2018 NFL Draft: Josh Allen still considered a top five player?

Is Wyoming quarterback Josh Allen still considered a top five player for the 2018 NFL Draft? According to one expert, he is…

The focus is on the quarterback position for the 2018 NFL Draft, but one name that has sort of fallen off the map a bit is Josh Allen, the quarterback at Wyoming.

There was a tremendous amount of hype surrounding Allen prior to the 2017 season, and rightly so. He showed off his strong arm and athleticism as a redshirt sophomore to the tune of 3,203 yards, 28 touchdowns, and an additional seven rushing scores.

Allen’s sophomore season wasn’t without fault, as he also threw 15 interceptions and completed just 56 percent of his passes.

But as is often the case with NFL talent evaluators, many fell in love with his ‘traits’. Allen has the requisite size NFL teams covet in a quarterback, and certainly a strong enough arm to make all the throws at the next level.

He also runs a variety of pro-style concepts at Wyoming, and has some experience already with different things mechanically that NFL teams will like.

This year, struggling with injury and a poor supporting cast, Allen again has completed just around 56 percent of his passes, but with only 13 touchdown throws and five rushing in 10 games. He has cut the interceptions down to just six, but hasn’t looked like the same player we saw last year, at least not on a consistent basis.

But when I watch Allen, I still see the traits we saw from him a season ago that made us so enamored by what he can do. Matt Miller of Bleacher Report feels like NFL teams are going to see what Allen can do in the Senior Bowl and how he works off the field and be impressed.

Very impressed.

Miller has the Denver Broncos taking Allen with the fourth overall pick in the 2018 NFL Draft in his latest mock draft. It’s definitely a big projection by Miller, putting a guy in the top five who has not played like a top five pick this year, but it makes sense on a number of levels.

More from NFL Mocks

NFL teams fall in love with guys who can do the types of things Allen can do. He’s 6-foot-5, can run really well, and can sling the ball all over the yard. Many will point to his poor performances against the best competition he faced as reason enough not to draft him in the top five, regardless of his numbers.

Despite having a poor season statistically, I don’t think Allen’s draft stock will be hurt as badly as many think. NFL teams will look at his sophomore tape and believe he can still be that guy, and I think he can as well.

Considering who Allen has had around him on the field this year, even compared to last year, it’s a shocker he’s even been able to maintain a positive touchdown to interception ratio.

If you give Allen the benefit of the doubt, there are definitely first round tools there. If you consider who he is up against for a top five pick in this year’s draft, just at the quarterback position, his being included in that range is even harder to fathom.

Next: NFL Head Coach Hot Seat

Allen is going to have to prove to scouts he can be a better pro — quickly — than Josh Rosen, Lamar Jackson, Baker Mayfield, Sam Darnold, and even guys like Mason Rudolph who have vastly out-produced him.

The tools are there. Will some team like the Broncos fall this madly in love?

Home/NFL Draft