Wide receiver Kazmeir Allen had several teams reach out to him to sign him as an undrafted rookie free agent and his "phone was definitely blowing up," but deep down he knew there was one place he wanted to go.
"Towards the end of the draft, I kinda told my agent, 'I wanna come [to Washington] and coach [Ron] Rivera called me right after the draft anyway," Allen told Kevin Sheehan Tuesday. And why were the Commanders the priority: Eric Bieniemy.
Allen said knowing what the new offensive coordinator in Washington had done with Kansas City and the explosive offense he had was something he wanted to be a part of. "Just [his] offense was explosive in general and I think I fit well in that type of offense," he told Team 980.
And while the chance to fit into a potentially explosive offense in Washington, Rivera knew heading into this past weekend's minicamp, there were high hopes for the former UCLA Bruin.
"Well, there are a couple guys out there, but one of the more notable names, and I'm gonna have to look it up and so I can say it properly, but he's a young man we got out of UCLA," Rivera said. "He'll wear number 10 out there, Kazmeir Allen. He played some slot for them, some wide receiver for them, some running back for them and then he returned both kickoffs and punts for them, and he did 'em in the bowl game in the All-Star games as well.
"So he's a young man that most certainly has gotten our attention, and he's a young guy that we went out and tried to make sure we were able to recruit and bring him in as a free agent."
In 11 games in 2022 with UCLA, Allen had 403 yards receiving on 49 catches with two touchdowns and added 203 yards on the ground on 15 carries with two scores. He also returned 39 kickoffs in the last two seasons for 1,054 yards (27 yards per return) with one going for a touchdown.
Allen, who will get a shot to return both punts and kickoffs, said he focused on the technical craft of route running after transitioning from running back in high school to slot receiver, but even with his experience lining up all over the field, he has kept the mindest of a running back.
"When it comes to vision, that's what comes with the kickoff returns and punt returns, that's just the running back mentality that I have," he told Sheehan. "Contact, I like contact, I can take contact and run through holes. And I think you need that in all forms, kick return and punt return."
When it comes to finding a comparison for his game, Allen pointed to Percy Harvin and Tyreek Hill. Despite a slow pro day 40-time on a rainy turf field in Southern California, the new Commanders wide receiver/returner won the California high school 100 Meter Championship with a time of 10.44 his senior year and ran a 10.61 for the Bruins in 2019. So top-end speed does not appear to be an issue.
While the challenge of training camp and finding his way in the Commanders' offense is to come, Allen is remaining grounded in the present: "Just right now, I'm just having fun, I'm playing football again, I'm back in my element."
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