When Keenan Allen took the field against the Detroit Lions Sunday afternoon, the third-year pass catcher of the San Diego Chargers had a pretty big chip on his shoulder. Coming off a down sophomore campaign that saw him put up 250 less receiving yards and four fewer touchdowns than his rookie season, Allen wanted to make a statement in the 2015 season opener.
“You can say it was a disappointment compared to my first year,” Allen said Sunday evening about his 2014 performance. “But I still led the team in receptions.”
Allen could talk about a less-than-stellar 2014 campaign now that he's coming off a game against a good Lions defense that saw him put up 15 receptions for 166 yards. Considering Allen was targeted 17 times in the game, it's a safe assumption that his opener was a major success.
What makes Allen's performance on Sunday that much more amazing is that he was going up against a Lions defense that performed extremely well against wide receivers last season, ranking in the top 10 of the NFL against players at that position.
Allen's rookie season saw him put up 71 receptions for 1,046 yards and eight touchdowns. Primed to be a breakout performer as a sophomore last year, the former third-round pick — whether he wants to admit it — struggled with consistency last season. He tallied just 783 yards on six more receptions while reaching the end zone four times. A combination of regression in route running and some maturity issues saw Allen's success when targeted dip big time. Philip Rivers threw two more interceptions (six) than touchdowns (four) when targeting the CAL product last year. That came on the heels of an eight-to-three TD/INT ratio in 2013.
Seemingly a completely different receiver, Allen has an opportunity to break through his time this year. Rivers' favorite target, Antonio Gates, is suspended for the next three games after violating the league's substance abuse policy. Add in the fact that the Chargers No. 2 receiver, Steve Johnson, is new to the team, and it's easy to draw the conclusion that Allen will rack up a ton of targets moving forward this season. Based on his success Sunday against a good Lions defense, that should lead to a darn good campaign for the young receiver.