How Falcons rebuilt their defensive line: ‘We’ve got some beef up front.’

Zach Harrison likes what he sees. Entering his fourth year on the Falcons’ defensive line, Harrison is surrounded by new faces and new skill sets after a makeover on the interior.

The group, through the first three phases of the offseason program, has impressed Harrison. Anybody in particular? Don’t ask.

“I don’t want to name them,” Harrison said, “because I don’t want to forget them.”

Such is the depth of change on the Falcons’ new-look unit. Of the 10 players in defensive line coach Nate Ollie’s room, only four — Harrison, Brandon Dorlus, LaCale London and Elijah Garcia — were on the team last year.

The returners included the Falcons’ top three sack-recorders at defensive tackle last season. The other six are part of the team’s plans to bolster a defense that took significant strides last season, setting a franchise record with 57 sacks, but ranked No. 24 in the league in rush defense.

The Falcons watched veteran starter David Onyemata, who made 62 tackles and seven tackles for loss last season, leave for the Jets in free agency. They traded Ruke Orhorhoro, a 2024 second-round pick, to the Jaguars in a direct swap for replacement Maason Smith. And they let several remaining depth pieces, including Kentavius Street, walk this spring.

Ollie’s attacking defensive front created immediate returns on passing downs, but the Falcons entered this offseason wanting to mitigate the damage his philosophy can present against the run. So, new coach Kevin Stefanski, general manager Ian Cunningham and president of football Matt Ryan targeted specific body types to elevate the personnel.

Smith is a key component. The 6-foot-5, 306-pounder started seven of his 24 appearances in two years with the Jaguars, compiling 32 tackles, three tackles for loss, three sacks and four quarterback hits.

Falcons defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich dubbed Smith, who was acquired April 17, a “really pleasant surprise” through his first month-plus with the organization. Ulbrich liked Smith’s talent and upside, but his off-field habits have created palpable belief that he can translate tools into production.

“Since he stepped in this building, he’s just shown an eagerness to learn, intent to work, great attitude,” Ulbrich said in May. “He’s enormous. He’s a big guy with incredible movement for the size of man that he is.

“Whenever you’ve got a big guy like that that can move, that has real intent, that loves this game, willing to put the work in, something special usually occurs, so I’m excited about his future here.”

Smith is the prototype for what the Falcons wanted to add along their defensive front: size and athleticism. Ollie believes Smith can be an every-down player who can align anywhere from over the offensive guard’s outside shoulder to a more traditional nose tackle role.

The same applies to Da’Shawn Hand, who’s entering his ninth NFL season but is fresh off his first year as an every-game starter. He started all 13 appearances for the Los Angeles Chargers last season, notching 29 tackles, five tackles for loss, 1 1/2 sacks and five quarterback hits.

On the first day of OTAs, Ollie watched as Hand burst through the A-gap, the lane between the center and guard, and proved to be an immovable force. A nickname followed: kingpin.

“He’s got to be, like, the final boss. Like, the big dog,” Ollie said. “When we’re in there, stopping the run like that, that’s what he’s got to do for us. We tell him, when he runs through that A-gap, it has to look different. He’s the final boss right there.”

The Falcons believe any strides within their run defense will start with Smith, the “big guy,” and Hand, the kingpin.

“We got some beef up front,” Ollie said. “You go out there, look at the group, you got some big defensive tackles out there in the middle.”

But the Falcons don’t have a traditional nose tackle.

They drafted 6-foot-4, 310-pound Anterio Thompson in the sixth round, and he’s listed as the heaviest defender on their roster. Free agent signee Chris Williams is 6-foot-2 and 298 pounds, while veteran Ross Blacklock, who inked a deal after a rookie minicamp tryout, is 6-foot-4 and 305 pounds. Garcia weighs 302 pounds, while Dorlus checks in at 295 pounds.

Hand measures at 6-foot-3 and 302 pounds, though Ollie estimated he’s between 320 and 325 pounds at this stage of the offseason.

Still, gone are the days, Ollie said, of an old-school, refrigerator-esque defensive tackle — at least within his attacking style of defensive line play.

“Just get big guys that can move,” Ollie said. “It’s all controlled chaos, and it’s all guys that can get off the ball, that got stout. You don’t want a 370, big, power guy in there. How the way the game’s changed, you got to run sideline to sideline. We need guys that can do that.”

That’s why the Falcons re-signed the 6-foot-3, 297-pound London this spring. Ollie, evidently a nickname connoisseur, refers to London as “big twitch.” London had a breakout 2025 season, collecting five sacks and seven tackles for loss.

“That’s a guy that can get off on the football, that can run to the ball,” Ollie said. “You see him, he can run sideline to sideline. Just see him keep being consistent, keep evolving, keep attacking every single day, and if he does that, I feel like all the chips and everything will fall into place.”

Williams, who signed with the Falcons during the opening wave of free agency, spent 2023 under Stefanski on the Browns’ practice squad and played 2024-25 with the Bears, where Cunningham worked in the front office.

Familiarity mattered in the team’s evaluation of Williams, and his skill set checked the biggest box the Falcons desired.

“He gives you an athletic defensive tackle that fits the attacking front,” Cunningham said this spring. “Be able to get up field, plant his foot, change his direction, run and chase to the red line. He’s capable of doing all those things they’re looking for.”

The Falcons are also banking on multiple returners to make the next step in their development. Dorlus had 8 1/2 sacks and 11 tackles for loss last season, while Harrison recorded 4 1/2 sacks in seven games before suffering a season-ending knee injury.

To replicate last season’s historic pass rush, the Falcons are going “all hands on deck,” Ollie said. They need Dorlus and Harrison to keep growing, keep producing, and they’re banking on Smith to have a breakout 2026.

With outside linebacker James Pearce Jr.’s status in question amid charges from his February arrest, the Falcons want Jalon Walker to take another step, too. Veteran free agent edge rushers Samson Ebukam and Azeez Ojulari will also factor into the equation.

The Falcons have more questions than answers, more optimism than proof, at this point in the summer. They overhauled their front seven and fully committed to adding more speed, range and collective athleticism on their defensive line.

Their shift from girth to finesse began with Ollie’s coaching philosophy and was furthered by this offseason’s personnel changes. Whether the decision pays off won’t be known until the fall, but the Falcons like their group — even if Harrison and his fellow returners may still need name cards to remember who, exactly, they’re planting their flag behind.