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- Mar 16, 2019
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Pat Shurmur took a rare tack when it comes to questions about players on other teams — he appeared to answer honestly, and in less-than-glowing terms.
Via Mark Gaughan of the Buffalo News, the Giants coach was frank in his assessment of Bills quarterback Josh Allen, admitting they weren’t crazy about him prior to the 2018 NFL Draft.
“I can comment on what we thought of him,” Shurmur said. “We thought he was a big, strong thrower, a guy that had a chance to be a starter in the NFL, and he has been for them. I think he’s made steady improvements. He’s a very strong-armed guy. He’s helped them win some big games already. Just like any young player, you see where he’ll make mistakes and then correct them.”
Upon follow-up, when asked if “starter” was a low bar for a first-round pick, Shurmur replied: “I thought he had a chance to be a starter. But I was asked what I thought of him, and that’s what we thought of him. He had a chance to be a starter.”
To his credit, Allen did not immediately play the “disrespect” card.
“It doesn’t bother me,” the Bills quarterback said. “I wasn’t trying to make everybody like me or fall in love with me. Luckily the Bills had different thoughts and different plans with me. And luckily I ended up here.”
The Giants might not have been the only team that wasn’t enamored of Allen coming out of college, because of his accuracy issues. And it’s not like he’d have even been playing there, since they have a first-round quarterback who they do like who isn’t on the field for some reason.