‘Ambassador of Strain’: Falcons banking on big year for Zach Harrison

FLOWERY BRANCH — It was the season multiple Falcons coaching staffs thought possible, the season Zach Harrison had in mind for himself and the season he put so much of his time toward making a reality.

Then, suddenly, it ended.

Save for two absences because of a knee injury, Harrison started seven of the Falcons’ first nine games at defensive end last season, and he’d already set career highs with 4½ sacks and five tackles for loss. The breakthrough that long seemed on the precipice of happening finally occurred in his third NFL season.

But his knee worsened. He made a trip to injured reserve before Week 12 and didn’t return. He only started feeling “pretty good” around halfway through the offseason.

The year he sought so hard suddenly became the year his body failed to cooperate.

“It’s hard not to get frustrated,” Harrison said during OTAs. “All you really can do is trust in the Lord, and he has a plan for everybody. That’s kind of what helped me get through last season, the frustration of it, just knowing that his plan is greater than my plan for myself. So, trust in him.”

Harrison’s faith leaves him with another conclusion from last season: Perhaps it was only a glimpse of what his future holds.

“I mean, I guess it wasn’t my year to go off,” he said.

The Falcons hope 2026 will be. Defensive line coach Nate Ollie said during OTAs he anticipates Harrison will “take a next step” this fall, his second season playing under Ollie and defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich in the team’s attacking front.

Ollie wants to erase everything his players learned growing up. “You think, you stink,” he said. He wants his defensive linemen to act like they’re running in a dark room and dictate terms on the other side of the line of scrimmage.

Harrison is his shining example — and earned the title “Ambassador of Strain” from Ollie.

“A guy that’s going to strain, that’s going to run to the ball, that’s running in a dark room,” Ollie said. “When we talk about repping our style, that’s what Zach does every time he’s out there on the field.”

Harrison, a third-round pick out of Ohio State in 2023, has continuity for the first time in his professional career. He had to learn a new system with a new coordinator, and hear a new message from a new position coach, each of his first three seasons.

And while the Falcons have a new head coach in Kevin Stefanski, little changes for Harrison, who again has Ollie and Ulbrich in his ear. It’s a significant reason the Falcons believe Harrison is in line to carry momentum from his form before the injury last season.

Versatility is another.

Last season, the Falcons played Harrison everywhere from outside linebacker to nose tackle. Harrison’s ability to wear numerous hats is his “superpower,” Ulbrich said. Ulbrich views him as a prototypical defensive lineman for an attacking front, with his size, length, athleticism and toughness comprising a well-rounded skill set.

The 6-foot-5 Harrison added 10 to 15 pounds this offseason, weighing between 280 and 285 pounds.

Harrison worked with Falcons director of performance nutrition Steven Benjamin and the strength staff to find a good weight, and he believes he’s found the sweet spot to be big enough to play on the inside and athletic enough to play on the edge.

“I feel like at this point now, I’m confident in my ability to play anywhere on the D-line, and I don’t know if everybody can say that,” Harrison said. “That’s pretty much my mindset — the more I can do.

“If they need somebody to do this. ‘Oh, Zach can do that. Oh, Zach can do this. Oh, Zach can do that.’ So, it’s just the more you can to help the team win.”

Ollie referred to Harrison as a “utility weapon,” andHarrison developed into a quality leader last season, too. With the game, and his promising season, stripped away, Harrison remained involved in the Falcons’ defensive line meeting rooms and made an impact in ways that didn’t show up in the stat sheet.

“I thought he handled it pretty well,” Ollie said. “Just kind of coming in, helping guys out. I know it sucks being hurt, being out. But just being there for your teammates, him on the sideline, having energy, telling the guys what he sees on game day, I thought that was really helpful.”

One of the bigger keys to Harrison’s newfound success in 2025, a year where he needed only seven games to eclipse his career sack total, stemmed from a refined mindset and off-field routine.

Harrison no longer complicated football. He went into games with a mindset of, “Just go out there and play, (and) let the chips fall where they may,” he said. The Lewis Center, Ohio, native knows what his body needs, how it should feel, how much he should sleep in the offseason and when he can travel.

Still only 24 years old, Harrison is a self-proclaimed “tweener.” He’s no longer a wide-eyed newcomer, but he hasn’t reached veteran status quite yet. He is, however, entering a contract year for the first time.

“It’s not a secret,” Harrison said. “You’re going on Year 4, it’s options to get paid coming up. But I don’t think about that. I try not to. Just leave no stone unturned. Let the process be the process, and if I give my all during the process, I can live with whatever results.”

Harrison joined the Falcons with considerable expectations. He was a 5-star recruit at Ohio State, a three-time All-Big Ten selection and a team captain. His size, length and athleticism paired with his accolades to form a tantalizing profile.