Josh Allen Must Prove Doubters Wrong Again with Brian Daboll Going to Giants

The Buffalo Bills and their fans are in for a long and cold offseason. It’s only fitting that Buffalo is living under a heavy blanket of snow — maybe it’ll allow Buffalo fans to stay inside and hibernate their pain away. 

After losing to the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC Championship Game in heartbreaking fashion, the Bills and their young superstar quarterback Josh Allen are losing offensive coordinator Brian Daboll, who is taking the head coaching position of the New York Giants.

Right or wrong, Josh Allen will have to prove himself again

Allen has been one of the most heavily-scrutinized quarterbacks over the last few years, especially in his first two seasons. The narrative was that he was mobile and athletic and had a cannon of an arm, but that his accuracy issues would never let him develop into an elite quarterback. He and Lamar Jackson have had similar knocks on them.

Allen was drafted 7th overall in the 2018 NFL Draft, to mixed reviews. Coming from a small school like Wyoming, there were questions about the level of competition that he played against. As a rookie, Allen started 11 games, going 5-6 with a 52.8% completion percentage, throwing 12 interceptions to only 10 touchdowns.

The doubters were out in full force. Allen and Daboll went from a mediocre rookie season to superstar numbers in 2020, where the Bills finished second in the NFL in scoring and Allen’s completion percentage was up to 69.2%. He logged 37 passing touchdowns to 10 interceptions that year. 

Allen took a bit of a step back in 2021 

This year wasn’t quite as strong for Allen as 2020 was. His completion percentage dipped to 63.3%, and he threw a handful more interceptions, but his yardage total and touchdown numbers were very similar to the year before. Stefon Diggs, in his second season with the Bills, was a part of that step back in production — Diggs finished 2021 with 310 fewer receiving yards than the year before (which still amounts to a very strong 1,225 yards and 10 TDs).

With Daboll set to leave, and with rumors swirling that quarterback coach Ken Dorsey could potentially join Daboll in New York, more pressure and scrutiny will fall on the shoulders of Allen. If the Bills and Allen take a step back in 2022, the doubters will come out from their caves with pitchforks raised saying the levels of success that he has reached are more because of Daboll than Allen’s own merits — fair or not.