Falcons Safety Named to PFF Rookie Team, Edge Rusher Snubbed

The Atlanta Falcons' rookie safety received recognition, but there were arguably more where that came from

It was a big year for Atlanta Falcons rookies on defense | Matthew Hinton-Imagn Images

Pro Football Focus (PFF) released its 2025 NFL Rookie Team of the Year, and of the Atlanta Falcons' two deserving rookies, only one made the list: safety Xavier Watts. Edge rusher James Pearce Jr. was left off the list entirely.

Let’s start with the good news in Watts. Watts finished his rookie season with 96 total tackles (59 solo, 37 assisted), 11 passes defended, five interceptions and one fumble recovered. His five interceptions were the most amongst all first-year defenders and tied for the second most in the league, trailing only Kevin Byard (7). 

Watts was the first rookie to record 60 or more tackles and three or more interceptions since teammate Jessie Bates, who achieved the feat in 2017 with the Cincinnati Bengals. 

“Watts and Baltimore’s Malaki Starks were the only rookie safeties to log over 1,000 defensive snaps this season, yet Watts outplayed the first-rounder out of Georgia. Watts led all rookie safeties in PFF coverage grade, recording a 75.5 figure by permitting just 21 receptions on 623 coverage snaps for 341 yards.” PFF’s Jim Wyman writes. 

Watts was an elite ballhawk in Atlanta as a rookie, and PFF rewarded him as thus. Unfortunately, the same can’t be said for his counterpart on the defensive line.

Wyman had New York Giants rookie Abdul Carter and Dallas Cowboys defender Donavon Ezeiraku as his two rookie edge rushers. 

Pearce was snubbed from the list despite leading all rookies in sacks with 10.5. It was the most sacks by a first-year defender league-wide since Micah Parsons' 13.5 in 2021. 

Carter’s pressure numbers are always cited when making the rookie’s case for why his season was seen as so successful. 

“In all, Carter recorded 66 pressures, another 24 pass-rush wins and five sacks, four of which came in his final five games. During that stretch, Carter tallied at least four pressures in every game.” Wyman writes.

While his 66 pressures led all first-year edge rushers, Pearce was second with 45 and despite playing 147 fewer snaps than Carter, he recorded more than double his sacks.

In regard to Eziraku, Wyman cites his run defense. 

“Ezeiruaku got pressure 36 times and won another 20 pass-rush reps for a 66.1 grade. As a run defender, Ezeiruaku produced a 63.3 grade that included 18 stops and an average depth of tackle just under a yard past the line of scrimmage,” he writes.

Eziraku had just two total sacks (not even a fifth of Pearce) and had 11 fewer pressures despite playing just 20 fewer snaps. And if run defense suddenly matters in terms of edge rushers, then there is no basis for putting Eziraku ahead of Jalon Walker. 

Walker’s 81.3 run defense grade led all rookie edge rushers by a wide margin (second place was B.J. Green with a 74.0). Walker was sixth out of 116 total edge rushers in terms of run defense score.

Not to mention, Walker had more than double Eziraku’s sacks (5.5) and just seven fewer total pressures despite playing 111 fewer snaps. 

There is no reasonable explanation as to why the rookie sack leader was not included in PFF’s Rookie Team of the Year list at the edge rusher position, and Jalon Walker had a serious case to be included as well. 

Ultimately, though, PFF did get it right with Xavier Watts. The Falcons' rookie safety was not just one of the best first-year defenders in the league, but one of the best defenders, period, and his inclusion in the all-rookie team was well deserved. 

The same clarity, however, was not apparent through the rest of Wyman’s list. Leaving James Pearce Jr. off the list entirely, despite having nearly double the second-place rookie’s sack total, and overlooking Jalon Walker’s dominant run defense, underscores the inconsistency of PFF’s list in general. 

While Xavier Watts earned his recognition, the Atlanta Falcons' 2025 rookie class was deeper and more impactful than Pro Football Focus’s list suggests.