Why Falcons might be leaning toward former Yellow Jacket to be their new GM

Jonathan Greenard no longer is a Houston Texan, but he’s surely one reason why the Falcons could make Texans assistant general manager James Liipfert their new general manager.

In the 2020 NFL draft, the Texans selected Greenard, a Florida Gators edge rusher, in the third round. NFL.com’s draft grade for Greenard, from Hiram High in Paulding County, projected him as an eventual average starter.

With Liipfert directing the team’s college scouting, the Texans may have seen more.

In his second season, Greenard collected eight sacks in 12 games. In his fourth season, the total jumped to 12.5 in 15 games.

He was an average starter no more. After that 2023 season, he entered free agency and signed with the Minnesota Vikings for the fifth largest contract (four years for $76 million) given to any free agent that offseason, according to Spotrac.

The production that the Texans received from a third-round pick surely was a feather in the cap for Liipfert, a former Georgia Tech walk-on linebacker who was promoted to assistant GM in 2025. Liipfert began in Houston in 2018 as director of college scouting after being hired away from New England and continued to move up the ladder.

Liipfert is one of six known candidates for the Falcons’ GM job. It is thought that president of football Matt Ryan could be leaning in his direction to pair him with coach Kevin Stefanski, who will meet with Atlanta media members for the first time Tuesday.

What would make Liipfert, from the Westfield School in Perry, a rising candidate?

His work with the Texans’ draft, including Greenard, would be a good place to start. For one, it has supplied Houston with the talent and depth to make the playoffs each of the past three seasons.

Of the 53 players on the active roster for the Texans’ divisional-round playoff game against New England, 25 had been drafted by Houston since Liipfert’s arrival. Another four were signed as undrafted free agents, talent also evaluated under Liipfert’s watch.

Of the eight teams to play in that round, only two had more draftees from that same time frame (from the 2019 draft forward).

For their final regular-season game of the season, the Falcons had 17 draftees since 2019 on the roster, plus three undrafted free agents.

It helps explain the Falcons’ prolonged failure and the dismissal of general manager Terry Fontenot (whose drafts began in 2021) along with coach Raheem Morris.

Meanwhile, the Texans’ biggest hits with Liipfert:

Wide receiver Nico Collins, a 2021 third-rounder, has earned back-to-back Pro Bowl appearances.

Linebacker Henry To’oTo’o, a 2023 fifth-rounder, led the Texans in tackles in 2024 and was second in 2025.

Georgia product Kamari Lassiter, taken in the second round of the 2024 draft, was rated the No. 11 cornerback of the 2025 regular season by Pro Football Focus.

Offensive tackle Blake Fisher, another 2024 second-rounder, lined up at three positions (both tackles and tight end) for 337 regular-season snaps this year and didn’t give up a sack, by PFF’s grading.

Safety Calen Bullock, a 2024 third-round selection, has nine career interceptions, the most of any 2024 draftee (two ahead of second-place Lassiter).

Selected in the second round of this past year’s draft, wide receiver Jayden Higgins finished with 525 receiving yards, fourth most of any rookie this season.

And, it should be said, the Texans have made the right choices at the top of the draft, as well, particularly quarterback C.J. Stroud (No. 2 overall pick in 2023), edge rusher Will Anderson (No. 3 in 2023) and cornerback Derek Stingley Jr. (No. 3 in 2022). They’ve earned a total of five Pro Bowl trips and three first-team All-Pro honors.

But with so much success after the first round, the Texans traded first-round picks for more picks in later rounds for both the 2024 and 2025 drafts. You’d have to think Houston made the trades banking on its ability to consistently unearth prospects who could outplay their draft standing, a pattern that Liipfert had a significant hand in.

Since 2021, it has been general manager Nick Caserio who has made the selections, but Liipfert’s input undoubtedly has weighed heavily and effectively, as evidenced by his series of promotions.

A 2022 Houston Chronicle profile of Liipfert revealed his secret weapon to be a willingness to talk with just about anyone to learn more about a prospect. The story reported that when Liipfert was scouting for the Patriots, his evaluations included input not just from a coach but also trainers, equipment managers and “sometimes seemingly random university staffers who offered some form of insight that created a more complete profile.”

That’s also how former Tech coach Paul Johnson remembered him — a “nice kid.” Johnson coached Liipfert in his final season with the Jackets (2008) and also received him a few times when he came back as a scout.

“I can see how he’s done well,” Johnson told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Monday. “Very personable.”

That ability, along with a reputation as a team-oriented person, would figure to make him an attractive candidate to Ryan and the Falcons.