Dakota

Allen

Allen (6'1"/232) racked up 249 tackles, 17.5 sacks and four interceptions over 34 games for the Red Raiders. He was booted from the team in 2016 following a felony arrest for burglary and later enrolled at East Mississippi Community College, where he was featured on the Netflix series “Last Chance U.” Allen returned to Lubbock the following year, serving as the team’s defensive captain while garnering a second-team All-Big-12 nod. He bettered that by earning first-team status in 2018. The 23-year-old likely would have gone much earlier in the draft if not for his history of off-field issues.

Allen (6'1/232) ran slow at the NFL Scouting Combine (4.77-second 40-yard dash), so he’s pretty limited when it comes to overall potential. With that said, Allen has “good toughness and intangibles” according to NFL Media’s Lance Zierlein, so he may be able to carve out a role despite only making 3.1 solo tackles per game as a redshirt senior last season. Special teams is the most likely role for Allen.

“Allen is an inside linebacker with good toughness and intangibles but lacks the speed and instincts teams look for in the middle,” Zierlein writes. And to the analyst’s point, the 6-foot-1, 232-pounder managed just a 4.77-second jaunt through the 40-yard dash while taking part in combine festivities over the weekend. All told, he posted a SPARQ athletic composite in the 37th percentile of NFL linebackers. While that mark is less than shiny, Zierlein believes that Allen has “the potential to become a core special teamer” and a shot at a later-round selection.

Allen (6'1/232) didn’t have a great forty time, especially at his size. But he did prove to be pretty agile in the 3-cone drill and in the short shuttle. We are curious to see if Allen can improve his forty-time at his Pro Day because the differences between his speed and agility are pretty drastic. Last season, Allen made 31 solo tackles across 10 games, so consider him on the Day 2/3 borderline.

Allen might be familiar to you for a couple of seasons: He was one of the most productive linebackers in his time at Texas Tech, but he was also a featured player on Last Chance U; the hit documentary on Netflix. As Duffy notes, he appears to have atoned from the mistakes he made in the past, but there’s a reason why he had to leave the Red Raiders for the junior college, and teams will want to be sure before investing in him. How he performs will be one thing, but the interviews in particular will be crucial for Allen in Indianapolis.

Allen (6'1/235) is coming off of a redshirt senior season in which he tallied 73 total tackles (6.5 for loss), 0.5 quarterback sacks and two fumble recoveries in 11 games played. Healthy after having to miss a game in November due to a broken hand, he’ll now look to improve his NFL Draft prospects at next month’s Scouting Combine. Brad Kelly of The Draft Network wrote in December that Allen “has the athleticism and lateral range to project for nicely into the NFL.”

Allen’s been playing with a broken hand, which he suffered during the October 27 loss to Iowa State, in recent weeks. Riko Jeffers is expected to get the starting nod at WILL linebacker for the Red Raiders.

Allen will be playing with a broken hand, which was suffered in the Red Raiders’ October 27 loss at Iowa State. In that game the redshirt senior linebacker, who has 68 total tackles on the season, accounted for a team-high 16 tackles (two solo, 14 assists) in that loss. Should Allen have any issues with the broken hand, Texas Tech would then turn to Riko Jeffers.

Per the university, Allen was dismissed for “failure to uphold student-athlete expectations.” Further information could surface as to the exact reason for his dismissal in the coming days, but regardless of the “why,” this is a legitimate blow to an annually shaky defense. The 6-foot-2, 224-pound redshirt sophomore led the Red Raiders with 87 tackles (6.0 for loss) in 2015 and was a three-star recruit out of high school.

Allen (6'2/224) considered leaving for the draft after his excellent 2018 campaign, but he’s back for the Red Raiders this fall, and it’s a big return for the Texas Tech defense. Allen registered 102 tackles and two sacks in 2017, and he also picked off two passes while allowing just a 55 rating when targeted. PFF notes that he needs to do a better job of getting off blocks, but if he can, he has a chance to be one of the first defenders from the Big 12 selected in 2019.