Los Angeles Rams center Brian Allen has played a pivotal role in the success from the offense so far in the 2021 NFL season.
The 25-year-old has certainly come a long way since his arrival as a fourth-round pick in the 2018 NFL Draft. He started nine games at center during the 2019 campaign until he was sidelined with a season-ending knee injury.
Allen did not play a single snap in the 2020 season and was seen as an afterthought when it came to replacing former center Austin Blythe this offseason. However, his patience and effort have paid major dividends for both him and the Rams’ offense.
Allen is now relishing in his return to a starting role and admits it was something that had been in the works the entire time, via Stu Jackson of the team’s official website:
“It’s been a lot of fun,” Allen said last week. “We’ve been playing good. Things are going well, and proud to be back out there. This is kind of always been a part of my plan, so really, I don’t know – I’ve always kind of expected it.”
Allen revealed that the truncated offseason from the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic largely prevented him from getting back to full health last year:
“Last year I wasn’t really ever healthy,” Allen said. “I was out there, I was on the roster. I wasn’t really in a position to play, I’d say. I think there were a lot of weeks where Monday they told me, ‘Hey, keep practicing,’ and that was a lot of weeks, and then had some setbacks here and there. So just going from being the guy to someone who’s kind of just a practice player, I know it’s tough at first, but at the end of the day, I think I use that to my advantage as well. Just going out there, keep getting better and kind of understanding that the season’s to rehab my leg and work on a couple different things that weren’t the best in the past just keep improving.”
Although Austin Corbett was seen as a favorite early on, it was only a matter of time before Allen won the starting job. This allowed Corbett to move back over to his normal guard position.
The extended time off helped Allen get back on track as he continued to practice with the team and master the system. His progression during this time clearly did not go unnoticed by head coach Sean McVay as the team opted to stay in-house with Blythe’s replacement during the offseason and have not looked back since.
