Josh Allen is the starting quarterback for the Buffalo Bills, coming off his second top three finish in NFL MVP voting. This is Allen’s sixth season in the NFL, and he is looking to take his team to the playoffs for the fifth time in his career and bring a major sports championship to the city of Buffalo for the first time in history.
Allen was selected as the seventh overall pick by the Bills in 2018, taken as the third quarterback in his class behind Baker Mayfield and Sam Darnold. Relatively unknown throughout High School, he spent one year at Reedley Junior College before scouts began to realize his true potential. He was recruited to the University of Wyoming where the quarterback played three seasons before declaring for the draft, earning a bachelor’s degree in social science in the process.
The Bills traded up from the 12th overall selection with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to select Allen and signed him to a four-year $21 million contract. Prior to the 2021 season, the Bills exercised a fifth-year option on his rookie contract and then signed him to six-year $258 million extension – locking up the face of their franchise until 2028. The superstar rewarded the team with an excellent playoff performance that season, recording the highest passer rating (149.0) of any quarterback in a single postseason.
Allen was an incredibly unique prospect, intriguing to many teams due to his combination of size, strength, and running ability. His consistency was shaky, and we still see that with his susceptibly to interceptions in the NFL, but his raw potential gave him such a high ceiling, drawing comparisons to NFL great John Elway and Brett Favre. He hasn’t quite lived up to that level of hype, but the two-time Pro Bowler has now ranked top 13 on NFL top 100 players for three years running.
In his personal life, Allen is golf fanatic, participating in multiple celebrity tournaments as well as making an appearance on the popular golf YouTube channel Bob Does Sports. He grew up in Firebaugh, California with his parents Joel and LaVonne and his three siblings Nicala, Makenna, and Jason. His father was a third-generation farmer who coach baseball, football, and swimming, and his mother was a restaurant owner who coach volleyball and basketball. Allen was destined to become a professional athlete, growing up surrounded by sports while developing a hard work ethic helping out at both the family restaurant and farm. He was in a relationship with Brittany Williams, who he met in his hometown, at the age of eight for seven years, but recently started dating American singer and actress Hailee Steinfeld.
After reaching the AFC Championship for the first time since 1993 in the 2020-21 postseason, the Bills have now been knocked out in the Divisional round in consecutive seasons. Their 16-year playoff hiatus came to an end in 2017, and they have made the postseason five of the past six years under head coach Sean McDermott. Their four-year streak under Allen is currently at risk of coming to an entering week 15 as the Bills sit one game out of a playoff spot, tied with five other teams at 7-6.
This week the Bills will face a tall task against the NFL best Dallas Cowboys and MVP favourite Dak Prescot. Not only is this a must win game for the Bills, it’s also a statement game for Allen’s career. The 27-year-old is in the midst of a down year, already one interception away from tying a career high with three games remaining. He has performed at an MVP pace every other year dating back to 2020, meaning it’s still up in the air as to which Josh Allen is the real one. Not only has his QB rating dropped closer to his 2021 season (92.2), but he has also slowed down in the rushing game – on pace for only 460 yards after posting consecutive 760+ rushing seasons.
If you are looking to bet on the NFL this season make sure to check out the best betting sites the industry has to offer. You can take the Bills as +2.0 underdogs on the point spread, bet on Josh Allen’s total passing yards, or take a future on the Bills to reach playoffs for a fifth consecutive season.
