Since being drafted in the second round of the 2024 NFL Draft, Ruke Orhorhoro has been a major disappointment for the Atlanta Falcons. He's consistently shown promise, but he never took the step forward in the way Falcons fans were expecting, so Atlanta is finally cutting the cord on Orhorhoro.
According to ESPN insider Adam Schefter, the Falcons are trading Orhorhoro to the Jacksonville Jaguars in exchange for defensive tackle Maason Smith. So not only did a Ruke trade come out of nowhere, it's a rare DT-for DT swap that actually sees Atlanta come out on the right side of this trade.
The 24-year-old was supposed to develop into an elite run defender, but struggled mightily in that area, so despite his supposed versatility, developed into a more of a liability than anything. And ultimately, it spiraled so poorlyt that Atlanta had no choice put to pull the plug after just two seasons.
The Atlanta Falcons are trading Ruke Orhorhoro to Jacksonville for Maason Smith
Coincidentally, Smith was also a 2024 second-rounder who struggled to get off to a fast start with the team that drafted him, logging just seven starts across the last two years. However, he's only 23 and still has a lot of potential for Jeff Ulbrich, the supposed king of reclamation projects to tap into.
This means that the two men drafted 13 picks apart were now traded for each other. He was healthy scratched many times in 2025 but hardly played when he was in the lineup, so hopefully the scenery change to Atlanta will turn him into the Brandon Dorlus running mate and elite run stuffer they need.
According to Pro Football Focus, Orhorhoro's 37.3 PFF grade ranked 132nd of 134 qualified defensive tackles in 2025, while his 30.1 run defense grade ranked 131st. Meanwhile, Smith's 61.3 pass rush grade and 51.8 run defense grade are better than Ruke's numbers, but not by very much.
This trade marked Ian Cunningham's second deal as the GM of the Falcons, following the Sydney Brown trade and pick swap with the Philadelphia Eagles. So when he said he was ready to pick up the phones, we were expecting trade downs in the draft, not two-player swaps with no picks involved.
However, with or without Orhorhoro, defensive tackle was expected to be a position the Dirty Birds address early on in the 2026 NFL Draft. So be on the lookout for that, but hopefully Ulbrich is able to have more luck with Smith than he did the Clemson product, even if he plays just a rotational role.
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