The Falcons came away from the NFL Draft with four potential starters on the defense, and it impacts various members of the team in different ways.

Winner: Jeff Ulbrich

There might not be a bigger winner than Atlanta’s defensive coordinator. The Falcons defense got better in its weakest spot, adding two potentially electric pass rushers in James Pearce Jr. and Jalon Walker.

In the third round, Xavier Watts slid to the Falcons and could be a Day 1 starter next to Jessie Bates III, giving the safety room a much more formidable look. Add in Billy Bowman Jr., who will compete for the starting nickel role, and the Falcons may have come away with four new starters.

Before the draft, Ulbrich’s cupboard was bare. There were very few ingredients that could make even an average defense. It looks a lot different today.

Loser: Jordan Fuller

Xavier Watts was brought into a situation where he will have every opportunity to start next to Jessie Bates III. Jordan Fuller might get the nod early in the season because Watts is a rookie, but by season’s end, I think most expect the veteran to be supplanted as the starter on the backend.

Winner: Ryan Neuzil

There wasn’t a center that warranted a first-round pick, but there were a couple that were available on Day 2 of the NFL Draft that could’ve competed for the starting job with Ryan Neuzil. The fact that Atlanta still hasn’t added a starting-caliber center is shocking, but Neuzil came out of April’s draft with a much better chance of being Atlanta’s starting center in 2025.

Loser: Bralen Trice

A rising tide lifts all boats. Jalon Walker and James Pearce Jr. should help some individuals, but there are only so many opportunities to go around, and they might be few and far between for the 2024 third-round pick.

Trice led the country in pressures in 2023 before the Falcons drafted him. Expectations were high, especially for a Day 2 draft pick, but his rookie campaign was lost to a torn ACL. Now, not only is a third-round pick trying to make a comeback from a brutal injury, but Trice will also compete with two first-round picks for snaps. It’s not a great situation.

Winner: Leonard Floyd

In that same breath, Leonard Floyd benefits from the presences of Walker and Pearce. The Georgia product has never and will never carry a pass rush. Though he’s eighth in the league in sacks over the last five years (48), Floyd has never been the guy on the defensive line, and he shouldn’t expected to be anything different for the Falcons.

In that span, he’s led his team in sacks twice. The first time was in 2022 with the Rams, when Aaron Donald only played in 11 games. Floyd also did in 2023 with the Bills, when he recorded 10.5 sacks, followed by Ed Oliver, an interior defender, with 9.5 sacks.

While the Falcons don’t have someone like Donald or Oliver, the entire defensive front improved with the additions of Walker and Pearce, which should only help Floyd.

Loser: Dee Alford and Clark Phillips III

Competition at the nickel position got much more interesting following the NFL Draft with the addition of Billy Bowman Jr. Dee Alford and Clark Phillips are also expected to be in the running for the job, but the former was BBQ chicken last year in that same position, and Phillips was thought to be more of a boundary cornerback than anything. They had a 50-50 chance of being a starter in Week 1, but now with Bowman in the fold, their chances lessen.

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Photographer: Cliff Welch/Icon Sportswire