On Keenan Allen, receiver fits and how people think about positions

I wish I could find the question. Might have been a text. Might have been on Twitter or TikTok or somewhere else. Might have been the guy who walked by my house and stopped to chat about the draft.

Someone, somewhere asked me how Keenan Allen would fit in with the Saints since he plays so much in the slot, and I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it and that eventually led me to the internet where I spent way too much time researching a question from someone I couldn’t even share the answer with. So, I’m going to post it here because I think we found our way into a pretty interesting rabbit hole.

Before we do that, though, I want to say very clearly that there’s no reason we’re talking about Keenan Allen. There are currently no rumors or indications that he’s going to end up here. He could. I know the team wants a receiver, but I also know the team isn’t going to go nuts trying to get one. We’re just talking, and I think what we’re about to talk about is interesting beyond just a Keenan Allen thing. This is more about how people think about positions and how the game has changed.

So, to start, my answer is that Keenan Allen would fit in wherever Keenan Allen fits in.

Like I was just saying, I think people get way too caught up in the idea of this receiver plays this spot and that receiver plays that spot, and I’m writing that sentence before I even start looking stuff up. That’s just a core belief to me. The league has changed. Do players — outside of a couple — even get identified by which receiver spot they play anymore?

Certainly, there are guys who are prototype X receivers and play in that spot, but are teams really that static with how they play their players? Justin Jefferson plays 20% of his snaps in the slot. Jamarr Chase plays about 30% of his inside.

And granted, there are guys who play inside more than others. Tyler Boyd (78%), Christian Kirk (76), Jaxson Smith-Njigba (75.1) and Wan’Dale Robinson (71.8) played a ton of snaps in the slot last season. The thing that really stands out to me, though, is that many of these are choices. Kind of feels like we’ll see JSN play more outside this year with Seattle changing systems and DK Metcalf getting moved out of town. And that matters, because DK really does feel like one of the outlier receivers who can only be used one way. He only went inside 12% of the time last year.

I just think the days of the Wes Welker-style slot receiver really do seem to be over. I mean, sure, some guys like Ladd McConkey still exist, but the days of finding someone who has an exceptional three-cone time and letting him dominate from the slot because defenses don’t know how to get athletic players on the inside are over.

Keenan Allen? He was in the slot for 52.8% of his plays last year. A good number, for sure. If you had to define him by what he did most he’d be a slot receiver. But he’s played about an equal split between the inside and outside for the past several years, which means there’s 50% of his snaps on the outside every season. So, to me, that means that he can play anywhere. And that should answer the initial question. Where would Keenan Allen fit on the Saints? Wherever they need him to fit.

History supports this.

Just last year, he had 40 catches for 362 yards from the slot … and 34 catches for 411 yards on the outside. And for his career, Allen has 425 catches for 4,697 yards and 30 touchdowns from the slot … and 583 catches for 7,132 yards and 37 touchdowns from the outside. So, if 2007 Welker dropped from the sky and teams were still playing 2007-style defense, I think Keenan Allen would be just fine if he had to play 100% of his snaps on the outside — against those types of defense, as well as the ones that line up today.

But fit truly wouldn’t be an issue for the Saints … they don’t really have a slot monster on the roster. Chris Olave played 25% of his snaps in the slot last year. Rashid Shaheed, 20.3. Brandin Cooks was at 21% in Dallas. And that’s been how Cooks has been used his whole career. He’s fast, but not necessarily shifty. To date, he’s played 6,783 snaps out wide and 2,290 on the inside.

So, if anything, Allen would be a really good fit. He’d give the Saints some skills they don’t have on the inside and he’d blend in really well with the guys currently on the roster. After looking at this, I’m really interested to see how everyone gets used since there isn’t anyone who looks like a strong lean to eat up more of the slot snaps.

But honestly, I’m more interested in the skill set than who lines up where. Kellen Moore is going to get everyone on the field. Allen — or someone like him — is what this team is missing. Someone who plays with more physicality and has a little more size. Someone who falls more in the mold of a possession receiver. He’s different. This team needs different.

And still … it doesn’t have to be Keenan Allen. And it doesn’t have to be a guy who has more experience in the slot since the Saints have a bunch of guys who do not have experience in the slot. If the Saints decide to add a receiver, it just has to be a guy with skills that this team doesn’t currently have. These coaches will figure it out from there.

And if there is no one else, well, I’m going to be fascinated to see how Moore and his staff try to create separation and what kind of windows Tyler Shough will be throwing into this year. Because with all that speed, someone should always be open.