Jason Allen=BUST How many times has the phrase been typed on Dolphins forums for the last 3 years? Venture to say, hundreds of different times, perhaps more. Jason Allen was the #16 overall pick in what is turning out to be a very mediocre draft, for most of JA's career he was compared to Kelly Jennings in Seattle, the #29 pick, but Jennings has been a average NFL corner at best. Then there is Antonio Cromartie, who has made a pro bowl, but slumped in 2008 with a hip injury. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_NFL_Draft Rather than rehash the "we shoulda drafted" I think in yr 4 Jason Allen has found his role in Miami, he is the Dime or Nickel Corner, and probably our best Special teams gunner, Allen has found his level in the NFL, a slightly below average corner with great athleticism but weak ball skills. I personally feel his role on special teams is where he will shine, I'd love to see him make the pro bowl as the Special Teams player, it would suck that the #16 pick is best at running down field and hitting and tackling, but when an investment loses value it is sometimes good enough to recoup something from it rather than write that off as a total loss. Granted, weak coffee, but still, it is coffee... What say you?
He'll still always be a bust. #16 overall and you can barely get on the field in your first 3 years of your career. That's the epitome of bust. Jamar Fletcher was way less of a bust because he was selected #21 and at least got on the field a lot. Anyone can say whatever they will about Jason Allen. Truth be told, at the time of that draft just about EVERY dolphin fan wanted Cromartie (assuming we were taking a DB). That's a fact and I'm sure over at the other place there is records of it. 2 of Cromartie's 3 seasons have been above average. The situation is what it is though. We made the wrong choice and we've paid for it.
Well, I mostly agree, JA is not even Fletcher, however I do believe he will stand out in Special Teams, but it is safe to say he has shown what he has a Db and it is not really very much. The Nicktator's eye for talent was only slightly better than Wanny's. Jason Allen is going to excel at ST though, he is to physically talented not to, but eegads it took 3 yrs for him to learn how to play on that unit and I'm not 100% he has a firm grasp on the rulebook even now. He downed 2 kicks inside the 5 last season, he came danger close to going out of bounds and being the first player to touch the ball when he came back on the field.
I still feel he was a wasted pick, you don't want your number 16 pick in the first round to end up being your special teams star only in his 4th year.
True, but lemons=lemonaide as it were NJ1, if JA is simply our best special teams player and the dime Cb, it is better than nothing at all. And the 06 draft is turning out to be upside down, picks #16 and below have several outright busts Donte Whitner, Mike Huff, Tye Hill, Ernie Sims. there were more probowlers to be found in picks #17-#32 than there are #16 and below...and chances are good Vince Young is not going back to the pro bowl anytime soon...
He's only a bust because of his selection. If he had been a second or third rounder, we would be less harsh on the guy. I think the onus is placed on the wrong person here. Jason did not pick himself at over-all#16, that was a regime that had little business even being here that did that, would we like more production from that pick? Certainly. Are we gonna get it? Who really knows... Maybe Padre is correct in that we need to look at what he CAN do for us at this point and judge him on that. He is rather athletic and honestly he was jerked around quite a lot his first 2 1/2 years.
I see what you mean, but I still disagree. If Sean Smith doesn't touch the field this year or the next 2 years, he'll be a bust and he was #66 overall. My point: 2nd and 3rd rounders that see 50 plays in their first 3 years are busts (outside of the qb position). But I do also agree that we'd be less harsh. Everyone on every mock draft had Jason Allen nowhere near the first round. Now I'm not saying Mel Kiper and gang no any more than an NFL front office, but Cromartie was the guy. They knew it and we knew. Only Saban didn't know it. And because of this I think we're a little more harsh. Same goes for taking Fletcher. The only reason that stands out is because we all wanted Brees and we needed Brees. I also disagree that he was jerked around his first 2.5 seasons. How so? You think that Saban and Cameron didn't want him to be good, you think they didn't want him to catch on at safety or at corner? We put in friggin Cameron Worrell before we put in Jason Allen. Do you think that Cam was playing favorites? When 4 guys get the nod before you in your second year, I hardly think it is the coach. I truly believe it just didn't click for this guy and it never will.
I think the fact of the matter is, Jason Allen has started his last game for the Miami Dolphins barring some catastrophic run of injuries in the secondary ala 2007, that is just how it is. That is not to say he won't be productive for the Dolphins...in the role he will play for us..but he is our nickel or dime Db and ST gunner and that is what he will do for us. JA does have a nose for the football and his speed and athleticism make him a great Gunner, so there is some hope he can do some things for the team, but no longer should he really be considered a "prospect" at Cb, his ceiling in Miami has been reached.. I will say when we play the Patsies this year, we can go 4 deep with athletic, fast cover corner backs, we have 3 #1's and a #2 playing Cb for us. JA v Joey Galloway or Greg Lewis...to me that is about his level, maybe Wes Welker, but Randy Moss ended JA the Db prospect last year.
That's fine. He's a decent ST player. But that doesn't ease my mind at all. You could sign 10 undrafted free agents and I'll bet that 1 of the 10 will perform on ST the same way Jason Allen does. You can than cut the other 9 UDFAs and you'll save like 80% of the money it cost to keep Jason Allen. Remember, he's solid on ST, but he's not spectacular. As I've pointed out in the past. Our ST in 2008 sucked before Walden got there. And Walden cost us next to nothing. That's the kind of ST player an NFL team looks for. A depth guy that cost peanuts. Not a failed #16 overall pick that cost your team 20 Million bucks over 3 years.
He offers more athletically as the dime corner than 90% of the dimes in the NFL though, he will be matched up on the other team's #4 wr, a player who more than likely will be fortunate to have over 25 or 30 receptions in a season. JA can handle that role at least.
When he saw the field as a safety he looked good to me, he did some nice things. Whatever anyone says, being flipped between safety and corner at this level has done the guy no favours.
At this point you're correct. We can just hope this season (most likely his last with Miami) he performs well at those things you mentioned. But, no matter how well he performs this limited role, it'll never take the sour taste of the 2006 draft and last 3 years out of my mouth. (Actually unless we win the superbowl).
Well, he may play more in Atlanta because no one knows the extent of Vontae Davis's knee, but I'd think Nate Jones would move to the #3 and JA would be the #4. Davis's knee is below the radar, but we cut Joey Thomas so it shouldn't be that much of a hinderance.
True, that was two seasons ago though, and Cb is much simpler to play than Safety. JA is so athletic that occasionally he will flash some big play potential, however he doesn't sustain that level of play for very long. I can still recall Jason Allen absolutely crushing Brandon Jacobs in the London game, Allen hit Jacobs so hard that he fumbled and the ball shot up 4 yds into the air, that was quite a hit.
That is what I mean by being jerked around for 2.5 years. He never had the opportunity to settle in one position. Some personalities are able to handle that kind of pressure. Some are not. He was done no service by those early actions and it may have cost some of his development. I could be way off and the guy is just what he is but he has made slow progress since the BP era began.
Well, Jason Allen did make a very nice play in the endzone against the Saints, he still did not show ball skills but he did show he could handfight with a Wr better than he ever has. I'd be quite happy if he could just maintain that baby step this season.
And to think, he actually held out at the beggining of his first TC for a better contract than what was being offered. I don't label him at terrible and to me, he is better than what Jamar Fletcher was for this team.... but Fletcher was drafted to play in a man to man scheme and was far better suited for a zone scheme. He played much better with his head facing the Qb. Allen sticks around because of his speed and he can hit. To me he is a good backup who can fill in at Safety and Cb. Being versatile has kept him a roster spot the last two season. That said, he surely has never lived up to his draft slot, and most likely never will. That's what the draft is. It's a crapshoot.
Maybe bringing in Mr. Miagi during OTA's last Spring to work with the defensive players had some good effect.
Wasn't there a run on DB/CB when Saban picked Jasen Allen? I remember the analyst saying the Fin not having a 2nd rounder due to Crappepper and reaching but filling a need. I think Saban paniced just like Spielman/Pornsache. Frigging waste.
You say he's better than Fletcher was. That's only because Fletcher saw the field enough to get burnt and was in the spotlight. Same goes for guys like Reggie Howard. J Allen hasn't even been good enough to see the field for 3 consecutive games 3 full years into his career. And you say the draft is a crapshoot, but that's my point from the beginning. We took J Allen instead of Cromartie, and at the time most people were like WTF? Why take a gamble when Cromartie is staring you in the face. Bad draft decisions like this are why we finally crumbled and fell to 1-15 in 2007, leading us to finally bring in football people who knew what they were doing.
Nah...I don't believe even Daniel san with his Crane style could knock the under achievement off of Jason Allen... Allen is a Dime Cb, that is what his level is in the NFL, I don't hate the man for it, in fact with the pressure off he may play well this year. I do agree with the notion that JA is not as at fault as Darlin' Nicky is, he drafted the guy, then buried him, and it's not like Cam Cameron was going to inspire JA to have a sea change. ST pro bowler had 25 tackles, JA had 15, if I were a betting man JA can easily surpass 25 ST tackles...
need to bust or burgeon this year would not write him off yet lot of talent & physicality in that package maybe it will be unwrapped & directed properly this year also one of the top SpecialTeam's players on roster Jason Allen may very well prove to be a good thing in 2009
Jamar Fletcher started 6 games and saw action in 41 games thru 3 seasons. Jason Allen has started 11 games and has seen action in 47 thru 3 seasons. So who saw the field more again? When we hear Allens name mentioned the things that comes to mind are athletic, tweaner, good tackler at times and for sure we always have herd lots of potential. When we hear Fletchers name mentioned the word burnt toast comes to mind and thats about it. Sure, most of us wanted Cromartie but there were questions about both players. Jason Allen had a pretty good college career as did Cromartie. Allen would have been all over the first round draft boards (and he was on some) had it not been for his reported "possible career ending" hip injury. Cromartie was coming off of a bad knee injury. So like I said, the draft is a crapshoot and it's very easy to look back and say someone was clueless but it's just not that easy. Sure it takes a ton of skill to see and pick NFL talent but there is also some luck involved. Bad decisions, not just bad drafts are why the team stunk for a few years and it started with the Ricky Williams trade.
Sure, when I think about Fletcher I think about Burnt toast. But when I think about Jason Allen I don't think athletic tweaner good tackler. not at all. I'm quite tired of hearing about his tools and athleticism. Neither of those have shown at the pro level. And to be honest, I don't think he's a good tackler, unless ducking your head and diving into someones legs without attempting to wrap up is good tackling. Vontae Davis, Y Bell, W Allen, and G Wilson are good tacklers for DBs. J Allen has shown nothing even close to those above mentioned tackling abilities. So, when I think of J Allen, I think: Overdrafted, overhyped, overpaid, underacheiver, bonehead, waste of a first round pick. Much the same I think of Fletcher.
It's ok! JA is still on the team. He may not be for long but he is a pretty good tackler and actually made some good plays as a Safety during his very short career. I never said he was not a bust. He may end up being just that and surely has not done much to prove otherwise but ALL teams waste 1st round picks now and then that's why it's called a crapshoot by many. After 3 years, I could care less about him being a bust. What I care about is that if this staff thinks he's worth keeping that he contibutes in team wins.
