FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. (AP) — The Atlanta Falcons doubled down on their commitment to boosting their pass rush by selecting Georgia linebacker Jalon Walker with the No. 15 overall pick and then trading with the Los Angeles Rams to add Tennessee defensive end James Pearce Jr. later in the first round of the NFL draft on Thursday night.
Walker won the 2024 Butkus Award as the nation’s best linebacker. He is viewed as a player with the potential to play a hybrid role in the NFL as a linebacker and edge rusher.
Pearce (6-5, 245) ran the 40-yard dash at 4.47 seconds to rank as the fastest defensive lineman at the NFL scouting combine.
“To have an impact defensive player there at 15 and to get back in and get another impact defensive player, both pressure players, two of the better pressure players in the SEC, that’s exciting,” said Falcons general manager Terry Fontenot.
The Falcons sent the Rams their 2026 first-round pick as well as second-round and seventh-round selections in this year’s draft. The Falcons also obtained a third-round selection from the Rams in this year’s draft.
The picks in this year’s draft acquired by the Rams are No. 46 overall in the second round and No. 242 in the seventh round.
“With trades it always gets to that point you have to weigh out what you’re actually doing and what you’re dong it for,” Fontenot said. "When you have that kind of conviction and belief in the player, that’s when you do it.”
Rams general manager Les Snead said the Falcons outbid several teams that wanted to acquire the No. 26 pick. When Atlanta included its first-round pick in 2026, the offer was too good to pass up.
“There was multiple teams that wanted to come either up from later behind us in the first round, or even the second round,” Snead said. “It’s just the Falcons wanted Mr. Pearce a little more than whomever (other teams) were coming up for.”
Rams coach Sean McVay compared the Falcons’ move up for Pearce to the Rams’ own move for the No. 39 overall pick last year to get defensive tackle Braden Fiske, who cost LA its second-round pick this year. Fiske has emerged as one of the NFL’s top young defensive linemen.
“Those point charts, those things are out the window when you have a real appreciation for a player, and they clearly had that,” McVay said. “So it aligned for us.”
At 6-foot-1 and 243 pounds, there are questions if Walker has sufficient size to flourish as a pass rusher against NFL offensive tackles. He had 69 tackles, including 101/2 for losses, and 6 1/2 sacks for Georgia in 2024.
Falcons coach Raheem Morris said Walker's versatility is unique.
“There’s not a whole lot the kid can’t do,” Morris said. "I just can’t tell you how excited I am to get those guys out there.”
The Falcons finished next to last in the NFL with 31 sacks last season and were widely expected to make the pass rush a priority in the draft.
Walker promised to provide the needed boost to Atlanta's pass rush.
“Like I always say, if you tell me to go get the quarterback I’ll go get him, no matter if I’m at the end of the line, no matter if I’m in the slot off the ball,” Walker said. “My job is simple. If you tell me to go get him, I’ll go get him. It’s what I do. I feel like everybody knows that’s what I do best.”
The big surprise was Walker was still an option for the Falcons at No. 15. He had been projected to be one of the first 10 players selected.
“It really doesn’t matter to me at this point,” Walker said, while wearing a Falcons cap, when asked if he was disappointed to drop to No. 15. “I’ve already got this hat on I’m ready to go to work.”
Walker said he met with Fontenot at Atlanta's pro day for local players.
“Their plan is for me to keep the thing about being a versatile piece going forward,” Walker said.
“I’m able to be that versatile piece. So wherever they want to play me, I’m able to play and plug. I’m just excited to get to Atlanta and start to figure out that game plan.”
Walker watched the draft with his family in Salisbury, N.C. and will make the short flight to the Falcons' practice facility on Friday.
The Falcons will have only one pick on Friday, the No. 101 overall pick in the third round. They have one pick in the fourth round and one in the seventh on Saturday.
The Falcons also addressed their pass rush in free agency. Atlanta signed Leonard Floyd, another former Georgia player, to a one-year, $10 million deal. Floyd, 32, had 8 1/2 sacks for San Francisco last season.
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AP Sports Writer Greg Beacham contributed to this report.
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AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl
Charles Odum, The Associated Press
