Brandon Allen (American football)
Brandon Allen (born September 5, 1992) is an American football quarterback for the Cincinnati Bengals of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Arkansas and was their starting quarterback from 2013 to 2015. He was drafted by the Jacksonville Jaguars in the sixth round of the 2016 NFL Draft and has also previously been a member of the Los Angeles Rams and Denver Broncos.
Allen with the Denver Broncos in 2019 | |||||||||||||
No. 8 – Cincinnati Bengals | |||||||||||||
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Position: | Quarterback | ||||||||||||
Personal information | |||||||||||||
Born: | Fayetteville, Arkansas | September 5, 1992||||||||||||
Height: | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | ||||||||||||
Weight: | 209 lb (95 kg) | ||||||||||||
Career information | |||||||||||||
High school: | Fayetteville (Fayetteville, Arkansas) | ||||||||||||
College: | Arkansas | ||||||||||||
NFL Draft: | 2016 / Round: 6 / Pick: 201 | ||||||||||||
Career history | |||||||||||||
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Roster status: | Active | ||||||||||||
Career NFL statistics as of 2020 | |||||||||||||
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Player stats at PFR |
Early years
Allen attended Fayetteville High School in Fayetteville, Arkansas. As a senior, he threw for 3,408 yards and 38 touchdowns. He was ranked by Rivals.com as the fifth best pro-style quarterback recruit.[1]
College career
Allen was redshirted as a freshman in 2011. In 2012, he was the backup to Tyler Wilson. He appeared in five games and started one game after Wilson missed a game because of injury.[2] He finished the season completing 21 of 49 passes for 186 yards with one touchdown and three interceptions.
In 2013, Allen took over as the starting quarterback.[3][4] He passed for 1,552 yards, completing 49.6 percent of his throws, and threw for 13 touchdowns and 10 interceptions for a team that finished 3–9 under first year head coach Bret Bielema.
As a junior in 2014, Allen had 2,285 passing yards, 20 touchdowns and five interceptions. He was the offensive MVP of the 2014 Texas Bowl, a 31–7 victory against the Texas Longhorns. Allen threw two touchdowns in the game, and Arkansas finished with a 7–6 record.[5]
During his senior year in 2015, Allen threw a then-school record six touchdown passes, and ran in the game winning 2 point conversion in a 53–52 overtime win over Ole Miss.[6] He broke the record two weeks later with seven touchdowns in a 51–50 loss to Mississippi State.[7][8] He also broke Arkansas' record for career passing touchdowns against Mississippi State.[9] He finished the year with 3,440 passing yards, 30 touchdowns, and eight interceptions for a team that finished 8–5, and beat Kansas State in the 2016 Liberty Bowl, 45–23.[10]
Allen finished his career with 7,463 passing yards, 64 passing touchdowns, and 26 interceptions.[11]
Professional career
Height | Weight | Arm length | Hand size | 40-yard dash | 10-yard split | 20-yard split | 20-yard shuttle | Three-cone drill | Vertical jump | Broad jump | ||
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6 ft 1 3⁄8 in (1.86 m) |
217 lb (98 kg) |
31 1⁄4 in (0.79 m) |
8 7⁄8 in (0.23 m) | 4.84 s | 1.71 s | 2.82 s | 4.33 s | 7.06 s | 28.0 in (0.71 m) | 9 ft 2 in (2.79 m) | ||
All values from the NFL Combine[12] |
Jacksonville Jaguars
Allen was drafted by the Jacksonville Jaguars in the sixth round with the 201st overall pick in the 2016 NFL Draft.[13] On May 5, 2016, Allen signed a 4-year $2.48 million contract, which included a $147,687 signing bonus.[14] Allen was the Jaguars third-string quarterback his rookie season behind Blake Bortles and Chad Henne. He was waived by the Jaguars on September 3, 2017, following final roster cuts for the 2017 season.[15]
Los Angeles Rams
On September 4, 2017, Allen was claimed off waivers by the Los Angeles Rams.[16] He was inactive for every game of the season as the Rams' third-string quarterback behind Jared Goff and Sean Mannion. He was placed on injured reserve on December 20, 2017.[17]
On September 18, 2018, Allen was waived by the Rams and was re-signed to the practice squad the next day.[18]
Allen signed a reserve/future contract with the Rams on February 7, 2019.[19] On August 30, 2019, Allen was released as part of final roster cuts.[20]
Denver Broncos
On September 1, 2019, Allen was claimed off waivers by the Denver Broncos.[21] After an injury to starting quarterback Joe Flacco in week 8 of the 2019 season, Allen stepped in as the starting quarterback.[22] Allen made his first start in Week 9 against the Cleveland Browns. In the game, Allen threw for 193 yards and two touchdowns in the 24–19 win.[23]
Cincinnati Bengals
On August 1, 2020, Allen was signed by the Cincinnati Bengals.[24] He was released on September 5, 2020, and signed to the practice squad the next day.[25][26] He was promoted to the active roster on November 23, 2020, after starting quarterback Joe Burrow suffered a season-ending injury.[27] On November 25, 2020, the team announced that Allen would start for the Bengals during their Week 12 game against the New York Giants in place of the injured Joe Burrow.[28] In Week 16, against the Houston Texans, he had 371 passing yards and two touchdowns in the 37–31 victory.[29] Allen started the final game for the season against the Baltimore Ravens, where he completed six of 21 passes for 48 yards, two interceptions, and a passer rating of 0.0 as the Bengals lost 38-3.[30]
Personal life
His father, Bobby Allen, is the Razorbacks’ director of high school and NFL relations.[31] He has a younger brother, Austin Allen, who became the starting quarterback for the Razorbacks after Brandon completed his college eligibility. Austin signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as an undrafted free agent following the 2018 NFL Draft. Brandon Allen graduated in 2014 with a degree in recreation and sport management.
References
- "Brandon Allen".
- Hayes, Matt (September 15, 2012). "Tyler Wilson does not start for Arkansas against Alabama". Sporting News. Retrieved November 20, 2019.
- "Brandon Allen taking control at Arkansas as quarterback".
- Schwartz, Nick (November 25, 2013). "Arkansas QB's truck egged after losing game to Mississippi State". For The Win. Retrieved December 1, 2020.
- "Texas Bowl notebook: Arkansas' Allen a surprise MVP".
- "Arkansas vs. Ole Miss – Game Summary – November 7, 2015 – ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved August 28, 2017.
- "Razorbacks Football: Allen's Big Day Bittersweet". Times Record. Retrieved December 1, 2020.
- "Mississippi State vs. Arkansas – Game Summary – November 21, 2015 – ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved August 28, 2017.
- "Records don't matter now". Arkansas Online. November 22, 2015. Retrieved December 1, 2020.
- "Kansas State vs. Arkansas – Game Summary – January 2, 2016 – ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved August 28, 2017.
- "Brandon Allen". Arkansas Razorbacks. May 8, 2015. Retrieved August 28, 2017.
- "Brandon Allen NFL Combine Stats". NFL.com. Retrieved June 10, 2016.
- DiRocco, Michael (April 30, 2016). "Jaguars snap defensive draft by taking Arkansas QB Brandon Allen". ESPN.com. Retrieved September 4, 2017.
- "Brandon Allen contract". ESPN.Go.com. Retrieved June 10, 2016.
- Patra, Kevin (September 3, 2017). "Jaguars release second-year QB Brandon Allen". NFL.com. Retrieved December 1, 2020.
- Simmons, Myles (September 4, 2017). "Rams Claim QB Brandon Allen". TheRams.com. Archived from the original on October 21, 2017. Retrieved September 5, 2017.
- Simmons, Myles (December 20, 2017). "Rams Place Allen on IR, Sign Edebali". TheRams.com. Retrieved December 1, 2020.
- Simmons, Myles (September 18, 2018). "Rams Waive QB Brandon Allen, Cut Two from Practice Squad". TheRams.com. Retrieved December 1, 2020.
- Simmons, Myles (February 7, 2019). "Rams sign two players to free agent contracts". TheRams.com. Retrieved December 1, 2020.
- Han, Jamie (August 30, 2019). "Rams make initial roster cuts, 18 players released". TheRams.com. Retrieved August 30, 2019.
- DiLalla, Aric (September 1, 2019). "Broncos claim four players off waivers, sign seven players to practice squad". DenverBroncos.com. Retrieved December 1, 2020.
- DiLalla, Aric (October 28, 2019). "Joe Flacco to miss Week 9 game vs. Browns, Brandon Allen to start at quarterback". www.denverbroncos.com. Retrieved October 31, 2019.
- "Allen leads Broncos past Browns 24–19 in first NFL start". www.espn.com. Associated Press. November 3, 2019. Retrieved November 3, 2019.
- "Bengals Sign Two Free Agents". Bengals.com. August 1, 2020. Retrieved December 1, 2020.
- "Bengals Reduce 2020 Roster To 53 Players". Bengals.com. September 5, 2020. Retrieved December 1, 2020.
- "Bengals Establish Practice Squad". Bengals.com. September 6, 2020. Retrieved December 1, 2020.
- "Joe Burrow Placed On Reserve/Injured List; Quinton Spain & Brandon Allen Signed Off The Practice Squad". Bengals.com. November 23, 2020. Retrieved December 1, 2020.
- Patra, Kevin (November 25, 2020). "Bengals planning to start QB Brandon Allen over Ryan Finley vs. Giants". NFL.com. Retrieved November 25, 2020.
- "Cincinnati Bengals at Houston Texans - December 27th, 2020". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved December 30, 2020.
- RotoWire Staff. "Bengals' Brandon Allen: Dreadful against Ravens". CBS Sports.
- Jones, Matt (December 22, 2012). "Longtime assistant Allen reassigned to high school relations director". Arkansas Online. Retrieved September 4, 2017.