Poke in New England
Well-known member
I couldn’t have been the only one who watched both WYO/AF and Bills/Chiefs this weekend, and it got me thinking. It is an incredible source of pride to see Josh Allen continue to take leaps and get his deserved recognition as an elite NFL quarterback with a real chance to bring Buffalo its first Super Bowl. Hearing him say “Josh Allen, Wyoming, Go Pokes” on a premier Sunday night football game before balling out in front of the whole nation is a really special thing.
But, given the state of Wyoming football, I can’t get rid of this sour taste from my mouth. This coaching staff, led by Bohl, seems to get credited often for Josh’s emergence as an NFL superstar. Indeed he was a diamond in the rough who they saw something in and brought to Laramie (had just one other school done so we may not have been so fortunate). In reality I think the Josh Allen arc calls into question how much credit this staff actually deserves. As far as the product on the field at Wyoming goes, it is an inescapable truth that we failed to win a conference title (or even an outright division title) with this once-in-a-century prospect at Quarterback and a supporting cast full of players who have stuck in the NFL as well. The season where we achieved the most national prominence ended up 8-6, with 3 humiliating losses to inferior teams and a gut punch Bowl game loss to a bitter rival.
As far as Josh himself, I cant help but think that we nearly broke him, wasting a generational talent through poor development, recruiting, and in-game coaching. The year following the 8-6 season is a “what-if” due to an Allen injury, but he was hardly set up to succeed. We all like to dunk on the draft analysts who missed so badly on Josh, but they could be forgiven for looking at his numbers that year and coming away unimpressed. The real crime was that they judged Josh by these numbers instead of looking at the film and context, which would have shown that his incredible raw talent was being almost completely wasted at Wyoming.
Josh Allen is, statistically, a total anomaly in the NFL for having improved over his first 3 seasons the way he did. If not for the patience and overall competence of the Bills organization, which put in the work to develop Josh by fixing his flaws, putting pieces around him and scheming an offense to maximize his skills, who knows where he is right now. All of that is work that Wyoming failed to do, and it almost cost a very talented, hard-working kid a very lucrative and successful career. As we debate the future direction of the Wyoming program, it is time to have a hard conversation about these inconvenient truths.
But, given the state of Wyoming football, I can’t get rid of this sour taste from my mouth. This coaching staff, led by Bohl, seems to get credited often for Josh’s emergence as an NFL superstar. Indeed he was a diamond in the rough who they saw something in and brought to Laramie (had just one other school done so we may not have been so fortunate). In reality I think the Josh Allen arc calls into question how much credit this staff actually deserves. As far as the product on the field at Wyoming goes, it is an inescapable truth that we failed to win a conference title (or even an outright division title) with this once-in-a-century prospect at Quarterback and a supporting cast full of players who have stuck in the NFL as well. The season where we achieved the most national prominence ended up 8-6, with 3 humiliating losses to inferior teams and a gut punch Bowl game loss to a bitter rival.
As far as Josh himself, I cant help but think that we nearly broke him, wasting a generational talent through poor development, recruiting, and in-game coaching. The year following the 8-6 season is a “what-if” due to an Allen injury, but he was hardly set up to succeed. We all like to dunk on the draft analysts who missed so badly on Josh, but they could be forgiven for looking at his numbers that year and coming away unimpressed. The real crime was that they judged Josh by these numbers instead of looking at the film and context, which would have shown that his incredible raw talent was being almost completely wasted at Wyoming.
Josh Allen is, statistically, a total anomaly in the NFL for having improved over his first 3 seasons the way he did. If not for the patience and overall competence of the Bills organization, which put in the work to develop Josh by fixing his flaws, putting pieces around him and scheming an offense to maximize his skills, who knows where he is right now. All of that is work that Wyoming failed to do, and it almost cost a very talented, hard-working kid a very lucrative and successful career. As we debate the future direction of the Wyoming program, it is time to have a hard conversation about these inconvenient truths.
