LSU 2022 Recruit Jacob Allen Seeing His Game Grow By Leaps and Bounds Over Past Few Months
Jacob Allen remembers the phone call he had back on May 22 with his new coach at Hun School, Todd Smith.
"Remember when I told you that when you transferred here I'd change your life?" Smith asked Allen over the phone.
"Uhm, yeah," Allen replied.
"Well LSU's on the other line and they're ready to offer you," Smith told Allen.
In addition to LSU, programs like Florida, Texas A&M, Auburn, Ole Miss, Michigan and Notre Dame are just a few that have all offered Allen. The plan moving forward as it pertains to LSU, is to hopefully get offensive line coach James Cregg or coach Ed Orgeron on the phone and start building those relationships.
Though all of these schools are starting to show heavy interest in his abilities because of last season, Allen doesn't think his sophomore tape a season ago was anything to ride home about.
"To be honest, I wasn't anywhere close to where I want to be, I feel like I was still a boy," Allen said. "I played like a boy but this year my goal is to come back like a man with a different mental state, physically and just improve across the board."
At 6-foot-6, 270 pounds, Allen said the quality of his game LSU loved above all else was the violent nature in which he blocks up front. As for what Allen feels is his greatest strength, it's the ability to go hard on every play no matter the outcome or the matchup.
"The ability to keep going and not give up no matter what happens," Allen said. "If I'm hurt or if the guy opposite me is better, I'm not going to back down. If I get knocked down, I always get back up and that's something I take pride in."
This offseason, Allen has been working on adding size and strength to that frame to make him a truly dominant offensive tackle. Before arriving to Hun School, Allen's approach at the line of scrimmage was to just go out there and block.
Now that he's had a full offseason to work on his craft, the main area of focus for Allen has been to completely refine his technique on the line of scrimmage.
"I feel that next year, my technique is going to be greatly improved because last year I'd just do what I thought was right," Allen said. "I have a long way to go but technique is something that I've been putting a ton of work into this offseason. Getting my body right is important to because if your body isn't right, it just make everything else harder."
Allen, who transferred to Hun School following his sophomore year, wanted to play for an established high school program he felt could offer him the right guidance to make it to the college ranks.
The Princeton, New Jersey native was initially a member of the 2021 class but decided to reclassify to 2022 when he transferred to Hun last year. The decision to transfer to Hun School was primarily football related and Allen has already started to see the benefits of how a better culture helps his game in a multitude of ways.
"I came here, I got punched in the mouth and then I got back up but it was a culture shock," Allen said. "Learning how to properly block has been a major change in my development because at my previous school, I thought that throwing kids to the ground was a good block, but it's a hold."
Right now, Allen's mentality on recruiting is to not even think about it. While he's appreciative of the offers and interest from these top level program, preparing for his junior season is the sole focus for him at the moment.
Because all of his offers have come through really in the months that the coronavirus pandemic has shut down visits, the only campus Allen has been able to visit is Rutgers. While visits haven't and likely won't open up for quite some time, Allen is looking forward to learning about each school that has shown an interest in him.
"Seeing the campuses will be a great learning experience for me," Allen said. "A huge thing for me will be getting to know the people and what they're like. Having a good relationship with the coaches and understanding the culture of the program will be a huge part of my decision. The people are everything."
