Braelon Allen is a self-described soccer junkie. When he’s not playing football, the former Wisconsin running back and current NFL Draft prospect said he’s probably playing Madden, watching film or watching YouTube highlights of other running backs. ball.
Given his passion for football, I wasn’t too surprised by Allen’s response when I recently asked him to choose between picking his top four running backs or all-time or naming his running backs favorites.
“I’ll give you both,” Allen said, starting with his list of the greatest backs of all time. “Barry (Sanders), Walter (Payton), Eric Dickerson and… let’s say Adrian Peterson.”
Allen, who later added Jim Brown as a 4a or 4b running back, later said Peterson, Payton, Earl Campbell and Derrick Henry were his favorite backs.
Although he wasn’t included, Le’Veon Bell, a two-time All-Pro during his career, had an impact on Allen, who started a conversation with the former Pittsburgh Steelers player with a DM.
“Le’Veon is a guy I really like to study,” said Allen, who has reached out and received advice from many other backs. “That patience is something he was particularly known for. It’s hard to imitate. The Steelers ran a little different running scheme than us, so it’s not necessarily the same thing. But it’s enough Being able to manipulate and set up defenses, jump linebackers in one space and you hit the other, just play with that, that’s something I admire immensely.
Patience was a unique aspect of Bell’s game. Instead of hitting the hole quickly, Bell would sometimes wait behind the line of scrimmage before deciding where to go. Allen copied Bell’s patient running style at Wisconsin, and the results paid off. He left Madison as the fourth-best running back in school history in career yards per carry average (5.9 yards) and fifth with 3,494 rushing yards. Allen and Jonathan Taylor are the only players in school history to record three seasons of at least 150 carries and 10 touchdowns while averaging 5.25 yards per carry.
Despite his success, Bell’s patient running style attracted criticism. Running backs are often trained to be decisive when it comes to getting the ball and hitting the hole. Allen shared some advice Bell gave him in this regard.
“Don’t ignore coaching points, but understand what you’re doing, especially if it’s working,” Allen said. “I think you can kind of balance out where you start the game by hitting the holes as hard and as fast as you can and getting those guys to commit to those gaps. Then the next set, you’re patient , you make them commit to this gap and you move on to the next one.
“If you watch (Bell’s) film in depth, you’ll see he has a good balance of both. If he needs those one or two yards, he’ll get there. But if it’s just 1st and 10, he’s going to place these guys every time, having that balance is important.
Allen found that balance with the Badgers while continuing the school’s rich history at the position. He demonstrated his ability to make plays in a variety of ways while demonstrating his unique agility for a player his size (6-foot-2, 238 pounds).
Originally recruited as a safety and linebacker, Allen may have changed sides of the ball, but he hasn’t changed his mentality when it comes to how he plays the game.
“Playing an offensive position with a defensive mindset,” he said. “Being the punisher and delivering the hits. … When I throw the ball hard, in the first series, it’s a different game in the second half.”
The ability to wear down a defense, Allen said, is probably his greatest strength as a running back. He said he probably looked most like Arizona Cardinals Pro Bowl running back James Conner. Like Allen, Conner is a versatile player whose ability to modify his style depending on his team’s needs at a specific moment has led to his success in the NFL.
Conner, like other backs, has had to fight the increasingly prevalent narrative that his position is interchangeable. Conner, however, dispelled that narrative in Arizona. In 2021, he scored 18 total touchdowns while earning his second Pro Bowl nomination. Last year, he had his second 1,000-yard rushing campaign, including 105 yards and two touchdowns in a game against the Steelers, his former team.
Like Conner, Allen hopes to show that, as with any position, there are special players who play the running back role. He hopes to be that running back for whoever selects him in the next draft.
“It shows them that I’m a different type of running back,” said Allen, who has partnered with Head & Shoulders and their Make Every Wash Count campaign. “I’m the complete package. I take a lot of pride in my pass protection. That’s really what’s going to separate you and hold you back.”