No one saw this coming! A consensus top 4 pick Josh Allen saw his slide stop quickly and suddenly in the 1st round Thursday Night. The Jacksonville Jaguars selected the former Kentucky DE Josh Allen with the seventh overall selection in the 2019 NFL Draft.
Allen, 6-5, 262, did not miss a game in his four-year career, playing in all 51 games with 35 starts. He totaled 224 tackles, 41 tackles for loss, 31.5 sacks, 11 forced fumbles, two FFs and eight passes defensed. In 2018, Allen had a team-high 88 tackles, 17.0 sacks, 21.5 TFL and five forced fumbles, earning consensus first-team All-America honors, SEC Defensive Player of the Year and was honored with the Bronko Nagurski Award, presented to the nation’s top defensive player. Allen’s 17.0 sacks were the most by an SEC player in a single season since the NCAA started official sack records in 2000 and he ranked second nationally in sacks, fourth in fumbles forced and sixth in TFL. As a junior in 2017, Allen earned Associated Press All-SEC Second Team, Phil Steele All-SEC Third Team and was a Butkus Award semifinalist after totaling 65 tackles, 9.5 TFL and 7.0 sacks. Allen started nine games as a sophomore in 2016 and played in all 12 games as a freshman in 2015.
Allen is only the second Wildcat ever drafted by the Jaguars, and the first since Jacksonville selected S Marlon McCree in 2001 in the seventh round. He is the eighth defensive lineman drafted in the first round by the Jaguars and the third in the last five drafts. Since General Manager Dave Caldwell began his tenure with the Jaguars in 2013, Jacksonville has selected a player from the SEC in the first round in five of his seven drafts.