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."
In his post-draft conversation with Allgeier, LaFleur told the 26-year-old that he and Love will make a pretty good tandem. Allgeier agrees. Through training camp practices, both have spent time with the first unit with Allgeier starting the drills with Jacoby Brissett and Co. before Love gets subbed in.
The running back committee extends to Trey Benson and James Conner, however. Benson has flashed during the first two padded practices, while Conner will get inserted into the mix "in the near future," LaFleur said. It's unclear how the snap distribution will play out by the time the Cardinals head to Los Angeles for Week 1.
From his time as a walk-on at BYU to sitting behind Robinson in Atlanta, Allgeier has long faced an uphill battle for playing time.
But in all of his stops, Allgeier has managed to touch the football plenty. This year doesn't seem to be any different.
"I've been overshadowed," Allgeier said. "Having that underdog mentality and having that starter mentality as well. Whenever that chance comes, you just got to execute and take advantage of your opportunity. That's the biggest thing for me. It's just a mindset."
