There has been quite a bit of talk regarding CJ Allen’s workout at the Georgia pro day. After not working out at the scouting combine earlier this month, Allen elected to do positional drills, but no athletic testing at the Georgia pro day earlier this week. Despite impressing on tape in 2025, short clips of Allen’s workout at Georgia left many a bit concerned with his movement skills.
Allen had a minor procedure done on his meniscus back in November that allowed him to return and play the remainder of the Bulldogs season. Allen looked healthy for the remainder of the season, but it has been reported that he did not do any athletic testing due to swelling in his knee. Allen did elect to go through positional drills and some of the footage posted from his workout did show some limitations.
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Allen has been heavily mocked to the Dallas Cowboys in the first round throughout the offseason and reports suggest the Cowboys are big fans of the player. The Cowboys should not let his pro day workout completely alter their plans heading into the draft, but the Cowboys would be wise to not overdraft a linebacker, especially with the medical situation come April.
Outside of Sonny Styles (counting Arvell Reese as more as an edge), there are no “home run” linebackers in this class. Allen was viewed by many as the second best off-the-ball linebacker in this draft class, but after not testing at the combine and the knee-swelling holding him out of testing at his pro day, the athleticism question now comes into play. Allen did not show elite athleticism by any means on tape, more known for his instincts, physicality, and ability to stop the run at middle linebacker. While that role is extremely valuable, the questions about his coverage ability and upside will become a lot louder now.
Behind Allen, Texas Tech’s Jacob Rodriguez has been on a massive rise since impressing at the combine, paired with his production on tape over the course of his career. While Texas’ Anthony Hill is not one of my favorite prospects, his athletic upside paired with his tape in 2024 could push him ahead of Allen for a lot of teams.
Cincinnati’s Jack Golday is an impressive prospect that has the size and athleticism Christian Parker wants in the middle of his defense. Despite his lack of size, Missouri’s Josiah Trotter is one of my favorite linebacker prospects in this class due to his aggressiveness, instincts, and “enforcer” mentality in the middle of the field. The point here is, the Cowboys are in desperate need of a middle linebacker, but that is there own doing.
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Dallas had plenty of opportunities to add a quality, starting caliber linebacker in free agency, but elected to spend their resources elsewhere to improve their defense. After trading Osa Odighizuwa for the 92nd overall pick, the Cowboys have three picks in the top 100 and four picks in the top 115. While a healthy CJ Allen would be an excellent fit in Dallas, the Cowboys will have options on day two or three in Hill, Golday, Trotter, Arizona State’s Keyshaun Elliott, Oregon’s Bryan Boettcher, or Indiana’s Aiden Fisher. Over-drafting a player to fill a position of need is the way the Cowboys have gotten themselves in trouble before, and with so many other positions needing upgrading, they would be wise to not do that again.
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