PFF Reunites Dean Pees with ‘Ironman’ Edge-Rusher in NFL Free Agency

Dean Pees

Getty Dean Pees preparing the Falcons' defense to face the Buffalo Bills.

Dean Pees can solve the Atlanta Falcons‘ pass-rush problems with a familiar face. That’s the view of a leading analytics site that has suggested a reunion between Pees and a pending free agent who thrived for the veteran defensive coordinator when the pair were with the Tennessee Titans.

Pees left the Titans in 2020, ostensibly to enter retirement, but he returned to coaching circles in 2021 to call the defense for the Falcons. While his unit flashed some impressive traits this season, rushing the passer wasn’t one of them.

Atlanta propped up the NFL’s sack standings with a paltry 18 quarterback takedowns. Pees needs a more active edge-rusher, preferably one already familiar with his schemes.

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Titans’ Leading Pass-Rusher a Perfect Fit for Falcons

In its ranking of the top 100 players expected to enter this year’s market, Pro Football Focus assessed the case of Harold Landry III. He’s enjoyed a breakout campaign for the Titans, leading the AFC’s top seed with 12 sacks, the first double-digit mark of his career.

Landry’s a player on the rise, but he’s also one who knows what Pees expects. He logged 19 sacks during three seasons on Pees’ watch, including nine in 2019.

Those sacks came from the right outside linebacker spot, usually the catbird seat for attacking the league’s premium left tackles and laying some blindside hits on quarterbacks. Like on this play from October against Orlando Brown Jr., Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs:

Pees needs a player like Landry who can win more one-on-one matchups from the crucial spot along Atlanta’s front seven. Dante Fowler Jr. played there in 2021, but all the third-overall pick in 2015 could manage was 4.5 sacks, good enough for the team lead, but a modest total nonetheless.

Fowler also struggled to get and stay on the field. He made just six starts and missed two games altogether with various injuries, including knee and calf problems.

Landry would certainly offer Pees a more durable alternative, according to PFF:

His 2,609 snaps since 2019 are over 250 more than the next-highest edge rusher, and he’s one of just seven edge rushers over the span to crack 2,000 snaps. Los Angeles Rams edge rusher Leonard Floyd is second to Landry with 2,357, and he signed a very respectable four-year, $64 million contract with the Rams this offseason. The two graded similarly over 2019-20, with Floyd slightly outpacing Landry in overall grade (71.0 to 67.3), run-defense grade (72.7 to 71.2) and pass-rush grade (64.1 to 61.8). Being an above-average to good ironman certainly carries value at a spot like edge rusher.

The same source noted how “a reunion with former defensive coordinator Dean Pees in Atlanta makes sense as a potential landing spot if Tennessee isn’t able to retain Landry.”

There’s a decent chance this scenario plays out as suggested here.


Landry Within Falcons’ Range

Gauging the Titans’ chances of retaining Landry in free agency is tricky. He wouldn’t necessarily be expected to fetch the kind of money a top-tier pass-rusher like Chandler Jones, Von Miller or Jadeveon Clowney might bring.

On the other hand, while Landry doesn’t have a reputation to match any member of that high-profile trio, he is a 25-year-old trending in the right direction. Landry has shown improvement throughout each of his four years as a pro and his best football lies ahead of him.

Those things make a sizeable investment worth it for the Falcons. PFF projects Landry’s next contract as “four years, $60 million ($15M per year, $32 million total guaranteed).”

That would be no small outlay for the Falcons, who are predicted to have $10,548,584 worth of cap space, per OverTheCap.com. Even so, some creative wrangling of the books should be in order for a team that is a few consistent pass-rushers short of fielding one of the league’s better defenses in 2022.


Pressure the Missing Ingredient for Pees’ Defense

There are few silver linings when summing up the Falcons’ issues generating pressure this season. The numbers make for depressing reading and are put into the most harrowing context by Falcons Nest Podcast co-host, Kenny G:

Perhaps the most galling aspect of this is how a feeble pass-rush undermines the obvious talent elsewhere on Pees’ defense. Grady Jarrett is still a disruptive force at defensive tackle, one who demands constant double- and sometimes even triple-teaming from the opposition.

Jarrett keeps things strong in the trenches, while the secondary is home to A.J. Terrell. He’s emerging as a true shutdown cornerback and is already a darling of the analytics crowd:

Both Terrell and Jarrett would be even more effective if there was greater heat from the edges. Landry could provide it in a system and for a coach he knows well.

Paying up for an edge-rusher on the rise, would also leave Falcons’ general manager Terry Fontenot free to use his draft capital in other areas. Like along the offensive line and at wide receiver.

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