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The Denver Broncos have found gems hidden among undrafted free agents in the past. Players like Phillip Lindsay, C.J. Anderson, Chris Harris Jr., and Shaquil Barrett all joined the Broncos after being passed over in round after round of the NFL Draft.
The Broncos just signed 13 new undrafted free agent college players, and one name keeps popping up as the next hidden gem – Alabama edge linebacker Christopher Allen.
Nick Baumgardner from The Athletic listed the 6-foot-4, 241-pound Allen as the best fit among Denver’s new crop of UDFA in this article.
“Allen has a lot of length (33-inch arms) and really powerful hands. His punch is no joke and it’s NFL-worthy. If he’s healthy, this is a steal,” Baumgardner wrote. “Had a fourth-round grade from (The Athletic’s NFL Draft expert Dane) Brugler.”
Allen was a four-star recruit coming out of Southern Lab High School in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He played in seven games as a true freshman in 2017 for eventual national champion Alabama and had six tackles for the Crimson Tide, but he suffered a knee injury before the next season and had to redshirt in 2018.
He returned from injury in 2019 to play in all 13 games and make 11 tackles, and then had a breakout season in 2020 when he led the SEC in tackles for a loss with 13.5 and was named Second Team All-SEC. He finished with 41 total tackles that season, including four in the Crimson Tide’s national championship win against Ohio State.
Second Injury Ends Season, Drops Stock
Allen was named to the Butkus Award Watch List before the 2021 season, but his campaign ended abruptly when he injured his foot during the first game of the season against Miami while he was strip-sacking Hurricanes quarterback D’Eriq King.
Allen “made significant strides in his rehab” and took part in some light drills before the Dec. 31 national semifinal against Cincinnati, as Tony Tsoukalas wrote for Sports Illustrated’s FanNation Bama Central in this Jan. 12 story. But Allen did not play against Cincinnati or in the national championship loss to Georgia.
The foot injury and missing the season are valid reasons for Allen falling out of the draft, but it was somewhat surprising. Most draft gurus had Allen going somewhere in Rounds 4-7, like Brugler from The Athletic, who ranked Allen as his No. 120 prospect, and NFL Writer Lance Zierlein, who had Allen going in the fourth round.
Comparisons to Another Bama Backer With Injury History
Bama Central’s Christopher Walsh wrote a pre-draft profile on Allen that included a comparison to linebacker Anfernee Jennings, who also battled through injuries while he was at Alabama (2015-19). Jennings was a third round pick of the New England Patriots in 2020 and played 14 games and had 20 tackles for the Patriots as a rookie, but missed all of last year with a knee injury.
Walsh’s profile also included a quote about Allen from another former Alabama player in New England, quarterback Mac Jones.
“I love Chris, man. Everyone loves Chris. He has a great personality. I mean, he’s hilarious,” Jones is quoted as saying in 2020.
“Chris is a guy that people don’t even really talk about as much as they probably should, and he’s a great leader on our team because he just lines up and does what he’s supposed to do.”
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