Jonathan Allen
Jonathan Allen (born January 16, 1995) is an American football defensive tackle for the Washington Commanders of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Alabama and was drafted by Washington in the first round of the 2017 NFL Draft.
![]() Allen with the Washington Commanders in 2022 | |||||||||
No. 93 – Washington Commanders | |||||||||
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Position: | Defensive tackle | ||||||||
Personal information | |||||||||
Born: | Anniston, Alabama | January 16, 1995||||||||
Height: | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | ||||||||
Weight: | 300 lb (136 kg) | ||||||||
Career information | |||||||||
High school: | Stone Bridge (Ashburn, Virginia) | ||||||||
College: | Alabama (2013–2016) | ||||||||
NFL Draft: | 2017 / Round: 1 / Pick: 17 | ||||||||
Career history | |||||||||
Roster status: | Active | ||||||||
Career highlights and awards | |||||||||
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Career NFL statistics as of 2021 | |||||||||
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Player stats at NFL.com · PFR |
Early years
Allen was born in Anniston, Alabama, and lived in Seattle, North Carolina, South Carolina, Pittsburgh, and Maryland before settling down in Ashburn, Virginia, where he attended Stone Bridge High School.[1] Allen's parents split up when he was three years old and his mother was granted custody of him and his brother, Richard Allen III. At the age of eight, both he and his brother were taken away by child protective services.[2] Allen spent ten months in foster care before his father, US Army Sgt. 1st Class Richard Allen Jr., won full custody of him and his brother in 2004.[2][3] As a senior in 2012, he was the Virginia Gatorade Football Player of the Year.[4] During his career, he had 308 tackles and 44 sacks. Allen was a five-star recruit and was ranked amongst the top of his class.[5] He committed to play college football for the University of Alabama.[6][7]
College career
Allen played in 13 games as a true freshman at Alabama in 2013 and had 16 tackles. As a sophomore in 2014, he played in all 14 games and made 12 starts. He was named first team All-SEC after recording 33 tackles and 5.5 sacks.[8] As a junior in 2015, Allen started all 14 games for the Crimson Tide, who won the 2016 College Football Playoff National Championship over the Clemson Tigers by a score of 45–40.[9] Allen went on to win the Bronko Nagurski Trophy, Chuck Bednarik Award, and Lombardi Award for his performance in the 2016 season.
Professional career
Coming out of Alabama, Allen was projected to be a top five pick by some NFL draft experts. His stock began to decline after teams became concerned when he was diagnosed with arthritis in one of his shoulders and had surgery on both, two weeks before the combine.[10] He was ranked as the top defensive tackle by Sports Illustrated, Pro Football Focus, and NFLDraftScout.com.[11][12][13] ESPN ranked him the second best defensive lineman behind Myles Garrett.[14] Even with the arthritis diagnosis, Allen was projected to be a first-round pick by analysts and scouts.[15]
Height | Weight | Arm length | Hand span | 40-yard dash | 20-yard shuttle | Three-cone drill | Vertical jump | Broad jump | Bench press | |||
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6 ft 2+5⁄8 in (1.90 m) |
286 lb (130 kg) |
33+5⁄8 in (0.85 m) |
9+3⁄8 in (0.24 m) | 5.00 s | 4.50 s | 7.49 s | 30 in (0.76 m) | 9 ft 0 in (2.74 m) | 21 reps | |||
All values from NFL Combine[15] |
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The Washington Redskins selected Allen in the first round, 17th overall, of the 2017 NFL Draft.[16] He signed his four-year rookie contract, worth $11.59 million, on May 11, 2017.[17] Allen recorded his first career sack in a Week 3 game against the Oakland Raiders.[18] In Week 6, he suffered a Lisfranc injury against the San Francisco 49ers.[19] He later underwent surgery and was placed on injured reserve on October 19, 2017.[20]
Allen returned for the 2018 season and started all 16 games, recording eight sacks, 61 total tackles, and 15 quarterback hits.[21] The team exercised the fifth-year option on his contract on April 27, 2020.[22] After playing the defensive end position for the first three seasons of his career, Allen switched over to defensive tackle after the team's new defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio implemented a 4-3 defensive scheme.[23][24]
On July 27, 2021, Allen signed a four-year contract extension worth $72 million.[25][26]
On December 13, 2021, he was placed on the COVID-19 reserve list, but placed back on the active roster five days later.[27][28] After recording a sack in the Week 15 game against the Philadelphia Eagles, he set a new career high of 8.5 sacks in a single-season.[29] Allen punched teammate Daron Payne on the sideline during a blowout Monday Night Football loss to the Cowboys in Week 16.[30] He was voted to the 2022 Pro Bowl, his first, following the season.[31]
Personal life
Allen married his wife, Hannah, in July 2018.[32] Due to his own personal experience with the foster care system, Allen chose to work with Sasha Bruce Youthwork, a homeless shelter that focuses on helping young people in the Washington, D.C. area find safe homes.[33][2]
In February 2022, Allen apologized for saying that he would invite his grandfather, Michael Jackson, and Adolf Hitler to a hypothetical dinner during an interaction with a fan on Twitter.[34]
References
- Scarborough, Alex (November 29, 2016). "Why Nick Saban loves Jonathan Allen so much". ESPN. Retrieved May 2, 2017.
- Allen, Jonathan (November 16, 2021). "How my father prepared me for life and the NFL". NFL.com. Retrieved January 21, 2022.
- Deprisco, Mike (December 18, 2020). "Allen's message to kids in foster care: 'Don't let this define you'". NBCSports.com. Retrieved January 21, 2022.
- Brandon Parker (November 29, 2012). "Stone Bridge's Jonathan Allen named the Virginia Gatorade Player of the Year". Washington Post.
- "Jonathan Allen".
- Paul Tenorio (May 21, 2012). "Stone Bridge DL Jonathan Allen, a two-time All-Met, commits to Alabama over Florida". Washington Post.
- "Nation's top defensive end Jonathan Allen commits to Alabama". AL.com. May 21, 2012. Retrieved February 2, 2022.
- "Jonathan Allen significantly bigger, adding to Alabama's versatility along defensive line". AL.com. September 1, 2015. Retrieved February 2, 2022.
- "Alabama holds off Clemson 45-40 for national title". USA TODAY. Retrieved July 27, 2019.
- Lewis Jr., Lake. "Could shoulder concerns drop Alabama's Jonathan Allen to Redskins?". USA Today. Retrieved May 2, 2017.
- Chris Burke (April 24, 2017). "2017 NFL Draft rankings: Top prospects by position". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved May 15, 2017.
- "Top 32 Prospects for the 2017 NFL Draft". profootballfocus.com. Retrieved May 15, 2017.
- "Jonathan Allen, DS #1 DT, Alabama". nfldraftscout.com. Retrieved May 15, 2017.
- Jeff Legwold (April 22, 2017). "Ranking 2017 draft's top 100 players". ESPN.com. Retrieved May 15, 2017.
- "NFL Draft Profile: Jonathan Allen". NFL.com. Retrieved May 15, 2017.
- Patra, Kevin. "Jonathan Allen drafted by Redskins". NFL.com. Retrieved February 2, 2022.
- "Sportrac.com: Jonathan Allen contract". sportrac.com. Retrieved May 15, 2017.
- Inabinett, Mark. "Alabama NFL roundup: Jonathan Allen records first sacks of career". AL.com. Retrieved February 2, 2022.
- Daniels, Tim. "Jonathan Allen Diagnosed with Lisfranc Injury, Could Miss 3-4 Weeks". Bleacher Report. Retrieved July 27, 2019.
- Czarda, Stephen (October 19, 2017). "Redskins Place Jonathan Allen On Injured Reserve, Sign A.J. Francis To Active Roster". Redskins.com.
- "Jonathan Allen 2018 Game Log". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved July 27, 2019.
- "Redskins pick up fifth-year option on Jonathan Allen, one of the best players on a rising defense". CBSSports.com. Retrieved April 28, 2020.
- Iannaconi, Emily (May 22, 2020). "Jonathan Allen Can Help Lead The Washington Redskins To Their First Winning Season In Four Years". Forbes.com. Retrieved October 5, 2021.
- Neel, Zachary (May 24, 2020). "Jonathan Allen is excited for switch to 4-3 defensive scheme". USAToday.com. Retrieved October 5, 2021.
- Keim, John. "Jonathan Allen, Washington Football Team agree to $72 million extension". ESPN. Retrieved July 26, 2021.
- Selby, Zach (July 27, 2021). "Washington Signs Jon Allen To 4-Year Extension". Washington Commanders. Retrieved February 2, 2022.
- Washington Football Team Public Relations (December 13, 2021). "Washington places Jon Allen, 3 others on the Reserve/COVID-19 list". Washington Commanders. Retrieved February 2, 2022.
- Washington Football Team Public Relations (December 18, 2021). "Washington activates multiple defensive linemen off Reserve/COVID-19 list". Washington Commanders. Retrieved February 2, 2022.
- Washington Football Team Public Relations (December 22, 2021). "Washington-Eagles Wednesday Stats Pack". Washington Commanders. Retrieved February 2, 2022.
- Salvador, Joseph. "Jonathan Allen Throws Punch at Teammate Daron Payne on Sidelines". SI.com. Retrieved February 13, 2022.
- "Brandon Scherff, Jonathan Allen named to 2022 Pro Bowl". Washington Commanders. December 22, 2021. Retrieved February 2, 2022.
- Meister, Jake (July 9, 2018). "Jonathan Allen Celebrates His Wedding Back In Alabama". Washington Commanders. Retrieved February 2, 2022.
- Selby, Zach (November 16, 2021). "Jon Allen's message for kids growing up in foster homes: 'You are not alone'". Washington Commanders. Retrieved February 2, 2021.
- Fortier, Sam. "Jonathan Allen apologizes for saying he wanted to dine with Hitler". Washington Post. Retrieved February 13, 2022.