 In as he throws, and the ball goes backward. They give it to Warren, and as soon as all over it, and just with pressure coming, who else? Carl Loftus. Clean pocket. Down at that clean. Jermaine Johnson, the sack. Hey, everybody. Dave Archer, Atlanta Falcon Radio Network, so jacked up. It's draft time. Almost closing in on draft time. And we're going to take a look at some of the positions that will affect the Falcons coming up in the end of April, and obviously beyond as you select some of these players. Today, we're going to look at the Edge Rushers. And why not? Atlanta just 18 sacks a year ago. Got to find a way to affect the other team's quarterback. And there are a ton of dudes in this draft that can go get that done. Let's start with Aiden Hutchinson, the big kid out of Michigan. A lot of people have him right at the top of the draft. Did he fall to number eight for the Falcons? He gets six foot six, 270 pounder. He's a guy that just moved outside in 2021. 14 sacks a year ago. Now, eight and a half of those sacks came in three games. So you get a little concerned. Where's the productivity from game to game? But what I love about this dude, when you look at him on tape, is he's got a relentless motor. He's constantly coming. He defends the run equally as well as rushing the passer. So his versatility is outstanding there. Now, he does have to develop some more pass rush moves, which I think I can say that about all these guys coming out in the draft this year. You're going to have to develop a little bit more of a repertoire of what you can bring to the table. But Aiden Hutchinson, outstanding player out of Michigan, has got to be near the top of the list when you talk about edge rushers. Let's shift gears and go to a guy that may fits the Falcons maybe the best. When you talk about Kavon Tibido. Tibido, the outside linebacker slash defensive end at Oregon. He's six foot three, 255, 260 pounds. He might fit into what Atlanta wants to do from a multifaceted standpoint because he can play outside linebacker and he can rush the passer and rush the passer he does. 30 career games, 19 sacks in his 30 career games. This is a guy that has the most explosive and quickest get off in the draft. He has outstanding bend to get around the corner. He defends the run extremely well as well. He had 35 and a half tackles for loss in his career. So it's not just sacks. He's defending the run on the edge too. And Atlanta does need some edge defense in the run game. Now let's talk about the local product from Thomas and Georgia. Trayvon Walker, monster player. You're talking about a dude at six foot five, 271 pounds. He ran four or five at the combine. What an incredible athlete. There are some questions about Walker because he hasn't played that edge position exclusively. He's been more of a product of what Georgia does defensively. And is that the reason why his numbers aren't what you'd like him to be? Just six sacks on the year last year. But he played on the best defense in the country and he was playing in a system where he was splitting that tackle and guard there providing room for Nacobi Dean and those outstanding linebackers to rush the passer. So I think the upside for Trayvon Walker is off the charts. Obviously, the athleticism's there. Now where is he as far as a pass rusher? He's a devastating run defender on the edge. He's got heavy hands. And when I say heavy hands, by that, I mean when he puts them on you, you feel Trayvon Walker. He's not a guy that absorbs blocks. He makes you feel his power and strength. But he's limited on the outside to what we've seen on tape. He's a bull rusher. He has to develop, again, another repertoire of pass rush moves to create that problem that Trayvon Walker could be. George Carl oftis, a big kid out of Purdue. Now this is a guy that's a little bit interesting in the fact that he's a motor guy. There's not a lot of great athleticism attached to him, but every time you put the tape on Carl oftis, he's playing stout on the edge. Not a dynamic edge rusher. And sometimes he gets a little bit too cute. He's not a great athlete, but sometimes he gets himself into some trouble because he tries to do something he might not be able to do, but make no mistake about it. The guy plays hard every snap, and he's a dude that is very good against the run, and I think can develop into a pass rush. He's got some similar little measurables when you look at him from a size standpoint to one of the Bosa brothers. Nick Bosa, very similar guy. It's six foot three and a half at 263 pounds. Last guy on my list right now, as far as guys that I think are gonna go in the top of the draft is Jermaine Johnson, a guy that just kind of burst on the scene a little bit last year. Was it Georgia for two seasons? Had mixed reviews at Georgia. Had some production, but couldn't get on the field because of that talented crew at Georgia. So what do you do? He shifts gears and he goes to Florida State and what a great move. 12 sacks for Johnson coming off the edge at Florida State. In fact, ACC defensive player of the year. That's what you do when you take advantage of an opportunity, that's taking advantage of an opportunity. He's not a twitchy athlete guy where you see, oh wow, this is a great athlete coming off the edge, but a guy that is an iron man. He played 61 snaps per game. You won't find a lot of defensive linemen that are on the field consistently that way. And that's the way Jermaine Johnson was for Florida State. So there's five guys that I'm looking at. A couple of guys you want, I'm gonna keep an eye on. Now David Ajabo was the guy that rushed opposite Aidan Hutchinson at Michigan. Torres Achilles tendon at the pro day. Not gonna affect the team this year probably. Probably won't see him, but he does have some upside once he's in a rush in the passer. But a couple of guys that are interesting to me, Nick Bonito, an outside linebacker that fits the 3-4 that Dean Pease runs here, but steps up on the edge on third down and rushes the passer. Had 15 sacks in his last two years at Oklahoma. He's a 240 pound, really good athlete, sideline to sideline linebacker. Fills kind of a couple of roles there in the ability to play linebacker and rush the passer. Sam Williams at Ole Miss, another guy that's an edge rusher that can create some problems. And Arnold Ebigeti out of Penn State. Another guy that three years at Temple, transferred to Penn State and was dynamic coming off the edge for Penn State. But these are, that was a second round guy. So just a couple of guys to keep your eye on in the edge rusk position. It's a deep class. Atlanta's gonna find a guy to get after the passer.