Texas A&M Football: How QB Kyle Allen Needs to Improve in 2015

The Texas A&M Aggies have a future star at quarterback in Kyle Allen, but the rising sophomore needs to work on a few key areas before he can be considered an elite quarterback.

With the pending transfer of Kenny Hill, Allen is a clear-cut No. 1 quarterback on the roster. He claimed the job nine games into the 2014 season and has done nothing since that time to relinquish it even if Hill remained on the team.

Allen led the Aggies to a 3-2 record as the starter and displayed poise that is rare for such a young player. If he can fix a few trouble areas, then he will challenge Johnny Manziel's school passing record of 4,114 yards in 2015.

This is a look at some areas Allen needs to improve in order to become a complete quarterback in 2015.

Improve Accuracy

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Kyle Allen has a cannon for an arm. His arm strength would stack up with top NFL quarterbacks right now. How hard and far you can throw a ball is meaningless, though, if it does not go where it is supposed to go.

Allen completed a respectable 61.5 percent of his passes for 1,322 yards in five starts in 2014. He passed for 16 touchdowns against seven interceptions. Those are tremendous numbers for a true freshman, but he could have been better.

Allen overthrew too many open receivers. It might have been youthful exuberance or simply a momentary flaw in mechanics, but in the SEC you cannot afford to miss open receivers.

Against elite defenses, you are not going to get many opportunities to get a man open. When he is, you need to hit him with the ball and take advantage of the defensive lapse.

Allen's accuracy should improve as he gets more repetitions with the receivers during spring practice and offseason workouts.

His completion percentage will approach 70 percent as he and the receivers get on the same page.

Know When to Run

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Allen has above-average speed for a quarterback. He needs to learn when to tuck the ball and run and when to move up in the pocket and continue to scan down the field.

Manziel understood instinctively that getting a first down was more important than running the play as it was called. If a play broke down or there was a path available, he would take the yardage in front of him and get the first down.

Allen will understand this as he gets more experience.

He has enough speed to hurt teams with his legs and gain 10 to 15 yards at a time. Allen ran more in the second half of the Liberty Bowl when the West Virginia defense gave him the run.

A lot of defenses are going to try to play man coverage against the Aggies receivers, which means Allen will be able to gain a lot of yards if he is able to get out of the pocket. This is simply a case where he will get better as he gets more comfortable in his role in the offense.

There is no reason why Allen should not rush for 300 yards and five touchdowns in 2015.

Improve In-Game Focus

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There are times when Allen looks like a veteran quarterback, slinging the ball around the field like a young Jim Plunkett. There are others when he looks like an 18-year-old freshman trying to make his mark in college football against grown men.

Allen needs to focus on what he can control, which is making the right read and running each play—one play at a time. During the Liberty Bowl against West Virginia, he had two busted plays in a row.

On the second one he made the incorrect read on a zone-read, but he made a spectacular move and scrambled for a touchdown. You cannot make mistakes like that in the red zone and expect to win football games against elite teams.

Allen needs to keep his head in the game, focus on his keys and make the correct decisions with the football.

Poise and Controlling Emotion

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This is an area where Allen does not need a lot of improvement. He simply needs to keep being who he has been.

He has displayed the right amount of emotion on the field. He congratulates his teammates after big plays but does not let bad plays get him down.

Allen threw an interception that was returned for a touchdown against West Virginia. That play put the Aggies down by 10 points. Instead of going into the tank, Allen responded by passing for three more touchdowns and rushing for a score.

He displayed great poise for a true freshman in going on the road and beating Auburn. Allen should put up a lot of big numbers in this offense. If he remains the same person he has always been emotionally, he should break all the career passing records at Texas A&M.