NFL Network Tabs Atlanta Falcons Edge as Rookie of the Year Favorite

When Atlanta Falcons general manager Terry Fontenot went shopping to fill the glaring need at edge rusher, he was no longer browsing the bargain bucket.

Fontenot boldly double-dipped in the first round to get not one, but two first-round edge rushers, the first defensive players the Falcons have taken in the first round since A.J. Terrell in 2020.

NFL.com analyst Bucky Brooks had already predicted that 26th overall pick James Pearce Jr. might be an outside bet to take home defensive rookie of the year honors, but his colleague Dan Parr likes No. 15 pick Jalon Walker as one of the favorites.

Parr has Walker as the third-most likely player behind Denver Broncos cornerback Jahdae Barron and New York Giants edge rusher Abdul Carter to be named NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year.

However, Parr issues a good warning for Falcons fans; it could be Walker or Pearce, and they might cancel each other out in voting.

“I’m not certain if it will be Walker or fellow first-round Falcons edge rusher James Pearce Jr. who emerges as the stronger DROY candidate, but if the football gods have any mercy, they will allow at least one of them to flourish,” Parr wrote on NFL.com. “Atlanta’s inability to draft and develop an edge rusher for the past several years has been a major sore spot for the team and its fans, which is why the franchise was willing to pay such a huge price to address the position twice in the first round this year.”

While the media has continuously misrepresented the trade Fontenot made to acquire Pearce on draft night, the fact remains that pouring two first-round picks into edge rushers in one day might not be a huge price, but it’s certainly a huge investment.

Before selecting Walker and Pearce, the Falcons had used just three first-round picks on edge rushers this century (Jamaal Anderson 2007, Vic Beasley 2015, Takk McKinley 2017). Their swing and miss rate at edge has been so poor, maybe they’ve been gun-shy to pull the trigger on another.

That changed in April.

Parr likes Walker ahead of Pearce, because he thinks he’s closer to the finished product and can have a more immediate impact.

“Walker -- picked 11 selections before Pearce -- is my choice in this exercise because he has a clear path to play, and it seems like he will have a clearly defined role,” wrote Parr. “While his hybrid ability as an edge rusher/linebacker led to some ‘tweener’ talk leading up to the draft, I’m more bullish about his DROY chances because the team has made it known that he'll focus on rushing off the edge, where he’s at his best. What he lacks in size (6-1, 243 pounds), he makes up for with speed and explosiveness.”

For all the differences between Walker and Pearce in how they set up - they will both help each other along the way. If either were to take home the coveted ROTY award, it's safe to say that pass rushing problems would be in the rear view mirror, and playoff football would be back on the menu in Atlanta.