Why Falcons Believe 2025 Draft Class Can Make Immediate Impact

Before the Atlanta Falcons started rookie minicamp May 9, head coach Raheem Morris gave his first-year players a piece of advice in advance of full-team meetings the following week.

"I don't let those guys come in and just sit down in the seat and then get punked by a vet to say, 'Move.'" Morris said. "[I say], 'Hey guys, just stand on the wall when the vets come in. And then when they all sit down, you find those open areas. There'll be plenty of seats, and you guys can slip in and find that spot.'"

Morris wants to give the Falcons' 17 rookies -- five draft picks and 12 undrafted free agents -- ground rules for how to respect veterans.

But in the same breath, Morris acknowledged Atlanta's rookies will be competing -- respectfully -- against veterans. He expects several to win.

"Make no mistake about it," Morris said. "We're going to have some real intentionality in playing our rookies this season and getting those guys on the grass and giving them an opportunity to play a significant amount of football for us. We really look forward to that."

The Falcons' 2024 draft class didn't get the same treatment.

First-round quarterback Michael Penix Jr. was drafted with an eye glancing toward the future, though he still played in three games. Second-round defensive tackle Ruke Orhorhoro was a healthy scratch the first four games, missed five others due to injury and finished with 148 total defensive snaps.

Third-round outside linebacker Bralen Trice suffered a torn ACL in the preseason opener Aug. 9. Fourth-round defensive tackle Brandon Dorlus was inactive for 15 games and played just 25 total snaps.

Fifth-round linebacker JD Bertrand appeared in 12 games, playing 157 snaps on defense and 238 snaps on special teams. A pair of sixth-round picks -- running back Jase McClellan and receiver Casey Washington -- played 19 and nine offensive snaps apiece.

The Falcons cut seventh-round defensive tackle Zion Logue at the end of the preseason and added Logue to their practice squad, but the Buffalo Bills signed him Oct. 1.

At the league owners meetings April 1, Morris accepted the notion his 2024 class didn't see the field much as rookies. He expects steps forward in 2025. But he also anticipates Atlanta's newest crop of first-year players being more impactful than last year's group.

And he has plenty of experience watching rookies blossom.

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In his first year as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' defensive backs coach in 2007, Morris transitioned fourth-round cornerback Tanard Jackson to safety, where he started all 16 games.

When Morris, then a wide receivers coach, went to the Super Bowl with the Falcons during the 2016 season, he watched as undrafted free agent Brian Poole ascended to a starting role at nickel corner.

In 2020, Morris, then the Falcons' defensive coordinator and, ultimately, 11-game interim head coach, saw first-round pick A.J. Terrell start all 14 appearances at corner.

Following the 2020 season, Atlanta didn't retain Morris, who left for a three-year run as the Los Angeles Rams' defensive coordinator.

In Morris's first year, linebacker Ernest Jones started seven of 15 appearances. The year after, cornerback Cobie Durant appeared in 13 games and saw extensive action at nickel down the stretch. In 2023, a pair of Day 2 pass rushers in defensive tackle Kobie Turner and outside linebacker Byron Young combined for 17 sacks.

The road led Morris back to Atlanta, where he now has a talented rookie class with several players capable of taking on bigger roles in Year 1. It wouldn't be a foreign concept to Morris if they deliver.

"I've seen it happen a lot," Morris said. "I watched those guys grow and develop. So, when you’re coming in and you're locked in, and you do some of the things that we talked about earlier with the playbook, and you get a chance to get those installs three times, you never know.”

The process differs from player to player, and Morris may not know for several more months how mentally prepared his rookies are for heightened snap counts.

Young, who had eight sacks in 2023, was a late-bloomer but finished second among rookies with sacks.

"There's some guys that's going to get it a lot faster. There's some guys that's going to get it a little bit slower. But there's some guys when it clicks, it just clicks," Morris said. "B.Y. -- when I first looked at him, I didn't think he knew exactly what I was talking about.

"Then about Week 3 of the preseason, something clicked for him in those joint practices, and you knew this guy's going to be a pretty good football player for us. That's what we look forward to these guys doing."

Morris expects his rookies to make mistakes. His job is to give his players as many tools and avenues to lessen the frequency of any errors and help correct them when necessary.

Atlanta's first four draft picks -- first-round edge defenders Jalon Walker and James Pearce Jr., third-round safety Xavier Watts and fourth-round defensive back Billy Bowman Jr. -- were all defenders.

Prior to arriving for their first minicamp practice, the Falcons' rookies were given video-recorded installs to watch. They received after-action review videos following the session. The hope, Morris said, is the rookies can make corrections on their own and show progress the next time they're in a similar position.

"When they do make those corrections, those are the signs of the guys that are consistently looking to obsess football and be the greatest they could possibly be," Morris said. "That’s what fires you up."

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Morris's three examples of players who grew into starting roles as rookies -- Jackson, Poole and Terrell -- were all defensive backs. He acknowledged it's more common for corners and safeties to start early as professionals.

But the Falcons expect their first two picks -- Walker and Pearce -- to be part of the solution to their pass rush woes this fall.

"I think part of it is going to be on them, and their ability to come out here and perform at a high level quickly, because nothing will be given away," defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich said. "To be a starter on this defense, you have to earn that on the grass. You don't earn that as a draft pick, and they wouldn't want it any other way.

"So, a lot of it will be how quickly they get adjusted to this game, to our scheme, to the defense. But, I would anticipate both are going to make an impact earlier than most would probably anticipate."

Since 2020 -- five full draft cycles -- there have been 25 edge defenders drafted in the first round. Only eight of them, or 32%, had more than 4.5 sacks as rookies, and three of them -- Chase Young in 2020, Aidan Hutchinson in 2022 and Anderson in 2023 -- were taken inside the top three overall picks.

But each player is a different case study. The Falcons feel the same about their draft picks.

While setting Atlanta's draft board, assistant general manager Kyle Smith said the Falcons thought Walker, Pearce, Watts and Bowman had the skill set to be immediate starters.

There were no secrets Atlanta wanted to address its defense, but the Falcons weren't going to force picks. The board merely fell their way, Smith said.

And, subsequently, Atlanta walked into a draft class with a chance to make an early impact.

"There's a development piece that has to happen with all these guys," Smith said. "Like, there is a development piece to Jalon -- he's going to go in that edge room and we're going to have him master one position to start. James, there's still a development piece. They're all a development, but obviously the lower you go in the draft, the more probably development pieces there are.

"So yes, we feel comfortable with those four guys having a real chance to become starters for us. Yes."

The Falcons plan to play Walker on the edge on first and second downs before getting creative with him on third down. Pearce will strictly be an edge piece.

Watts will compete with veteran Jordan Fuller and rising third-year pro DeMarcco Hellams for the starting spot next to Jessie Bates III. Bowman will battle Dee Alford and Clark Phillips III, among others, to start at nickel corner.

Meanwhile, the door is open for Orhorhoro and Dorlus to emerge at defensive tackle this fall, while Penix will be given the reins to lead the franchise under center.

The Falcons' youth movement -- which is evident on an offense with five starters 25 years old or younger -- has a prime opportunity to shift toward a defense that's long needed a makeover.

And, subsequently, some of the veterans' meeting room seats may be getting warmer.