Jalon Walker, James Pearce Jr. and Brandon Dorlus are among a young group of players leading Atlanta's defensive turnaround

byTaylor Garner&Matt Haley

The biggest question coming into the season was how the Falcons could get their pass rush activated, and that has clearly shown up to this point. Through 12 weeks of regular-season play, Atlanta has notched 39 sacks, the third most in the NFL and the most the team has had since 2022, when the unit finished the season with 42 total sacks. Of the 39 entering Week 13, Atlanta has 14 different players with a full sack, tied with Denver for the most in the NFL.

The Falcons defense has recorded five or more sacks in each of the past four games, the first time in franchise history and the 12th time in NFL history a team has recorded five or more sacks in four consecutive games. It is also the longest streak in franchise history and the longest by any team since the 2022 season, when the Eagles had five straight.

Of Atlanta's 23 total sacks during that span, 14 came from first and second-year players for the club in Brandon Dorlus (4.5), Jalon Walker (4.0), James Pearce Jr. (3.5), Ruke Orhorhoro (1.0) and Billy Bowman Jr. (1.0).

If you break down the chart above by rookies alone, Atlanta leads the NFL with 10.5 sacks by its rookies. These also account for 41.2% of the NFC's total sacks by rookies (25.5). Per TruMedia, in the NFL as a whole, there are 14 first-year players who have recorded at least 2.5 sacks this year. Four of those players (28.6%) are Falcons, with Dorlus leading the charge with six, Walker right behind with five, Pearce with four and Orhorhoro with 2.5. No other team in the NFL has more than one player with at least 2.5 in 2025.

Using Microsoft CoPilot, we played around and changed the number to first and second year players with at least four sacks and found that Atlanta has three players Dorlus, Walker and Pearce - out of the eight total first and year players with four or more sacks (37.5%). To dive even further, we looked at players who have played in 17-or-fewer career games and Atlanta has 75% (3-of-4) of the players with four-or-more sacks this season.

Raheem Morris and Jeff Ulbrich both said the rookies were going to play a significant role on this defense, and it is evident why. Walker and Pearce rank first and second among all rookies in the NFL in sacks. They are also the only two rookies in the NFL to have recorded a sack, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery. The duo each recorded their first career strip sack in consecutive weeks, with the other recovering the fumble in both occasions to complete the Atlanta turnover.

Walker has only played in nine games this season and is still the fastest Falcon to five sacks since Marcus Cotton did so in 1988 in six games, per TruMedia. He is also one of three Falcons to record five sacks in his first 10 games of his career, joining Mike Pitts (1983) and Marcus Cotton (1988). He is also the only rookie in the NFL to record multiple forced fumbles this season, with two.

Dorlus flashed in training camp and earned a role as a starter in this defensive interior at the start of the season, and it's apparent as to why. The second-year interior lineman leads Atlanta in sacks and is tenth among all defensive linemen in the NFL, per TruMedia. With 1.5 sacks last week in New Orleans, his third multi-sack game this season, Dorlus tied Aundray Bruce (1988) for the most sacks by a Falcon through 13 career games.

It's no secret that the younger players are making an impact early in this improved pass rush. The threat that these younger players have provided in the last several weeks has provided a glimpse into the future of this defensive front. This coaching staff is confident that this production will continue to grow week by week, and it most certainly will be fun to watch.

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