The CaneSport 30 for 30: Ranking top 30 Canes with 30 or more reps of experience … No. 26 Ajay Allen

We are ranking the top Miami Hurricanes players with 30 or more reps of college experience and seeing how they stack up.

Dec. 31 we broke down our overview of the series, and today we are at No. 26 on the list, RB Ajay Allen. Also note the following players on Miami’s roster that didn’t make our Top 30 that do have 30 or more reps of college experience per Pro Football Focus: Ryan Rodriguez (123 reps this year), Jacurri Brown (66 reps), Luis Cristobal, Jr. (66 reps), Jayden Wayne (135 reps), Ahmad Moten (146 reps), Jaden Harris (130 reps) and Jared Harrison-Hunte (505 reps).

NO. 30 SAMSON OKUNLOLA, NO. 29 MARKEITH WILLIAMS, NO. 28 JOSHUA HORTON, NO. 27 SAVION RILEY

Without further ado, here’s No. 26 on the list (CaneSport will unveil 1 a day over the next month with a closer look at each):

MIAMI RB AJAY ALLEN

Analyzing past performance: Allen arrived at Miami as a Nebraska transfer, and in 2022 as a freshman for the Cornhuskers he had 33 carries, 190 yards and two touchdowns. It was an up-and-down season for Allen at Miami this past year working behind Mark Fletcher and Henry Parrish, but he showed enough flashes that if he keeps his head on straight and works hard he can be a bigtime impact for the offense. This past season Allen ran 70 times for 368 yards and five touchdowns in nine games. Per Pro Football Focus he had a solid 77.0 overall grade and 78.3 as a runner while playing 169 reps. That includes an average of 2.79 yards after contact, and he was noted with four runs of 15 or more yards.

Why he might star in 2024: Yes, Fletcher and Parrish return and are likely to be ahead of him on the depth chart. But Allen has a combination of speed and power that will get him opportunities, and you could see his potential when he was on the field this year. Also don’t forget he’s entering just his third year of college ball, so he could be in store for a step up in his play level, especially considering his first season was hampered by injury. The Canes need playmakers at running back and had a rotation that was effective for a good part of 2023, and there’s no reason to think that won’t continue in 2024.

Why he might struggle in 2024: Because Allen, on paper, is a third-team running back and there might not be enough carries to go around where he’ll be able to put up big numbers. Allen also had some issues that kept him off the field even when he was available to play this year, so he really has to make sure he’s dialed in with everything. He has a ton of potential but has to show he can live up to it.

CaneSport’s projection: Allen is an extremely talented back, and we’d argue he might be the second-best fit as an all-around every down back after Fletcher due to his combination of speed/power and ability to wear down defenses. But with Fletcher having a breakout 2023 season and Parrish being a veteran who is above average in pretty much everything he does we can see Allen with a complementary role. He should still make an impact, but somewhere in the range of 500 yards and 5 TDs is probably about his ceiling if Fletcher and Parrish stay healthy.

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