The Jets specifically selected Allen in the fourth round of the 2024 draft with the intention of turning him into a power and short-yardage specialist, including at the goal line. It's not clear what the impetus of that decision was - Breece Hall scored touchdowns at a downright greedy rate at Iowa State and never played in a Jets offense good enough to prove anything had changed as a goal-line runner - but the Jets picked Allen and plugged him into that role immediately. Allen is naturally polished as a passing-down back, both in terms of blitz pickup and pass-catching ability, but as an overall threat from scrimmage he might lack the speed necessary to earn significant usage. Allen is likely one of the very slowest running backs on any NFL roster, if not the slowest, and Allen lost momentum to fifth-round fellow 2024 pick Isaiah Davis as the season went on. New coach Aaron Glenn wants to build a dominant, run-heavy offense with the Jets and is holding an open audition between Hall, Allen and Davis for all the work that there might be, but there just isn't much objective reason to think Allen would win that open competition over Davis, let alone Hall. If Allen can retain the goal-line specialist role then he could offer conventional fantasy utility, though, especially if the Jets offense improves in 2025.
