Jonathan Allen looked like a core piece on the Redskins defensive line last year. Entering his second year, he has the chance to be a breakout star.
Nobody foresaw Jonathan Allen falling to the No 17 pick on draft day in 2017. Nobody at all. The Alabama defensive lineman was widely considered to be a lock for the top 10, and some even had him pegged as a top-five stud. However, concerns about his average Combine performance and a shoulder injury pushed Allen down the board, and the Redskins happily snapped him up to fix their biggest issue. The defensive line.
Allen flashed solid ability as a rookie and was en route to making many NFL teams regret passing on him. Then, a Lisfranc injury suddenly ended his rookie campaign. Now, Allen will return still sporting that chip on his shoulder and he should be ready to make an impact on what now appears to be a loaded defensive line.
Allen’s return to the top of the depth chart will start at training camp. Redskins fans will be looking for improvements from him after a promising rookie campaign, and his chance to show them his skills will start on July 26.
Allen’s 2017 season
As mentioned earlier, Allen’s rookie season was cut short by an injury. Because of this, he was limited to just five games. Still, Allen looked great when on the field and was a starter from day one, as was expected of the first-round pick.
Overall, Allen finished the year with a sack and 10 tackles in his five games. That said, he was able to do a lot more than the numbers indicate, as his presence in the interior helped collapse the pocket from the inside. From there, the edge rushers came in and frequently sacked opposing quarterbacks. Allen deserves a lot of credit for being a part of that early in the season, and he should be able to continue doing that in 2018.
What Allen must show in training camp
There’s a keyword that applies to almost all second-year players when asking what a player must show in their sophomore campaign. Growth. Even though Allen was only on the field for five contests, there are expectations that the former first-round pick will be able to become a dynamic playmaker, or at least a solid starter. Allen can make the front office, coaching staff, and fans happy by growing into the starting role and improving as a pass rusher. If he can do that, then he will be in great shape.
While Allen is coming into the year with expectations, he is also somewhat of a forgotten man because of the improvements the Redskins have made to the defensive line as a whole.
Namely, Daron Payne was added to play nose tackle next to Allen, and that should work out very well. Allen and Payne were college teammates at Alabama and they headed one of the fiercest defenses in the SEC. Now reunited, the two should be ready to have a huge impact at the NFL level, along with the other edge rushers and Matt Ioannidis.
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Allen should look to develop chemistry with Payne early on in training camp. That may seem like an odd statement since we’re talking about the defensive line, but if Allen and Payne can work in tandem, they could be extremely difficult for opposing defenses to deal with. Considering that they have already been teammates, the two should start to mesh well quickly and could help to make the defensive line a major strength.
Beyond that, the other key for Allen is proving that there are no health concerns remaining with him. The shoulder and Lisfranc injuries put somewhat of a cloud over his rookie year, and he’ll desperately want to avoid becoming known as an injury-prone player. If he comes in at 100 percent and stays that way throughout training camp, that will do a lot to put those minor concerns to bed.
Allen is entering a good situation this offseason. He does have a little bit to prove, but he is also going to be the starter as there is little competition around him for the job.
Allen’s main competition
While the Redskins have added a lot of talent to the defensive line, none of their additions are going to displace Allen as a starter. Allen is the team’s most well-rounded defensive lineman, succeeding against both the run and the pass. For that reason, he will be on the field to start and will stay out there often.
That said, defensive line coach Jim Tomsula does love to rotate his defensive linemen in and out. For that reason, Allen will still have to prove that he can be a three-down player and stave off competition from players looking to earn roles somewhere on the offense.
The potential role players on the Redskins defensive line appear to be Stacy McGee, Anthony Lanier, and Ziggy Hood. All should see time, provided that they make the squad, but Allen would have an advantage over any of these players.
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McGee is a run stuffing specialist who seems likely to rotate in at nose tackle and along the defensive interior. Allen is a good enough run stopper that McGee would more likely rotate in for the other projected end starter, Ioannidis. It’s possible that McGee could start over Ioannidis, though the former Temple product would play more snaps given his superb pass rushing ability.
As for Lanier, he would be the biggest threat to Allen’s playing time. Lanier looked like a more than capable pass rusher last season, and the Redskins will probably try to get him involved again this season. Allen and Payne would be the candidates to rotate out in pass rushing situations, though their involvement would likely depend on how well they’re rushing the passer and their fatigue level. Even if Lanier takes a few snaps from Allen, it wouldn’t be a bad thing, as it would keep him fresh.
Meanwhile, Hood is more of a pass rushing backup as well, but he can do a little bit of everything. He’s a poor man’s Allen, so the Redskins likely wouldn’t try to put Hood on the field ahead of the Alabama product.
Tomsula likes to rotate players, so Allen isn’t going to play all the snaps (last year, he averaged about 50 percent of snaps per game). But of the defensive line group, he seems likely to play the highest percentage of snaps for the 2018 season, provided that he can stay healthy.
2018 outlook for Allen
Allen is arguably the biggest breakout candidate for the Redskins this year. It could be argued that Josh Doctson or Quinton Dunbar has upside equal to Allen, but Allen still has the higher ceiling.
Allen was graded an 81.3 on Pro Football Focus last year. That would make him an above-average defensive end, though he didn’t qualify for the final rankings due to a lack of snaps (which was obviously injury related). If he can just repeat that success in a full season, he could have a terrific year.
Because of the influx of talent on the defensive line, Allen seems likely to benefit as well. More talent means that teams won’t be able to focus as much, so he could see a leap in production as a result. It will be interesting to see if he’s able to make strides as many are hoping.
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Allen isn’t getting as much buzz this offseason. The other new players are being hyped up, and that has left Allen out of the spotlight a bit. The former first-round pick seems ready to make a big impact, and he will get a chance to start on that path in training camp. It should be exciting to see what he’s able to accomplish in his second season with the Redskins.