Last year, the Atlanta Falcons threw the curveball of the offseason when they selected Michael Penix Jr. eighth overall. They were expected to take a pass rusher, but elected to take the player they fell in love with.
In this year's draft, it was pretty obvious they were finally going to take a pass rusher, and they did, twice.
When you look at the complete picture, Terry Fontenot and his staff played things perfectly by doing the unexpected.
Atlanta Falcons played the 2024 and 2025 NFL Drafts to perfection
The 2024 NFL Draft was among the most talented quarterback classes we had ever seen, and the Falcons took advantage.
The 2025 Draft was much different as edge rusher was one of the few deep position groups, and the Falcons took advantage.
See a trend?
The interesting thing is the disparity in talent at those two positions in the past two drafts.
Laiatu Latu, Dallas Turner, and Jared Verse were the only clear first-round talents at edge rusher last year. The first one didn't come off the board until halfway through the first round.
Meanwhile, the deep quarterback class saw six go in the top half: Caleb Williams, Jayden Daniels, Drake Maye, Michael Penix Jr., J.J. McCarthy, and Bo Nix.
Things flipped in 2025, with just two quarterbacks and five edge rushers (ten defensive linemen overall) in the first round.
You have to give the Falcons' front office credit; they didn't press last year by taking an edge rusher and it may have just saved the franchise.
We now sit here with Michael Penix Jr., Jalon Walker, and James Pearce Jr.
If the team hadn't shocked the world last year, it would be manned by Kirk Cousins or Jaxson Dart (maybe Shedeur Sanders?) with Dallas Turner, Laiatu Latu, OR Jared Verse rushing the quarterback.
While it would be nice to have the Defensive Rookie of the Year winner in Verse, the team is in a much better position to win because they passed on him. Credit to the front office for doing the unexpected.