Falcons season grades: Defense took major strides; special teams not special

“(The sack record) is a reflection of the work that we put in all season,” said safety Jessie Bates III, who was named second-team All-Pro. “That was something that we haven’t had around here the last couple of years. To see that with the precision and what it took to get to that point was really cool to see.”

It was a group effort, as the Falcons had 16 players record a sack last season.

“It all comes hand to hand from every coach, every pass rusher,” Bates said. “Every (defensive back) out there covering. Every person that goes on a blitz.”

The Falcons were a middle-of-the-pack defense overall statistically, with the arrow pointing toward the top 10 in most categories. The Falcons gave up 326.6 yards per game (15th of 32 in the league).

They gave up 126.6 rushing yards per game (24th in the NFL), 200.4 passing yards per game (13th) and 23.6 points per game (19th). They ranked 19th in third-down efficiency at 39.9%.

The Falcons ranked eighth in takeaways with a plus-5. The defense had 16 interceptions and seven fumble recoveries.

The Falcons received major contributions from the four rookie draft picks on defense: outside linebackers Jalon Walker and James Pearce Jr., safety Xavier Watts and nickel back Billy Bowman Jr.

Also, second-year defensive tackles Brandon Dorlus and Ruke Orhorhoro made strides.

Ulbrich was a member of Dan Quinn’s staff with the Falcons from 2015-20. He went to the Jets in 2021 and was their defensive coordinator and interim head coach for part of the ’24 season before returning to the Falcons.

He was retained by new head coach Kevin Stefanski, who was hired earlier this month.

“I believe in this group here,” linebacker Kaden Elliss said. “Just have got to come and do a little extra all offseason. It’s a long road. It’s a long trek. But it will be worth it because the breakthrough could happen. They are special guys. It’s an awesome group.”

Here’s a unit-by-unit evaluation of the defense:

Defensive line

David Onyemata, LaCale London and Orhorhoro started up front in the regular-season finale. Dorlus, who was out with a hamstring injury, had a breakthrough season. He played in 15 games and made nine starts and finished with 8½ sacks, 14 pressures, three knockdowns and 27 tackles. He had one missed tackle.

Onyemata, who’s set to become a free agent, had 62 tackles, six pressures and a sack.

London also had a breakthrough season while playing 270 defensive snaps (32%). He had 30 tackles and five sacks, as he played in 13 games and made five starts.

Orhorhoro played in all 17 games and made eight starts. He had 25 tackles, 3½ sacks and eight pressures.

Zach Harrison was off to a fast start with 4½ sacks before he suffered a season-ending knee injury.

Kentavius Street (two sacks) and Sam Roberts (one sack) also contributed. Grade: B-minus

Outside linebackers

The Falcons mostly used a four-player rotation of Leonard Floyd (461 snaps, 49%), Arnold Ebiketie (384, 35%), Walker (492, 51%) and Pearce (593, 54%).

Pearce finished with 10½ sacks, one short of the team’s all-time rookie record set by Claude Humphrey in 1968. He also had 16 quarterback hits, 10 tackles for loss, 26 tackles and a forced fumble.

Walker had 36 tackles, 5½ sacks, nine quarterback hits and a fumble recovery.

Floyd had three sacks and Ebiketie had two sacks. Grade: B

Inside linebackers

Free-agent pickup Divine Deablo was a force. The run defense suffered in the middle portion of the season after he suffered a fractured forearm and was out four games.

He played the run well and was fluid in zone coverage. The former college safety also could cover some tight ends. He finished with 73 tackles and one sack. He also had seven passes defended and one fumble recovery.

Also, Elliss, who is set to become a free agent, finished second in the NFL among linebackers with 30 pressures and was one of two players in the NFL (along with Tyrel Dodson) with 100-plus tackles and 10-plus tackles for loss, 3½-plus sacks and an interception in 2025.

When Deablo went down, the Falcons’ depth was exposed. They turned to J.D. Bertrand. He struggled and they moved to Ronnie Harrison, a converted safety, later in the season. Josh Woods was a major contributor on special teams.

“I’m in no way, shape or form content with how my game was this year,” Elliss said. “Obviously, I had good moments. I look back on the games and different moments, and I recognize a lot of areas for improvement, which is exciting. You never want to be full there, but I would also like to put together a little more and go out and really just takeover games.” Grade: C-plus

Cornerbacks

The Falcons opened the season with A.J. Terrell, Mike Hughes and Bowman as the cornerbacks.

They ended the season with Terrell, C.J. Henderson and Dee Alford.

Terrell started 15 games, missing two because of a left hamstring injury. Teams were 34-of-64 (53.1%) for 393 yards and three touchdowns when throwing at Terrell. The opposing quarterbacks had an 87.8 passer rating. He had 12 pass breakups and two forced fumbles.

Hughes started 12 games before suffering an ankle injury. Teams were 41-of-72 (56.9%) for 531 yards and five touchdowns when throwing at Hughes. Opposing quarterbacks had a 97.6 passer rating.

Bowman was off to fantastic start at nickel back before he suffered an Achilles injury during a walk-through. Alford took over and played well, finishing with three interceptions.

When Hughes went down, the Falcons tried to play undrafted rookie Cobee Bryant, but eventually turned to Henderson to close out the season. Grade: B-minus

Safeties

Bates was named second-team All-Pro and Watts, a rookie, led the team with five interceptions, which tied the rookie mark set by Deion Sanders in 1989. Watts was named to the Pro Football Writers of America’s All-Rookie team. Bates was No. 2 and Watts the No. 3-rated players overall on the defense by Pro Football Reference.com. Elliss was No. 1. Bates had three interceptions, six pass breakups and a forced fumble. Bates had 98 tackles and Watts made 96.

“(We’ll) try to focus on the positives when (we) get back and you’re able to reflect on the season,” Bates said. “We’ll be able to tell our kids that I was part of that defensive back group when we broke the franchise sack record as a group.” Grade: A

Special teams

The special teams were not up to par and played a role in five losses, with missed kicks and allowing long kickoff returns.

The Falcons were in a tight battle with the Seahawks, with the score tied 6-6 at halftime, before Rashid Shaheed took the second-half kickoff back 100 yards for a touchdown.

There were red flags heading into last offseason, but the Falcons failed to bring in any real competition for kicker Younghoe Koo. After missing seven kicks in 2024, he started missing kicks again, and they had to let him go.

Parker Romo stabilized things for seven games, until he missed an extra point in New England that would have tied the score late in the fourth quarter. Zane Gonzalez was signed, and he stabilized things down the stretch.

Punter Bradley Pinion averaged 40.6 yards net on 64 punts. He placed 34 punts (53.1%) inside the 20-yard line. He had some placement issues with the new dynamic kickoff before giving way to Gonzalez late in the season.

Mike Ford (19 special-teams tackles), Feleipe Franks (11) and Josh Woods (10) were the top tacklers. Grade: F