Javorius Allen vs Lorenzo Taliaferro: Who will spell Forsett?

When the Baltimore Ravens selected USC running back Javorius Allen in the fourth round of this year’s NFL Draft, one could easily make the assumption that Lorenzo Taliaferro was put on notice. After all, the Ravens had just re-signed Justin Forsett to a three-year deal, so Taliaferro and Allen will have to compete for backup carries, so why spend a fourth-round pick on someone who would be the third back?

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I don’t see it that way. Rather than challenging Taliaferro, Javorius Allen should complement him. Yes, I see Allen complementing the complementary back.

Watching Allen on film, I see a bigger, faster, rawer Justin Forsett: a good receiver, good acceleration and a willing blocker. Also like Forsett, Allen doesn’t break many tackles and isn’t an especially creative runner. He simply gets the yardage blocked for him, which isn’t always a bad thing as long as he makes the right read.

Allen’s best trait right now is his ability as a receiver. Check out this nice catch and run against Boston College.

Notice how he caught the ball in stride, not slowing down, then accelerated to make a big gain. With a natural receiver like Allen, yards don’t come much easier than that. Any running back can make that play, but few make it look more natural than Allen did.

While Allen is not yet a high-quality pass blocker per Number Fire, he showed decent technique and effort. With some seasoning, he should be fine, rounding out his skill set as a top-tier third-down back.

Taliaferro, on the other hand, is a much better player on the first two downs than Allen. While Allen gets the yardage blocked for him, Taliaferro gets that yardage then a few more yards after contact. Take a look at this play from his Coastal Carolina days, with Taliaferro playing in the Wildcat.

Taliaferro’s legs kept churning, and he was able to push the pile all the way to the end zone. Allen can’t do that yet.

That translated to the NFL. Taliaferro led the team in yards after contact, as he picked up an average of 2.43 yards after contact last year, with 18 missed tackles force on just 76 touches per Pro Football Focus.

Further, Taliaferro was immediately comfortable making reads in the zone blocking scheme, something that will probably take Allen some time to master. Take a look at this seven-yard gain from Taliaferro’s coming out party Week 3 against the Cleveland Browns.

The run starts with basic outside zone blocking, the Ravens offensive line blocking to their right.

Taliaferro, recognizing that there are four Browns on the right and just three on the left, sees a cutback lane developing between Jeremy Zuttah and Kelechi Osemele, who is in the process of executing a reach block.

Zuttah continued to push Ahtyba Rubin to the outside, while Osemele handled Craig Robertson, keeping him from flowing to the play side. Taliaferro started the process of making his cut, which he made with good quickness and acceleration.

Taliaferro made his cut, then accelerated through the open lane. He was brought down from behind for a seven-yard gain, but the read and cut were excellent. I didn’t see anything like this from Allen in his film.

I see Taliaferro as the main complement to Forsett for now, while Allen will occasionally spell Forsett on passing downs. The skills that Allen brings to the table, receiving and potentially blocking, are the ones that define a starter for Marc Trestman, so if Forsett went down, I would guess Allen’s role would grow while Taliaferro’s would remain complementary. In other words, Allen will be the backup, while Taliaferro will be the complement.

Eventually, Allen and Taliaferro will make a dynamic one-two punch. Taliaferro and Allen will both turn 24 this year, so they have time to grow into their roles while Forsett takes the lead for now.