The 2018 NFL Draft is loaded with quarterbacks and those quarterbacks are lightning rods for hot takes. Whether it's Baker Mayfield's leadership or Sam Darnold not throwing at the combine or Lamar Jackson needing to switch positions, there's something for everyone.
Josh Allen has an interesting one: NFL Network's Mike Mayock compared the Wyoming quarterback to former No. 1 overall pick JaMarcus Russell, who was famously one of the biggest busts in NFL draft history.
"I've got Allen at No. 2, so, obviously, I think he's in the mix [for No. 1 overall to the Browns] more so than Josh Rosen," Mayock said. "I think you have to look at it from John Dorsey's point of view also and look at what he did a year ago in Kansas City when he traded up to No. 10 for the biggest arm quarterback in that draft in Patrick Mahomes.
"The biggest arm quarterback I've seen since JaMarcus Russell is Josh Allen."
*DUM DUM DUM* (That was ominous music in case it didn't register.)
Everyone doing a 2018 NFL Mock Draft for CBSSports.com agrees Allen is going to go in the first round. But if you want to pick out a comparison for a guy, Russell is the worst possible case. Granted, what Mayock is saying is not "Josh Allen is JaMarcus Russell" -- he is saying that Josh Allen has the "biggest arm" he has seen since Russell.
And he might not be wrong. When you watch Allen play football, you see two or three plays per drive he makes where you just go "WOW!"
You also see a lot of instances where Allen cannot throw accurately: he misses tons of short passes where touch is required and has made plenty of mistakes in terms of trusting his arm to beat a defender to a location.
Allen is a picture-perfect prospect when it comes to judging our ability to evaluate and project. Which is to say, NFL media/fans/personnel have a long history of falling in love with the physical talents of a guy who actually has not managed to produce at the college level.
Russell does not necessarily fit that profile, because he completed more than 67 percent of his passes, threw for over 3,100 yards and finished with 28 touchdowns and eight interceptions in his final year with LSU, helping the Tigers throttle Notre Dame during the 2006 Sugar Bowl.
Allen's stats are way more concerning: he completed less than 57 percent of his passes last year for less than 2,000 yards. Granted, he only played in 11 games, but the numbers don't scream out "NFL superstar."
Maybe Russell isn't even the best comparison, because Allen kind of reminds of Kyle Boller, who could take a knee and throw a football into a trash can 50 yards away. But Boller came out of college with bad accuracy numbers -- he completed less than 48 percent of his passes during his four years at Cal and never topped 3,000 yards -- was a highly touted athlete who eventually washed out.
That's not to say Allen is going to struggle because of guys who played football in the past. But there is a very reasonable case to be concerned about Allen as a possible high first-round pick based on his statistical production and comps coming out of Wyoming.
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