CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Alabama defensive lineman Jonathan Allen passed up the NFL Draft after last season, and that decision paid off one more time.
Allen was named the 2016 Bronko Nagurski Award winner by the Charlotte Touchdown Club in conjunction with the Football Writers Association of America on Monday after helping the Crimson Tide to a 13-0 record, SEC championship and berth in the College Football Playoff. The award is given to the nation’s best defensive player.
Allen, who had 8.5 sacks and 13 tackles for loss this season, was one of five finalists along with teammate Reuben Foster, Florida State’s Tarvarus McFadden, Michigan’s Jabrill Peppers and Clemson’s Christian Wilkins.
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Among his many highlights was this signature play, an airborne sack of Texas A&M’s Trevor Knight on Oct. 22.
Allen was tempted to go to the NFL last season, but changed his mind after gauging how that might go.
"It was a lot of things I talked about,” Allen said. “After they found out about my shoulder injury that was going to keep me out of the (NFL) combine I received a second- or third-round grade from the grading committee.
"I felt like there were some things I needed to improve on and I felt like I had not completed everything I needed to complete. I thought it was the best business decision to come back.
So Allen continued “The Process”— the term coined by Alabama coach Nick Saban — and increased his draft stock with a monster season as part of a defense that allowed just 11.8 points per game. The Crimson Tide will take the next step in defending their national championship on Dec. 31 in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl against Washington (12-1).
Allen figures to be a key player in that game and well on his way to a first-round selection in the 2017 NFL Draft. He added what “The Process” has meant to him.
"It’s not focusing on what you want to achieve but what you have to do to get what you want to achieve,” Allen said. “That's the motto we kind of live by, and that's the motto I live by."
