Georgia LB CJ Allen gets NFL player comparison

Georgia Bulldogs linebacker CJ Allen has been compared to longtime Indianapolis Colts linebacker Zaire Franklin ahead of the 2026 NFL draft . Allen is ranked as one of the top linebackers in the draft and is expected to be a first-or second-round pick. The 6-foot-1, 230-pound linebacker made an immediate impact as a freshman at Georgia and improved into an All-SEC linebacker during the 2025 season with the Bulldogs.

Allen has the speed, football intelligence and experience necessary to succeed in the NFL. He'd take having a long, productive career similar to Franklin would be solid for Allen. Franklin spent the first eight years of his NFL career with the Indianapolis Colts before signing with the Green Bay Packers this offseason.

Whatever NFL team drafts Allen will expect him to produce quicker than Franklin did. Franklin was a seventh-round pick in the 2018 NFL draft out of Syracuse, so it makes sense that it took him a few seasons to refine his game. Franklin has been very durable and has played in at least 16 games every year in his first eight seasons in the NFL.

However, he did not post more than 40 tackles in a season until his breakout 2022 campaign, which was his fifth season in the NFL. Starting in 2022, Franklin has posted four straight seasons with at least 120 tackles, a sack and a forced fumble. From 2022-2024 he recorded over 160 tackles each season and now has 738 tackles in his NFL career.