Dakota Devon Allen (born November 2, 1995) is an American former professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and typically line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and so back up the defensive linemen. They play closer to the line ...

who played four seasons in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL). He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

for the Texas Tech Red Raiders. He also played junior college football for the East Mississippi Lions. Allen was selected by the

Los Angeles Rams The Los Angeles Rams are a professional American football team based in the Greater Los Angeles, Greater Los Angeles area. The Rams compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West ...

in the seventh round of the

2019 NFL draft The 2019 NFL draft was the 84th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players for the 2019 NFL season. The draft was held on April 25–27 in Nashville, Tennessee, Nashville. The first round was held ...

Early life

Allen was born in

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

and grew up in Humble, Texas. He attended Summer Creek High School and was a standout football player for the Bulldogs. As a senior, he recorded 112 tackles and three interceptions and was named the Defensive MVP of District 19-4A. He committed to play

at Texas Tech over offers from

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

, TCU, Kansas State, and Iowa State.

College career

Allen began his collegiate career at

Texas Tech University Texas Tech University (Texas Tech, Tech, or TTU) is a public university, public research university in Lubbock, Texas, United States. Established on February 10, 1923, and called Texas Technological College until 1969, it is the flagship instit ...

, redshirting his freshman season. As a redshirt freshman, Allen was the second-leading tackler with 87 stops for the Texas Tech Red Raiders. After the end of the season, he was charged with second-degree burglary along with two teammates and ultimately expelled from Texas Tech. All charges were eventually dropped against Allen after agreeing to enter a pre-trial diversionary program. Following his dismissal, he transferred to East Mississippi Community College. While at East Mississippi, he was featured in the second season of the

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documentary series '' Last Chance U'', where he played under head coach Buddy Stephens. Allen recorded a team leading 117 tackles with two sacks, an interception, a forced fumble, a fumble recovery and five pass breakups. Despite success on the field early in the season, he only originally received scholarship offers from Bowling Green and

Troy Troy (/; ; ) or Ilion (; ) was an ancient city located in present-day Hisarlik, Turkey. It is best known as the setting for the Greek mythology, Greek myth of the Trojan War. The archaeological site is open to the public as a tourist destina ...

due to his previous arrest. Allen later received offers from Ole Miss, Mississippi State and Marshall, but opted to return to Texas Tech to finish his collegiate career. Allen had a breakout junior season in 2017, with 92 tackles, 12 tackles for loss, and six forced turnovers. He was subsequently named to the All-Big 12 Conference by Pro Football Focus and to the second-team All-Big 12 by coaches and media. As a senior, Allen made 73 total tackles, including 6.5 for loss, and was named first-team All-Big 12.

Professional career

Los Angeles Rams (first stint)

Allen was selected by the

in the seventh round (251st overall) of the

. Allen signed a four-year $2,594,288 contract with a signing bonus of $74,288 on June 7, 2019. He was waived during final roster cuts on August 31, but was signed to the practice squad the following day.

Oakland Raiders

On September 24, 2019, Allen was signed by the

Oakland Raiders The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team based in Oakland, California, from its founding in 1960 to 1981, and again from 1995 to 2019 before Oakland Raiders relocation to Las Vegas, relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan ...

off the Rams practice squad. Allen made his NFL debut on October 6 against the

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They are one of two remaining ...

, playing eight snaps on special teams. He was waived on October 30 after appearing in two games for the Raiders.

Los Angeles Rams (second stint)

On November 4, 2019, Allen was signed to the Rams practice squad.

Jacksonville Jaguars

On December 10, 2019, Allen was signed by the

Jacksonville Jaguars The Jacksonville Jaguars are a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida. The Jaguars compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. The team ...

off the Rams practice squad. After appearing mostly in the field goal defense. Allen replaced starter Myles Jack in week 4 of the 2020 NFL season during the second half of the game against the

Cincinnati Bengals The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional American football team based in Cincinnati. The Bengals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team plays its h ...

. In 2020, Allen played in 13 games with the Jaguars, he started two and played mostly on special teams. He has 14 tackles (nine solo), four special teams tackles and three loss tackles this season. Allen signed an exclusive-rights free agent tender with the Jaguars on April 15, 2021.

Cleveland Browns

On June 21, 2022, Allen signed with the

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. The Browns compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team is named after ...

. Allen was waived by the Browns on August 30. The Browns signed Allen to their practice squad on August 31. He was signed to the active roster on October 15. He was waived three days later.

Denver Broncos

On November 22, 2022, Allen was signed by the

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football team based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC West, West division. The team is headquartered in E ...

off the Browns practice squad. On December 19, Allen was placed on season–ending injured reserve. He became a free agent after the 2022 season.

Personal life

Allen is the son of Stacey Hawkins and Keith Allen. His father played collegiate football as a

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offense ...

at the

University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public university, public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 stud ...

References

External links

Texas Tech Red Raiders bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Allen, Dakota 1995 births Living people Sportspeople from Humble, Texas Players of American football from Harris County, Texas American football linebackers East Mississippi Lions football players Texas Tech Red Raiders football players Los Angeles Rams players Oakland Raiders players Jacksonville Jaguars players Cleveland Browns players Denver Broncos players