The Falcoholic
The Falcons roll into the 2025 offseason with only four draft picks and a multitude of needs, primarily on defense. In our first mock draft of the cycle, Atlanta targets the trenches.
We did it. Somehow, we got through the entire 2024 Atlanta Falcons season without me making a mock draft. It’s the first time that’s happened in ages! Unfortunately, the team didn’t come through with making the playoffs, but they did at least hold our interest through the end of the regular season. I guess that’s some kind of minor accomplishment?
At any rate, the offseason has begun. Atlanta is in a tough spot with both the salary cap and the 2025 NFL Draft. After losing a pick for tampering with Kirk Cousins and trading a third for Matt Judon, the Falcons are down to just four remaining picks. I think that’s likely to change—either through a trade-down at some point, or through trades of players like Kyle Pitts and Cousins—but for now, the team doesn’t have a lot to work with.
Before we jump in to the mock, let’s take a look at the Falcons’ current haul of draft picks.
This is the written version, but you can also find the mock draft in two alternate forms as well. On our YouTube channel:
The mock is also available on all your favorite podcast platforms! You can listen to it directly here:
Round 1, Pick 15: EDGE James Pearce Jr., Tennessee
Another year, another mock draft starting with the Falcons selecting an edge rusher in the first round. Thankfully, it seems like Atlanta picked the right year to need front seven help, because this is an absolutely stacked class. The Falcons could go a lot of different ways with this pick—and ultimately, I think they’ll opt to trade down into the early 20s if they can recoup a nice Day 2 pick.
Let’s kick things off with a more traditional direction, selecting Tennessee edge rusher James Pearce Jr. with the 15th pick. Until we know who the defensive coordinator hire is, I’ll just assume that Atlanta will be running a similar defense to what they have right now. In that case, the best fit for that still is undoubtedly Pearce. Pearce is a super athletic, explosive and bendy edge defender who took a big step forward as a run defender in 2024. He wasn’t quite as crazy productive as a pass rusher (8 sacks in 2024 vs 13 in 2023) but actually managed quite a bit more pressure (43 vs 28) on almost the exactly same number of snaps.
Pearce managed an absurd 22.7% pass rush win rate according to PFF, putting him just a hair above top prospect Abdul Carter (22.6%) and behind only Ole Miss’ Princely Umanmielen (23.9%). As I said before, he also improved...
