The numbers speak for themselves for MICDS senior football standout Lucas Allgeyer.
“If he was at the NFL Combine last year as a 17-year-old, he would have finished top three among offensive tackles in five categories — the vertical jump, the pro agility, the broad jump, the 40 and arm length,†Rams coach Fred Bouchard said. “Now, he is 285 (pounds) and the average linemen are closer to 312, so they have him by 25 pounds, but he’s impressive athletically and obviously a great player for us. He’s a different level cat.â€
The 6-foot-6 Allgeyer is happy with the numbers he’s put up, but it’s about more than that for him.
“I feel really good about the progress I’ve made with all my numbers like bench press and squat,†he said. “But really, at the end of the day, it’s performance on the field, which is what I’m really excited to display this season.â€
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Talents on both the offensive and defensive line will be on display this season for Allgeyer, who is the No. 12 recruit on the Post-Dispatch Super 30 countdown of the area’s top senior college football prospects.
Allgeyer played strictly along the MICDS defensive line his first two years of high school, posting impressive combined totals of 132 tackles and 12 sacks.
“He started as a freshman on the defensive line on the state semifinal team that was four points away being an undefeated team in the state championship game,†Bouchard said. “He opened his life as a high school football player starting against SLUH in Week 1 of 2021, so we threw him in the fire early and he’s been awesome.â€
Allgeyer continued to excel on the defensive side of the ball as a junior last fall with 64 tackles and 15 sacks. He also added offensive line duties to his resume last season.
“He played right tackle for us because we had Davis Schukar (last year’s No. 12 prospect on the Super 30 list) a year ago at left tackle,†Bouchard said. “And we’ve got a really nice young offensive lineman named Caleb Otten, who’s our left tackle, who will be a sophomore and will be a kid on (the Super 30) list in a couple years.â€
But the move to a role on the offensive line was not a foreign concept for Allgeyer.
“I started playing football in fifth grade and I played both ways from fifth to eighth grade, so offensive line wasn’t something that was entirely new to me,†he said. “So, honestly, the weirdest thing was going into high school and not playing both ways. Getting back into it last year really felt like home.â€
Offensive line is where Allgeyer’s future lies, so this year he plans to savor what will likely be the final games he plays on the defensive side of the ball.
“During practice this entire summer, I found myself in moments when I was really exhausted,†he said. “You can feel a little sorry for yourself and want a sub, but I kind of reset myself and said this is probably the last time I’ll be able to play both ways, so I’m just really cherishing those moments and taking it all in.â€
Allgeyer had, by his estimation, more than 25 collegiate offers, including the likes of Washington, Oregon, Kansas State, Northwestern, Miami, Ole Miss, North Carolina, North Carolina State, Indiana, Minnesota and Michigan State.
“Last year, he started playing a lot of offensive line because we knew we wanted for him to have options collegiately,†Bouchard said. “I’ve had a lot of pretty good d-linemen who went to college and ended up being pretty good offensive linemen, but there was that year or two learning curve, so we tried to just knock the edge off that.â€
In the end, Allgeyer chose Iowa, a school that already held much sway with him.
His uncle, Ken Allgeyer, played offensive tackle for the Hawkeyes from 1986-90. His cousin Nick, Ken’s son, played baseball there from 2015-18. And MICDS defensive line coach Mike Wells was an Iowa defensive lineman from 1989-93.
“I get a lot of questions about if it was a no-brainer to go to Iowa and really, at the end of the day, it was,†said Allgeyer, who also trains with several guys that played at Iowa. “Separate from all those connections, I really did feel a connection with the guys there and with the program. I feel really good about my decision, and I’m really excited to get there.â€
Before he heads to Iowa City, Allgeyer is looking forward to another year of helping the Rams on offense and defense.
“I think that my junior year being the first year playing both ways, I think there was a little of me standing back maybe and learning the plays on offense and how to maintain that energy throughout the whole game playing both ways,†he said. “I’ve put in a lot of hard work this offseason and I’m really, really excited for what I’m gonna be able to display this season.â€
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