Zach Allen essentially replaced Dre'Mont Jones along the Denver Broncos' defensive line back in the 2023 NFL Season, and when the signing first went down, the decision that Denver made was kind of split down the middle.
However, Allen carved out a great 2023 season with Denver, and followed that up with a career year in 2024, amassing 40 QB hits, which led the NFL, and adding 8.5 sacks and 15 tackles for loss. Allen was given second-team All-Pro honors for his breakout season.
Now here in 2025, Allen has gotten to the QB at a higher level and has maintained this high level of play, somehow. Zach Allen played 89% of the defensive snaps in 2024 and has actually only played 72% this year, so it's been a huge decrease. Despite the fewer snaps, Allen is one more stellar performance away from joining some all-time company.
Zach Allen could become one of two players all-time with 50 QB hits in a season
The NFL started officially recording quarterback hits in the 2006 NFL Season, and you could easily argue that hitting the QB consistently is a better measure of a great pass rusher than raw sack totals. Allen led the league with 40 QB hits in 2024, and that's a number that some of the best pass-rushers in the NFL have never reached.
Well, with one game to play, Allen has 45 QB hits on the season, and he's going to end 2025 as the leader in this category again. However, with a five QB hit performance in Week 18 against a weak Los Angeles Chargers' offensive line, Allen would join JJ Watt, his former teammate, as the only players in the history of the NFL with at least 50 QB hits in a season.
Watt hit this feat twice, and Allen has had two games this year with at least five QB hits. He had six against the Green Bay Packers and five against the Tennessee Titans. The Chargers' offensive line is worse than both of those units, and I'd be shocked if Zach Allen himself and other players on defense weren't aware of how close he is.
Somehow, as good as Allen has been, I still think we as a fanbase are underrating him. He's had an all-time great stretch with the Broncos, and he's only getting better. Allen is still just 28 years old and may have another few years of this insane level of play.
He's the best pass-rusher that Denver has and he gets to the QB more frequently than any other player in the NFL right now.