Written By Alex Compton

“Indiana just feels like home”

On Sunday morning Illinois defensive end Allen Stallings decided to flip his commitment from Central Michigan and commit to IU. This news came just hours after three-star defensive end Chris Henderson backed out of his Indiana commitment for what are currently unknown reasons. Stallings becomes the first member of class to play on the defensive line, and may have a shot to play right away due to our lack of depth up front for next season.

Coming in at 6’2” and 230 pounds, he has a nice frame for a freshman. His film shows that he is somewhat raw, but also has truly explosive athletic ability for someone his size. He has an extremely quick and powerful first step off the ball, and this should make him an interesting player in IU’s new defensive attack moving forward. In an interview with Edgy Tim of Rivals.com, Stallings mentioned how excited he was that new defensive coordinator Tom Allen saw him as a standup defensive end at IU. With great size and speed, one comparison that immediately comes to mind is former standup defensive end/bandit Zack Shaw. While he is still very raw at this point, Stallings has great tools and was a desperately needed flip for a defense that now has five commitments in the 2016 class.

Stallings only had one Division-I offer from Central Michigan until this weekend, when he was on campus for an official visit. He mentioned that IU recruited him for a while but never offered him, which was something he had been waiting for all along. IU was his top school from the very beginning, and he held out hope that the IU offer he so desperately wanted would arrive at some point before National Signing Day on February 3rd.

“[Indiana] offers a great education and the football program is headed in the right direction. I love Central Michigan and the coaches but this was my dream school and I just couldn't say no to Indiana”, he told Rivals.

Stallings is rated as a two-star prospect by Rivals.com, and chose IU over other offers from CMU and some FCS level schools. He becomes the 14th member of the 2016 class, and keeps IU at 11th in the conference.

The Huddle

Indiana "Flips" DE Allen Stallings From Central Michigan

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