After slew of injuries along offensive line, Falcons bolster depth with trade

FLOWERY BRANCH — With injuries to two of their top three offensive tackles, the Falcons traded a conditional draft pick Tuesday to add some depth at the position.

The Falcons picked up Michael Jerrell for a conditional seventh-round pick in the 2027 NFL draft, according to his agent, Brian Hamilton. NFL Media first reported the trade.

Jerrell, who’s 6-foot-5 and 309 pounds, was selected in the sixth round of the 2024 draft by the Seahawks. He played in 10 games and made three starts last season after playing in college at Findlay.

Falcons starting right tackle Kaleb McGary (left leg) and swing tackle Storm Norton (ankle) are expected to begin the season on injured reserve.

Jerrell, 26, is a native of Indianapolis.

After playing at the NCAA Division II level, he was considered a developmental prospect entering the 2024 draft. He was projected to be a priority free agent before he was drafted by the Seahawks.

He was critiqued to need improvement in run and pass blocking, but as a former basketball player, he has the athletic skills to make the adjustments.

“The biggest thing as a key when you are playing big-edge defenders is that he has the ability to play long,” Findlay coach Kory Allen said on the “Locked on Seahawks” podcast after Jerrell was drafted. “He has a long reach, and he’s very, very strong through his core. ... He has the ability to play long. Which I think is great. He has the ability to anchor and play thick through his lower half.”

Jerrell has a pass blocking grade of 54.8 and a run-blocking grade of 49.5 on a scale of 0-100, by Pro Football Focus. He ranked 95th and 123rd, respectively, out of the 140 tackles ranked.

“I think there are things he can certainly clean up,” Allen said. “A lot of those things he needs to clean up will come with more consistent and higher competition. Where there are some things maybe he got away with because he could.”

McGary was graded at 77.6 in run blocking and 63.8 in pass blocking. McGary ranked 17th and 73rd, respectively, in those categories out of the 140 tackles last season.

Jerrell played 250 offensive snaps and had six penalties and allowed three sacks.

Elijah Wilkinson, 30, moved to right tackle after McGary went down in practice Aug. 20. Wilkinson didn’t play against the Cowboys on Friday out of an abundance of caution.

Wilkinson, who is 6-foot-6 and 310 pounds, has played in 79 NFL games and made 45 starts. He started nine games at left guard for the Falcons in 2022. He also has played with the Broncos, Bears and Cardinals after playing in college at Massachusetts.

Rookie Jack Nelson, who was drafted in the seventh round out of Wisconsin, started all three exhibition games.

Nelson played all 38 of the offensive snaps against the Lions on Aug. 8 and 47 of 67 (70%) of the offensive snaps against the Titans on Aug. 15.

Brandon Parker, who started against the Cowboys, played 36 snaps (95%) against the Lions and 20 (30%) against the Titans.