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Jason Allen
Jason Allen Getting Big Chance At Cornerback
By ALAIN POUPART
Dolphin Digest Associate Editor
Ted Ginn Jr. received a lot of attention after the victory over Buffalo, and deservedly so. But he wasn't the only former Dolphins first-round pick who had a breakthrough game.
It also was a big day for Jason Allen. His performance may not have had the same impact as the seven catches for 175 yards that Ginn compiled, but it was a big day nonetheless.
It was, easily, his best performance ever as an NFL cornerback. And it came just as his role was increased with fellow cornerback Michael Lehan getting placed on injured reserve.
Allen ended up leading the Dolphins with six tackles in the 25-16 victory over the Bills, but that doesn't tell the whole story of his performance.
His tight coverage on rookie James Hardy in the fourth quarter forced an incomplete pass on second-and-1 on the play before Joey Porter stole the ball from quarterback Trent Edwards. Later in the fourth quarter, Allen was the first defender to hit tight end Robert Royal before he fumbled in Miami territory. Safety Yeremiah Bell was credited with the forced fumble, but replays seemed to indicate it was Allen who did the trick.
In addition to those plays, Allen also downed Brandon Fields' punt at the 3-yard line to set up the Dolphins' safety and he put the exclamation point on the victory by recovering a fumble on a Bills punt return in the final seconds.
But Allen had made plays on special teams before Sunday's game, so that wasn't so much an eye-opener. He really had never contributed at cornerback, though, which is what made his performance so encouraging.
The truth is, Allen had never gotten the chance before Sunday.
The opportunity came after the Dolphins placed Lehan on IR a few days before the Buffalo game. With Lehan gone, the Dolphins needed someone to step in behind starters Will Allen and Andre' Goodman, and Allen was that guy.
Coach Tony Sparano, though, said Allen's time had come regardless of the Lehan situation. He had seen the kind of improvement from Allen as a cornerback that he had needed to see.
Remember, Allen wasn't a cornerback throughout most of training camp, he was a safety. Also remember that he was lining up with the starting unit at free safety until the latter stages of the preseason when he was replaced by veteran Chris Crocker, who eventually lost the job to Renaldo Hill and ended up getting released.
Allen eventually was moved to cornerback, the second time since he joined the Dolphins in 2006 he was switched from safety - Nick Saban moved him from safety to cornerback and back to safety during his first year.
Allen's best attributes have always been his athletic ability and his size (6-1, 200) for the defensive back position, so he was always a natural for the position. But it takes time to adapt to a new spot, and so it was that Allen was pretty much a non-factor on defense through the early part of the 2008 season after starting nine games at safety last year.
But Sparano makes it clear it was never a case of the Dolphins not having confidence in Allen.
"This is a guy who we've thought a lot about since we've been here," Sparano said. "Finding the right spot for him was key and I think we found the right spot for Jason right now. I just think we found the right spot for him.
"This is a guy we didn't give up on. This is a guy (who) went out there every day in practice and he didn't give up, more importantly. He said, 'Coach, whatever you want me to do.' He goes out. He's getting better and better at his technique.
"So when this thing happened with Lehan, there was no question in our minds where we were going next. This was a guy that was getting better and better. I felt that it was time for him to go into the game regardless, and that's where we were."
The test for Allen, obviously, will be to produce more performances like the one he had in Buffalo.
Who knows, maybe someday Allen will have established himself as a top-notch NFL cornerback and we can look back at that Oct. 26, 2008 game against Buffalo as the place where it all started.
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