Bobby Wagner, Jonathan Allen join Terry McLaurin on NFL's Top 100 Players list

Bobby Wagner, Jonathan Allen join Terry McLaurin on NFL’s Top 100 Players list

Posted by Admin July 25, 2024 NFL

Two more Commanders have joined Terry McLaurin on the NFL’s top 100 players list.

Linebacker Bobby Wagner, the leader in combined tackles among active players in the league, ranked No. 59 on the annual list after being listed at No. 62 in 2023. Defensive tackle Jonathan Allen, who ranked No. 52 last year, also makes a return to the list at No. 54.

Wagner, who joined the Commanders in March, is coming off one of the best seasons of his career, as he led the league with 183 tackles, which was also a career-high for the nine-time Pro Bowler. It also maintained Wagner’s streak of recording at least 100 tackles in a season — a feat he has accomplished in each of his 12 seasons.

Wagner earned the second highest run defense grade for a linebacker (91.5) from Pro Football Focus behind David Long Jr. and the seventh highest defensive grade for his position (82.4).

“Man, he just brings a winning presence, a winning culture, the way he works every day,” Allen said. “When you see a guy like that, in year 13, first-ballot Hall of Famer, work as hard as he does, there’s really no excuse for anybody else.”

Allen, long considered to be one of the best interior defenders in the NFL, recorded 53 tackles and 5.5 sacks to go with 19 quarterback hits in 2023. Although last season could be considered a “down year” from his Pro Bowl performances in 2021 and 2022, Allen was still a key piece of Washington’s defense. He tied Daron Payne for the most tackles on the team for his position, ranked second in sacks and had 10 tackles for loss.

However, Allen is not satisfied with those results and summer at the team facility preparing for a bounce back season. He and defensive line coach Darryl Tapp have been focusing on the smaller details of his skill set, which he believes will help elevate his game to a new level.

“I think it can help me a lot. When you look at the [San Francisco] 49ers and what they were able to do with their defensive line, we’re coaching a lot of the same things. So, I’m really excited for what we can do, and just excited to be out here.”