The esteemed Year 2 breakout is one of the most glorious things in the National Football League. It's when players either find their groove under a new coaching staff, build on the promise they displayed as a rookie, or just take a step forward in their development with another offseason under their belt.
The Atlanta Falcons have a Year 2 breakout star who's fairly obvious: second-year edge rusher Jalon Walker. The 22-year-old was overshadowed by James Pearce Jr.'s eye-popping sack numbers as a rookie, but with Pearce in legal trouble, the defense is going to have to rely on Walker more in 2026.
The Falcons know they have a gem in Jalon Walker. He played linebacker in Georgia and off the edge as a rookie, but he has the versatility to play anywhere. And that's why ESPN's Matt Miller joined the Walker hype train, labeling him as one of the five players he expects to take a leap in Year 2.
"Walker had a modest rookie year (5.5 sacks, 24 tackles) while acclimating to a traditional outside linebacker role after playing in a hybrid alignment at Georgia," Miller wrote. "But he's now the clear-cut replacement for Kaden Elliss, who posted 10 QB hits and 10 tackles for loss last season. Walker's talent and versatile usage should combine for a double-digit sack season in his sophomore campaign."
Jalon Walker is in for a breakout sophomore season with the Falcons
Before making a bold prediction about Walker's sack total, Miller made an interesting point about his hopes of a breakout for the Georgia product: Atlanta lost Kaden Elliss in free agency and need to replace him. And given the 2025 first-round pick is basically a chess piece for Ulbrich to use, they're fully prepared to use him to replace Elliss.
And Ulbrich knows full well that the Falcons are banking on their young star to take a leap in Year 2. He was originally of the belief that it would take a village to replace a player who made an impact in the way Elliss did, but he made it clear that he thinks Walker is up to the task to play that same role.
"We're going to need him to get better at everything he does," Ulbrich said... "We're going to ask him to do a lot. He is one of those guys that's gonna be in a similar role that Kaden [Elliss] had last year. What we asked Kaden to do, I'd never been around anything like that before in the past... That's hard to replace, but Jalon's up to the task. And Jalon's gonna bring his own flavor to it too. Jalon's got some superpowers that are really unique."
In 15 games (and nine starts) as a rookie the former Butkus Award winner logged 5.5 sacks, but his 81.3 run defense grade from PFF ranked sixth at edge rusher. And if you consider his sideline-to-sideline ability, Walker can offer the Dirty Birds value as a pass-rusher, a tackler, and in coverage.
The Falcons had two other rookies finish as Defensive Rookie of the Year finalists in 2025 in Pearce and Xavier Watts, but don't be surprised if it's Walker who takes the biggest leap of the three in his sophomore season as he continues to round out his game.
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