Riggo's Rag
FanSided

Redskins won’t activate Jonathan Allen from Injured Reserve

By Jacob Camenker

PHILADELPHIA, PA - APRIL 27: (L-R) Jonathan Allen of Alabama poses with Commissioner of the PHILADELPHIA, PA - APRIL 27: (L-R) Jonathan Allen of Alabama poses with Commissioner of the National Football League Roger Goodell after being picked #17 overall by the Washington Redskins during the first round of the 2017 NFL Draft at the Philadelphia Museum of Art on April 27, 2017 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)
PHILADELPHIA, PA - APRIL 27: (L-R) Jonathan Allen of Alabama poses with Commissioner of the PHILADELPHIA, PA - APRIL 27: (L-R) Jonathan Allen of Alabama poses with Commissioner of the National Football League Roger Goodell after being picked #17 overall by the Washington Redskins during the first round of the 2017 NFL Draft at the Philadelphia Museum of Art on April 27, 2017 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit

Rookie defensive lineman Jonathan Allen went down midway through the season with a Lisfranc injury. Jay Gruden confirmed that he will not return in 2017.

In the 2017 NFL Draft, the Washington Redskins got lucky with the No. 17 overall pick. With their biggest need being on the defensive line, one of the draft’s premier prospects fell to them. Jonathan Allen was available due to concerns about the health of his shoulders and workouts that were merely decent leading up to the draft. Still, the team scooped him up and they were ecstatic with his play early in the season.

For the first month of the 2017 campaign, Allen played at a high level, especially considering that he was a rookie. In five games, Allen recorded 10 tackles and a sack, but he was more impactful than the numbers indicate. Allen was able to break through the line of scrimmage on numerous occasions, and that allowed the Redskins edge rushers, like Preston Smith, to have success.

Unfortunately, Allen’s rookie season was cut short by a foot injury. Allen suffered a Lisfranc sprain that caused the Redskins to place him on Injured Reserve midway through the season. At the time, it was expected that he would miss the rest of the season. However, in recent weeks, there had been some optimism that he would be able to return as he was making progress. Those rumors were put to bed on Monday.

More from Riggo's Rag

According to Jay Gruden via the Redskins official Twitter account, the team is choosing not to activate Allen for the final two games of the 2017 season. This is a completely reasonable decision for a couple of reasons.

The first is that the Redskins are obviously not playing for anything. At the moment, the team is sitting at 6-8 and they will be officially eliminated from postseason contention if the Atlanta Falcons win on Monday night football. Even if the Falcons lose, a plethora of unlikely events would have to happen to get the Redskins into the postseason. Thus, there’s no sense in putting Allen back on the field in meaningless action even if he is 100 percent.

Secondly, the team can use the final two weeks to get a good look at some of their potential depth players they have on the defensive line. The team is unfortunately locked in to long term deals with the disappointing duo of Terrell McClain and Stacy McGee, McClain has been particularly bad, but that doesn’t mean that the team won’t try to get a look at some of their younger players.

Both Anthony Lanier and Matt Ioannidis have greatly improved this season, and it looks like both could become key rotational players. They both excel at rushing the passer, and it’s quite possible they could end up earning big roles in pass rushing packages for 2018. Lanier has been particularly good in recent weeks, so he could challenge for a top backup job next season.

Next: Redskins should consider adding Marvin Lewis to front office

At the end of the day, bringing back Allen would make little sense. So, the Redskins are doing the right thing by protecting their first round pick. Hopefully with a full offseason to heal, he will come back stronger in 2018 and have a big impact on the defense.

Home/Commanders News