As a unit, Atlanta has totaled 199 tackles, 15 for a loss, 10 sacks, three forced fumbles, three interceptions and one fumble recovery. Of the 199 tackles, the Falcons rookies have accounted for 50 of those (25.1%), the third-highest percentage of tackles by rookies in the NFL this season. The rookie class has also accounted for four of the club’s forced fumbles and interceptions (66.7%), the highest total in the league, according to Stats LLC.
All four rookies have impacted this defense significantly. Let’s dive into how they’ve been an instant elevation.
Through five weeks, Watts leads all rookies in the NFL in passes defensed with four and in interceptions with two. He is the first Falcons rookie with multiple interceptions in a season since Deion Jones accomplished this feat in 2016 and became the first Atlanta rookie since 1980 to record multiple interceptions within the first four games of the regular season. Per Stats LLC., Watts is the fastest Falcon to notch two or more interceptions and over 20 total tackles, doing so in only four career games.
Atlanta’s defense has allowed a 60.6% completion percentage for opposing quarterbacks, the lowest in the league and has the sixth-best coverage success rate (55.6%), according to Next Gen Stats. Among rookies, Bowman has allowed eight completions on 13 attempts for a passer rating of 51.1%, the second-lowest passer rating allowed by a rookie when targeted in the NFL, per Stats LLC. Bowman also has notched one interception on the season, and in Week 2 at Minnesota, he and Watts became the first pair of Falcons rookies to record an interception in the same game since Robert Alford and Desmond Trufant on Nov. 3, 2013, at Carolina.
In the front seven, first-round draft picks Jalon Walker and James Pearce Jr. have seen significant playing time in the rotation along the edge. When in the game, they both have generated success in the pass rush, recording at least a half sack each this season. According to Next Gen Stats, Pearce leads all rookies in pressure rate, recording nine pressures in 79 defensive snaps for a pressure rate of 17.6%.