When the Bills selected Josh Allen with the No. 7 pick in 2018, then-Jacksonville Jaguars defensive back Jalen Ramsey was a huge fan, but for the wrong reasons.
In an interview Ramsey gave with GQ in 2018, he made it clear he did not agree with the Bills decision to select the former Wyoming quarterback, in part due to how he performed against bigger Power-5 schools.
Just four years later, and Allen is one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL — if not the best. He and Stefon Diggs made Ramsey look foolish on opening night, and you can bet Allen has the veteran CB’s comments on a bulletin board somewhere.
“I think [Buffalo Bills draft pick Josh] Allen is trash. I don’t care what nobody say. He’s trash. And it’s gonna show too. That’s a stupid draft pick to me. We play them this year, and I’m excited as hell. I hope he’s their starting quarterback. He played at Wyoming,” Ramsey said at the time.
Josh Allen makes Jalen Ramsey look like burnt toast
Ramsey didn’t have his best game on Thursday night, in part because the Bills found a flaw in the Rams defensive gameplan.
Namely, Ramsey doesn’t follow wide receivers pre-snap. If the Bills motioned Diggs before the snap, Ramsey wouldn’t follow him across the formation. This meant that Buffalo could often get a lesser defensive back guarding Diggs, which is a pre-snap win for Allen and Co.
But even when Ramsey was facing Diggs (or another Bills wide receiver), he didn’t necessarily fare well.
Ramsey also doubted Allen’s ‘big arm’ prior to April of 2018:
“If you look at his games against big schools, it was always hella interceptions, hella turnovers. It’s like: Yo, if you’re this good, why couldn’t you do better? He fits that mold, he’s a big, tall quarterback. Big arm, supposedly. I don’t see it, personally.”
He saw plenty of it on Thursday.