Rising junior quarterback Josh Allen saw his Buffalo Bills add weapons on offense for him this past offseason, most notably trading for Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Stefon Diggs.

Allen, turning 24 years old this week, is a dark horse candidate for the NFL's 2020 MVP award, according to NFL.com's Adam Schein.

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Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen holding a "Help Wanted" sign with the 2024 NFL Draft logo

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Allen has all of the criteria in place to be a dark-horse MVP candidate. While he was selected seventh overall in the 2018 NFL Draft, his unrefined skill set made him a lightning rod for criticism. This only increased during an uneven rookie year when he mixed enticing athleticism with scattershot accuracy.

Schein cites key stats for Allen improving between his rookie and sophomore NFL campaigns, including completing more passes, declining interceptions in congruence to touchdowns, and boosting his passer rating nearly bby 20 points. Allen also had four fourth-quarter drives in 2019 and five game-winning drives.

Certainly the success of the Bills in 2020 rests greatly on the young signal-caller's shoulders, who was widely panned as a first-round draft pick back in 2018. Allen was the third quarterback off the board after the Cleveland Browns selected Oklahoma Heisman Trophy winner Baker Mayfield at No. 1 and the New York Jets took USC's Sam Darnold with the third overall pick.

The Bills also had a great defense in 2019, which helped propel the team to a wild card berth. An early exit against the Houston Texans in Jan. 2020 shouldn't discourage progress, although Buffalo saw a few key pieces on defense exit in free agency.

Nevertheless, according to Schein that is, the progress Allen is on track to make in 2020 could pay huge dividends for the Bills' team success along with the QB's trophy shelf.