Meet Wyoming’s Josh Allen: The Quarterback NFL Teams Have Been Waiting For

The NFL’s future at quarterback won’t come in the form of Clemson’s Deshaun Watson, North Carolina’s Mitch Trubisky, Notre Dame’s DeShone Kizer, UCLA’s Josh Rosen or Louisville’s Lamar Jackson. 

Instead, a once-overlooked JUCO transfer at the University of Wyoming will have NFL scouts and decision-makers salivating over the next four to 16 months. 

The Cowboys’ Josh Allen fits the prototype. At 6’5″ and 222 pounds with an elite arm, functional athleticism and experience in a pro-style system, Allen displays future No. 1 overall potential. 

“He’s a big ol’ kid with a big arm, and he’s pretty athletic too,” said one AFC executive, per The MMQB’s Albert Breer. “We gotta learn more about him, but the tools are there.”

Considering the NFL is looking at a 2017 draft class filled with underclassmen who should be considered developmental talents, Wyoming’s redshirt sophomore could be the first quarterback selected in the 2017, ’18 or ’19 draft. 

Right now, the league is prepared to anoint Trubisky its top prospect at the game’s most important position after 13 collegiate starts with fewer than 600 pass attempts. The NFL is so desperate for quarterbacks that teams are hoping to catch a glimpse of the potential that could develop into a franchise signal-caller. 

The North Carolina quarterback’s emergence caused, according to one NFL evaluator, per The MMQB’s Emily Kaplan, “the biggest mid-year scramble I’ve seen in a while.”

Trubisky is merely one example. Kizer, Watson and Miami’s Brad Kaaya are all intriguing yet far from polished prospects. As underclassmen, each could use another year of seasoning. 

Allen has similar concerns as a one-year starter, yet his traits pop off the screen when watching the talented gunslinger. 

Wednesday’s performance against the BYU Cougars in the San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl displayed the good and the bad of the nation’s most intriguing quarterback prospect. 

The sophomore struggled to operate during a first-half downpour at Qualcomm Stadium. His second-half performance was much better. Allen completed 11 of 16 passes with a pair of touchdowns to bring his team within three points. Unfortunately, the Cowboys fell short when the quarterback tried to create something out of nothing and forced a pass into triple coverage.

This is the give-and-take associated with Allen. He can be absolutely spectacular for stretches and make throws other quarterbacks wouldn’t even attempt. But he’ll make mistakes by trying to do too much. 

What’s surprising about Allen’s skyrocketing status is the fact every major program overlooked the Firebaugh, California, native during the recruiting process. 

Like this year’s No. 2 overall pick, Carson Wentz, Allen proved to be a late bloomer. Physically, his body matured after high school when he added approximately 40 pounds. 

His talent was evident at the prep level, though. 

“He was doing things with a 6’3″, 180-pound body that if he ever gets to 220, he’s going to be the most dangerous QB on the planet. … I wasn’t trying to sell [recruiters] anything. I was telling them what I actually believed he could do,” said Allen’s high school coach, Bill Magnusson, per the Casper Star-Tribune’s Brandon Foster.

Allen grew up a multisport athlete. Unlike many of today’s young signal-callers, he didn’t attend every quarterback camp or seven-on-seven session. Instead, he pitched on his baseball team and guided the high school basketball team as the starting point guard.

“In California, there’s a quarterback circuit,” Wyoming offensive coordinator Brent Vigen explained. “And he was not a part of that.”

Recruiting tends to feed on itself as teams throng toward the top or the hottest young talents. Plus, a quarterback’s process is expedited among top programs. Young men who aren’t considered elite recruits by their junior seasons often fall through the cracks as Allen did. 

“The size that Josh Allen is right now, the size that makes him an NFL prototype guy, he didn’t have going into his senior year (of high school),” former Wyoming assistant David Brown said of discovering Allen at the JUCO level, per the Fresno Bee’s Marek Warszawski. “There was a significant difference.”

As such, the growing signal-caller needed to spend a year at Reedley Community College before receiving two scholarship offers from FBS programs—Wyoming and Eastern Michigan.  

“[Wyoming head coach Craig Bohl] looked at me right in the eye and said, ‘Your son is going to be the face of my program for the next three years,'” Allen’s father, Joel, said. “It was such an emotional moment. My wife and I were in tears. How do you say no to that?”

As a redshirt freshman, Allen was expected to become the program’s full-time starter until he broke his collarbone during the team’s second contest. This year proved to be far more productive. The Cowboys improved from 2-10 to 8-6 with appearances in the Mountain West Championship Game and the Poinsettia Bowl. Allen threw for 3,203 yards and 28 touchdowns. 

The quarterback’s stats aren’t overwhelming, but quarterback evaluations are less about production and far more about transferable traits. What characteristics does the young man display to make him a viable starting option at the next level? For Allen, his arm, mobility, experience and competitive nature all fall in his favor. 

    

Arm Talent

Certain quarterbacks are described as “easy throwers.” Essentially, this boils down to an ability to make all of …

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