Breaking down how the 2024 Falcons defensive line has changed

The Atlanta Falcons certainly did their drastic work at quarterback and wide receiver, turning over the former position completely and making sweeping changes to the latter. It would be fair to argue that those were the most consequential changes to the roster, but that would ignore the work the Falcons have done along their defensive line.

Last year’s David Onyemata signing was a heralded one and Calais Campbell was welcome, and the Falcons wound up stacking up depth in the form of LaCale London, Kentavius Street, and rookie Zach Harrison along their front to go with the great Grady Jarrett. Injuries ended up robbing that group of effectiveness later on, but the team made it a priority and ended up significantly improving the defensive line as a result. This year, the team is attempting to build on the core strength of that group with another raft of significant changes. Let’s jump into it.

Changes: Significant

Hey, I said significant changes, right? Let’s drive that one home.

The foundation is still here from a year ago. While Campbell is gone, Jarrett, Onyemata, Street, Harrison, London, and Ta’Quon Graham are still here, giving the Falcons a rotation of high-quality veteran starters, a promising and versatile second-year player in Harrison, and really useful reserves. It’s a solid group, and if Jarrett and Onyemata are healthy, it’d be enough to at least feel cautiously optimistic about the team’s fortunes up front.

But the Falcons know that counting on Jarrett and Onyemata to be healthy and soak up huge snaps is a fraught proposition, and they know that Street, London, and Graham are not players who can likely step in and play like high-quality starters for a long time. With that in mind, they sought to build on that foundation by adding youth and talent to enable more rotation this year and have insurance policies in place if (really when) injuries crop up.

The bulk of that investment came via the draft, where the Falcons used three of their selections in hopes of bolstering the line. Raheem Morris and Jimmy Lake clearly thought the 2023 Rams approach to stocking their front seven with young, interesting players to offset losses and aging options was something they could broadly repeat in Atlanta.

Who are those options? Let’s look.

Key additions

• DL Ruke Orhorhoro: The Falcons didn’t just take Orhorhoro in the draft; they traded up for him a full round before more analysts thought he would go. They’re confident he can realize his upside in Atlanta, and that upside is evident. A terrific, powerful athlete who shone as a run defender despite deeply uneven results as a pass rusher, Orhorhoro’s scouting reports read like a choose your own adventure book. If he figures out how to convert his natural ability into consistency and a more refined set of pass rushing moves in particular, you can probably flip the page to Orhorhoro being an above average starting defensive lineman. If not, he’ll likely be an occasionally interesting member of the rotation with a consistency problem. The Falcons bet big on the talent and their coaching staff, and while it may take some time, it’s hard not to dream of what might be if this works out. Orhorhoro will play quite a bit this year as team and player try to get there.
• DL Brandon Dorlus: Seemingly everyone’s favorite draft pick from this Atlanta class, Dorlus went a little later than anticipated and the Falcons were the beneficiary. Versatile in terms of where he can line up, strong and difficult to put up with as a pass rusher, and with some room to grow as a run defender, Dorlus figures to play limited snaps immediately and can carve out a larger role as time goes on. His early impact figures to be on passing downs, where that intriguing ability to generate pressure should see him picking up time at defensive end.
• DL Zion Logue: The team’s final draft pick is a mountain of a man who didn’t have much in the way of college production, which makes him a speculative addition as a player with the tools to be an intriguing reserve. Logue is big, strong, and needs to learn how to use those attributes to his advantage while developing a toolkit to help him win one-on-one matchups. In year one he’s likely to play limited snaps even if the next player on our list here is not around, but the Falcons will hope he can become a useful piece of the early down rotation sooner than later.
• DL Eddie Goldman: I mean no disrespect to Goldman, a player I was excited to see the Falcons sign in 2022, but I’m not counting on him being a contributor until he’s on the 53 man roster. A dangerous pass rusher and impact run defender on the interior in his heyday, Goldman last suited up in the NFL for the Bears back in 2021. If he’s healthy and decides to stick around, Goldman is at worst quality depth at nose tackle for a team that could use that, and he may pull down more snaps and make a bigger impact than that given his track record. For now, I’m not penciling him in for anything.