Atlanta Falcons: Grady Jarrett finally getting some respect

Atlanta Falcons defensive tackle, Grady Jarrett, is finally starting to receive the praise he has worked over the last six seasons to achieve.

There is no disputing that LA Rams defensive tackle Aaron Donald is the best in the National Football League and you won’t find a single Atlanta Falcons fan that would argue that point. Donald has already punched his ticket to Canton and at this point is just adding on meaningless accolades.

However, what many Falcons fans take issue with is the disrespect that Grady Jarrett continues to receive despite the fact that he is among the best interior defensive linemen in the NFL and isn’t recognized by NFL media as such.

It looks as if that is starting to change.

Atlanta Falcons have to rebuild around Grady Jarrett defensively

Recently, Ben Linsey over at Pro Football Focus ranked his 32 best interior defensive linemen across the league and Grady Jarrett made the Linsey’s Top 5 – coming in at number four behind Aaron Donald, Chris Jones, and Cameron Heyward.

Linsey had this to say about Jarrett:

"Jarrett has played on some porous Atlanta defenses over the past few years, but that has been through no fault of his own. He is coming off four straight seasons with PFF grades of 80.0 or higher, more than capable of winning his matchups both in the run game and as a pass-rusher. Jarrett’s 57 pressures this past season with the Falcons were the most of his career in a season."

While we will disagree with Cameron Heyward being ranked higher than Grady in 2021 (he was two spots lower in 2020) it is great to see the hard work Grady continues to put in every day to help the franchise get back to the playoffs, is being recognized outside the city of Atlanta.

There is no doubt that under new Atlanta Falcons coordinator Dean Pees that Grady will make another leap in the eyes of NFL insiders and fans around the league. Pairing Grady with coaches that actually know what they are doing will work wonders for his perception.

As we have seen the last six years, he is a one-man wrecking crew and if the new staff can squeeze something more out of the other 10 guys on the field, this Falcons defense will help the franchise get back to the playoffs and Grady earn more respect.