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The Kansas City Chiefs have claimed center Jack Allen off of waivers from the Chicago Bears, as first reported by ESPN’s Field Yates. The Chiefs waived Tejan Koroma, who left Sunday’s practice via cart with a knee injury, to make room.
Roster shuffling: the Chiefs have claimed C Jack Allen off of waivers from the Bears, per source. C Tejan Koroma was waived/injured to make room.
— Field Yates (@FieldYates) August 5, 2018
Allen, 25, is a 6-foot-2, 296-pound center who played college football at Michigan State University. Allen first entered the league as an undrafted free agent with the New Orleans Saints in 2016.
Allen was waived by the Saints with an undisclosed injury in August 2017. Now healthy, he signed on with the Bears in late July but was waived on Saturday.
Despite never making it off an NFL practice squad, Allen may have untapped potential. A former high school state wrestling champion, Allen was the most accomplished offensive lineman in Michigan State history.
As a senior in 2015, Allen was a first-team All-American, as chosen by the Associated Press, CBS Sports and Sports Illustrated. He was a back-to-back first-team All-Big 10 selection and two-time Rimington Trophy (nation’s top center) finalist.
In his draft profile on Allen, NFL.com’s Lance Zierlein described Allen as a “coach’s dream with the leadership, competitiveness and the tenacious mindset to grind out the will of defenders by the end of the fourth quarter.”
Chiefs general manager Brett Veach and the Chiefs have been known to love versatility on the line, and Allen can play a number of positions. With Koroma injured, Allen instantly enters the mix for No. 2 center behind Mitch Morse.