Atlanta Falcons Preseason vs. Lions: Key Players, Roster Battles, Defensive Changes

ATLANTA, Ga – The Atlanta Falcons will take the field on Friday night for the first time in 2025. They take on the Detroit Lions in Mercedes-Benz Stadium at 7:00 p.m. EST, with the game shown locally on FOX 5.

The score may not matter to their eventual goals, but the play on the field will certainly help determine the future of their roster.

To this point, Wednesday’s practice was the team’s best opportunity to see its starters and several primary depth players.

“Huge. This is their day,” head coach Raheem Morris said about Wednesday’s scrimmage. “The guys that you plan on not going, you're planning on not going because of what you're going to do [Wednesday]. You're planning on giving them the high-level work, the looks.”

Follow Us On: X | Facebook

While the scrimmage falls well short of true game reps, we did get a bit of a sneak peek at what this Falcons team could look like in 2025. While fans won’t get the chance to see those players against the Lions, Friday will be a great opportunity for other players to get their opportunity to make their case for a roster spot.

The same goes for the Falcons’ head coach, who says this preseason feels just a little bit different.

“I have a lot less questions in my head going into the season with these guys,” Morris said. “I feel great about going into this preseason game. I felt good last year, but I feel great this year. It's because of the direction. It's because of the absolute intentionality from our front office to go get what we needed.”

Morris enters his second season with elevated expectations. The organization is desperate to snap its seven-year playoff drought this season, and that pressure falls squarely on its head coach.

But this is just a preseason game, and the rest of that will come later. For now, let’s get into some thoughts on what you should watch for Friday night at 7 p.m.

Rookies Getting Their First NFL Action

James Pearce Jr. has been a menace at Atlanta Falcons training camp. He'll line up against the Detroit Lions Friday night. | Dale Zanine-Imagn Images

The 2025 rookie class wasted no time in making their presence known at Flowery Branch this summer, with edge rusher James Pearce stealing the headlines throughout camp.

“I'm excited to see everybody, all of our guys. It's not just James,” Morris said. “It's really all of our guys that go out there and play football. Jalon Walker, James, [Xavier] Watts. All of these young guys who you get significant looks at.”

Pearce, who has publicly been in the middle of several scuffles throughout camp, is surely eager to go up against someone in a different colored jersey. While it remains unclear just how much run he or the rest of the class will get, all five draftees got extended looks on Wednesday.

“Terry Fontenot and that staff did a great job of bringing guys in who we expect to be able to help us play early and often,” Morris said Monday. “How early and how often, they're (the players) deciding that right now. They're doing such a great job going out there in practice and absolutely competing every day.”

Pearce was credited with a sack, while Watts and nickel Billy Bowman Jr. each played extended time with the ones. Jalon Walker was also seen mixing it up in the team drills for the first time in over a week, and he played well as he adjusted to practice reps.

Safety Jordan Fuller appears to be in line for the starting safety job over Watts to begin the season, but Bowman has potentially made enough of an impact early on in camp to make the case for being the primary nickel corner in Week 1.

“I'm a perfectionist at heart, but just getting here, not trying to be too hard on myself, enjoying the process, enjoying what it takes,” Bowman said. “You know, this is the greatest, highest level there is in pro sports. So, it's gonna be a day-by-day challenge, but I feel like I've been doing solid.”

Bowman says there aren’t any jitters coming into his first NFL game, preseason or not, but it’s still something he’s looked forward to for a very long time.

“You wanna go out there and get that first one under your belt,” he said. “You’ve dreamt about [playing in the NFL] for your whole life, and you just keep checking goals off your list. No jitters, no nervousness, but just ready to get out there and see what it’s like.”

All four defensive rookies should push for extended playing time, or even starts, this season. Tonight will be the first look many fans will get of this class.

Wide Receiver Rotation

Atlanta Falcons wide receiver Casey Washington has stepped up in the absence of Darnell Mooney. | Brett Davis-Imagn Images

Easton Stick and Emory Jones will be tasked with taking the ball against the Lions after Michael Penix and Kirk Cousins were made inactive. The pair of quarterbacks with have a big responsibility

Drake London, Darnell Mooney, Ray-Ray McCloud, and special-teams savant KhaDarel Hodge are all firmly implanted on this roster, and Kyle Pitts has been lining up almost exclusively in a receiver spot. After the injury to Mooney in the early parts of camp, the rest of the wide receiver room was put on notice.

Should Mooney miss extended time, Casey Washington has emerged as a possible option, if the Falcons look outside of Pitts and McCloud. The 2024 sixth-round selection saw limited action last season but has frequently lined up in Mooney’s ‘X’ receiver role during team drills in camp.

David Sills V has also made an impression, with some saying he compares favorably to London. The fourth-year receiver has just 123 career receiving yards, but has been a standout over the last few weeks.

“He’s been really good,” quarterback Easton Stick said about Sills’s performance during camp. “He’s really smart and has a great feel. Anytime you can be a receiver who plays all three spots, that’s really valuable. Then, he runs really well, he’s long, kinda everything you want in a guy going out there.”

Elsewhere, popular UDFA signing Nick Nash, along with Chris Blair, Jesse Matthews, and Dylan Drummond, will make their best effort to push for reps.

Keep a close eye on the play of DJ Chark. The veteran was signed after the Mooney injury, in an unrelated move, but he has yet to see any significant action with the first or second-team offense during camp.

The former Pro-Bowl receiver has dealt with injuries of his own over his seven-year career and has bounced around through three separate teams after the Jaguars moved on from him in 2021. As of now, Chark is a longshot to make the 53-man roster, but that could change when the lights come on Friday night.

Based on previous seasons, the Falcons will likely keep only five or six players from this group. Jamal Agnew could make his way into that count, especially based on where he fell in the Falcons’ initial depth chart on Wednesday.

The former All-Pro return man has cut his teeth in special teams, and he has lined up as the primary specialist in this area, but the team could always opt to use other players in that role to save the roster spot.

Will the Falcons Carry Three Quarterbacks?

Atlanta Falcons quarterback Easton Stick rushed for 2,563 yards and 41 touchdowns at North Dakota State from 2015-2018. | Dale Zanine-Imagn Images

The Falcons have generated a lot of questions throughout the offseason regarding the status of Kirk Cousins. Whether they admit it or not, the potential for action will loom over the franchise for the entirety of the preseason and right up to the trading deadline in November.

The veteran will not suit up for the Falcons tonight, and he is exceedingly unlikely to play in any preseason games, but whether the team carries a third quarterback on their roster will remain an interesting storyline.

Stick and Jones will take all the snaps for the Falcons tonight. While neither player will be competing for real action in the regular season, they could be competing for future backup duties in the fall if a deal were to emerge for Cousins later in the season.

Cousins has stated, on several occasions, that he wants to be a starting quarterback in 2025. If an injury elsewhere were to occur, that proposition could come to fruition sooner rather than later. As of today, it is unlikely another NFL team would make a deal for the veteran, but a strong outing from either player could go a long way in solidifying the depth behind Penix this season.

“Any time you get a chance to play, that’s what we want to do because this stuff is great,” Stick said. “You want to go out there and play. You understand it’s preseason, it’s not necessarily putting a game plan together and doing all of it, but getting the chance to tee it up and keep score and all that stuff is a lot of fun.”

That additional roster spot is a valuable commodity, especially given the competition at other positions. Stick, after signing with the team in April, would be the favorite for the role. However, a strong performance from Jones against the Lions could always make the question a little more interesting.

Will We See the Vision from an Invigorated Defensive Unit?

After another disappointing defensive season, the Falcons opted to blow it all up this offseason. Jeff Ulbrich was brought in to command the defense, and several new faces were added to the room.

On the field, several veteran starters – safety Justin Simmons, defensive tackle Grady Jarrett, outside linebackers Matt Judon and Lorenzo Carter, and inside linebacker Nate Landman – were let go.

Replacing them are players like Jordan Fuller, Divine Deablo, James Pearce Jr, Jalon Walker, Ruke Orhorohoro, and Brandon Dorlus. All of them are under the age of 27. Of the newcomers, only Leonard Floyd, 32, and Morgan Fox, 30, are over the age of 30.

Only a handful of those players will be seen in action tonight, but it could be a first glance at what the 2025 Falcons defense could look like.

A universal theme of this unit during camp has centered on their ‘edge’ and the overall energy they bring on every play. While the starters will not be out there, that mentality should still be felt down the line.

If the Falcons are going to take a step forward in 2025, it’ll likely come on the back of this defensive overhaul – not just in personnel, but in personality. That could start with the play of its reserves tonight.