He played college football for the Kentucky Wildcats, where he won the Chuck Bednarik Award and Bronko Nagurski Trophy as a junior.

[2] Although Hines-Allen grew up playing basketball, his uncle convinced him to try out for the high school football team.

Eliot told Ansley to detour to New Jersey to meet with Hines-Allen and arrange for an immediate campus visit if he was at least 6'4".

[4] Following his junior season in which he had 7 sacks and 10.5 tackles for loss, Hines-Allen was named to the Associated Press Second-team and the All-Southeastern Conference (SEC) team.

Hines-Allen was a unanimous All-American, won the Chuck Bednarik Award,[8] the Bronko Nagurski Trophy,[9] and was named the SEC Defensive Player of the Year.

[16] During Week 3 against the Tennessee Titans, Hines-Allen recorded his first two career sacks on Marcus Mariota as the Jaguars won 20–7.

[19] Hines-Allen finished the season with a team-leading (and franchise rookie record-setting) 10.5 sacks, 44 tackles, and two forced fumbles.

Following the AFC Championship Game, he was selected as a Pro Bowl alternate for defensive end Frank Clark.

As a result, Hines-Allen became the first Jaguars player in history to be selected to the Pro Bowl in their rookie season.

[20] In Week 3 against the Miami Dolphins on Thursday Night Football, Hines-Allen recorded his first sack of the season during the 31–13 loss.

Hines-Allen was known as Josh Allen at the time and became the first player in NFL history to record a sack, interception, and a fumble recovery from a quarterback with the same name.

[24] In the team's final regular-season game, Hines-Allen scored the game-winning touchdown on a fumble recovery against the Titans, securing the Jaguars their first division title and playoff berth since 2017.

[27] In Week 1, Hines-Allen started the year with three sacks against the Indianapolis Colts, helping secure a 31–21 win for the Jaguars.