Allen OK with being drafted by Cleveland
Wyoming QB sees an opportunity to be part of turnaround.
At least one CLEVELAND — quarterback named Josh is saying all the right things about the Cleveland Browns heading into the draft.
While UCLA’s Josh Rosen has said he’d prefer the Giants over the Browns according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, Wyoming’s Josh Allen, who’s participating in the Senior Bowl this week in Mobile, Alabama, said Monday he’d be all about the 0-16 Browns.
“If I’m fortunate enough to become a Cleveland Brown, you can expect everything from me,” Allen said. “I want to be the guy that turns around the Cleveland Browns. The guy that does that is going to be immortalized in Cleveland forever.”
Allen (6 feet 5, 233 pounds) has already done his due diligence on the Browns and relishes the opportunity to be the savior here. He’ll have to knock USC’s Sam Darnold and Rosen off their thrones to climb to No. 1, but he loves a challenge.
“To think about that and to put yourself in that situation and in those shoes, you gotta love that as a quarterback and you gotta love that as a football player and competitor,” Allen said. “This is something that can really be set in stone forever, if you’re the guy that can help turn this Cleveland Browns team around. I know they’ve got the youngest team in the NFL, they’ve got the most cap space, the most high draft picks, brand new GM who has done a lot of good things in his past.
“I’m not saying if I want to be drafted by a certain team or not but I definitely think this is a situation in Cleveland where this is the time where a quarterback can step in and do his job without worrying or having to worry about the notion that this is the place where quarterbacks go to die because I definitely think there are some good things going on with the Browns organization.”
One high-level NFL personnel executive told cleveland.com the Browns should draft Allen No. 1 overall “and it’s not even close.” ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr. penciled in Allen for the Browns at No. 1 in his first mock draft this week.
“To be touted as high as the first pick, it’s super cool but at the same time I take that with a grain of salt and know that these are mock drafts for a reason,” he said. “There’s still a lot of work to do. I’m not the perfect prospect let me tell you. I got a lot to work on and I’ll be the first to admit that. I’m not going to sit here and say I know everything about everything. I definitely have work to do. The thing is, I’m willing to admit that. I’m willing to go to work and fix everything I need to fix.”
Allen understands that he might have to sit for a year or two behind a veteran if he lands in Cleveland.
“The competitor in me wants to go in and start right away, but realistically I would welcome that [sitting a year],” he said. “It definitely gives you time to adjust to the speed of the game, to learn the offense, to know the ins and outs of the NFL because that first year is crazy. If you can take a year, sit and learn and process information, the next year you get to focus in on football.”