Jets running back Braelon Allen was named the NFL's Pepsi Zero Sugar Rookie of the Week for his 2-touchdown performance in the Green & White's Week 2 win on the road against the Tennessee Titans.
Allen, a fourth-round draft pick this past April, ran the ball 7 times for 33 yards (4.7 YAC) and scored what proved to be the game-winning touchdown on a 20-yard ramble late in the fourth quarter. The Jets evened their record at 1-1 ahead of Thursday night's regular-season home opener against New England at MetLife Stadium.
Late in the second quarter Allen, who has the nickname Agent 0 for his jersey number, took a short screen pass from QB Aaron Rodgers for a 12-yard TD that evened the score, 7-7, with 1:55 to play in the first half. Overall in the game, Allen (6-1, 235) caught 2 passes (on 4 targets) for 23 yards.
"Braelon, yeah, he's what we saw in training camp, he just had more opportunities today," QB Aaron Rodgers said after Sunday's 24-17 victory. "I thought it was a super athletic play on the screen to get in the end zone. We checked a run into a nice spot on the right side. Not sure where the tight end was, but it felt like [RT] Morgan [Moses] and [RG] AVT [Alijah Vera-Tucker] opened a hole, and he just needed a little bit of space because he's so big and strong and you just can't tackle him high. So, really proud of him. He's a great kid and cares about it a lot. Happy for him."
At 20 years and 239 days old, Allen became the youngest player in the Super Bowl era and second-youngest player since 1933 to score a touchdown. He is the youngest player since 1933 with a rushing touchdown and a touchdown catch in the same game.
A native of Fond du Lac, WI, Allen was recruited by Wisconsin to play either safety or linebacker because of his size and speed, but ended up as the Badgers' featured running back for three seasons. In that time he carried the ball 597 times for 3,494 yards (5.9 YAC) and rushed for the exact same number of yards (1,268) in 2021 and 2022. As a 17-year-old freshman, Allen set a Wisconsin record with 7 straight games exceeding 100 yards rushing.
"He's a load," HC Robert Saleh said. "He's always finishing forward. He was big in a couple of short yardage situations, caught that screen pass on our left side and there was no doubt with that space he was going to run over whoever was standing in his way at the 1. He's a great complement to Breece [Hall] and Breece's run style."
Allen and Hall combined for 95 rush yards and 75 passing yards against the Titans.
