Sam Phalen discusses why it was a bold move for the Atlanta Falcons to move back into the first round of the 2025 NFL Draft to take Tennessee's James Pearce Jr.
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00:00The first round of the 2025 NFL Draft had a lot of action and a lot of bold moves.
00:06We had the Jacksonville Jaguars moving up in a trade with the Cleveland Browns to go and get Travis Hunter.
00:12We had the New York Giants moving back into the first round to get their quarterback
00:16and then taking Jackson Dart over Shadour Sanders.
00:20But none of that was the boldest thing that happened during round one.
00:23The boldest move of the first round belongs to the Atlanta Falcons.
00:27And I don't think it was a good one.
00:30The Falcons, to me, the losers of day one of the draft.
00:35To break it all down for A to Z Sports, I'm Sam Phelan.
00:40A lot of people have the Falcons as their winners of the first round of the draft
00:45because the Falcons did address a major need.
00:49They needed pass rush and they got pass rush.
00:51Atlanta selected Jalen Walker out of Georgia with the 15th overall pick in the 2025 draft
00:58and then moved back into the first round to get Tennessee's James Pierce.
01:03Celebratory evening for Falcons fans.
01:05I'm not a huge fan of the move.
01:08The Falcons gave up a lot.
01:10It cost them a pretty penny to get back into the first round in a deal with the Los Angeles Rams.
01:15Atlanta got picks 26 and 101 from the Los Angeles Rams in exchange for their second round pick this year
01:22and their first round pick next year.
01:25A future first to move back into the first round and get James Pierce.
01:30Now, let's be real.
01:32So many talented edge rushers are still on the board after round one.
01:37You've got Donovan Azaraku, Landon Jackson, JT Tui Mulaou.
01:41You've got Nick Scorton.
01:42All of these guys still on the board.
01:45I think there would have been a talented edge player for the Falcons to take at 46 had they remained patient.
01:52But no, they used their 46th overall pick and next year's first round pick just to get James Pierce.
02:00This is the same Falcons team that traded a lot of draft capital last year to move up in the second round to get Ruke Orohoro.
02:07That didn't really work out.
02:09Ruke had 11 tackles and played in eight games as a rookie.
02:12He was a non-factor for Atlanta.
02:15So because they made a trade last season and it didn't work out and their defensive front is lacking,
02:20they're giving up even more capital to try and rectify the issue this year.
02:25This is dangerous for Terry Fontenot.
02:28This is chasing your tail constantly trying to fix an issue instead of remaining patient and trusting yourself to hit on your draft picks.
02:36I really don't think the Falcons are ready to compete right now in 2025, even if you like Michael Penix Jr.
02:43and what they're currently building around him.
02:45And that's really where I have an issue.
02:47The Falcons are not competing for the NFC title or for the Super Bowl this year.
02:50You know, there's still a couple moves away from really being contenders.
02:55And here you go trading future first round draft picks, which you will need to continue building your core in order to chase a defensive line mistake you made in the 2024 draft.
03:07So while the NFL world is celebrating the Atlanta Falcons as the winners of the draft because they got two first round caliber talents,
03:16I'm not sure Pierce is a first rounder in my eyes.
03:19I could have easily seen him falling out of the first round had Atlanta not gotten aggressive to grab him.
03:26I'm concerned about this one.
03:28I think they value Pierce more than the rest of the league.
03:31And that was really, really expensive.
03:34For A to Z Sports, I'm Sam Phelan.
03:36I'm Sam Phelan.