Philadelphia Eagles: Beau Allen could bring back the championship swag

With a decided lack of depth at defensive tackle behind Fletcher Cox, the Philadelphia Eagles should call up the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and bring back Beau Allen.

Whether you love him or hate him – probably the latter – even the most critical fan has to admit that Chip Kelly unearthed some pretty foundational talent over his tenure with the Philadelphia Eagles.

Whether it be the dynamic 1-2 punch of Lane Johnson and Zach Ertz atop the 2013 NFL Draft, or less heralded (at the time) finds like Brandon Brooks, Malcolm Jenkins, or current San Francisco 49ers contributor Raheem Moster (more on the 2015 UDFA here), there are x players on the Eagles roster in 2019 that Kelly coached from 2013-15.

But alas, some of the better players unearthed over that tenure are no longer with us.

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To be fair it’s not like they’re dead or anything – at least I don’t think any of the players are dead – but after promising tenures in our fair city, players like Jordan Hicks, Eric Rowe, and Bennie Logan have all moved to the greener pastures of Arizona, Miami, and unemployment – you know what, maybe the grass isn’t always greener after all.

But one player who hurt dearly to lose – maybe more so than any other – was defensive tackle Beau Allen.

A 2014 seventh-round pick out of Wisconsin, Allen looked every bit the part in a prototypical Big Ten nose tackle, but in his heart, the 6-foot-3 327 pounder wanted more; Allen was born to rush (the passer).

Despite having almost 20 pounds on-base starter Bennie Logan, Allen was typically subbed into games on obvious passing downs as the team’s big zero rusher over the center. While this role didn’t account for a ton of sacks (two) in Billy Davis‘ less-than potent defensive front, it gave the team a wonderfully complementary duo at nose tackle that could have sustained for years to come.

But much like Kelly himself, it wasn’t meant to be.

After logging 423 defensive snaps for the eventual 2017 world champions (41 percent), Allen was allowed to walk in free agency and opted to takes his talents to the NFC South and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers alongside fellow Philly transplant Vinny Curry; but much like Curry, that championship feeling didn’t last under the balmy Florida sun.

While Allen still remains employed by the Bucs after their regime – and defensive system – change, the 28-year-old has been limited to only 70 defensive snaps over five games in reserve of former first-round nose tackle Vita Vea – amassing five tackles, a tackle for loss, and no sacks for his efforts.

Needless to say, if this trend continues, Allen could very well find himself unemployed before the final season of his three-year, $15 million contract kicks in next spring – that is, unless Howie Roseman sweeps in and rescues his former draft selection from a perpetual deep bench purgatory.

I mean, after bringing back a pair of former-Eagles-turned-Bucs earlier this year in DeSean Jackson and Curry, why not go for the trifecta and make Allen lucky number three?

Despite being a traditional nose tackle from a size perspective, Allen has experience in Jim Schwartz’s attacking 4-3 scheme, and actually had his best professional statistical season – a sack and 12 QB pressures – in the defensive coordinator’s wide-9 front.

Had this been Week 1, Allen would feel like a superfluous addition with legitimate starters like Timmy Jernigan and Malik Jackson vying for snaps alongside All-World three-technique Fletcher Cox on the interior, but now, in the aftermath of Week 5, that’s no longer the case. Even when (if?) Jernigan returns to 2017 former later this season, Allen could still pick right back up where he left off, and potentially even shoulder a more sizeable role as the Birds’ top rotational tackle off the bench – filling snaps at either position while allowing Cox to finally take a break and record less than 74 percent of the defensive snaps

Say what you will about surprise starter Hassan Ridgeway, who admittedly earned his first sack in midnight green on a garbage time tackle of Luke Falk, but Allen has more NFL experience, more championship swagger, and the heart of Philly fans the world over; that matters.

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With his future in Tampa Bay predictably finite, and the remainder of his contract filed against the Buccaneers as dead money, forking over a conditional 2021 draft selection to Bruce Arians‘ surprisingly competent squad for a player they seldom use could help all parties involved, and allow Beau Allen to continue his pass-rushing journey as a Philadelphia Eagle once more. And who knows, maybe he can bring the dog masks back with him.

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