Of the four teams remaining in the AFC, three of them selected quarterbacks in the first round of the 2018 draft.
Buffalo traded up to select Josh Allen at No. 7 overall and Baltimore traded up to get Lamar Jackson at No. 32 overall.
The two quarterbacks will go head-to-head for the first time in the postseason this weekend. On Tuesday, Allen detailed just how much respect he has for Jackson.
“I tell this to everybody I talk to about him — he is one of the greatest dudes you can be around. He really is,” Allen said during his press conference. “And for him to kind of have the adversity of coming out the first year and people doubted him, and then go out and explode on the scene last year and just be this dynamic quarterback. You see the impact that he makes in his communities on Instagram and stuff like that. He’s just one of those special guys. Obviously, they’ve been having success, he’s had a lot of success early in his career.
“I root heavily for him, just knowing what he went through his first year, how he’s been able to do it, and how humble, how awesome he is off the field. He’s just one of those guys you root for. And it’s hard to not root for him when we’re playing against him. But we’re enemies on Saturday, and we both know that. But he’s just one of those guys, again, I can’t say enough about just how good of a dude he is and it makes you love him that much more on the field.”
Allen and Jackson faced off Dec. 8 last year, with the Ravens coming away with a 24-17 victory. Allen will try to come out on the opposite side of that this weekend.