I think the recruitment/commitment of Breon Allen over the weekend caught most of us off guard. Not because we never heard of him, or that he’s a diminutive running back somewhere around 5-6. It’s that he had no other BCS offers. His only 1-A offer was from Marshall and some 1-AA programs. He also has not actually visited Pitt at this point.
New Linebackers Coach Bernard Clark recruited him.
“I was talking to him last night [Bernard Clark Jr., Pittsburgh’s linebackers coach], and the first thing he said was, ‘Size don’t matter,’ and that blew me away. So I’m committing to Pitt,” Allen said.
“They said they wanted me to play straight-up running back, and that was appealing to me,” he added.
There was some interest by other programs like FIU in him, but as a undersized cornerback.
Here’s a ten minute sequence of Allen’s highlights. In the interest of shorter attention spans, this highlight real is a bit over 4 minutes.
Obviously in college, size of the tailback is less of an issue. Dion Lewis, Jacquizz Rodgers, Noel Devine, etc.
As the ESPN.com/Scouts, Inc. report (Insider subs) indicates, he is a versatile athlete.
Allen is a slippery, undersized scatback that could be utilized as a utility offensive weapon and definitely has upside as a return man. He lacks size, power and bulk, but is very quick with great feet and good lateral agility. His stature could lead to him finding a home at cornerback on defense if he cannot hold up as a fulltime running back. Uses vision and patience to stretch runs outside and slip through small cutback creases. Shows the ability to change speeds and burst through the seam. He’s a very jittery through the hole, natural runner who has good body control and balance. Flashes nice stop-start quickness and the sharp cutting ability to make defenders miss.
So along with Lafayette Pitts, Allen could be a factor in special teams for returning kicks and/or punts.
I wonder if Pitt’s struggles in the return game the last year or two has Coach Wannstedt looking a bit harder for a player that can provide more of an impact.
ESPN has him rated as a 3 star and say this about him:
“Chestnut is a pretty dynamic overall athlete on offense as a dual-threat athlete/quarterback that in our opinion could remain at QB in the ideal situation and would have to be in the spread offense working out of the shotgun. He is a wiry, lean athlete that is built like a wide receiver which may very well be where he ends up. Chestnut is nimble-footed and does a great job on the read option. Is a dangerous running threat that is quicker than he is fast, but he is decisive, shows initial quickness and lateral agility to cut and slide through traffic as a runner in a zone scheme. He displays nice vision to and through the hole and breaks many runs to the second level where he shows enough elusiveness and sudden quickness to make people miss in the open field. For all of Chestnut’s athletic strengths, he is not overly fast. He has competitive speed, but is not a burner and also shows some stiffness through the hips, must gather some prior to making cuts and lacks a second gear. He is essentially short area quick and capable of making some big plays wit his legs, but may not be a homerun threat. As an improvisational QB he is very dangerous and is serviceable as a passer to the point of being very effective if the pocket is moved and he is allowed to be a run/pass threat on the perimeter. He is short so moving the launch point really benefits him. Mechanically he is raw and lacks polish, but has a quick, live arm that is efficient in the short and intermediate ranges and he can throw effectively on the run to either side. Chestnut is a quality prospect with positional versatility that is worthy of BCS level “
And:
“Terrell Chestnut had seen Pitt before he took an unofficial visit on Wednesday, but the four-star athlete’s most recent trip was something of an eye-opener. Today Chestnut talks to PantherLair.com about his visit to Pitt, his plans going forward, and more.”
Looks like he may be leaning toward the panthers?
Welcome to the party.
According to his Bio, Dyer covers the Jets and the BE for FoxSports.com. His articles on FoxSports.com contain the following sign off:
“Kristian R. Dyer covers the NFL for FOXSports.com and Scout.com as a publisher of GreenAndWhiteReport.com, covering all things about the New York Jets. He can be reached for comment at KristianRDyer@yahoo.com and followed at twitter.com/kdyer1012″
The bottom line is that this guy’s opinion is an informed one. Don’t know if we will get Poteat and Chestnut, but this does give me some hope!
