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00:00with that 26th overall pick it is now in for atlanta talented edge rusher out of tennessee
00:06james pierce jr is that 26th overall pick made by the falcons we start with you james pierce jr
00:16was flirting with that first round designation there is no question of the talent there is some
00:21question of some other things outside of the football field he is a first round pick the
00:27falcons straight back in they utilize the 26th overall selection on the edge rusher out of
00:32tennessee or reaction i am not privy to all of the what the specifics of the character issues are
00:39it feels pretty safe to say though that it is not trouble with the law so with that said in a class
00:45that everybody believes is terrible one of the at least 10 best players in the entire draft class
00:52was on the board at 26 and that's why atlanta gave up a future first to go and get him a guy that
00:58if you would have told lisi at the beginning of the college football season was net competing with
01:03abdul carter her first edge rusher off the board he would have said you're a hundred percent spot on
01:09just went 26th and it wasn't because of a down year in tennessee it was all off-field stuff that is
01:17the easiest dice roll a team could possibly make a plus pick atlanta i love it atlanta won the first
01:25round jalen walker and you get pierce number one and number two in terms of the top top 32 you won
01:31the draft they lost it last year with the michael pinnicks trade right but they won it this year so
01:36you got to hand it to them they completely transformed their defensive front seven they can now get after
01:42the passer they're great in terms of run support both walker and pierce and pierce was very
01:47productive in great big games last year go to the alabama game where they you know turned it on
01:52in terms of the second half he struggled from the midpoint on due to some nagging injuries and
01:57obviously straight into the college football semi-final playoff loss to ohio state but that
02:03aside james pierce and we talked about it michael williams number one and number two in terms of
02:08overall talent heading into the college football season last year they got a steal right now yes he was
02:14projected at times james pierce jr to be one of the first names off the board entering the 2024
02:21college football campaign he goes 26th overall to the atlanta falcons of course a priority was that
02:27defensive front for the dirty birds galen walker their first pick at 15th overall and at 26th overall
02:35trading back into the opening round it is james pierce jr the falcons who you said one of the stunning moves
02:41of last year's opening round seem like a winner tonight here's the trade details as of this
02:47moment again it was expensive for atlanta to get back into the first round in addition to james pierce
02:53jr they also will get a 2025 third rounder this year from the la rams in return the rams get the 46th
03:00overall pick the falcons second round selection and a 2026 first rounder as well along with a seventh
03:07rounder later in this draft so gap in blue we go to you some of the off the field issues
03:13for james pierce jr is what kept him until this stage later in the opening round what exactly is
03:20the concern that atlanta thought they could get passed based on his talent yeah tremendous haul here
03:24for the falcons in terms of what they now look like on defense gave up a lot to do it what do you see in
03:31pierce a couple things here mike coming into the draft you could argue in fact you had the stats
03:35arguably other than carolina the nfl's worst pass rush so they had to do something significant
03:41they've done that mike they didn't add just one they have two guys now why did pierce drop here's
03:46what i'm told maturity social maturity willingness to be coached doing things the way it's coached
03:52that's going to be important now he's got raheem mars as a head coach um they have a good defensive
03:57system they need the guys to get up field it i agree with lisey this if these guys can produce and be
04:03who they think they are this takes us to the next level it's a winnable division now of course michael
04:09penix this first full year at starting a quarterback he's got to be who they thought he was but there's
04:14a lot to work here if you're a falcons fan i know you went crazy last year at this time you got to feel
04:19pretty good right now
04:28you