The 2018 Kentucky Football team was just the third in program history to win 10 games, thanks in large part to Josh Allen. The former two-star recruit was a diamond in the rough, discovered by Derrick Ansley on a detour to Montclair, New Jersey, on a recruiting trip. Allen didn’t miss a game during his four-year career at Kentucky, totaling 224 tackles, 41.0 tackles for loss, and 31.5 sacks, the latter of which broke Oliver Barnett’s program record. Allen is widely considered the best defensive player in Kentucky football history, and, according to one outlet, he’s among the best in the SEC over the past decade.
Pro Football Focus released its SEC All-Decade Team this morning. Allen, who changed his name to Josh Hines-Allen in 2024 to honor his family, is Kentucky’s lone representative, listed with Alabama’s Will Anderson Jr. under Edge Defenders. Anderson Jr. had the top PFF grade at the position over the past decade at 91.6. Hines-Allen is second at 90.6.
“Will Anderson Jr. and Josh Hines-Allen (who was still known as Josh Allen at the time) earned overall PFF grades of 91.6 and 90.6, respectively, before becoming difference-makers in the NFL,” Daire Carragher wrote.
“They are the only two SEC edge defenders with more than 30 sacks over the past decade. Hines-Allen was remarkably efficient at converting pressures into sacks, while Anderson was a disruptive force throughout his career at Alabama. His 206 pressures are the most by an SEC edge defender over the past decade. In fact, the gap between first and second is larger than the gap between second and 27th.”
As Carragher notes, both Hines-Allen and Anderson are flourishing in the NFL, Hines-Allen with the Jacksonville Jaguars, who drafted him No. 7 overall in 2019, and Anderson with the Texans. Hines-Allen has been named to the Pro Bowl twice, including his rookie season, and now holds the Jaguars franchise record for career sacks, with 61. In 2024, he signed a five-year extension with the club worth $150 million, $88 million guaranteed.
Hines-Allen ranks fourth in the league in pressures by an edge rusher over the last two seasons (163), one spot ahead of Anderson (162). Not too shabby for a kid who was verbally committed to Monmouth before getting an offer from Kentucky. Speaking of kids, you’ll be happy to learn that Hines-Allen’s son Wesley, who accompanied him on the stage at the NFL Draft in 2019, is doing well after conquering leukemia last fall. In fact, Hines-Allen and his family are using that journey to inspire and help others with their Four One For All Foundation.
There are plenty of other familiar names on PFF’s SEC All-Decade Team, including Joe Burrow (LSU) at quarterback, Najee Harris (Alabama) at running back, and Brock Bowers (Georgia) at tight end. If they honored punters, surely Max Duffy would have made the cut, right?