The Atlanta Falcons claimed linebacker Yasir Abdullah off waivers Monday, adding him to a defense that has some questions on the edge…
James Pearce Jr. is suspended for the first eight games of the season, Jalon Walker is on injured reserve after tearing his ACL and DeAngelo Malone is on the reserve/PUP list. That puts even more pressure on the Falcons to get creative with the players they do have.
Abdullah is interesting cause he doesn't have to be treated like a traditional backup linebacker. He has experience rushing the passer, playing in space, and contributing heavily on special teams, a dream for DC Jeff Ulbrich.
And considering what Atlanta has already said about how it wants to use its linebackers, Abdullah could have a bigger opportunity than his waiver wire status suggests. Now the Falcons did not claim Abdullah expecting him to immediately become a starting edge rusher.
But Atlanta's current situation could force Ulbrich to use players in ways that weren't necessarily part of the original plan. Pearce won't return until November, Walker is gone for the season and the Falcons have already had to shuffle their defensive personnel.
The team knew replacing Kaden Elliss would require some creativity, too.
"We had asked Kaden to do, I had never been around anything like that before in the past," Ulbrich said this spring. "There were days when he was an outside backer, days when he was a defensive end, days when he was an inside backer, days when he was — in some ways — a nickel."
Abdullah obviously isn't replacing Elliss by himself. But he could give Ulbrich another piece to use when Atlanta wants to create some of the same uncertainty.
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Yasir Abdullah isn't the only player who could benefit from this situation. Harold Perkins Jr. was practically built for the kind of defensive experimentation Ulbrich likes. He’s played off-ball linebacker, the edge, and over the slot.
The Falcons have already said Ulbrich can get creative with Perkins. Now, with the edge room taking some hits, that creativity could become even more useful.
That is much more interesting than simply asking a player like JD Bertrand to take on a larger workload. And that's probably the biggest reason to watch Abdullah early in the season.
The Falcons don't have to force Abdullah into one position. They can find out what he does best and build from there. That's exactly the kind of player Ulbrich has shown a willingness to use creatively, and Atlanta's current depth issues may give him plenty of reasons to experiment.
If Abdullah can turn that opportunity into something more than special teams snaps, this waiver claim could end up being much more important to Atlanta's defense than it initially looked.
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