Austin

Allen

Allen (6'9"/255) is a towering inline tight end who lined up inside 66 percent of the time but was a versatile receiving threat as well, catching 38-of-48 passes for 602 yards, 15.8 yards per reception and two touchdowns this year. His advanced analytics stats are excellent, as Allen earned the fifth highest PFF receiving grade in the country with a 90.8. He caught six-of-seven contested targets in addition to posting 2.52 yards per route, which is one of the top marks for the position. His towering size makes him a formidable blocker when called upon, posting a solid 72.8 pass blocking grade. Allen is a top-10 caliber tight end in the 2022 class and should hear his name called in the middle rounds of the NFL Draft.

Allen (6'8/250) led the Cornhuskers in receiving in this one, despite failing to find the end zone. His 143-yard performance was his best of the season, while his seven receptions also made for a new season-high. Allen has now gone over 100 receiving yards twice this season, and has a line of 36/547/2 on the year. He and the Cornhuskers have a home game next Friday against Iowa to close out their season.

Allen (6'8/260) is the unquestioned starting tight end who rarely comes off the field for the Cornhuskers, recording 71 snaps in Week 0 and 68 snaps in Week 1. The giant tight end only logged four reps last Saturday against Fordham before he hit his head on the turf following an eight-yard reception. According to HC Scott Frost, Allen came up a “little dizzy” after the play, indicating this is likely a concussion situation. Frost is optimistic that Allen will suit up this weekend against Buffalo.

Vokolek (6'6/260) was seen on the field briefly during pregame warmups, but he will not be available to play Saturday afternoon. The redshirt senior tight end has yet to appear in a game this season. Junior Austin Allen has been the Huskers’ starting tight end in each of their first two games, catching six passes for 84 yards.

Allen came down pretty bad on the play. After getting suspended in air for a moment, Allen came down on his head and had his neck take a funny turn. The extent of Allen’s injury, or exactly what the injury may be, is unclear at this point. It does not seem as though Allen will return to action on Friday, though. Expect updates on his health either after the game or early next week.

Allen (6'8/250) was considered by some to be a breakout candidate before the 2019 season began, but things did not work out that way. While the redshirt junior appeared in all 12 games, he started just five and finished the season with seven catches for 83 yards. Nebraska is down two tight ends in spring practice, as Jack Stoll has also been limited due to injury. That has meant more reps for Travis Vokolek and Kurt Rafdal.

Allen (6'8/245) theoretically could thrive in the red zone, but he has two receptions through his redshirt freshman season. Bruntz believes he needs to block better and add weight to truly breakout, but the hurdle for Allen is surpassing Jack Stoll on the depth chart. If he can show signs of doing so in camp or early in the season, we will be intrigued since Nebraska’s offense is expected to throw up big numbers with Adrian Martinez at quarterback.