The onset of NFL draft season makes for the eruption of anonymous scouts saying odd things and crazy rumors to get an inordinate amount of run. It’s already starting for the Browns and the No. 1 overall pick the team clinched with last Sunday’s loss.

Ian O’Connor of ESPN tweeted that an NFC personnel executive is convinced Wyoming quarterback Josh Allen will be the No. 1 overall pick.

NFC personnel guy convinced Browns will take Josh Allen at No. 1, leaving Dave Gettleman (with a Giants loss or Colts win Sunday) to pick Rosen, Darnold, or Barkley. — Ian O'Connor (@Ian_OConnor) December 28, 2017

It’s a bold take. Allen looks the part physically, an athletically gifted 6-foot-5, 240-pounder with a big arm. Yet he’s been one of the least accurate and most inefficient passers in college football the last two seasons. He was the 75th-rated passer in 2017, ranking 85th in yards per attempt and 83rd in completion percentage.

All his figures are significantly worse than current Browns starter DeShone Kizer’s in his final two years at Notre Dame, and Kizer has proven wildly incapable of effectively leading an NFL passing attack. Kizer did more despite playing a much tougher schedule and with fewer NFL skill position players at his disposal than Allen had in 2016, too.

Our take

Be careful with the hype on Allen, but don’t dismiss it outright either. Strange things happen when multiple NFL teams all need quarterbacks in the draft.

Having said that, I personally think he’s an NFL tight end, not a quarterback. He reminds me very much of Jason Vander Laan, a two-time D-II player of the year at Ferris State with remarkably similar athletic traits. After failing to even stick on practice squads at QB, he’s now a tight end for the Colts.