LAST CHANCE: When Will Atlanta Falcons FIRE Raheem Morris? What Will Owner Arthur Blank DECIDE?

LAST CHANCE: When Will Atlanta Falcons FIRE Raheem Morris? What Will Owner Arthur Blank DECIDE?

Could the first game of week 15 be Raheem Morris’s last game with the Atlanta Falcons? You are Locked on Falcons, your daily Atlanta Falcons podcast, part of the Locked On Network, your team every day. Welcome back everyone to another illustrious episode of the Locked on Falcons podcast, your daily Atlanta Falcons podcast, part of the Locked on Podcast Network, now the number one sports podcast network on planet Earth, which means it’s number one in the galaxy. And we appreciate each and every one of you that is in every day of this podcast. You are the reason why Locked On podcast network is number one in the galaxy. And all you got to do to become an everyday or subscribe or follow for free on YouTube or wherever you listen to podcasts. Today’s Locked on Falcons is also brought to you by FanDuel. If you want to be right in the middle of the action this season, all you got to do is visit fan.com and place your NFL live bets all season long. So, I am of course your humble host Aaron Freeman. been covering the Atlanta Falcons for nearly two decades. You know, back at during Thanksgiving, we celebrated our ninth year. We just finished our ninth year here as the very humble host of the Lockdown Falcons podcast here. Uh and so I again appreciate all of you guys that have supported me in these last nine years. I know it has not been a great nine years. We’re are going to hope that at least the the next nine months, right? We could all we could only count on, you know, uh the next few months as opposed to the the the next nine years. Again, hoping for another nine years, but we’ll hope for better times for the Atlanta Falcons over the next few months as opposed uh and and eventually that will turn into better times over the next few years. But today’s episode, we will be talking about Raheem Morris’s job status and and whether or not, you know, the possibility of could the Falcons dismiss him after this upcoming Thursday night game against Tampa Bay and the reasons why they could or could not do that. And then we’ll get into a conversation about two of the young bright pieces for the Falcons defensive future and Jaylen Walker and James Spears. of course, their two first round picks, but we’ll talk about despite their early success, some of the challenges that they will face going into future years, particularly in a world where Raheem Morris is no longer the coach. But the big question I know is on the minds of many people is like, you know, the will they, won’t they, in terms of firing Raheem Morris. And obviously, that has been an ongoing topic here on this podcast for several weeks, if not months, and will continue to be an ongoing topic for potentially several weeks. But I do think there is a possibility that as we discussed a couple of weeks ago leading into that week 11 matchup against the Carolina Panthers, there’s a possibility that we could be seeing, you know, Raheem’s dismissal after this Thursday night matchup against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. You get a mini buy after that point. And it’s a possibility that if you are going to make a change, this is probably the last opportunity that you have or the last, we’ll use air quotes, good opportunity that you have, right? Um, you know, I think the question you’re going to have is it’s at such a late stage in the season. It’s kind of what is the point? You only have three games left in the season at that point and you might as well just let them finish the season regardless of the result of this game. But, you know, I do think a blowout loss to Tampa Bay, similar to what we saw this past week against Seattle, could be the kind of the straw that broke the Campbell’s back in Arthur Blank’s uh favor. And we’ve seen the Falcons move on from a head coach in the Arthur Blank era um this late in the season. It happened with Dan Reeves back in 2003 where he left the team. Um, some of that was owed to some health issues that were going on with him, but basically Dan Ree found out that he was not going to get an opportunity. He was not going to be brought back after the 03 season. Um, and you know, there was a lot of issues that season for those that either were too young or or not alive to remember um or just have forgotten. You know, Michael Vic was dealing with an injury that year and there was a lot of drama with the will they won’t they when Vic is going to come back and all that. So, there was a lot of other issues, but you know, Dan Reeves basically found out he’s not going to retain his position. Uh, and he was like, “What’s the point?” And Wade Phillips took over as the interim head coach for the last three games of that season. We saw a similar situation where you didn’t see the coach get dismissed in 2014, but the Falcons were in a position in that 2014 season going into a week 17 match up against the Carolina Panthers where if they could win that game, they would have been made the playoffs that season. And there was breaking news like that Sunday morning that Arthur Blank had already engaged with a hiring firm to uh you know open up a a coaching search. Uh and it led to the Falcons getting absolutely decimated um on that final Sunday by uh Greg Hardy and Charles Johnson very vividly remember them absolutely wrecking our offensive line in that game. Um, and they got blown out in that game and it was the end of the Mike Smith era. And I feel like Arthur Blake, you know, that 03 incident was like his first full season as the owner of the team. And if you see any pictures of that, you know, that man has aged like 40 years in in the last 22 years. If you if you go back and see some pictures of Arthur Blake back in 03 when he first bought the team. Um, but I think these situations probably Blank would like to avoid that, right? He doesn’t want to see this team collapse at the end of the season. And so therefore, I think he’s going to do everything in his power to present the idea that these guys are going to have every opportunity to finish out the season. Now, the argument for why you would move on from those guys. That’s the argument for keeping them is just to save face for the end of the season. But the argument for why you would move on, you know, is little to do with the onfield product and has everything to do with sort of signaling to this this fan base, uh, which I, yours truly is part of, um, you know, that real change is is coming, right? And rather than keeping them in limbo between now and Black Monday, uh, which is that Monday following the regular season, which I believe this year is January 5th, and and so we have a little less than a month between now and then. Um, and you know, the fan base is in limbo where we sit here, as we’ve discussed many times on this podcast, and we won’t spend too much time on it on today’s episode, but I’m sure we’ll talk more about it in the coming weeks. Uh, you know, you don’t really know if if Arthur Blanken in ownership is really prepared to make such a big move like moving on from Raheem War. You hear sort of you get these kind of mixed signals at this point in time. And so, you kind of want to have that known, right? You don’t want to be sitting here, as we’ve discussed, like worried about, oh no, are they going to make excuses for Raheem and and Terry and and bring all these guys back and run it back with these guys, which you know, for those of you that have have not been watching Lock on Falcons. I can’t speak for everybody else in the fan base, but I can certainly speak for a large percentage of lock on Falcons listeners very much believe that the Falcons have to move on from Raheem Morris at the end of the season, if not sooner. And a we’re getting there with the majority, right? We weren’t there a couple weeks ago, a month ago with Terry Fontineau, but it does feel like with the latest poll I I gave out for the lockdown Falcons YouTube community that more people do believe that it’s time to move on from Terry Fontineau at this point in time as well. But, you know, similar to that conversation we had back in week 11, uh, heading that Panthers game when the Falcons had come were coming off four straight losses and potentially we’re going to get a fifth one in in a pivotal divisional game. You know, I think it’s possible that the Falcons could fire Raheem if, you know, things get ugly on Thursday night against Tampa Bay. Um, I wouldn’t bet on it, though. Um, you know, it’s just a question of is Blank as fed up with this as the rest of the fan base is. And right now, there’s not a lot of indication that he is, right? And again, that’s going to lead to a lot of discourse between now and and potentially January 5th um and and beyond about Arthur Blank and and whether or not, you know, he’s doing a good enough job as the owner of the team. Um and I and I’ve said before like I I feel like it’s fair to criticize Blank on these issues uh in terms of, you know, the Falcons simply not getting it done these last couple of years in terms of, you know, producing a winning team. I don’t think that leads me to sort of the negative outlook on Arthur Blank that others have where like he’s a bad owner. Um, but I’m again I think we’ll continue talk having those discussions in the coming days and weeks uh and or months uh and why I think that. But like for me when I when I look at the root of this team’s problems, I think a lot of it from an organizational standpoint, I think this is very much reflected in the fan base. I think a lot of it is people haven’t gotten over the Super Bowl loss. They haven’t gotten over 28 to3. And I feel like that pervasive attitude that we’ve had for the last seven years um and now eight years where the Falcons have had losing records is this notion of we’re one piece away or we’re this close to is stems from that game, right? That that that game was like we were this close to to pulling off the thing that we’ve all wanted. And I feel like we’ve been stuck in that sort of mindset for, you know, the better part of a decade. And I think that’s been a big reason why this team has not been willing to commit to rebuilding. Um, and as I’ve explained before on the podcast, I feel like, you know, for the three to five years after the Super Bowl loss, you know, that was somewhat justified because you could convince yourself given it was much more recent uh how close they were to the the ultimate the pinnacle of success uh in in professional football. um you know then but it becomes a lot harder to justify now that we’re eight years removed from that um at this point or eight seasons removed from that at this point in time and we’ve spent the better part of the last three years convincing ourselves you know we’re we’re right on the heels of the of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at the top of the division and there have been certainly moments where you have felt that was true but I think as we get here at the end of the 2025 season it does feel like we’re closer to the Saints at the bottom of the division uh than we are at the top of the division. And we’ve been chasing the top of the division and we haven’t gotten there these last couple of years. And I feel like hard choices are going to be na needed to be made in the coming weeks and months if you’re going to get back there anytime soon. Right. And like I tried to explain on yesterday’s episode, when you look at this team in the last 17 games, they’ve won six of the six of their last 17 games. So they’re six and 11 and I feel like the perception of this team has been you know know actually even though the onfield product has been consistently much closer to 6 and 11 over the last eight years um we’re actually closer to an 11 and 16 and I feel like that has been the wrong mindset and as I said and will continue to say I feel like until that mindset changes until the Falcons truly embrace the reality that has been shown eight years in a row now that you are much closer to a six and 11 team than an 11 and 16 team, nothing is really going to change uh for this organization. And so we’ll see if this team is ready to embrace that. And again, that’s where the justification for moving on for Raheem sooner versus later, I think, stems from where it’s like, yes, we are willing to embrace that mindset. But at the same time, we we’ll just sort of have to see if they’re really willing to go there because to me, that mindset, embracing that reality, I should say. Um you don’t want to embrace the mindset that you’re a 6-11. you want to embrace the reality of your 611 team so that you can get back to being 116. But it’s not just going to be, hey, you fired Raheem Morris and now you’re you’re back. It’s it’s going to be an entire reworking of this organization from the top down. Um that is going to signal that you’re you’re embracing that reality and and ready to change that mindset. So we’ll see if the Falcons are are willing to do that in the coming days and weeks uh and months. Um, and so that will be a continued talking point here on Lockdown Falcons. But we’ll continue today’s episode talking, you know, about the future of this team in in the next year or so, uh, as we or want to do on this podcast because there’s not a whole lot keeping us engaged in 2025. Uh, and and two of the brighter spots of that bright future hopefully for the Falcons is, you know, their two first round picks from this past year and Jaylen Walker and James Beers Jr. And while they are off to brilliant starts as rookies, there are going to be some real challenges for them to continue their success into the future. And I kind of want to get into some of those challenges as we look ahead to the future for this football team and hopefully brighter days uh as we continue today’s slot on Falcons. Now, we know that NFL Sundays move fast. You get one big play and suddenly everything feels different. And that’s what makes live betting with today’s sponsor, FanDuel, so exciting. You’re not just watching the game. You’re reaching reacting, I’m sorry, in real time with FanDuel. You can place bets as the action unfolds. Every drive, every momentum swing, every highlight moment. And live betting is the best when the game starts to shift, when that receiver gets hot, when the defense tightens up or that momentum flips after a turnover. And FanDuel is going to let you jump into each of those moments with their live spreads and money lines that adjust instantly. The player props that go up and down as player as players heat up. It keeps you locked into every snap, every drive, every possibility. So, if you want to be right in the middle of the action this season, make sure you visit FanDuel.com and place your NFL live bets all season long. FanDuel, the game moves fast and so can you. So before we continue today’s lockdown on Falcons, I want to thank all of you that make it your first listen each and every day. And you are the reasons once again why Locked On is the number one sports podcast network in the galaxy. And if you are an everydayer of this podcast, you know, you can prove it and make it official for as little as $ five dollar a month where you can join the locked on everydayer club today where you get no ads, get access to a membersonly discord, and so much more. It is a community for the most loyal Locked On Falcons listeners. Uh, and you can check it out at the link in the show notes or you can head to lockdownfans.supcast.com supercast.com for more information. So, uh, let’s talk about Jaylen Walker, James Pierce, and their hopefully bright futures that they have that we’ve seen flashes of with them at their best during their rookie seasons. And we’ll hope that they can continue on this trajectory and not only get, you know, four to six outstanding games and performances that we’ve seen from both of these players so far this year, uh, if not more. uh and hopefully, you know, we get four to six months of, you know, outstanding play from these players in future years, you know, over the course of an entire season uh and whatnot. And so, you know, that’s going to be one of the challenges potentially uh that the Falcons are going to have to deal with if they do move on from this coaching staff, right? Because when we look at these two players that are sort of the the keystones, the cornerstones of this 2025 draft class, it’s not guaranteed that the next coaching staff is going to come in here and embrace the same vision for Walker and Pierce that the current coaching staff helmed by Raheem Morris had, right? And we had this conversation after the draft with both of these players, which was one of the reasons which tempered my enthusiasm for how I thought bright their futures were, where I felt like basically the argument I made back then was that in order for these guys to have the stability that they need to develop in their current roles that we’re envisioning for them, the Falcons have to win games this upcoming season. And obviously that has not been the case. Um, but it’s a big part of why so many of the Falcons, you know, premium defensive investments that they’ve made over the years, uh, particularly in the Terry Fontau era since he’s been the general manager since 2021, haven’t quite lived up to the hype and and developed at the rate that we want them to because the Falcons are constantly changing defensive coordinators and changing defensive schemes, right? Jeff Opric is the fourth defensive coordinator in the last five seasons, right? And the last time we’ve had a Falcons defensive coordinator that held that job for three consecutive years was Mike Nolan back from 2012 to 2014. And basically ever for the last 11 years, there has been a new defensive coordinator here in Atlanta every 1 to two years and constantly turnurning over different schemes and different coordinators who have different preferences of players makes it really hard for individual players to develop. you know, that’s what makes Grady Jarrett so special because he was able to uh, you know, overcome those issues and be live up to the hype and be one of, you know, potentially the all-time greats, depending on how you feel about that in in a Falcons uniform, at least from a defensive standpoint. So, um, you know, that’s going to be one of the reasons why if Arthur Blaine doesn’t, uh, do the thing that we all want him to do in in clean house after the season, it’s going to be one of the reasons why he’ll be quote unquote justified in doing so, right? to to maintain stability, to maintain continuity, right? You know, Jeff Ober, as we’ve stated many times, has been, in my opinion, the biggest catalyst for why this Falcons defense has looked so good and why this pass rush is, you know, on pace to hit 50 plus sacks this upcoming season, right? And you want to retain Jeff uh in order to maintain that continuity moving forward. But, you know, keeping Morris so that you can keep um just so you can maximize Walker and Pierce’s, you know, future development, you know, is a hard selling point because it’s like, are you just basically, you know, what is it? You’re you’re you’re cutting off your nose or cutting off your lips to spite your nose or whatever the the saying is. You know, I don’t I don’t know idioms, guys. You know, I’m terrible about that stuff. But like it’s it’s basically like, you know, yes, it could lead to better outcomes for Walker and Pierce, but are you holding back the rest of the team is basically what I’m getting at. And so, you know, if this if they if these two guys play quarterback, I think you could have a easier time selling that because the quarterback position is the most important position. But because they’re edge rushers to pre a premium position, it’s a much harder sell to basically make that the case. But if we’re focusing primarily on Jaylen Walker, you know, I think the question for Jaylen Walker is going to be does he potentially move to offball linebacker next year, right? Because you have a potential hole at linebacker. Devon Diablo is under contract next year, but Kate Nellis is a free agent. Do you resign Kate Nelis? Right? that would be more of the we’re we’re we feel like we’re one piece away and let’s run it back with the same team uh because we feel like we need to maintain continuity so type of move at this point in time given that Kate Nellis is going to be on the you know wrong side of 30 good player again I’m I’ll be the first person to sit here and and pound the table for how good a player Kane Ellis has been these last three years but at the same time it does feel like if you’re seriously about trying to to fix these issues he’s probably one of those players that you potentially let walk. And it’s possible that you could slot Walker into that spot. Now, I certainly think the Falcons would probably prefer to add a linebacker next off seasonason, whether that’s a mid-tier free agent. I’m sure Nico Dean’s name is going to be thrown out there to a lot of people’s in their mock off seasonasons that they love to put together around this time of year. I think we’ll be looking at some linebackers on day two of the draft. Perhaps another Georgia linebacker, CJ Allen. seen a couple mock drafts that have the Falcons targeting him uh on day two of of this 2026 draft. So, I think the Falcons will have other options over Jaylen Walker to replace Kade Nellis. But, I certainly think there’s a world where the Falcons could ask Jaylen Walker to fill some of those shoes. And whether it’s a full-time offball linebacker or a hybrid role, um you know, we’ll sort of have to see. So, I think I look at Jayen Walker more as kind of a placeholder at this point in time potentially. potentially at at that offball linebacker spot. Um, but we’ll sort of have to see. It just really kind of depends on if you can find better solutions or alternative solutions uh to potentially replace Ken Ellis or you decide to bring back Kaden Ellis. Uh, and again, a lot of that could depend on the scheme changes, right? Because, you know, I said this back in May, but you know, if you bring in a different coaching staff and they want to be more of a true 4-3 team, you know, that wants to play with lighter boxes, which means you typically have bigger bodies at the the DN spot. Um, and when I say true 34 4-3, that’s probably not an accurate way of describing, but, you know, alternate to the current version of the 4-3 that the Falcons play where the Falcons really play a 4-2 uh in nickels situation. But again, that that that’s neither here nor there. We’re not going to get into scheme issues, but you know, an undersized edge like Jaylen Walker may not fit into that vision of the Falcons defense, right? This was what Ryan Nielsen’s defense was where I want bigger edges so that we can play with light boxes, right? And so if you bring in a defensive coordinator or a head coach or whatever that is more the Neielson style than the Albrich style, um maybe that pushes Jaylen Walker more to be more of an offball linebacker. And this is exactly what happened with Jayen Walker at Georgia, right? Where Kirby Smart and and Georgia were like, “That’s how we want to play.” uh you know in terms of what we want to do from an identity standpoint and Jaylen Walker makes more sense as an offball linebacker in that type of defense than he does as a you know every down edge or whatnot. So that’s going to be an open question. We’ll see. You know I don’t think we’ll have an answer to that question until we probably get to February uh hopefully if if the Falcons are in a coaching search and what type of scheme and and new system they may be bringing in. But, you know, I I think Jaylen Walker, all that to say, I you know, I feel good about Jaylen Walker and his development. It’s just going to be a question of, you know, him potentially moving positions could slow down that that current trajectory that he does appear to be on as a pure edge rusher. So, that’s going to be an open question. But, we’ll talk more about James Pierce’s potential trajectory and what are some of the obstacles that could slow his progression in the future as we wrap up today’s lockdown Falcons. So, don’t let big wireless drain your wallet, especially this time of year during the holidays because right now, Mint Mobile is running their best deal of the year. All of their unlimited plans are 50% off. That means you can lock in three, six, or even 12 months of unlimited premium wireless for just $15 a month. It’s the easiest way to take your overpriced phone bill and give it the full Scrooge treatment. And what makes this even better is how simple Mint makes it to switch. No contracts, no nonsense, just real savings and real quality service. 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We’ve talked about this before on the podcast where James Pierce is, you know, immediate role in the NFL is going to be as a DPR, a designated pass rusher and with the Falcons current deep rotation that they have at Edge, although you know, injuries have sapped the depth of that rotation this season as they all often do. Um, you know, having a guy that is a dedicated DPR is a lot easier when you know you have alternative options like Jaylen Walker and Arnold Betetti and Leonard Floyd and Brandon Doris and Zack Harrison that can do some of the run stuff that a DPR is not necessarily going to do. And for those of you that don’t know what I mean when I say a designated pass rusher or DPR, it’s a guy that primarily rushes on obvious passing situations and that’s his primary cont primary contribution to the team. But, you know, it’s a I think it’s a fair question to wonder, are the Falcons going to have as deep a rotation next year up front, right? You know, Lenner Floyd and Arnold McKitty are both free agents. Are they going to be resigned? Right. As we sit here today, it feels unlikely that either one of these guys are going to be back in Atlanta in 2026. We’ll sort of see. Um, and they’ve been a big part of your fourman pass rush quote unquote revival that you’ve seen in the last couple of weeks, right? If you just look at the last three games where the Falcons have primarily been trying to win with a four-man rush as opposed to the previous, you know, uh, 10 weeks where they were trying to win with more of a very blitz heavy package with five or more rushers. You know, Arnold Mcketti is actually leading the team in pressures over these last three games combined with 11 pressures with a pressure rate of 33% according to PFF, right? James Pierce is right behind him with 10 pressures and a pressure rate of 20%. Leonard Floyd is right behind him with nine pressures and a pressure rate of 18%. Brandon Doris is back there with seven pressures and 15% pressure rate. And David Onyum rounds out the top five with four pressures and a pressure rate of 11%. And of course, we’ll see how the rest of the 11 or the rest of the four games unfold this year. But if that trend continues with those five guys, right? And and Jaylen Walker isn’t on that list. I think primarily owed to some injuries, those soft tissue issues, the groin injury, the quad injury, all those things that have been issues that have kept him in and out of the lineup these last couple of weeks. uh you know this season but assuming you know that trend continues potentially three out of these five guys that are your the primary drivers of your fourman pass rush may not be back next year right is also a free agent in addition to AK and Leonard Floyd and then you also lose potentially Kay Nellis who’s also a free agent who’s been your top guy by far with 21 pressures this year when you’ve rushed five this season and this is a similar issue that the Falcons have been in before you go from 2017 to 2018 18 and 23 to 24 where the Falcons had veteran players that were a significant part of their pass rush. In 2017, they let Adrien Claybourne and Dant Poe walk because they were trusting in development of guys like Pic Beasley and Grady Jarrett and and Tack McKinley uh to to pick up the slack. And then in 2023, you let guys like uh Klay Campbell and Depri walk uh and you know uh trusting in who was it at that point that Arnold Arnold Veter I guess or you know Michael Penn. Oh, wait. No, that you know, not Jared Verse or not, you know, Latu Latu or Dallas Turner or any of those guys. Uh, it was Michael Penn. Again, I’m not taking a shot of Michael Penn. I’m just saying like, you know, it was a lot made a lot less sense when you didn’t have the obvious answers to fill that those voids on the roster. I guess you could say Zack Harrison was also in the mix there. my bad on Zack. But um you know, so I basically say all that to say that if I sound less enthusiastic about the bright futures of Jaylen Walker and James Pierce than some of my peers, it’s because we’ve been here before where it’s like, oh well, these two guys are going to carry our pass rush for the future. And it’s like the Falcons have done that many times and the two guys aren’t alone going to carry the pass rush. They’re going to need more help. All right. And that’s to me been a contributing factor to why the Falcons have struggled to have a good pass rush over the last decade. Right? And you saw this with Vic and and Tac McKinley. Uh and we’re going to make that comparison today with James Pierce. And I know people are like it’s not the same thing, but like as I’ve said many times, right? Vic and Tac McKinley had a lot of success in their first two years in the NFL and then they kind of plateaued after year two, right? And so that’s going to be the big challenge for guys like Jaylen Walker and James Pierce as pass rushers. We’ve seen guys come in and have success early on in their rookie careers and in their s sophomore years and then we don’t see that continue that path continue after year three. And you know with James Pierce I don’t think this is going to be as big an issue in 2026 right given that he’s a DPR and I I don’t think his role is going to demonstraably change next year but there’s a world beyond next year. Um, and again, the reason why I don’t think this is just because I don’t think the Falcons have the resources to really, you know, overhaul their defensive line in in the ways because of limited cav space and not having a first round pick. Um, but you know, there’s a world in the beyond next year where the Falcons do bring in another edge rusher that brings a little bit more to the table in terms of being that every down player than James Pearson. If that guy’s just as good a pass rusher, but also adds plus value on early downs, you know, that could be a challenge to James Pierce seeing the amount of snaps in these obvious passing situations that will allow him to flourish in his DPR role. And these are kind of the things that we’ve seen before that I tend to think about that I don’t think anybody else thinks about because you know I remember 2017 with Vic Beasley right where everybody else was complaining about Vic Bezy dropping in the coverage far too much that year when the Falcons were kind of utilizing him as a hybrid linebacker uh that year on early Downs uh due to some injuries at that position. Um and I was very vocal on the podcast back then. you can check the tape of like to me the way that the Falcons utilized him in 2017 was the correct way of utilizing Vic Bezy because I didn’t think Vic Bezy at that point in his career was a good enough pass rusher to solely be a designated pass rusher uh and that he needed to bring something else to the table beyond that uh to supplement his skill set and I thought Seattle had done a good job doing this with a very similar player and Bruce Irvin uh early in his career and that to me was a big contributing factor to why Bruce I was able to play 12 years in the NFL while Vic Beasley only played half as long. Uh, and obviously the thing that hurt Vic Beasley once he left Atlanta, the Falcons had a vested interest in Vic Beasley and that’s why they gave him ample opportunities to succeed as a former top 10 pick. But once he left Atlanta, no other team had those vested interests and they were just like looking at his production were like, “Yeah, this is very replaceable.” Uh, and the Falcons never had that open and honest conversation because of the vested interest they had in him succeeding. And you know, it’s not quite the same with James Pierce, but you know, there is the possibility with a regime change that that new regime will not be as invested in James Pierce’s success as the current regime is. Uh, and this goes back to the conversation we had with James Pierce about the character issues. And again, not because he has character issues and he’s a bad guy, but like I said back in May, right, we know that in Tennessee, his college team, you know, James Pierce didn’t quite mesh with that coaching staff, which led to all the talk of the character issues. Now, we know he meshes well with his current coaching staff, but there’s no guarantee that he’s going to mesh well with the next coaching staff. And that’s not unique to James Pierce Jr. That’s typical that you see oftentimes in the NFL when new regimes come in and it’s why there’s so much roster turnover year to year in the NFL, right? And we saw this, you know, when the Falcons had a bunch of guys that mesh really well with Dan Quinn and then when Arthur Smith came into the building, didn’t quite mesh with him. Julio Jones is a good example of that. Dion Jones is another example of that. Hayden Hurst is another example of that of guys that were, you know, on the same page with the Dan Quinn regime, but weren’t on the same page with the Arthur Smith regime and quickly got replaced. Uh, and, you know, I’m not saying that the Falcons are going to trade James Pierce or anything like that and immediately replace him. Um but like you know that’s going to be one of the challenges whether or not the new regime now hopefully James Pierce will continue to produce for these next four games and so they will look at the end of the season be like well I see nine and a half sacks or 10 sacks or whatever it is and it’s like we’ll we’ll figure it out right the new regime is going to be like we’re going to figure this out when you have the production to back it up is basically what we’re hoping for and I think James Pierce is on track for that so I’m not too as concerned about it as I may was in May because we didn’t know quite what the production would be this season, but it is something that at least we is in the back of the mind of being like this is something to keep an eye on moving forward. And so I say all this stuff not to be negative, it’s just to point out the challenges that this team may, you know, potentially be facing in the future. And like one of the things we try to do on this podcast and we try to be honest about those challenges rather than blowing smoke up your butt and telling you it’s all going to work out and it’s all going to be great, you know, once we fire this guy or whatnot, you know, all of our problems go away. And you know, I’ve been asked several times over the last few days and weeks, you know, Aaron, since you’re so old, right? You know, you’ve been around before. You know, is this the the worst it’s ever been for the Atlanta Falcons? And my answer is, you know, from an onfield product, I don’t think. I think there have been much worse Falcon teams that I’ve watched over the last 20 years in terms of what they bring on the field where it’s like, yeah, th this team is not going to be able to compete. like legitimately, you know, even though I didn’t expect the Falcons to win against Seattle, I thought they were good enough to compete with Seattle, uh, you know, hopefully for more than two quarters. We saw we got two quarters, uh, and, you know, I wanted to see more than that, but unfortunately we did not. But, you know, I think the reason why the vibes feel so much worse now than they have in the past, whether you look at the last seven years or the last 17 years, is because there was always kind of been that sort of glimmer of hope that even if the if things weren’t going well for the Falcons right now, they can get better in the future. And I think right now, it’s just harder to paint that brighter future for that. And that’s why I’m talking about Jaylen Walker and James Pearson. Even though in a vacuum they have a bright future, but the environment around them in Atlanta, we’ve had this conversation with player development, nature versus nurture, right? We can look at the natures of James Pearson and Jaylen Walker and feel good about that. But is Atlanta a really nurturing environment for these guys given the potential impending changes in turmoil and turnover and all that stuff that this team may or may not undergo in the coming weeks, months, and years. Um, and so, you know, without having that first round pick, without having a clear path to solving their quarterback wos, you know, it just it’s hard to paint a rosy picture of the future of the Falcons. And that to me is contributing to why it feels like the current situation is the worst it’s ever been is because it’s like, yeah, man, it feels like, you know, it always felt like, you know, at worst it’s like, oh, well, we we’ll take it on the chin maybe for one more year and then we’ll be back, right? If we can solve these problems. And it’s like, you know, we might take it on the chin and, you know, keep taking it on the chin, you know, for a couple more years before we we eventually figure it out. And that’s why it feels like the the vibes are so bad. So, we’re we’re going to do our best to try to paint the path forward and like if we can squint, hey, there’s there’s light at the end of that tunnel um here on the podcast. We’re not going to be try to be too negative, but we we got to be honest about the the real issues with this team moving forward. So, appreciate you guys for getting through these dark times with me here on the podcast and continue to make Locked On Falcons your first listen. Tomorrow, we’ll be doing the All 22 review of this Seahawks game. Uh, and if Locked On Falcons was on your Spotify app, you know, this is a perfect opportunity to prove it. Uh, and you can secure a free month of the brand new Everydayer Club. All you got to do is tag the Locked on Podcast Network account on any of your preferred social platforms and we will drop you a code and if you’re one of the first to join the Everyday Club, uh you’ll get your favorite show ad free and exclusive access to a membersonly discord and that code will also get you a free month of that access. So check it out again at lockdownfalcons.supcast.com or at the link in the description below. Appreciate you guys. Lockdown Falcons is all part of Lockdown Podcast Network. Your team every day. Now the number one sports podcast network on the planet.

Atlanta Falcons face a pivotal crossroads as questions swirl about Raheem Morris’s future following a rough stretch and looming Thursday night clash with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Could a blowout loss spell the end for Morris, or will Arthur Blank stand pat and spark fan frustration with another vote of confidence? Host Aaron Freeman explores the team’s turbulent coaching situation, drawing historical parallels to Dan Reeves and Mike Smith, while examining whether real change—or more uncertainty—awaits the fanbase.

Key segments spotlight first-round picks Jalon Walker and James Pearce Jr., whose promising rookie campaigns may be challenged by potential scheme shifts or new coaching philosophies. Explore the Falcons’ persistent identity crisis since the Super Bowl collapse, the risks of clinging to continuity, and the franchise’s need for a bold reset. Can Atlanta finally break free from mediocrity, or will familiar patterns keep holding them back?

#atlantafalcons #nfl #tampabaybuccaneers #nflweek15 #week15 #jamespearce #jalonwalker #raheemmorris #arthurblank

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