Falcons Rookie Arnold Ebiketie Could 'Start Right Away'

The Atlanta Falcons added some much-needed pass rush during the draft.

Jeremy Brener | May 21, 2022

Adding a pass rusher was arguably the biggest need for the Atlanta Falcons this offseason, and they did so with the 38th pick in the draft, selecting Penn State defensive end Arnold Ebiketie.

Arnold Ebiketie

USATSI_17837499 — Kirby Lee/USA Today Sports

Arnold Ebiketie

Dean Pees

Ebiketie was a standout at the Senior Bowl and made a massive fan out of Director Jim Nagy.

"[He's an] athletic every-down OLB who could start right away," Nagy tweeted. "Immediately adds much-needed pass rush."

The Falcons had to pay to acquire Ebiketie, trading up five spots with the New York Giants from 43 to 38 while also throwing in No. 114 to select the Penn State defensive end.

Ebiketie, 23, stands 6-2 and weighs 250 pounds hailing from Yaounde, Cameroon. He started his collegiate career playing three seasons with the Temple Owls before transferring to Penn State ahead of the 2021 season.

In 2021, he had his best season to date with the Nittany Lions. Ebiketie recorded 62 tackles, 18 for loss and 9.5 sacks.

Those sacks will come in handy for the Falcons, considering the team placed dead last in the league last year in sacks with just 18 in 17 games. The next-worst team recorded 29 sacks, 11 more than the Falcons.

Arthur Smith

Arthur Blank

Terry Fontenot

The Falcons had 11 players register a sack last season. Of the 11, just four finished the year with multiple sacks. Of those four, Deion Jones is the only one returning to Atlanta. Foye Oluokun is signed with the Jacksonville Jaguars and Dante Fowler Jr. was released by the team in February.

The pass rushing numbers for Atlanta last season were alarming. The Falcons struggle getting to the quarterback, but with picking Ebiketie, the team should struggle a little bit less.

Published May 21, 2022

JEREMY BRENER

Jeremy Brener is an editor, writer and social media manager for several Fan Nation websites. His work has also been featured in 247 Sports and SB Nation as a writer and podcaster. Brener has been with Fan Nation since 2021. Brener grew up in Houston, going to Astros, Rockets and Texans games as a kid. He moved to Orlando in 2016 to go to college and pursue a degree. He hosts "The Dream Take" podcast covering the Rockets, which has produced over 350 episodes since March 2020. Brener graduated in May 2020 from the University of Central Florida with a Bachelor's degree in Broadcast Journalism minoring in Sport Business Management. While at UCF, Brener worked for the school's newspaper NSM.today and "Hitting the Field," a student-run sports talk show and network. He was the executive producer for "Hitting the Field" from 2019-20. During his professional career, Brener has covered a number of major sporting events including the Pro Bowl, March Madness and several NBA and NFL games. As a fan, Brener has been to the 2005 World Series, 2010 FIFA World Cup and the 2016 NCAA National Championship between the Villanova Wildcats and North Carolina Tar Heels. Now, Brener still resides in the Central Florida area and enjoys writing, watching TV, hanging out with friends and going to the gym. Brener can be followed on Twitter @JeremyBrener. For more inquiries, please email jeremybrenerchs@gmail.com.