During a Week 9 blowout loss at Baltimore, Broncos defensive end Zach Allen noticed he was getting double-teamed more frequently.
Such is life when you’re as productive as Allen’s been through the first three months of the NFL season.
One differentiator between Allen’s first season in Denver and this one: He’s got a teammate on the defensive line capable of making offenses pay when they dedicate extra resources to him.
It’s not a coincidence, then, that John Franklin-Myers has two sacks in Denver’s past three games and has made more splash plays the more attention Allen’s commanded.
“If you’re rushing four and the center turns to Zach and he’s getting double-teamed, ‘JFM’ has had success,” defensive coordinator Vance Joseph said Thursday. “So now they have to make the decision on who they turn the center to. That’s the beauty of having JFM in the lineup for us, on passing downs especially.
“He can win a one-on-one.”
When the Broncos traded for Franklin-Myers during April’s NFL draft, one of the first metrics coach Sean Payton and general manager George Paton pointed to was his consistent pressure rate. Franklin-Myers had posted 40-plus pressures and a double-digit pressure rate in each of his four seasons with the New York Jets and that has continued right on track with the Broncos. NFL Next Gen Stats credits him with 24 pressures so far this season — he’s playing slightly fewer snaps than most of his years in New York — and an 11.9% pressure rate.
“That’s a big part of why I was so excited that he’s here,” Allen said of Franklin-Myers. “He’s one of the top, top rushers in the league. Coming here, maybe not a lot of people had heard his name, but I for a long time have always thought he was the real deal. To see him do it here and for us to do it together, that’s a big piece.”
Allen believes most of the best pass-rushes in football have featured two interior players who can make plays.
So far this year, he and Franklin-Myers are doing just that. Allen’s leading all defensive tackles with 46 pressures and he and Franklin-Myers now each have five sacks. That’s allowed more freedom for edge rushers like Nik Bonitto (nine sacks), Jonathon Cooper (6.5) and others.
Franklin-Myers has also seen an uptick in production against the run this year. In fact, it’s the first thing Joseph brought up when asked about his overall impact so far this season.
“He’s been huge for us, first of all as a run defender,” Joseph said. “He’s been stout.”
John Franklin-Myers (98) of the Denver Broncos tackles Najee Harris (22) of the Pittsburgh Steelers during the first quarter at Empower Field at Mile High in Denver on Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024. (Photo by AAron Ontiveroz/The Denver Post)
The additions of Franklin-Myers and Malcolm Roach have paid dividends against the run, but Joseph said the jump from being one of the worst run defenses in football to among the best has been due to a combination of factors.
“The personnel up front got better and I think our philosophy change as far as being more of an attack front this year and playing with great explosion and get-off up front,” Joseph said. “When you’re kind of a gap-and-a-half team, it’s tough to rush the passer and it’s tough to create TFLs. How we’re playing now, just getting off the ball every play and still getting blocks and being run-diligent … it allows us to get TFLs and change the (line of scrimmage). Also, when it’s play-action pass, now we’re already rushing and there’s no transition.”
Everything on a defensive front fits together like a puzzle. In addition to Franklin-Myers and Allen, Roach and D.J. Jones have been quality against the run — each played his best game in that department Sunday against Atlanta. The ability to get production from every player along the way means the group can outplay the sum of its parts.
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To be sure, though, Franklin-Myers — acquired for a 2026 sixth-round pick — has been a major difference-maker up front for the Broncos all season, even if the stats are just beginning to show it now.
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