Washington Redskins: Grading The Jonathan Allen Selection In NFL Draft Round 1
The Washington Redskins selected Jonathan Allen with their first round pick in the 2017 NFL Draft. How does the selection grade out?
Coming into the 2017 NFL Draft, the Washington Redskins had one major goal. They needed to upgrade their defense. After going 8-7-1 in 2016, the front office and coaching staff alike realized that the major issue for the team lay on their stop unit. They had one of the league’s worst run defenses, while their secondary was only spotty at best. They lacked pass rushing depth, and just needed to find a truly solid impact player.
Related Story: Jonathan Allen Selected By Washington Redskins
When their pick came around in round one, there was a surprising amount of high-caliber defenders left on the board. Part of this was due to the rise of overdrafted offensive players like Mitchell Trubisky, Corey Davis, and Deshaun Watson, but the Redskins had their pick of a bunch of solid defenders. When it was all said and done, they opted to go with Alabama’s Jonathan Allen to fill a major hole on the defensive line.
Allen was widely considered to be a top five player in this draft. Some thought that he may slide a bit due to concerns with the health of shoulder, but nobody expected him to make it all the way to the No. 17 overall pick. But as the night progressed, the Redskins just kept inching closer and closer until they were finally able to land their top man.
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For the team, Allen would probably fit best at the 3-4 end position. He is a better player than Stacy McGee, and he should be able to earn the starting job over him. Allen is a true three down lineman, as he has solid run stuffing ability, but has also posted a whopping 28 sacks during his collegiate career. He was one of the most prolific lineman in Alabama history, and he supposedly is a great teammate with a strong work ethic.
In addition to Allen’s intangibles, Allen is versatile and could play nose tackle if the team absolutely needed him to. The Redskins would be best to play him at end, but they could try him at nose tackle first if they absolutely need to. This versatility could help Allen greatly in Greg Manusky’s defense.
At the end of the day, this may have been the best pick in round one. The Redskins landed a top caliber player at a position of need in the middle of the first round. Allen definitely qualifies as a steal, and the Redskins played this situation perfectly.