Allen represents FAU well

By Greg A. Bedard

Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

Monday, February 28, 2005

INDIANAPOLIS ? The development of the Florida Atlantic football program took another step Sunday when former quarterback Jared Allen became the first Owl to compete in the NFL scouting combine.

"It's a big honor," Allen said. "Hopefully, I'm the first of a long line as Florida Atlantic's name gets pretty well known around here."

Allen and linebacker Chris Laskowski ? who both played in all 47 games the Owls have played since the program started in 2002 ? became the first Owls to play in a showcase game last month at the Hula Bowl.

This time, Allen was all by himself alongside such top prospects as Aaron Rodgers and Alex Smith.

"It's just crazy that you're with guys that are going to be multimillionaires in about a month," Allen said. "Some guys that are here, like me, would just be happy to get drafted. Then there are others that are going to be very well off very soon. It's just very cool to see that."

Allen ran the 40-yard dash ? finishing with a decent time that put him in the middle of the other quarterbacks ? and competed in throwing drills. According to one scout, Allen "threw the ball well, especially on deep balls."

Allen said the NFL's annual meat market ? where prospects are poked, prodded and analyzed for five days ? has been "crazy."

"There's a lot of pressure," said Allen, who is a long shot to be drafted. "Basically they just try to evaluate you. You do sort of feel like a lab rat, but it's their investment so I guess it's their right to do that. They're putting a lot of money into you so they're trying to see what they're getting."

Allen was interviewed by several teams, including the Dolphins and the Buffalo Bills, by quarterback guru Sam Wyche, the former Cincinnati Bengals coach.

"After my interview with coach Wyche, we were just talking about football and he gave me a game situation," Allen said. "After my answer, he said, 'You're ready. You can learn our offense.' That gave me some good confidence."

The interviews are very important. The Wonderlick(sp) test as they call it is also a big part of the process. Jared may just get his shot at a FA and make a name for himself and the university.

I have been following the workouts. I watched them yesterday and the scouts,owners and coaches all sing the same tune. It's the media who put such a high value on these combines. Teams say they like the entire career structure with the face to face interview. That makes a lot of sense. The 40 times of some of these guys are strange. I know they can run faster but they may have a bad start or bad day and the media is all over it.
Case in point. A little waterbug WR from Furman(?) ran a 4.33. My guess, he 'll probably go late second round. USC's Mike Willaims ran a 4.6 and 4.59. The talking heads saying how much he hurt himself by those times. He's 6'5 229 lbs! I'll bet my mortgage he goes high in the 1st round!

Sounds like he's getting a good chance to represent himself - playing in a pro-style offense must have help his credebility some. All you can ask for is a chance.

How about the QB from Arkansas. Projected as a WR or TE. 6-6 241lbs and ran a 4.38 and 4.41. Talk about a monster. He earned some money by his performance. Expect him to surprise some people. GO OWLS!!!

I saw him!!!! I'm looking at DL right now. These guys look just like FAU's DL's. Size are close or the same. 6'3 245 to 6'4 265 seem to be the norm. The announcers are talking about changing positions from DL to LB on some of these type of players.

Speed is about low 5's to low 6.'s.

I saw the linemen too, the smaller guys 245-265 are the ends. The majority of the tackles go 290-310. We have end size at tackle. A few of the big guys can really move. Goddard from Marshall ran a 4.72. The fastest time but he only goes about 245. The big tackle from Northwestern (Castillo) goes over 300lbs and ran a 4.85. That is about the same as Clarrett :o FAU has the speed, now we need the size in the middle. GO OWLS!!!

You're right about positions. Most were the DE size. Linemen were a little bigger. That one tackle (6'2 315) had some serious motoring skills.

Just watched the DB's . Most are prototype size for the pros. Some smaller guys at the combine are projected as CB because of size and weight, If they can make the transition. It's not a natural switch. Safeties face the ball and CB's have to run away while locating the ball.
Some of the FS and SS are in the 4.6 & up range. CB's are in the low 4's to to mid 4.6 range.


There are some 6'2 200+ safeties. Our starters were 5'11 185 and 6'0 205.
Next years safeties are 6'1 195 and 5'11 200. We have one who will battle for the FS job at 6'3 195.

Then there's the CB's. They are mostly in the 5'11-6'0 range at 180-200 lbs.
Ours are 5'10 and 5'11 range at 175lb.
I'm sure most of our guys will be bigger when the season rolls around.

LB's are also there. They didn't focus as much on them as they did the DB's?
Some 6'0-6'3, 230 and up range.

Just checked out a draft guide and they had some good things to say about Allen and Laskowski. Apparently Laskowski ran a 4.57 40. That is fast. He might be looking at safety at the next level. I believe his combine numbers were 5-8 211. Way undersized for an OLB. I thought he was closer to 5-11 and 220. I guess the tape and scale don't lie. Anyhow, it said that he could project as a serious special teamer. Not a bad way to make a living. Flying downfield full speed looking to knock someone's helmet off. Hopefully it will work out for him. GO OWLS!!!