Falcons Best Offseason Move? - PFF

Drafting this player in round two was the highlight of an all-around solid offseason for Atlanta.

The Atlanta Falcons ranked dead last in the NFL in sacks last season, posting a mere 18. 

This offseason, the Falcons have taken several measures to ensure they're not back in the same position next year, including signing pass rusher Lorenzo Carter and drafting outside linebackers Arnold Ebiketie (second round) and DeAngelo Malone (third round).

Above all, selecting Ebiketie was Atlanta's best offseason move, according to Pro Football Focus.

The Falcons comfortably had the league’s worst edge rush group in 2021, generating just 67 quarterback pressures, almost 30 fewer than the next-worst team. They registered only 8.5 total sacks, also a league low, and earned the lowest grade of any edge defender unit with a 50.9 mark.

Enter Ebiketie, who had multiple quarterback pressures in every game he played in in 2021 after transferring to Penn State from Temple. The step up in competition with his move to the Big Ten didn’t faze him, earning a 90.5 pass-rush grade with a 22.9% pass-rush win rate.

Atlanta needed more pass-rush juice alongside recently extended interior defender Grady Jarrett, and Ebiketie is a good start.

Ebiketie, 23, totaled 9.5 sacks and 18 tackles-for-loss in his lone season with the Nittany Lions, earning an invite to the Reese's Senior Bowl. The Falcons desperately needed an influx of pass rushers, and Ebiketie has a chance to be an impact player from day one.

Senior Bowl executive director Jim Nagy is optimistic about Ebiketie's skill set and role. "[He's an] athletic every-down OLB who could start right away," Nagy tweeted. "Immediately adds much-needed pass rush."

It's not just Ebiketie's on-field ability that's impressed the Falcons. According to area scout Ryan Doyal, Ebiketie can be an identity-changing player for Atlanta's defense. 

"That urgency that he plays with, if you talk to anyone at Penn State that's how he approaches his study, and that's how he approaches all the stuff off the field… He really checks all the boxes from a character standpoint, someone you want to build around," Doyal said. "Those are the kinds of things that help guys get on the field early and often."

The Falcons needed talent along its defensive line, and the addition of Ebiketie accomplishes exactly that. He brings value not only off the edge but also in the locker room, and for those reasons, drafting Ebiketie looks to be an outstanding move for the Falcons organization.