Do think he needed a longer look, pulled the plug too early.
R.N. wasn't successful over the middle: 5 yard slants and 10 yard routes over the middle. A receiver needs to be great on the outside routes if not successful over the middle. He had his chance.
After getting hit like that, Nehemiah went back to the track for good.
Taking that much time off from a sport is so detrimental. Especially a highly skilled position like WR. I used to play travel lacrosse as a kid and was pretty good. picked it up at 24 again for a senior league. my conditioning was easily the best on the team, 800 /400 training and speed applies well to the sport. And I was easily one of the strongest on the team as I was lifting weights most of the guys partied a lot and didn’t workout. But all of them were highly skilled. It’s pretty incredible at how much finesse some of those guys had having never put their stick down and playing consistently. I think the skill gap is going to be overwhelming for Allen to overcome. The db’s are going to struggle with his raw speed but the question becomes can he actually execute the plays once he gets open. I doubt he’s going to be wide open all the time. And you don’t want to be the guy dropping passes, but that’s what happens when you take so much time off, your entire rhythm is non existent.
I think the Eagles will keep him on the practice squad to see if he can develop and adjust to the NFL. The Eagles knew that there was no way in the world Allen would be ready to go from 6 years away from playing NCAA to moving at the speed of an NFL squad in just a few weeks of training. They will try to see if he can develop on the practice squad. Allen has top quality acceleration and breakaway speed. You don't just dump someone who is that fast in the NFL. NFL teams have been acclimating NCAA players to the NFL for decades. You can teach players to play in the NFL. But you cannot teach the kind of speed Allen has. NFL teams are all about metrics and the Eagles know that they are not going to find anyone who is faster than Allen. It is just a question of whether Allen can get what he needs in the practice squad to become ready to be a starter. He may have an argument to be released so he can play on a cellar dweller team or even spend a season in the CFL.
I think the Eagles will keep him on the practice squad to see if he can develop and adjust to the NFL. The Eagles knew that there was no way in the world Allen would be ready to go from 6 years away from playing NCAA to moving at the speed of an NFL squad in just a few weeks of training. They will try to see if he can develop on the practice squad. Allen has top quality acceleration and breakaway speed. You don't just dump someone who is that fast in the NFL. NFL teams have been acclimating NCAA players to the NFL for decades. You can teach players to play in the NFL. But you cannot teach the kind of speed Allen has. NFL teams are all about metrics and the Eagles know that they are not going to find anyone who is faster than Allen. It is just a question of whether Allen can get what he needs in the practice squad to become ready to be a starter. He may have an argument to be released so he can play on a cellar dweller team or even spend a season in the CFL.
I don't know why he'd bother with the CFL at this point. He should just return to being somewhere between the 3rd and 6th best 110m hurdle guy in the world.
To everyone enthralled by Allen's TD, you might not want to read this from Reuben Frank: 10. You knew I wasn’t going to finish this without giving Allen some props for his first catch in an organized football game in six years. It’s been a rough few weeks for Allen, who rarely gets reps in practice and just hasn’t had a chance to show his world-class speed. Playing pro football after not playing any football since 2016 is incredibly challenging, but Allen has been quietly putting in the work, getting acclimated to running in pads again, learning the offense, and we finally got a glimpse of what he’s capable of when he ran away from one-time Eagle cornerback Lavert Hill and reeled in a 55-yard touchdown bomb from Sinnett for his first catch since Sept. 10, 2016, when he had four catches for 141 yards for Oregon against Virginia in Eugene. Allen isn’t making the 53, but when you see a play like that you understand why the Eagles were willing to invest the time in an Olympic hurdler who’s been away from the game for six years and why they’d like to keep him around on the practice squad. It’s not easy finding fast guys who can catch a football, and Allen showed Sunday he’s capable of both. Also heck of a throw also by Sinnett, who hasn’t made many of them.
Let's hope Allen gets more opportunities in the final few practices as it was a big adjustment which Allen compared to being stunned by a grenade.
"To be honest, the first couple weeks ... you watch one of those military movies, the grenade goes off and they're like, [stunned]. Their head's ringing," Allen told reporters on Sunday of his adjustment back to football. "And that's how I felt in the huddle the first couple weeks, just trying to listen to the call, understand my assignment, figure out what I'm doing, and then make a play on the field, be a football player."
Allen has a good chance of making the practice squad here or somewhere else. The NFL just expanded the number of practice squad spots this season. With his speed, he'll be an asset there. He's going to make more doing that than in T&F. That should be your headline.
I think the Eagles will keep him on the practice squad to see if he can develop and adjust to the NFL. The Eagles knew that there was no way in the world Allen would be ready to go from 6 years away from playing NCAA to moving at the speed of an NFL squad in just a few weeks of training. They will try to see if he can develop on the practice squad. Allen has top quality acceleration and breakaway speed. You don't just dump someone who is that fast in the NFL. NFL teams have been acclimating NCAA players to the NFL for decades. You can teach players to play in the NFL. But you cannot teach the kind of speed Allen has. NFL teams are all about metrics and the Eagles know that they are not going to find anyone who is faster than Allen. It is just a question of whether Allen can get what he needs in the practice squad to become ready to be a starter. He may have an argument to be released so he can play on a cellar dweller team or even spend a season in the CFL.
Not just that fast, but now the fastest guy in the NFL. CMV.
There's a massive discrepancy in your analogy in that Devon Allen was a star college FB player and then Olympic athlete, who is top 5 at worst in NFL speed. He already has top tools, and just needs a year tops to sharpen to make some impact.
There's a massive discrepancy in your analogy in that Devon Allen was a star college FB player and then Olympic athlete, who is top 5 at worst in NFL speed. He already has top tools, and just needs a year tops to sharpen to make some impact.
Allen will be 28 by the end of the year. He is not worth the investment now. By the time he figures it out, his speed advantage will begin to dissipate.
I think the Eagles will keep him on the practice squad to see if he can develop and adjust to the NFL. The Eagles knew that there was no way in the world Allen would be ready to go from 6 years away from playing NCAA to moving at the speed of an NFL squad in just a few weeks of training. They will try to see if he can develop on the practice squad. Allen has top quality acceleration and breakaway speed. You don't just dump someone who is that fast in the NFL. NFL teams have been acclimating NCAA players to the NFL for decades. You can teach players to play in the NFL. But you cannot teach the kind of speed Allen has. NFL teams are all about metrics and the Eagles know that they are not going to find anyone who is faster than Allen. It is just a question of whether Allen can get what he needs in the practice squad to become ready to be a starter. He may have an argument to be released so he can play on a cellar dweller team or even spend a season in the CFL.
Not just that fast, but now the fastest guy in the NFL. CMV.
At Devon Allen's pro day workout, he ran the 40yd dash in 4.35, 20 yd shuttle in 4.55, and 3 cone drill in 7.23 seconds. The 40 time is elite, although definitely not the fastest around, while the other times are really average, especially for a small receiver.
Ultimately, the NFL guys have an idea in their heads that dictates their vision of reality. Here they think track guy. What they should be thinking is that all he has to do is get one breakaway reception a game to markedly improve this team. Even getting the attention from teams worried about the deep ball going to him can be helpful, especially in an era dominated by the short pass. That reception showed good hands and body control as well. Show me some lowlights to convince me otherwise.
As for the speed of his 55y td, it was not too close to the best last year. He hit 20.93 mph max, where tenth fastest last year was 21.74 mph, and the best over 22.13. I'm not sure how accurate those stats are, however, because one of Jonathan Taylor's appearances on the list has him going 21.83 mph on a 1 yard touchdown run.
#Eagles are bringing WR Devon Allen back to their practice squad. His ability was on display in the preseason and camp. Philly will continue to work to develop him.
The question is does Allen want to go all in for like 18 months and see what type of footballer he can be or does he go back to track? All in on football would basically end his track career.
The Eagles are known to take on unique long term projects. They drafted an Australian rugby player, Jordan Mailata, that never played American football before. He’s now a starting o liner with the potential to be pro bowler. It took a few years to develop him though.
Talent is talent and they may look to develop Allen in the long term. The question is whether he will be ok with one or two seasons on the practice squad? Will he need to completely quit his track career to focus on football? Those are things he needs to decide.
The question is does Allen want to go all in for like 18 months and see what type of footballer he can be or does he go back to track? All in on football would basically end his track career.
He is already on the practice squad so I assume he signed a contract. Practice squad players make $207,000 for 18 weeks of work. Not bad
