Za'Darius Smith is a good start for Falcons, but it's still not enough

The Atlanta Falcons knew that theyneeded to make a movewhen Jalon Walker suffered a torn ACL, which wouldforce him to miss the season. Walker was expected to have a big second-year, but he'll have to put that on pause for now as he rehabs for next season.

It was even more apparent that the Falcons needed to do something when it was announced that James Pearce Jr. would be suspended for the first eight games of the season. Pearce proved last season that he was the Falcons' best pass rusher, and not having him, as well as Walker, would spell doom for the defensive line.

That led the Falcons to sign Za'Darius Smith, someone who is very familiar with Kevin Stefanski after playing on the Cleveland Browns in 2023 and some of 2024. In those two seasons, he totaled 10.5 sacks, but slowed down a little bit last season when he was with the Philadelphia Eagles. The hope is that the Falcons can get the Browns version of Smith, and that could help their troubles on the defensive line.

The Falcons did the right thing signing Smith, but unfortunately, it's still not enough if they want to get to the quarterback consistently this season.

The Falcons need more help on the defensive line

As it currently stands, the Falcons have Smith, Cameron Thomas, Azeez Ojulari, Bralen Trice, Samson Ebukam and Cameron Sample in their edge room. Yes, that's a lot of players, but there's uncertainty about how they will be able to make an impact individually. There's no one player that stands out the most in that group, and the Falcons will either need to swing for a star player or keep adding depth pieces.

There are still a few players in the free agent market that the Falcons can take a flyer on, such as Haason Reddick and Joey Bosa, but there's no telling whether they'd just be willing to sit this season out or they might hang up their jerseys for good. The Falcons could always bring back Leonard Floyd, who is familiar with the team's defensive scheme.

With cuts coming up around the league as well in the coming weeks, the Falcons could sign some players that are released whom they believe may help the team. If that doesn't pan out, the Falcons will have to make a trade for somebody during the season, especially if they don't see the results they want through the first few weeks.

At some point, the Falcons are going to have to make some more moves to replace what Walker was going to bring for the season and what Pearce would bring for the first eight games.

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