NFL draft prospect Josh Allen compared to Lions' Matthew Stafford

As arguably the top quarterback prospect in this year's NFL draft, Josh Allen oozes talent.

He's got a huge arm. He's a good athlete. He checks off every box from a measurables standpoint. And yet, his college play, where he completed just 56.2 percent of his passes at Wyoming, was sometimes underwhelming.

For those reasons and more, ESPN draft analyst Mel Kiper Jr. said in a pre-combine teleconference Wednesday that "I see a lot of similarities with Matthew Stafford with Josh Allen."

"He has different arm angles he can throw from, like Matthew Stafford does," Kiper said. "He’s going to test off the charts. He’s got the big hands and all that. Physically, he looks like a big-time quarterback. If he makes wow throws and does a great job from a consistency standpoint (at the combine next week), people are going to, they’re going to turn their heads and it’s going to be tough to pass him up."

More: Detroit Lions' Matthew Stafford has the stuff to make a Super Bowl run

Allen is in contention to go No. 1 overall in April's draft to the Cleveland Browns, like Stafford did in 2009 when the Lions held the first pick.

The Lions zeroed in on Stafford early in the process that year because of their need for a quarterback, but Stafford was hardly the consensus best prospect in the class.

He wowed scouts with his arm and intangibles, but he played just three seasons at Georgia and finished his career with a less-than-desirable 57.1 completion percentage.

For NFL teams, a completion percentage of less than 60 percent is typically a red flag.

Unlike Allen, who played one season of junior college football before transferring to Wyoming, Stafford was a highly-rated high school recruit who started as a true freshman in the tough Southeastern Conference.

Stafford finished his college career with 51 touchdown passes and 33 interceptions, and after some early hiccups, has gone on to be one of the most prolific passers in the NFL.

A career 62-percent passer in the NFL, Stafford has two of the 10 best passing seasons in NFL history and owns almost every Lions passing record, though at 30 years old he's yet to win a playoff game.

Allen had 44 touchdowns and 21 interceptions in 27 games at Wyoming, 12 fewer than Stafford played at Georgia.

He's one of four quarterbacks who's expected to go in the top half of the first round along with USC's Sam Darnold, UCLA's Josh Rosen and Oklahoma's Baker Mayfield.

"Josh Allen’s got physical and athletic skills that nobody else has at the quarterback position in this draft," said Kiper, who projected Allen as the No. 1 pick in his latest mock draft released Wednesday. "When you combine all the traits, he’s got the best of anybody."

Kiper gave the Lions LSU running back Derrius Guice with the 20th pick in his mock draft. Guice ran for 1,251 yards and 11 touchdowns last season for the Tigers.

"It’s really between Guice and Ronald Jones II from USC to see who the second running back taken will be," Kiper said. "Then you fall in with Sony Michel from Georgia, Rashaad Penny from San Diego State and Nick Chubb, Georgia, and a guy I like is Nyheim Hines from N.C. State. Caught the ball, kick and punt returner, good speed, had a good year running the football. Then Mark Walton, unfortunately he had the injury, but he would have been a second-round pick had it not been for that injury this year. And then Royce Freeman from Oregon. So there’s some really good backs that you can pick up in the middle rounds."

Contact Dave Birkett: dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett. Download our Lions Xtra app for free on Apple and Android!