Wyoming QB Allen showcases touch, accuracy at Pro Day

Quarterback Josh Allen performed at Wyoming's Pro Day on Friday, when scouts learned that ... he has a strong arm. OK, NFL personnel men didn't travel to Laramie, Wyo., to figure that out. There is already consensus that Allen has a world-class arm that can rocket-launch a throw 80 yards in the air. What was important was that Allen -- who has the best physical profile of any quarterback in a draft class that is expected to produce as many as six first-round signal-callers -- flashed progression since the end of last season with his footwork and touch. "We wanted to tempo the ball, control it," Allen's quarterback coach Jordan Palmer told the NFL Network. "You throw the ball as hard as you can in a game four, five, six times. "The majority of these throws are layered or thrown with touch. I know that he can do it. I wanted to be able to show that today and put him in position to tempo the ball, and I thought he did a great job." Palmer scripted Allen's Pro Day routine in which he threw 60 passes. Palmer is also working with USC's Sam Darnold, who is coming off an impressive Pro Day showing in Los Angeles on Wednesday that helped his cause as the potential No. 1 pick in the draft, held by the Cleveland Browns. Allen also is in contention for that lofty spot. NFLDraftScout.com senior analyst Rob Rang has Allen going No. 1 in his latest mock draft, while fellow NFLDraftScout.com senior analyst Dane Brugler projects the Denver Broncos taking Allen at No. 5. Other quarterbacks who are in that range are UCLA's Josh Rosen and Oklahoma's Baker Mayfield. Allen (6-5, 237) ran the 40-yard dash at the NFL Scouting Combine in 4.75 seconds with a 33 1/2-inch vertical jump, cementing his status as a gun-slinging quarterback with all the physical skills. Brugler referred to Allen's measurables as "scouting catnip." Friday was about showing Allen had more-refined throwing mechanics and improved ball placement than he showed in college, when he completed only 56.2 percent of his passes for Wyoming and struggled against the team's better competition. Allen told the NFL Network that when he studied tape of last season, his footwork was "jacked up" when he missed throws. "My feet were out of whack; they weren't sequencing correctly," Allen said. "Getting with Jordan Palmer, he was noticing the things I was doing in my stance and he was helping to guide my footwork. I fixed that. Now, I can self-correct myself. I have been working on it a lot." On Thursday, Palmer said on the Dan Patrick Show: "This kid Josh Allen is maybe the most talented dude I've ever seen -- size, arm talent, also just how intelligent he is, the kind of person he is. ... This doesn't necessarily mean he's the best I've ever seen, right? Just in terms of arm talent and his abilities, I haven't really seen anything like it." Brugler, taking a big-picture, long-term view, ranks Darnold as his top quarterback prospect, but said on the Draft Show podcast this week that neither Darnold nor Allen is the most pro-ready of the quarterbacks. "Rosen and Mayfield, I think, are the closest of the quarterbacks to starting right away," Brugler said. "Doesn't mean necessarily they should be starting, but they are the closest of these top five quarterbacks (including Louisville's Lamar Jackson). "Mayfield is a four-year starter. There is going to be a transition from Oklahoma's offense to what they are going to ask him to do in the NFL, but I think he can handle it. Rosen has been running a pro-style scheme at UCLA. He's ready to step in."