Is Buffalo Bills QB Josh Allen Overrated?

Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen has been one of the biggest rivals to Patrick Mahomes. With Lamar Jackson sidelined with injuries in 2021 and 2022 near the end of the year, Allen was the de facto last line of defense against Mahomes.

With Mahomes and Jackson seemingly serving as the conference’s premier rivalry, Allen has sort of taken a backseat. Additionally, with Stefon Diggs now gone, the Bills’ success relies much more on their quarterback. However, many fans have already jumped ship, calling Allen overrated.

In a nutshell, no one can know for certain until a Diggs-less Allen plays out the 2024 season. However, all signs point to Allen not being the Ben Roethlisberger or Peyton Manning to the newest reincarnation of Tom Brady in the AFC.

Stefon Diggs’ exit leaves Josh Allen alone to prove his worth once and for all for the Bills

It started with his production in his rookie season. Allen threw for just ten touchdowns and 12 interceptions in 2018. He went 5-6 in his starts and overall failed to impress. Then, in 2019, he improved but didn’t demolish his stats from the previous year. He threw for 20 touchdowns, nine interceptions, and helped the Bills go 10-6.

Of course, that’s nothing to ignore, but it still fell short of Mahomes’ second season by a wide margin. Mahomes is the bar in the AFC, so comparing the two is the best barometer for Allen’s development. In his first full regular season, Mahomes threw for 50 touchdowns, dwarfing Allen’s production and taking his team to the AFC Championship.

In 2020, Allen had his own surge, but he also received a massive boost. Diggs joined the team, giving Allen one of the best receivers in the NFL at the time. His stats skyrocketed to the doorstep of 40 touchdowns the next season. Those numbers stayed in place since.

Diggs can be identified as a massive reason for Allen’s surge. With Diggs now out of the picture, Allen needs to step up. While Mahomes’ stats took a hit without Tyreek Hill eventually, he managed to remain impressively productive. It now falls on Allen to match the loss of his wide receiver. He doesn’t need to put up the same statistics, but he needs to get his team to roughly the same level in the playoffs.

If Allen can do that, he will be the real deal without a doubt. However, if he falls short of the playoffs or suffers a Wild Card exit as a lower seed, the cat will be out of the bag.

Currently, with reports of him throwing plenty of interceptions at Bills training camp swirling, he appears to be close to landing in the “overrated” bucket.

Can Josh Allen turn it around?

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