The Atlanta Falcons did not control the line of scrimmage well on either side of the ball last season. The Falcons had statistically three of the nine worst pass blocking offensive lineman in the NFL last year, and on the defensive end they were last in teams sacks with only eighteen in 2021.
It is safe to say that both the offensive line and defensive line can’t go anywhere but up for the Atlanta Falcons, but which group will improve more in the 2022 season, Jon Chuckery gave you his answer to that question Friday night on The Jon Chuckery Show.
The answer should be the defensive line simply because of the talent it brought in during the offseason. The Falcons traded up in April’s draft to draft Arnold Ebiketie with the 38th overall pick, which a lot of scouts, general managers, and draft experts thought was a steal. The Falcons also brought in UGA alum, Lorenzo Carter, on a one-year deal to play opposite of Ebiketie at the other outside linebacker/edge rusher spot.
The Falcons bringing in Ebiketie and Carter and moving on from guys like Steven Means, who had zero sacks in fourteen games started last season, and Dante Fowler Jr., who only had 7.5 sacks in 28 games for the Falcons, is the reason why Jon believes the defensive line will be the most improved line for the Atlanta Falcons this year saying “I think the defensive line is going to be the one that improves the most, and I think that they’ve done a better job of bringing in personnel to make that group better.”
Jon also says “The key to me about the defensive line is they have to find some help around Grady [Jarrett].” Now, as far as the offensive line goes Jon says “I have a lot more questions about whether or not these guys can improve on the offensive line, even if they end up making changes. Even if there are changes to the offensive line, whether that’s Left Guard, Center, Right Tackle, and those are the three spots up for debate I just think that the defensive line is going to be more improved."
Jon doesn’t believe Jalen Mayfield, Matt Hennessy, and Kaleb McGary are all going to be back in the starting lineup for the Falcons this year, but Jon also doesn’t believe all of those guys are going to be gone either as later on in the show he said “They’re going to run one or two of those back you understand that right? All three of those guys are not getting replaced. They’re not replacing sixty percent, if they go and replace sixty percent of their offensive line, unless you tell me that they traded for Tristan Wirfs or something like that, if they go and replace sixty percent of their offensive line their two quarterbacks are going to get killed.”
Overall, even if the Falcons tweak last year’s starting offensive line a little by throwing in Germain Ifedi at right tackle, or Elijah Wilkinson at left guard , or Drew Dalman at center Chuckery says he doesn’t “trust the personnel on the offensive line”.
When it comes down to it the personnel on the defensive line has gotten a lot better than what the personnel on the offensive line has, and that’s why they will be more improved this year than the offensive line. Jon believes both lines will be better because they can’t really get worse, but the Atlanta Falcons’ defensive line will be more improved than the Falcons’ offensive line this year.
Now, how much better is better for the Falcons’ offensive and defensive line is still yet to be determined, and we will just have to wait and see.