Carter's Classroom: Tall corner Allen might be tallest task of draft class

Cornerback was one of the most expected positions for the Steelers to address in the 2017 NFL Draft because of the problems exposed by the Patriots in the team's loss in the AFC Championship Game.

It took until the third round for the team to make its first pick in Cameron Sutton, whom we have already broken down, but the team would also add Brian Allen from Utah to their depth chart.

While Sutton is a smaller and slower technician at cornerback whose career made him a natural at the position, Allen is almost the complete opposite. He converted to cornerback from being a wide receiver, stands 6' 3" and ran a 4.48-second 40-yard dash at the combine. That information alone would attract attention from scouts, but when watching his tape, one sees how far behind he is in several fundamental aspects of the skills needed to be a consistently reliable cornerback.

We have that tape for you right here:



WATCHES QUARTERBACK'S EYES

If you spend time watching Allen's skills, you can see the parts of his skills as a receiver come with him to being a cornerback. Part of that is locating the eyes of the quarterback and following them to the ball. Allen's four interceptions last season all came from him working outside the numbers of the field. When it comes to dropping back into a zone and attacking a football at its highest point, Allen is solid. Take a look at how he comes off his flat assignment and takes away a deeper hook pattern:



The problem with this is Allen gets caught staring at the quarterback too much. As a cornerback you need to be able to work to mirror the wide receiver in front of you, and too often Allen gets caught staring in the backfield and being fooled by opposing quarterbacks.

Here he is watching the eyes of Davis Webb from California and getting fooled into giving up the deep ball for a touchdown:



Often Allen will get his feet tangled trying to be too focused on getting the turnover and loses track of his receiver. This is where Allen must reform his talents and get to the basics of being a cornerback. He has the arm length to challenge receivers at the line of scrimmage and the flat-out speed to keep up with them. Despite this he still finds himself playing catch up on the outside parts of the field against opposing receivers.

In the NFL, that will be even more of a problem as receivers are bigger, faster and are with quarterbacks who are much more likely to expose such a mistake with an accurate deep ball.

NEEDS TO WORK ON TACKLING

Despite his size, he does not show the pedigree of a defensive back that can be relied on to make a tackle when the ball is caught in front of him. There are times when he is able to blow up a screen or be disruptive but there are too many instances on his tape that show him missing tackles like he did here against UCLA:



What I notice in Allen is that he's often going for the big play, whether it be a chance at an interception or trying to strip a ball carrier, instead of making the solid effort that gets the job done. While it's nice to have a player that can think enough to want to go for the big play, it becomes more of a hindrance than an asset if you're missing the routine plays too often.

SUSCEPTIBLE TO DEEP BALL

The biggest red flag on Allen when you watch his tape is how he is too often burned on deep passes. Especially for a cornerback that is specifically fitted for playing outside the numbers on split-ends and flankers, this is a cardinal sin. A player with Allen's size and speed should be able to find some way to prevent the deep ball, yet there are several instances in which he gets beat. Here he is again losing to a receiver from California on a deep ball:



Each time I watched Allen running down the sideline, it seemed as if he was defending the back shoulder pass and running with the inside shoulder of the receiver. While this worked against quarterbacks that might not have the arm to get the ball deep enough so that the receiver would have the best chance at the ball, that backfired against better quarterbacks who weren't afraid to turn the ball loose.

LOTS OF WORK FOR LAKE

The Steelers have defensive backs coach Carnell Lake who had a good track record as a player and is developing a solid one as a coach. Though much criticism has been levied against Lake over the years, he has only now gotten his chance to work with young defensive backs who were selected in the early rounds.

In 2016 the secondary improved with rookies Artie Burns and Sean Davis, but those are two players who were more natural to the position than Allen would be with cornerback.

Allen would present a challenge to Lake that wouldn't put him under any pressure should he not work out, but he fits the mold of a typical outside cornerback. That mold won't be easy to fill, but if he manages to work hard enough to be effective on special teams, Allen could find a chance to get more playing time at cornerback if he lasts. While he would have a lot of aspects of his game to work on, Allen's build would present the chance for him to be effective against on the outside for cornerbacks.

MATT SUNDAY GALLERY