RECRUITING: Man amongst boys

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West Monroe defensive end and LSU verbal commit Jordan Allen is on a different level.

by Daniel Mingea III
Tiger Rag Recruiting Analyst

Either from the eyes of spectators or from the eyes of opposing coaches, the good ones are easy to spot. The good players just have a way of standing out amongst the rest. It’s usually crystal clear as to who is the best player on the field.

When watching West Monroe High School either on film or live from the stands it is easy to see Jordan Allen (6’5, 250, 4.6) is a man amongst boys. It is clear he is ready to take his skills to the next level. So far, Allen has led his Rebel squad to a 3-0 record with one of the bigger victories (30-27) coming by way of Neville High School and Louisiana Tech-bound quarterback Taylor Burch.

Allen claimed Burch stood out to him for reasons other than his throwing ability.

“Yeah, he was good,” Allen replied when asked what he thought of Burch. “He was good at running scared from us! Anybody that was at that game will tell you after he was sacked for the first time he was afraid for the rest of the game. Literally, he was throwing the ball in like two-seconds just trying to get rid of it. In the second half he threw it a little better, but I think that was mainly because our secondary is so young.”

The 4-Star prospect was just as critical of his own performance.

“I still feel like I’m no where near where I was at this time last year,” Allen admitted. “My coaches are always telling me how much I’ve improved, but I don’t see it. I guess maybe its because I’m always demanding more of myself.

“My stats aren’t as good this year either,” Allen continued. “I think maybe that’s because offenses don’t run my way anymore. Last year, I had Mingo playing on the other side of me so we shared an equal amount of tackles. Now the other defensive end is getting like 50 tackles a game because they won’t run it my way. I guess it’s nice how opposing teams do that out of respect to me, but I’d rather make it known on the field than to just be a presence out there.”

Allen has also been evaluating his team of the future. He claimed to be pleased with what he has seen from them thus far.

“Washington was a heck of a game,” Allen stated. “I didn’t expect Washington to be able to hang in there like that, but their quarterback is a beast! The Vanderbilt game was just like any other game I went to last year. The stadium just blows you away.

“The ULL game went as I thought it would and I watched film with the team and coach Hailey the next day,” Allen added. “I’m glad I did too because it kind of reassured me of some things. I realized that the players on the team do not know everything either which made me feel better. While watching film, I could point out some of the things Chancey [Aghayere] and [Rahim] Alem were doing wrong.”

Although Allen was reviewing film with the defensive side of the team, there are some questioning if he will be asked to move to the offensive side once he arrives at LSU since he has begun to put on so much size.

“Honestly, I think about that so much every week at practice,” Allen informed. “I’ve been trying to get as many reps as I can during practice because I feel like I need them to get back on track to where I was and to get better. I wouldn’t even let my coaches take me out in our game against Richwood because I wanted more reps. I know once I get to LSU with their strength and conditioning program I am going to gain strength and become faster. I also know I am going to need a little more speed at the next level and I feel like I have already gotten better at that. I’ve noticed some things that maybe my coaches have not seen that I’ve corrected on my own. I’ve kind of been coaching myself.

“I’d hate to swap sides and go on offense once I get to LSU, but if I had to or if I was good at it then I guess I would do it for the love of the game,” Allen concluded. “And if I were to move on offense, I would be the biggest and baddest offensive lineman out there! I just like to hit people! I wouldn’t be the typical offensive lineman. I would play with a defensive mentality shoving their (defensive linemen) asses around and knocking their asses to the ground!”