Zachary William-Jacob Allen (born August 20, 1997) is an American professional football defensive end for the Denver Broncos of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Boston College Eagles.

College career As a freshman in 2015, Allen played in all 12 games of the regular season, primarily as a member of the special teams unit. He participated in 66 plays on special teams and 46 plays at defensive end. In the first game of his collegiate career, Allen registered an assisted tackle in the season opener vs. Maine and recorded one solo tackle against Howard.

In 2016, Allen played in 13 games (2016 Quick Lane Bowl), making one start against Georgia Tech in Dublin. Allen recorded 36 tackles on the season, including 19 solo tackles, and 17 assists, as well as 6.0 sacks. On the year he deflected 4 passes and had 2 fumble recoveries. In the 2016 Quick Lane Bowl, Allen played a big part in the victory over the Maryland Terrapins, recording a single-game career high of 2 sacks for a loss of 15 yards, along with 2 solo tackles.

In 2017, Allen was promoted to a full-time starting defensive end and started in all 13 games (2017 Pinstripe Bowl). Allen had a career year: He had 47 solo tackles and 53 assists, with 15.5 tackles for loss, a 5.5 improvement. Allen was one of only two defensive lineman to record at least 100 tackles. Despite the leap in tackles, his sack production dropped to 4.0, 2.0 fewer than the 6.0 he recorded in 2016. Allen recorded 1 interception and deflected 3 passes. After posting a career-high 14 tackles against Virginia Tech, Allen was named the Atlantic Coast Conference Defensive lineman of the week. After the season, Allen won the Bulger Love Award, given to New England's best offensive and defensive NCAA football players. There was speculation that Allen would declare for the 2018 NFL draft after his junior season, but he later announced that he would return to school for his senior year.

In 2018, Allen played in all 12 regular season games; however, he did not participate in the 2018 First Responder Bowl. On the year, Allen proved to still be quite productive, recording 26 solo tackles, 35 assists, and 15.0 tackles for loss. Allen had a career-high for sacks in 2018, recording 6.5, a 0.5 improvement over his 2016 record. Allen tallied 1 interception, which was returned for 6 yards, and deflected a career-high 7 passes, doubling all of his previous years' deflected passes combined. He also had 2 fumble recoveries and his first career forced fumble.

Professional career

Arizona Cardinals Allen was selected by the Arizona Cardinals with the 65th overall pick in the third round of the 2019 NFL draft. Following training camp, Allen was named a starting defensive end to start the season. Allen started for the Cardinals in his debut during Week 1 of the 2019 season against the Detroit Lions. During the game, Allen recorded three solo tackles. He played in the first four games before suffering a neck injury in Week 4. He missed the next six games before being placed on injured reserve on November 13, 2019.

In Week 1 of the 2020 season against the San Francisco 49ers, Allen recorded his first career sack on Jimmy Garoppolo during the 24–20 win. He was placed on injured reserve on October 27, 2020. He was activated on November 28, 2020. In Week 15 against the Philadelphia Eagles, Allen led the team with 11 tackles and sacked Jalen Hurts once during the 33–26 win.

Allen entered the 2021 season as a starting defensive end. He played in 15 games with 14 starts, recording 48 tackles, four sacks, and three fumble recoveries. In 2022 his production continued to improve, logging 47 tackles, five and a half sacks, ten tackles-for-loss, and eight pass deflections across 13 starts. Allen credited much of his growth as a player during his last two seasons with the Cardinals to the mentorship of teammate and three-time Defensive Player of the Year recipient J. J. Watt, who was also a defensive end for Arizona from 2021 to 2022. Denver Broncos

On March 15, 2023, Allen signed a three-year, $45.75 million contract with the Denver Broncos, following his former defensive coordinator with the Cardinals, Vance Joseph. Replacing Dre'Mont Jones as the Broncos starting left defensive end, Allen recorded 60 tackles, eight tackles-for-loss, five sacks, and a forced fumble.

During the 2024 season, Allen recorded 8.5 sacks, 15 tackle-for-losses, and a safety, and was named a Second-team All-Pro. Allen joined Nick Bosa, Aaron Donald, J. J. Watt, and T. J. Watt as the only players to ever record 40 or more quarterback hits in a single season. In contrast with the rotational nature of defensive line positions in professional football, Allen led all defensive linemen in 2024 in snaps played at 964, over one hundred more than the next highest player. On the NFL Top 100 Players of 2025, Allen was ranked as the 90th best player in the league by his fellow NFL players.

On August 2, 2025, Allen signed a four-year, $102 million contract extension with the Broncos.

After recording 7 sacks and a league-leading 47 quarterback hits during the 2025 season, Allen received his first Pro Bowl and first-team All-Pro nods. He was later ranked the 73rd best player in the league on the NFL Top 100 Players of 2026 list.

Career statistics NFL Legend Led the league Bold Career high

Regular season Year Team Games Tackles Interceptions Fumbles GP GS Cmb Solo Ast Sck TFL Sfty Int Yds Avg Lng TD PD FF Fum FR Yds TD 2019 ARI 4 1 8 6 2 0.0 1 0 0 0 0.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2020 ARI 13 7 35 20 15 2.0 5 0 0 0 0.0 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 2021 ARI 15 14 48 30 18 4.0 5 0 1 25 25.0 25 0 4 0 0 3 27 1 2022 ARI 13 13 47 23 24 5.5 10 0 0 0 0.0 0 0 8 0 0 0 0 0 2023 DEN 17 17 60 27 33 5.0 8 0 0 0 0.0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 2024 DEN 16 16 61 32 29 8.5 15 1 0 0 0.0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 2025 DEN 17 17 38 14 24 7.0 4 0 0 0 0.0 0 0 6 0 0 0 0 0Career 95 85 297 152 145 32.0 48 1 1 25 25.0 25 0 23 1 0 3 27 1

Postseason Year Team Games Tackles Interceptions Fumbles GP GS Cmb Solo Ast Sck TFL Sfty Int Yds Avg Lng TD PD FF Fum FR Yds TD 2021 ARI 1 1 4 1 3 0.0 0 0 0 0 0.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2024 DEN 1 1 5 4 1 1.0 2 0 0 0 0.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2025 DEN 2 2 9 6 3 1.5 0 0 0 0 0.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0Career 4 4 18 11 7 2.5 2 0 0 0 0.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

College Season Team Class Pos GP Tackles Interceptions Fumbles Solo Ast Cmb TfL Sck Int Yds Avg TD PD FR Yds TD FF 2015 Boston College FR DE 2 1 1 2 0 0.0 0 0 0.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2016 Boston College SO DE 10 19 17 36 10 6.0 0 0 0.0 0 4 2 0 0 0 2017 Boston College JR DE 13 47 53 100 15.5 4.0 1 0 0.0 0 4 0 0 0 0 2018 Boston College SR DE 12 26 35 61 15 6.5 1 6 6.0 0 7 2 0 0 1 Career 37 93 106 199 40.5 16.5 2 6 3.0 0 15 4 0 0 1

References

External links

College Stats from Sports-Reference Denver Broncos bio Boston College Eagles bio