Overview
Position: Linebacker
Height: 5’11”
Weight: 230 pounds
School: Fresno State Bulldogs
Combine Performance Data
40-yard dash: 4.82 seconds
Bench press: 12 reps
Vertical jump: 31 inches
Broad jump: 9 feet, 7 inches
Three-cone drill:7.2 seconds
20-yard shuttle: 4.45 seconds
Jeffrey Allison 2019 NFL Draft Profile
Born in Miami, FL, Jeffrey Allison would eventually attend Langston Hughes High School. Allison was a dual-sport athlete, competing in track and field and football all four years of high school. On the gridiron, Allison was an intimidating linebacker that had a nose for finding the football. As a junior in 2014, he led his team with 144 tackles and played alongside fellow linebacker prospect D’Andre Walker, who played at Georgia. As a senior, Allison recorded 121 tackles, eight tackles for a loss, three sacks, two fumble recoveries and one interception. He was named to first team All-City as well as All-Region.
At the end of his senior season, Allison verbally committed to Western Kentucky. But after a few months of rethinking things, Allison de-committed from Western Kentucky and signed his letter of intent with Fresno State. As a freshman for the Bulldogs, Allison saw most of his action on special teams and finished with 21 tackles in 12 games. Before his sophomore season, Allison changed his uniform to number nine to honor his two cousins that were killed in a car accident during his freshman year.
That following season, Allison started 14 games at inside linebacker for the Bulldogs defense and led the team with 126 tackles. He also recorded 5.5 tackles for loss, two sacks and two forced fumbles while being named the Mountain West Conference Defensive Player of the Week twice for a 10-tackle performance against San Diego State and a 14-tackle, one sack performance against BYU. In 2018, Allison took it up a notch and recorded 132 tackles in 14 games, which was good for 11th most in the FBS. He added six tackles for loss and two interceptions on the way to being named the Mountain West Defensive Player of the Year and to the First team All-Mountain West. Allison declared for the NFL Draft at season’s end.
Strengths
- a true middle linebacker that can operate in heavy traffic;
- strong tackler who rarely gets driven backward;
- has a nose for finding the football;
- reads guards extremely well;
- takes good pursuit angles;
- rarely gets caught out of position in zone coverage;
- diagnoses misdirection fairly well;
- experienced blitzer that created multiple quarterback hurries;
- high I.Q. defensive player;
Weaknesses
- lacks the acceleration to make plays behind or at the line of scrimmage;
- very limited in man coverage;
- struggles to disengage from blockers and will get caught on blocks too long;
- very little flexibility in the hips and in backpedal;
- lacks the speed and agility to be able to chase down outside run plays;
- lack of size and strength will turn teams away;
- relies on his bull rush too often;
- lacks an arsenal of pass rushing moves to get sacks;
NFL Comparison: Jamie Duncan
NFL Teams with a Need at the Position: Arizona Cardinals, Cincinnati Bengals, Kansas City Chiefs, Los Angeles Rams, Los Angeles Chargers, Miami Dolphins, Oakland Raiders
Projection: Fifth to sixth round
Bottom Line
Allison was an extremely productive tackler for a talented Fresno State defense the past two seasons. He did really well against strong competition including a 14-tackle performance against Alabama in 2017. Allison flashes greatness when defending an inside run between the tackles but struggles in every other aspect. He fits the mold of the ‘old school’ middle linebackers that plug a few gaps in the run game but in today’s NFL, he lacks the elite speed that present-day linebackers possess.
A poor Combine performance most certainly hurt his stock but teams that struggle in defending the run will take a chance on him with the thin linebacker draft class. If he improves upon his ability to get off blocks quicker, he could have a career as a one or two-down linebacker. If not, he will have to make a living off special teams.
