Tyler Allgeier was watching the first round of the NFL draft — he wanted to see what his new team, the Cardinals, would be adding — and saw them take Jeremiyah Love, who, like Allgeier, was a running back.
Moments later, his phone rang. It was from head coach Mike LaFleur with what appeared to be a pretty simple message.
While the Cardinals used the third overall pick on Love, Allgeier was not going to be an afterthought.
“There was really good communication (with LaFleur), which I can respect, because head coaches or anyone doesn’t have to do that,” Allgeier said. “I knew what I was getting into, and we’re here now deep into camp. We’re splitting (time) and it is great competition right now.”
Allgeier had always been in the Cardinals plan. When free agency opened up, the former Falcons running back was the first player acquired. In four seasons with the Falcons, Allgeier rushed for 2,876 yards and 18 touchdowns. He had an 1,000-yard season as a rookie in 2022. The following year, the Falcons drafted their future RB1 in Bijan Robinson.
When the Cardinals brought in love, Allgeier didn’t have flashbacks to his Atlanta days. In his eyes, “it’s another weapon that we can have on offense and it’s not like there’s any bad blood or anything.” Allgeier also said he refuses to “be a jerk about it.”
If anything, Allgeier’s experience with Robinson prepares him as much as anybody to share the running back room.
“It’s probably the best thing you can do and obviously, it saves the body,” Allgeier said. “That’s a privilege. Being able to have two or even three great guys in the room and being able to compete and being able to be a running back community. Just having that rotation, because it’s pretty taxing.”