Analysis: What are the Sun Devils getting in Rivals250 DB Alfonzo Allen?
Another day, another talented defensive back from Hallandale (Fla.) High School decided to join the ranks in Tempe. Nearly a month after Jaylin Marshall pledged to the Sun Devils, his teammate Alfonzo Allen followed suit. This came as no surprise to Hallandale’s defensive coordinator Junior Rosegreen who shared his insight on the traits that define ASU’s newest 2022 class addition.
“He's a leader, and he’s an instinctive player,” said Rosegreen, who was an All-American safety at Auburn University. “He’s a Sunday guy who loves the game. And not only that, but he will upgrade anybody's secondary. He does 500 pushups every morning when he wakes up and every night before he goes to bed. So when you got somebody that does that every day in high school, what do you think he’s gonna do when he gets to college? He won’t do anything but get better every day. He just strives for greatness, he wants to make everybody else around him great, and I just love that.
“I’ve seen him understanding the game better. Understanding what people are trying to do against him in a game. He’s a sure tackler; he sees what's going on ahead of time and comes down like a missile. He can cover, his footwork is becoming flawless. He's fiery, passionate, but he can take hard coaching. I could go off and call him every name in the book, to be honest with you, and he has tough skin.”
Recruiting Analyst Cody Cameron, who studied Allen’s film, also noticed the defensive back’s exceptional size and speed combination.
“Alfonzo Allen is a player who has racked up over 50 college offers throughout the duration of his recruitment, and he most certainly has the film to back it up,” Cameron stated. “The 6’1 195-pound 4-star safety has an athletic frame with a solid build. He possesses quick reaction time off the snap and is a true sideline-to-sideline playmaker. He shows versatility on tape by playing the deep middle safety position, playing in the box as a run enforcer, and shooting the alleys making tackles for short gains. Allen is a player who never shies away from contact.
“Diving into the archives to pull up Allen’s Sophomore film (he played at Hollywood McArthur High School at the time) I absolutely love the fast reaction and speed that Allen shows at the :42 second mark. Allen’s rovering over the middle pre-snap, locking in on the opposing running back as his defense is in a Cover-0 scheme on this play. Ball is snapped, and the quarterback tosses a quick pass to the running back. Allen reads the play the whole way, takes no false steps, nor does he hesitate, and he unloads on the ball carrier for a loss of yards. The following play at the :57 second mark shows Allen’s ability to make plays sideline-to-sideline. Allen takes a positive read step forward on the play-action and then high-tails it to the sideline to make a play on the quick screen pass. This is the defensive pursuit drill on full display here, as Allen drops the hammer on the wide receiver for a short gain.
“Heading into last season’s film, Allen showed much improvement on his tackling technique, as he was consistently wrapping up ball carriers and driving his hips and feet through contact. On the play at the 2:18 mark, Allen once again shows off his quick read and reaction time. He reads run with the opposing offensive linemen shooting forward, and he shoots the gap, making a big-time play on the shot-gun fly-sweep for a tackle for loss.
“Arizona State is getting a versatile defensive back who can cover opposing wide receivers in man-to-man and a player who is tremendous in run support. Allen is yet another really solid player in the secondary who will be headed to Tempe in the Sun Devils 2022 recruiting class.”
Allen’s adaptability and range are skills that, according to Rosegreen does make the defensive back the proverbial “jack of all trades” that can line up at various roles in the defensive backfield. Even though he’s being recruited as a safety.
“He can play everything and anything,” Rosegreen commented. “I believe if he really put his mind to it, he could play corner. Because it’s half the battle having the right mindset and understanding of the game.”
The reason why Allen’s decision was hardly a shocker to his defensive coordinator, was due to the fact that Allen and Jaylin Marshall made it clear that they did want to play together at the next level. Therefore, Marshall’s commitment to the Sun Devil’s on February 17th undoubtedly laid the groundwork for a potential mirror decision by his teammate.
“From day one, they all said they wanted to play together,” Rosegreen remarked. “Every college that came to recruit them called them Anthony Rose and Edric Weldon the four horsemen. Now, Anthony committed to South Carolina, and we’ll see about Edric. All of them already have the chemistry. At the end of the day, it's just all about putting yourself in a position to be great together.”
And much like Marshall, Allen has developed a close relationship with ASU’s defensive backs coach, Chris Hawkins, which, needless to say, represented a significant factor in today’s public decision. Both ASU's pledges are scheduled to graduate high school in December and arrive in Tempe this coming January.
“Chris Hawkins obviously built a great relationship with Jaylin, and he did the same with Alfonzo,” Rosegreen described. “Alfonzo loves the staff and loves what the staff he stands for. He loved AP (defensive coordinator Antonio Pierce), Marvin Lewis…their background speaks for itself. When you have a crew who knows the game that well and coached at a high level, y'all can do something special. That’s how Alfonzo feels about that crew. He knows he has good DB’s coach, good defensive coordinator, and a good head coach. He likes everyone combined as a staff.
“Alfonzo committing now is wanting to be in the best situation possible, and I agree with him. With the transfer portal and all this other stuff going on, do you want to get left out? And he also wants to play with people he knows really care about him. It’s also trying to play as a true freshman because he has the mentality, the size, and the mindset.”
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