Josh Allen is the MVP.
The Buffalo Bills’ superstar quarterback finally earned that honor for his exceptional 2024 season.
And heading into the new campaign, he got another impressive accolade.
ESPN’s Dan Orlovsky, himself a former NFL quarterback, ranked the league’s current passers by their specific traits. He listed Allen as having the No. 1 arm strength in the entire league.
The rest of the top 10 after Allen: Patrick Mahomes, Justin Herbert, Lamar Jackson, Matthew Stafford, Baker Mayfield, Joe Burrow, Caleb Williams, Michael Penix Jr. and Jordan Love.
Orlovsky laid out his logic like this:
For me, arm strength is less about airing out the 60-yard pass (though it’s of course part of the equation) and more about driving the football on a rope when it’s necessary. I’m talking about tight windows, 15 to 20 yards downfield. You need a strong arm to get the ball there on time with these passes; floating one in isn’t an option. Think third-and-12 dropbacks with defenders blanketing the receiver, and the coverage starting to close in. Not every QB has the zip in his arm to paste the ball where it needs to be in a hurry.
The best in the game at this is Allen, but the top four on my list — Allen, Mahomes, Herbert and Jackson — are collectively all sort of in a league of their own. Allen connected on 15 tight-window throws 10 or more yards downfield last season, tied for the third most in the NFL. Nine of those were at least 20 yards downfield, the most in the league. He can step on one with authority.
Allen can deliver ridiculously on-point darts from any spot on the field, even when off balance.
He threw an absurd touchdown to Ty Johnson last season when rolling to his right around the 30-yard line before yanking a pass across his body to the center of the end zone while off balance and putting it somehow in a low spot that only Johnson could catch it.
Few QBs can even dream of doing some of the things Allen can do with his arm.
That’s why he was the MVP, and that’s why the Bills have great hopes for the season ahead, too.
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