Shortly before NFL training camps opened, ESPN released the results of a survey that ranked the best players in the league across 11 different position groups.
Each position ranking featured commentary from NFL executives, coaches and scouts, all of whom remain anonymous. Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen was listed as the third-best player at his position. While Allen’s ranking could certainly be argued, a quote about the Bills star’s position among his peers seemed to stir some controversy.
One of the unnamed executives described Allen as “one of the more overrated players in the NFL,” which Fox Sports NFL sideline reporter Erin Andrews took issue with. Fox Sports is a unit of FOX Corp., the parent to Fox News and FOX Business.
Andrews addressed the executive’s remarks on her “Calm Down with Erin and Charissa” podcast, which she co-hosts with Fox Sports’ Charissa Thompson. Andrews challenged the anonymous person to “take ownership” of their opinion.
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“Like, come on, if you’re going to say something like that, say it with your chest. Take ownership,” Andrews said. “‘I’m afraid, so I’m going to say something mean.’ It’s like Twitter. Shut up.”
The anonymous executive also suggested that Allen was prone to mistakes and struggled with different aspects that are critical for any player who hopes to excel at playing quarterback.
“Immense talent but he makes a lot of mistakes,” the executive noted. “He’s underdeveloped at winning at the line of scrimmage, tends to lock on to targets, more of a thrower than precision passer, forces throws into traffic.”
Andrews stopped short of sharing her full thoughts on the criticism. “Sources are funny, aren’t they?” Thompson added. “I’ll leave that alone since I get in trouble for being too honest.”
Almost 80 ballots were submitted, with all of those ranking at least one position group, ESPN reported. While the majority of respondents ranked every position group, follow-up calls and additional voting took place to avoid publishing data that included ties.
Meanwhile, a nameless “AFC executive” said Allen “leaves you wanting more, a little bit.”
Bills general manager Brandon Beane said the anonymous comments left him frustrated.
“I don’t know where to start. It’s frustrating,” Beane said in July. “You try to ignore this stuff, but Josh is going into year 7 and there’s still the naysayers. I don’t get it. If I was going to use rated, I would say underrated before I would say overrated. And I know I’m biased. He’s our guy, love him every single day.”
Beane also questioned the validity of the comments.
“These things that come out there … I know people love the rankings of whoever. But when you don’t put your name to it, and you make comments like that, like, who is this executive? Executive is a loose term. I was probably referred to as an executive well before I should have been. I just say, if you’re not going to put your name on it, we really shouldn’t validate it.”
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