Josh Hines-Allen keeps doing the hard part, and the NFL still keeps looking past him.
ESPN’s annual positional rankings put together by coaches, scouts and executives have reached defensive end, and the Jaguars’ standout pass rusher was left out of the top 10 entirely. Hines-Allen landed in the honorable mentions group with Jared Verse and Trey Hendrickson, which is a step up from last year’s “received votes” status, but still a familiar slight for a player who has built a reputation on steady production.
The lone scouting note ESPN attached to him barely scratches the surface. An NFC scout described him as, “Not elite but consistently very good, with a quality power-rush game.” For a defender who has been one of the league’s most complete and productive ends, that’s a pretty thin label.
The problem, as always, is how much these lists lean on sacks and name value. Hines-Allen has reached double-digit sacks only twice in his career, and that leaves him vulnerable in rankings that favor flashier totals. Players like Aidan Hutchinson and Nik Bonnito slot ahead of him, even though the source material says Hines-Allen is on another level as a run defender.
The same pattern has followed him for years. He has been compared against Nick Bosa and T.J.
Watt in ways that have not always gone his way, including a defensive rookie of the year race with Bosa in 2019 and an All-Pro snub in favor of Watt in 2023. The source material also points to injuries that have affected Bosa and to Watt’s name recognition and earlier production as part of the broader perception gap.
Hines-Allen has given Jacksonville plenty to point to. He has broken Jaguars records, made plays in every phase and delivered in big moments on the biggest stages. Still, the recognition has lagged behind the résumé.
He knows it, too. At the start of the offseason program in April, Hines-Allen said, “I mean, for me, it’s validation, and this can go two ways, you know what I'm saying?
Because people can be chasing-everybody should chase greatness. But for me, I've been one of the best guys at my position for the last couple years and I don't get talked about as much," Hines-Allen said at the start of the offseason program in April.
"Again, it's a lot of media, but if you turn the film on, I've been one of the best guys, but the validation of being named with those guys that are-[Texans DE] Will Anderson just got 50 million, being [Browns DE] Myles Garrett, and you hear [Raiders DE] Maxx Crosby, [Steelers LB] T.J. Watt, [49ers DE] Nick Bosa, when you have a list of those guys of who's the best in the league, I want Josh Hines-Allen to be one of those guys that come to the top of the list. And for me, that's just keep producing."
That last part is the key. Hines-Allen says the tape tells the story, and the numbers back that up.
The source notes that he had more pressures than all but three of the players ranked above him and a higher win-rate than half of the top 10. Add in his run defense, and the case for leaving him outside the top tier gets pretty shaky.
He said in April, “I know sacks have been a huge thing in my position. For me, I don't think about it," Hines-Allen said in April.
"I've been up here before and I’ve always said, man, that's not a thing that kind of carries me, me turning on the tape and me knowing that I'm whooping the guy in front of me and that guy knowing that as well, and coaches knowing that, coaches knowing I’ve got to play against him. That’s what kind of drives me.”
Even after the sack-heavy 2023 season, the respect still didn’t fully follow. Until the league starts judging defensive linemen by more than just sack totals, Hines-Allen is likely to keep showing up on these lists as one of football’s most underrated stars.
In Other News...
Jaguars Send 3 Pass Rushers To Sack Summit With NFL Elite
The Jaguars are sending three of their top pass rushers to the 2024 Sack Summit from July 9-11, a gathering for NFL edge defenders hosted by Maxx Crosby, Cameron Jordan and Von Miller. Josh Hines-Allen, Travon Walker and Arik Armstead will be among the players in the room, giving Jacksonville a chance to keep its front-line pressure group around some of the leagues most established names while the offseason still has room to shape their next step.
For Hines-Allen, it is another marker of a season in which he was among the leagues most productive pressure players. Walker arrives with the momentum of a recent extension that underscored how strongly the Jaguars still believe in his trajectory, while Armstead enters with a different kind of motivation after a hand injury affected his late-season production. The summit does not answer every question about what Jacksonvilles pass rush will become, but it does put three important pieces of it in the same place at the same time. [Read more 🡒]
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Jaguars Still Have One Huge Arik Armstead Question Up Front
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Jacksonville weighed its options, but Armsteads presence on the defensive line still matters to a group that needs stability in the trenches. He also played through a hand injury late last season, and his production tailed off after a strong start, so the Jaguars are left balancing cost, health and value as they head deeper into camp with the decision still hanging over the front of the defense. [Read more 🡒]