The Atlanta Falcons have an emerging star in their secondary

One of the most intriguing things for the Atlanta Falcons going into this season was how their two young safeties would play in their first season as the primary starters.

Early on all of the talk was about last year’s second-round pick, Richie Grant, as he was the only player in training camp who could consistently cover Kyle Pitts. We all know that if you can cover Pitts, you can cover just about anyone, so the hype was and is certainly valid.

However, in week one it was the other safety who shined even brighter than Grant as he constantly made plays all over the field.

Jaylinn Hawkins seems primed for a breakout season with the Atlanta Falcons

Last season, Duron Harmon and Erik Harris, the two veterans, were the starting safeties for the Atlanta Falcons, but the more the team saw of Jaylinn Hawkins, the more snaps they had to give him.

Now Hawkins is the starter, along with Richie Grant, for a defense that has not had high expectations.

In the first game of his third season in the NFL, he played like a star as he flew around the field making plays. From the defense’s first series of the year, he showed what he can do as he locked down Jameis Winston’s target on third down forcing the Saints’ offense to go three and out.

Hawkins made his presence known on seemingly every drive the Saints offense had, at least up until the final quarter.

He also made my personal favorite play in the game, minus the two plays where Cordarrelle Patterson ran through Tyrann Mathieu. It took place with 50 seconds left in the first half right before Jameis Winston was sacked leading to the Saints’ punt.

This play by Jaylinn Hawkins was a thing of beauty. It was also the definition of baiting the quarterback. Watch how he sits down in his underneath zone watching Winston’s eyes. He knows where the ball is going and he also knows he has the athleticism to get to where he needed to be when the ball was thrown.

As soon as the play developed, Hawkins knew what he was doing. If he had taken off right away to cover the receiver, Winston likely wouldn’t have thrown it his way, but by lurking underneath he was able to put enough confidence in the quarterback’s mind to attempt that throw and he nearly came away with the interception. It would have been an incredible catch to go along with his incredible play.

Another part of his game that hasn’t been talked about much is how versatile he is. Dean Pees routinely moved Richie Grant and Jaylinn Hawkins around the field, sometimes Hawkins would play deep while Grant played shallow or vice versa. On numerous plays, the Falcons’ defense faked cover four and would rotate one of the safeties down at the last second as they ultimately played cover three. Having these two young guys gives Dean Pees a world of options.

Both of them might end up being stars, but in week one, it was the Jaylinn Hawkins show. We should be excited about his future. He has the makings of an elite ball hawk and it will be so much fun to see what else he can do throughout the year.