it's supposed to be."
Allen's completion percentage was not just low this past season at Wyoming. It's been low for his entire football career -- high school included. As noted by Bleacher Report's Marcus Mosher:
Josh Allen's completion percentage In his football career: pic.twitter.com/cXJ0r6TPqi
— Marcus Mosher (@Marcus_Mosher) April 19, 2018
Completion percentage and accuracy are not the same thing, of course, but when a trend holds up over six seasons, it's got to be at least somewhat concerning to evaluators. Still, Allen says he's got an explanation and that ultimately, what matters is that his Wyoming team won games.
"I think if you look at the film at the times that I did miss, my feet were jacked," Allen said. "Going back to our offensive system I was asked to do a lot of things within our system. Threw the ball downfield a lot. I am the one to admit that I didn't put the ball where it needed to be all the time. But, you know, given the circumstances that we had in Wyoming, we won two back-to-back eight-win seasons. It was a place where we ended up winning football games. I think that I helped out in that manner putting the team in the best position to win football games."
It remains to be seen just how much the NFL considered Allen's accuracy to be an issue. He's reportedly firmly in the mix near the top of the draft, perhaps as high as the No. 1 overall pick. If he were to be selected there, it would obviously mean the league agrees that his accuracy issues are overblown. But if he slides, this issue might be a clue as to why.