Braelon Allen Scouting Report  

Allen burst onto the college scene with a phenomenal freshman season as a 17-year-old.

After that? Well, it didn't get much better ...

Then he was a draft loser, falling to Round 4 and landing in a Breece Hall-led Jets backfield.

Should dynasty owners still be interested in Allen?

Braelon Allen Draft Profile

Braelon Allen Combine Results

Percentiles vs Combine RBs since 1999, per MockDraftable

Braelon Allen College Stats

Allen Makes Immediate Position Switch

Allen graded out as a four-star LB recruit from Fond Du Lac High School in Wisconsin.

He received five FBS offers before choosing Wisconsin.

Though he saw a little bit of time at RB in high school, Allen predominantly played as a safety. Because he kept growing and putting on weight, he eventually settled on declaring as a LB.

However, as Allen explained in a 2021 interview with Fox Sports, the Wisconsin coaching staff wanted him to stick on the offensive side of the ball:

“After I committed, we weren't really sure whether I was gonna be a safety or a linebacker. … I sent my film to the coaches here, and asked them for their opinion on it and where I would fit best on the team. Ultimately, that led me to running back."

Quick Climb Up Depth Chart

Allen did not take over as RB1 right away. It took until the fourth game -- vs. Illinois -- for him to become the main runner.

From there, Allen took off and put together a tremendous freshman campaign.

Despite starting just nine games, Allen finished third in the Big Ten in rushing yards (1,258) and fifth in carries (185). Allen also set the Wisconsin freshman record with seven consecutive games of 100+ rushing yards.

Allen skipped his senior year of high school and reclassified to be part of the 2021 recruiting class, making him only 17 for that freshman season.

Was Freshman Year His Peak?

By most measures, Allen’s freshman season would prove to be his best.

Despite seeing an increase of 44 carries as a sophomore, he tallied nearly the same number of rushing yards (1,242) as in 2021.

Allen saw even worse rushing efficiency during his final season in 2023, though he did experience an uptick in receiving (career-high 28 catches).

It's worth noting that Allen finished every year of his college career with All-Big Ten second-team honors, however. Still, that doesn't make up for all of the deficiencies in his profile (more on that shortly).

This seems like we're glossing over a lot of information, but what happened between Allen's sophomore and junior seasons can fill in some context.

Coaching Change Adds a Challenge

Wisconsin saw significant changes going from HC Paul Cryst, who was fired midway through 2022, to current leader Luke Fickell.

Fickell brought with him OC Phil Longo, a coach who likes to run the Air Raid offense.

This was a far cry from the run-heavy attack of Cryst, and that scheme didn't mesh well with Allen's bruising style. And that certainly didn't help his numbers.

Still, at no point across three seasons did Allen finish within the top 50 for Pro Football Focus rushing grade among RBs with at least 100 carries. And his receiving work remained unimpressive, despite the increase in receptions.        

Braelon Allen Highlights

Games watched: Illinois 2022, Ohio State 2022, Purdue 2022, Iowa 2023, Illinois 2023, Ohio State 2023

Runs Like a Classic Bruiser

Readers hoping for a mesmerizing highlight reel probably aren’t going to enjoy this portion of Allen’s profile.

He’s much more of a north-south grinder than anything else. I made the comparison between him and David Montgomery back in October, and nothing popped up in his film review to change that statement.

Yes, there’s an obvious size disparity between the two, but the duo share a hammering play style.

Every now and then, however, Allen will pop through and gain solid yardage on chunk plays. Just watch a few examples of those instances here:

Here's What Needs to Improve

For as solid a runner as he is, Allen could use more anticipation and aggressiveness.

He’s capable of barreling through defenders, but there are plenty of instances on film in which Allen seems either unaware or unwilling to use that frame and attack.

Watch as Allen hesitates in a situation where a more assertive approach would've likely resulted in a chunk gain:

How he develops in this area at the professional level will be a major determining factor in whether or not Allen can be a three-down back in the NFL.

Limited Ceiling As A Receiver

There weren't a lot of examples of Allen catching the ball in the games I watched.

He did, however, run a fairly limited route tree of mostly quick bubbles and wandering out into the flat. It’s fair to say he doesn’t display much diversity as a pass-catcher. Although he is a capable receiver, at least.

This one-handed grab shows Allen could be relied on for some quick dump-offs:

Allen Gets Lost in Protection

Allen consistently struggled in pass protection across my film sample -- a glaring issue for his chances of playing three downs.

He has a general idea of where to be but demonstrates poor execution with actually stopping the defender in front of him.

You'd think Allen's defensive background might help in this area. He should have a better idea than most RBs just what pursuing defenders are trying to do. 

That makes this a particularly frustrating issue.

How Fast is Allen?

Another smaller concern is the fact that Allen doesn’t have a ton of speed to his game.

Sure, he’s a very large human and won’t likely rely on that facet in the NFL. But the fact that he didn’t run the 40 at the Scouting Combine or his pro day strongly suggests that he would have posted a lackluster time.

Speed score -- which combines a player's 40 time and weight -- remains helpful for projecting RBs to the pros. Without that data for Allen, the NFL Draft capital figures to matter even more.

Braelon Allen Team Fit: New York Jets

Allen was a big post-draft faller in the dynasty rankings.

He went late in Round 4 of the NFL Draft as the 10th RB off the board.

Even worse: He landed in a Jets backfield led by uber-stud Breece Hall. Allen has virtually 0% chance to unseat Hall for the starting job.

Allen is the odds-on favorite for the No. 2 RB spot but will need to fend off fellow rookie and fifth-rounder Isaiah Davis and 2023 fifth-rounder Israel Abanikanda.