The third-year safety is carving out a new role for himself on defense.
Since being drafted in the fifth round out of Penn State in 2018, Steelers safety Marcus Allen hasn’t seen much game action. In fact, in three games, he played in just seven snaps last year and 37 total in two seasons. Allen spent most of the 2018 and 2019 seasons on the practice squad. He was signed to the active roster Dec. 20 and appeared in the Week 17 game versus the Ravens but did not record any defensive stats.
The Steelers have seen the good in him, though. So much so that they’ve been experimenting with Allen at inside linebacker, a position that lacks depth for Pittsburgh.
“Marcus has a very professional attitude,” Steelers ILB coach Jerry Olsavsky said in a press conference on Monday. “He’s going to go and run into people. You can’t have enough of those on a football team. I’m so happy to have him in my room. It’s not even funny.”
“He’s a high-energy football-playing son of a gun. That’s what you like. That’s probably why we drafted him. They say it takes a couple years for some players to develop, and that’s hopefully what we’re seeing right now. We’re going to see Marcus, in his third year, really develop into a real professional.”
Allen is even making an impression on head coach Mike Tomlin.
“We’re just continuing to expose ourselves to new people and expand the potential of others,” Tomlin told the media last week. “We’ve played Marcus Allen some at linebacker. He’s a guy who shows some position flexibility. He’s playing strong safety and some inside linebacker, so that fortifies our depth in that area where, from a perception standpoint, we might be running thin.”
At Penn State, Allen finished with 321 career tackles, the most ever for a defensive back and the fifth-most in school history.
Given that Allen has been on the roster bubble, the fact that he has the strengths and talents to play at multiple positions should help him find a spot on the Steelers defense.
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