{"id":615879,"date":"2026-04-18T22:06:10","date_gmt":"2026-04-18T22:06:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/615879\/"},"modified":"2026-04-18T22:06:10","modified_gmt":"2026-04-18T22:06:10","slug":"nfl-draft-news-seahawks-have-virtual-meeting-with-star-georgia-linebacker-c-j-allen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/615879\/","title":{"rendered":"NFL Draft news: Seahawks have virtual meeting with star Georgia linebacker C.J. Allen"},"content":{"rendered":"

One of the top off-ball linebackers in this year\u2019s NFL Draft is Georgia\u2019s C.J. Allen. The two-time All-SEC player and 2025 consensus All-American has met with several teams, including the Seattle Seahawks<\/a>.<\/p>\n

NFL insider Aaron Wilson has the scoop.<\/p>\n

Unlike in-person top 30 visits, there\u2019s no total limit to the number of virtual meetings a team can have.<\/p>\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n

While Sonny Styles<\/a> is far and away the top off-ball linebacker prospect and is destined to go early in round one, Allen is someone who could be chosen in the back-end of the first or the early portion of the second. The 21-year-old recorded 88 tackles, 3.5 sacks, and 8 tackles for loss in his final season with the Bulldogs. According to Sports Info Solutions<\/a>, Allen blitzed on 27 percent of opposing quarterback dropbacks last season.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s what The Athletic\u2019s Dane Brugler<\/a> has to say about Allen:<\/p>\n

A starter for two-and-a-half years at Georgia, Allen was an inside linebacker in defensive coordinator Glenn Schumann\u2019s 3-3-5 base scheme. Because of his ability to handle information, he earned a starting role as a true freshman and developed into a team leader and All-American as a junior. Despite a late-season knee procedure in November 2025, he only missed one game and led Georgia in tackles, tackles for loss and forced fumbles in his final college season.<\/p>\n

With his football smarts as a run defender, Allen is quick to sort, fill and chest up ball carriers, often playing one step ahead of the other 10 defenders on the field. He is rarely fooled by misdirection and also trusts his eyes to unlock and chase plays to the perimeter. He has inconsistent pop and power as a take-on player in tight quarters but sees and sifts through blockers with his lateral agility.<\/p>\n

Another key stat? Allen never committed a penalty in college. Not once.<\/p>\n

The Seahawks have Ernest Jones IV<\/a> and Drake Thomas<\/a> as their starting linebackers, but depth beyond those two is not extensive. Tyrice Knight<\/a> lost his starting job midway through last year, while Patrick O\u2019Connell was only a late call-up from the practice squad after Jones hurt his knee. It\u2019s not inconceivable that the Seahawks could be looking for more talent at off-ball linebacker, even if it\u2019s not a pressing need. Talent is talent and you don\u2019t ignore prospects just because the incumbent starters are locked in. With limited draft capital, it\u2019d still be a shock to see Seattle use pick 32 (or wherever they eventually make their first pick) on a linebacker.<\/p>\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n

Watch his highlights below!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"One of the top off-ball linebackers in this year\u2019s NFL Draft is Georgia\u2019s C.J. Allen. The two-time All-SEC…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":615880,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[559],"tags":[298911,64,63,298913,133473,234425,30912,1215,528,232732,298912,593,10028,718,5353,133467,85,123052],"class_list":{"0":"post-615879","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nfl","8":"tag-aaron-wilson","9":"tag-au","10":"tag-australia","11":"tag-c-j-allen","12":"tag-cj-allen","13":"tag-drake-thomas","14":"tag-ernest-jones-iv","15":"tag-georgia-bulldogs","16":"tag-getty-images","17":"tag-icon-sportswire","18":"tag-linebackers","19":"tag-nfl","20":"tag-nfl-draft","21":"tag-ole-miss-rebels","22":"tag-seahawks","23":"tag-sonny-styles","24":"tag-sports","25":"tag-tyrice-knight"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/615879","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=615879"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/615879\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/615880"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=615879"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=615879"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=615879"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}