Who Is Indianapolis Colts' Most Underrated Playmaker?

When most fans think of playmakers, they'll think of the flashy players. 

A quarterback, a big-play wide receiver or game-breaking running back. If talking defensively, it's usually a sack master or a turnover machine in the defensive backfield. A playmaker is one that makes the tackles for loss, creates turnovers and picks up big plays for the offense.

The Indianapolis Colts have plenty of players who could fit that description, especially on the offensive side of the ball. There's Andrew Luck, T.Y. Hilton, Andre Johnson and Frank Gore, all Pro Bowlers at their respective skill position. Coby Fleener, for all his flaws, is a deep-ball threat at any time. There's also the up-and-coming guys like Phillip Dorsett, Donte Moncrief and Josh Robinson.

On defense, the team has Vontae Davis, older Pro Bowlers in Mike Adams and D'Qwell Jackson and two aging pass-rushers with stellar resumes in Trent Cole and Robert Mathis. Jonathan Newsome, who Daniel Jeremiah of NFL.com predicted would be a breakout player in 2015, is a strong candidate as an up-and-comer.

But for all the potential playmakers the Colts possess, their most underrated is not somebody who often makes the flashy plays. But Dwayne Allen makes plays, and oftentimes it's the plays he makes that allow others to be the beneficiary on game-breaking plays.

Though Allen likely won't ever have a 1,000-yard receiving season or lead the league in receptions, he's the glue that, when healthy, holds offensive coordinator Pep Hamilton's wide-variety offense intact.

RoboCop: He Just Scores Touchdowns

In early August last season, Hamilton coined the nickname "RoboCop" for Dwayne Allen, per Stephen Holder of the Indianapolis Star, calling him "a big ball of muscle working the hashes and stretching the middle of the field."

See, Allen was supposed to be a central part of Hamilton's multiple-formation offense back in 2013, but his season-ending hip injury in Week 1 derailed those plans.

"I was expecting a multi-formation, multiple-tight end type of offense, utilizing us both in the pass game and in pass protection," Allen told Holder. "I believe we got into a one-dimensional, one-tight end passing game last year and a one-tight end running game because of the personnel. The offense was totally different."

Well, in 2014, with a healthy (kind of, we'll get into this later) Allen, the Colts returned to those multiple-tight end sets with great effectiveness. Allen and Coby Fleener became the first tight end pair in NFL history with eight touchdowns each in the same season, and the Colts rolled offensively, finishing third overall in total yards and sixth in points scored.

For Allen, the RoboCop nickname has stuck, especially among fantasy footballers who loved the fact that Allen consistently scored touchdowns.

Despite having just 50 targets in the entire season, tied with Vernon Davis for 26th among all tight ends, Allen finished 14th in total fantasy points in 2014 and ninth in points per game.

While he didn't rack up receptions or yards, Allen scored, and scored often.

Of more than 125 players with at least 50 targets last season, Allen finished second in receiving touchdown percentage, with 27.6 percent of his receptions going for touchdowns. Only Julius Thomas, who scored a whopping 12 touchdowns in 13 games, was higher at 27.9 percent. Allen was also second in touchdowns per target, with 16 percent of his targets going for scores.

Player	Team	Position	TD/Target	TD/Rec.
Julius Thomas	DEN	TE	19.4%	27.9%
Dwayne Allen	IND	TE	16.0%	27.6%
Antonio Gates	SDG	TE	12.2%	17.4%
Terrance Williams	DAL	WR	12.1%	21.6%
Torrey Smith	BAL	WR	12.0%	22.4%
Dez Bryant	DAL	WR	11.8%	18.2%
Mike Evans	TAM	WR	9.8%	17.6%
Randall Cobb	GNB	WR	9.4%	13.2%
Odell Beckham Jr.	NYG	WR	9.2%	13.2%
Rob Gronkowski	NWE	TE	9.2%	14.6%

The Colts' tight ends were, of course, especially effective in the red zone, with Allen and Fleener combining for 10 touchdowns (five each) on just 22 targets. Allen, with his five touchdowns on nine targets, was the ninth-most efficient red-zone target in the league.

Allen had touchdowns in various manners in 2014, and it's unfair to pigeonhole him as one type of receiver. He had a 41-yard scamper down the right sideline in the opener against Denver, a deep seam route against Pittsburgh as the vertical offense spread the defense too thin and play-action touchdowns in the red zone when defenses respected his blocking prowess a bit too much.

But why Allen is so valuable might be best exemplified with his playoff score against Denver, where the RoboCop nickname was put to full effect.

NFL Game Rewind

In this shotgun play in 11 personnel (one tight end, one running back), Allen is split out into the slot on the left side, matched up with cornerback Aqib Talib of the Broncos. Talib is one of the most physical cornerbacks in the game, likely the one most capable of containing a big tight end in confined spaces. But as Allen runs a quick out route as the primary option on the play, Talib has no chance.

With Talib draped all over him, Allen simply boxes out the (slightly) smaller cornerback and fights through the contact to make an excellent catch:

It's a simple play, but for RoboCop, it's effective.

Health: A New Prime Directive

For now, Allen's new goal is just to stay healthy. First it was the season-ending hip surgery in 2013. Then it was a lingering high ankle sprain that derailed his production in the second half of 2014.

There were a number of factors to the Colts' offensive decline in the second half of the season last year, including Reggie Wayne's aging and Ahmad Bradshaw being lost for the season. But Allen's injury and drop-off was a big factor as well, one that shouldn't be overlooked.

Split	Targets/Gm	Rec/Gm	Catch %	Yds/Catch	Yards/Gm	TDs/Gm
Weeks 1-9	4.44	2.89	65%	14.38	41.56	0.78
Weeks 14-17	3.33	1.00	30%	7.00	7.00	0.33
Playoffs	4.33	3.67	84.6%	8.18%	30.0	0.33

Not only was Allen a touchdown machine, but he also helped the Colts move the chains on a regular basis. Nearly 83 percent of his receptions went for a first down in 2014, second in the league only to Detroit Lions wideout Calvin Johnson, per Colts.com's Kevin Bowen.

With Allen healthy for the first nine weeks, the Colts converted 44.2 percent of their third- or fourth-down attempts, good for ninth in the league. With Allen out or hampered for the rest of the year, the Colts converted just 37.9 percent of their third and fourth downs, just behind Buffalo for 22nd in the league.

Allen did manage to put together a bit of production in the playoffs, but he was clearly being held back and was limited to quick, short plays.

Knowing how much his health is a factor, Allen went to Arizona to train before OTAs this spring, per Kevin Bowen of Colts.com:

"

I felt 70 percent for the better part of (2014). Having an offseason to really train like the offseason I had my rookie year or the offseason I had going into the second year, before I was injured, was my main focus. I’m glad I was able to get away and get that taken care of.

It’s a long season especially whenever you play into late January. My biggest focus this offseason was to get my body into a position where I can go out and have the best season for this team.

"

When healthy, Allen is an X-factor type of weapon that changes games. He's one of the best blocking tight ends in the league, routinely used as a tackle in imbalanced lines. Allen finished the season with Pro Football Focus' sixth-best combined blocking (pass and run) grade among 67 qualifying tight ends, as well as having the site's third-highest pass-blocking efficiency score with just one hurry allowed in 71 pass-blocking snaps.

The combination of blocking prowess and overpowering receiving ability is one that stretches the defense in ways that are incredibly difficult to deal with. And while the Colts have a wealth of options at wide receiver this season, don't expect the tight ends to be discounted.

"We're going to play everybody a little different, but we're not abandoning those two-tight end, three-tight end stuff," head coach Chuck Pagano told media a few weeks ago, per Colts.com.

Part of the Colts' offensive identity is versatility, and Allen might just be the biggest key in that aspect. If healthy, he changes the game completely, and that's why he's the team's most underrated playmaker.