Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen (17) Tina MacIntyre-Yee/Democrat and Chronicle / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

NFL Network host compares Josh Allen to Oscar winner ahead of 'Hard Knocks'

Originally posted on Buffalo Bills on SI | By Khari Demos | Last updated May 22, 2025 5:01 PM ET

Josh Allen has the fortune of having a Hollywood star as a partner. But one NFL Network host thinks he'll be the next hit leading man when he makes his "acting" debut this summer.

It was announced this week that the Buffalo Bills were set to be the subject of Hard Knocks this August. A yearly tradition that chronicles NFL teams being built up as they battle through training camp, throughout the series' 24-year history, this marks the first time that the Bills will be featured.

Buffalo is different than most teams that are a part of Hard Knocks. Generally, it's an upstart team with an emerging quarterback trying to make its way into the playoffs.

But the Bills are a much more established bunch, making the playoffs in seven of the last eight seasons under head coach Sean McDermott. They also have a QB who has more than emerged, as Allen is coming off his first-ever MVP campaign.

NFL Network host Kyle Brandt noted this on a recent episode of 'Good Morning Football,' specifically with Allen being front and center this upcoming season of the hit HBO Sports series.

Thoughts on the Buffalo Bills being on Hard Knocks pic.twitter.com/ef8odbTgbo
— Kyle Brandt (@KyleBrandt) May 22, 2025

"There's always this reaction of, 'oh no, this is not good. We don't want the cameras in there, it's disruptive," said Brandt on GMFB. "'The Hard Knocks teams never do squat, it never pans out.' Have you ever taken a moment to look at the quarterbacks that they have featured on those teams?"

Brandt's point is valid. Aside from Jared Goff rehabbing his national image with the Lions in 2022, an aging Hall of Famer in Aaron Rodgers with the Jets in 2023, or even a soon-to-be league MVP in Matt Ryan for the Falcons in 2014, almost no Hard Knocks training camp season has featured an elite QB in the middle of his prime.

Enter Allen, who is coming off his second All-Pro selection and third Pro Bowl nod and just turned 29.

A pop culture enthusiast with a background in reality TV, Brandt made a unique analogy about Allen to the film world.

"'Why do the Hard Knocks teams never win the Super Bowl?'" Brandt asked in a hypothetical question from critics of the show. "Well, why don't the 'Fast & Furious' movies ever win Academy Awards? Because Daniel Day Lewis is not playing Dom Toretto."

The Lewis comparison is pretty fair too, considering he has won the Oscar for Best Actor on three occassions.

There are a lot of negative connotations for teams that appear on the traditional version of Hard Knocks. But Buffalo has a legit chance to be the first to appear on the show and win the Super Bowl.