New face on Falcons defense called 'grand slam' addition by team scout

Over the last half-decade, few NFL teams have been more interesting at the NFL Draft than the Atlanta Falcons. Consider, for four consecutive years from 2021 to 2024, Atlanta used a top ten selection in the NFL Draft on key offensive pieces – Kyle Pitts, Drake London, Bijan Robinson, and surprisingly, Michael Penix Jr.  Because that’s the case, the Falcons now will enter the 2025 regular season with expectations both internally and around the NFL of being one of the league’s most-improved offenses.

But this raises an important question… what about the Falcons defense? Yes, Atlanta used a 1^st Round pick on cornerback AJ Terrell in 2020, but since then, the majority of the Falcons draft resources have been devoted to bolstering the offense at the expense of a defense that has been in the bottom half of the league in points allowed per game every year dating back to the 2018 season.

This all changed in the 2025 NFL Draft, when Falcons general manager Terry Fontenot turned his attention to Atlanta’s defense in a major way. Atlanta used their first four picks in the Draft on defensive players, including James Pearce, a disruptive and violent defensive end from Tennessee, Notre Dame’s two-time All-American safety Xavier Watts, and with their first selection, University of Georgia edge rusher Jalon Walker, who has been receiving universal praise from members of the Falcons organization since he made the quick trip from Athens to Atlanta.

But right up until the week before the NFL Draft, the Falcons weren’t sure that Walker would be their guy. But that all changed when the team went to Athens for a private workout.

"We wanted to see him live," Falcons area scout Shepley Heard said, per Tori McElhaney of AtlantaFalcons.com. "That was our big thing. We wanted to see him move around. We wanted to see him do some drops into coverage. We wanted to see him do some pass rush stuff, live and up close, that we weren't able to see at the combine or at the pro day. So, we all showed up (in Athens) and saw it. I think everybody walked away going, 'Wow!’ Jalon is a grand slam for us.”

Falcons outside linebackers coach Jacquies Smith said that Walker made “a lasting impression” with his pre-draft workout.

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"You got to see the explosive traits; him being able to bend and do certain things as a pass rusher that makes us love him, but being able to make that lasting impression right there right before the draft, I think did wonders for him," Smith recalled. "We had already fallen in love with the player and the guy, but getting able to get that impression helped a ton."

Walker will get the chance to instantly make another lasting impression once the NFL season begins. He’s expected to settle in as a day one starter on the edge for a Falcons defense that badly needs a boost.