Buffalo Bills: Why they traded up for Josh Allen in the NFL Draft

The Buffalo Bills traded up to get their quarterback of the future. Wyoming’s Josh Allen will be the man tasked with leading the team going forward.

It was no mystery as to what position the Buffalo Bills would go after with their first-round pick in the 2018 NFL Draft.

Leading up to draft day, there were rumors swirling that general manager Brandon Beane would dangle their 12th overall pick, as well as the 22nd overall pick, in order to move into the top six of the draft and select a quarterback.

After the first few picks, it was announced that Beane was not willing to trade both firsts in order to move up. Luckily for him, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers were willing to trade down. The Bills sent the 12th overall selection, along with the 53rd and 56th overall picks, in exchange for the seventh and 255th overall picks.

With that pick, the Bills had two options: Josh Rosen or Josh Allen. They decided on the latter as the man to lead their franchise going forward.

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Throughout the draft process, Allen has garnered comparisons to Eagles quarterback Carson Wentz due to their similar frames and routes to the draft. Wentz was taken with the second overall pick after playing collegiate ball for North Dakota State in the FCS.

While the other first round quarterbacks went to top-tier programs, Allen attended the University of Wyoming, who hadn’t won a WAC Conference Championship since 1993.

Although Allen wasn’t able to win the Cowboys a Conference title, he did deliver as a starter for them.

His first year at the helm of Wyoming came in 2016, where he threw for 3,203 yards, and 28 touchdowns while throwing 15 interceptions.

This past season, Allen played in 11 games, throwing for 1,812 yards, 16 TD’s and just six interceptions. He had a 56.3 completion percentage on the season and a 127.8 QB rating.

Standing at 6 foot 5, Allen has the biggest arm in the draft but accuracy is something that has been expressed as an issue by draft pundits.

While Allen was looked at as more of a project quarterback to grow over his rookie year, he will have no choice but to be the opening game starter for the Bills, who traded Tyrod Taylor to Cleveland in March.

Allen will have questions to answer as soon as he lands in Buffalo. Hours before the draft, several racist tweets from Allen’s Twitter were recovered by Yahoo! Sports. The tweets, which were sent back when he was in high-school, were deleted prior to the draft.

Putting it lightly, Bills Mafia wasn’t sold on the pick when it was announced. Before the draft, fans were looking at Rosen as the next face of the franchise if the Bills did move up.

Instead, they get a quarterback who, if he can live up to his potential, could be a big add for the Bills, who haven’t had a consistent option under centre for a decade. Allen can sling the football but will have to prove he can play against top competition, something he didn’t do a lot of during his time in college.

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What do you think of the pick? Will Josh Allen become a franchise quarterback for the Bills? Who would you have liked to see taken with the seventh overall selection? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.