The Atlanta Falcons have drafted offensive players in each of general manager Terry Fontenot's four years at the helm, and they've bypassed stout defensive talent to do so the past two years.
Will the Fontenot-led Falcons make it five in a row?
Atlanta has been linked to offensive tackles at various points in the lead-up to the 2025 NFL draft, which starts Thursday. Most notably, it had a private workout with Texas tackle/guard Kelvin Banks Jr. the last week of March.
But the Falcons still remain heavily projected to take a pass rusher at No. 15 overall -- or lower, should they trade down.
NFL Network draft analyst Daniel Jeremiah, who spoke with reporters on a conference call Friday, was asked about Marshall's Mike Green and Tennessee's James Pearce Jr. as options for Atlanta.
"As a player -- and I look at guys that would fit them and I think would be really, really productive -- Mike Green to me is a skilled, gifted pass rusher who can win with speed and with power," Jeremiah said. "Between him and Pearce, I would lean towards Green in that conversation."
The Falcons sent a large contingency -- headlined by head coach Raheem Morris -- to Green's pro day March 24.
The 6'4", 248-pound Green was one of college football's best overall defenders in 2024. He led the nation with 17 sacks, finished tied for ninth with 59 pressures and he was second in the FBS with 32 run stops. He earned All-American honors from several outlets and was the Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year.
Green was also named an eternal team captain at Marshall, though his off-field profile also contains two past sexual assault allegations. Green has never been charged with anything and maintained his innocence at the NFL combine, stating he hasn't done anything wrong.
Pearce, meanwhile, visited the Falcons' facilities the first week of April.
The 21-year-old Pearce is a two-time first-team All-SEC selection. In 2023, he led the Volunteers with 14 tackles for loss and was eighth in the FBS with 10 sacks across 13 games. Pearce again led Tennessee in tackles for loss with 13 in 2024 while adding 7.5 sacks.
Pearce also has an off-field resume worth examining. He was arrested in December 2023 for disobeying orders from police after being pulled over for speeding and driving on a suspended license, though charges were later dropped after he showed he received a new driver’s license and paid his speeding ticket.
Atlanta's edge options extend far beyond Green and Pearce -- and Jeremiah spent extensive time discussing Texas A&M defensive end Shemar Stewart, who he called the most polarizing edge rusher in the class. Morris also attended Stewart's pro day March 27.
"He is the ultimate example of traits versus production," Jeremiah said. "He has all kinds of twitch. He's explosive. He's disruptive. He just hasn't been able to finish, to compile sacks. More and more teams ... aren't focusing quite as much on the sack number as they are on win percentage, pressure percentage, where he's more than functional there.
"He plays really, really hard. He would be an interesting one I would keep an eye on. I would not rule out. ... I would think he would definitely be in that conversation."
Jeremiah added Stewart has a wide range of grades -- some teams have him in the top 10, while others rate him as a second-round pick.
The 6'5", 267-pound Stewart lit up the NFL combine after running a 4.59 40-yard dash and notching a 40-inch vertical jump. However, he's faced questions about his production throughout the pre-draft process.
Stewart recorded only 4.5 sacks -- 1.5 in each season -- during his three-year, 37-game collegiate career. He tallied 11 tackles for loss, half of which came in 2024. When speaking at the NFL combine, Stewart said production is "overrated."
Whether the Falcons agree won't be known until Thursday night.
