How Bills QB Josh Allen reined in his rocket arm and fixed early accuracy issues

If you ask fans what they were thinking when the Bills made Josh Allen the seventh overall pick of the 2018 NFL Draft, most will tell you either they were unsure of the pick, or downright disappointed. We've all seen the video of fans reacting after Allen was picked, and this was the consensus feeling throughout Bills Mafia.

The scouting reports reported Allen was an extremely raw prospect with good size and strength, but that he did not play against the top collegiate competition while at Wyoming and that he struggled with accuracy. Some reports cited concern about Allen's clutch ability or perceived lack of. One story even compared him to Kyle Boller:

Some team sources who are skeptical of Allen compare him to Kyle Boller as a quarterback with big-time triangle numbers plus athleticism and major arm strength. They do have concerns about the lack of production against good opponents and not delivering clutch performances against better teams.

- Charlie Campbell, WalterFootball.com

Allen was well aware of his shortcomings saying, "I know I've got a lot of flaws as a quarterback. The accuracy, of course. Being able to put the ball where it needs to be put at any given time." Knowing he had to improve, Allen took it upon himself to fix these concerns over time and via "a lot of reps" honing his mechanics. In his rookie year, Allen completed only 52.8 percent of his passes. By his third year, he had improved to a career-best 69.2 percent. That 17 percent improvement is an NFL record over a two year span. Remarkably, Allen has had a mid-sixty percent completion percentage each of the last 4 seasons.

Allen credits a great deal of his improved accuracy and mechanics to Chris Hess, who is the founder of a Biometrek, a state-of-the-art bio-mechanical movement technology company that "objectively measures the unique way your body moves." Allen called Hess, "the most influential person in my mechanical career." During his collegiate career and Allen's first two years as a pro, Allen's throwing motion was mostly based on arm strength, resulting in pain and soreness in his throwing shoulder. After spending time with Hess leveraging Biometrek's advanced technology, Allen implemented improved body movements and mechanics that incorporated hip disassociation. As a result, Allen vastly improved his throwing accuracy.

Now, in his seventh season, Allen is regarded as one of the premier quarterbacks in the league. He's gone from what many predicted would be an NFL draft bust, to a potential league MVP and possible Super Bowl winner. While those accolades have yet to come to fruition, rest assured that Bills General Manager Brandon Beane made the right selection when he moved up in the 2018 draft to select a strong armed QB that was open to further development.