Awaking from a deep sleep

By: Josh Frey-Sam

The Kansas City Chiefs may have found the player who will allow them to move on from Rashee Rice next off-season without looking back.

It’s early — so, so early — but Cyrus Allen is already turning heads in Kansas City.

The Chiefs selected the 5-11, 180-pound receiver in the fifth round of the NFL Draft and didn’t get much love for the pick.

That, in part, was because Allen was the only new WR that the Chiefs brought in this season, which was perplexing given that Rice can’t stay out of trouble and there are a lot of question marks behind him.

For the record, I loved Jalen Royals coming out last year — and I think he could make a case for himself as a pro this year — but he’s still unknown at this point.

However, Allen is already stirring up enough interest to suggest that the Chiefs’ lone move was enough to maintain some promise in their WR room.

Allen didn’t have major production throughout his college career but had a breakout season last year at Cincinnati, where he caught 47 balls for 652 yards and 11 touchdowns while operating almost exclusively out of the slot.

Allen is already 23, and his measurables won’t blow you away, which explains why he fell to the fifth round. But the testing numbers don’t tell the full story with this guy.

He plays much faster than his 4.57 40 time. He’s not a jump-ball receiver, but he is a route technician who can create space quickly (something the Chiefs DESPERATELY need) and take a chunk out of a defence after the catch.

Last year was really important for Allen. He was used primarily as a deep threat at LA Tech and Texas A&M throughout his first four years on the field, but he ran more of the route tree with the Bearcats.

In 67 targets last season, he only had one drop. Illustrating his productivity and efficiency, his average depth of target took a sharp decline to 11.0 (still good), but his yards per route run jumped to 2.50 — a strong mark that demonstrates good things happen when the ball is in his hands.

He also forced eight missed tackles after the catch, and quarterbacks had a 115.8 rating when targeting him.

Numbers aside, the thing that has to get you excited for Allen is the opportunity that he could carve out for himself.

Rice and Worthy won’t be usurped, but there’s no reason Allen couldn’t push Tyquan Thornton for a role right out of the gates.

Then, you look ahead to next year, when Rice will be a free agent (and will not be re-signed by the Chiefs), the runway could be clear for some major opportunity for Allen.

The thing that worries you here is Allen’s draft capital makes him easy to move on from or be pushed down the depth chart if the Chiefs invest in the position next off-season, but right now, you can get Allen for free — I did — on the waiver wire and stash him on your taxi squad.

It’s important to identify the players who could be home runs. In this offence, Allen could be just that.

Thanks for reading and, as always, have a great day.

Josh