The Atlanta Falcons have not had a pass-rusher reach 10 sacks in a season since Vic Beasley’s 15.5-sack campaign back in 2016. It’s been almost a decade and the Dirty Birds still have yet to recapture that spark from their defensive front.
After being one of the worst teams in football in sacks in 2024, Terry Fontenot sought to change that with the selections of Jalon Walker and James Pearce Jr in the first round of the 2025 NFL Draft. Both 21-year-olds are slated to play an immediate role in Jeff Ulbrich’s defense where they have found a mentor in nine-year NFL veteran Leonard Floyd.
Just like Walker, Floyd played his college football at Georgia and the Atlanta native signed a one-year deal with the Falcons earlier this offseason. He has recorded at least 8.5 sacks and 16 tackles for loss in each of his last five seasons, en route to emerging as one of the NFL’s biggest disruptors up front in what figures to be an improved unit in the ATL.
Leonard Floyd sets the stage for what to expect from James Pearce Jr and Jalon Walker in 2025
The transition to the NFL is always a grind, but there is optimism in Flowery Branch.
Floyd has nearly 70 sacks and over 400 tackles in nine NFL seasons. The 32-year-old is now able to utilize his own experience to help guide Pearce and Walker through the difficult adjustment to the pro level—just as veterans like Akiem Hicks and Khalil Mack once did for him in Chicago.
“It’s about them executing at a high level and being consistent,” Floyd told AJC’s D. Orlando Ledbetter. But, yeah, they are going to come out and play hard.”
Pearce, the former Tennessee standout, was regarded as one of the most explosive edge defenders in the 2025 class and received No. 1 overall pick buzz prior to the 2024 college football season. Meanwhile Walker’s blend of size, athleticism, and versatility gives Ulbrich flexibility in how he deploys him because he’ll be able to play both EDGE and linebacker in the NFL.
But Pearce does not come without controversy—Fontenot traded the team's 2026 first-rounder to select him—mortgaging his future on his success.
Both were among the SEC’s best defensive players a season ago, with both of them being named to the All-SEC First Team—while Walker was an All-American after winning the Butkus Award for the nation’s best linebacker.
Floyd’s presence gives Atlanta something they’ve lacked in previous attempts to fix the pass rush: a proven veteran locker room presence who’s still playing at a high level. And Walker's clean bill of health means he's ready to make his mark against the Bucs.
The Falcons don’t need Walker or Pearce to be immediate double-digit sack artists, but they do need flashes—or signs that the long-term vision Fontenot invested in is beginning to take shape. Because if they’re ever going to end that drought, it’ll be on the backs of their young defensive nucleus.