Gang Green Nation
Human beings like to put things into buckets. This is the basic reason behind the expression, “If it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck then it’s probably a duck.”
In the case of New York Jets running back Braelon Allen, he’s 6’1 and 235 pounds. With those dimensions, it’s pretty easy to see why he’s assumed to be a productive power back. Tack on that he ran a 4.40 40 yard dash and it’s really easy to project him to be a really great running back.
But is he? Well based on the preseason, we might be putting the cart before the horse a wee bit.
For context, YCO/Att is yards after contact per carry and YBC/Att is yards before contact per carry. As summarized in the tweet’s writing, Braelon Allen was among the worst running backs at creating after contact this preseason, even though his offensive line provided a good starting point for him. This is not ideal if the Jets are hoping for Allen to take the starting job from running back Breece Hall.
The other side of that coin that bears noting is that this is based on the preseason. It’s entirely plausible that Allen wasn’t exerting anything close to maximum energy. While that would be weird for a second year player who isn’t an established starter, you never know what’s going on behind the scenes.
Personally, I file this under “hopefully nothing, but bears watching.” What do you think?
