Tag: Kenny Allen

2016 Season Countdown: #16 Kenny Allen

Kenny Allen (#91, image via ABC 7 News)

Name: Kenny Allen
Height: 6’4″
Weight: 222 lbs.
High school: Fenton (MI) Fenton
Position: Kicker/punter
Class: Fifth year senior
Jersey number: #91
Last year: I ranked Allen #80 and said he would be the backup kicker, punter, and holder (LINK). He was the starting placekicker and kickoff specialist.

Boy, was I wrong about Allen in 2015. I had heard going into the season that Allen was likely to be the backup to Kyle Seychel at placekicker, and that was backed up by the fact that Seychel was doing the placekicking in the 2015 spring game. Allen, who had come to Michigan as a punter, was told by Jim Harbaugh to work on his kicking skills. He did. And he beat out Seychel. And by the end of the year, Seychel was no longer a part of the program. Allen hit 18/22 field goals (81.8%) with a long of 47 yards, and he was 47/47 on extra points. He also averaged 61.4 yards on kickoffs, and he even punted once for 57 yards.

Punter Blake O’Neill exhausted his eligibility last season, so now Allen might pull triple duty this year as the kickoff specialist, placekicker, and punter. Michigan did recruit the #1 kicker in the country, Quinn Nordin, as part of the 2016 class. But Nordin is unlikely to beat out Allen for the placekicking or punting job. Allen proved himself as a kicker, and both of his career punts have traveled 51+ yards. The most likely place for Nordin to contribute would be on kickoffs, where Allen could get some rest and avoid the risk of injury that is sometimes involved when trying to make tackles and take on an occasional blocker. It’s also noteworthy that redshirt freshman Andrew David, a scholarship player from the 2015 class, recently left the program to transfer to TCU. David did not have a strong leg, but he may have been able to help as a pooch punter or extra point kicker. With David gone and Nordin the backup, Michigan could have a pretty rough go of it if Allen were to pull a hamstring or suffer some other unfortunate injury. In fact, I considered moving Allen higher on the list, but this is where he was prior to the news of David transferring, so this is where he stays.

Prediction: Starting placekicker, punter

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2015 All-Big Ten Defensive Team

The Big Ten Network released the All-Big Ten Defensive team on Monday night (LINK). Several Michigan players were honored, including Thompson-Randle El Freshman of the Year Jabrill Peppers. As exciting as Peppers was, I probably would have voted for Penn State freshman running back Saquon Barkley (1,007 rushing yards, 6.1 yards/carry, 7 touchdowns), who was running behind a patchwork offensive line with an ineffective passing game. But you can’t go too wrong with a guy like Peppers, who played well in all three phases of the game (72 yards and 2 TDs rushing, 8 catches for 79 yards, 27.9 yards/kick return, 45 tackles, 5.5 tackles for loss, 10 pass breakups).

Hit the jump for the coaches and media teams.

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2015 Season Countdown: #80 Kenny Allen

Kenny Allen (#91) with kicker Matt Wile

Name: Kenny Allen
Height: 6’3″
Weight: 220 lbs.
High school: Fenton (MI) Fenton
Position: Punter/kicker
Class: Redshirt junior
Jersey number: #91
Last year: I ranked Allen #68 and said he would be the backup punter. He punted 1 time for 51 yards.

For a few years, people have been talking about Allen as a capable punter. The walk-on is known for booming punts, but the problem reportedly comes down to consistency. He might boom one, shank the next, and go back and forth. With former All-Big Ten punter Will Hagerup a part of the equation, it was no surprise that Allen was mostly mired on the bench.

The job looked like it was about to open itself up to Allen with the graduation of Hagerup, as well as combo kicker/punter Matt Wile. And then along came Aussie Blake O’Neill, a Weber State graduate transfer. The new coaching staff has a slightly different special teams philosophy, and they found O’Neill, who has experience doing what the new staff wants. He has one year of eligibility remaining, so Allen is probably out of luck yet again. Allen will probably be O’Neill’s backup, and while Allen has also been working on his placekicking, he is not expected to win that job, either. Allen does have experience holding on extra points and field goals, but there are a few guys who have experience there (including Shane Morris) and could presumably do the job just as well.

Prediction: Backup punter, kicker, and holder

2014 Season Countdown: #68 Kenny Allen

Kenny Allen

Name: Kenny Allen
Height: 6’3″
Weight: 230 lbs.
High school: Fenton (MI) Fenton
Position: Punter
Class: Redshirt sophomore
Jersey number: #91
Last year: I ranked Allen #79 and said he would be the backup punter. He punted 1 times for 51 yards.

Michigan has been in somewhat of an odd position for the past few years with three scholarship kickers on the roster, although it has paid off at times since at least two of them are knuckleheads. Punter Will Hagerup got himself suspended for the entire 2013 season and parts of every other year during his college career. Placekicker Brendan Gibbons got himself booted out of school for an alleged rape. The only one to keep his nose clean has been the backup to both positions, Matt Wile, who is reportedly a very good kid. Allen has been waiting in the wings for a position (and a scholarship), and his lone appearance in 2013 suggests he’ll be ready whenever the opportunity arises – he had a 51-yard punt against Central Michigan in the opener.

Now that Gibbons is off the roster, Wile will be the full-time placekicker, so that leaves the punting position to Hagerup, a former All-Big Ten punter. With Hagerup’s history of stupidity and suspension, there’s a good chance that Allen will be needed at some point – or at all points – to be Michigan’s punter. Whenever Hagerup finds himself moving on to the next stage of his life, Allen appears poised to become the next starter at the position.

Prediction: Backup punter until Hagerup does another stupid thing

Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl Preview: Special Teams

Kansas State returner Tramaine Thompson is dangerous with the ball in his hands.

MICHIGAN
Starters: The Wolverines are in pretty bad shape when it comes to special teams, but it could be worse. Fifth year senior placekicker Brendan Gibbons has been ruled out of the bowl game with a groin injury, and senior punter Will Hagerup has been suspended for the entire season, so all the kicking duties will be up to junior Matt Wile (6’2″, 216 lbs.). Wile is pretty experienced for being a backup punter and kicker, but when it comes to kicking field goals, he hasn’t been in many pressure situations. Wile is 1/3 on field goals this year, 5/5 on extra points, and averages 40.6 yards/punt. He’s been the kickoff guy all year and gets a 49.3% touchback rate. Sophomore Dennis Norfleet (5’7″, 169 lbs.) has 36 kickoff returns for 850 yards and a 23.6-yard average. Fifth year senior Jeremy Gallon (5’8″, 184 lbs.) and senior Drew Dileo (5’10”, 180 lbs.) have combined for 12 punt returns and 76 yards, so they’re not much of a threat.
Backups: Redshirt freshman Kenny Allen (6’3″, 226 lbs.) will be the backup kicker and punter, and he has 1 punt this year for 51 yards. Dileo has averaged 19.2 yards on 5 returns, and redshirt freshman Jehu Chesson (6’3″, 196 lbs.) has averaged 18 yards on 2 returns.

KANSAS STATE
Starters: The Wildcats have two excellent returners. One is fifth year senior punt returner Tramaine Thompson (5’8″, 167 lbs.), who has averaged 20.2 yards/return this year with a long of 79 yards; teams respect him so much that they’ve only given him a chance to return 9 punts. Junior Tyler Lockett (5’11”, 175 lbs.) is the kick returner with a 25.5-yard average, and while he hasn’t yet returned a kickoff for a touchdown in 2013, he had 2 scores in each of the past two seasons. Redshirt junior Mark Krause (5’11”, 218 lbs.) averages 41.3 yards/punt and has landed 17 inside the 20-yard line. Redshirt sophomore Jack Cantele (6’0″, 193 lbs.) is 11/13 on field goals and 40/41 on extra points, but he was injured prior to KSU’s final regular season game and may not be back for the bowl game.
Backups: Thompson has returned 2 kickoffs this year, but one was for a 96-yard touchdown. Backup kicker Ian Patterson (5’11”, 233 lbs.), a redshirt freshman, is 2/3 on field goals and 8/8 on extra points; he has also taken over kickoff duties, where he has a touchback rate almost twice as high as Cantele’s.

THE TAKEAWAY
The Wolverines haven’t been particularly strong on special teams under Brady Hoke, but they haven’t been terrible, either. They did block a punt and return it for a touchdown against Central Michigan, and the game-tying end-of-regulation field goal against Northwestern was the #4 play in the Big Ten this year, according to BTN Live. Unfortunately, battle-tested Brendan Gibbons is out, and Wile has been erratic as a kicker and as a punter. Michigan’s return games have been exciting but fruitless with Norfleet, Gallon, and Dileo. Meanwhile, Kansas State has a couple all-conference-caliber returners in Lockett and Thompson, and Cantele is a solid kicker if healthy. The Wolverines did allow a punt return touchdown to South Carolina’s Ace Sanders in last year’s bowl game, so they’ve been susceptible to special teams breakdowns at times. Wile might be able to negate Lockett’s return abilities because he’s pretty good at kicking touchbacks, and Michigan has some aggressive players on punt coverage, but overall, this is looking like an advantage for . . .

ADVANTAGE: Kansas State