Packers Prospect Profile — CB Cortez Allen, The Citadel

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1) Profile:

Cortez Allen

College: The Citadel

Position: CB

Height: 6’1″ Weight: 196 lbs.

Born: October 29, 1988 From: Ocala, FL

2) High School / College Highlights: For his first three years at North Marion High School, Allen was strictly a track star. His senior year, however, he gave football a try and was an immediate standout. North Marion improved from 6-6 in 2004 to 10-4 during Allen’s senior season in ’05, and Allen was named to Florida’s Class AAA All-State, All-City and All-District teams.

Still a raw recruit, Allen saw playing time in only five games his first two collegiate seasons, including being redshirted after just one game in 2007. Once Allen took over the starting spot mid-way through 2008, however, he would never again give up it during his final 2.5 years.

After intercepting three passes in 2009, Allen was named a Third team All-American and Second team All-Southern Conference. He followed up that performance with two interceptions in 2010, good for a Second team All-American and All-Southern Conference selection.

3) College Stats: 39 games played (28 starts), 121 tackles, five interceptions, 16 passes broken up, two touchdowns, one blocked punt

4) NFL Combine Results: 4.51 second 40-yard dash, 18 bench-presses of 225 pounds, 35.5-inch vertical jump, 129-inch broad jump, 6.76 second 3 cone drill, 4.01 second 20-yard shuttle, 10.87 second 60-yard shuttle

5) Strengths/Weaknesses: With his big frame and long arms, Allen is adept at playing press coverage, and he used these skills to be a dominant cornerback at the Citadel. In his 28 career starts, Allen only allowed 69 completions (35.03 percent) and three receiving touchdowns with an average of 4.42 yards per pass attempt.

He wasn’t just a shutdown corner either. Allen contributed as an active supporter against the run, and he made no qualms about playing special teams. In fact, Allen recorded 13 tackles on special teams during his career. Finally, Allen played well in the East-West Shrine game and didn’t seem overwhelmed by the occasion.

Despite that performance, Allen is still a raw prospect with very little experience against big-time competition. And while he certainly has plenty of short-area quickness, Allen lacks the straight line catch up speed that most of the top flight cornerbacks possess.

6) Fit for the Packers: At the current time, I hesitate to call the cornerback position a “need” for the Packers. Charles Woodson still has a few good years left in him, and the emergence of Tramon Williams and Sam Shields gives the Packers one of the NFL’s best trio of cornerbacks.

Still, Woodson won’t be around forever, and the Packers would be wise to have a long-term plan in place. But instead of using a high-round pick on a player who might not even crack the lineup right away, a better idea would be taking a developmental cornerback who can be groomed into taking Woodson’s spot once he’s done in Green Bay.

Allen fits that mold. He has similar size as Woodson, and his willingness to play near the line of scrimmage and on special teams gives him tremendous value for the Packers in the middle rounds. If Green Bay wants to pick a cornerback, a player like Allen would be an ideal selection.

7) Highlight videos

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Zach Kruse is a 23-year-old sports journalist with a passion for the Green Bay Packers. He currently lives in Wisconsin and is working on his journalism degree, while also covering prep sports for The Dunn Co. News.

You can read more of Zach's Packers articles on AllGreenBayPackers.com.

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4 thoughts on “Packers Prospect Profile — CB Cortez Allen, The Citadel

  1. I would think Shields or Tramon would be on any speedy guys, leaving Cortez to face a bigger receiver

    1. Agreed. Because he’s bigger and has plenty of experience jamming receivers, Allen would be solid covering the slot, in my opinion.

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