Atlanta Falcons star Grady Jarrett on pace for best season in his career
By Nick Halden
Watching Grady Jarrett’s career with the Atlanta Falcons fans have come to appreciate how much Grady does that doesn’t show up in the stat sheet. So often in his career, he has been the man taking on a double team or causing a problem that set up someone else to make the big play.
This season, however, Jarrett is consistently putting up stats that have him on pace for his career-best in sacks, TFL, and QB hits. This is without the benefit of the sack of Tom Brady that should have given Grady Jarrett his third straight game-winning play.
Jarrett isn’t just playing well but playing at an all-time clutch level coming up with sacks to end comeback bids by the Browns and Seahawks in back-to-back weeks and helping set up game-sealing interceptions. Without Jarrett’s sacks in either game, it is hard to see the Falcons holding off either offense and completing the win.
Jarrett had big plays against the Saints and Bucs as well with both with the ability to change the course of these games as well. We are five games into the season and Jarrett has made a huge impact play in four of those games.
This speaks to the insane level of production and the level he is playing at this season. Atlanta’s pass rush after week one is completely reliant on Jarrett to make something happen. No one else has been a consistent threat to the quarterback so far this season which is concerning for Atlanta considering Jarrett’s position and the quarterbacks Atlanta is yet to face.
Jarrett is clearly tired of losing and believes in Arthur Smith and the new-look Atlanta Falcons. He is being the veteran tone-setter the Falcons needed him to be as one of only two remaining Atlanta Falcons from the 2016 Super Bowl roster.
Grady is proving what an elite talent and underrated player he is, one more than capable of continuing to win games for Atlanta this season as long as it isn’t Tom Brady in the pocket.