2018 NFL Draft: Josh Allen is the wrong choice for the New York Jets

The New York Jets need to stay away from Josh Allen in the 2018 NFL Draft.

The 2018 NFL Draft may be the year of the quarterback. The potential is to have the best class of quarterbacks to come out since 2003 is very much there, with several candidates for first round selection. You know the names, we don’t need to rehash them. But what they should be are music to the ears of New York Jets fans. Could this be the end of the quarterback drought?

The names are especially big for the Jets if they don’t wind up with Kirk Cousins. You probably know by now that Cousins is my preferred choice, but that doesn’t mean it’s a guarantee. Multiple teams will be in the running to sign a quarterback in his prime. The Jets may very well be picking from this new crop of quarterbacks to finally end the search for a franchise quarterback.

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Who might it be? There has been a lot of talk around Baker Mayfield as of late, and many of us are fans of Josh Rosen being the choice. What about Josh Allen? Rich Cimini of ESPN speculated about the Jets being interested in him, but lamented his inconsistency. He did meet with the team during Senior Bowl week, so it seemed like a good time to discuss the idea of him being a New York Jet.

Many of you may be familiar with Allen’s numbers during his time at Wyoming. For those of you that aren’t, we start there, just to get a frame of reference as we move ahead:

		Passing
Year	School	Conf	Class	Pos	G	Cmp	Att	Pct	Yds	Y/A	AY/A	TD	Int	Rate
2015	Wyoming	MWC	SO	QB	2	4	6	66.7	51	8.5	8.5	0	0	138.1
*2016	Wyoming	MWC	SO	QB	14	209	373	56.0	3203	8.6	8.3	28	15	144.9
2017	Wyoming	MWC	JR	QB	11	152	270	56.3	1812	6.7	6.9	16	6	127.8
Career	Wyoming					365	649	56.2	5066	7.8	7.7	44	21	137.7

This just in, that completion percentage is not good. We see players in college flying well over 60%. Being significantly below that figure does not bode well for success at the next level. Keep in mind the fact that Jeremy Bates is likely to continue with a version of the West Coast offense. Accuracy is the most important component, which is why Josh McCown was so good at it. Josh Allen is not an accurate passer.

Here is a little fact nugget for you. Christian Hackenberg’s completion percentage in college was 56.1%. Allen’s was 56.2%. Is that a comparison you really want to hear about after the draft? I tend to doubt it.

Now, we look at footage from one of his 2017 performances:

The good news is that he has a strong arm. That’s obvious. Josh Allen can make all of the throws and do it well. He is also big, standing at 6-5. That is about as ideal a stature as a quarterback can have to be honest. He also can make plays with his feet. He doesn’t have to be Cam Newton but he can move around when necessary.

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The bad news comes down to the fundamentals. His footwork is not consistent, therefore neither is his accuracy. Allen’s best work comes when he sets his feet, gets good torque from his hips and drives the football. Just going through this one game there are throws off of his back foot, jump passes, and just more off-balance throws. A quarterback can get away with those in college, not in the pros.

Mike Maccagnan, please don’t. Just don’t.

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