Matthew Judon takes shot at Falcons, former DC

Falcons fans had a rollercoaster experience with Matthew Judon last year.

Following an offseason in which Terry Fontenot solidified the quarterback position, it seemed the team was a couple of defensive upgrades from becoming playoff contenders.

In the waning weeks of the offseason, Atlanta’s GM inked Justin Simmons to a one-year free agent contract and sent a third-round pick to the Patriots in exchange for Judon, filling the defense’s two biggest needs. It was met with resounding approval from Falcons fans, but the two acquisitions didn’t turn out to be very impactful, leading many to point the finger towards defensive coordinator Jimmy Lake.

Hell, in the season finale, Raheem Morris chalked up Bryce Young and the Panthers dicing up the Falcons secondary to miscommunication. Miscommuniation? The Falcons secondary featured three former All-Pros and another veteran. Yeah, that’s a coaching issue.

As for Judon, he put up career-lows across the board. The trade was an abject failure. Just a couple of years ago, Judon finished the 2022 campaign with 15.5 sacks, 14 tackles for loss, and 28 quarterback hits. With the Falcons, the veteran only mustered 5.5 sacks, which really doesn’t tell the entire story.

Judon had a stretch in which he recorded four sacks over six games, some coming of the cleanup variety. His nine QB hits were the lowest number over a full season, and his seven tackles for loss were the fewest he’s had in a full season since he was a rookie.

The veteran chalked it up to the Falcons defensive coordinator’s misuse of him in an interview with Card Player‘s Kyle Odegard.

“Hell naw, (it wasn’t bad luck),” Judon said, via Daniel Flick of Sports Illustrated. “If you go look at the film, I dropped (into coverage) on 60% of the plays. It’s hard to get a pick and a sack on the same play.”

Obviously he’s embellishing quite bit. According to Flick via Pro Football Focus, Judon only had 87 snaps where he didn’t rush the passer or defend the run, which is 13.3% of his 655 snaps. Compared to some other pass rushers, via Scott Kennedy, Judon’s 13.3% coverage rate is more than Danielle Hunter (0.7%), Maxx Crosby (1.2%), T.J. Watt (3.1%), Micah Parsons (3.5%), Kyle Van Noy (8.9%), Nik Bonitto (9.5%), and even Judon’s 2022 rate (8.5%).

My biggest issue with the entire situation isn’t Jimmy Lake or his usage of Judon, which should be criticized, but rather the veteran’s lack of effort. There were plenty of moments where Matthew Judon was just going through the motions, and that drives everyone up a wall.