The Atlanta Falcons defense received a complete makeover this offseason. Defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich reunited with Raheem Morris after his time with the Jets. His fingerprints were all over the Falcons Week 1 performance, and so were Atlanta’s first four picks in this year’s draft.
The Falcons’ draft class only consisted of five players, but every player taken in the first four rounds was a defender that saw a significant amount of snaps against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Third-round pick Xavier Watts and fourth-round selection Billy Bowman Jr. started in the Falcons secondary. On the edge, a duo of first-round picks in Jalon Walker and James Pearce Jr. both rotated in behind Leonard Floyd and Arnold Ebiketie.
Of the Falcons draft class, nobody was more hyped up following the preseason than James Pearce Jr. From the moment he stepped on the field at training camp, the Tennessee product brought a different level of intensity to practice, and he followed it up with seven pressures in the Falcons first two preseason games.
Given Atlanta’s history in the draft with pass rushers, which isn’t something anybody should want to look up, Pearce provided a glimmer of hope that the front office might have finally gotten it right.
In his first regular season game, there weren’t any highlight plays from any of the Falcons pass rushers, but Pearce was active when on the field. In just 23 pass rush snaps, he pressured Baker Mayfield four times, leading all rookies through the first week of the season.
Every rookie defender that generated multiple pressures in Week 1:
James Pearce Jr., ATL – 4
Abdul Carter, NYG – 4
Shemar Stewart, CIN – 3
Jordan Burch, AZ – 3
Aeneas Peebles, BAL – 2
Yahya Black, PIT – 2
Femi Oladejo, TEN – 2 pic.twitter.com/40XZVotrin
— The 33rd Team (@The33rdTeamFB) September 9, 2025
The Falcons utilized Pearce almost strictly on obvious pass rushing downs, which should be expected as he gets acclimated to the league. He may not have recorded a sack, but he was more productive at getting after the quarterback than anybody else in his draft class. For a guy that was drafted 26th overall, that’s a pretty encouraging sign after one week.
Everybody wants to see James Pearce Jr. become a 10+ sack guy immediately as a rookie, but the reality is that doesn’t happen very often in this league. Jared Verse won Defensive Rookie of the Year last season and recorded just 4.5 sacks. If Pearce can continue to build off his performance from Week 1, he’ll be in that same conversation at the end of the season.
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Photo: Rich von Biberstein/Icon Sportswire
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