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The Notre Dame Fighting Irish have a roster full of players, and we want to talk about all of them. One Foot Down’s player profile series will take a look at every single one of them, and hopefully we all learn a little bit more about these guys, and Notre Dame’s chances for the upcoming 2018 season.
#7 Derrik Allen
Irish fans were ecstatic when Derrik Allen committed to Notre Dame. Safety has been such a enigmatic position for the Irish to recruit over the years. There always seemed to be a quick line to playing time, and yet the nation’s best still chose another route. Allen was certainly one of the nation’s best coming out of high school in Georgia, and it will be one of the more interesting careers for me to follow.
3 Things To Know About Derrik Allen
- His father is a West Point grad — so you can be fairly certain that Derrik knows how to listen and follow instructions.
- Allen is the first defensive back to commit to Notre Dame in the Brian Kelly era and the highest rated recruit from that state since Isaac Rochell.
- His younger brother is a running back. His name is Marcus — Marcus Allen.
YouTube Hot Fire
Couple of things to notice here... how pissed tight end Jeremy Ruckert looks (Ohio State Buckeyes) and the look on Amon-Ra St. Brown’s face after Allen tried to do a back flip in celebration of his INT.
Country, Condiment, Or Canon
Identifying the player as either a country, condiment, or member of the Star Wars Canon.
Young Lando Calrissian
Yes, Shawn Crawford has already been designated as Lando — but that’s seasoned vet Lando. Derrik Allen is Young Lando (as depicted in the FOREVER AWESOME SOLO MOVIE). Like Lando, Allen is “smooth” and has been crowned as such when his father gave him the Twitter handle “DSmooth” when he set up the account. There is so much potential here we should all crack that famous smile.
2018 Outlook
You are going to see Derrik Allen this season. Even without the new redshirt rule, Allen was going to see the field right away on special teams. His combination of speed, size, and physical play screams “bad ass” for a special teams player — but given a certain uncertainty at safety, we could see some real work in the defensive secondary. I’m not calling for a Freshman All-American performance, but I think Allen could definitely light things up for his path in the future.