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2018 NFL Draft: Wyoming QB Josh Allen Selected Seventh Overall By Buffalo Bills
The Cowboys star heads to upstate New York as the Bills’ quarterback of the future.
Can Allen become a Buffalo legend under center?
Contact/Follow @MattK_FS & @MWCwire
With the seventh selection in the 2018 NFL Draft, the Buffalo Bills traded up and selected Wyoming quarterback Josh Allen, ending the debate about his standing in what is sure to be a QB-rich first round.
After missing nearly all of 2015 with injury, the 6-foot-5, 237-pound signal caller from Firebaugh, California took the Mountain West by storm with a dynamic and heady playmaking style, leading the Cowboys to their first Mountain West division title in 2016. Though Wyoming was unable to defend its crown last fall, they still won eight games, the first time since 1987-88 they’d managed to reach that mark in consecutive years.
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At season’s end, however, Allen proved to be the most divisive quarterback prospect in years, as the debate regarding how to weight his obvious physical gifts against his collegiate production raged for months. There was little doubt that he possessed the strongest arm in the draft, as well as the size, speed and requisite toughness to look every bit the part of a franchise player, but some questioned whether his overall performance merited a high first-round grade: In his Cowboys career, Allen mustered a 56.2% completion rate and 7.8 yards per attempt while throwing 44 touchdowns and 21 interceptions in 649 attempts, adding 12 rushing touchdowns and (after adjusting for sacks) 5.85 yards per carry, as well.
He also found himself caught in an unexpected controversy yesterday regarding some very alarming tweets from his high school years, but it did not appear to affect how much the Bills wanted him at all. He’ll head to Buffalo with the expectation that he’ll compete for the starting role right away, replacing Tyrod Taylor.