Two Falcons Ranked Among 50 Best NFL Players

Pro Football Focus' Sam Monson rated safety Jessie Bates III and guard Chris Lindstrom among the 50 best NFL players.

Atlanta Falcons safety Jessie Bates III / Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports

New Atlanta Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins continues to get overlooked on media summer ranking lists. But two Falcons players did receive recent recognition from Pro Football Focus.

PFF's Sam Monson included Falcons safety Jessie Bates III and guard Chris Lindstrom on his list of the top 50 NFL players entering the 2024 season.

Bates and Lindstrom were ranked back-to-back on the list at No. 37 and No. 38 overall, respectively.

"A true ballhawk at safety, Jessie Bates III showed last season that he can take his talents to a new defense and still ball out," wrote Monson. "He notched six interceptions for the Falcons, earning a 90.2 PFF coverage grade to narrowly exceed the best mark of his Bengals career at the first time of asking.

"Bates is an elite coverage safety with the range to punish ill-advised passes."

Bates made second-team All-Pro and the Pro Bowl last season. In addition to his career high in interceptions, he also had a career-best 132 combined tackles and 3 forced fumbles. He posted 11 pass defenses too.

Monson only had two safeties ranked ahead of Bates.

While Bates was slightly rated ahead of Lindstrom, Monson had the Falcons guard the top-ranked player at his position.

"It's getting harder and harder to argue against Chris Lindstrom as the best guard in football after the past few seasons," wrote Monson. "He backed up a spectacular 2022 with a 2023 season almost as good, allowing just 15 total pressures and earning an 87.5 PFF run-blocking grade.

"He was one of only two guards to post 74.0-plus grades as both a run blocker and a pass protector."

Other Falcons, though, such as Cousins, were not included on Monson's list. Based on other offseason ranking lists, though, that probably wasn't a huge surprise.

Although a different outlet, a poll of NFL executives, scouts and coaches from ESPN didn't include Cousins among the top 10 quarterbacks in the league.