Clough: Josh Allen could be a ‘project,’ which the Broncos can’t afford
Mar 27, 2018, 8:00 AM | Updated: 8:43 am
During his pro day Friday, Wyoming quarterback prospect Josh Allen left many a media member “stunned” at his raw ability to throw the football.
The potential top-five pick impressed so much so that some — including Fan Football Insider Cecil Lammey, Denver 7’s Troy Renck, and “The Drive’ co-host DMac — believe Allen won’t be on the board at the Denver Broncos’ No. 5 pick.
“I’m just telling you the truth from my perspective about the pro day that we were up in Laramie in Friday (to watch), and I just do not know, after covering the NFL for 25 years, how in the world Josh Allen will be available at No. 5,” DMac said on Monday.
However, questions about Allen’s accuracy still loom.
In two seasons as the Cowboys’ starting quarterback, Allen completed just north of 56 percent of his passes — a mark that ranked 130th among college starters during that timeframe and is lower than the FBS average of 60.5 passing percentage.
On top of those statistics, a video from the Senior Bowl practice in which Allen missed entirely a target during drills didn’t seem to, visually, help his cause.
“He missed the entire target,” Sandy Clough said Monday night. “There was a net that was built into the target, right in the middle. Mayfield hits the net from a variety of positions. He doesn’t miss the net once. Allen, not only misses the net, he misses the whole target.
“I don’t care if he can throw the ball 200 yards in the air. If you can’t hit a large target …”
Baker Mayfield and Josh Allen … I mean, maybe it’s a small target 🤷🏻♀️ pic.twitter.com/pbVldFeDkh
— Nicki Jhabvala (@NickiJhabvala) January 24, 2018
Allen has an impressive arm, clocking in as the fastest thrower at the Senior Bowl in January at 66.14 miles per hour. And improved footwork, Lammey writes, could help improve his accuracy.
But, after two seasons of relative disappointing results from 2016 first-round pick Paxton Lynch, Clough said the Broncos could ill afford another quarterback project.
“I just don’t think, for the Broncos right now, they can afford to draft someone who basically … looks like a bit of a project,” Clough said.
“And haven’t we had one of those already, who appears, even after just two years, to have been a complete bust and a major drafting mistake? Paxton Lynch.”
Follow digital content producer Johnny Hart on Twitter: @JohnnyHart7.
