INDIANAPOLIS — Josh Allen told reporters Friday that just three years ago, he was begging colleges to give him a scholarship after his time at Reedley College, a junior college just outside of Fresno, Calif. Only Wyoming gave him a shot.

Now, three seasons later, he has a good chance at being the No. 1 pick in the 2018 NFL Draft. So it doesn’t matter to him if you think he’s bad.

“I don’t really pay attention to you guys very much, to be honest,” Allen told reporters at the NFL Combine on Friday. “I’m sorry about that, but I don’t read anything you guys put out. My mom and dad call me daily and try to send me links and articles and stuff, and I tell them to delete Twitter and Instagram and all that stuff because it’s just going to make you more anxious and stuff. It doesn’t bother me very much.”

That’s the right approach, because Allen has become one of the NFL draft’s lightning rods for criticism.

Allen looks the part

Physically, Allen is the kind of quarterback NFL scouts and coaches would create in a lab, if possible. He’s 6’5, 237 pounds, and has an arm so strong that it’s already giving life to stories that would make Uncle Rico jealous.

Ryan Flaherty, a quarterback coach who spent weeks prepping Allen for the NFL Combine, told NFL Network he expects the Wyoming product to smash the combine record for pass velocity with a throw around 70 miles per hour. The record, held by Patrick Mahomes, is 60. He also says Allen can throw a ball 90 yards.

“He’s not too far off, but 90’s a tough task,” Allen said. “I don’t hope on throwing that. We’ll keep my arm a little under that.”

It’s not Allen’s fault that his physical ability has NFL scouts drooling before they even pop in the tape. So it’s hard to blame him for the hype.

Allen’s play on the field doesn’t look worthy of the No. 1 pick

That makes it easy to sympathize with the wave of criticism he now faces. It all stems from the fact that his actual play on the field and his college statistics don’t seem to warrant an early selection — let alone, consideration — for the No. 1 pick.

In 11 games during the 2017 season, Allen threw for 16 touchdowns with six interceptions. He completed just 56.3 percent of his passes, one of the lowest marks in the nation. His supporting cast at Wyoming wasn’t great, but other quarterbacks in the draft class — like UCLA’s Josh Rosen and Louisville’s Lamar Jackson — dealt with dropped passes much more often.

There’s no questioning his physical potential, but the reality is that Allen was just never a stellar quarterback at Wyoming in the first place.

Yet when he met with the media Friday, Allen was placed at the first podium — typically reserved for the top prospects — while Jackson, the 2016 Heisman Trophy winner, was a couple podiums over.

Jackson, despite all his collegiate accomplishments, isn’t accurate enough to belong in the first round, according to ESPN’s Mel Kiper.

Mel Kiper Jr. is having another conference call. On why Lamar Jackson isn't a first-rounder: "It’s the accuracy throwing the football. Finished career around 57 percent." — Matthew Fairburn (@MatthewFairburn) February 21, 2018

But apparently it isn’t an issue for Allen, who was less accurate, statistically.

Mel Kiper Jr. asked about Josh Allen's completion percentage: "Stats are for losers in my opinion. The guy won." — Matthew Fairburn (@MatthewFairburn) January 18, 2018

He’s a work in progress

Again, none of this is Allen’s fault. He’s a raw talent who’s working to fix his flaws and happened to pick up a hype train along the way.

“I’m just working on consistent footwork,” Allen said. “Kind of every throw that I had this past season where I missed, it was derived from my feet, so try to put myself in the most uncomfortable position, getting back to the same base, short front stride, letting everything else follow through and sequence consistently and hopefully we’re getting close and hopefully when we step on the field tomorrow and throw people see improvement. I feel improvement and I feel like whenever my feet are set I’m as accurate as anybody.”

But for now, he’s a project who isn’t nearly ready to face an NFL defense. And that means the criticism is only going to get louder as the draft approaches. For his sake, it’s probably best if he sticks to his no Twitter or Instagram policy.