Getty This 2022 NFL draft pass-rusher is a perfect replacement for Dante Fowler.
Dante Fowler Jr. is gone and the Atlanta Falcons still need a pass rush. Replacing the team’s sack leader from last season should be a simple matter of using the eighth-overall pick in the 2022 NFL draft.
That pick can garner the Falcons the perfect replacement for Fowler. A raw edge defender who has a knack for making big plays on football’s money down and in obvious passing situations.
One NFL mock draft writer believes the Falcons will make this player a top-10 pick when the draft kicks off on Thursday, April 28.
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Michigan Standout an Ideal Fowler Replacement
Fowler was given his walking papers on Wednesday, February 16, per D. Orlando Ledbetter of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution:
#Falcons release Dante Fowler after two seasons in Atlanta
The outside linebacker accumulated 7.5 sacks through two years. (Post to come)
Although he barely produced during two seasons in Atlanta, Fowler was the still Falcons’ sack leader in 2021. His paltry total of 4.5 summed up a soft pass rush that recorded a league-low 18 sacks all season.
Adding players who can generate more pressure is an obvious priority for general manager Terry Fontenot. NFL.com Draft Analyst Chad Reuter believes Fontenot should take Michigan’s David Ojaba with the eighth pick: “Ojabo is just scratching the surface of his potential as a pass rusher, but he’s not so raw that he can’t make an impact as a rookie.”
The idea of making this pick based more on Ojabao’s potential than production, shouldn’t worry the Falcons. Yes, he was outshone by Aidan Hucthinson during their final season on the edges of the Wolverines’ defense.
Ojabo notched 11 sacks, compared with Hutchinson’s 16.5. There’s no doubt Ojabo benefited from Hutchinson’s presence and ability to be disruptive, but it would do the former a disservice to dismiss him as merely a beneficiary of the talent around him.
Pass-rushers are expected to be at their best on third down, and Ojabo didn’t disappoint in this category, according to SIS_Football:
Those are numbers that should set pulses racing among the Falcons’ defensive staff. Getting off the field was a problem for the Atlanta D’ last season, with opponents converting 105 of 217 third-down attempts, a 48.39 percent success rate, per ESPN.
Putting Ojabo’s clutch skills in the lineup would help offset the problem. It would also be a smarter alternative to the cash-strapped Falcons hunting for pass-rush help in free agency, where Fontenot’s ability to spot bargains would be tested.
Falcons Lacking Options in Free Agency
The Falcons’ salary cap status currently has the team projected to be $1,923,598 over the limit by Spotrac.com. There are options for freeing up more cash, such as restructuring quarterback Matt Ryan’s contract, but Fontenot is still unlikely to have the big bucks needed to bring an established, elite pass-rusher to Atlanta.
He’ll have better luck searching for a bargain or two. There are a few options, players like Buffalo Bills’ defensive end Jerry Hughes and Baltimore Ravens’ veteran Justin Houston. Both are the wrong side of 30, but they would each make a good mentor for a rookie like Ojabo.
What Fontenot will want to avoid is misjudging a rising pass-rusher and paying over the odds, the way the Falcons did with Fowler in 2020. He initially signed a three-year deal worth $45 million.
The franchise is still in rebuild mode and not in a position to make any more of those kinds of mistakes. Better to throw draft capital at the problem and maybe add an ageing but still effective pass-rusher on a short-term, cap-friendly deal.