Josh Allen is the new Carson Wentz, and Craig Bohl found them both

Carson Wentz developed into a top five pick under Craig Bohl at NDSU, and Bohl is doing it again with Josh Allen at Wyoming.

Author:
Joe Nelson
Updated:
Mar 8, 2018
Original:
Jan 3, 2017

Craig Bohl might be a quarterback whisperer. The former North Dakota State football coach helped develop Carson Wentz into the No. 2 overall pick in the 2016 NFL Draft.

Now he's doing it again at the University of Wyoming.

Bohl left NDSU for the "Cowboy State" three years ago and in the process he recruited a little-known quarterback named Josh Allen from a junior college in California.

At 6-foot-5 and 222 pounds, Allen has similar size, arm strength and intangibles that helped Wentz skyrocket up draft boards. And like Wentz, Bohl's newest project could end up in the top five of one of the next three NFL Drafts (depending on when he declares for the draft).

“He’s a big ol’ kid with a big arm, and he’s pretty athletic too,” an NFL executive told The MMQB. “We gotta learn more about him, but the tools are there.”

Allen with the 50 yard whip. Serious arm from this QB. pic.twitter.com/u9cE0eizCS
— Warren Sharp (@SharpFootball) December 4, 2016

Every FBS team in the country whiffed on Allen so he had to settle for a JUCO school. After half a season lighting up his competition, Bohl's staff, specifically a man named David Brown, found him, according to the Fresno Bee.

"[Wyoming head coach Craig Bohl] looked at me right in the eye and said, 'Your son is going to be the face of my program for the next three years,'" Allen's father, Joel, told the Bee last month. "It was such an emotional moment. My wife and I were in tears. How do you say no to that?"

The same guy Bohl employed at NDSU to help develop Wentz, offensive coordinator Brent Vigen, has helped mold Allen in Wyoming.

Noticing the trend here? Where Bohl and his staff go, quarterbacks develop and wins follow. Wyoming won just six games in the first two years under Bohl before a bunch of underclassmen won eight games this season.

Allen has until Jan. 16 to declare for the draft. If he does, Bleacher Report's Matt Miller expects him to be the first quarterback off the board.

"Allen has the size (6'5", 220 lbs), arm, mobility and gunslinger mentality to develop into a great quarterback," Miller writes. "He's not NFL-ready right out of the gate, but none of the passers in this year's class are."