Buffalo Bills training camp opens: Beane, don't call Josh Allen 'overrated

Cutline: Buffalo Bills GM Brandon Beane said, “There are idiots everywhere” to the Josh Allen critic. Wellsville Sun file photo.

A column by Sun Senior Sports Columnist CHUCK POLLOCK

The frustration on the opening day of a pro football training camp is that there’s usually not much for the media to report.

Normally it’s word salads, cliches and nothing particularly interesting.

But, every now and then, a question pushes a button.

And so it was Wednesday afternoon at St. John Fisher University as the Bills commenced camp and general manager Brandon Beane spoke with the press.

Buffalo’s seventh-year GM was asked about an ESPN report where an unidentified NFL team executive said Bills’ quarterback Josh Allen was “overrated.”

“There are idiots everywhere,” Beane allowed in response.

There is context, however.

WEEKS AGO, ESPN conducted a survey of NFL “executives” in which the 80-some respondees were asked to rank the Top 10 players at 11 positions. Those numbers were then tabulated to give a numerical ranking to each position.

For the record, Allen was rated the No. 3 QB behind Kansas City’s Patrick Mahomes and Cincinnati’s Joe Burrow, which is exactly where he should have been.

But an Allen critic called him, “One of the more overrated players in the NFL. Immense talent, but he makes a lot of mistakes. He’s underdeveloped at winning at the line of scrimmage, tends to lock on to targets, more of a thrower than precision passer, forces throws into traffic.”

In fairness, while you might not like that executive’s assessment, it wasn’t a subjective judgment, rather it was an objective conclusion based on numbers. Allen has put together dazzling offensive numbers. His career 167 touchdown passes and 53 rushing scores equal an incredible average of 37 TDs over his first six seasons.

But Allen is a high-risk, high-reward quarterback and, over those seasons, he’s thrown 78 interceptions and lost 44 fumbles, a total of 112 giveaways in a league that reveres ball possession.

The total is last in the league over that span and, in 2023, his 18 picks and seven lost fumbles were an NFL-leading 25 giveaways.

Ultimately, the decision is, are nearly 19 turnovers a season offset by an average of 37 touchdowns? Most would say a resounding “Yes.”

And that he’s still ranked No. 3 is impressive in that Mahomes has won three Super Bowls and Burrow has made one. Allen is 5-5 in the playoffs with 24 TDs (running and passing) and 12 giveaways (picks and fumbles).

STILL BEANE was miffed by his quarterback being characterized as “overrated” by even one voter.

“I don’t know where to start. It’s frustrating. You try to ignore this stuff, but Josh is going into Year 7, and there are still the naysayers. I don’t get it,” he said. “If I was going to use ‘rated,’ I would say underrated before I would say overrated, and I know I’m biased. He’s our guy.”

Beane added, “These things that come out, I know people love the rankings of whoever, but when you don’t put your name to it and you make comments like that, who is this executive? ‘Executive’ is a loose term. I was probably referred to as an executive well before I should have been.

“I’m just saying, if you’re not going to put your name on it, we really shouldn’t validate. I know it gets validated because it’s on ESPN (but) I’m not a fan of that style. I wish the writer wouldn’t include a comment like that. I don’t think Josh deserves that. Again, I’m biased, but I’m tired of hearing it,” Beabe added.

BUT THE reality is this. Good luck on getting participants in such a poll if they’re not guaranteed anonymity.

“I think he’s done plenty,” Beane said of Allen. “Part of it, truthfully, is we are all well aware when Josh came out (or college), there are people who thought he was a bust or would not make it for all the reasons that they’ve listed over the years. I just think any time someone thinks they’ve got a crack, they’re going to say, ‘See, I told you so.’

“They’re looking for things. You can look at any player in any sport and point out negatives. No one is God or a robot. Josh’s positives don’t even come close to the negatives. For what he’s done for this team, for what he’s done in this league and his own accomplishments, to say he’s overrated and to point out a flaw here or there, it’s ignorant.”

Beane recalled early in Allen’s career, “He would make plays in a game, but if he made a dumb throw or something like that – he could have helped us win the game – that’s the highlight or the lowlight that they want to show, because that validates their thoughts and views on him.

“Again, we’ve ignored it for so long, and I think the local media, you guys that all see Josh and realize, not only is he a hell of a player, but how great he is in his role. It’s so hard to be a quarterback and have his status. He stays after and signs every frickin’ autograph. He’s perfect in the role. We’re lucky as hell to have him, and I get frustrated with (that criticism).”

Beane concluded of Allen, “He’s got a natural chip (on his shoulder), and I don’t think whether that person said this would change that. He’s coming in this year with a chip. He wants a title. Every year that we don’t win, it’s digging a deeper chip, and I think that’s what motivates him.”

(Chuck Pollock, a Wellsville Sun senior sports columnist, can be reached at cpollock@wnynet.net.)

More Bills, Bonnies and local columns from Chuck Pollock:

• Chuck Pollock with a historical look at Bills training camp for fans and the media

• Tony Hunter’s passing evokes memories of Jim Kelly in the draft

• Mark Schmidt on the NIL deals and the Bona NIT mess

• Pollock on listening to the radio and the days of Willie Mays

• Houghton’s Phil Stockin gets Cazzie Russell to the Castle in Olean and then a title for the Knicks?

• The right hire for St. Bonaventure to lead the athletic department

Buffalo Bills training camp opens: Beane, don’t call Josh Allen ‘overrated

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