Who’s at the top of the leaderboards? Names you’d suspect, by and large.
The Atlanta Falcons have an exciting, pretty young offense to roll out, and they’re trying to get younger on defense as well. It will not surprise you to learn that with an exception or two, the defense and special teams active leaderboards for a host of statistics are nonetheless veterans, from big name free agent signings to homegrown stars to players who took a unique journey to Atlanta.
We’re very much in the quiet part of the summer, so now’s a fine time to look at those leaderboards for defense and special teams. Let’s do so now.
Defense
Tackles: 233, A.J. Terrell, 34th
Interceptions: 10, Jessie Bates, 24th
Sacks: 14.5, Arnold Ebiketie, 35th
Tackles for a loss: 14, David Onyemata, 33rd
Quarterback hits: 35, Arnold Ebiketie, 8th
Interceptions returned for touchdowns: 2, Jessie Bates, 10th
Pass Deflections: 49, A.J. Terrell, 5th
Forced Fumbles: 7, Jessie Bates, 14th
Safeties: 1, Dee Alford/Zach Harrison, tied for 4th
The players on this list are largely the ones you’d expect. Ebiketie has been the team’s most consistent pass rushing threat over the past three seasons (as depressing as that is, given his modest sack totals), Bates is the author of big plays at a clip that makes him a real threat to best the team’s all-time leader in interceptions returned for touchdowns, forced fumbles, and so forth, and Terrell has been around long enough and has played well enough to be rolling through pass deflections and tackles. The only surprises here might be tackles for a loss with David Onyemata—again, per Pro Football Reference’s numbers—and the safety total.
Bates is the mind-boggling one, as he’s authored some of the biggest plays in recent memory in a very short stint in Atlanta. To put his numbers in some perspective, the all-time record for interceptions returned for touchdowns in Atlanta belongs to Deion Jones with five, and only Deion Sanders and Kevin Mathis have more than Bates’ two. Bates’ seven forced fumbles are a long way behind all-time leader John Abraham’s 24, but he’s third on the all-time list for forced fumbles from a defensive back, behind Keanu Neal (8) and William Moore (11) and has a realistic shot to catch both.
Fascinatingly, Alford and Harrison represent nearly 1/8th of the team’s all-time safety total and they’re both currently playing for Atlanta. The Falcons only have 17 all-time safeties.
Special teams
Returns
Punt returns: 20, Dee Alford, 33rd
Punt return yardage: 160, Dee Alford, 32nd
Punt return average: 8.0 yards, Dee Alford, 39th
Kick returns: 14, Ray-Ray McCloud, 56th
Kick return yardage: 361, Ray-Ray McCloud, 46th
Kick return average: 25.8, Ray-Ray McCloud, 12th
With Avery Williams departing, this list really only has one year of work on it for both punt and kick returns. Alford isn’t going to be in the mix often for punt returns unless he’s A) a backup and B) something happens to Jamal Agnew, but McCloud should build on these numbers in his second season handling kickoffs. He did a fine job last year.
Kicking
Field goal attempts: 202, Younghoe Koo, 3rd
Field goals made: 176, Younghoe Koo, 3rd
Field goal percentage: 87.1%, Younghoe Koo, 2nd
Extra point attempts: 171, Younghoe Koo, 4th
Extra points made: 164, Younghoe Koo, 4th
Extra point percentage: 95.9%, Younghoe Koo, 10th
Kickoffs: 190, Younghoe Koo, 5th
Kickoff yards: 11,870, Younghoe Koo, 5th
Touchbacks: 91, Younghoe Koo, 3rd
Kickoff yardage average: 62.5, Younghoe Koo, 7th
This is a reminder that Koo, despite last year’s implosion, has been a pretty terrific option for the Falcons. He’s capably handled kickoffs, come up with a bunch of clutch kicks, and has really only fallen behind all-time greats like Matt Bryant and Morten Andersen in extra point percentage. If this is it for Koo in Atlanta—and it might be after the Lenny Krieg signing—he’s had a remarkable second career after the Chargers unwisely and unceremoniously dumped him early on.
Punting
Punts: 184, Bradley Pinion, 9th
Punting yards: 8,577, Bradley Pinion, 9th
Yards per punt: 46.6, Bradley Pinion, 3rd
Net yards per punt: 40.4, Bradley Pinion, tied for 3rd
Touchbacks: 9, Bradley Pinion, 9th
Touchback percentage: 4.9%, Bradley Pinion, 2nd
Inside the 20 punts: 64, Bradley Pinion, 8th
Inside the 20 percenatage: 34.8%, Bradley Pinion, 2nd
Volume-wise, Pinion is never going to catch some Falcons punters of yesteryear, given that this team used to have to punt a lot. He’s also not quite the caliber of punter that Matthew Bosher was, if for no other reason than the lack of highlight reel hits. But Pinion has been one of the more efficient and effective punters this team has had, even if he’s not among the tops of the tops in his peer group NFL-wide over the past few years. The Falcons are hoping he’ll bounce back from a relative down year in 2024.