Rob Gronkowski, Julian Edelman Explain What Makes Josh Allen So Difficult To Defend

Buffalo Bills famous QB Josh Allen is two games into the 2026 NFL season and already making the rest of the league look like a problem they haven't figured out. The star player  has racked up 582 passing yards, five touchdowns, and not a single interception after back-to-back wins over the Houston Texans and the Detroit Lions. Those numbers got people talking. But it was what two Super Bowl champions said on FOX Sports that really cut through the noise.

Why are Rob Gronkowski and Julian Edelman calling Josh Allen impossible to prepare for?

Rob Gronkowski put it bluntly. Defending Josh Allen, he said, is "impossible to prepare" for because of how complete he is as a player. That alone would have been a headline. Then Julian Edelman went a step further and drew a comparison that not many quarterbacks get handed.

"What you just said right there is something that a lot of people don't always say (about Allen), but they say a lot about Lamar Jackson," Edelman noted on air.

That comparison isn't thrown around loosely. Jackson owns two MVP awards and has spent the better part of four years being discussed as the most difficult quarterback to game-plan against in football. Putting Allen in the same conversation says something real about where he stands right now.

Edelman didn't stop there. He broke down exactly why opposing defenses lose sleep over Allen before a game week even starts.

"It's hard to prepare for Josh Allen because when you see him in real life, he's bigger than what you think, he's faster than what you think, and the ball comes off his arm quicker than you like to think. It's harder to prepare for that."

That last part matters. You can study film all week, but nothing fully prepares a cornerback or a linebacker for the actual size and athleticism standing behind that center. Allen is listed at 6-foot-5 and 237 pounds. On paper, that sounds like a tight end. On the field, he moves like a running back. Gronkowski backed that up, noting Allen is also a "great pocket passer" when he chooses to stay in the pocket. That dual threat is what makes him genuinely difficult to contain.

How does Josh Allen's 2026 start compare to Lamar Jackson's best form?

Gronkowski and Edelman know what great quarterbacking looks like from the inside. They spent years blocking for and running routes from Tom Brady, winning three championships together with the New England Patriots. Their praise carries some weight because of that.

Edelman tied the Allen-Jackson connection together by explaining what the two share beyond physical gifts. It's the gap between what defenders see on film and what they face on Sundays.

"It's hard to prepare for these guys because you don't have someone who can run and who's that fast. You can't feel the speed. The same's got to be said about Josh Allen," Edelman stressed.

That is the core of it. Speed and size are things you can put on a scouting report. Feeling them at full pace on a live play is a completely different experience. Allen has that quality. So does Jackson. It is what separates certain players from the rest of the position, regardless of completion percentage or yards per attempt.

Through two weeks, Allen has been everything Buffalo needed him to be. The Bills head into Week 3 against the Los Angeles Chargers with a shot at 3-0. If Allen keeps performing at this level, the comparisons to Jackson won't just be a talking point on a television panel. They'll be a genuine debate worth having.