Braelon Allen and Isaac Guerendo played together for two years at Wisconsin. Now it’s looking like both will start their first games as pros on the same day. Guerendo for the 49ers, Allen for the Jets.
The 49ers have placed Christian McCaffrey and Jordan Mason on IR, queuing up Guerendo to be busy for the duration. This has been known all week.
But the Jets are calling Breece Hall doubtful, so it’s looking like Allen will also be starting for the Jets in Week 14.
Both players at times have looked like starter-quality backs – big, fast guys who can break tackles.
I am more optimistic about Guerendo. He’s busted a few runs, and the 49ers have a strong history of putting together good running games.
With Allen, I remember him busting a couple of real nice runs against Washington in a preseason game, and I remember being impressed by him in that Thursday night game against the Patriots, where some of us were wondering if the Jets might be going to more of a committee-type backfield.
But Allen hasn’t done much recently, and the Jets in general have kind of fallen apart. They’ve been a bottom-10 run team over the last seven weeks, averaging 88 yards per game.
Since Week 6, Allen is the only running back in the league with at least 30 carries who has averaged under 3 yards per attempt.
| UNDER 4 YARDS PER CARRY SINCE WEEK 6 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | G | Att | Yards | Avg | TD |
| Braelon Allen, NYJ | 7 | 35 | 97 | 2.8 | 1 |
| Nick Chubb, Cle. | 6 | 82 | 243 | 3.0 | 3 |
| Alexander Mattison, L.V. | 5 | 65 | 195 | 3.0 | 1 |
| Rhamondre Stevenson, N.E. | 7 | 103 | 315 | 3.1 | 3 |
| Kenneth Walker, Sea. | 7 | 108 | 340 | 3.1 | 3 |
| Zach Charbonnet, Sea. | 7 | 31 | 99 | 3.2 | 2 |
| Travis Etienne, Jac. | 5 | 42 | 140 | 3.3 | 0 |
| Jaylen Wright, Mia. | 7 | 30 | 104 | 3.5 | 0 |
| Kareem Hunt, K.C. | 7 | 121 | 421 | 3.5 | 4 |
| Javonte Williams, Den. | 8 | 71 | 256 | 3.6 | 4 |
| Raheem Mostert, Mia. | 7 | 40 | 147 | 3.7 | 2 |
| Austin Ekeler, Was. | 7 | 55 | 205 | 3.7 | 3 |
| Antonio Gibson, N.E. | 8 | 44 | 166 | 3.8 | 1 |
| Cam Akers, Hou.-Min. | 8 | 38 | 149 | 3.9 | 0 |
| James Conner, Ari. | 7 | 100 | 394 | 3.9 | 2 |
| Jonathan Taylor, Ind. | 6 | 114 | 455 | 4.0 | 1 |
Statistics compiled using search tools at Pro-Football-Reference.com
The Jets are playing a 5-7 opponent this week, but I don’t consider it to be a good matchup for Allen. Strictly via numbers, Dolphins since Week 8 have had the 3rd-best run defense in the league, allowing an average of 84 rushing yards in their last six games, with 2 TDs.
If given the choice between these two former college teammates, I’d be a lot more excited about Guerendo.
| DEFENSE AGAINST THE RUN SINCE WEEK 8 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | G | Yd/G | Yd/Att | TD | Pts/G |
| Denver | 6 | 74.8 | 3.4 | 2 | 9.5 |
| Minnesota | 6 | 82.7 | 3.5 | 2 | 10.3 |
| Miami | 6 | 84.3 | 4.0 | 2 | 10.4 |
| Las Vegas | 5 | 84.0 | 3.4 | 2 | 10.8 |
| Arizona | 5 | 86.2 | 4.1 | 2 | 11.0 |
| Atlanta | 5 | 99.2 | 4.4 | 1 | 11.1 |
| New England | 6 | 111.3 | 4.0 | 2 | 13.1 |
| Tampa Bay | 5 | 96.4 | 3.8 | 3 | 13.2 |
| Kansas City | 6 | 85.2 | 3.7 | 5 | 13.5 |
| Seattle | 5 | 100.2 | 4.2 | 3 | 13.6 |
| Houston | 6 | 110.2 | 4.3 | 3 | 14.0 |
| Buffalo | 5 | 106.6 | 4.7 | 3 | 14.3 |
| Philadelphia | 6 | 94.3 | 4.0 | 5 | 14.4 |
| Detroit | 7 | 95.1 | 4.2 | 6 | 14.7 |
| Green Bay | 6 | 98.0 | 3.8 | 5 | 14.8 |
| Baltimore | 6 | 99.3 | 3.8 | 5 | 14.9 |
| LA Chargers | 6 | 127.7 | 4.6 | 3 | 15.8 |
| LA Rams | 6 | 136.7 | 4.5 | 4 | 17.7 |
| New Orleans | 5 | 121.0 | 4.5 | 6 | 19.3 |
| Pittsburgh | 5 | 103.8 | 4.8 | 9 | 21.2 |
| Indianapolis | 6 | 132.0 | 4.5 | 8 | 21.2 |
| Cincinnati | 5 | 117.0 | 4.3 | 8 | 21.3 |
| Washington | 6 | 143.3 | 4.6 | 7 | 21.3 |
| Chicago | 6 | 158.2 | 5.1 | 6 | 21.8 |
| Tennessee | 6 | 134.7 | 4.5 | 9 | 22.5 |
| Carolina | 5 | 173.4 | 5.0 | 5 | 23.3 |
| Cleveland | 5 | 132.0 | 5.0 | 9 | 24.0 |
| NY Giants | 5 | 156.6 | 4.7 | 7 | 24.1 |
| NY Jets | 5 | 124.2 | 4.0 | 10 | 24.4 |
| San Francisco | 5 | 129.8 | 4.4 | 10 | 25.0 |
| Dallas | 6 | 152.0 | 5.2 | 11 | 26.2 |
| Jacksonville | 5 | 176.0 | 4.5 | 8 | 27.2 |
Statistics compiled using search tools at Pro-Football-Reference.com
—Ian Allan