How Did Josh Allen Stack Up to the Rookie Years of Past Jaguars’ Defensive Ends?

After a year in which Josh Allen set a Jaguars' rookie record for sacks, we take a look at the past defensive ends drafted in the team's 25-year history to gauge his early success.

Defensive end Josh Allen's rookie season was everything the Jacksonville Jaguars could have possibly hoped for when they selected him with the No. 7 overall selection in the 2019 NFL Draft. It isn't often for a player to exceed high expectations so early in his career, but that is what Allen did.

Drafted from the University of Kentucky with the Jaguars' top pick last April, Allen was meant to serve as a tag-team partner for Yannick Ngakoue on the edge and give the Jaguars a lethal group of third down pass-rushers, much like they had in 2017. Despite starting in only four games, Allen fulfilled this task in a big way as a result of a 10.5 sack season, earning a trip to the Pro Bowl and setting a Jaguars' franchise record for sacks by a rookie.

With Ngakoue's relationship with the Jaguars now fractured due to his announcement of a desire to play elsewhere last week, Allen has become an even more important building block for the Jaguars moving forward. With his stellar rookie season and expanded future role in mind, we looked at how Allen's rookie season stacked up to the rookie season of past Jaguars' defensive ends, and what it could mean moving forward.

Josh Allen (2019)

• Draft position: Round 1, No. 7 overall.
• Sacks: 10.5.
• Forced Fumbles: 2.
• Tackles: 44.
• Tackles for loss: 11.
• Overall: Allen led the Jaguars in sacks, as well as leading all NFL rookies. He was one of the most productive rookies in the entire 2019 class and his trajectory is pointing sky high moving forward.

Dawuane Smoot (2017)

• Draft position: Round 3, No. 68 overall.
• Sacks: 0.
• Forced Fumbles: 0.
• Tackles: 20.
• Tackles for loss: 2.
• Overall: Dawuane Smoot had a career year in 2019 when he recorded six sacks, but it was the first time he had ever recorded a sack in a season for the Jaguars. His first two years were relatively unproductive, though he played in all 16 games as a rookie.

Yannick Ngakoue (2016)

• Draft position: Round 3, No. 69 overall.
• Sacks: 8.
• Forced Fumbles: 4.
• Tackles: 23.
• Tackles for loss: 6.
• Overall: Yannick Ngakoue is one of the most productive pass-rushers in Jaguars' history, and he got off to a great start as a rookie in 2016. It took him one game to take Dante Fowler's place in the starting lineup, and he never gave it back up. 

Dante Fowler (drafted in 2015, first season was in 2016 due to injury)

• Draft position: Round 1, No. 3 overall.
• Sacks: 4.
• Forced Fumbles: 0.
• Tackles: 32.
• Tackles for loss: 6.
• Overall: Dante Fowler missed the entirety of his rookie season due to an ACL injury, so his first year of playing was technically in 2016. He started in Week 1, but that would be his only start for the entire season as Ngakoue was more impressive early on and overtook him in the starting lineup.

Chris Smith (2014)

• Draft position: Fifth round, No. 159 overall.
• Sacks: 3.
• Forced Fumbles: 1.
• Tackles: 5.
• Tackles for loss: 1.
• Overall: Drafted as a rotational pass-rusher, Chris Smith never got a lot of playing time in Jacksonville but he was able to record three sacks as a depth player in his rookie season.

Andre Branch (2012)

• Draft position: Round 2, No. 38 overall.
• Sacks: 1.
• Forced Fumbles: 1.
• Tackles: 12.
• Tackles for loss: 0.
• Overall: The return on investment with Andre Branch was poor for most of his tenure with the Jaguars, and this was especially true during his rookie season. Drafted to give the Jaguars' poor pass-rush a boost, Branch was more of an afterthought than an impact player.

Larry Hart (2010)

• Draft position: Round 5, No. 143 overall.
• Sacks: 1.5.
• Forced Fumbles: 0.
• Tackles: 9.
• Tackles for loss: 2.
• Overall: Larry Hart's only season in Jacksonville culminated in 1.5 sacks and fewer than 10 tackles, leading to his replacement the next season.

Austen Lane (2010)

• Draft position: Round 5, No. 153 overall.
• Sacks: 0. 
• Forced Fumbles: 0.
• Tackles: 20.
• Tackles for loss: 2.
• Overall: Austen Lane played three seasons for the Jaguars and all three of his career sacks came in his final two years in Jacksonville, with his rookie year being a relatively forgettable one.

Derrick Harvey (2008)

• Draft position: Round 1, No. 8 overall.
• Sacks: 3.5.
• Forced Fumbles: 0.
• Tackles: 19.
• Tackles for loss: 5.
• Overall: Derrick Harvey's rookie season was a dissapointing one considering his draft pedigree, and he has since gone down in Jaguars' lore as one of the franchise's biggest draft busts due to playing only three seasons for the team, collecting eight sacks in the process.

Quentin Groves (2008)

• Draft position: Round 2, No. 52 overall.
• Sacks: 2.5.
• Forced Fumbles: 1.
• Tackles: 13.
• Tackles for loss: 8.
• Overall: Taken with the Jaguars' next pick after Harvey, Quentin Groves was meant to team up with Harvey and revitalize the Jaguars' pass-rush. He only played two seasons in Jacksonville and recorded zero sacks in his second season.

Brian Smith (2007)

• Draft position: Round 4, No. 113 overall.
• Sacks: 0.
• Forced Fumbles: 0.
• Tackles: 0.
• Tackles for loss: 0.
• Overall: Brian Smith never played a down for the Jaguars after being placed on the physically unable to perform list in his rookie year and then getting cut in 2008.

Brent Hawkins (2006)

• Draft position: Round 5, No. 160 overall.
• Sacks: 2.
• Forced Fumbles: 0.
• Tackles: 9.
• Tackles for loss: 2.
• Overall: Brent Hawkins only played for the Jaguars for two seasons, and his second season saw him total more sacks (3.5) than his rookie year.

James Wyche (2006)

• Draft position: Round 7, No. 213 overall.
• Sacks: 0.
• Forced Fumbles: 0.
• Tackles: 1.
• Tackles for loss: 0.
• Overall: James Wyche recorded one tackle and zero sacks in his short career which saw him also play for the St. Louis Rams. 

Bobby McCray (2004)

• Draft position: Round 7, No. 249 overall.
• Sacks: 3.5.
• Forced Fumbles: 2.
• Tackles: 24.
• Tackles for loss: 7.
• Overall: One of the best seventh-round selections in the Jaguars' history, Bobby McCray recorded 22 sacks in four seasons with the team and improved his sack totals in years two and three after a solid rookie season,

Brandon Green (2003)

• Draft position: Round 6, No. 176 overall.
• Sacks: 0.
• Forced Fumbles: 0.
• Tackles: 3.
• Tackles for loss: 1.
• Overall: Brandon Green's lone season in Jacksonville saw him appear in only three games and make a total of three tackles. He spent the next two years of his career with the Rams, where he recorded 3.5 sacks,

Rob Meier (2000)

• Draft position: Round 7, No. 241 overall.
• Sacks: 0.5.
• Forced Fumbles: 0.
• Tackles: 17.
• Tackles for loss: 3.
• Overall: Another solid seventh-round draft pick, Meier played nine seasons in Jacksonville and produced 21.5 sacks and three forced fumbles during that span. His rookie year didn't make much of an impact, but it helped him stick around the roster.

Chris White (1999)

• Draft position: Round 7, No. 246 overall.
• Sacks: 0.
• Forced Fumbles: 0.
• Tackles: 0.
• Tackles for loss: 0.
• Overall: Chris White played in five games for the Atlanta Falcons in 2000, but he recorded no stats in his short career.

Lamanzer Williams (1998)

• Draft position: Round 6, No. 179 overall
• Sacks: 0.
• Forced Fumbles: 0.
• Tackles: 0.
• Tackles for loss: 0.
• Overall: Lamanzer Williams played only one season with the Jaguars and recorded zero statistics. 

Renaldo Wynn (1997)

• Draft position: Round 1, No. 21 overall.
• Sacks: 2.5.
• Forced Fumbles: 0.
• Tackles: 28.
• Tackles for loss: n/a (stat not recorded).
• Overall: The first five years of Renaldo Wynn's 13-year career came in Jacksonville, but his rookie season wasn't particularly noteworthy. He would record 13.5 sacks over five seasons in Jacksonville.

Tony Brackens (1996)

• Draft position: Round 2, No. 33 overall.
• Sacks: 7.
• Forced Fumbles: 5.
• Tackles: 55.
• Tackles for loss: n/a (stat not recorded).
• Overall: Arguably the best pass-rusher in franchise history, Tony Brackens was also the first defensive end drafted by the team. His seven sacks and five forced fumbles as a rookie was terrific production, and he would go on to set the Jaguars' sack record with 55 sacks in eight years in Jacksonville.

As a whole, the Jaguars' track record of drafting defensive ends and getting production early on isn't exactly a good one. Only three players totaled more than four sacks as rookies: Allen, Ngakoue, and Brackens. 

Allen is the only player on this entire list to record double-digit sacks as a rookie, and he did this while playing in a rotational role. He is also the only player on this list to record double-digit tackles for loss as a rookie, though the number for Brackens' tackles for loss could not be found. 

Allen didn't have the five forced fumbles that Brackens had, but the rest of his numbers were superior. Part of this could be the transition to a more pass-heavy game compared to when Brackens played, but the pure statistics show Allen had, by far, the best rookie year of any Jaguars' defensive end ever.