Josh Allen College Stats: From Laramie, Wyoming to Top-10 Pick

    Josh Allen's college stats suggested he'd be a boom-or-bust prospect. He turned a corner midway through Year 2 and hasn't looked back.

    Josh Allen has always had the reputation of being a gunslinger, dating back to his college days at Firebaugh High School, to junior college, to the Wyoming Cowboys, and then to the Buffalo Bills. But Allen wasn’t a guaranteed superstar in the NFL Draft. The Bills took a chance on a high0upside gunslinger. How did he get the reputation and what were his college stats?

    Josh Allen’s Gunslinger Mentality

    As a quarterback at Firebaugh High School in California, Allen’s talent was obvious, but he certainly wasn’t the most polished quarterback in the country.

    He threw for over 5,200 yards, averaging over 15 yards a completion, completing just over 54% of his passes. He added over 600 rushing yards with 63 total touchdowns.

    That apparently wasn’t enough to earn any scholarships to four-year schools. So, Allen enrolled at Reedley Junior College, where a relative was the head coach. His accuracy never improved, as he completed a conference-low 49% of his passes in his lone season with the program.

    247Sports ranked him the fifth-best junior college quarterback in the country, and he enrolled at Wyoming in 2015.

    With the Cowboys, Allen continued his weird career trajectory — sitting in 2015 before a 2016 season full of both highlight-reel throws and terrible interceptions. The good throws and the arm talent began to turn the heads of pro scouts.

    He did, after all, finish with 3,202 yards and 28 touchdowns.

    Allen’s final year in Laramie brought more questions than answers. The Wyoming QB finished the year with less than 200 passing yards a game, throwing for just 1,812 yards and 16 touchdowns in an 11-game season.

    He did end the year with eight touchdowns in the final four games, but it was obvious his potential and not his production would determine his draft position.

    From Wyoming to Buffalo, Josh Allen’s Development

    Allen is perhaps the single most polarizing draft prospect of the last 10 years. His traits were obvious, as there aren’t many — if any — quarterbacks in NFL history with his combination of size, rushing ability, and arm talent.

    Still, it was risky to use a top 10 pick on a guy with just 5,000 yards and 21 interceptions at Wyoming. Multiple pundits, like ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr., were huge fans, dismissing some of Allen’s polarizing play as a product of his environment.

    “When you look at who finished the strongest of the Top 3 quarterbacks, he (Josh Allen) did,” Kiper said after mocking Allen first overall. “And you could say he had this shoulder injury, but he came back from the shoulder against Central Michigan in the bowl, and he lit it up, made NFL throws, showed tremendous competitiveness.”

    “Remember at the beginning of the year they (Wyoming) were missing key starters at running back, wide receiver, tight end and center,” Kiper continued his analysis on the Wyoming gunslinger. “That is why he had some struggles at Iowa starting out the season.”

    Conversely, analysts like Lance Zierlein compared Allen to Jake Locker, Paxton Lynch, and other toolsy prospects who flamed out in the NFL.

    Through a year and a half with the Bills, Allen had bust written all over him. As a rookie, he started 12 games, throwing for just over 150 yards a game with a negative touchdown-to-interception ratio. Through five games in year two, Allen led the NFL in interceptions (7) with only 1,100 yards and five touchdowns.

    But then something changed, almost at once. In the last 12 games, Allen put up 21 total touchdowns and just two picks, finishing with a completion percentage over 58% for the first full season of his career — including high school, junior college, and college.

    In the four years since then, Allen’s lowest completion percentage came in 2022 at 62.5 percent. In his career, he’s thrown for 195 touchdowns and over 26,000 yards, adding 4,142 rushing yards and 65 scores on the ground. For the first time in his career, Allen threw single-digit interceptions in 2024, with just six picks and only one fumble.

    Simply put, Allen is at his best as a gunslinger. He’s a modern-day Brett Favre with better legs and a stronger arm. But now, he’s cut down on the turnovers, making him an MVP candidate.

    MORE: Wyoming Coach Craig Bohl Leaving Laramie With Long-Lasting Legacy

    Buffalo hasn’t yet gotten over the hump, but with Allen, the Bills will always be in the running for an elusive Super Bowl win.

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