• James Pearce Jr. boosts pass rush in Round 1: generating pressure hasn’t been easy for Atlanta, and the Tennessee star does that better than most.
• Interior help in Round 2: Cincinnati’s Corleone has consistently impressed at the college level.
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Estimated Reading Time: 3 minutes
The Atlanta Falcons are currently the leaders in the NFC South but will face a battle to hold off the Tampa Bay Buccaneers down the stretch as they look to win the division.
Raheem Morris’ first season as Falcons head coach has been solid so far, and a defense-heavy draft in 2025 could allow them to get after the quarterback more — something they have struggled with in 2024.
Here’s how we would draft for the Falcons as things stand.
Round 1 (20): EDGE James Pearce Jr., Tennessee
Pearce was once the favorite to be drafted with the No. 1 overall selection, but his star has dipped slightly over the course of the season. Still, he is likely to hear his name called on night one of the 2025 NFL Draft. In his college career so far, he’s tallied 103 total pressures, including 35 combined sacks and quarterback hits, from 484 pass-rushing snaps.
Round 2 (52): DI Dontay Corleone, Cincinnati
The Cincinnati standout was at his best back in 2022, when he earned a 93.8 overall PFF grade, but he has been a solid pass-rusher throughout his college career. He’s fared even better against the run, recording a PFF run defense grade above 80.0 in all three seasons of his career.
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