2018 NFL offseason quarterback carousel: Predicting who goes where
By Peter Panacy
Josh Allen
2017 Team: Wyoming
Wyoming’s Josh Allen is a polarizing prospect. On one hand, there’s little doubt he has one of the strongest arms in this year’s NFL Draft. The biggest issue, of course, is his 56.2-percent accuracy rate over three years in college.
Allen didn’t exactly have an elite-level crop of receiving targets, but he wasn’t always facing the stiffest of competition within the Mountain West Conference either.
Fortunately, Allen had a solid NFL Scouting Combine, where he had the chance to showcase his big arm.
That should help keep him in the upper half of Round 1 on draft day, and there are still a number of teams in need of his kind of talent.
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One team to watch here is the Arizona Cardinals, who lost veteran QB Carson Palmer to retirement this offseason. The Cardinals are going through the initial stages of a complete rebuild this offseason and hold the No. 15 overall pick in the NFL Draft. With just over $20 million in cap space, they’ll likely sign a lower-profile stopgap quarterback, giving Allen a chance to learn the ropes his rookie season.
An early run on quarterbacks might force Arizona to trade up. But if newly minted head coach Steve Wilks and Co. feel Allen’s big arm is worth the move, why hesitate?