Josh Allen picked up where he left off.
Much like he did at the NFL's scouting combine earlier this month, the Wyoming quarterback showcased his rare arm talent Friday afternoon at his Pro Day, uncorking several deep throws of 80 yards or more while he makes his case to be the top signal-caller in this year's NFL Draft class.
"I felt relaxed," Allen told NFL Network afterwards. "We came out, we've been working on the script for a while."
Allen is among several quarterbacks the Browns, owners of the first and fourth picks, could draft next month. Once a little-known prospect from Firebaugh, California, Allen, 21, has intrigued teams with his uncanny arm talent, athleticism and prototypical size (6-foot-5, 233). There remain concerns, however, regarding his accuracy — Allen completed 56 percent of his passes through two seasons at Wyoming —- and how that dynamic will translate to the next level.
That's something, Allen said, he's tried to address over the past few months. "I think going back and watching the film, I really dove into how I was throwing the ball. My feet were really jacked up. Any time I would miss, my feet were out of whack," said Allen, who's working with quarterback trainer Jordan Palmer (brother of former NFL quarterback Carson Palmer). "Now I can kind of self-correct myself. I've been working on it a lot."
During a live broadcast of the event, NFL Network analyst Mike Mayock said it's clear Allen has taken steps toward improving that shortcoming. But "when you're under fire in an NFL game, how's the footwork going to hold up," he added. "We still have the caveat of, how's it going to look like in pads?"
Allen threw a mix of short, intermediate and long passes Friday in front of NFL executives, coaches and scouts from across the league. NFL Network's Daniel Jeremiah, who lists Allen as the 14th-best prospectin the 2018 class, described the session as "scouting narcotics" during the broadcast.
As the Browns continue their search for a long-term answer at quarterback, a large contingent from Cleveland -- including general manager John Dorsey, head coach Hue Jackson and owner Jimmy Haslam -- was on hand to watch Allen. At the combine, Jackson said the Browns will do their due diligence on all of the top quarterbacks, including a look at Allen's accuracy issues.
"We're going to find out why it's 56.2 percent," Jackson said. "That's why we're here at the Combine. That's what we'll be doing over the next month or two is finding out why those things are happening."
In the meantime, Allen said he's doing his best to savor the next month before the draft.
"I was in junior college a few years ago, so to be here sitting in this spot talking to these NFL executives is a dream come true. It's something that not a lot of people saw coming" said Allen, who attended Reedley Community College in California before making the move to Laramie. "It's surreal. This is the only thing I've ever wanted to do my entire life. Sitting here, it's something I've always dreamed of."
