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Falcons earn NFL.com's third-worst grade for 2025 draft class
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- Falcons earn NFL.com's third-worst grade for 2025 draft class
The Atlanta Falcons seem to be happy with their 2025 NFL draft class, but we've seen a wide range of opinions since the draft concluded last Saturday. The team added five players, made multiple trades and addressed its biggest weakness.
The front seven is undoubtedly better after drafting Georgia's Jalon Walker and trading up for Tennessee 's James Pearce Jr in Round 1. However, the cost of that move is something few analysts seem to agree upon. Kirk Herbstreit praised the team for getting the two elite edge rushers while Mel Kiper criticized the trade for Pearce.
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NFL.com's latest breakdown of the 2025 draft ranked all 32 classes with final grades, favorite picks and sleepers. The Falcons were ranked down near the bottom at No. 29, earning a "C" grade overall:
This year, the Falcons owner emphasized improving the defense, with everyone anticipating the eternal pass-rush problem would top the agenda. Well, it certainly did, but at what cost? When Georgia product Jalon Walker fell into the Falcons' lap at No. 15, taking him made sense. But then Atlanta provided another Thursday-night stunner by trading back into Round 1 for James Pearce Jr., giving up next year's first-round pick in the process. Fortune favors the bold, but is Atlanta's process too bold? -- Gennaro Filice, NFL.com
It's fair to say the Falcons took a bold strategy as opposed to recent years. While this may have been a byproduct of the heat on general manager Terry Fontenot's seat after four playoff-less seasons, there's a clear gap between the offensive and defensive talent.
This was something painfully obvious down the stretch of the 2024 season in Atlanta. The Falcons lost to the Washington Commanders and Carolina Panthers in true down-to-the-wire shootouts. A few timely defensive stops could have been the difference in an ultra-competitive NFC South last season.
Trading away a future first-round pick to help the defense get up to speed with a potentially elite offense makes sense. Atlanta also added Notre Dame safety Xavier Watts in the third round of last weekend's draft. NFL.com selected Watts as its favorite pick by the Falcons.
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"Ranked as NFL Network draft guru Daniel Jeremiah's No. 63 overall prospect, Watts nearly fell into the fourth round, with Atlanta scooping up the safety at No. 96," wrote Filice . "And now he could jump right into the Falcons' starting lineup next to playmaker extraordinaire Jessie Bates III."
This seems like another case of an analyst liking the team's draft class, but disliking the cost of trading up in the first round. It's a fair criticism, and it will be some time before we truly know if it was worth the gamble.
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This article originally appeared on Falcons Wire: Falcons 2025 NFL draft class grade among worst in league
