Developing ‘urgency’ critical for Falcons to build good defense in camp
Credit: Miguel Martinez-Jimenez
FLOWERY BRANCH — There isn’t much mystery about the 2025 Falcons offense. It looks a lot like the 2024 Falcons offense. All 11 starters are holdovers when counting center Ryan Neuzil, who filled in for Drew Dalman when he was injured last season.
It’s a different story on defense, where the Falcons could have as many as seven new starters. They’ll need major contributions from several rookies and some second-year players who didn’t play much last season. They’ll have to replace defensive lineman Grady Jarrett, who signed a free-agent contract with the Bears after 10 good seasons with the Falcons.
The Falcons will use training camp to figure out which defenders should play the most and the roles they should play.
“Offense, we are probably a little bit more established on who is doing what, who is going to play where,” Falcons coach Raheem Morris said Thursday, before his team’s first training camp practice. “On defense, we have got some real (position) battles. We’ve got new linebackers. We’ve got some people new in the secondary. We’ve got people new up front.”
The Falcons should be better on offense with Penix replacing the injury-diminished version of Kirk Cousins. It’s hard to say if the Falcons will be any good on defense. It’s been a long time since that happened. This year, they’ll have to integrate several new players into the lineup while installing first-year coordinator Jeff Ulbrich’s scheme.
While the offense fine-tunes with the same players, the defense will build with a lot of new pieces.
“Every year things change around,” Falcons safety Jessie Bates III said. “The urgency has to pick up. You can’t feel like it’s your first time ever playing with each other when it’s Week One. You’ve got to iron out those kinks now.”
It’s critical that the Falcons do so. They finished last season ranked 23rd in the NFL in points allowed. They’ve finished in the top half of the league just once over the past nine seasons, in 2017. It’s no coincidence that the Falcons last made the playoffs in 2017.
Defense was an afterthought for too long in Flowery Branch. General manager Terry Fontenot has started to change that. The team’s top four free-agent contracts by guaranteed money were signed by defenders. Fontenot used his top four draft picks this year to select defensive players.
Those investments won’t pay off unless the newcomers can quickly form part of a cohesive group.
“It doesn’t matter what defense it is,” said Bates, an eighth-year pro. “It’s all about how that connection can be created. Everybody is installing (similar schemes). But I think what really separates teams is the connection and how are we talking about on the field.
“It’s (Ulbrich’s) scheme. It’s his ‘installs.’ But, as players, we have got to make it come to life.”
At least Ulbrich will have more talent to work with than did predecessor Jimmy Lake, who Morris fired after one season.
The Falcons desperately needed to improve their pass rush. They signed edge rushers Leonard Floyd ($10 million guaranteed) and Morgan Fox ($3 million). They drafted Jalon Walker (No. 15 overall) and James Pearce Jr. (No. 26). The Falcons hope to get more production from three 2024 draft picks who played only 167 snaps combined: Ruke Orhorhoro (No. 35 overall), Bralen Trice (No. 74) and Brandon Dorlus (No. 109).
There isn’t an elite pass rusher among that group. The Falcons hope to build a good team pass rush with all of them.
“With those guys, you’ve got to get the pads (on),” Morris said. “Once you get the pads, those things kind of sort themselves.”
In the secondary, the Falcons re-signed cornerback Mike Hughes, who became an above-average starter after moving outside in 2024. They’ve got three new safeties on the roster. The Falcons signed Jordan Fuller on the cheap as a free agent and drafted Xavier Watts and Billy Bowman. They signed linebacker Divine Deablo for $7.7 million guaranteed to play alongside standout incumbent Kaden Elliss.
The Falcons mostly know what to expect from the experienced newcomers during training camp. The younger players will have to prove they deserve major roles.
“I think the urgency starts to pick up a little bit more,” Bates said. “For some of the younger guys that were here for (spring practices), we talk about some of these mistakes and stuff. But, at some point, the urgency has to pick up. We play in about 45 days. There’s an urgency behind it.”
The Falcons should have no trouble scoring plenty of points once the regular season starts Sept. 7 versus Tampa Bay.
Penix is getting the first-team work that he didn’t get for most of last year. Everybody knows about the strong offensive line and top playmakers Bijan Robinson, Drake London and Darnell Mooney. Zac Robinson still is the play-caller.
The defense is more of a mystery. Morris said he embraces the challenge of answering the question marks among that group during camp. But he stopped short of saying what he wants the defensive identity to be once it’s a finished product.
“I hate answering that one because I just believe the team definitely defines it each year,” Morris said. “I think that identity has to come out (later). I know Jeff Ulbirch will have a real core belief of what he’s talking about and what he wants to show, but to me, it comes out when you turn on the tape.”
The Falcons started getting their first training camp videotape Thursday. Soon, they’ll put on the pads and go harder. Then, 45 days from now, we’ll see what kind of defense they’ve built.
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