When Jonathan Allen was selected with the No. 17 overall pick in the 2017 NFL Draft, he came to a team in desperate need of a defensive rebirth. The now-Washington Commanders had one stand-out player on that side of the ball — edge rusher Ryan Kerrigan. Otherwise, the line he would be joining was filled with veteran journeymen and unknown youngsters.
Head coach Jay Gruden brought in Greg Manusky to run the defense in 2017 after previous coordinator Joe Barry proved ineffective. The team allowed its best defensive lineman, Chris “Swaggy” Baker, to depart via free agency. The returning players included veterans Ziggy Hood, Stacy McGee, and Terrell McClain, together with youngsters like Anthony Lanier and A.J. Francis.
Within a few years, none of them would remain in the league. Francis did go on to forge a different career as Top Dolla in the world of professional wrestling. There was one other productive young lineman on the squad — 2016 draftee Matt Ioannidis.
Drafting Allen was supposed to begin a much-needed rebuild. He was a huge star at Alabama. He would have gone much higher in the first round if not for concerns about his shoulder. Washington gladly snapped him up when he fell.
His career did not get off to a promising start. He missed most of his rookie season, though it was not the shoulder that sidelined him. It was a Lisfranc injury. Not many fans knew what that was at the time, but they learned quickly. This caused Allen to miss 11 games in 2017.
Allen began carving his name into Washington football history in 2018. More reinforcements had arrived. Allen’s former Crimson Tide teammate Daron Payne was chosen in the first round of the 2018 draft and another lineman, Tim Settle, came in the fifth.
Commanders didn't do enough to help talented players like Jonathan Allen
Manusky employed a base 3-4 front with Payne over center. Ioannidis was on one end. Allen was on the other. After several years of languishing at the bottom of the league in points and yards allowed, Washington edged its way into the middle of the pack.
Things took off a couple of years later when new coach Ron Rivera and defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio switched back to a 4-3 scheme. The team had chosen a couple of first-round defensive ends — Montez Sweat and Chase Young — allowing Payne and Allen to line up on the inside. The plan was to ride this all-star front four back to the playoffs.
It almost worked. In 2020, it did.
Washington’s defense, which had been a weakness, turned into a strength. Anchored by Allen in the middle, that defense finished in the top five in yards, points, and yards-per-play. They did make it into the playoffs, albeit with a losing record.
As quickly as it materialized, it vanished.
The first domino to fall was prized pass rusher Young. An injury during his second season seemed to derail his promising career. Then, repeated catastrophic personnel decisions — especially on defense — led to a steady decline in performance.
Allen, Payne, and Sweat were doing what was expected of them upfront. Almost no one else on defense was coming close to their level.
Things got ugly as the club descended among the bottom feeders. The offense could not find a consistent quarterback, which put more pressure on the defense. Ever the team leader, Allen responded. He had his two best seasons in 2021 and 2022, making the Pro Bowl each year. But red flags were warning of danger.
Sam Mills III's departure changed something in Jonathan Allen
Without Young, Washington’s defense in 2021 regressed. Then, shortly before the beginning of the 2022 season, Rivera stunned the team by firing defensive line coach Sam Mills III. Allen was quoted at the time saying, “At the end of the day, it’s sad. I think me and coach Sam were getting along really well. We were really making some progress as a defensive unit.”
What led to the firing of Mills has never been made public, but something seemed to change in Allen after that. Though he had another excellent season in 2022, his play began to dip during 2023 when the team plummeted to almost rock bottom. The defense was historically awful. Del Rio was axed during the campaign.
Late in the year, Allen got into a public sideline spat with his friend Payne. For the first time in his career, he began hinting at a desire to leave.
He was among the highest-paid players on the team and a genuine leader. Along with Terry McLaurin on offense, Allen was the one guy fans could count on to show up and perform week in and week out, regardless of the turmoil surrounding the Commanders.
After his injury-plagued rookie year, Allen started 96 games over the next six years. Even with the downturn in 2023, he was a model of consistency, averaging more than 60 tackles, about 10 tackles for loss, and six sacks per season. Those may not be the Pro Football Hall of Fame numbers some fans envisioned back in 2017, but they were above average and reliable.
If you assembled an entire team of Jonathan Allens, you would win a lot of football games. But the Commanders never managed to do that during his tenure.
When he was at his peak, Allen was far more than an on-field presence. Having grown up in nearby Leesburg, the lineman felt a particular desire to help out the community.
He spent some time in the foster care system while growing up. That led him to put in major volunteer hours, especially with Sasha Bruce Youthwork — an organization devoted to helping at-risk kids in the D.C. area. For his efforts, Allen was nominated by Washington as its Walter Payton Man of the Year candidate in both 2020 and 2021.
In the final years of the previous ownership group, the ever-present scandal and constant losing seemed to take its toll on Allen. The man who had been a foundational piece through some tough years appeared to be drifting away from the core of the franchise.
Now that his time with the Commanders is finished, fans can look back and thank him for being one of the true professionals on a team that was often bereft of talent and commitment during his time.
Allen did not live up to the lofty expectations that many fans and analysts had for him when he was drafted. The all-first-round defensive line that he anchored did not lead the team to glory. Still, he was a very good player and an even better person for five years from 2018 to 2022.
With his departure, Tress Way and (perhaps) Jamison Crowder are the only players remaining from Washington’s 2017 roster when Allen began his NFL career. Another figure from the past is gone as the Commanders focus on a brighter future.
More Commanders news and analysis