Braelon Allen Scouting Report and Fantasy Football Outlook

Braelon Allen Scouting Report

• Underdog ADP: 154.1 overall (RB49), rookie RB6

Originally considered a defensive prospect at safety or linebacker coming out of high school, Braelon Allen was instead able to step in and immediately be productive as an RB at Wisconsin.

A three-year starter who averaged 5.8 yards per carry during his collegiate career, there's a lot to like in Allen’s profile. However, there are a few red flags as well. Some analysts have Allen as their RB1 in this class, but I feel that he's too limited of a player to be in that conversation.

Pros and Cons of Braelon Allen

Pros

Size/physicality

Allen is an imposing physical presence on the football field. He tipped the scales at 6’1 and 235 lbs. at the NFL Combine and stands out on film for often being much larger than the defenders trying to tackle him.

He's flashed great physicality and tackle-breaking ability at times, but Allen still isn’t the most consistent when it comes to finishing every run in a punishing manner considering his size. He was effective in short-yardage situations and had solid TD totals every season, though, which is encouraging for the role that Allen will likely play in the NFL.

In college, Allen was consistently good at generating yards after contact and forcing missed tackles. He had over 2,000 yards after contact in his three seasons, which is more yards than a number of RB prospects in this class had in their entire career.

Age-adjusted production

One of the youngest prospects in the entire 2024 draft class, Allen just turned 20 years old in January, which is relevant for a few reasons. First, it adds helpful context to his college production, as he rushed for more than 1,200 yards in the Big Ten at 17 and 18 years of age in his first two seasons, respectively. His stat lines were already impressive but even more so when taking his age into consideration.

Second, Allen may still be developing physically. I’m not necessarily expecting him to grow, but Allen can still develop more explosiveness, agility, and strength compared to other RB prospects in this class who are a few years older.

Wisconsin running back Braelon Allen (0) runs for a first down during the second quarter of their game Saturday, November 25, 2023 at Huntington Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Wisconsin beat Minnesota 28-14. Photo Credit: Mark Hoffman/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK

And finally, Allen's youth can potentially extend the number of productive seasons he can have at the NFL level, which impacts his dynasty potential. The age cliff is very real for RBs, but Allen will barely be in his mid-twenties when he hits his second NFL contract.

Breakout age is more relevant at other positions like WR, but it's still worth noting at the RB position, especially in outlier situations like Allen’s freshman season at Wisconsin. The only real issue with his production profile is that his worst production came in his final season, although I believe that was more due to questionable coaching decisions rather than major issues with Allen’s play.

Cons

Acceleration

Perhaps not too surprisingly, Allen isn’t the most explosive player at 235 lbs. He doesn’t have the burst to get through holes that close quickly and won’t run away from defenders who have the speed to pursue him.

It’s also a bit concerning that he opted not to test at the NFL Combine when he isn’t locked in to great draft capital. Allen could have really boosted his stock with good testing numbers at his size, but he decided against it. There could be other reasons for that decision, but the most likely reason is that he knew he wouldn’t perform too well in those drills.

Allen's size and strength still give him a way to win at the next level, but his ceiling could be capped if he's just an average athlete, as is the current expectation. For what it’s worth, I thought Allen actually showed decent long speed when he had a runway, but we shouldn’t expect breakaway runs to be his calling card in the NFL.

Receiving game

Although he did improve throughout his time at Wisconsin, Allen wasn't much of a receiving threat in college. Granted, he wasn’t asked to play a big role in the passing game, but Allen still wasn’t very efficient when he was involved, posting a career yards per route run (YPRR) of just 0.74.

Apr 11, 2023; Madison, WI, USA; Wisconsin running back Braelon Allen (0) is shown during practice Tuesday, April 11, 2023 at Camp Randall Stadium in Madison, Wis. Mandatory Credit: Mark Hoffman-USA TODAY Sports

He was alright in pass protection but not as good as I had hoped given his size, so that could be a contributing factor in why he wasn't on the field in many passing situations.

In the modern NFL, that could be a real limiting factor for fantasy football, as we want our RBs to catch passes if they're going to be among the elite producers at the position.

Fantasy Football Outlook for Braelon Allen

An intriguing prospect in a relatively weak RB class, Allen has fantasy upside if he can get decent draft capital and land in an offense with a lot of scoring opportunities. Although he isn’t a total zero in the passing game, it isn’t a big part of Allen's production profile, so we shouldn’t ever expect that to be a major source of fantasy points.

Due to his reliance on TDs, I view Allen's fantasy prospects to be fairly dependent on landing spot. I'd also expect him to be a two-down committee back for the most part barring a major development in his pass protection and receiving abilities.

Allen’s age makes him a nice pick in dynasty rookie drafts, and his TD upside gives him some decently high-ceiling outcomes, but he's unlikely to be the kind of workhorse that a player of his profile would have been in the NFL a decade ago.

I wouldn’t be surprised if NFL teams have wildly different evaluations of Allen, but it only takes one team to fall in love and draft him earlier than expected to give his fantasy value a nice boost.