2014 OL is one to watch

While he has not yet received a great deal of publicity to this point, junior offensive lineman Derek Allen of Edison, N.J. has the potential to become one of the best recruits at his position from New Jersey in his class. Allen is receiving a great deal of early interest and recently attended his first college game of the season.

"Recruiting is going pretty good," said Allen, who is 6-foot-6 and 280-pounds. "It's great to know that I am being looked at."

Allen's early interest has comes from several top BCS programs.

"I've heard stuff from Rutgers, Florida State, Oregon, Penn State, Temple and Georgia," said Allen. "I'm basically receiving letters just saying that they notice me as a top recruit for my class."

Allen did not have a chance to attend any summer camps this year, but did make his way to Rutgers recently for their home opener.

"It was cool," he said. "I got to see the weight room and talk with Coach Robb Smith again. It was a good experience."

The next visit for Allen will be to Penn State for their game against Ohio State. With the Nittany Lions showing plenty of early interest and with Allen taking a visit to Happy Valley, he shared his thoughts on the current Penn State situation.

"Well they can't play in bowls so one of the reasons we play football is because we want to win and win bowl games," said Allen. "So that is really one thing that concerns me with Penn State."

This season at Edison, Allen is lining up at offensive tackle and also nose guard. During the off-season he spent the majority of his time improving his play on the defensive side of the ball in order to better help his team this fall.

"The season started off okay," said Allen. "We started off with a loss, but this team has what it takes to make the playoffs this year."