Jared Allen is unquestionably one of the best pass rushers in the history of the NFL. The fact that he might not immediately pop in your head as such shows the obscurity with which he played his career on consistently losing teams. From 2005-2013 Allen had eight double-digit sack seasons in nine years. And the one year he didn’t hit that mark he still had 7.5 sacks. The man is going to the Hall of Fame.
In 2011 Allen had 22 sacks, just half-a-sack from tying Michael Strahan’s NFL record and one of Strahan’s was fake. Twice he led the NFL in sacks, in 2011 with the Minnesota Vikings and 2007 with the Kansas City Chiefs where he posted 15.5 sacks. To put that in perspective DeMarcus Ware has only led the NFL in sacks once, in 2010. Strahan only once as well in his record-setting season in 2001. The only player that has been as dominant as a pass-rusher as Allen in this era is Houston’s J.J. Watt. That’s who Jared Allen is. That’s who retired by literally riding off into the sunset last month.
https://twitter.com/JaredAllen69/status/700340328729935872
Luckily for the Panthers, they have his replacement on the roster already and we’ll get to that. But first, let’s take a look at what Allen did in the league.
Jared Allen, Defensive End
2015: 19 tackles, two sacks, two passes defended
Those stats may not jump out at you, but there’s a reason the Panthers made the trade for Allen three games into the season. They played him in a rotation with second-year player Kony Ealy out of Missouri and, needless to say, when the playoffs rolled around that worked out quite well. Ealy’s regular season line looks like this; 32 tackles, five sacks, three forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries and two passes defended.
Here’s Ealy’s line in Super Bowl 50; four tackles, three sacks, one forced fumble and one interception. If the Panthers could have pulled off a win that Sunday back in February, Ealy was probably going to be the MVP. Allen shared the spotlight with Ealy last season. This year, Ealy will have it all to himself.
The Panthers absolutely stole Ealy in the second round of the 2014 NFL Draft. I had him in the first round of my mock that year, so the breakout doesn’t surprise me. The fact that all 32 NFL teams passed on him once and nearly twice, the Panthers picked him at No. 60 for God’s sake, is the shocker.
Still, the Panthers need some depth with Allen gone and Ealy starting full time. They were lucky enough to re-sign Charles Johnson over on the other side. They currently have Ryan Delair, a second-year player from Towson and Mario Addison, a sixth-year man out of Troy, as their back ups. Both played well as reserves last season and Addison notched 6 sacks and 23 tackles. Addison has actually developed into a solid pass rusher since the Panthers acquired him in 2012. Last year he had 6.5 sacks. Because of that, I don’t think the Panthers will be looking for a defensive end in the first round.
The problem for the Panthers when it comes to the draft is they don’t have a lot to work with. In an effort to build a Super Bowl team, and they did, they traded away all but their first three picks in the 2016 draft. They pick at 30, 62 and 93 and then they’re done. If they’re going to get defensive end help, they’ll have to do it in rounds two or three and then work the undrafted free agents.
So who would they look at with the No. 62 pick? How about Carl Nassib from Penn State. Nassib is a giant, 6-foot-7 and 277 pounds. He’s quick too and ran a 4.84 40-yard dash at the combine. Last year with the Nittany Lions he had 46 tackles, 19.5 for a loss, 15.5 sacks and one pass defense. The only issue with taking Nassib with the Panthers’ second-round pick is that he might not be there at 62.
In the third round we’re looking at Shawn Oakman out of Baylor. He’s another monster at 6-foot-8, 287 pounds who ran a respectable 4.96 40 at the combine. Last year he had 43 tackles, 14.5 tackles for a loss, 4.5 sacks and two forced fumbles for the Bears.
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