1. Josh Allen explains what it takes to improve as a quarterback mentally and physically
Every offseason, Josh Allen knows what areas of his game he needs to improve on and works hard at it. Even a career-high season in 2020 won't change that, as he continues to work with different specialists to improve and grow as an NFL quarterback. After the first day of mandatory minicamp on Tuesday, he was asked if it's more challenging to take the next step from a mental or physical level in the NFL.
"They definitely both present their challenges. Physically just reverting to old habits, and making sure you're staying on top of your mechanics and everything sequencing correctly. I got a guy Chris who owns Biometrics that came out last week. I did some more digital mapping of my mechanics. Just making sure I'm staying on top of that and allowing my muscle memory to kind of take that in and stop reverting back to old ways. As far as mentality or understanding defenses, and really understanding how the league goes that's just kind of going on with repetition. The more that you play, the more that you're around, the more that you learn. It's a fun process to be a part of. Again, it's asking questions that might make you feel uncomfortable, but making sure that you're learning everything you need to know and trusting your coaches like I said, is really the main thing for the mental aspect of the game."
2. PFF ranks Diggs and Beasley here in their wide receiver rankings
The Bills are entering the 2021 season with a lot of talent at the wide receiver position. The top two pass catchers of the group, Stefon Diggs and Cole Beasley, are both coming off of seasons where they saw career highs in receptions and receiving yards. PFF ranked the best 32 wide receivers heading into the season and had both Diggs and Beasley ranked in the top 25.
8. STEFON DIGGS, BUFFALO BILLS
After five straight years in Minnesota of very good, but not elite, play, Diggs finally earned that accolade in his first season with the Bills in 2020. He produced a receiving grade between 77.6 and 84.0 in each of his five years as a Viking, always ranking inside the top 25, but he cracked the top 10 just once.
In 2020, Diggs was one of just four receivers with a receiving grade at or above 90.0 in the regular season. He remained one of the most efficient contested-catch receivers in the game, posting a 60% catch rate on such plays to bring his percentage since 2017 to 60.5% — the second-best mark in the league.
23. COLE BEASLEY, BUFFALO BILLS
Beasley is the NFL slot receiver prototype. He ran 88.4% of his routes from the slot last season, the third-highest rate in the league. On those reps, Beasley racked up 2.31 yards per route and 938 receiving yards in total while hauling in 83.9% of his targets en route to a 90.8 receiving grade — all four of which ranked inside the top three among league qualifiers.
He found soft spots against zone coverage like clockwork. Beasley's 36 such receptions in 2020 were four more than any other wide receiver.
3. Could Josh Allen be on the cover of Madden 22
Every year since 2000, there has been a new Madden video game released with a different NFL player on the cover. The past two years, we have seen the NFL MVPs – Mahomes and Jackson - get the spotlight. This year, Madden announced in a teaser with two actual goats that they would unveil the cover athlete on Thursday at 10 am. NFL.com contributing columnist Adam Schein came out with his list of nine players who he thinks should be the cover athlete for Madden 22 and Josh Allen made his list.
#6 Josh Allen
Buffalo Bills · QB
Allen set the NFL on fire in Year 3, guiding the Bills to their first AFC East title in 25 years and first conference championship game in 27 years -- and finishing second in the MVP race in the process. Remember when critics bemoaned his lack of accuracy? Allen completed 69.2 percent of his passes last season. So that Nolan Ryan howitzer of an arm suddenly features Greg Maddux precision? And he has 25 rushing touchdowns in three seasons? Basically, he's Paul Bunyan. And he's only going to get better in Year 4.
The Bills' offense is about to explode. Allen and Stefon Diggs formed a spectacular bond in 2020 without the benefit of a real offseason. Just think of how simpatico they'll be this fall. Cole Beasley's one of the best slot receivers in the NFL, while Gabriel Davis is poised to build off a fine rookie campaign. And now Emmanuel Sanders joins the fray as another weapon in the arsenal. Just wait until the Bills are able to feed off their fantastic fans again this season.
