Wisconsin RB Braelon Allen was one of college football’s most productive runners for three years. Is that production translatable on the 2024 NFL Draft circuit? This scouting report looks at Allen’s diagnostic traits and delineates his expected capital in the 2024 NFL Draft.
Braelon Allen’s Draft Profile and Measurements
- Height: 6’1 1/4″
- Weight: 235 pounds
- Length: 31 1/4″
- Wingspan: 76 1/4″
- Hand: 9 1/4″
- Position: Running Back
- School: Wisconsin
- Current Year: Junior
A two-way four-star recruit out of high school, Allen played safety and running back and was projected by some as a linebacker because of his frame. But he quickly found his way into the starting lineup as a running back for Wisconsin, and that opportunity yielded fruitful results all the way through to 2023.
Over that three-year span, Allen was a dominating force on the Big Ten stage. In 2021, he amassed 1,268 yards and 12 touchdowns on 186 carries, averaging almost seven yards per attempt. In 2022, he tacked on 230 carries, 1,242 yards, and 11 touchdowns to his career totals.
MORE: Top RBs in the 2024 NFL Draft
Allen was on a potentially historic pace through his first two years, and although his 2023 campaign was less prolific, he still put up solid numbers, amassing 984 rushing yards and 12 TDs on 181 carries.
Allen declared for the 2024 NFL Draft after his true junior season, and after just three years with the Badgers, he was already ninth all-time on Wisconsin’s career rushing yardage list among former Badger greats like Jonathan Taylor, Montee Ball, Melvin Gordon, and Ron Dayne.
Braelon Allen finds space and gets to the end zone! 😤
— Pro Football Network (@PFN365) October 9, 2021
At the NFL level, Wisconsin RBs have been volatile. Some, like Taylor, have become stars, while others, like Dayne and Ball, were less inspiring. What kind of outcome could be in the cards for Allen, and is he a fit for the modern NFL?
Allen’s Scouting Report
Strengths
- Has elite size and mass and will be just 20 years old as an NFL rookie.
- Can easily absorb and bounce off solo hits with his tightly-packed midsection.
- High-level goal-line back with his size and mass and can plow through the trenches.
- For his size, has great long-track accelerative capacity and can be difficult to slow.
- Flashes the necessary foot speed to snap inside power run creases and dart upfield.
- Can quickly reset his feet and sustain leg churn at contact with his center of gravity.
- Has the grating play strength and contact balance to fight through successive tackles.
- Can swerve through congested areas and carve his way into space like an icebreaker.
- Actively uses high-end play strength and physicality to pry past occluding defenders.
- Has good long speed once he hits open space and can extend long runs.
- Has enough lateral agility to off-set solo defenders in space with gallop-steps.
- Flashes solid vision on inside zone runs and can adjust his tracking angle to follow lanes.
- Has shown he can quickly recognize backside lanes on counter runs off the exchange.
- On occasion, shows he can extend beyond his frame for high passes as a pass-catcher.
- Improved his pass-blocking technique in 2023 and has the size and strength to thrive.
Weaknesses
- Has noticeable hip stiffness and isn’t a free-flowing or fluid lateral mover.
- Lacks the lateral freedom or creative instincts to dart around early contact threats.
- Hip stiffness limits the angles Allen can cut and bend while keeping his stride.
- Doesn’t quite have the swivel freedom to redirect at 90-degree angles to evade.
- Lacks elite initial burst and explosiveness and works in congestion out of necessity.
- Strides and short-area movements are not quick, diluting adaptability under duress.
- Carries lots of momentum when running but doesn’t have great stop-and-start.
- Full-field vision is questionable, as he sometimes misses wide-open lanes outside.
- Frequently passes up opportunities to bounce to the boundary and utilize space.
- At times, can be too quick to decelerate and hesitate when faced with congestion.
- Sometimes defers to congestion and fails to adapt when initial interior lanes close.
- Hip stiffness limits maximum stride length and governs his long speed below elite levels.
- Can cut down on instances of idling his feet in pass protection to better absorb power.
- Lacks great receiving instincts with his hands, and stiffness limits route running upside.
Current Draft Projection and Summary
Allen grades out as an early-to-mid Day 3 prospect in the 2024 NFL Draft. He has great size and production, but his profile isn’t as upside-laden or as all-encompassing as that production would suggest, and he could be drowned out by more versatile RB prospects in the 2024 class.
Conceptually, Allen brings plenty to like. He’s a massive runner at 6’1″, 235 pounds. He’ll be just a 20-year-old rookie.
And his documented athleticism is impressive. Per the Feldman’s Freaks list from the 2022 offseason, he’s hit as fast as 1.49 seconds in the 10-yard split, and at the NFL Combine, he logged 26 bench reps — second-most among RBs.
The metrics and production support Allen’s early-round bid, but it doesn’t always translate on tape. Allen doesn’t quite show off the elite explosiveness upfield that his numbers suggest. And while he does have solid vertical speed once he gets going, he’s a linear runner who lacks great agility, fluidity, or creative instincts.
Allen experiences frequent delays when he needs to decelerate or adjust his tracking angle, and he also lacks the full-field vision to identify cutback lanes outside. He’s built like a power runner, and that’s how he profiles on the field.
Allen is massive and physical, with great leg churn and contact balance, but he’s also not very dynamic or adaptable. Additionally, while he’s a good pass blocker, he doesn’t bring much as a receiving threat.
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Allen’s size, youth, interior vision, and contact utility should help him earn a rotational role as a short-yardage and goal line back at the next level, who could take on added volume when needed. Particularly in gap, power, and inside zone schemes, he provides value.
That said, Allen may never be an impact two-phase NFL starter despite his eye-catching collegiate production. He fits into a valuable but limited niche and can at least help strengthen an NFL rotation.
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