Keenan Allen is a starting wide receiver for the Los Angeles Chargers. He played high school football in Greensboro, North Carolina. He was considered to be a top defensive back in the country, and was planning to play safety at Alabama, but ultimately committed to play wide receiver at Cal alongside his half-brother. Allen played three seasons at Cal and finished with 2,570 yards receiving, No. 3 in school history. He also obtained an impressive 49.5-percent (95th-percentile) College Dominator Rating.
He suffered a PCL sprain toward the end of his senior year and, as a result, did not work out at the NFL Scouting Combine. He worked out at Cal’s Pro Day which actually had an adverse effect on his draft stock, as he ran a 4.71 40-yard Dash, clearly set back by the injury. Allen fell to the third round of the NFL draft and was selected by the Chargers.
Allen exploded onto the scene his rookie season. He finished that year with 71 receptions, which led all rookies, and set the franchise record for receptions by a rookie. He also broke the franchise rookie receiving yards record, compiling 1,046 yards. The Chargers lost to the Broncos that year in the Divisional Round, but Allen still made his mark, becoming just the second rookie in NFL history to crest 100 receiving yards and two touchdowns in a playoff game.
Just before his third season, Allen signed a four-year contract, but unfortunately tore his ACL in the first game of the season. He returned with a vengeance in 2017, finishing No. 5 in targets (27.7-percent Target Share), No. 3 in fantasy points per game, and caught over one hundred receptions. Allen was awarded the NFL Comeback Player of the Year in 2017.
Since then, Allen has established himself as one of the premier wide receivers of the NFL, catching more than 100 passes in four out of five seasons from 2019 to 2023. Despite missing time due to injury over that span, Allen still ranks 12th in receiving yards. At this point Allen has made a career out of being a strong route runner over the middle and in the short passing game.
Moving onto 2024, Allen is set to return to Los Angeles for his 12th season with the team. While he's coming off a career year in 2023, Allen has been hampered by injuries each of the last two seasons. Going into his age 32 season this will be a huge concern in Jim Harbaugh's first season as head coach. Nonetheless, with Mike Williams gone Allen will be set to garner a huge number of targets once again.
