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Zach Allen saw a pathway to success for himself even from 2,500 miles away.
In early October 2021, Allen was in the midst of his third season with the Arizona Cardinals. He had two career sacks to his name after injuries plagued each of his first two seasons. And only recently had he come under the tutelage of future Hall of Famer J.J. Watt in the desert.
He had confidence, to be sure, but not so much to reinforce it.
“I was really inconsistent, but I was like, ‘OK, I think I can do this,’” Allen told The Denver Post recently.
Across the country, New York Jets defensive lineman John Franklin-Myers was a year older and a year more established. When he inked an in-season, four-year extension worth $55 million that came with $30 million guaranteed, Allen took notice.
“I remember watching his tape and thinking that I liked the way this guy plays,” Allen said. “Then you see him get paid. So I just shot him a DM on Instagram and said, ‘Hey congratulations on everything.’ That gave me a lot of hope, like, OK, a guy that plays a similar style is getting recognized and respected in this league. That gave me a lot of confidence.”
The two struck up a friendship and consistent dialogue.
“Basically, like, game recognize game,” Allen said.
Not only did they play similar styles, they came to realize, but they shared a similar pass-rushing ethos.
They thought, as many players do, it would be cool if someday they got the chance to play together.
Unlike most who muse about the possibility, the pair now actually gets that chance in Denver.
Allen cashed in himself in the spring of 2023 with a three-year, $45.75 million contract from the Broncos. The extension Franklin-Myers signed eventually made him a cap casualty in New York despite consistent production and Denver pounced to add him via trade for almost nothing during April’s NFL draft.
They won’t put on the pads together until August. The most extensive work they may get together against another team might come in one joint practice against Green Bay in mid-August. But Allen thinks Franklin-Myers’ addition to Denver’s front line will not just be an upgrade over last year because he’s racked up 200-plus pressures over the past four seasons, but because it will unlock Allen’s game, too.
“Every day we’re talking for like an hour just on our own,” Allen said. “When we get this, we should do this. What we see. Things we like, things we don’t like. It’s been a really, really good process.”
A year ago, the Broncos played more two-down as the year went along. Jonathan Harris started the season playing upward of 60% of defensive snaps but saw that time wane as the season progressed. Nobody turned into a difference-maker outside of Allen and defensive tackle D.J. Jones.
“Last year there was a lot of trying to move me around a lot to positions I wasn’t super comfortable with,” Allen said. “Then ‘J’ gets here and then it’s like, OK, pick one. We both understand that you’re going to have a hard down every once in a while but that means the other guy gets a one-on-one.”
If a defensive line is solid across the board, an offensive line at least has to play honestly. If Batman finds Robin, all the better.
“When you look at the top sack number guys, they always have a tandem,” Allen said. “It’s not like there’s just one guy who’s just a world-beater on his own. When you have that, it’s really special. Last year, it was a little inconsistent and it was frustrating at times. But whenever you get the one-on-one I truly believe you have to win. That’s what I get paid to do and that’s what my job is.
“I feel like I did it well last year but I feel even better this year. Really excited to see where it goes.”
So, too, is head coach Sean Payton. The Broncos finished near the bottom of the league in win rates in both pass rush and run stopping. The club spent the offseason overhauling the defensive line by adding Franklin-Myers but also Malcolm Roach and Angelo Blackson via free agency. On the edge, they’ll lean into their trio of Nik Bonitto, Baron Browning and Jonathon Cooper plus rookie Jonah Elliss.
“It’s all a puzzle relative to how we play these guys,” Payton said. “So when you have depth and you have flexibility of where you can play, (that’s good). We know kind of where we’d like to play Zach, where we’d like to play D.J., and yet if you’re thin, sometimes you don’t have that luxury.
“I like where the numbers are there, and we got some experience that we brought in there, both at the end and the tackle position.”
By the time the 2023 season ended, Allen had put together a solid first year in Denver. He finished with 60 pressures, according to Pro Football Focus, the No. 8 mark in the NFL. He played in every game for the first time in his career.
Team-wise, though, Denver’s front seven wasn’t good. The defense didn’t grade out well overall. The Broncos fell short of the playoffs.
Standing on the precipice of a few weeks’ worth of summer vacation, Allen sounded like a guy who couldn’t wait to get back to try to build on the individual side but more pertinently the team side.
“The more and more you’re in this league, the more you realize that it’s fun and also helpful to play with really good players,” Allen said. “That’s all you can ask for. And I think we really have something special. I think we’ve seen it through this whole OTA and everything.
“There’s no pads, but there’s a different tempo, different speed it’s being played at and I think it’s going to be really cool when the pads come on.”
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