FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. — In three short years, Jessie Bates III has built himself a strong case for contention as one of the best free-agent talent acquisitions in Atlanta Falcons history.
A key objective when navigating the NFL's open market is to pay for future production rather than past performance, and the Falcons have gotten the premier version of Bates since he joined in 2023. With 13 interceptions and 8 forced fumbles for the Falcons, not to mention 332 tackles, this has been the most productive three-year stretch of his career. Entering his ninth season, the veteran safety is once again considered among the best players at his position.
ESPN is wrapping up its annual top 10 list of players at each position, for which Jeremy Fowler reached out to several NFL coaches, scouts and front office members to compile a consensus ranking of the league's top pros. Safety is the final position group in the series, which has featured a few other Falcons players, and Bates was ranked 5th by those polled.
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"Bates is always a threat to flip the momentum of a game with one play," Fowler writes of Bates. "He's one of the game's great ball hawks, registering 27 interceptions in eight seasons. Thirteen of those picks have come in his three seasons in Atlanta, and in each of those seasons, he has returned one for a touchdown. He has a flair for yardage after the pick, with 384 return yards for an average of 14.2 yards per interception."
Since he joined Atlanta, Bates is the only player in the NFL with at least 10 interceptions and three-plus forced fumbles. He has a proven knack for making big plays, but that is only part of what makes the three-time All-Pro a true gamechanger. As Fowler mentioned, the big plays Bates makes often generate huge amounts of momentum for the Falcons.
In 2023, Bates' 92-yard pick-six against the New Orleans Saints in Week 12 produced the single-highest negative EPA — which is a good thing for the defense — of any play for an Atlanta opponent that year, according to TruMedia. Similarly, Bates was responsible for creating the most negatively impactful play in terms of EPA by an opponent in 2024 when he scored a 55-yard touchdown against the New York Giants in Week 16. Technically, Bates' 34-yard pick-six against the Rams in Week 17 produced the second-lowest EPA by an opponent last season, according to TruMedia, but it was only a tenth of a point behind the strip-sack touchdown Jalon Walker and James Pearce Jr. produced against the Patriots in Week 9.