Indianapolis Colts Dwayne Allen Boasts All-Around Game

While bigger name NFL tight ends like Jimmy Graham, Rob Gronkowski, and Julius Thomas take the headlines, the Colts’ Dwayne Allen remains a bit of an afterthought to the casual NFL observer. To be honest, on a Colts’ offense that features Andrew Luck, Reggie Wayne, and T.Y. Hilton, his name even sometimes get lost in the shuffle on his own team.

Sep 15, 2014; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Indianapolis Colts tight end Dwayne Allen (83) warms up before the game against the Philadelphia Eagles at Lucas Oil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Pat Lovell-USA TODAY Sports

However, while Allen may be underrated, he’s certainly not underappreciated by both his team and Colts’ fans. Dwayne Allen is the rare tight end, who seemingly does it all. He can catch, block, and run; a rare trifecta of skills for the tight end position in today’s NFL. At a listed 6’3″, 265 pounds, the big bodied Allen moves surprisingly well for his size.

To be honest, it still stuns me that he was available in the 3rd round of the 2012 NFL Draft, coming out of Clemson early as a junior. After winning the Mackey Award as the Nation’s best tight end and being a 1st-team All-ACC selection in 2012, Allen was highly productive in his final collegiate season.

Perhaps, it was the somewhat slow 4.89 forty-time in his 2012 NFL Combine. However, while Allen’s speed may not translate completely in drills, it does just fine in games, as he blew past defenders on the sideline en route to a 32-yard touchdown reception last weekend against the Cincinnati Bengals.

It’s just not the surprising speed either, it’s his hands. He’s currently tied for 3rd in the NFL with 5 touchdowns, only behind Julius Thomas (9) and Antonio Gates (7). He’s caught a touchdown in 5 of the Colts’ 7 games this season. An impressive feat for a player, who admittedly “didn’t expect to be used much in red-zone situations entering the season”.

While there’s a lot of great “run and catch” tight ends out there, what truly separates Allen is his great blocking ability. According to the advanced statistics provided by ProFootballFocus (PFF), Allen is tied for 2nd in run blocking among all tight ends playing in +50% of their team’s offensive snaps. A skill-set he possesses that clearly is better than some of his bigger name counterparts like Jimmy Graham (8th), Julius Thomas (11th), and Rob Gronkowski (18th) in that regard [PFF].