This New York Jets Player 'Surprised' During Minicamp

It sounds like one of the New York Jets youngsters was the biggest surprise during minicamp this offseason.

Aug 12, 2023; Charlotte, North Carolina, USA; New York Jets helmet during the second quarter against the Carolina Panthers at Bank of America Stadium / Jim Dedmon-USA TODAY Sports

Part of the offseason for every team is making sure they start building for the future, and even though the New York Jets are all in this year, that didn't stop general manager Joe Douglas from getting pieces that could help them out in upcoming campaigns.

The NFL draft is the easiest avenue to do that, selecting top players on the board from the college ranks who can be developed into potential future stars.

That was the clear avenue the Jets took, selecting offensive tackle Olu Fashanu with their first round pick, taking two running backs to fill in the room around Breece Hall, and picking an intriguing quarterback prospect in Jordan Travis.

Ideally, even rookies will be able to impact the team in positive ways, and it sounds like they could get that from their fourth round pick Braelon Allen.

The Wisconsin product was one of the best players at his position since he was a freshman. He put up back-to-back 1,000 yard seasons before coming up just shy of that mark during his final year in 2023 that was mostly due to an offensive philosophy change.

Allen looks the part, standing 6-foot-1 and 235 pounds at 20 years old.

Questions surrounding him were mainly about how he would translate to the NFL game where he would need to be a pass-catching option out of the backfield instead of just being a battering ram.

So far, the early returns on Allen have been tremendous.

In fact, ESPN highlighted him as the player who was the biggest standout during minicamp and OTAs, predicting he will become the primary backup to Hall this year.

Much of that has come from his ability to showcase he can catch the ball.

"If you go back and watch his tape at Wisconsin, he caught the ball well," New York's running backs coach Tony Dews told Rich Cimini.

His 49 catches for 275 yards during his three seasons at Wisconsin certainly didn't suggest he would be a legitimate option in the passing game, but maybe that was more so due to the lack of opportunities instead of his inability.

Even if Allen doesn't become an elite pass catcher, he still should be able to dominate opposing defenses on the ground, something that every team is looking for from their running back.