We wished the Atlanta Falcons to enter the 2025 NFL Draft targeted on the protection. No matter the place they went with their restricted picks, I discussed that the work already performed to the roster in recent times can be important, with this class unlikely to have a game-changing impression due to the variety of early choices.
I could have to eat these phrases. After the Falcons traded again into the primary and up within the third to seize most popular targets, and after they got here away from the primary 4 rounds with 4 gamers I feel have a respectable likelihood of beginning for a protection that badly wanted the assistance, this will properly show to be a category that makes a splash proper now.
On one hand, it’s not really a shock to see the Falcons buck latest historical past and go heavy on protection. Raheem Morris noticed the worth of younger defenders in his first go-around with Atlanta, when Vic Beasley, Deion Jones, Keanu Neal, Grady Jarrett, and others drove their success, and he actually noticed it with the Rams as their defensive coordinator. Including Jeff Ulbrich and understanding the protection dragged the workforce down far too steadily in 2024, Morris would after all wish to prioritize fixing Atlanta’s main move rush and secondary woes, and Terry Fontenot delivered ready-made options. Neither a type of males wish to be out of a job subsequent yr, however I struggled to see how they might get greater than a few starters with the capital that they had.
As a substitute, they grabbed:
- Jalon Walker within the first spherical. Walker’s going to affix a rotation the place solely Arnold Ebiketie and Leonard Floyd have been assured to play vital snaps and play lots straight away, and his expertise and talent to work as an off-ball linebacker means the Falcons can experiment with shifting him round to get different gamers on the sphere.
- James Pearce Jr. within the first spherical, additionally. The commerce up portion of this will probably be controversial, however Pearce might be a deadly edge rusher on the subsequent degree along with his velocity and savvy. The Falcons wish to rotate their edge rushers and Pearce will in all probability play lots on apparent passing downs, with Walker, Ebiketie, Bralen Trice and Floyd mixing in additional typically on early downs.
- Security Xavier Watts within the third spherical. Watts might want to beat out Jordan Fuller, a well-recognized face for Raheem Morris, however is an authorized ballhawk and heady participant who may simply achieve this to begin Week 1 subsequent to Jessie Bates. He’ll get some work because the third security even when he’s not a right away starter.
- Billy Bowman Jr. within the fourth spherical. A university security who dabbled at cornerback and linebacker, Bowman goes to play the nickel within the NFL, per Jeff Ulbrich. His superior ball expertise and aggressive protection capacity makes him an early favourite to beat out Dee Alford and Clark Phillips, assuming Phillips isn’t going again to being a prime reserve exterior after this draft decide.
It’s protected to imagine not each single one in all these 4 guys will begin, however the path to vital snaps is there for all of them, and so they’re all adequate to make a optimistic impression for what positive appeared like a lackluster protection heading into Thursday. We are able to convey up the same old caveats about this all being on paper when you like, however the Falcons might properly have tackled their greatest wants and grabbed 4 impactful defenders after they got here into draft week with simply three picks within the first 4 rounds.
With the offense largely set, getting the protection so as was precedence one, and for as soon as the Falcons tackled that downside with the laser focus and depth it demanded. They’re not betting solely on a bounceback from Dee Alford or a productive shift to the nickel from Clark Phillips. They’re not placing all their eggs into the Jordan Fuller/DeMarcco Hellams basket subsequent to Bates. And maybe most significantly of all, they’re not asking Ebiketie and Floyd to hold an edge speeding group when neither participant is able to doing so. Lengthy-term it’s straightforward to be enthusiastic about these gamers, however I wasn’t anticipating to be this intrigued by the 2025 prospects for this class.
There’s a lot we don’t find out about how these gamers will match and the way they’ll hit the bottom operating, however what we do know is that the Falcons have added good, seemingly NFL-ready gamers to their protection with an emphasis on getting on the spot contributors. The ground and the ceiling for this workforce in 2025 each determine to be increased because of this.
