The Atlanta Falcons are dealing with a major hole right in the middle of their defense. They lost one of the most important young players for the season in second-year edge rusher Jalon Walker, who is confirmed to have tore his ACL after he was carted off the field during Tuesday afternoon's practice.
Now the Falcons' pass rush is incredibly depleted. No Walker and likely no James Pearce Jr. who's likely to get suspended after his offseason arrest. This means that the edge room is down to Samson Ebukam, Azeez Ojulari, Cameron Thomas, and Bralen Trice--which certainly isn't going to cut it.
Naturally, the Falcons have been linked to some free agent edge rushers, but training camp may have presented another idea. 92.9 The Game host Beau "Squidbilly" Morgan reported that Brandon Dorlus was getting edge reps during Monday's practice--but would they line him up off the edge in 2026?
Could the Atlanta Falcons move Brandon Dorlus back to the edge?
Dorlus recorded 8.5 sacks in a breakout 2025 season, but his best work was in cleanup for Walker and Pearce. And considering both of them are going to miss some time, the third-year lineman would unironically be the most consistent edge rusher Atlanta has on the roster--and that's very sad.
This isn't just some pipe dream idea either: before the Dirty Birds drafted him in the fourth round of the 2024 NFL Draft, Dorlus was an edge rusher. He lined up off the edge in college, and it was the Falcons who urged him to bulk up so they could move him to the interior of their defensive line.
The 25-year-old can get to the quarterback, and that's all the Falcons really need right about now: consistent pass-rushing juice. But the fact of the matter is that he has versatility as a pass-rusher, and that's something this coaching staff should consider tapping into to get the most out of him.
For as ingenious as the idea of moving Dorlus back to the outside sounds, it would have an adverse effect on the defensive tackle room. Zach Harrison is on the active/NFI list, so Atlanta would be down to Maason Smith, La'Cale London, the currently-injured Da'Shawn Hand, and Chris Williams at DT.
Defensive tackle is one of the weakest areas on this roster, and moving Brandon Dorlus to the edge would remedy the Jalon Walker issue, but it would see an entirely new issue surface. Desperate times call for desperate measures, and while this would be an interesting idea to explore, it's not very likely.
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