The Atlanta Falcons (5-10) have two games remaining in the 2022 regular season and despite mathematically remaining in playoff contention until losing this past week to the Baltimore Ravens, in reality it seems the 2022 season has all but been over for the Dirty Birds for several weeks.
Coach Arthur Smith’s team will enter the final two weeks of the season having lost four straight and six out of seven, and are now led by a rookie quarterback trying to prove that he is worthy of the job full time.
The 2022 season pretty much now becomes a time to evaluate the young talent on the roster such as Troy Anderson and Drake London, while hoping for no injuries to core veteran players such as Jake Mathews, AJ Terrell, and others.
But according to former Falcon turned pass-rush guru Chuck Smith, for DT Grady Jarrett, who according to statistics is having one of the best seasons of his career, 2022 will be looked backed upon as a season of unrewarded excellence.
“When you are the guy on the D-line and you don’t have other guys around you,” explained Chuck Smith to Mike Bell and Rob Tribble (filling in for Carl Dukes) when reflecting on how his career with the Falcons was once greatly similar to the same circumstances Jarrett seems to play in year after year.
Heading into the final two games of the regular season, Jarrett ranks upon NFL Leaders in tackles for loss with 11, and QB pressures with 18, but was not selected for the 2022 NFL Pro Bowl.
“If I’m Grady Jarrett, I would be interested in moving on to another team” expressed Smith when trying to speculate the frustrations Jarrett may feel when realizing that he may be getting overlooked because of the lack of team success of the Falcons.
One of Chuck Smith’s final thoughts on the Grady Jarrett topic: “Grady is just a victim of being a part of a team that’s not winning”
To hear the entire conversation, download the link above.