One Atlanta Falcons Veteran on the Chopping Block After the NFL Draft

FLOWERY BRANCH – The Atlanta Falcons have been busy over the last several weeks, adding players to an overhauled defense. Jeff Ulbrich’s unit will look to build on a solid first season, and year two is sure to bring some changes.

Last weekend’s NFL Draft might have spurred one of those updates to this defense, and JD Bertrand will find himself on the wrong side of those additions.

Ian Cunningham went heavy on defense over the weekend, adding four new contributors on that side of the ball – two of whom are linebackers. For what had already been one of the more overturned positions on the field, the draft only brought more of that upheaval.

And Ulbrich wants his linebackers built in a certain way. He wants bigger players who flash more athleticism. At 6-foot-1 and 230 pounds, Bertrand does not boast either of those things. Unfortunately for Bertrand, the same cannot be said about the other seven players in that room.

They have added four new players (Kendal Daniels and Harold Perkins Jr. via the draft, and Christian Harris and Channing Tindall via free agency) and also brought two more back from injury (Troy Andersen and Malik Verdon). This group, plus incumbent starter Divine Deablo, is highly athletic and in the mold of what Ulbrich wants from this unit.

Furthermore, Bertrand’s audition for more snaps last season did not go the way he would have wanted it to. When he filled in for an injured Deablo, he was regularly a step too slow and was often a liability for the Falcons on defense.

He was eventually benched for Ronnie Harrison and played just 12 defensive snaps over the final six games of the season.

Bertrand’s value largely came on special teams, where he logged 309 snaps over the course of the season. Again, though, the new front office seems to have made a point to chase bigger and more athletic players. Many of those guys also have some special teams experience, and they are “the guys” for this new regime.

There is a long way to go before any roster decisions are official, but Bertrand appears to be the odd man out at this point. Atlanta will likely carry four or five linebackers once roster cuts arrive in August, and Bertrand will have a tough road ahead of him to prove that he belongs.

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