ENGLEWOOD, Colo. -- The Denver Broncos weren’t even 48 hours into their offseason before John Elway quickly and efficiently outlined the team’s top priority.
The Broncos want, and need, a solution at quarterback and have to decide if they will go through the draft, free agency, or both, for the solution. “I think there is no doubt we have to get better at that position,’’ Elway said. “For us to have a chance to get better, we have to get better at that position.’’
It just so happens the Broncos have the No. 5 pick in the 2018 draft, a year that also happens to feature a collection of quarterbacks the league’s evaluators haven’t seen in some time.
This is the fourth of a one-a-day look at how the top quarterbacks could fit with the Broncos.
Today: Wyoming quarterback Josh Allen
Tuesday: Louisville quarterback Lamar Jackson
In a nutshell: Allen will be the marquee potential-over-production prospect in this draft. He has rare physical gifts that will make most talent evaluators move him to the top of their lists. The draft is about what a player might be tomorrow, not what he was yesterday. That said, Allen is a tough call because he had just one season with more than 270 pass attempts, despite playing in all of his team’s games. He also had only 10 career games when he completed at least 60 percent of his passes, and he completed more than 20 passes in just one of those games (against Gardner-Webb in 2017).
Why he fits: If you were going to construct a quarterback with the frame, arm strength, mobility, athleticism and quick release to play professionally, the quarterback would look a lot like Allen. Just because he played off the radar for many college football fans doesn’t mean the NFL won’t love what he has to offer. Allen is the un-tapped potential in a loaded quarterback class and the words “upside’’ and “highest ceiling’’ were meant for him. And if a team is right about his work ethic, potential for vocational growth and ability to digest all of the information, he is -- physically -- the kind of player who can change franchises.
The work to be done: OK, a lot of talented, big-armed passers have been crushed and sent packing by the demands of the position in the NFL. And Allen has to be prepared to roll up his sleeves and get to work like never before because, traditionally, completion percentage doesn’t improve drastically from college to the NFL. It usually goes down some because the windows to throw are smaller so his decisions have to be better. And Allen never topped 56 percent in a season. With a power arm, he consistently jams throws into places he shouldn’t and because he’s comfortable on the move, he will often leave a nice pocket when he doesn’t have to. He needs another pitch because he’s only shown the heater so he’s limited in some parts of the field, against some coverage looks, because he hasn't consistently shown he can throw the ball over the top into a tight spot. Granted, his college team was not loaded at the skill positions, but his starts this past season against Iowa (23-of-40 for 174 yards and two interceptions), Oregon (9-of-24 for 64 yards and one interception) and Boise State (12-of-27 for 131 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions) show how far he has to go.
The plan for him would be: To have a veteran quarterback (one with the right approach who understands that helping Allen is part of the gig) mentor him for at least a season. Allen needs work and to toss him into the lineup too quickly, because of his accuracy battles, is to set him up for struggles with confidence-crushing turnovers. If he surprises early with his developmental speed, that's great. But the plan going in likely needs to include patience to get the most from Allen.
Will it happen?: Allen will be the first-round wild card because there will be some teams (and quarterback coaches) who like him far more than others, and there likely won’t be much middle ground in the evaluations. It will be all-in or no way. The teams that like him will really like him, and the Broncos might have to move up from No. 5 if the pre-draft evaluation means they are one of the teams ready to go all in.