Getty Josh Allen #17 of the Buffalo Bills steps back to throw a pass during the fourth quarter in the game against the New Orleans Saints at Caesars Superdome on November 25, 2021.
With the Buffalo Bills just hours away from selecting their first-round pick in the 2022 NFL Draft on Thursday, April 28, the team’s official Twitter account shared a video featuring their No. 7 overall pick from the 2018 NFL Draft, quarterback Josh Allen.
To commemorate the four-year anniversary of the Bills selecting Allen out of Wyoming, in what turned out to be one of the best decisions general manager Brandon Beane ever made for the franchise, the team shared a video of the 25-year-old quarterback reading mean tweets from the night of that momentous occasion, reminding fans and analysts how they really felt when his name was called in 2018.
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At the time, the Bills had made a series of trades to move up the draft board to snag Allen, which caused the selection to be met with even higher scrutiny than usual. Now, Allen is one of the most elite quarterbacks in the NFL, and after signing a $258 million extension last offseason, the two-time Pro Bowler has no problem finding humor in these awfully mean tweets.
“Unf****** believable,” the 6-foot-5 stud reads, “We’re f****** cursed.” Another person blasted Beane and the whole front office, “You guys are total idiots,” Allen reads aloud the video.
We kept the receipts and @JoshAllenQB would like a word. 😏
“Wrong Josh,” another person tweeted, referring to the hope that the Bills would draft Josh Rosen, the UCLA quarterback whom many believed was the better player.
To compare the two Joshes now will make every person who was clamoring for Rosen cringe. Rosen has bounced between four teams, racking up a total of 2,864 yards and 12 career touchdowns. Allen, who after a less-than-stellar rookie season, led the Bills to the playoffs in 2019, was the MVP-runner up in 2020, and in the 2021 NFL regular season alone, threw 36 touchdowns.
We’ve drafted Josh Allen with the 7th overall pick.
Welcome to Buffalo, @JoshAllenQB!
At the time, however, it seemed only Beane and Allen knew what the future star was capable of. Continuing with the mean tweets in 2022, “Why? what the hell. I have no words. I’m beyond disappointed,” a fan tweeted.
“That was quite a few words though if he had no words,” Allen quips in the video, before reading another mean tweet, “What a s*** pick. I just wasted my season ticket money,” which also makes the quarterback laugh.
Allen Tweeted Out His ‘Perfect’ Suggestion for the Bills’ 2022 First-Round Pick
GettyJosh Allen #17 of the Buffalo Bills warms up before the game against the Carolina Panthers at Highmark Stadium on December 19, 2021.
On Saturday, April 23, the Bills’ official Twitter account asked their 1.3 million followers what position the team should target first in the first round of the 2022 NFL Draft, and they probably weren’t expecting an answer from Allen.
While analysts across the league have pored over each and every direction the Bills might swing with their No. 25 overall pick, Allen offered up an answer so ridiculous that it went viral.
Buffalo’s Twitter account shared an article discussing the “Three Popular Positions for the Bills to Go After” in the first round. They captioned the tweet, “Wide receiver, cornerback and…??”
In response, Allen tweeted the name, “Matt.” While numerous fans didn’t instantly recognize the photo Allen tweeted, it’s a picture of the Matt avatar from Wii Sports, a character first introduced to the Nintendo world in 2006, per Meme.Fandom.com. “He’s the “only CPU to have championship status in more than one discipline, being the hardest NPC to beat in Boxing and Swordplay,” the website states.
In 2018, Matt became a popular meme as a character “depicted as a supernaturally powerful being,” GameRant.com reported. “One, for instance, depicted him as the cover image for an article listing ’15 Characters Who Could Defeat Thanos,'” the website noted. With such a fantastical background, it’s easy to understand why Allen suggested Matt as the perfect multi-position threat for the Bills to target in the draft.
It Remains Unclear What Position the Bills Will Draft in the First Round of the 2022 NFL Draft
GettyBrandon Beane, general manager of the Buffalo Bills speaks to reporters during the NFL Draft Combine at the Indiana Convention Center on March 1, 2022 in Indianapolis, Indiana.
Beane spoke about the Bills’ draft plan while appearing on WGR 550, the team’s official radio station, on Tuesday, April 26. “For the most part [the draft board] is finalized,” Beane said. “Obviously, we’re not in the quarterback market.”
While most analysts assume the Bills will draft a cornerback in the first round of the 2022 NFL Draft, such as Michigan’s Daxton Hill or Clemson’s Andrew Booth Jr., numerous experts can also see Beane selecting running back Breece Hall, or trading up to land an elite safety like Kyle Hamilton.
“You’re just looking for good players,” Beane said. “Free agency is probably where you can say, ‘Hey, we’ll spend a little more here and we’ll fill this here.’ The draft is more of a long-term approach. You’re drafting a guy in the first round that you would hope you’re, at least, picking up their fifth-year option and you’ve got him for five years. So you’re not looking for a short-term fix.”
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