The Athletic Gives Atlanta Falcons Draft an 'A', But They're Not Happy About It

When the Atlanta Falcons made their final pick of the 2025 NFL Draft, people who claim to be really good at math couldn’t comprehend the Falcons swapping first round picks with the LA Rams.

To paraphrase fictional Detroit detective Axel Foley. don't fall for the banana in the tailpipe. The team selected talent based on need and nary a reach. In fact, according to Sharp Football, the Falcons got by far the best value for their picks in the NFL Draft.

best value 2025 NFL draft classes

1. Falcons
2. Browns
3. Cardinals
4. Eagles
5. Giants
6. Chiefs
7. Buccaneers
8. Steelers
9. Ravens
10. Bills

see pic for 1-32 plus methodology

READ FULL ANALYSIS:https://t.co/8eg8GcgC1i

team-by-team & round-by-round analysis to follow 🧵 pic.twitter.com/QNV3DZLe45
— Warren Sharp (@SharpFootball) April 26, 2025

The Athletic used Dane Brugler’s Beast (a comprehensive draft guide including rankings) also used analytics - "Our grades are a composite score of player value, positional value and trade value" - to give the Falcons one of just-five teams to get an ‘A’ or better.

But they weren’t happy about it.

For months, writers at the Atlantic lamented the team's lack of edge rusher skills. Then, when the Falcons drafted Jalon Walker and James Pearce, that did not sit well with the scribe who lambasted them.

"The Falcons had a top-five draft? Really? I don’t necessarily agree with it, but I understand how we got there,” The Athletic’s Austin Mock admitted. "So, our formula saw their controversial trade back into the first round for James Pearce Jr. as giving up the equivalent of a late first-rounder.”

More sodium than a bag of potato chips.

Using Brugler’s rankings and his employer’s analytics, the Falcons get an ‘A’.

Brugler ranked the Falcons 30th out of 32 teams.

Some refer to this as “bias.” The media gets an idea in its head and can’t see the forest through the trees.

The publication's own grading system even agreed with how the Falcons dealt with the first round. Love to see it. Walker and Pearce bring a ferocity from the edge that should generate pressure and create havoc on their way to the quarterback.

You just knew the topic of the perceived sameness of Pearce and Walker would surface. Mock offered this:

"It starts with their selection of Jalon Walker, who plays a premium position and was drafted below consensus. Pearce also plays a premium position, so that helped the Falcons’ cause. Still, I can’t get over how ‘same-y’ they appear to be."

First, when did freakishly talented edge rushers playing simultaneously actually become a negative? When is the last time someone made the statement – “You know, the Falcons have too many pass rushers.”

Football requires an abundance of talent, even a redundancy of it. The game predicates on physical violence that causes attrition over a 17-game season.

The best teams have talent up and down the depth chart. For instance, the Philadelphia Eagles' defense rotated defensive linemen and employed more than one top-notch edge rusher. The Pittsburgh Steelers fielded a combination of James Harrison and Joey Porter, two rather similar players who rushed the quarterback.

In the long run, the Atlanta Falcons handled an issue with the thought that less isn't more, more is more and they hope this pays off in 2025 and beyond.

The analytics keep pointing to the same thing – the Atlanta Falcons crushed this draft.

And some folks aren’t happy about it.