Bills GM Defends Josh Allen Amid Criticism From Anonymous 'Idiots'

Buffalo Bills general manager Brandon Beane fired back at "idiots" critiquing quarterback Josh Allen after he was named by an anonymous general manager as "one of the most overrated players in the NFL" during an ESPN survey of 80 NFL coaches, executives and scouts.

“I don’t know where to start. It’s frustrating,” Beane said during the Bills' training camp session on Wednesday (July 24). “You try to ignore this stuff, but Josh is going into Year 7 and there’s still the naysayers. I don’t get it. If I was going to use rated, I would say underrated before I would say overrated. And I know I’m biased. He’s our guy, love him every single day.

“These things that come out there — I know people love the rankings of whoever — but when you don’t put your name to it and you make comments like that. Like, who is this executive? Executive is a loose term. I was probably referred to as an executive well before I should have been. I just say, if you’re not going to put your name on it, we really shouldn’t validate it.”

The anonymous general manager acknowledged that Allen was an "immense talent but he makes a lot of mistakes" and claimed he was "underdeveloped at winning at the line of scrimmage."

Allen ranked as the third-best quarterback in the NFL behind only Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes and Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow . ESPN wrote that "Allen's blend of brilliance and inconsistency has left voters with mixed feelings."

Allen was the only quarterback other than Mahomes to receive a first-place vote, but also "outside of the top five for several voters."

"I saw a quarterback who is consistently a high performer who elevates his team at every chance," a high-ranking NFL official told ESPN.