Bills DT defends Josh Allen after early snubbing of CJ Stroud’s QB rankings

It’s a quote that endures in football infamy, a phrase uttered by an emotional Terrell Owens that has become part of the lexicon of the average NFL fan: “He’s my quarterback.»

Buffalo Bills defensive tackle Ed Oliver took that phrase to heart on Instagram this week, relying on his story to defend signal-caller Josh Allen after the passer was initially snubbed from the top five quarterback rankings in CJ Stroud. The Houston Texans passer listed his top five signal callers for the 2023 NFL season during a recent appearance on Barstool Sports’ A game worth a million dollars podcast, initially including Patrick Mahomes of the Kansas City Chiefs, Lamar Jackson of the Baltimore Ravens, himself, Dak Prescott of the Dallas Cowboys and Jalen Hurts of the Philadelphia Eagles.

Oliver disputed that ranking, posting the clip to his Instagram Story and writing, “Yeah he’s tripping fasho no Josh Allen.”

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This was admittedly a real oversight on Stroud’s part, as Allen finished the 2023 campaign with 4,306 passing yards and 29 touchdowns. He completed his stat line with 524 rushing yards and 15 additional scores, his 44 total touchdowns placing him atop the league in this statistic. He earned the NFL MVP vote, indicating that he was not only one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL last season, but one of the best. players.

Oliver rightly took issue with his quarterback’s omission, but it is important to note that Stroud also took issue with his own omission; Shortly after the clip went viral, Stroud took to his Instagram Story to share his altered quarterback rankings — Allen ranks fourth, behind Mahomes, Jackson and himself.

It could be argued that Allen should be ranked ahead of Stroud – he (admittedly in more games) finished with more passing yards, more passing touchdowns, a higher completion percentage and their rushing stats don’t aren’t even comparable – but we’ll forgive Stroud for preferring himself over another player. The two will face off for the first time in their careers in Week 5 of the 2024 NFL season, when the Bills travel to NRG Stadium to take on the Texans in a highly anticipated matchup.