As Week 1 of the NFL season draws closer and the Denver Broncos dream about whatâs possible, they see Zach Allen as a big piece of the puzzle.
If that wasnât evident before they handed him a $102 million extension for the next four seasons, it certainly is now.
No longer flying under the radar, Allen â who will turn 28 later this month â has become one of the most disruptive interior defenders in the NFL since signing his original deal with the Broncos during the 2023 offseason. Heâs coming off a year in which he recorded a career-high 61 tackles, 8.5 sacks, 40 quarterback hits and 15 tackles for loss, and was named Second Team All-Pro.
âYou can find a lot of guys who play at the same high, high level that made you want to sign them,â Broncos head coach Sean Payton said, via ESPNâs Jeff Legwold. âBut to find those guys who played at that high, high level and they take it up even a little more ⦠not the same, but a little more ⦠thatâs just rare.â
Why Did the Broncos Sign Zach Allen?
Standing 6-foot-5, 285 pounds, Allen is something of a unicorn in todayâs NFL. He played 89% of the Broncosâ defensive snaps last season, a rarity in an age when defensive linemen rotations are common.
And Allen made the most of his time on the field, generating 67 pressures to lead all defensive tackles. The Broncosâ 63 sacks were most in the NFL.
Now in his seventh season, Allen â who was recently voted by his peers as one of the NFLâs 100 best players â is all about his lunch-pail mentality.
“That’s kind of why I probably am here,” Allen told ESPN. “I have an obsession about this. You can talk to anybody in this building … I love this. This is my life. I take a lot of pride in this. … Every single day since the season ended, there was finding ways to get better, every year I am getting better.
âRight now, (I’m) way ahead of schedule of where I was last year, so that’s really encouraging.”
Can the Broncos Contend Again This Season?
The Broncos took a big step forward last year, making the playoffs for the first time since the 2015-16 season when they won Super Bowl 50. They went 10-7 before losing to the Buffalo Bills in the Wild Card Round.
That could be difficult to build on in the hyper-competitive AFC West, where fellow contenders like the Kansas City Chiefs and Los Angeles Chargers still reside, but Allen sounds determined to try.
The Broncos beefed up their defense this offseason, adding linebacker Dre Greenlaw and safety Talanoa Hufanga in free agency and using their first-round pick (20th overall) on Texas cornerback Jahdae Barron.
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