Getty New Orleans Saints offense lines up against the Atlanta Falcons defense.
The Atlanta Falcons have moved on from defensive lineman Anthony Rush, the team announced on Thursday, September 6.
Falcons cut DL Anthony Rush, who started every game for Atlanta so far this season.
The move comes as a bit of a surprise considering Rush had started all four games that Atlanta has played thus far, playing 46 percent of defensive snaps in Week 1 against the Saints, 21 in Week 2 vs. the Rams, 25 in Week 3 against Seattle, and 38 in Week 4 vs. the Browns.
The falcons Re-Signed Back in March
When the Falcons switched to a 3-4 defense under then-newly hired defensive coordinator, Dean Pees, they didn’t have the size that they needed at nose tackle.
And then they added 6-foot-4, 360-pound Anthony Rush in September of 2021. He bounced on and off of the Falcons’ practice squad before being officially promoted to the active roster on Nov. 8.
Rush went on to play in 10 games and made six starts. He played 251 defensive snaps (36%) and once forced fumble, 19 tackles, one tackle for loss and a quarterback hit.
The Falcons then re-signed Rush to a one-year deal back in March of this offseason.
Rush originally entered the league as an undrafted free agent out of UAB in 2019. The Philadelphia Eagles were the first to pick him up but he’s also had stops at the Las Vegas Raiders, Seattle Seahawks, Chicago Bears, Green Bay Packers and Tennessee Titans.
Falcons Week 5 Depth Chart vs. Tampa Bay
The Falcons’ Week 5 depth chart is slightly different than last week with Corderrelle Patterson ruled out with a knee injury and Caleb Huntley sliding in there to fill the void in the running back room.
Also, now with Rush out of the lineup, the Falcons will be relying on Abdullah Anderson and Timothy Horne.
There is also a chance that newly signed defensive tackle, Jaleel Johnson, could be elevated for Sunday’s matchup against the Buccaneers.
Johnson, an Iowa product, was originally selected by the Minnesota Vikings in the fourth round (109th overall) of the 2017 NFL Draft.
Through five seasons so far, the 6-foot-3, 316-pound defensive lineman has logged 110 total tackles (54 solo), 5.5 sacks, 11 tackles for loss, one forced fumble and a fumble recovery in 65 games (20 starts) for the Vikings and Houston Texans.
Below is their updated depth chart against Tampa Bay:
Offense
WR Drake London, Bryan Edwards, Jared Bernhardt
TE Kyle Pitts, Parker Hesse, Anthony Firkser, Feleipe Franks
LT Jake Matthews, Chuma Edoga
LG Elijah Wilkinson
C Drew Dalman, Matt Hennessy
RG Chris Lindstrom, Colby Gossett
RT Kaleb McGary, Germain Ifedi
WR Olamide Zaccheaus, KhaDarel Hodge, Damiere Byrd
RB Tyler Allgeier, Avery Williams, Caleb Huntley
FB Keith Smith
QB Marcus Mariota, Desmond Ridder
Defense
DL Grady Jarrett, Timothy Horne
DL Abdullah Anderson
DL Ta’Quon Graham, Matt Dickerson
OLB Adetokunbo Ogundeji, Arnold Ebiketie, Quinton Bell
LB Mykal Walker, Troy Andersen, Nathan Landman
LB Rashaan Evans, Nick Kwiatkoski
OLB Lorenzo Carter, DeAngelo Malone
CB A.J. Terrell, Mike Ford
S Richie Grant, Erik Harris
S Jaylinn Hawkins, Dean Marlowe
CB Casey Hayward Jr., Darren Hall, Dee Alford
Special Teams
K Younghoe Koo
P Bradley Pinion
LS Liam McCullough
H Bradley Pinion
PR Avery Williams
KOR Cordarrelle Patterson -OR- Avery Williams