Brian Allen (cornerback)
Brian Keith Allen is an American former professional football cornerback. He played college football at Utah. He was selected by the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League in the fifth round of the 2017 NFL draft, and has also spent time with the Seattle Seahawks, Buffalo Bills, San Francisco 49ers, Cincinnati Bengals, Cleveland Browns, Birmingham Stallions and New Orleans Saints.
Professional career
Pre-draft
Coming out of Utah, the majority of NFL draft experts and scouts projected Allen to be selected in the fifth or sixth round. He received an invitation to the NFL Combine and completed all of the required combine and positional drills. On March 23, 2017, he participated at Utah's pro day and chose to redo the vertical jump, broad jump, and twenty yard shuttle while also doing positional drills. He increased his vertical to 38 inches and was able to decrease his shuttle time. Team representatives and scouts from all 32 NFL teams were in attendance to scout Allen, Garett Bolles, Isaac Asiata, and 20 other prospects.Pittsburgh Steelers
The Pittsburgh Steelers selected Allen in the fifth round with the 173rd overall pick in the 2017 NFL draft. On May 8, 2017, the Steelers signed Allen to a four-year, $2.63 million contract with a signing bonus of $230,179.He entered his first training camp competing with William Gay, Mike Hilton, Greg Ducre, Brandon Dixon, and Senquez Golson for a job to be a backup cornerback. Allen was named the Steelers' fifth cornerback on their depth chart to begin the regular season, behind Artie Burns, Coty Sensabaugh, Hilton, and Gay.
On September 17, 2017, Allen made his professional regular season debut during the Steelers' 26–9 victory over the Minnesota Vikings.
On September 1, 2018, Allen was waived by the Steelers and was signed to the practice squad the next day. He was promoted to the active roster on October 2, 2018.
On August 27, 2019, Allen was placed on injured reserve. He was waived with an injury settlement on August 31, 2019.