Getty Bills quarterback Josh Allen at Hard Rock Stadium on January 07, 2024.
Josh Allen’s teammates have his back, both on and off the field.
Buffalo Bills defensive tackle Ed Oliver took to social media to issue a response to Houston Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud, whose controversial ranking of the league’s top quarterbacks initially omitted Allen. Stroud drew some attention for the rankings — and for his correction where he belatedly added Allen — and now got some pushback from one of Allen’s teammates.
Josh Allen’s Teammate Strikes Back
In a recent appearance on the Million Dollaz Worth of Game podcast, Stroud listed Patrick Mahomes among the league’s top quarterbacks, adding two-time league MVP Lamar Jackson, Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott and Jalen Hurts of the Philadelphia Eagles. Stroud rounded out the list by adding himself, but kept Allen out of his initial rankings.
As Kyle Silagyi of SI.com noted, Oliver took to Instagram to post a clip of Stroud’s ranking and his commentary on Allen’s snub.
“Yeah he tripping fasho no Josh Allen,” Oliver wrote in his Instagram story.
Stroud seemed to realize his mistake, later taking to Instagram to give some love to both Allen and Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow. Bryan DeArdo of CBS Sports noted that Stroud knocked Hurts off the list and bumped Prescott down a bit to make room for Allen and Burrow.
“In his updated list (which he posted on his Instagram account), Stroud kept the top-three quarterbacks the same, but gave the No. 4 spot to Josh Allen and moved Prescott to the fifth and final spot while omitting Hurts,” DeArdo noted. “Stroud added that he feels Joe Burrow is also among the NFL’s top 5 quarterbacks. Burrow, though, missed nearly half of the 2023 season with an injury, which was surely the reason why he was left off of Stroud’s list.”
Ed Oliver Backs His Team
This is not the first time that Oliver has spoken up on behalf of someone on the Bills. Back in December, after several players spoke critically of head coach Sean McDermott in an article by Tyler Dunne of GoLongTD.com, Oliver publicly backed his coach and called out the players who criticized him.
Oliver took particular issue with a story that McDermott shared in the 2019 season about the way 9/11 hijackers worked together as a team, an anecdote that the Bills coach shared privately with the team.
“I think that’s a bunch of [expletive]” Oliver said. “That was five years ago – my rookie year. Whoever leaked, I think you’re a coward. Everything is supposed to stay in-house. I got his back on everything. I know he’s a great guy.”
Allen joined Oliver in backing McDermott, saying no one should be questioning his character or commitment to the players.
“This week wasn’t easy,” Allen said. “It wasn’t easy for Coach McDermott. You can question a lot of things about coaching style. You can question a lot of things about my decision-making. You can question a lot of things about this team, but to question his character and who he is as a man, he’s one of the better humans on this planet.”