The Atlanta Falcons have re-tooled their defense with a lot of rookies, and have sprinkled in some solid veterans as well. The Dirty Birds have specifically rebuilt their pass rush by drafting Arnold Ebiketie with the 38th overall pick, DeAngelo Malone with the 82nd overall pick, signing Lorenzo Carter to a one-year deal. The Falcons also helped out their pass rush this offseason by locking up Grady Jarrett after signing him to a three-year $51 million dollar deal.
Not only did the Atlanta Falcons help out their pass rush by drafting and acquiring some pass rushers, but the Falcons also signed veteran cornerback Casey Hayward to a two-year $11 million dollar deal earlier this offseason. Hayward is a veteran cornerback that still has a lot of productivity in him, and Hayward playing opposite to rising superstar A.J. Terrell will solidify the Falcons backfield a lot, and if your corners can cover for a few extra seconds that too helps the pass rush.
Chris Goforth made his bold prediction for the 2022 Atlanta Falcons Friday night on The Jon Chuckery Show, as he was filling in for Jon Chuckery, and he believes the Falcons will “double or more than double” their sack total from last year.
Now to give you a little perspective, the Falcons had the least amount of sacks in the NFL last season with 18, so while it won’t be hard to top, doubling it would be a very big feat for the Falcons. If the Falcons do in fact double their sack total from last year that would put them at 36 sacks in 2022. Last year 36 sacks in the NFL was good for 18th in the league, so a jump from dead last to middle of the pack would be a huge plus for the Falcons. To accomplish this goal Chris Goforth says “They really need Arnold Ebiketie to be that kind of guy, they need Lorenzo Carter to, again if he can be a five, six sack guy, if Grady Jarrett can give you five or six in the middle…”
Chris went on to say “We have to have some pressure outside of Grady Jarrett from the inside, so whether that’s Ta’Quon Graham , Marlon Davidson, somebody has to step up next to Grady and be a factor, and again for me I think Arnold Ebiketie on the outside has got a chance to be special. Based on what we saw out of him at Penn State, and if he can come in, and we’ve seen rookie pass before be able to come in and have an impact, that’s what the Falcons need from him.”
The Falcons doubling or more than doubling their team sack total from a year ago is definitely a bold prediction, but if they are able to accomplish that then we might be talking about Arnold Ebiketie being in the running of defensive rookie of the year, and the Atlanta Falcons maybe being in the playoff hunt in 2022 season.