Braelon Allen’s (famous) youth will serve him well as he heads into NFL

INDIANAPOLIS — “He’s only 20” doesn’t have the same ring as previous iterations of the meme, but it’s no less applicable.

Wisconsin fans have grown used to the recurring fixation by gameday announcers accentuating how young star running back Braelon Allen was. He reclassified as a high-school junior at Fond du Lac High School and immediately made an impact as a 17-year-old freshman at UW. He was only 17. Then he was only 18. Then only 19.

Now little more than a month past his 20th birthday, he’s the youngest running back prospect at the 2024 NFL scouting combine, six months younger than second place on the list.

“I haven’t just been like, you know, I’m 20 years old,” Allen said Friday of his discussions with NFL personnel. “I think most of them know that and they take that into consideration. Of course, I think it helps me. You want someone who’s still a little more fresh, has some development that can be made still. It’s definitely an advantage.”

Braelon Allen of the Wisconsin Badgers speaks to the media during the 2024 NFL Draft Combine at Lucas Oil Stadium on March 01, 2024 in Indianapolis, Indiana..

For a position group that has come under the microscope in recent years for its decreasing market value, his youth will matter, and so will his size. The two merged in a social-media post Thursday, when Allen commented that he was only 17 in a photo showing him “lookin’ like The Hulk” while lifting weights at UW. That garnered responses from other Wisconsin pro-athlete celebrities like J.J. Watt and Christian Yelich, who posted their considerably less-impressive selves at age 17.

Allen got a kick out of all of it.

“I have a long way to go to develop,” he said. “In the right system at the right place, I could be a great player.”

Wisconsin Badgers running back Braelon Allen stiff-arms Arizona State Sun Devils defensive back…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/braelon-allens-famous-youth-serve-193934526.html

Author : Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Publish date : 2024-03-01 19:39:34

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