In the span of fewer than 10 minutes of the Jets' Week 4 game at Miami, Braelon Allen's sophomore season in the NFL came crashing down.
First there was a fumble, as he was about to drive into the end zone that ended a 12-play, 81-yard drive that took more than 7 minutes off the clock.
The Dolphins then took the ball and put together their own long drive en route to a TD and a 10-0 lead. Allen then fielded the ensuing kickoff and returned it 24 yards. On the tackle, the Wisconsin product sustained an MCL sprain of his left knee that landed him on injured reserve and ultimately ended his season before it really got started.
"The game has never been taken away from me for this period of time," Allen told team reporter Caroline Hendershot just after the end of the season. "But I'm just excited to get back out there and really show people what I can do.
"I felt I was on the right track, just kind of getting rolling and it came to an abrupt end. I'm just excited to show what I can do."
It was initially thought that Allen (6-1, 235) would miss those 4 games on IR, but by the end of November HC Aaron Glenn conceded that Allen would "most likely" miss the rest of the season, which he did. As the G&W's fourth-round selection (No. 134 overall) in the 2024 NFL Draft, Allen, at 20 years and 239 days old, became the youngest player in the Super Bowl era and second-youngest player since 1933 to score a touchdown (a victory at Tennessee in Week 2). He was also the youngest player since 1933 with a rushing TD and a TD catch in the same game.
As part of the Jets' triple-threat backfield, along with Breece Hall and fellow rookie Isaiah Davis, as a rookie Allen carried the ball 92 times for 334 yards. More impressively, of Agent Zero's (he wears jersey No. 0) 92 carries, 22 went for first downs in the 2024 season.
He came into the 2025 season with high hopes of playing a more significant role in the team's run game under a new head coach and playing for a new offensive coordinator in Tanner Engstrand.
"For starters, I love the offense, I love the scheme that coach Tanner brought," Allen said. "And I think it fits all of us really well. We were all excited to play in it and I think the growth from the room was exponential through training camp leading into the season.
"It's not easy to go for 1,000 yards and Breece was able to do that even with how the season went. So that's a testament to not just the work he's put in, but the rest of the room as well, always pushing each other and holding each other to a standard."
As he works his way back, Allen said he plans to stick around the Atlantic Health Jets Training Center during the offseason, perhaps with a trip or two home to Fond du Lac, WI. As is the case across the NFL, it's a fluid situation for him and the Jets partly because Hall is eligible to become a free agent in mid-March. The team also has a potential bucket full of draft picks, including two (Nos. 2 and 16 at present) in the first round, plus a pair in the second round. But Allen said he's confident in his ability and believes in Glenn and his approach.
"He made it very known what the standard was going to be and just trying to build that culture every single day," Allen said. "The toughness. The physicality of the team I don't think ever wavered.
"So it's about how we set the foundation. Now we just got to continue to grow."
