Content available exclusively for subscribers
Honestly, it was very surprising South Carolina safety Antonio Allen slipped to the seventh round of the draft. Let’s take a look at what this SEC standout from 2011 brings to the table . . .
Antonio Allen is still a work-in-progress as a safety.
Which is easy to understand – he played linebacker his first two years with the South Carolina Gamecocks.
So the arrow is still pointing up for this guy.
But he’s already a pretty good safety.
In fact, in his annual draft guide, ESPN’s Mel Kiper ranked Allen as the third best safety in the entire draft. Kiper ranked 103 safeties in his book, and Allen was #3.
Whether you are a Kiper fan or not, the guy works his butt off, and knows his stuff. To Mel, it was Alabama’s Mark Barron, Notre Dame’s Harrison Smith and then Antonio Allen.
This isn’t a seventh round prospect, people.
Pro Football Weekly’s Nolan Nawrocki, who played safety at Illinois, had him going in the fourth or fifth round.
The guy has a nice combination of size and speed for the position. He’s 6-1 ½, 210 pounds (with room to get bigger) and runs 4.6.
One thing we know for sure – he’s a very good player in the box.
In Week Five, against Auburn, the South Carolina safety was the SEC Defensive Player-of-the-Week. He had 13 tackles, including three for losses.
He also had a pick in this game, but quite honestly this area of his game needs some work.
First off all, he played in the box quite a bit, and this knocked him out of coverage a lot.
Right now, his coverage instincts are suspect. Also, his hips are a little stiff. He is going to need a lot of work with Jets defensive back coaches – Dennis Thurman and Jim O’Neil – a lot. It’s going to be a process with this kid.
But he’s got a lot of raw tools to work with, and we know the Ocala, Florida-native is very, very tough and can tackle. He also has the requisite speed to do a good job covering tight ends.
I don’t know if he’s ever going to contend for a starting job, but he would be a very good third safety and core special team’s player. His instincts might not ever be good enough to break the starting lineup.
The Jets will likely have a tough decision to make on Allen at the end of camp.
He will probably be on the bubble this summer, but if they cut him, and put him on the practice squad, he’s a prime candidate to be stolen.
It’s going to be really interesting to see this player on the field this summer.
There is a very good chance our reaction to him to watching him will be – why did Allen go so late in the draft?
If some team had picked him in the third round, I wouldn’t have been shocked.
(Premium will return by 10 pm on Tuesday with some more thoughts on the third day of the draft.)