The Falcons’ pass rush dominated trade deadline conversations. It’s going to dominate the conversation down the stretch, and it’ll dominate them going into next offseason.
Regardless of what happens with the internal pass rush, there will be more additions. Maybe Matthew Judon turns it around and earns another deal. It doesn’t matter. Maybe Arnold Ebiketie finally develops into the player the Falcons thought he’d be when they drafted him in the second round. It doesn’t matter.
There will be considerable resources poured into the position this offseason, and what better way to use their first-round pick than on versatile LSU defender Harold Perkins? In The Athletic’s latest mock draft, the Falcons drafted the Tigers linebacker with the 25th pick.
“Perkins is another player with top-15 talent who suffered an injury this season. Further complicating things is that Perkins (6-1, 225) is an edge rusher in a stack-linebacker’s body. Before his ACL injury, however, there was buzz in the scouting world on whether Perkins would hit the 4.3s in the 40. He’s different,” Nick Baumgardner wrote.
I’m not sure if Perkins will even enter the draft after tearing his ACL. His stock certainly isn’t as high as it was last season or even his freshman year. The super athlete burst onto the scene in Baton Rouge as a true freshman, but LSU failed to find a role for him last season, leading to a disappointing 2023 campaign.
Even worse, the ACL injury has lowered his draft stock even more, which could lead to the Falcons landing a top 10 talent, but unlike LSU, they better have a plan for the versatile defender if they do end up selecting him. For my money, Harold Perkins returns for his senior year to rebuild his value as a potential top 10 pick.
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