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Joshua Patrick Allen ( Firebaugh , California , May 21, 1996), better known simply as Josh Allen , is an American professional American football player . He plays the quarterback position and currently plays for the Buffalo Bills of the National Football League (NFL).
He played at the college level at Wyoming . The Bills selected Allen with the seventh pick in the 2018 draft , moving up from 12th after a trade with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers .
| Josh Allen | ||
|---|---|---|
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| Personal information | ||
| Full name | Joshua Patrick Allen | |
| Birth |  May 21, 1996 (age 27) |
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| Nationality(ies) | United States | |
| Height | 1.96 m (6 ′ 5 ″ ) | |
| Weight | 108 kg (238 lb ) | |
| Couple | Hailee Steinfeld (since 2023) | |
| Sports race | ||
| Sport | Football | |
| Varsity team | Wyoming | |
| Professional club | ||
| NFL Draft | 1st round (7th place), 2018 by Buffalo Bills | |
| Club |  Buffalo Bills |
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| League | NFL | |
| Position | Quarterback | |
| Dorsal(s) | 17 | |
| Trajectory | ||
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Biography
Allen grew up on a 3,000-acre (1,200 ha) cotton farm near Firebaugh , California , a small town approximately 40 miles (64 km) west of Fresno, California . 3 4 The Allen family-owned farm was established in 1975 by Josh’s paternal grandfather, who was a member of the local school board and named after the gym at Firebaugh High School , where Josh graduated in 2014. His family has He has always lived in that region since his great-grandfather settled there during the Great Depression , after having immigrated from Sweden in 1907. 5
Allen grew up as a fan of the Fresno State team , going to their stadium to watch games. In high school he played three sports: football, basketball and baseball. He also worked regularly on the family farm and at the restaurant his mother operated in Firebaugh. Despite being a talented three-sport athlete at Firebaugh, no Division I college offered Allen an athletic scholarship . In a 2017 article about Allen, ESPN journalist Mark Schlabach opined that Allen received so little interest in high school because he weighed only 180 pounds and was 6-foot-10 at the time, and had not participated in elite quarterback camps and was not a well-known prospect and because his team did not participate in many 7-on-7 camps because Josh and many of his teammates were more focused on baseball and other sports. He was the best scorer on his basketball team and was also a good thrower on his baseball team (he could throw balls at 90 mph). 5
Career
University
Reedley
Allen spent his first year of college, in 2014, playing at Reedley College , a local college where one of the assistant coaches was married to a cousin of Josh’s. There he posted dominant statistics as the team’s quarterback. He passed for 25 touchdowns and had only 4 interceptions that year, in which he grew to 1.98 meters and 95.25 kg. At the end of the season, and after emailing videos of his game to all Division I college coaches, he received interest from two of them: the University of Wyoming and Eastern Michigan University . Wyoming coach Craig Bohl visited the Allen family farm after researching Josh, noting similarities between him and another former prospect, Carson Wentz . Bohl was the only FBS coach to visit Josh’s family and his father told him, “We went all over the country and there’s only one quarterback we want and that’s your son. He’s going to be the face of our program.” 6
When Allen visited Wyoming, Eastern Michigan rescinded its offer. Allen committed to Wyoming after making one last application to Fresno State before 2015. 7
Wyoming
In his first year at Wyoming, he played in two games and was the starter for one of those games. In his first game as a starter he threw only four passes before suffering a broken collarbone that ended his season; Because the injury occurred early in the season, he qualified for a medical excuse. 8 9 Allen returned from injury in 2016 and was Wyoming’s starting quarterback. 10
After passing for more than 3,200 yards and 28 touchdowns in 2016, Allen contemplated declaring for the 2017 NFL Draft , initially telling his parents, girlfriend and a few friends that he would go pro. 11 However, Allen’s coaches advised him to stay in Wyoming for one more year, and soon, Allen became frightened with anxiety over his decision. 12 Before the draft deadline, Bohl told Allen that staying in school for one more year would improve his preparation for the NFL. Allen also sought advice from Carson Wentz, who told him that in the NFL, there would be many veterans around the league relying on him to “win games and help secure his jobs.” 11 Allen ultimately stayed in Wyoming. He threw for 1,812 yards, 16 touchdowns and six interceptions in 2017. 13