Josh Allen. Myth. Legend. Franchise Quarterback. Who is he?
Why should a team invest a high pick in him and is he worth it? By now, you and many other armchair general managers have poured through countless hours on YouTube in watching his highlights at Wyoming.
As hotly debated as whether KD is better than LBJ, is Allen 6’5 Big Ben/Carson Wentz physique enough to stand above the growing hype around him? Some will nitpick and point out his impressive arm strength in one breath, then critique his questionable accuracy in the next sentence.
One minute he looks like the second coming of Philip Rivers, the next he looks like a poor man’s version of Brock Osweiler. The question is which version will a team like Cleveland get–if they were to tab him No.1 overall.
Perhaps NO team in the NFL needs to find a quarterback and nail the quarterback position more than the 0-16 Cleveland Browns.
Thanks to having a rather woeful history in the draft at QB such as selecting Tim Couch, Brady Quinn, Brandon Weeden and most recently Johnny Manziel in the first round, the Browns cannot afford to miss on a quarterback in 2018.
Is Allen the answer?
If you’re Cleveland, you are HOPING he is, as he has the perfect body and big arm to play in the rugged and cold AFC North.
If you’re the Browns you are praying that taking a gamble on Allen will help exorcise the draft demons of the past in Big Ben and Wentz, because–knowing their luck–that passing on Allen will come back haunt them.
It’s bad enough that they reminded twice a year by Big Ben, Wentz’s 278-yard, two touchdown debut in a 29-10 romp against them and seeing DeShaun Watson torch them for 225 yards and three touchdowns in his NFL debut in a 33-17 win, Allen may very well be the best one.
UCLA QB Josh Rosen has injury and concussion concerns, USC’s Sam Darnold led the FBS in turnovers, Oklahoma’s Baker Mayfield may well be Johnny Manziel 2.0 and who knows about Louisville’s Lamar Jackson, but a quiet bi man from Wyoming is perhaps the draft’s biggest enigma.
Kinda funny how all that works out, huh?
The Browns and the whole NFL will find out soon enough, as to whether the hype surrounding Allen is real, or just another pre-draft smokescreen during silly season.