Throughout the 2025 NFL season, SB Nation’s Doug Farrar will write about the game’s Secret Superstars — those players whose performances might slip under the radar for whatever reasons. In this installment, it’s time to catch up with Denver Broncos pass-rusher Zach Allen, who may be the most underrated interior defensive lineman of his era.
J.J. Watt would probably agree.
When it comes to pass-rushers, sacks set the pace regarding public awareness, but they don’t tell the whole story. Just as you would
be selling defensive backs short if you only went by their interception totals as opposed to all other available metrics and tape, evaluating defensive linemen by their sack totals alone will never paint the entire picture — especially in today’s NFL, where blitz and stunt packages are designed to cause as much havoc as possible in an overall sense. Total pressures are valued because when you disrupt the quarterback, the quarterback’s performance is generally negatively affected. Simple logic, right?
And when it comes to creating havoc for enemy quarterbacks, there’s no defensive lineman — especially no interior defensive lineman — who has matched Zach Allen of the Denver Broncos this season. Allen is well-known in NFL circles as a transcendent player, and the four-year, $102 million contract extension with $44,25 million guaranteed he got in the 2025 offseason tells you what the Broncos already thought of him, but when it comes to recogniti0n verses performance, Allen still doesn’t get what he deserves… and he may be playing better than ever at age 28.
In the Broncos’ 34-26 win over the Green Bay Packers, Allen had half a sack, but he also had six quarterback hits and six quarterback hurries, and it could be said that with all the other stuff Jordan Love and Green Bay’s offense had to deal with when it came to Denver’s diabolical pass rush, what Allen did to affect Love, and the negative plays that resulted, made the difference in the Broncos’ 11th straight win.
In that game, Allen became the second player since quarterback hits were officially tracked in 2006 to have at least 40 in two consecutive seasons. The list is: Allen in 2024 and 2025, and J.J. Watt, who did it four straight times from 2012-2015.
The difference in perception between Watt and Allen has a lot to do with sack totals. In that four-year stretch, Watt had an incomprehensible 74 sacks per Pro Football Focus, which counts half-sacks as full sacks, and includes the postseason. Allen had 14 sacks in 2024, and he already has nine this year, so he’s been as much as closer as he’s been a disruptor, but matching Watt’s peak is a tough go.
It’s also tough to stand out in a defense where even the edge guys don’t get the credit they deserve. Having grown up in Denver (Hello, Green Mountain!) and understanding the frustration caused by Howard Cosell ignoring the Broncos through years of Monday Night Football halftime highlights, I’m well-familiar with an overall underratedness when it comes to the Broncos. Don’t even get me started on the Hall of Fame snubs.
It’s still happening, because we’re not talking enough nationally about how marvelous Nik Bonitto has been, never mind Jonathon Cooper, who might as well be on a milk carton in a national sense. Right now, Denver’s defense has four players with at least 30 total pressures for the season: Allen with 63, Bonitto with 61, Cooper with 45, and the grievously underrated John Franklin-Myers with 34. That Denver front is just a Shark Sandwich (R.I.P. Rob Reiner) for any quarterback who has to deal with it, and Allen is the tone-setter. Leading the NFL with 58 sacks is one thing; leading the NFL with 180 pressures is just something else.
“I don’t think much has changed with Zach,” defensive coordinator Vance Joseph said in October. “I mean, he’s just getting older as a player. He’s always been a great rusher. He’s gotten stronger over the years, but he’s always been a smart player. It’s opportunities. I think Zach playing with better outside rushers allows him to get more one-on-ones. When you’re the only rusher inside, you get all the slides of a double team. Now he’s playing with Nik and ‘Coop’ and ‘JFM’ . It’s fair across the board. All of our guys should improve with those kinds of numbers.”
True, but let’s not assume that Allen can’t get home when he’s double-teamed… because he most certainly can. Three of his sacks and 11 of his pressures have come when he’s been doubled this season, and as much as anyone, he’s the guy opposing offensive lines need to focus on in their protection calls.
“That’s a great question,” Sean Payton said on December 5, when asked what it is about Allen’s skill set that has made him such a difference-making disruptor. “He’s so quick off the ball. He bends well. I would say he’s one of those guys, when you talk about stamina and play after play, it’s unique. This [No.] 98 [Raiders EDGE Maxx] Crosby is the same way. The other day, we were talking about a play we’ll put in. Then I said, ‘Well, we’ll call it when he’s not in the game,’ and they said, ‘The last two games, he’s played 100 percent of the snaps.’ So we took that play out. Because usually there’s a substitution pattern sometimes. But Zach’s one of those guys with great—different position here—but great stamina, and I would say, great bend. The second part of the rush, when it continues, he continues to play hard.”
Allen has been off the field for 238 snaps this season (on-field for 626 snaps), and the Broncos’ pass-rush performance without him tells another tale. Denver’s pressure rate of 45.3% with Allen drops to 35.6% without him, the sack rate goes from 10.7% to 8.9%, the blown block pressure rate goes from 20.8% to 11.1%, and the blown block sack rate goes from 6.1% to 2.2%.
Yes, that pass rush is loaded with horses, but Zach Allen in the Big Bronco in Denver’s quarterback disruption strategies. And he’s doing it at a level that brings some of the best in recent years to mind.
