Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen emerged from the 2018 draft class of quarterbacks as its best one statistically in 2020.
In addition to improving his personal performance, he led the Bills into the playoffs for the second straight season and won two games before being eliminated by the eventual AFC Champion Kansas City Chiefs.
Josh Allen is just 24 years old, but he already holds all these Bills records:
– most pass yds in a season (4,544)
– highest cmp% in a season (69.2%)
– most pass TD in a season (37)
– highest QB rate in a season (107.2)
— CBS Sports HQ (@CBSSportsHQ) May 11, 2021
It may seem like Allen has arrived, but at 24 years of age, he can still improve.
— Built in Buffalo (@BuiltInBuffalo_) May 17, 2021
Though it may be considered more of a fine-tuning that comes from maturity, here are two ways that Allen can be better in 2021.
Allen spent the 2020 offseason working diligently on his mechanics with quarterback coach Jordan Palmer.
His work paid dividends, but many believe Allen’s mechanics can get even better in select situations; drills and repetition will make it second nature.
Former NFL quarterback Jim Kubiak who runs the Western New York Quarterback Academy added:
“Every now and then, when his feet get too wide and his elbow drops, the ball sails on him.”
CBS Sports analyst and former New York Giants quarterback Phil Simms elaborated on this by comparing his mechanics to a golf swing:
“Sometimes he’s a little loose. The golf swing, instead of being parallel, it gets a little past parallel, and when you do that, it makes it harder to time the hit of the ball. It’s the same with throwing.”
“You’ve got to be a machine. You’ve got to have almost the same mechanics every throw. That means if you’re on your right foot, if you’re throwing off your left foot, if you’re on the run, whatever, you’ve just got to be able to repeat something over and over until really you’re just not going to miss.”
2. Knowledge Of The Game
This comes with time and experience, which Allen is gaining.
He also planned to spend the offseason in film study to deepen his knowledge of the game.
ESPN’s Greg Cosell noted how the Kansas City Chiefs game showed where Allen needs to improve more.
“The Chiefs are very, very good at disguising coverages pre-snap and then moving right at the snap. They’re among the best in the league at that. They’re looking to make the quarterback have to think after the snap of the ball. And while Josh has improved dramatically in that area, all it takes is half a millisecond for a quarterback to have to think through and the defense gets an advantage.”
Allen does hold the ball longer than most of his peers, third-longest in fact, for 3.04 seconds between the snap and throw.
Only Cleveland Browns QB Baker Mayfield and Philadelphia Eagles QB Jalen Hurts hold the ball longer at 3.05 and 3.11 seconds, respectively.
Enhanced knowledge of the game and opposing defenses as well as mechanics that are further practiced and drilled into his muscle memory are the two areas that Allen can fine-tune to improve his performance and the performance of his Bills in 2021.