Josh Allen’s teammates have his back, both on and off the field.
Buffalo Bills defensive tackle Ed Oliver took to social media to respond to Houston Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud’s contentious rating of the league’s top quarterbacks, which first excluded Allen. Stroud attracted considerable notice for the rankings — and his revision in which he belatedly added Allen — and has now received criticism from one of Allen’s colleagues.
Josh Allen’s teammate strikes back
In a recent interview on the Million Dollaz Worth of Game podcast, Stroud named Patrick Mahomes as one of the league’s finest quarterbacks, with two-time MVP Lamar Jackson, Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott, and Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts. Stroud completed the list by include himself, but left Allen out of his initial ranks.
As Kyle Silagyi of SI.com pointed out, Oliver took to Instagram to share a video of Stroud’s ranking as well as his reaction to Allen’s rejection.
“Yeah, he’s tripping fasho no Josh Allen,” Oliver stated in his Instagram story.
Stroud appeared to realize his error and afterward took to Instagram to express his gratitude to both Allen and Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow. According to CBS Sports’ Bryan DeArdo, Stroud removed Hurts from the list and moved Prescott down to make place 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,” wrote DeArdo. “Stroud stated that he believes Joe Burrow is one of the NFL’s top five quarterbacks. Burrow, on the other hand, missed over half of the 2023 season due to injury, which is almost certainly why he was left off of Stroud’s list.
Ed Oliver backs his team
Oliver has already spoken out on behalf of a member of the Bills. In December, after numerous players questioned head coach Sean McDermott in a post by Tyler Dunne of GoLongTD.com, Oliver publicly defended his coach and called out the critics.
Oliver took issue with a story McDermott told during the 2019 season about how the 9/11 hijackers collaborated as a team, an anecdote that the Bills coach shared privately with the squad.
“I think that’s a bunch of [expletive]” Oliver said. “That was five years ago, my freshman year. Whoever leaked, I believe you are a coward. Everything is meant to remain in-house. I had his back on everything. “I know he’s a great guy.”
Allen joined Oliver in supporting McDermott, stating that no one should doubt his character or dedication to the team.
“This week wasn’t easy,” Allen explained. “It was not easy for Coach McDermott. You can ask a lot of questions about coaching style. You can challenge many aspects of my decision-making. You can criticize a lot of things about this team, but you can’t dispute his character or who he is as a man. He’s one of the better people on the earth.”