No. 6, 9, 8 | |||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Position: | Punter | ||||||||||
Personal information | |||||||||||
Born: | Salem, Oregon, U.S. | February 28, 1990||||||||||
Height: | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | ||||||||||
Weight: | 220 lb (100 kg) | ||||||||||
Career information | |||||||||||
High school: | West Salem (Salem, Oregon) | ||||||||||
College: |
| ||||||||||
Undrafted: | 2013 | ||||||||||
Career history | |||||||||||
Career highlights and awards | |||||||||||
| |||||||||||
Career NFL statistics | |||||||||||
| |||||||||||
Player stats at PFR |
Ryan Allen (born February 28, 1990) is an American former football punter who played in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Oregon State Beavers and the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs. Allen won twice the Ray Guy Award in 2011 and 2012, and also was a unanimous All-American in 2012. He was signed by the New England Patriots as an undrafted free agent after the 2013 NFL draft.
Allen attended West Salem High School in Salem, Oregon, where he played on the football team for two years as a punter/kicker. [1] In 2007, he was named to the all-state first team. [2]
In 2008, Allen walked on at Oregon State along with fellow punter Johnny Hekker. As a freshman, he was redshirted. He did not play in 2009 as he remained behind Hekker on the team's depth chart. [3] He then went to Louisiana Tech, and in 2010, he played in 12 games, averaging 40.8 yards on 60 punts. He had 21 punts go inside the 20-yard line. Four of his punts went over 50 yards, including a season-long punt of 66 yards. [2]
In 2011, Allen punted 83 times and set a school record with a 46.3 yard average per punt. [4] He ranked first in the nation with 39 punts inside the 20 yard line, and he had a season-long punt of 72 yards against Mississippi State. In the Poinsettia Bowl, he averaged 43.2 yards on five punts. Allen was named to the All-WAC first team and won the Ray Guy Award as the best college football punter. [2] [5]
Allen averaged 48.0 yards on 45 punts as a senior in 2012. [6] He had 21 punts that were longer than 50 yards and 20 punts that were downed inside the 20 yard line. [5] Allen had a career-long 85-yard punt against New Mexico State. [7] He led the NCAA in punting yards per punt, was a unanimous All-American, and won the Ray Guy Award for the second time, the first punter to ever win back-to-back Ray Guy Awards. [8]
Height | Weight | Arm length | Hand span | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
6 ft 1+1⁄2 in (1.87 m) | 229 lb (104 kg) | 32+1⁄2 in (0.83 m) | 9+5⁄8 in (0.24 m) | |||||||||
All values from NFL Combine [9] [10] |
Two punters—Jeff Locke and Sam Martin—were selected in the 2013 NFL draft; Allen was not. [11] He signed a standard three-year contract as an undrafted free agent with the New England Patriots on April 27, 2013. During training camp, Allen beat out veteran Zoltán Meskó, who was released at the final roster cutdown. [12]
Allen was named the Week 14 AFC Special Teams Player of the Week for his contributions to the Patriots win over San Diego Chargers. [13] In Super Bowl XLIX, he punted four times for 196 yards and set a then Super Bowl record with a 64-yard punt, helping the Patriots to a 28–24 victory over the Seattle Seahawks. [14] On July 25, 2015, the Patriots signed Allen to a three-year contract extension; the NFL's Collective Bargaining Agreement allows undrafted rookies to sign extensions after two seasons. [15] The new deal, which ran through the 2018 season, had $6.1 million in new money, including a $2 million signing bonus and $1 million in guaranteed salary in 2016. [16]
In 2016, Allen was praised for his performance in the Patriots' Week 3 win, 27–0, over the Houston Texans. He punted seven times, averaging over 49 yards per punt; none of his punts were returned, and all of them left the Texans starting at or behind their own 20-yard line. [17] [18] His performance earned him AFC Special Teams Player of the Week honors. [19] On February 5, 2017, Allen was part of the Patriots team that won Super Bowl LI. In the game, Allen punted four times for 166 yards as the Patriots defeated the Atlanta Falcons by a score of 34–28 in overtime. [20] Allen made his third Super Bowl appearance the next season for the Patriots in Super Bowl LII; however, the Patriots lost to the Philadelphia Eagles 41–33, and Allen never punted during the game. [21] The next year, his former college teammate Johnny Hekker broke his Super Bowl record for the Los Angeles Rams, though the Patriots would win that game and give Allen his third Super Bowl championship. [22]
On March 22, 2019, Allen re-signed with the Patriots on a one-year deal. [23] However, on August 19, 2019, he was released in favor of rookie Jake Bailey who was drafted by the Patriots in the fifth round of the 2019 NFL draft. [24]
On November 4, 2019, Allen signed with the Atlanta Falcons, making him the team's fifth Punter of the season. [25] He was released on November 29, 2019, when Matt Bosher was activated off injured reserve. [26] He was re-signed again on December 7, 2019, following an injury to Bosher. [27] Despite playing only half a season in 2019, and having a career low in yards per punt, Allen had arguably his most accurate season in the NFL, pinning exactly half of his punts (14 out of 28) inside the 20. [28]
On February 18, 2020, Allen signed a one-year contract extension with the Falcons. [29] On August 2, 2020, Allen was released by the Falcons. [30]
On November 7, 2020, Allen was signed by the Tennessee Titans. [31] He was waived on November 17, [32] and signed to the team's practice squad two days later. [33] He was released from the practice squad on November 24, 2020. [34]
On December 3, 2020, Allen signed with the practice squad of the Indianapolis Colts. [35] He was elevated to the active roster on December 5 and 12 for the team's weeks 13 and 14 games against the Houston Texans and Las Vegas Raiders, and reverted to the practice squad after each game. [36] [37] He was released on December 21. [38]
Allen now works as a special teams' coach/ coordinator for the Clemson Tigers.
Legend | |
---|---|
Won the Super Bowl | |
Bold | Career high |
Year | Team | GP | Punting | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Punts | Yds | Avg | Lng | Blk | |||
2013 | NE | 16 | 66 | 3,491 | 45.9 | 65 | 0 |
2014 | NE | 16 | 66 | 3,060 | 46.4 | 67 | 1 |
2015 | NE | 16 | 73 | 3,358 | 46.0 | 67 | 1 |
2016 | NE | 16 | 72 | 3,217 | 44.7 | 57 | 0 |
2017 | NE | 16 | 58 | 2,515 | 43.4 | 60 | 0 |
2018 | NE | 16 | 64 | 2,885 | 45.1 | 66 | 0 |
2019 | ATL | 8 | 28 | 1,172 | 41.9 | 59 | 0 |
2020 | TEN | 1 | 8 | 404 | 50.5 | 65 | 0 |
IND | 2 | 6 | 276 | 46.0 | 51 | 0 | |
Career | 107 | 451 | 20,378 | 45.2 | 67 | 2 |
Year | Team | GP | Punting | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Punts | Yds | Avg | Lng | Blk | |||
2013 | NE | 2 | 4 | 202 | 50.5 | 60 | 0 |
2014 | NE | 3 | 12 | 493 | 41.1 | 64 | 0 |
2015 | NE | 2 | 9 | 407 | 45.2 | 55 | 0 |
2016 | NE | 3 | 12 | 503 | 41.9 | 58 | 0 |
2017 | NE | 3 | 10 | 419 | 41.9 | 57 | 0 |
2018 | NE | 3 | 11 | 463 | 42.1 | 53 | 0 |
Career | 16 | 58 | 2,487 | 42.9 | 64 | 0 |
Allen was born in Salem, Oregon, on February 28, 1990. His parents are Mike and Sherry Allen, and he has one sister, Jessica. He was a business major at Louisiana Tech. [2]
Nicholas Alexander Folk is an American professional football placekicker for the Tennessee Titans of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Arizona Wildcats, where he received first-team All-Pacific-10 honors, and was selected by the Dallas Cowboys in the sixth round of the 2007 NFL draft. Folk was named to the 2008 Pro Bowl as a rookie with the Cowboys before playing his next seven seasons with the New York Jets and becoming the franchise's second-leading scorer. Following an unsuccessful stint on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Folk spent a year away from football before pursuing a comeback in 2019 with the Arizona Hotshots of the Alliance of American Football (AAF). Folk returned to the NFL the same year as a member of the New England Patriots and led the league in scoring during the 2021 season. He joined the Titans in 2023.
Mohamed Sanu Sr. is an American professional football wide receiver who is a free agent. He played college football for the Rutgers Scarlet Knights and was selected by the Cincinnati Bengals in the third round of the 2012 NFL draft. Sanu has also been a member of the Atlanta Falcons, New England Patriots, Detroit Lions, San Francisco 49ers, and the Miami Dolphins.
Brooks Reed is an American former professional football player who was a linebacker in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Arizona Wildcats and was selected by the Houston Texans in the second round of the 2011 NFL draft.
Kenjon Fa'terrel Barner is an American professional football running back who is a free agent. He played college football for the Oregon Ducks, earning consensus All-American honors in 2012. Barner was selected by the Carolina Panthers in the sixth round of the 2013 NFL draft. He has also been a member of the Los Angeles Chargers, Philadelphia Eagles, New England Patriots, Atlanta Falcons, Baltimore Ravens and Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Steven Means is an American football outside linebacker who is a free agent. He was selected by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the fifth round of the 2013 NFL draft. He played college football for the University at Buffalo.
Joe Vellano is a former American football defensive tackle. He played college football at the University of Maryland, and signed with the New England Patriots of the National Football League (NFL) as an undrafted free agent in 2013. He was also a member of the Indianapolis Colts, Atlanta Falcons, and Dallas Cowboys of the NFL, and the Parma Panthers of the Italian Football League.
Victor Ramon Beasley Jr. is an American professional football linebacker for the Arlington Renegades of the United Football League (UFL). After playing college football for Clemson University, Beasley was drafted by the Atlanta Falcons with the eighth overall pick in the 2015 NFL draft.
Daniel Patrick Etling is an American professional football quarterback for the Michigan Panthers of the United Football League (UFL). He played college football for the Purdue Boilermakers and LSU Tigers, and was selected by the New England Patriots in the seventh round of the 2018 NFL draft. Etling has also been a member of the Atlanta Falcons, Seattle Seahawks, Minnesota Vikings, BC Lions, Denver Broncos, Green Bay Packers, Jacksonville Jaguars, and Michigan Panthers.
Jordan Hugh Richards is an American former professional football player who was a safety in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Stanford Cardinal and was selected by the New England Patriots in the second round of the 2015 NFL draft.
Jamil Douglas is an American football guard who is a free agent. He played college football at Arizona State. He has been a member of the Miami Dolphins, New England Patriots, Atlanta Falcons, Indianapolis Colts, Tennessee Titans, Buffalo Bills, Washington Football Team and New York Giants.
Austin Manuel Hooper is an American professional football tight end for the New England Patriots of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Stanford, and was selected by the Atlanta Falcons in the third round of the 2016 NFL draft.
Keanu Neal is an American professional football safety who is a free agent. He was selected by the Atlanta Falcons with the 17th overall pick in the 2016 NFL draft. He played college football for the Florida Gators.
Cyrus Diego Jones Jr. is an American former professional football player who was a cornerback and return specialist in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Alabama Crimson Tide and was selected by the New England Patriots in the second round of the 2016 NFL draft. He was also a member of the Baltimore Ravens and Denver Broncos.
Brian Poole is a former American football cornerback. He played college football at Florida and signed with the Atlanta Falcons as an undrafted free agent in 2016.
Joshua Perkins is an American football tight end who is a free agent. He played college football at Washington and was signed by the Atlanta Falcons as an undrafted free agent in 2016.
Sam Irwin-Hill is a former Australian-born American football punter. He played college football at the University of Arkansas.
Deante Wayne Burton is an American football cornerback who is a free agent. He signed with the Atlanta Falcons as an undrafted free agent in 2017. He played college football at Kansas State University.
Dane Ashton Cruikshank is an American professional football safety for the Atlanta Falcons of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Arizona. Cruikshank was drafted by the Tennessee Titans in the fifth round of the 2018 NFL draft.
Brandon Powell is an American professional football wide receiver and punt returner for the Minnesota Vikings of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Florida. He has been a member of the Detroit Lions, Atlanta Falcons, Buffalo Bills, Miami Dolphins, and the Los Angeles Rams.
Anthony Paul Firkser is an American professional football tight end for the New York Jets of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Harvard and signed with the New York Jets as an undrafted free agent in 2017. He has played in the NFL for the Tennessee Titans, Atlanta Falcons, and Detroit Lions.
Who had the best seat in the house for Super Bowl LII? We'd say Pats P Ryan Allen ... who never had to punt. Philly's Donnie Jones was a workhorse by comparison (1 punt).