It had been over two decades since the Atlanta Falcons had a consistent pass rusher on their roster, but that all changed yesterday after the Falcons traded a 2025 third-round pick for four-time Pro Bowler edge rusher Matthew Judon. Now, the biggest question is how does bringing in Judon change the landscape of the Falcons defense? How does this shake up the defensive line, outside linebacker, and maybe even inside linebacker rotations? Earlier today The Morning Shift answered that question, and gave their thoughts.
“When you bring in a guy like Matthew Judon, I don’t want to say it shakes things up, but it does change a little bit right, we’ve looked at what we think everything is gonna be like how Kaden Ellis is going to be used for example right, You and I and Arch have talked about that on and off the air, and at the practice field like well I think this guy might be doing this and you know maybe he’s doing that, and you look at Arnold Ebiketie can this be his breakout year, well here comes Mr. Bonafide right, and now do those guys' roles change, do those guys become more effective, at the roles.” Beau Morgan said.
It will be interesting to see what the rotations look like with Judon in the fold, who’s starting, who’s getting the majority of the snaps, if Lorenzo Carter is on the opposite end as Judon in the game or if it will be Arnold Ebiketie and how his addition alters the defensive line rotation as well.
However, the most important thing is that this move not only filled the hole of Bralen Trice being out for the remainder of the season after he tore his ACL in the first preseason game, but it also made the Falcons better, and Terry Fontenot and the Falcons front office finally have an established star pass rusher back in Atlanta.