Josh Allen's place among NFL greats sparks debate. Does his dazzling play justify a top-tier ranking, or do playoff stumbles dim his legacy?
Josh Allen is a polarizing quarterback.
On one side of the spectrum, you have people believing the Buffalo Bills franchise quarterback is one of the more overrated players in the league due to his disappointing exits from the playoffs. On the other hand, many feel that he's well on his way to the Pro Football Hall of Fame when his time in the league is done.
With the varied opinions on Allen, it should come as no surprise when rankings come out that have him somewhere on the list of all-time great quarterbacks.
The latest comes from Bleacher Report, which released its ranking of the Top 99 quarterbacks in NFL history.
While Allen found his way on the list, where he sits has been a topic of hot debate among Bills fans.
According to a panel of Bleacher Report NFL writers and editors, Allen is the 35th-best quarterback in NFL history.
They mention Allen becoming the "NFL's Superman quarterback". From his records of being the youngest player to reach 300 total touchdowns to having the most rushing touchdowns for a quarterback in history at 79, Allen's eight-year career has been something out of a video game.
But, to some, his career thus far hasn't done enough to be ranked over a few other quarterbacks on the list.
According to the voting, Allen was voted as high as 20th all-time and as low as 50th. Landing at 35 is a solid in between, but then looking at who's ahead of him, you are left scratching your head a bit.
One name that immediately stands out is Baltimore Ravens star Lamar Jackson. Jackson is a two-time NFL MVP and three-time All-Pro. He was voted 28th, with some having him as high as 11th. While his personal numbers are great---there's no denying it---it's the overall performance of his career that has people wondering why he was voted higher than Allen.
Head to head, Allen is 2-2 in the regular season and 2-0 in the playoffs. Allen also has nearly double the number of game-winning drives.
I know wins aren't a quarterback stat, but when you have a quarterback like Troy Aikman ranked higher than both with the stat line he has, then it begs the question, just how are these rankings tallied? What's the true criterion that makes one great?
Is it postseason success? Is it personal stats?
It's not to say Allen is deserving of being a Top 20 quarterback at this stage, but there are certainly reasons to feel that he was ranked lower than he should've been.
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