Pittsburgh Steelers safety Marcus Allen is now in his third season with the team and the Penn State product is hoping that this one includes him staying on the 53-man roster all season like he did as a rookie in 2018. To date, Allen, who was selected in the fifth-round of the 2018 NFL Draft, has played just 18 total defensive snaps and 19 special teams snaps. On Monday, Steelers secondary coach Tom Bradley was interviewed by the media and during his session he was asked if 2020 is an important year for Allen.
“I think it’s a big year for Marcus and he’s taking advantage of a lot of different things,” Bradley said. “And for one thing, he’s playing a lot faster this year. You can tell he really understands the system, he’s very versatile. We can do lot of different things with him in our package. And so, I think this camp, Marcus has really come on strong during this camp.”
Allen certainly could use a strong training camp this year as he’s likely battling rookie safety Antoine Brooks Jr. for a spot on the team’s 53-man roster. Also, Allen showing the kind of position flexibility that Bradley alluded to on Monday would go a long way in helping the third-year safety win a roster spot. Bradley talked more about the versatility aspect of Allen’s game on Monday and him being more of a hybrid player in 2020 later during his media session.
“They’re very valuable, as you know, in football today, especially with the way the different packages come in on offense,” Bradley said. “A guy that can get in the box, Marcus can play in space, he’s really developed. He’s been one of the guys in this preseason that has really come forward with his game. He’s playing faster. He understands what we’re doing and because of that, we’re going to be able to do a lot of different things with Marcus.”
While Bradley did seem to be very high on Allen on Monday, it didn’t quite sound on Monday like the young safety is considered a lock to make the 53-man roster with three weeks remaining until the team’s Monday night road opener against the New York Giants.
“And I think through the rest of this preseason, we’re going to kind of figure out what he can do and what he can’t do as these next couple of weeks progress,” Bradley said of Allen.
