Former NFL wide receiver Torrey Smith believes in the future of Rutgers football wide receiver Vernon Allen III. The true freshman has flashed since arriving at Rutgers in January.
Smith, who overseas the 7-on-7 team that Allen played for in high school, sees a natural fit at Rutgers for his former standout wide receiver. Allen was a three-star recruit out of Perry Hall (Nottingham, MD).
A former second round pick out of Maryland, Smith spent eight years in the NFL and won two Super Bowls as a wide receiver with the Baltimore Ravens.
”He has that dog mentality in him, a Baltimore kid that is going to be successful. He's going to bring his best and compete, he's very physical,'' Smith told Scarlet Nation about Allen.
''His strength is the ability to attack the ball. But he actually has a lot of YAC (yards after catch) ability for a bigger body receiver. And as you learn and grow and understand what it takes to be successful at the collegiate level, he's only going to get better and that takes time.''
The first flash from Allen came in April's spring game, where the freshman finished with five catches for 98 yards. Allen rose up well on several of the balls to make contested catches.
Smith, who's Level 82 7-on-7 team currently includes Rutgers quarterback Xavier Stearn, thinks Allen is going to grow into a role within the Big Ten program's offense this fall.
Rutgers has a strong wide receivers room but Allen showed in the spring game that there is the potential for him to begin seeing the field as a true freshman. Listed at 6-foot-2 and 195 pounds, the true freshman got compared by Smith to another emerging standout at Rutgers.
''And his coaches are doing a great job with him up there, because I'm able to go and see and his growth and watch. He obviously dominated in the spring game which is really cool to see as a young guy,'' Smith said.
''You see him, he can be a big body type, an X receiver. Obviously Rutgers has a few of them with KJ Duff – I remember KJ from 7-on-7. They have a lot of big body style receivers and he fits the mold.''
Smith finished his NFL career with 319 catches for 5,141 yards and 41 touchdowns.