PFF's Surprise Pick for Atlanta Falcons Most Underrated Player

Pro Football Focus makes a surprise pick for the Atlanta Falcons most underrated player.

Atlanta Falcons center Drew Dalman / Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports

The Atlanta Falcons are hoping they found value for their defensive line on Day 2 and 3 of the 2024 NFL draft. In 2021, the Falcons did just that with center Drew Dalman.

Dalman was acquired in a draft-day trade with the Denver Broncos. The Broncos traded up to No. 35 and selected running back Javonte Williams. The Falcons used the 40th overall pick from the Broncos on safety Richie Grant and the fourth-round pick on Dalman.

Three years after Atlanta drafted Dalman at No. 114 overall, Pro Football Focus’ Zoltan Buday named the Falcons center the most underrated player on the team.

“With all other Atlanta offensive linemen being top-40 picks in their drafts — including three first-rounders — the former fourth-round pick Dalman could have stood out in a negative way, but that was not the case,” Buday wrote. “The Stanford product built on a promising 2022 campaign and ended up as the third-highest-graded center in the NFL in 2023 (82.3).”

Besides Dalman, the only starting offensive lineman the Falcons didn’t draft in the first round was left guard Matthew Bergeron. Atlanta grabbed him at No. 38 overall in the second round last offseason.

But according to the Pro Football Focus player grades, right guard Chris Lindstrom was the only Falcons offensive lineman better than Dalman last season. The Atlanta center earned a 82.3 PFF player grade. He particularly excelled at run blocking, posting a 90 grade.

Among centers who played 50% of his team’s snaps in 2023, Dalman was second best behind only Detroit Lions veteran Frank Ragnow. Dalman was also second best in run blocking to Ragnow.

While Dalman posted his best PFF player grades last season, he’s earned a “good” grade or better in all three of his NFL campaigns. In 2021, he had a 78.3 player grade as a rookie.

Behind that strong play, Dalman has helped the Falcons solidify their offensive line, which is a unit the team hopes will get more run blocking opportunities in 2024.

Super hyped rookie Bijan Robinson only recorded about 23% of his carries with the team possessing a lead last season. The Falcons should hope to get Robinson the ball a lot more with a lead in 2024, especially if Dalman blocks again as he did last fall.