Well, friends, I can tell you my day is made.
TE was the only position that I was not comfortable with.
Now Pats have Gronk, Allen, Lengel, Housler and are also bringing back M Williams.
Reports are they will draft at least one TE. Plus there will be very good TE UDFAs.
(Hopefully this signing is also a small comment on Gronk being good to go.)
I am at peace.
__
This is from PFF from 4y ago. I bet he stayed on BBs mind all that time.
Secret Superstar: Dwayne Allen | PFF
And when Colts re-signed Doyle to hefty contract, he knew they need somebody to relief them of Allen's contract. Well, gladly.
Lets hope Josh, Tom & co can bring out Allen's “secret superstar“
__
A Complete Tight End
Coming out of Clemson he had a reputation as a complete tight end. So much so that Allen won the John Mackey award as the NCAA’s best tight end, despite having only the seventh-most receiving yards (590) and second-most touchdowns (eight). He was then lauded as a possible first-round pick when he declared for the draft, but his stock tumbled quickly from there.
At the combine his numbers were less than stellar. Questions arose after he measured at only 6-foot-3 after he was listed by Clemson at 6-foot-4. Allen then proceeded to run a sluggish 4.89 40-yard dash and showed average athleticism in the subsequent drills. It became apparent to scouts that he neither had elite size nor speed, and he dropped swiftly all the way to the top of the third round.
Translating to the Next Level
What teams underestimated about Allen’s game was his blocking prowess. One of the harder abilities to scout in tight ends, blocking is about size, coaching, and effort. What scouts didn’t see in Allen was prototypical size and they likely questioned if his blocking skills would translate to the next level. The good news for the Colts is they did.
For the season, Allen had a run blocking grade of +10.1, third-best among tight ends and best among full-time tight ends. We graded him as having 56 positive blocks and 31 negative blocks. However, Allen wasn’t just a successful run blocker, he also graded out very positively in screen blocking and pass blocking. One of his best assets as a blocker is the ability to line up anywhere on the field, and indeed he lined up at 21 unique positions over the course of the season. He did a great job of using his leverage to his advantage and was the type of tight end you’d feel comfortable having singled on a down lineman.
