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Jacob Allen had been committed since May 20th so it was merely a formality for him to make it official Wednesday. Signing the 4-star prospect from the Hun School perhaps the biggest addition to the 2022 recruiting class for Greg Schiano and the coaching staff.
Jersey Tough
— Rutgers Football (@RFootball) December 15, 2021
Welcome to the F.A.M.I.L.Y. Jacob‼️@JacobAllen_79 | #CHOP pic.twitter.com/7X3uSdFiqp
247 Sports Composite Ranking: 4-star; 1st in NJ; 10th IOL & 167th nationally
High School Position: OT / DT (6’6”, 270 lbs.)
Projected college position: Offensive Guard
High School: Hun School
Hometown: Spotswood, NJ
Most notable other offers: Alabama, LSU, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Florida
Allen is the consensus top recruit in New Jersey and will be the first to sign with Rutgers since Darius Hamilton in 2012. He has the size to play tackle, but the benefit of using him on the interior may be too great to pass up. He has the agility to chip and quickly while remaining balanced get to second level defenders. This athleticism for his size is apparent at how well he moves when lined up on defense at the high school level and even in kick coverage. Since he can manhandle virtually every defender with his upper body strength, at times he does not get low enough to truly drive defenders with his legs. With his offer list, you can see why his ceiling is that of a first round NFL draft pick.
The Rutgers Offensive Line improved in some areas but appeared to regress in others in 2021. With limitations in the passing game, the staff elected to primarily play their best maulers in the run game, at the expense of pass protection against top teams. Unfortunately when defenses stacked the box, there were just too many guys for the offense to block. In the pass game, they did get more blame than was warranted when compared to how much time on the stopwatch they were providing quarterbacks to throw compared to other Big Ten teams. They key moving forward is stockpile as many Big Ten level athletes on the line as possible then developing them to be well-rounded players in all aspects.
Floor: Mike Fladell
Most likely: Chris Muller
Potential: Kaleb Johnson
Check out his highlights below:
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