Arizona Cardinals rookie film room: 5 plays that define Zach Allen

In the fourth Arizona Cardinals rookie film room, we look at five plays that define Zach Allen.

In the third round of the 2019 NFL Draft, the Arizona Cardinals continued to select the best player available as they opted to draft Boston College defensive lineman Zach Allen over many others. Though fans clamored for the pick to be an offensive lineman to protect Kyler Murray, Allen is an excellent consolation prize that will surely contribute soon.

Measuring in at 6-foot-4 and 281-pounds with 34-3/4-inch arms, Allen is a bit of a tweener with some length to boot. His combine results aren’t inspiring; 5.0 second 40-yard-dash, 112-inch broad jump, 7.34-second three-cone-drill, 32-inch vertical, but his advanced stats certainly are.

Pro Football Focus graded Allen as their 40th best prospect and earned a 90.9 grade. Part of that grade stems from his 90.3 pass-rush grade and 87.7 run defense grade. He totaled 122 run stops in his college career, and an averaged an outside pressure in every 13.4 snaps. He also tallied 33 QB hits, 65 hurries, and 17 blocked passes for his career, per PFF.

PFF grades off of the film, so it’s not too difficult to see why they favored him over other, twitchier, more athletic prospects. After watching a considerable amount of impressive (and sometimes frustrating) Zach Allen college tape, the plays have been narrowed down to just five. With that being said, let’s break down those plays to see just what the Cardinals are getting in Allen.