Second-Year DL Turning Heads with Atlanta Falcons

FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga – Brandon Dorlus barely saw the field as a rookie. Now, the Atlanta Falcons’ second-year defensive lineman is turning heads at training camp, and he could finally give Atlanta’s defense the jolt it’s been missing.

His transition to the league was slow, and Dorlus effectively took a redshirt season as a rookie. The adjustment to the speed of the game and just life as a professional took longer than he expected. 

The three-time All-Pac-12 selection was drafted to bring another pass-rushing presence to the interior. Despite the struggles of a Falcons defense that finished 31st in sacks, Dorlus was a healthy scratch for the first 10 games of his career. 

Now, Dorlus, despite taking just 19 snaps last season, is being counted on to take the next step in his development as soon as possible. The second-year pro is at the center of a defensive line rotation expected to turn last year’s softest spot into the backbone of a playoff push.

Falcons’ head coach Raheem Morris has been adamant throughout his time in Atlanta that players, specifically defensive linemen, take their biggest jump from their first to their second years. From the tail end of his 2024 season to this point in the preseason program, that leap forward appears to be coming for Dorlus. 

“I brought him up in a meeting the other day, and some of the things he's doing have looked really well,” Morris said Monday before practice. “I started to see a little bit last year in practice, when he was giving us a look on the other side.

“I had high hopes for him, and he's done a lot of really good things going through this camp, going through those games, playing significant minutes, and what he's done in practice and what he's done in the games has been really good. I look forward to watching his role clean up and defined as we go. He's done a nice job.”

The former fourth-round pick has brought a new demeanor to his second year of camp and preseason action. Defensive line coach Nate Ollie challenged him this offseason to elevate his game in regard to how he overpowers the pocket, and Dorlus has delivered. 

That message has carried through the entire defensive staff, from Ollie’s hands-on coaching to Ulbrich’s demand for more edge in Dorlus’ game.

“Dorlus has been really good. [I’m] liking the way he’s doing his approach,” Ollie said last Monday. “He’s going to be really big for us.” 

Defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich echoes the thoughts of his defensive line coach. 

“The part that we wanted to take to another place was this physicality and this mindset, and just find that internal dog in him,” he said. “A lot of rushers don't necessarily have that side to them. [Dorlus is] finding that side, and he's becoming that complete player. ” 

The ‘attack style’ that Ulbrich brought to this team has echoed throughout training camp this summer. This mentality has appeared to be a welcome change for the Falcons’ defensive linemen, but one that has also required a bit of adjustment. Instead of reading blocks, they are being challenged to “go, go, go.”  

Ollie showed us the embroidered message, “GTFO,” that he had sewn into their wristbands as their eighth ‘play.’ The challenge is always the last thing Dorlus sees on every snap. 

“When I get down in my four-point stance, I always see that number eight and it says ‘GTFO,’” Dorlus said through a smile. “I don’t think I think about anything else besides GTFO and [running in] a dark room.” 

Dorlus joked that his position coach is almost like a pest when it comes to his screaming and yelling about finishing every snap. He said only when the Falcons release the mic’d up with Ollie, and only then, would people understand what the “walking ball of energy” is like every day. 

Nobody has benefitted more than the 6-foot-3, 290-pound Dorlus. That mindset, along with his overall comfort in this new system, is starting to show itself during preseason action. 

“Now we’re having fun,” Dorlus said. “Last year, we were trying to be perfect every time. But with this defense, you don’t have to be perfect. You just have to be explosive and make plays.”

Against the Lions, Dorlus debuted the athleticism and explosiveness that the front office saw during the draft process. He registered his first NFL sack and added a pair of quarterback hurries.  

With the continued reps in this new scheme, the joy is coming back to his play on the field. 

“It’s just football again,” he said. “I felt very comfortable with this scheme. I could just take my thinking cap off and let my reactions take over. That’s what I like to do, just react on the field and not just think too much, and just go forward and attack.”

Dorlus made just three tackles as a rookie, but his evolution as a football player has been made abundantly clear this summer. 

The year two leap appears to be in full effect. Now the question is whether Dorlus’ surge in August can carry into September and give the Falcons’ defense a disruptive force in its trenches.