The Falcoholic
Adding a veteran in Jordan Fuller and a gifted rookie in Xavier Watts makes the safety group look good as hell.
The Atlanta Falcons had an uncertain safety group heading into this offseason, with Justin Simmons hitting free agency, DeMarcco Hellams still a question mark coming off a major injury, and not much else to speak of. With a pair of moves, the Falcons turned a position that was shaky outside of Jessie Bates into a position that looks among the roster’s strongest.
They did so by spending a third round pick on a talented, ballhawking rookie safety and signing a capable veteran who is familiar with Raheem Morris, creating depth and competition where none existed before. The net result is that the Falcons now have perhaps the best safety in the NFL, two capable players vying for a starting role, and a fourth safety who has starting experience, real value near the line of scrimmage, and considerable special teams acumen.
Let’s take a look at the position group after the draft.
The no-brainer in the group. Bates is a superlative player and the best defender Atlanta has, a player who makes game-changing plays on a regular basis thanks to his range, physicality, and eagerness to create turnovers. He has 10 interceptions and seven forced fumbles over the past two seasons; no one in the NFL has more combined turnovers from 2023-2024.
While Bates had a tiny bit of an off year by his standards thanks to the morass that was Jimmy Lake’s defense last year, he’s still a preposterously good, durable safety who teams have to try to avoid over the middle of the field. As long as he’s here, this secondary has a higher floor than they would otherwise, and if I write more it will just be to wax poetic about his ability.
The two players vying for a role next to Bates were not on the Falcons roster in 2024; Justin Simmons has not re-signed and Richie Grant is off to the 49ers. We can’t say with confidence that the winner of the Fuller/Watts competition will be better than the 2024 version of Simmons, but I feel good about the possibility.
Fuller is the veteran addition, and the former Rams safety had his best seasons under Raheem Morris. He is a very capable run defender who has a mixed track record in coverage, something Fuller can mitigate a bit with his aggression and ability to make plays on the ball. As a potential stopgap starter if Watts can’t unseat him immediately, he’s likely to do just fine. As a reserve if he loses the job to Watts, he’s a mighty useful player to have around, and is young enough that his dismal season in a dismal Panthers secondary last year should be thought of as a bit of an aberration.
Of course, we’ll all be a little disappointed if Watts...
