![\"Patriots](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-1427645842-e1747088807956.jpg\")
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It\u2019s mock draft season, and the New England Patriots<\/a> have been linked to several prospects throughout the course of the last couple of months. Now, they are linked to Georgia Bulldogs star defender CJ Allen. NFL<\/a>.com Chad Reuter reported this in his mock draft earlier this week.<\/p>\n The Patriots need playmaking linebacker depth. Allen can certainly provide it. The SEC playmaker would be able to strengthen the position, as well as be a nice complement to the veteran depth the Patriots have.<\/p>\n The Patriots have several directions that they can go in for this draft, but Allen could be a wise choice. Reuter made his case in his mock draft.<\/a><\/p>\n The Patriots lock up a team leader in the middle of their defense. Allen\u2019s film shows he can reach ball carriers when they\u2019re in his sights.<\/p>\n Potential Patriots Target Has Pedigree<\/p>\n Allen would certainly not be a bad choice for the Patriots, given his pedigree.\u00a0 Allen made an immediate impact in his freshman season in 2023. He appeared in all 14 games and started the final five. He finished with 41 tackles, earning SEC All-Freshman honors.<\/p>\n The playmaker was able to play that into a successful sophomore season. This year, he solidified himself as a starter, playing in all 14 games. The production continued at a high level, as he tallied 76 tackles. 2024 was when he really got a chance to showcase his skill set. On top of this, he was able to build towards a successful final season.<\/p>\n This past year was one where he was able to put it all together for the Bulldogs. He recorded 88 tackles, eight tackles for loss, and 3.5 sacks. He was named a finalist for the Butkus Award and earned first-team all-SEC honors. This culminated a strong career for Allen. He was able to appear in every single game for the Bulldogs, making him a stout leader on defense.<\/p>\n He would be able to fill a lot of holes for the Patriots immediately. For one, the Patriots lost several key pieces. Linebacker Jack Gibbens went to the Arizona Cardinals.<\/a>\u00a0 Defensive end K\u2019Lavon Chiasson went<\/a> to the Washington Commanders.<\/a> Allen\u2019s ability to pass rush and make impact plays at the linebacker position would be able to help fill both of those holes.<\/p>\n Allen\u2019s Defensive Style Would Mesh With Patriots<\/p>\n His toughness would also be an important piece for the Patriots. The defensive identity for this team is very specific. Coach Mike Vrabel wants tough players on defense and players who are able to make an impact. Allen would be able to do that immediately. He would fit the Patriots well in that way too.<\/p>\n It will certainly be interesting to see what the Patriots do with the 31st overall pick. They have a lot of holes that they need to fill on both sides of the football. While linebacker may not be one of the more pressing needs, the Patriots can certainly add depth to it and continue to build for the future. Drafting Allen would immediately give them a playmaker that they could develop and use as a piece for building for the future.<\/p>\n Pretty soon, these mock drafts will be a thing of the past. For now, it\u2019s fun to speculate about where impact players could go.<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tDanny Jaillet<\/a> Danny Jaillet is a sportswriter with more than 15 years experience in the industry. He has been featured on Fox Sports, USA Today, and Yahoo Sports among others. He graduated from Worcester State University with a B.A. in communications and a minor in writing. More about Danny Jaillet<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tMore Heavy on Patriots\n\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\tLoading more stories\n\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It\u2019s mock draft season, and the New England Patriots have been linked to several prospects throughout the course…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":853936,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2050],"tags":[7,1167,249,2326,2094,6,208],"class_list":{"0":"post-853935","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-england-patriots","8":"tag-football","9":"tag-new-england","10":"tag-new-england-patriots","11":"tag-newengland","12":"tag-newenglandpatriots","13":"tag-nfl","14":"tag-patriots"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/853935","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=853935"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/853935\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/853936"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=853935"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=853935"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=853935"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}