NFL Draft 2018: Josh Allen a questionable pick for Bills at No. 7

With the seventh overall pick of the 2018 NFL Draft, the Buffalo Bills select Josh Allen. Here is an in-depth look at the selection.

The Buffalo Bills wanted a quarterback and didn’t want to lose both of their first round draft picks. Trading their 12th overall selection and two second round picks for the seventh overall selection with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers opened that door.

Buffalo has playmakers on offense in tight end Charles Clay, wide receiver Kelvin Benjamin, and LeSean McCoy for a new quarterback to utilize. They also have A.J. McCarron to start for a season while a young rookie learns the ropes.

That young rookie quarterback will be former Wyoming passer Josh Allen. He has the strongest arm in the draft class but also the worst statistics. When Allen did play against talented competition in 2017 he was dominated. Iowa, Oregon and Boise State beat up on Allen and made him look pedestrian.

The question marks arise regarding his lack of solid competition playing in the Mountain West and his struggles during the 2017 season, but his upside could be tremendous. Still, this is a risky pick at No. 7 overall — could he be the next Carson Wentz? Possibly.

Next: Complete 7-round 2018 NFL Mock Draft

Allen does have NFL size at 6-foot-5 and 240 pounds but he only averaged 6.7 yards per passing attempt as a junior. Completion percentage is at a premium in the NFL and Allen only completed 56.3 percent of his passes. Hopefully for the Bills Mafia, Allen can grow and mature behind McCarron and prepare himself for a chance to be the next Jim Kelly in Buffalo.

Grade: B-