Michael Allan (TE) Whitworth final pick
 

Did I win?

Michael Allan
TE | (6'6", 255, 4.71) | WHITWORTH

Scouts Grade: 64 Selected by: Kansas City Chiefs
Round: 7
Pick (Overall): 21(231)
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Strengths: Is fast enough to work the seam and tracks the ball well. Shows adequate awareness and flashes the ability to locate soft spots against zone coverage. Played basketball, times jumps well and can catch the ball at the highest point. Uses frame to shield defenders from the ball, competitive and can make the tough catch in traffic. Focused, has strong hands and rarely drops balls that should catch. Can line up in the slot or out wide and is versatile. Runs hard, flashes the ability to pick up yards after contact and can be productive after the catch. Has adequate size and can comfortable add bulk to frame.

Weaknesses: Takes too long to reach top speed and is going to have a hard time getting behind the defense when gets slowed down at the line of scrimmage. Doesn't explode out of cuts and isn't a crisp short-to-intermediate route runner. Isn't going to make many defenders miss and isn't much of a homerun threat after the catch. Fails to deliver a violent initial punch and isn't going to knock many defenders back. Plays too high, lacks the lower body strength to drive defensive ends off the ball and should have some problems sustaining blocks. Played at a Division III school and there is some concern about ability to make the jump to the NFL.

Overall: Allen arrived at Whitworth as a wide receiver in 2002 and was redshirted. He then played in 25 contests in 2003, 2004, and 2005 amassing 65 receptions for 1,102 yards (17 average) and 20 touchdowns, earning first team All-NWC honors in 2004 and 2005. In 2006, he plays all 12 contests hauling in 53 passes for 1,100 yards (20.8 average) and nine touchdowns, garnering a first team Division III All-American accolade.
Allan lacks ideal explosiveness and is a marginal-at-best in line blocker but there's a lot to like about his blend of size, hands and top-end speed. He projects as a fourth or fifth round pick due to his developmental upside.

Michael Allan Post-Combine Interview!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ryan Rigmaiden
Seahawks.NET Feb 27, 2007

Every big name in college football was there. Almost every NFL coach in the league was there. Every scout and personnel evaluator was there. And so was Whitworth TE Michael Allan, the only Division III player invited to the NFL Combine. So what was it like? In this exclusive interview, Seahawks.NET draft analyst Ryan Rigmaiden talks to Allan about his breakout performance at the Scouting Combine.

All year I saw Michael Allan stand as a man amongst boys. Not just because he’s a whopping 6’6” 256 (that would’ve been reason enough, though), but more because at that size he’s still able to run like a gazelle and catch the ball as if there was Velcro attached to his hands. I’ve seen him take a slant route 80 yards, outrunning everyone on the field. I’ve seen him catch the fade in the endzone. I’ve seen him catch a 10-yard curl, turn upfield, knock a cornerback down with a stiff-arm and run over another on his way to the house. I even saw him score on a fake field goal, smiling the whole time before the ball was snapped because he knew he was getting six points.

Allan was the most dominating player at the Division III level last year, catching 53 passes for 1,100 yards and 9 touchdowns. He’s collected so many school, conference and national awards that you’ll have to go here and here to read them. But despite his domination of the D3 ranks, questions arose about how good Michael Allan really was. Was he just a big fish in a small pond or did he have the talent to play in the NFL? Part of that question was answered when he went to the East-West Shrine game after the season and had a terrific week of practice. However, in a league obsessed with 40 times, broad jumps and hand size, one hurdle remained for the small school product- the NFL Combine.

After training for weeks in New Jersey, Allan’s chance to prove he belonged with the best came Saturday morning at the RCA dome in Indianapolis. While the NFL Network cameras kept fans in on the action, the only representative from his division stepped onto the turf and put on a show. On the biggest stage possible, Allan put all his detractors in the dust, blazing an official 4.7 40-yard dash, putting up 225 pounds nineteen times, finished tied for 1st with a vertical jump of 36 inches and leading all tight ends with a broad jump of 10’3”. Earlier in the week Allan was a question mark. Now he was the media darling, getting glowing remarks from NFL Network’s resident Draft expert Mike Mayock, NFLDraftScout’s senior Draft analyst Rob Rang and countless write-ups on every major sports publication.

But what was it really like to be out there? Allan puts us in his shoes with a first-person view of the Combine experience.

Ryan Rigmaiden: First, congratulations! I thought you had a terrific workout and every scout and Draft service seems to agree that you did very well. Let’s start with what everyone talks about the most, your 40-yard dash time. You knocked out an official time of 4.71, an amazing time for a man your size.

Michael Allan: Thanks. I’m happy with the time, but also disappointed. I was running low 4.6’s the entire time while I was training, so I know I can run faster than a 4.71. I actually was blown dead on my first run, which I thought was the best start.

Rigmaiden: They didn’t show that on NFL Network.

Allan: I know. Something happened in the stands and he whistled me dead. After you train so hard and go through it as many times as I have, you know when you have a good or bad start at about 10 yards. I knew it was a great start, but heard the whistle and stopped. I was running 4.7’s in New Jersey and slowing down the last ten yards, so I know I can do better. What was weird is that you’re running through the stadium and it’s practically empty. It felt like slow-motion because there wasn’t anything by you while you ran.

Rigmaiden: You finished second to Miami’s Greg Olsen (4.47 40 time), who’s widely regarded as the #1 TE this year. How did he look?

Allan: His times were impressive and I think he separated himself from everyone.

Rigmaiden: Well, you may be able to do better, but scouts were buzzing about your performance just the same. The do the drills alphabetically, so you had to go first in each drill. Did that make you nervous?

Allan: I had so much training on all the drills that I wasn’t very nervous, just anxious to get out there and do them. The drill where we had to run routes was a little nerve wracking, though. I didn’t no what to expect at first, but did pretty well.

Rigmaiden: How did all the other players treat you? You being the only D3 guy there.

Allan: The other guys were really cool. They were actually impressed I was there and wanted to hear my story. As a group, we bonded pretty well.

Rigmaiden: You did 19 reps on the bench, 36 inches for the vertical jump and 10’3” on the broad jump. Do you remember your arm and hand measurements?

Allan: Yeah, my arms were 33 ½ inches and my hands were 9 1/8 or 9 ¼, I can’t remember which.

Rigmaiden: John Lott, Arizona’s strength coach, has made a name for himself while spotting players on the bench at the Combine because he’s so intense. What was he like?

Allan: Man, he was intense. He actually gave a pretty good pep talk before we lifted and made sure that guys who weren’t lifting had a good reason for it.

Rigmaiden: He has a tendency for giving nicknames like ‘Conan’ or ‘Bigfoot’ to players while they lift and also getting crazy to motivate you. Did anything like that happen to you?

Allan: He didn’t give me any names or anything, but he was intense when I was lifting. He was barking a bunch of stuff at me, but I can’t remember what he said because I was focusing so hard.

Rigmaiden: Vince Young had a tough time last year with his Wonderlic test. How’d you do?

Allan: I got through 42 questions, but I have no idea how I did. It was fairly easy stuff, but some of the math was abstract. I haven’t done that kind of math in awhile.

Rigmaiden: Teams are allowed to meet and interview with players for 15 minutes. What teams did you meet with and what did they ask you?

Allan: I met with all the TE coaches, but had full interviews with Philadelphia, Washington and Miami. It was just getting to know you, but Miami had a dry-erase board to draw some plays on.

Rigmaiden: I know in those meetings they’re known to ask some odd questions. Did they ask you anything strange or off-the-wall?

Allan: Yeah, the Eagles asked me who I would call if I was thrown in jail and was given my one phone call.

Rigmaiden: And? Who’s the lucky person to bail you out?

Allan: I told them I’d call my QB Joel Clark, but might call someone else if they had to come up with bail money.

Rigmaiden: You’ve got a point, there. No meetings with the Seahawks?

Allan: I met their TE coach Jim Lind and liked him. And obviously I’d love to stay in Seattle and play.

Rigmaiden: Really? That’s good to hear because I know the Seahawks will be looking at tight ends. Is that really where you want to play?

Allan: Yeah. I grew up a Dolphin fan because I was born in Ft. Lauderdale. I grew up a big Marino fan. And it’s kind of exciting not knowing where I’ll end up and then just pack my bags and go. But there are so many perks about staying in Seattle. My family is there and my two best friends just moved there. We’d even talked about getting a place together and being roommates.

Rigmaiden: Is that code for you buying a house and them living at your place?

Allan: Yeah, they can rent a room from me!

Rigmaiden: So what’s next? Do you have a personal workout scheduled?

Allan: Yeah, it’s March 13th at Whitworth.

I rate this pick a P.

Talented guy.

Brandon Siler> This guy.

One of the worst second days I've ever seen.

We drafted a practice squad player..........

A TE?! MOTHER F**K YOU, CARL!

I wonder if we screwed Seattle, they picked right after us.

Good talent for the 7th round....Can't count on much in the 7th round but certainly a guy that has a chance of stealing Big Foot Wilson's catches.

Wow everybody negitive here i think we did good we got some good back folks here and a good kicker.

Considering some of the guys still on the board here in the 7th this pick sucks hard.

I think kris wilson as a full back won't hurt micheal allen playing time.

It would be payback after Shaun Alexander a few years ago. It would also be stupid.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/htm...fldraft27.html

NFL Draft | Whitworth College TE biggest small-school prospect
By Danny O'Neil

Seattle Times staff reporter

Before Michael Allan grew into the biggest small-school prospect in this year's NFL draft he was a 190-pound freshman who was a bit on the slow side for a wide receiver.

His high-school team at Interlake of Bellevue didn't win a game his senior year, the college he attended didn't offer athletic scholarships, and Allan redshirted that first season at Whitworth College in Spokane.

Sixty pounds, five years and one position change later, an NFL scout was on campus asking Allan to spread his hand wide so he could to measure it from the tip of his pinky to the end of his thumb. His hand spanned about 9 ½ inches and showed the depth of detail the NFL seeks from prospective employees.

He has grown into the NFL specs for a tight end, standing 6 feet 6, and he covered 40 yards in 4.71 seconds at February's scouting combine, second fastest for his position. His vertical leap was 36 inches, also No. 2 among tight ends.

Measurables. That's what football scouts call them. Numbers teams use to define a player's potential and that announcers will recite during the 18 hours of live television coverage that begins at 8 a.m. Saturday.

But buried beneath that avalanche of information is something a little more innocent and a lot more inspiring. This weekend, Allan will watch the draft at his parents' home on the Eastside, waiting to see if he'll get picked to play football for a living, the job he grew up dreaming about.

"That's what gets you through all those tests," Allan said. "You have to know what you're doing it for, and that's that this has been a dream I've had since I was a kid."

A dream sweetened by the improbability of it all. Allan's high-school team went 0-9 his senior year, and then he headed off to Whitworth, an NCAA Division III school that produced two NFL players in 100 years.

Allan was a good high-school player and a better athlete. He was chosen first-team All-KingCo 3A as a receiver his senior year and that spring reached the state high-school track meet as a senior and cleared 6 feet in the high jump. He played basketball, too, and he even turned out in college for a month or so as a sophomore.

Football was the constant in Allan's life, and that proof was piled up in the photos his mother kept. They fill more than a shoebox, including the one when Michael was a toddler wearing a Miami Dolphins jersey and a plastic football helmet. At 6, he signed up for a flag-football team in Florida. Mom still has his team photo from that year and every season since.

But when he graduated from high school, he was a little slow for a wide receiver and too small to play tight end.

"Kind of awkward is the way I like to put it," Allan said.

He guessed his speed in the 40 would have been about 5 seconds.

Linfield was interested in Allan. So was Whitworth, a Christian liberal-arts college in Spokane with a current undergraduate enrollment of about 2,400. Allan arrived as one of 16 receivers on the roster.

But Allan also had some room to grow. His dad, Don, kept growing into his 20s and ended up 6-9. Michael gained about 20 pounds that first year and moved to tight end.

"He just really blossomed," said Whitworth coach John Tully.

He was named Division III All-American as a junior, and NFL scouts started stopping by the little college. Allan caught 53 passes as a senior, scored nine touchdowns, and Whitworth won the first playoff game in school history.

Allan played so well he disrupted his family vacation plans. He was invited to the Hula Bowl in January, and the family decided to make a trip out of it. His older brother, Peter, even got the week off work to join everyone.

But then Michael was invited to the East-West Shrine Game in Texas, and he switched destinations. He practiced against players from the nation's largest football factories.

"I never quite knew what D-I athletes were like," Allan said. "To actually get out there and show I could hold my own, it was just a little personal confidence."

Caliber of competition is the biggest question a player like Allan faces. Height and weight are universal standards, but statistics depend in part upon the opponent. NFL teams don't take them at face value.

"He looks like a giant," Seahawks president Tim Ruskell said of a game in which Allan caught six passes for 251 yards.

What really proved his status in the eyes of NFL evaluators was his performance at the Shrine Game and the combine.

"He held in there good, he really did," Ruskell said. "Give credit to the kid."

Allan was the first D-III prospect invited to the NFL scouting combine in four years. His parents changed their cable package to get the NFL Network.

Allan trained in New Jersey at the Parisi Speed School. He arrived weighing 248 pounds with 17 percent body fat, said Martin Rooney, the director of the school. By the end of his workouts, Allan was 255 at 11.3 percent body fat.

"He's one of those classic diamonds in the rough," Rooney said.

One who may be standing on the brink of a shining moment. Looking ahead to the draft, Allan was asked during a radio interview what he would do with his first NFL paycheck. This is the cue for a standard response about buying mom a house or customizing a luxury car.

Allan said he would pay back his student loans. He's a small-school product, after all, no matter how big a prospect he has grown into.

You probably thought so last year too.

Kiper just said he thought Allan might be a 4th rounder.

Just saw film on the TE. Dude has talent.

That's nice but he can't block and played against a level of competition that probably compares to a team of posters on this board......

What are they gonna do make him the 3rd TE and sit him inactive for 2 years?

I would expect both will be more in the H back role moving around from lead blocker and TE spot depending on formation and need. I would be surprised if Wilson plays as a pure full time FB going forward. I would think that was just done because of Cruz getting injured and needing somebody to fill the role at that moment. Especially since they converted Grigsby to FB.

Sooner or later we should have thought about a TE. I had thought maybe Boss. But I'll be a homer about this guy until he proves me wrong.

GO MA!

GRRRR JARRAD PAGE WTF DAMNIT CARL YOU AND YOUR ****ING UCLA BULLSHIT

Stop being so negative. Anyone that big and that fast is a good pick in the 7th.

Delayed reaction syndrome?
:p

ROFL

that's gochiefs quality man love....sounds like he's describing superman and not a 7th round TE....

Sounds like he has room to get bigger.

Agreed.

Woo Hoo! Marques Colston ver. 2.0!!!

I second and third this being a stupid pick. We already are solid at tight end with Tony G and Kris Wilson..I really don't understand this one. We should of drafted a CB. Yeah, I know 7th round might not really matter, but tell that to Jarrad Page. There are alot of good CB's that can come out of the 7th round and undrafted.

This just in. We finally drafted our token white guy, in the 7th round.
:p

I hoped this years freak pick would be that 375lbs defensive tackle that ran the 40 in 4.9

The guy who flipped out about the 5th round pick is telling me to not be negative.......

Or OGs. I do agree that we should have looked more seriously at drafting a CB or OG in the 7th. But the Chiefs do a good job in the late rounds usually. let's see if this will pan out.

At the combine, Allan had the best broad jump, 2nd best 40 time, and 2nd best vertical out of all the tight ends.

Definitely a project, but we may be able to use him in a variety of roles. The guy can obviously catch the ball and is a hell of an athlete - those are good starting points.

How does anyone find the energy to have an opinion on a 7th round pick?

Might not be the best pick for right now, but down the road who knows. At least our project pick is in the 7th round.

Did he get drafted? How about Nate Iaola?

I laugh at the 7th round draft analysis around here... None of the guys left on the board are going to be difference makers, or if they are, none of you have any real reason to believe so.

F that.

Kris Wilson is NOT a TE.

Wilson is our starting fullback. Dunn got hurt last year and we had no freaking tight end besides TG.

Then what is he? I don't see him being a true FB.

Nope still left on the board. Nate got picked by philly.

Because Cruz got hurt and we had no other FB's on the roster. Grigsby was converted to a FB from LB probably to give him a chance to be the FB if Cruz doesn't make it back from injury.

H-Back

Which is what I said early in that he will move around from lead blocker to lined up in the TE postion depending on the formation and need....which is pretty much what an H Back does.

Dude is talented, I like it. I know, I'm a small school homer.

Chiefs didnt even try to resign Cruz. Wilson is our fullback now.

He's an H-back, if anything.

Unfortunately, he's got the build of a FB and the skills of a TE. He's not a good enough blocker to be a full-time FB, but he's not big enough to be a full-time TE.

Fixed your post.








(OK, OK. I was just joking.):p

Ouch. 15-love -- Frankie.

He's 20 pounds lighter than Dunn
feed him Sim's donuts and teach
him to block and manhandle d-men

How can you not like this pick? Look at this face!

http://img250.imageshack.us/img250/5966/402917jc8.jpg

Isn't it Boomer? The Chiefs' site even lists him at FB now.

Boomer is just a project.

How soon we all forget....

This time last year no one thought Jarrad Page was a good pick, inlcuding myself and others here who opinions I really respect.

Let's wait and see what happens.....

Or have him lose a few pounds and use him in a WR/TE hybrid role like the Saints used Colston last year.

"Or have him lose a few pounds and use him in a WR/TE hybrid role like the Saints used Colston last year."

EXACTLY!!!! :)

Dunn willbe 34
and has bad knees

I wish KC would of drafted that kid from Wyoming who jumps like that Kangasaurus from the Flintstones. He would be fun to watch on special teams.
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http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m...gguy/hoppy.gif

I just found out that Gosselin had Allan as his #5 TE. Pretty cool.

Wisdom pours from this post.