Keenan Allen finally gets his long overdue respect from his peers heading into his first season with the Bears

After being heavily disrespected earlier this month by NFL executives, coaches, and scouts around the league, Chicago Bears new wide receiver Keenan Allen finally got some long overdue respect from his peers.

In ESPN's recent Top-10 wide receiver rankings that came out on July 17th, Allen was not only left off the Top-10 list, but also not even included within the additional eight honorable mentions listed.

However, those who are lining up against Allen on the field have recognized how great of a player he really is and ranked him accordingly.

Allen was listed as the 51st best player in the league in the NFL Top 100 heading into the 2024 season after being unranked last year. The NFL Top 100 has traditionally been voted on by the players, and the players so far have gotten it right this time around. Here's the full segment focusing on Allen that aired on Thursday.

Not including Allen as one of the top wide receivers in the league is insane and if that's how executives feel about him, then no wonder Bears general manager Ryan Poles stole him for just a fourth round pick . Allen is still a beast on the field, even at 32-years-old, and can still be someone who will give opposing coaches and players nightmares in 2024.

"All the NFL coaches have seen Keenan for a lot of years, and the first thing that comes to mind is that he's crafty," Matt Eberflus said via ChicagoBears.com. "He is so crafty with his route running. It seems like he's always open, even when I used to double cover him… He understands his body and understands his way. He's really friendly to the quarterback because he's a really big target and he's very good at what he does."

In his final season with the Los Angeles Chargers, Allen had one of the best seasons of his career from a production standpoint, setting the Chargers' single-season franchise record with 108 receptions (which ranked sixth in the entire league) and ranked 11th in the league with 1,243 receiving yards.

Allen proved that he's still in the prime of his career going into Year 12 and has continued to catch his new teammates by surprise into training camp.

"I ain't going to lie, Keenan's a magician," Bears second-year cornerback Tyrique Stevenson said on Thursday. "Just the fact that he can stop mid-route and change his whole route, or just the fact that he gives you something different that what you [were] expecting. He might break inside but he's just doing that to see on the next play how he can get you on a route that his coming to him."

Allen's always been a crafty route runner, which helped turn him into one of the hardest wide receivers to defend against in the entire league. It's great to see his peers recognize that in front of a national audience.

Now, let's hope that his new teammate and fellow wide receiver DJ Moore, who has yet to be ranked, gets the same recognition as the rest of the list continues to unfold.

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