The Atlanta Falcons had a game plan for the 2025 NFL Draft: improve the defense. Out of their five draft picks, they spent four on defensive players.
With the 15th selection, they drafted edge rusher Jalon Walker. Walker has the ability to come off the edge, as well as drop into coverage and play as an off-the-ball linebacker like Micah Parsons. Recent reports suggested he’d be a top-10 pick, but he fell into Atlanta’s hands midway through round one.
This was a draft where teams had very different rankings, so that caused talent to slide later into the first. The Falcons also traded up to No. 26 to select Tennessee pass rusher James Pearce Jr.
Pearce had some off-the-field issues that raised some red flags for regimes around the NFL. With just two draft picks, Falcons brass transformed their defense, especially their front seven.
In the third round, Atlanta drafted Notre Dame safety Xavier Watts. Watts is a do-it-all safety who spent most of his college snaps deep at safety, but has plenty of experience lining up in the box. Out of his 907 defensive snaps in 2024, he spent 465 of them deep and 306 in the box.
Watts then spent 174 snaps in the slot for the Fighting Irish, offering versatility for Atlanta. He’ll team up with veteran safety Jessie Bates in the back end of the Falcons’ secondary.
In the fourth round, Atlanta drafted yet another safety in Oklahoma’s Billy Bowman Jr. He’s played a ton of football, starting seven games as a true freshman. In four years with the Sooners, he served as a predominant ball-hawking safety.
He played over 500 snaps in both the box and at slot corner during his collegiate career. The 5-foot-10 defensive back needs to improve on his tackling, considering he’s missed over a quarter of his tackle attempts due to the lack of length and his slight frame, according to Pro Football Focus.
In the seventh round, the Falcons drafted their lone offensive player in Wisconsin offensive lineman Jack Wilson. This was more of a depth selection, but he played every collegiate snap at left tackle.
The two safety selections will over Raheem Morris’ defense the flexibility to move them all over the field in different packages. Walker and Pearce can both scream off the edge, but Walker can cover as well, truly turning this defense into a new animal with young talent.
They’ve transformed from one of the worst defenses in football to one of the more exciting up-and-coming defensive rosters not only in the NFC, but the entire league.