March 6, 2025 • 18 mins
Will McFadden and Terrin Waack quickly recap a busy NFL combine before jumping into 5 potential free agency wide receivers that the Atlanta Falcons might consider acquiring. They give their thoughts on these potential fits, the pros and cons of each hypothetical move, and what fans should keep an eye on moving forward.
0:00 - Intro
0:30 - NFL Combine Recap
3:25 - Free Agent Defensive Tackles
4:20 - Javon Kinlaw
7:04 - B.J. Hill
8:53 - Bobby Brown III
12:20 - Jarran Reed
16:33 - Eddie Goldman
18:10 - Outro
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Dirty Birds.
Speaker 2 (00:01):
What's up and welcome to another Atlanta Falcons podcast. I'm
your host, Will McFadden. I'm joined by Taron walk Taran.
We're here to discuss your list of five defensive tackle
free agents that the Atlanta Falcons could consider if they
are in the market for defensive tackles. Yes, yeah, exactly,
(00:22):
it's free agency cycle. Well, we'll get to all of that.
But you know, the last time we were together on
a show was at the NFL Combine. It is now,
you know, a week since we came back from Indianapolis.
We're recording this on a Thursday. Do you have any
lasting impressions from the combine.
Speaker 1 (00:41):
I can't believe it was a week ago.
Speaker 2 (00:42):
I know, right, and it's crazy.
Speaker 1 (00:44):
Uh wow.
Speaker 3 (00:46):
I think the difference between last year's NFL Combine in
this year's NFL Combine is what stands out most to me.
Because last year it was so clear that it was
the talk was quarterback, quarterback, quarterback, And because the combine
comes before free agency, it was like, what are they
gonna do?
Speaker 1 (01:01):
Are they going to go through free agency? Are they
going to go through the draft.
Speaker 3 (01:03):
So we had to look at both free agent and
draft prospects, and this year it's kind of like they're
at number fifteen, so it's not as high as they'd
probably like. But at the same time, it's a very,
very defensive heavy draft this year, so there are options
even in that area of the first round. So now
(01:24):
it's a completely different conversation in that we're looking solely
at defense rather than solely at offense.
Speaker 1 (01:30):
Even though people did want an edge last.
Speaker 2 (01:32):
Year, people have wanted to an edge every single year. Yeah,
so you know that that never changes.
Speaker 1 (01:37):
The conversation just changes.
Speaker 2 (01:39):
You say, though, as high as they probably would have
liked in terms of the draft, I don't think they
want to be high in the draft. I think they'd
rather be picking at thirty two, right.
Speaker 1 (01:48):
But it is hire's always better, that's true, you know.
Speaker 2 (01:51):
But I if you're not like gonna win the Super Bowl, right,
go get the highest draft pick that you can get.
I understand that that is philosophy. Used to subscribe to
that philosophy, but I don't. We're not here to get
into all of that.
Speaker 1 (02:04):
I sorry, open ready to It's it's.
Speaker 2 (02:07):
A discussion that we're going to save because it's worth having.
It's I've got a lot of feelings on the topic,
but it was interesting hearing it wasn't quarterback, right, but
the Falcons kind of needs still line up really really
well with this particular draft class, And I think that's
kind of what my takeaway was is. Last year, you know,
(02:28):
the Falcons were talking quarterback, but so was everybody because
the draft had so many good quarterbacks. This year, Falcons
are looking defense. Guess what, the draft has a ton
of great defenders. So whether it is you know Shamar
Stewart who lit up the combine with his performance, or
you know one of the Georgia guys, or Mike Green
or James Pierce or a corner or one of these
(02:49):
you know safeties. When Nick emm and Worry was able
to do was incredible. Like, there's just so much fun
stuff to talk about with the draft, in particular on
the defensive side of the ball. So that's going to
be really fun for the Falcons and we will have
so much more draft talk coming in the next weeks
months leading up to the draft. So if you like
all of this, be sure to describe, subscribe, check out
(03:11):
our YouTube channel and follow along.
Speaker 1 (03:13):
Butt And that's all, folks, that's all.
Speaker 2 (03:14):
That's that We're done for today, in and out boom, so.
Speaker 1 (03:18):
Even here to talk about the draft.
Speaker 2 (03:20):
We are just beginning. We are just getting started with
free agency, which will kick off officially in a week marginally,
well for less than a week. It's crazy that it
is almost here. It definitely does defensive tackle. Tara and I,
I don't know if this is really going to be
a position that is at the top of Atlanta's free
agency wish list, and yet we're going through each position.
Speaker 1 (03:43):
So yet I was assigned the story.
Speaker 2 (03:45):
You were assign the story, and like a true trooper,
you followed through.
Speaker 1 (03:48):
So I understood the assignment.
Speaker 2 (03:50):
Where do you start when you were thinking about who
would make sense for the Falcons?
Speaker 3 (03:54):
Well, there is the massive disclaimer that the Falcons have
folks like Grady Jared, David on Mana, Ruca Rower Row,
and Brandon Dorla, so they have like both ends of
the spectrum when it comes to age and experience, so
that this isn't a position of need necessarily, but depth
is always good.
Speaker 1 (04:12):
And that's kind of the argument here.
Speaker 3 (04:14):
And so the first one I got into do do
do do scrolling because I.
Speaker 1 (04:18):
Can't even remember what I wrote like a week ago,
which I really hope I say his name correctly. Javon Kinlaw.
Speaker 2 (04:24):
You got it? Is that a hard name for you?
Speaker 3 (04:27):
Everything is difficult on this Thursday. I got back from
Marty Girl yesterday.
Speaker 2 (04:30):
That's that's fair. So I wasn't gonna I wasn't gonna
ouch you.
Speaker 1 (04:33):
But you fine got all right? I mean between the
combine and that like it.
Speaker 3 (04:37):
It's been a busy off season already, both work and play.
Speaker 2 (04:41):
Do you want this water? I have a water.
Speaker 1 (04:43):
Don't worry. It's like my fourth one day for you.
Hydration is key.
Speaker 3 (04:48):
I picked him because he would be coming from the
New York Jets, which is where obviously Jeff Olbrick comes from,
and maybe, just maybe they can build on that foundation
that they started in only one season together here and
in Atlanta, because he is a former first round draft pick,
but he never really got going in the way that
people probably wanted or expected out of a first rounder.
(05:11):
But last season was his first entire full seventeen games slate,
starting and so, and he showed like the potential. He
showed like what maybe they would have wanted in his
rookie year, maybe even his second year. And so to
think that he can do that as recently as twenty
twenty four. What was to say they can't do it
in twenty twenty five, And if Albert had a hand
(05:32):
in that, then maybe he's looking at him again.
Speaker 2 (05:36):
Yeah, I mean for sure, I remember when kin Law
was coming out of South Carolina and everybody really liked
him for some of the same reasons we're talking about
Shamar Stewart. Just this size kind of bowl in a
china shop, motor plays with tenacity, the production was all right,
you know, like you could quibble with it given the
immense physical ability, and it just hasn't manifested in kind
(06:00):
of the way that some people during the draft process
pointed to and said, yeah, he like, he looks great,
but where's the production. So he did get that this
past year with the Jets, obviously the Obrick influence, Like
you're hoping that that could translate over here in Atlanta
and only twenty seven years old. The Falcons have tended
(06:21):
to like some of these higher draft picks who maybe
didn't work out at their initial stop. So Javon kim
Law does make a lot of sense. Like I'm really
gonna be curious to see what his market is because
he is kind of coming off of that upswing a
little bit, right, Like it was his best year so far.
Now you're hitting the market, that's a good time.
Speaker 1 (06:41):
So it is there a relationship play?
Speaker 2 (06:43):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (06:44):
Like yeah, so maybe Jeff's got to get on that phone.
Speaker 2 (06:46):
Maybe you get the inside track and say, look, you know,
we're not going to be offering you as much in
your one it'll be a little bit backloaded. But for
your career, Hey, we worked magic together. Let's let's get
it going one more time.
Speaker 1 (06:59):
I like that.
Speaker 2 (06:59):
I like your pitch. Who's your next guy?
Speaker 3 (07:02):
I have bj Hill from the Cincinnati Bengals because he
has shown continuously that he's a reliable option and age
hasn't slowed him down. But at the same time, like
can they can the Falcons afford him?
Speaker 1 (07:17):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (07:18):
He's he's chicky, chicky chickie, the most like proven kind
of probably still in their prime guy.
Speaker 3 (07:23):
Yeah, you've got he would be like on a similar scale.
I think of Grady j and David on Yamata. So
do they want a similar one or do they want
a future one? If that makes sense?
Speaker 1 (07:33):
Right? Yeah?
Speaker 2 (07:34):
Like, because again, if if they're signing any of these
free agents, it's probably because they made the financial move
to move on from either Grady or David on Yamada,
it wouldn't make sense to you know, purely from a
roster building standpoint, it wouldn't make sense to like have
that at another defensive tackle when you already have him
on the rosters. So if you are looking at contracts,
(07:57):
can we kind of get a similar on field value
for a better contract. Then maybe this is where all
of this comes into play. And I think bj Hill
is the closest true replacement for one of those two
guys on the field. But what does the contract look like?
That would be the big sticking point here.
Speaker 3 (08:17):
I feel like that's the caveat in all these conversations
right now.
Speaker 1 (08:20):
It's like, Hmmm, would they like this guy? Probably? Can
they afford this guy? Probably not.
Speaker 2 (08:25):
You guys want like a list just full of names
that like nobody knows.
Speaker 1 (08:29):
Is that what you guys want to read? We could
do it.
Speaker 2 (08:31):
We can make those lists. We could do it.
Speaker 1 (08:33):
That's not they don't know them. I probably don't either
exactly why do they fit? I don't know they can
afford them?
Speaker 2 (08:40):
Yeah, but bj Hill three sacks last year fifteen starts
like he's he's just perennially been a good pass rusher,
good run defender. He would make a lot of sense here.
But who is third on your list?
Speaker 3 (08:53):
Bobby Brown? The third, third and third? There you go
from the Los Angeles Rams. More so because he's younger
and could be more of a like longer term.
Speaker 2 (09:02):
Yeah, this was the future part that you were talking.
Speaker 3 (09:04):
Exactly like the last guy would be immediate and a
very similar situation to that of as we already said
Anyamada and Jarrett. This would be more of a future
thing where he can grow, develop even more and be
around for a bit maybe because he'll have players around
him like Ruca Rower and Brandon Dorles to grow with.
Speaker 1 (09:27):
Yep, but a little bit older, still a bit older.
Speaker 2 (09:29):
Yeah, that that's kind of what jumped out to me
when I when I saw this name on your list
was okay, yeah, he's it's the timeline. Which timeline are
you're operating in? Is it the Grady Jarrett David On
Yumata timeline? Probably not, You know that that window is
more moved on unless you're trying to in twenty twenty five,
twenty twenty six. We're all in, we're trying to win
(09:53):
you know that the Falcons could take that route, I
don't know if they will. So for that reason, Bobby
Brown is much more along the lines of Rooke, Brandon Dorles,
Zach Harrison, those types of guys kind of the next
wave of the future. And but he also has some
starting experience from his time out in LA so you
(10:13):
do kind of get the best of both worlds.
Speaker 3 (10:15):
I feel like we don't really know what the mode
is right now because what makes it tough right Like
thinking back not to bring the combine up again, but
to last year's it was an in free agency was
like win now mode, and so you're doing these one
year splash deals that you think can impact right away,
whereas like now, you're not having these big proclamations as
(10:35):
much apart from like defense heavy or like we want
to fix the pass rush. There's sentences like that, but
it's not nearly as like bold italicized underlined.
Speaker 2 (10:46):
Yeah, there's not like the overarching theme for what the
team is building towards. But I think part of that
speaks to the state of the roster as a whole,
where you know, offensively, in part because you have hit
your your first round draft picks for the most part,
they are in good shape the offensive line, which is
(11:09):
usually a key like for most teams around the league
at this time of year, I would say like ninety
percent of them are pointing to one position on your
offensive line saying like that's a major priority for us.
Falcons haven't had to do that the last couple of years,
which is a really true blessing that people need to
like be like so thankful for. But you don't have
(11:31):
that the quarterback position you feel good about right now.
So that is where it's like an off season, offseason thing,
and I think defense is just got the focus and
the spotlight on it.
Speaker 1 (11:42):
It's a very very different feeling. But yeah, seas like.
Speaker 2 (11:45):
Very rarely do you have the Jesse Bates offseason where
it's like we've got all of this money and we
can like overhaul one entire set, like we can do
the kitchen and a living room overhaul. Right Like Usually
it's just like we got this half bath that we're
going to like make some tweaks and upgrades too.
Speaker 1 (12:02):
Normally I'm the analogy person, Yeah.
Speaker 2 (12:04):
And who would have thought I would have been like
home renovation coming from me, But yeah, that's that's where
we're at in our lives.
Speaker 1 (12:09):
Aren't you redoing your kitchen soon? Yeah?
Speaker 2 (12:11):
That's okay, that's where it came from. I'm telling her myself.
Let's go to the fourth person on your list.
Speaker 3 (12:18):
My fourth one is Jaron Reid from the Great University
of Alabama, though that was many, many years ago.
Speaker 1 (12:23):
I just had to plug it in there.
Speaker 3 (12:25):
On the last podcast, you challenged me to find people
where like more niche and whatnot, So I was like,
all right, where are the Crimson Tide graduates? But I
also think Jaren Reid would be one of those veteran
presence presences.
Speaker 1 (12:39):
Where he doesn't.
Speaker 3 (12:41):
I don't think you hear his name as much out there,
out and about in the streets whereas but like you
look at what he's been doing, and he's been consistent.
So I know you got into like the why he
fits with that story, and I was actually kind of
surprised you picked him. I was a little happy too.
I was like, whooh, okay here, I don't know. I
just didn't think you would pick Jaron Reid.
Speaker 2 (12:59):
Who did you think I would pick?
Speaker 1 (13:00):
Probably the first guy thought yeah.
Speaker 2 (13:03):
Yeah, yeah again.
Speaker 1 (13:06):
I I debated that he.
Speaker 2 (13:09):
Was going to be my second, my second choice.
Speaker 1 (13:12):
You picked Jaren. Okay, that's exactly why. I hope that's
that's the reason.
Speaker 2 (13:20):
No, it it has I think a lot to do
with what we were just talking about with bj Hill
and Bobby Brown. It's like you get a little bit
of obviously more of the former with like the experience
and the veteran ness of it. But to me, it
comes down to you invested in Rouke and Brandon Dorless
and Braylin Trice who's coming back, Like they've got a
(13:42):
lot of people on the defensive line. We were having
this same discussion in training camp when we were looking
for roster cutdowns, just kind of being like, I like
a lot of these names, but I'm sorry, Lakale London,
like I don't know if you can make the roster
given just like how many people I like were We're
talking about Contavious Street and we're talking about James Smith
(14:02):
Williams and like those guys all made the roster, Like
they kept more players than I thought they were going to.
And so you kind of look at how full this
group is. They're going to want to get some of
those young guys some snaps. And so when I was
looking at like Bobby Brown or Javon Kinlaw. I was
just thinking about what timeline are you operating on, and
(14:24):
Jaron Reid fit the role of like he can come
in here, have more of a specifically defined role with
this team and be more of like that six man
off the bench coming in to do exactly what you
need him to do. To me, that's rushed the passer.
And if you had to move on from one of
your main stay like veteran into your defensive guys, who
(14:47):
are both very good pass rushers in their own right,
to me, that's the skill that you need to have
a plan to replace, and it's harder for you to
rely on Rouke or Brandon Dorles kind of like in
their first first years as full time starters in this
hypothetical scenario to provide that juice in the past. So
(15:08):
I would like have a veteran guy coming in still
fills that role of like I've been around the block,
I've seen a lot of things. Let me teach you
and seer you in the right direction, and then when
you need me, I'm coming in. But I'm not a
full time starter, And you could probably save a little
bit of money with them because he's older.
Speaker 1 (15:23):
That makes sense.
Speaker 2 (15:24):
That was kind of my thinking, was like having a
very clear vision for him as opposed to sure, if
I'm just like starting a team from scratch, like Javon
Kinlaw is probably going to be the guy because he's
twenty seven, former first round pick, big, strong, like all
the things. But for this team this moment, I'm going
John Reid.
Speaker 3 (15:44):
What they would pick would say a lot about like
I want them to make their first free agency move.
Speaker 1 (15:48):
It's way too soon.
Speaker 3 (15:49):
They can't do that, like following all rules always yep,
but like the first one on that Wednesday, Thursday, Friday
of next week is gonna say so much that we
don't know right now.
Speaker 2 (16:00):
It is going to be like I write, I think
I've got an idea of what their plan could be,
but I thought they I had an idea of what
their plan could be last year, like the year before that,
and every time I'm always nobody's ever one perfect. Right,
they make that first move and you're like, oh, okay,
now now it gets fun. Now we're seeing the vision
(16:20):
actually coming to life.
Speaker 1 (16:22):
Yeah, no, I completely agree.
Speaker 2 (16:24):
You had one in house pick, as we've been doing
for each of these kind of series and I like to.
Speaker 3 (16:29):
Keep an in house pick just to throw those free
agents a bone too. For sure, I went with Eddie
Goldman solely because the Falcons love him.
Speaker 2 (16:38):
I mean, he kills a nice role.
Speaker 3 (16:41):
They tried keeping him around for how many years. I
just think the story and it's like persistence is key,
is my takeaway from Eddie Goldman's experience with the Atlanta Falcons,
because what they signed him, but then he retired, and
then he came back and they signed him, but then
it didn't happen. And then they signed him last year
and actually played and he did well. It was like
(17:02):
welcome back. So yeah, that's my roundabout explanation.
Speaker 2 (17:08):
He's he is like the Falcon's own little like resident
Hallmark movie. Yeah, he just kind of we know I
love those. So he's stuck around. He's he's been really
determined and yeah, he he has filled kind of that
nose tackle role. Which was another reason why Reed stuck
out to me, was like he can. He's a bigger body.
He's like six pounds, but like Goldman's like three twenty five,
(17:30):
Like he's massive, and for the Falcons to have gotten
the production they did last year out of him on
the defensive line like that that goes a long way.
The best teams have usually players like that. The Eagles
didn't because they have just the craziest names on the
defensive side of the ball that you've ever heard of,
but most teams haven't. Eddie Goldman said, the fact that
(17:51):
the Falcons were able to find one last year you
know me, and that we probably have an exciting free
agency period ahead of us, because I do think Terry
Fono has been good at almost like when he's got
difficult circumstances to work with, he does better in those situations.
So I'm excited to see what they've got coming up.
But that is all we've got for you, Taran, thank
(18:14):
you so much for joining me. You guys can check
out our piece on Atlanta Falcons dot com and you
guys can find all of our amazing free agency and
draft coverage their YouTube channels, spot, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, wherever
you get all of your podcasts. That is where we are.
But again, for Arren Walkee, I'm Will McFadden. We will
(18:34):
see you guys next time.
Dirty Birds.
Speaker 2 (00:01):
What's up and welcome to another Atlanta Falcons podcast. I'm
your host, Will McFadden. I'm joined by Taron walk Taran.
We're here to discuss your list of five defensive tackle
free agents that the Atlanta Falcons could consider if they
are in the market for defensive tackles. Yes, yeah, exactly,
(00:22):
it's free agency cycle. Well, we'll get to all of that.
But you know, the last time we were together on
a show was at the NFL Combine. It is now,
you know, a week since we came back from Indianapolis.
We're recording this on a Thursday. Do you have any
lasting impressions from the combine.
Speaker 1 (00:41):
I can't believe it was a week ago.
Speaker 2 (00:42):
I know, right, and it's crazy.
Speaker 1 (00:44):
Uh wow.
Speaker 3 (00:46):
I think the difference between last year's NFL Combine in
this year's NFL Combine is what stands out most to me.
Because last year it was so clear that it was
the talk was quarterback, quarterback, quarterback, And because the combine
comes before free agency, it was like, what are they
gonna do?
Speaker 1 (01:01):
Are they going to go through free agency? Are they
going to go through the draft.
Speaker 3 (01:03):
So we had to look at both free agent and
draft prospects, and this year it's kind of like they're
at number fifteen, so it's not as high as they'd
probably like. But at the same time, it's a very,
very defensive heavy draft this year, so there are options
even in that area of the first round. So now
(01:24):
it's a completely different conversation in that we're looking solely
at defense rather than solely at offense.
Speaker 1 (01:30):
Even though people did want an edge last.
Speaker 2 (01:32):
Year, people have wanted to an edge every single year. Yeah,
so you know that that never changes.
Speaker 1 (01:37):
The conversation just changes.
Speaker 2 (01:39):
You say, though, as high as they probably would have
liked in terms of the draft, I don't think they
want to be high in the draft. I think they'd
rather be picking at thirty two, right.
Speaker 1 (01:48):
But it is hire's always better, that's true, you know.
Speaker 2 (01:51):
But I if you're not like gonna win the Super Bowl, right,
go get the highest draft pick that you can get.
I understand that that is philosophy. Used to subscribe to
that philosophy, but I don't. We're not here to get
into all of that.
Speaker 1 (02:04):
I sorry, open ready to It's it's.
Speaker 2 (02:07):
A discussion that we're going to save because it's worth having.
It's I've got a lot of feelings on the topic,
but it was interesting hearing it wasn't quarterback, right, but
the Falcons kind of needs still line up really really
well with this particular draft class, And I think that's
kind of what my takeaway was is. Last year, you know,
(02:28):
the Falcons were talking quarterback, but so was everybody because
the draft had so many good quarterbacks. This year, Falcons
are looking defense. Guess what, the draft has a ton
of great defenders. So whether it is you know Shamar
Stewart who lit up the combine with his performance, or
you know one of the Georgia guys, or Mike Green
or James Pierce or a corner or one of these
(02:49):
you know safeties. When Nick emm and Worry was able
to do was incredible. Like, there's just so much fun
stuff to talk about with the draft, in particular on
the defensive side of the ball. So that's going to
be really fun for the Falcons and we will have
so much more draft talk coming in the next weeks
months leading up to the draft. So if you like
all of this, be sure to describe, subscribe, check out
(03:11):
our YouTube channel and follow along.
Speaker 1 (03:13):
Butt And that's all, folks, that's all.
Speaker 2 (03:14):
That's that We're done for today, in and out boom, so.
Speaker 1 (03:18):
Even here to talk about the draft.
Speaker 2 (03:20):
We are just beginning. We are just getting started with
free agency, which will kick off officially in a week marginally,
well for less than a week. It's crazy that it
is almost here. It definitely does defensive tackle. Tara and I,
I don't know if this is really going to be
a position that is at the top of Atlanta's free
agency wish list, and yet we're going through each position.
Speaker 1 (03:43):
So yet I was assigned the story.
Speaker 2 (03:45):
You were assign the story, and like a true trooper,
you followed through.
Speaker 1 (03:48):
So I understood the assignment.
Speaker 2 (03:50):
Where do you start when you were thinking about who
would make sense for the Falcons?
Speaker 3 (03:54):
Well, there is the massive disclaimer that the Falcons have
folks like Grady Jared, David on Mana, Ruca Rower Row,
and Brandon Dorla, so they have like both ends of
the spectrum when it comes to age and experience, so
that this isn't a position of need necessarily, but depth
is always good.
Speaker 1 (04:12):
And that's kind of the argument here.
Speaker 3 (04:14):
And so the first one I got into do do
do do scrolling because I.
Speaker 1 (04:18):
Can't even remember what I wrote like a week ago,
which I really hope I say his name correctly. Javon Kinlaw.
Speaker 2 (04:24):
You got it? Is that a hard name for you?
Speaker 3 (04:27):
Everything is difficult on this Thursday. I got back from
Marty Girl yesterday.
Speaker 2 (04:30):
That's that's fair. So I wasn't gonna I wasn't gonna
ouch you.
Speaker 1 (04:33):
But you fine got all right? I mean between the
combine and that like it.
Speaker 3 (04:37):
It's been a busy off season already, both work and play.
Speaker 2 (04:41):
Do you want this water? I have a water.
Speaker 1 (04:43):
Don't worry. It's like my fourth one day for you.
Hydration is key.
Speaker 3 (04:48):
I picked him because he would be coming from the
New York Jets, which is where obviously Jeff Olbrick comes from,
and maybe, just maybe they can build on that foundation
that they started in only one season together here and
in Atlanta, because he is a former first round draft pick,
but he never really got going in the way that
people probably wanted or expected out of a first rounder.
(05:11):
But last season was his first entire full seventeen games slate,
starting and so, and he showed like the potential. He
showed like what maybe they would have wanted in his
rookie year, maybe even his second year. And so to
think that he can do that as recently as twenty
twenty four. What was to say they can't do it
in twenty twenty five, And if Albert had a hand
(05:32):
in that, then maybe he's looking at him again.
Speaker 2 (05:36):
Yeah, I mean for sure, I remember when kin Law
was coming out of South Carolina and everybody really liked
him for some of the same reasons we're talking about
Shamar Stewart. Just this size kind of bowl in a
china shop, motor plays with tenacity, the production was all right,
you know, like you could quibble with it given the
immense physical ability, and it just hasn't manifested in kind
(06:00):
of the way that some people during the draft process
pointed to and said, yeah, he like, he looks great,
but where's the production. So he did get that this
past year with the Jets, obviously the Obrick influence, Like
you're hoping that that could translate over here in Atlanta
and only twenty seven years old. The Falcons have tended
(06:21):
to like some of these higher draft picks who maybe
didn't work out at their initial stop. So Javon kim
Law does make a lot of sense. Like I'm really
gonna be curious to see what his market is because
he is kind of coming off of that upswing a
little bit, right, Like it was his best year so far.
Now you're hitting the market, that's a good time.
Speaker 1 (06:41):
So it is there a relationship play?
Speaker 2 (06:43):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (06:44):
Like yeah, so maybe Jeff's got to get on that phone.
Speaker 2 (06:46):
Maybe you get the inside track and say, look, you know,
we're not going to be offering you as much in
your one it'll be a little bit backloaded. But for
your career, Hey, we worked magic together. Let's let's get
it going one more time.
Speaker 1 (06:59):
I like that.
Speaker 2 (06:59):
I like your pitch. Who's your next guy?
Speaker 3 (07:02):
I have bj Hill from the Cincinnati Bengals because he
has shown continuously that he's a reliable option and age
hasn't slowed him down. But at the same time, like
can they can the Falcons afford him?
Speaker 1 (07:17):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (07:18):
He's he's chicky, chicky chickie, the most like proven kind
of probably still in their prime guy.
Speaker 3 (07:23):
Yeah, you've got he would be like on a similar scale.
I think of Grady j and David on Yamata. So
do they want a similar one or do they want
a future one? If that makes sense?
Speaker 1 (07:33):
Right? Yeah?
Speaker 2 (07:34):
Like, because again, if if they're signing any of these
free agents, it's probably because they made the financial move
to move on from either Grady or David on Yamada,
it wouldn't make sense to you know, purely from a
roster building standpoint, it wouldn't make sense to like have
that at another defensive tackle when you already have him
on the rosters. So if you are looking at contracts,
(07:57):
can we kind of get a similar on field value
for a better contract. Then maybe this is where all
of this comes into play. And I think bj Hill
is the closest true replacement for one of those two
guys on the field. But what does the contract look like?
That would be the big sticking point here.
Speaker 3 (08:17):
I feel like that's the caveat in all these conversations
right now.
Speaker 1 (08:20):
It's like, Hmmm, would they like this guy? Probably? Can
they afford this guy? Probably not.
Speaker 2 (08:25):
You guys want like a list just full of names
that like nobody knows.
Speaker 1 (08:29):
Is that what you guys want to read? We could
do it.
Speaker 2 (08:31):
We can make those lists. We could do it.
Speaker 1 (08:33):
That's not they don't know them. I probably don't either
exactly why do they fit? I don't know they can
afford them?
Speaker 2 (08:40):
Yeah, but bj Hill three sacks last year fifteen starts
like he's he's just perennially been a good pass rusher,
good run defender. He would make a lot of sense here.
But who is third on your list?
Speaker 3 (08:53):
Bobby Brown? The third, third and third? There you go
from the Los Angeles Rams. More so because he's younger
and could be more of a like longer term.
Speaker 2 (09:02):
Yeah, this was the future part that you were talking.
Speaker 3 (09:04):
Exactly like the last guy would be immediate and a
very similar situation to that of as we already said
Anyamada and Jarrett. This would be more of a future
thing where he can grow, develop even more and be
around for a bit maybe because he'll have players around
him like Ruca Rower and Brandon Dorles to grow with.
Speaker 1 (09:27):
Yep, but a little bit older, still a bit older.
Speaker 2 (09:29):
Yeah, that that's kind of what jumped out to me
when I when I saw this name on your list
was okay, yeah, he's it's the timeline. Which timeline are
you're operating in? Is it the Grady Jarrett David On
Yumata timeline? Probably not, You know that that window is
more moved on unless you're trying to in twenty twenty five,
twenty twenty six. We're all in, we're trying to win
(09:53):
you know that the Falcons could take that route, I
don't know if they will. So for that reason, Bobby
Brown is much more along the lines of Rooke, Brandon Dorles,
Zach Harrison, those types of guys kind of the next
wave of the future. And but he also has some
starting experience from his time out in LA so you
(10:13):
do kind of get the best of both worlds.
Speaker 3 (10:15):
I feel like we don't really know what the mode
is right now because what makes it tough right Like
thinking back not to bring the combine up again, but
to last year's it was an in free agency was
like win now mode, and so you're doing these one
year splash deals that you think can impact right away,
whereas like now, you're not having these big proclamations as
(10:35):
much apart from like defense heavy or like we want
to fix the pass rush. There's sentences like that, but
it's not nearly as like bold italicized underlined.
Speaker 2 (10:46):
Yeah, there's not like the overarching theme for what the
team is building towards. But I think part of that
speaks to the state of the roster as a whole,
where you know, offensively, in part because you have hit
your your first round draft picks for the most part,
they are in good shape the offensive line, which is
(11:09):
usually a key like for most teams around the league
at this time of year, I would say like ninety
percent of them are pointing to one position on your
offensive line saying like that's a major priority for us.
Falcons haven't had to do that the last couple of years,
which is a really true blessing that people need to
like be like so thankful for. But you don't have
(11:31):
that the quarterback position you feel good about right now.
So that is where it's like an off season, offseason thing,
and I think defense is just got the focus and
the spotlight on it.
Speaker 1 (11:42):
It's a very very different feeling. But yeah, seas like.
Speaker 2 (11:45):
Very rarely do you have the Jesse Bates offseason where
it's like we've got all of this money and we
can like overhaul one entire set, like we can do
the kitchen and a living room overhaul. Right Like Usually
it's just like we got this half bath that we're
going to like make some tweaks and upgrades too.
Speaker 1 (12:02):
Normally I'm the analogy person, Yeah.
Speaker 2 (12:04):
And who would have thought I would have been like
home renovation coming from me, But yeah, that's that's where
we're at in our lives.
Speaker 1 (12:09):
Aren't you redoing your kitchen soon? Yeah?
Speaker 2 (12:11):
That's okay, that's where it came from. I'm telling her myself.
Let's go to the fourth person on your list.
Speaker 3 (12:18):
My fourth one is Jaron Reid from the Great University
of Alabama, though that was many, many years ago.
Speaker 1 (12:23):
I just had to plug it in there.
Speaker 3 (12:25):
On the last podcast, you challenged me to find people
where like more niche and whatnot, So I was like,
all right, where are the Crimson Tide graduates? But I
also think Jaren Reid would be one of those veteran
presence presences.
Speaker 1 (12:39):
Where he doesn't.
Speaker 3 (12:41):
I don't think you hear his name as much out there,
out and about in the streets whereas but like you
look at what he's been doing, and he's been consistent.
So I know you got into like the why he
fits with that story, and I was actually kind of
surprised you picked him. I was a little happy too.
I was like, whooh, okay here, I don't know. I
just didn't think you would pick Jaron Reid.
Speaker 2 (12:59):
Who did you think I would pick?
Speaker 1 (13:00):
Probably the first guy thought yeah.
Speaker 2 (13:03):
Yeah, yeah again.
Speaker 1 (13:06):
I I debated that he.
Speaker 2 (13:09):
Was going to be my second, my second choice.
Speaker 1 (13:12):
You picked Jaren. Okay, that's exactly why. I hope that's
that's the reason.
Speaker 2 (13:20):
No, it it has I think a lot to do
with what we were just talking about with bj Hill
and Bobby Brown. It's like you get a little bit
of obviously more of the former with like the experience
and the veteran ness of it. But to me, it
comes down to you invested in Rouke and Brandon Dorless
and Braylin Trice who's coming back, Like they've got a
(13:42):
lot of people on the defensive line. We were having
this same discussion in training camp when we were looking
for roster cutdowns, just kind of being like, I like
a lot of these names, but I'm sorry, Lakale London,
like I don't know if you can make the roster
given just like how many people I like were We're
talking about Contavious Street and we're talking about James Smith
(14:02):
Williams and like those guys all made the roster, Like
they kept more players than I thought they were going to.
And so you kind of look at how full this
group is. They're going to want to get some of
those young guys some snaps. And so when I was
looking at like Bobby Brown or Javon Kinlaw. I was
just thinking about what timeline are you operating on, and
(14:24):
Jaron Reid fit the role of like he can come
in here, have more of a specifically defined role with
this team and be more of like that six man
off the bench coming in to do exactly what you
need him to do. To me, that's rushed the passer.
And if you had to move on from one of
your main stay like veteran into your defensive guys, who
(14:47):
are both very good pass rushers in their own right,
to me, that's the skill that you need to have
a plan to replace, and it's harder for you to
rely on Rouke or Brandon Dorles kind of like in
their first first years as full time starters in this
hypothetical scenario to provide that juice in the past. So
(15:08):
I would like have a veteran guy coming in still
fills that role of like I've been around the block,
I've seen a lot of things. Let me teach you
and seer you in the right direction, and then when
you need me, I'm coming in. But I'm not a
full time starter, And you could probably save a little
bit of money with them because he's older.
Speaker 1 (15:23):
That makes sense.
Speaker 2 (15:24):
That was kind of my thinking, was like having a
very clear vision for him as opposed to sure, if
I'm just like starting a team from scratch, like Javon
Kinlaw is probably going to be the guy because he's
twenty seven, former first round pick, big, strong, like all
the things. But for this team this moment, I'm going
John Reid.
Speaker 3 (15:44):
What they would pick would say a lot about like
I want them to make their first free agency move.
Speaker 1 (15:48):
It's way too soon.
Speaker 3 (15:49):
They can't do that, like following all rules always yep,
but like the first one on that Wednesday, Thursday, Friday
of next week is gonna say so much that we
don't know right now.
Speaker 2 (16:00):
It is going to be like I write, I think
I've got an idea of what their plan could be,
but I thought they I had an idea of what
their plan could be last year, like the year before that,
and every time I'm always nobody's ever one perfect. Right,
they make that first move and you're like, oh, okay,
now now it gets fun. Now we're seeing the vision
(16:20):
actually coming to life.
Speaker 1 (16:22):
Yeah, no, I completely agree.
Speaker 2 (16:24):
You had one in house pick, as we've been doing
for each of these kind of series and I like to.
Speaker 3 (16:29):
Keep an in house pick just to throw those free
agents a bone too. For sure, I went with Eddie
Goldman solely because the Falcons love him.
Speaker 2 (16:38):
I mean, he kills a nice role.
Speaker 3 (16:41):
They tried keeping him around for how many years. I
just think the story and it's like persistence is key,
is my takeaway from Eddie Goldman's experience with the Atlanta Falcons,
because what they signed him, but then he retired, and
then he came back and they signed him, but then
it didn't happen. And then they signed him last year
and actually played and he did well. It was like
(17:02):
welcome back. So yeah, that's my roundabout explanation.
Speaker 2 (17:08):
He's he is like the Falcon's own little like resident
Hallmark movie. Yeah, he just kind of we know I
love those. So he's stuck around. He's he's been really
determined and yeah, he he has filled kind of that
nose tackle role. Which was another reason why Reed stuck
out to me, was like he can. He's a bigger body.
He's like six pounds, but like Goldman's like three twenty five,
(17:30):
Like he's massive, and for the Falcons to have gotten
the production they did last year out of him on
the defensive line like that that goes a long way.
The best teams have usually players like that. The Eagles
didn't because they have just the craziest names on the
defensive side of the ball that you've ever heard of,
but most teams haven't. Eddie Goldman said, the fact that
(17:51):
the Falcons were able to find one last year you
know me, and that we probably have an exciting free
agency period ahead of us, because I do think Terry
Fono has been good at almost like when he's got
difficult circumstances to work with, he does better in those situations.
So I'm excited to see what they've got coming up.
But that is all we've got for you, Taran, thank
(18:14):
you so much for joining me. You guys can check
out our piece on Atlanta Falcons dot com and you
guys can find all of our amazing free agency and
draft coverage their YouTube channels, spot, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, wherever
you get all of your podcasts. That is where we are.
But again, for Arren Walkee, I'm Will McFadden. We will
(18:34):
see you guys next time.
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