Meet Tyler Allgeier, Falcons Record-Setting RB & 'Life of the Party'
It's Week 18, and the Atlanta Falcons are seven minutes away from wrapping up a season-ending victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Holding a 10-point lead against many of Tampa Bay's reserves, the end result isn't really in doubt - but Falcons running back Tyler Allgeier is chasing something extra.
Rookie quarterback Desmond Ridder takes the snap, turns left and hands off to Allgeier.
He finds a gap - and 28 yards later, is the Falcons' all-time leading rookie rusher, ultimately finishing with 1,035 yards on the season.
But 17 weeks earlier, Allgeier was a healthy scratch ahead of his first professional game, with three other ballcarriers sitting above him on the active roster.
This sudden march from inactive to record-setting rookie wasn't expected by Falcons coach Arthur Smith nor general manager Terry Fontenot - but ask those in Provo, Utah, and the answer couldn't be more different.
There, you'll find teammates who watched Allgeier become the BYU Cougars' all-time single season rushing leader with 1,601 yards in 2021, tied for No. 4 in the nation.
But they also saw where Allgeier came from.
Despite rushing for almost 2,500 yards and 29 touchdowns as a senior at Kaiser High School in Fontana, California, Allgeier had just one offer for much of the year - Division II's Southern Nazarene, a private school located in Bethany, Oklahoma.
Allgeier later received a pair of Division I offers, but when BYU gave him a chance to be a preferred walk-on, he pounced. When he arrived on campus, the now-224-pound Allgeier tipped the scale at just 183.
Nonetheless, he had an opportunity - but as has been well-documented, life of a college football player not on scholarship isn't glamorous. Allgeier, who redshirted as a true freshman in 2018, picked up unceremonious jobs, including a summer gig at Walmart.
The following year, Allgeier, still a walk-on, emerged as a legitimate player for the Cougars ... as a linebacker. In a victory over then-undefeated and nationally ranked Boise State, Allgeier led the team in tackles with nine.
He bounced around between offense and defense for the rest of the season, finishing with 119 yards rushing and 26 tackles. The spring thereafter, Allgeier became a full-time running back and was placed on scholarship - and didn't look back until he made team history.
Sound familiar?
Allgeier's story of overcoming difficult times and uncertainty within his role is nothing new ... as is breaking into the record books.
It's why former BYU quarterback and current NFL Draft prospect Jaren Hall respects Allgeier so much - this isn't just a one-time thing, it's who Allgeier is.
And this "it"?
"Grit," Hall told Sports Illustrated's Falcon Report. "That dude, he's a game-changer. We talk about it all the time - the difference in having him on the field is huge, and you saw that this year in the NFL. He's such a stud."
With his full rookie season in the books, one glance at a stat sheet - or simply turning on a Falcons game at any point over the last two months of the season - verifies Hall's claims: Allgeier is, in fact, a difference-making, game-changing stud.
But another of his BYU teammates - offensive tackle Blake Freeland - added another term to the laundry list of descriptive words.
"Freak," said Freeland.
Of course, this was well-known within the Cougar program ... but the Falcons saw first-hand as to why. By all accounts, it was a solid rookie campaign for a player dubbed an "average backup" by the NFL during the draft process and fell all the way to No. 151 overall.
Allgeier being forced to claw his way from a fifth-round pick into the rotation was a microcosm of what he's done his whole life - overcoming doubters and being passed over only to star when given the opportunity.
It's an identity and mindset that embodies how Allgeier's wired ... and something Freeland will always remember about their three years together.
"He's a tough dude," Freeland said. "That 2021 season was special for him; the last two seasons he was there was awesome. It was fun blocking for him - he made us look good a lot of the time, which was nice. But yeah, good, tough dude. Really, really good dude, as well."
The "really, really good dude" side of Allgeier is the lesser-known - but perhaps equally as important for his value in Atlanta's locker room.
During post-game press conferences, he's never been one to lack character, slipping a "freakin" in front of words to add emphasis and never hesitating to speak his mind.
No matter the situation, whether it was early in the season after drawing his first start in Week 5 or after etching his name into Atlanta's history books, Allgeier was the same guy.
But who is Allgeier?
As he's proven regardless of the level of competition, Allgeier is a "freak" who's filled with "grit" - but he's also a 22-year-old who doesn't hesitate to reach out to his former teammates.
Following his rookie season, Allgeier returned to Fontana and paid a visit to Hall, who's working with quarterbacks trainer John Beck in Huntington Beach ahead of draft day.
The duo of Allgeier and Hall arrived in Provo as a part of the same recruiting class; from 2018 through 2021, they went through "a lot of experiences" together, the latter said.
They shared only one season as starters but made the most of it, posting a 10-3 record in their last year together, bringing BYU its second-straight season with double-digit wins for the first time in over a decade.
But rather than anything on the field, Hall's favorite experiences with Allgeier came off it. There was mention of how they "grinded together in the weight room," but the first thing that came to mind had nothing to do with athletics.
Instead, Hall said going out to eat with Allgeier upon coming home topped the list. They spoke about the season, but what stood out to Hall was simply "chopping it up" with his former teammate.
"That was fun, just to see him," Hall said.
Opposing defenders likely felt differently when he broke through the first level of Atlanta's defense - but Hall added that it took some time to get to the real Allgeier.
"He was always a shy, quiet guy, then as you got to know him, he opened up," said Hall. "He's a goofy dude, life of the party, fun dude. Ty's a good dude - always a good experience with him."
Allgeier's professional debut fittingly came around an hour away from home, as he saw 10 touches in a 31-27 loss to the Los Angeles Rams in Week 2. He managed only 30 yards on the ground - but impressed Smith for being a "dependable" blocker.
From then on, Allgeier became a staple in Atlanta's offense, seeing double-digit carries in 12 of the final 15 games.
His breakout came in a Week 4 victory over the Cleveland Browns. Running back Cordarrelle Patterson won NFC Offensive Player of the Week honors following a strong game th e week= before but was battling through a knee injury ... so in went Allgeier.
The response? Another 10 carries, but this time, 84 yards - along with a 20-yard reception. It marked his first-career 100-all-purpose-yard game as a professional.
Patterson was placed on injured reserve shortly thereafter, and Allgeier succinctly started the first four games of his career. The results were mixed, as he took 58 carries for 185 yards and a touchdown, averaging just 3.1 yards per carry but keeping Atlanta's offense afloat with its star.
But when Patterson returned, the switch flipped - and suddenly, Allgeier was the star. By year's end, he was the league's No. 2 rookie rusher and led the Falcons in nearly every major rushing category, headlined by carries (210) and yards (1,035).
In typical Allgeier fashion, it wasn't about how he started, but how he finished.
Once Ridder took over at quarterback in Week 15 for the benched Marcus Mariota, Allgeier dominated, taking 79 carries for 431 yards and two touchdowns while adding six receptions for 52 yards.
It was a far cry from that Sunday afternoon in Los Angeles - but eerily similar to the "special" 2021 season he had at BYU.
Perhaps most importantly, the one-time healthy scratch left positive impressions on the top decision makers within the Falcons organization.
"Tyler, he consistently showed in the second half of the year, as the game wears on, he gets harder to tackle," Smith said. "Such a smart, instinctive player. Another guy that (we're) really excited about here."
Added Fontenot: "He's such a smart, versatile player. He's a guy that's not just first and second down, but third downs, protection, he's smart, he can catch the ball, he could go play special teams on fourth down. We love Tyl
Arriving in Atlanta some 2,100 miles away from home, little was familiar for Allgeier besides Smith's patented wide-zone offense, which was run heavily at BYU, and a young quarterback mature beyond his years.
Hall, who's set to be a Day 3 draft pick in April, is older than Ridder by nearly a year and a half - but the two share in the fact that they're already married and have a baby daughter.
Another thing they've quickly grown to share is a close relationship with Allgeier - which began for Ridder during rooking minicamp, where they were roommates.
When Ridder was told he'd be the starter on the Thursday of Atlanta's bye week, he invited some teammates to throw and build chemistry.
It's the first week without a game in over three months; for the rookies, it's the longest season they've had - a particularly notable fact for Allgeier, who told Hall the NFL is "more physical (and) long" in comparison to college.
And yet - there was Allgeier, on the field catching passes from Ridder, doing work he didn't have to do at a time when he certainly didn't have to be there.
The shared work ethic and simple passion for football stood out to Allgeier's coaches at BYU and helped endear him to Ridder - in addition to his never-before-seen on-field qualities.
"Tyler's a workhorse," said Ridder. "His balance is wild. For him to be able to get the ball and make one guy miss and then get hit by two or three guys but still be up, it's something I haven't seen before ... He's a heck of a ball player."
The phrase "a quarterback's best friend" is often reversed for reliable receivers - but Allgeier quite literally embodies it. And as one would expect, the "life of the party" is quite popular with his offensive linemen.
Freeland, who's a potential top-100 pick in April's draft, struck a smile when asked about blocking for Allgeier ... and certainly endorsed the idea of being a lineman's best friend.
"It's special," said Freeland. "You know where he's going all the time and if you make those mistakes or there's schematic problems, he's there to kind of clean it up, make it right."
And really, perhaps nothing explains who Allgeier is more than that.
Whether it be pushing carts at Walmart to help pay for his walk-on schooling or transitioning to linebacker out of necessity or stepping into the shoes of one of the NFL's leading rushers after being inactive three weeks prior ... Allgeier is always on track and there to "make it right."
Moving forward, Fontenot has said that Atlanta will keep adding to its running backs room this offseason. Allgeier will be tasked with once again winning the starting job and trying to avoid the patented "sophomore slump."
But if there's one thing Allgeier's journey has proven, from the highs to the lows, it's to never bet against him - because he simply refuses to give up.
"Ty, you can never tell when stuff is hard," Hall said. "He cherishes it, he loves it."
And for that, it's easy to see why everyone loves Allgeier ... one pushed shopping cart, one party and one record-breaking run at a time.
You can follow Daniel Flick on Twitter @DFlickDraft
Get your HOTlanta Falcons game tickets from SI Tickets ... here!
Want the latest in breaking news and insider information on the Falcons? Click Here.
Follow Falcon Report on Twitter.
Want even more Atlanta Falcons news? Check out the Si.com team page here
