Jacksonville Jaguars select Kentucky star Josh Allen in first round of NFL Draft
By SDS Staff
Published:
Two-star recruit to first-round pick.
Kentucky’s Josh Allen completed his unlikely ascent Thursday night when the Jacksonville Jaguars selected the Wildcats star edge rusher with the No. 7 overall pick in the first round of the NFL Draft.
It was a bit of a fall for Allen, but he lands in a great situation with a talented defense.
Allen is just the third Kentucky player taken in the first round since Tim Couch went No. 1 overall in 1999. He is the first recruited by Mark Stoops.
Allen arrived at Kentucky as the No. 2,121-ranked player in the 2015 recruiting class. He was just No. 46 in his home state of New Jersey, which will never be confused as a football hotbed.
Clearly, Stoops saw something nobody else did: star potential.
It took work and time, especially in the weight room, where Allen grew into a 260-pound force as a senior. He finished with 31.5 career sacks, a program record. He led the SEC and set another program record with 17 sacks this past season.
“I thought he was the most improved player in college football this year,” Senior Bowl director Jim Nagy said. “You saw it right away. He put on the extra weight this year, whatever it was — 20, 25 pounds. You saw the extra power he’s played with in his game. He’s better against the run and the sack numbers skyrocketed. … There were some games in the fourth quarter where he really took over and was almost unstoppable. … If I were a team picking up high and I needed an EDGE guy, Josh Allen would be my pick.”
Saturday Down South reports and comments on the news around the Southeastern Conference as well as larger college football topics.
