ENGLEWOOD, Colo. -- If things go right this season for Denver Broncos defensive tackle Zach Allen, he might have to rename his dream beach house.
Allen, who earned first-team All-Pro honors in 2025 and became only the second player to have 40 quarterback hits in back-to-back seasons (joining three-time Defensive Player of the Year J.J. Watt), has joked about calling his future oceanside residence the "John Franklin-Myers House" because of all the help Franklin-Myers provided him, allowing Allen to accumulate punishment on opposing passers.
Allen has gone from a player who had two sacks in his first two NFL seasons combined with the Arizona Cardinals to a foundational player on a Super Bowl hopeful, someone the Broncos deemed important enough to give a four-year, $102 million extension to last summer. But he's also at the nexus of one of the Broncos' few offseason questions: Who will replace Franklin-Myers and help Allen do what he does best?
Franklin-Myers, who played a little more than 500 snaps in each of the past two seasons, signed with the Tennessee Titans in free agency and is just one of two starters from the AFC Championship Game not on this Broncos roster in training camp (linebacker Dre Greenlaw being the other).
"It'll be a little different this year," Allen said after a recent practice. "But we still have our guys, our room is still our room, we're still putting in the work, we still have big goals. D.J. [Jones], Malcolm [Roach], [Eyioma Uwazurike], young guys like Tyler [Onyedim] and Sai'vion [Jones], there's no reason our standard shouldn't always be our standard."
Allen and Franklin-Myers consistently created discomfort to the point of making Allen the answer to a rather intriguing trivia question. It was Allen, not any of the league's elite edge rushers, who led the league in quarterback hits in 2025. His 47 led by a healthy margin, as he was the only player credited with more than 40.
That's a long way from being a former third-round pick who thought he was doomed after injuries and a position switch early in his career.
"I thought I was getting cut -- people saying 'this kid's a bust' or whatever, but the NFL thing is like a math problem, you've [got] to figure it out," Allen said. "You can have great people around, telling you the right things and helping you -- like [Broncos defensive coordinator Vance Joseph] has been so big for me -- but in the end what you put into it is going to come out. ... Discomfort can open your eyes, and my eyes were really open."
Allen dishes out discomfort for quarterbacks in a defense that has led the league in sacks in each of the past two seasons. And Joseph watched his journey from the beginning.
"I was with Zach from his rookie year to now, and he's gotten bigger and stronger over time, he's played the run game better [and] his rush I.Q. has gotten better," Joseph said. "... That's the toughest thing for players when they have success. Can they go back to the drawing board and improve?
"If you're not improving in this league, people are going to catch you ... He's one of those special guys [who] doesn't want to get caught."
The Broncos want to help continue that by finding a successor for Franklin-Myers on their 3-4 front. They have three former third-round picks vying for the role opposite Allen. Emerging are Uwazurike (2023 fourth-round pick) -- who missed his rookie season due to a gambling suspension -- Sai'vion Jones (2025 third-round pick) and Onyedim (2026 third-round pick). Uwazurike, who started the preseason opener in Atlanta, has consistently drawn raves for his progress from a bit player last season.
"I've seen a guy who changed his body," Joseph said of Uwazurike. "He's always been a big man, but he's leaned out and he's moving very well. ... He's changed his body and now he's a different player. He's always wanted it, always been a run stopper for us and [now] he's a pass rusher."
Onyedim has shown quickness at the point of attack in practice while his length (an offensive tackle-like 81⅜ inches) can help him shed blockers on the interior. Like Uwazurike, Jones has gained more power in the offseason.
Whoever wins Franklin-Myers' old role will be tasked with taking attention off Allen. Unlike edge rushers, who usually rush in the quarterback's peripheral vision, Allen is in the middle of the pocket. He said he'd like to continue to pile up wins and QB hits next to his new running mate.
"Sure, I'd like those to be four sacks a game," Allen said. "But if you beat the guard right away and the quarterback sees you clearly, that ball's out. ... So, a QB hit means you got there in time, that I'm productive, it means I'm helping Nik [Bonitto] and our edge guys ... and I hope it helps us win, because that's probably the number we all care about the most."
The Broncos also hope the new sidekick can help the All-Pro manage his snaps. Allen topped 80% of the Broncos' defensive snaps in his first two seasons with the team, with more than 900 snaps each year -- an astounding number for an interior defensive lineman. Denver was slightly more judicious last season, when Allen played 797, and the team is trying to find a balance between keeping him rested and maximizing his impact.
"He has tremendous stamina, so play 38 looks like (play) eight, play 60 still looks like eight," Broncos coach Sean Payton said. "So that's a big asset at a position where it's hard."
