Payton: Broncos Plan to Lighten All-Pro DL Zach Allen's Snap Load

Denver Broncos training camp is underway, and with it comes head coach Sean Payton holding court after practice. On Wednesday, Payton provided some insight into the team's plan for All-Pro defensive lineman Zach Allen. 

Allen is reportedly seeking a monster extension as he enters a contract year. And while that's a topic Payton touched on generally on Wednesday, his specific Allen remarks were on the subject of his usage.

"He's very important to what we're doing. We've got to be mindful of the snaps," Payton said of Allen. "I would say he probably played a few too many snaps, so we've got to be [careful], especially at that position. He's an important part of what we do."

What Payton had to say is accurate, except for the assertion that Allen played "a few too many snaps." That's a bit of an understatement.

Leading the League in DL Snaps

In the regular season last year, Allen played 964 snaps on defense over 16 games. The next highest defensive lineman around the NFLo was Dallas' Osa Odighizuwa with 859 snaps in 17 games. 

Allen averaged 60 snaps per game compared to 50.5 snaps per game from Odighizuwa, the defensive lineman with the second-highest number of snaps. With 105 snaps more than Odigizawa, Allen played essentially two more games' worth of snaps, despite actually missing a game. That's more than a few too many. 

Crucial to the Defense

There's no question that Allen is important to the Broncos' defense, as he is probably the second most-vital piece behind Patrick Surtain II. The Broncos want to keep him healthy and fresh, especially with a playoff run in mind. That kind of snap count isn’t sustainable. 

Credit is due to Allen for having the stamina to pull it off, and that's something he can take pride in. However, when you watch his tape from late last season, you can see that he was slowing down, and his production took a hit. 

Spread Too Thin

Now, examining Allen's massive game against the Cincinnati Bengals, where he lived in the backfield, it was a great performance. But that was a bottom-three offensive line in the NFL last year. He also managed to sack Josh Allen vs. the Buffalo Bills in the playoffs, which is a tough offensive line to play against. 

That said, after Week 10, Allen played seven games with 4.5 sacks, 3.5 of which came against the Bengals. Before throwing out the season finale against the Kansas City Chiefs' backups, Allen played 24 snaps, or 70.6% of the defensive snaps that game, which is still higher than the averages of most teams' top defensive linemen. 

During those games, Allen also generated 33 of his 81 total pressures, which is 4.7 pressures per game, not much of a drop-off from his 4.8 average from Weeks 1 through 10. His pressure ability was about the same, but his sacks were limited, and that wasn’t all. 

Allen's pressure rate dropped, his win percentage dropped, and his time to get a pressure increased, going from around three seconds to three-and-a-half or four seconds. Even his get-off got slower, going from 0.8-0.9 seconds to 0.9 to over a full second. That's a sign that his stamina was wearing thin. 

Allen stopped having the same impact in the run game, and this was even more noticeable than the drop-off in pass rushing. Like with pressures, his ability to generate stops was the same, but he struggled more to hold the line than he did early in the season. 

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The Takeaway

It's excellent to see Payton recognize Allen's importance to the defense and the need to reduce his snap count. Allen can be an elite player, and maintaining his stamina for the late season and a playoff push is something that can help. Watching his snap counts in games can also improve his efficiency and help him close out games.