LA Rams starting offensive center, Brian Allen, is paying it forward

Roaring out of the gates

The decision to slide Corbett back to guard and start Brian Allen at center did not come without a stack of risks of their own. For starters, until that point, Corbett had been the exclusive snapper for newly arrived quarterback Matthew Stafford. That meant all of the progress through training camp to that point had to be tossed, and the automatic snap between Allen to Stafford had to be fast-tracked to ensure no problems would arise through the season.

But the LA Rams schedule was not kind to Allen’s efforts to reclaim his reputation as an NFL starting offensive lineman. He would face Chicago Bears Akiem Hicks in Week 1, Indianapolis Colts DeForest Buckner in Week 2, and Tampa Bay Buccaneers Vita Vea in Week 3.

Wow.

Rams Roster: A starting center is re-born

And yet, LA Rams fans began to notice something they really hadn’t expected. Allen was holding his own against some of the biggest names in the NFL. The kid with the surgically-repaired knee was tasked with blocking some of the NFL’s best and passed the test with flying colors.

Allen put up quite a showing through the season. Unfortunately, he suffered a rather significant injury to his left elbow against the Tennessee Titans (hyperextended) but continued to play as a one-armed offensive lineman for several weeks. Ultimately, he was taken out after just a handful of snaps against the Minnesota Vikings.

Ultimately, Allen did return and he started all four NFL Playoff games. But the image of Brian Allen in the postseason is captured in the video footage below.

After that touchdown catch, the raw enthusiasm on display by Brian Allen was exactly what each of us was experiencing at that moment. He was clearly the NFL Comeback Player of the Year, but he simply played the wrong position to be noticed by NFL pundits and analysts