We saw what happened the last time Josh Allen had some time off to reflect on his development after sustaining an elbow injury during the 2018 season. His coming out party started after his return from the injury, and except for a hiccup here and there his trajectory as a player has been trending up ever since.
Despite a COVID-19 filled season of ups and downs just trying to play games, Allen has displayed the kind of growth as a quarterback you hope to see when a raw player enters their third season in the NFL. With the Bills currently sitting at 7-3 atop the AFC East division, the future for the team and their franchise quarterback looks very bright.
The table is now set for the Bills to make their final push toward the playoffs, where they need to take the next step toward greatness by winning a playoff game, two would be even better. What can we expect from this third-year ‘wunderkid’, in a year less predictable than a random sequence of variables?
If Josh Allen’s pattern of development continues on the same general path as it has in the past, I would expect to see ‘next-level’ Josh show up anytime now. What is ‘next-level’ Josh and why should we care?
Allen’s path to stardom followed a predictable sequence for young (and raw) quarterbacks in the NFL. They first go through the “Oh sh*t” phase looking like a deer in the headlights and getting crushed by opposing pass rushers on the regular… unless of course you’re Tua Tagovailoa and the transition is “not as difficult as he thought”. Woops.
Once that rookie quarterback gets a breather via a bye week, getting benched or due to injury, a process of rapid cognitive development usually takes place. Or at least you hope it does. Even a temporary reprieve from the weekly grind allows their brains to lay down a platform from which they can build on their accumulating knowledge from experience (aka/wisdom).
Allen spoke about how much he looked at his elbow injury during 2018 as a “blessing in disguise”. He was able to sit back and watch Derek Anderson lead the team and learn how a veteran quarterback goes through a week of preparation for an opponent. This sort of pause to learn on the job is valuable in assisting young quarterbacks to feel less overwhelmed by a very long year. Going from college football to the pros with very little time away from the game makes for a long rookie season in the NFL.
So… after an up and down rookie season… followed by a step-forward second season… Allen is now more than halfway through what appears to be his “breakthrough” third season. He’s coming off a bye week now after his paternal grandmother died and a last play of the game loss to the Arizona Cardinals. Now that Allen’s had a few days to rest up and let his emotions settle down. this would be the perfect time for ‘next-level’ Josh to emerge against the Chargers.
So, how DO we define ‘Next-level’ Josh? It won’t be found as much in the numbers (he’s already shown a significant improvement in most areas of his game) as in his overall command of the game. Plays will continue to slow down for him. He’ll recognize defensive schemes even faster and be able to react to them more efficiently on the fly.
‘Next-level’ Josh will still be ‘bone-headed’ Josh on occasion and make mistakes, because he believes anything is physically possible if you stiff-arm and leap over defenders enough. However, those plays will be vastly outnumbered by the plays that make you ask out loud, “how in the heck did Allen just do that?”.
Though it remains to be seen ‘what-level’ Josh we see in the future, if Allen is true to form we can expect a big game from him against the Chargers on Sunday at Bills Stadium. It’s time to put the final kabosh on the Allen haters once and for all.
~TheCaboose~
Check out our recent Mafia Mavens podcast and our interview with Linda Gilliam, mother of TE/FB Reggie Gilliam. It was a load of giggles.
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