WESTFIELD, Ind. – This much we know about newly minted Colts wide receiver Keenan Allen, signed to a one-year contract to bolster the perilously thin Colts’ receiving corps:
Even at age 34 and entering his 14th season in the NFL, he hasn’t lost a step.
For a very important reason: He never had a step to begin with.
“Starting out my rookie year, I was slow, so I guess I haven’t lost any speed,” he joked Wednesday at the team’s penultimate practice at Grand Park. “I’m just able to get open, and I haven’t lost any speed. Nothing has really left me.”
He’s not joking. At his pro day at Cal in 2013, he ran twin 40’s in 4.71 and 4.75 seconds. Granted, he was just getting over a knee injury – he said he was only 85 percent during the draft process -- but any way you cut it, that’s really slow for a wide receiver. I mean, really slow. There are defensive tackles who can run that speed.
Despite that, draftniks and NFL scouts still saw something in the big-bodied Allen, who was ultimately drafted in the third round.
“Three months ago, I said that if you watch this kid on tape, if you like him, he’s Anquan Boldin (the former Arizona star),” said Mike Mayock, then a draft analyst for the NFL Network. “If you don’t like him, he’s speed deficient. So I don’t really care what he runs in the 40. To me, on tape, he’s a 4.55 guy all day long…I believe in his toughness and his hands.”
Turned out, Mayock was right. There’s speed and there’s competitive speed, and Allen had competitive speed. He was never going to become a burner who takes the top off a defense, but at 6-2, 210, he was a big body who understood leverage, becoming a huge weapon on third downs and in the red zone. He comes into his 14th season having played 171 games with 1,055 receptions for 12,051 yards, an 11.4 yards-per-catch average and 70 touchdowns. After a career where he spent 13 years with the Chargers and one with the Chicago Bears, Allen became an alpha receiver despite his lack of top-end speed. Last year, he led the Chargers with 81 catches for 777 yards, four touchdowns and a 9.6 yards-per-catch average.
No, he’s not the receiver he once was, when he produced five 100-plus reception seasons out of seven from 2017 or 2023. The years he fell short of 100, he had 96 one year and missed six games in the other. He’s made six Pro Bowls and eventually will become a candidate for the Hall of Fame.
I know what you’re saying:
“Andre Johnson.”
