The Denver Broncos have all sorts of wild personalities on their suffocating defense, and defensive end Zach Allen is the unit’s worker bee. Allen was named a second-team All-Pro last year, but few people realize how good he’s becoming.
Just how good is that? Consider this stat: According to Nick Kosmider of The Athletic, the career-high nine pressures Allen posted last Sunday against the Green Bay Packers made him just the second player in NFL history to have 40 quarterback hits in back-to-back seasons. The first was former teammate and current mentor J.J. Watt, so Allen is keeping some pretty good company there.
“I was teasing J.J. about it and was like, ‘You’re technically a D-end. I’m the first D-tackle to do it,'” Allen said. “He was like, ‘No, no, no.’ … There is a lot of work that goes into it, and I’m really fortunate for it to happen.”
This isn’t just “fortunate,” though. According to Kosmider, Allen routinely pulls aside offensive lineman who are on reserve or working with the practice squad to give himself a target for pass-rush sets after practice.
Allen is just as relentless in hit note-taking, according to defensive lineman Jamar Cain.
“His notes are crazy,” defensive line coach Jamar Cain said. “… He’ll text me in the middle of the night and say, ‘Hey, turn on Jaguars vs. whoever and go to play 18. What do you think of this? I’ve got an idea on that. I’m like, ‘Zach, go to bed.'”
Allen would rather be putting quarterbacks to bed as part of Denver’s pass rush, but Cain did issue a challenge in camp after Allen signed his four-year, $102 million contract.
“I was like, ‘Hey, Zach. You’ve got to bring other people along,'” Cain said Thursday. “He’s such a perfectionist that it can stand people off. I said, ‘Zach, you can teach people your work ethic, how much you watch film, how you bring ideas to the meeting room, how you challenge me as a coach.’ I said, ‘You can teach the guys those things, how to bring ideas to the room and challenge me to make sure I’m on point.'”
Both Cain and Allen have been on point and then some this season. Part of the reason the Broncos' defense is so excellent is because they don't depend on a star or two. Instead they rely on overall excellence that combines speed and brute force, and Allen's worker mindset is a big reason the Broncos are where they are right now.