Reports: Broncos Sign 13 UDFAs, Give Alabama OLB Chris Allen $180K Guaranteed
After making nine selections in the 2022 NFL Draft, the Denver Broncos proceeded to tack on a slew of undrafted free agents.
According to media reports, the Broncos have signed 13 UDFAs:
- Alabama OLB Christopher Allen
- Buffalo LB Kadofi Wright
- USC LB Kana’i Mauga
- East Carolina CB Ja'Quan McMillian
- Hawaii CB Cortez Davis
- Charleston RB Tyriek McCallister
- App State WR Jalen Virgil
- Northwest Missouri State WR Kaden Davis
- Central Florida WR Brandon Johnson
- NC State TE Dylan Parham
- UT Martin TE Rodney Williams
- Temple OL Michael Niese
- Minot State OT Sebastian Gutierrez
Denver signed each of these prospects as priority free agents, although the club appears particularly keen on Allen, who received $180,000 in total guarantees, per Pro Football Network's Doug Kyed.
Allen is a 6-foot-3, 241-pound 'backer who missed much of last season with a fractured foot. He also missed the entire 2018 campaign due to a knee injury. When healthy, however, he produced for Nick Saban's program.
Allen finished his collegiate career with 34 solo tackles, 18.5 tackles-for-loss, 6.5 sacks, and three forced fumbles, earning 2020 second-team All-SEC honors. Bleacher Report draft scout Derrik Klassen compared Allen to former Browns second-round LB Nate Orchard, assigning the "high-level developmental prospect" a fifth-round grade.
"In a general sense, Allen is a fit for the modern NFL," Klassen noted. "He can play on the edge as a stand-up backer, attune to handling run defense responsibilities from there, and he can pin his ears back and rush the passer a little. However, Allen has no real standout trait, and his lack of weight and strength could become more of a problem in the NFL than it was at Alabama. Allen projects as a reliable, versatile backup or rotational player in a 3-4 structure."
Signed, sealed, and delivered to Denver, Allen will be thrown into a crowded pass-rushing corps, a depth chart comprised of Bradley Chubb, Randy Gregory, Baron Browning, Malik Reed, Jonathon Cooper, and fellow rookie Nik Bonitto, the Broncos' 64th overall pick.
"You can never have enough people to rush a passer," head coach Nathaniel Hackett said during his post-draft press conference. "We talk a lot. It’s how the quarterback plays, it’s how you affect the quarterback from the defense’s perspective. So we want to find as many rushers as we can. We want great competition in that room. I feel like we’re going to be able to get after some of these quarterbacks in this division.”
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