CJ Allen

● Well built with adequate length and definition on his frame ● Above-average straight-line speed and moves well laterally ● Displays functional perimeter range and frequently makes stops near the sideline ● Strong key-and-diagnose skills to mirror at the line ● Doesn’t take the cheese — eyes stay glued to the football ● Adept at sidestepping or dipping underneath climbing blockers ● Excellent drive-through and finish-to-the-ground tackler ● Heart and soul of the defense on and off the field (NFL scout: “Stud of a human. … Good head on his shoulders.”); captain for six games in 2025 ● Coach-pleaser and hates to let his team down (Kirby Smart: “He practices so hard. He wants to win so bad. I don’t know that I’ve seen a kid care more about the team performance. Great leader, and I appreciate the work he puts into it.”) ● Above-average tackle production; didn’t commit a penalty in 41 career games

● Needs to load more ammo behind his hands when striking blocks ● Too easily stood up and stonewalled as a blitzer ● Missed tackles are usually a result of him trying to chop low ● Can get lost in zone drops and struggles to feel routes behind him ● Has some tightness in coverage ● Left knee injury that required a meniscus clean-up surgery (Nov. 2025), performed by Dr. James Andrews, but (somehow) only missed one game (Smart: “He chose to get the surgery immediately to give him a chance at coming back. … This kid is wired different.”)

A starter for two-and-a-half years at Georgia, Allen was an inside linebacker in defensive coordinator Glenn Schumann’s 3-3-5 base scheme. Because of his ability to handle information, he earned a starting role as a true freshman and developed into a team leader and All-American as a junior. Despite a late-season knee procedure in November 2025, he only missed one game and led Georgia in tackles, tackles for loss and forced fumbles in his final college season. With his football smarts as a run defender, Allen is quick to sort, fill and chest up ball carriers, often playing one step ahead of the other 10 defenders on the field. He is rarely fooled by misdirection and also trusts his eyes to unlock and chase plays to the perimeter. He has inconsistent pop and power as a take-on player in tight quarters but sees and sifts through blockers with his lateral agility. Overall, Allen has reliability issues in zone coverage, but he is a speedy flow-and-scrape linebacker who is quick to trigger and be around the football. He projects as an NFL starter who can make a Nick Bolton-like impact. 459 Back to table of contents -- 463 of 629 --