Each season, there’s a group of young players in the NFL who take the step into stardom, cementing their place among the best players in the league. In the past two years, we’ve seen Christian McCaffrey, Derwin James and Xavier Rhoades make that leap.
This year, people are predicting that Washington Redskins defensive trouble-maker Jonathan Allen can be one of those players.
Ahead of 2019 Training Camp, Bleacher Report pegged one player at each position that is poised to explode into stardom this year, and the third-year star out of Washington is holding the defensive lineman position all to himself. After bouncing back from an injury-ladened rookie season in 2017, Allen racked up eight sacks in 2018 and put his name on the map. Now, he is getting a lot of hype ahead of 2019, especially from Pro Football Focus’ Austin Gayle:
“Injuries and inconsistency have kept Allen from reaching his maximum potential in the NFL, but what he’s done is still extremely impressive. His 11.7 percent pass-rush win rate leads all qualifying interior defensive linemen from the 2017 NFL draft, as does his 9.3 pressure percentage and 51 total pressures. He is easily the best interior pass-rushing talent in the 2017 class and is within reach of elite play if he can improve his game-to-game consistency and stay healthy.”
Bleacher Report even suggested that Allen has a good chance to be a Pro Bowler this year with the improved talent surrounding him.
Redskins fans can only hope.
