Adding a veteran in Jordan Fuller and a gifted rookie in Xavier Watts makes the safety group look good as hell.
The Atlanta Falcons had an uncertain safety group heading into this offseason, with Justin Simmons hitting free agency, DeMarcco Hellams still a question mark coming off a major injury, and not much else to speak of. With a pair of moves, the Falcons turned a position that was shaky outside of Jessie Bates into a position that looks among the roster’s strongest.
They did so by spending a third round pick on a talented, ballhawking rookie safety and signing a capable veteran who is familiar with Raheem Morris, creating depth and competition where none existed before. The net result is that the Falcons now have perhaps the best safety in the NFL, two capable players vying for a starting role, and a fourth safety who has starting experience, real value near the line of scrimmage, and considerable special teams acumen.
Let’s take a look at the position group after the draft.
Starter
Jessie Bates
The no-brainer in the group. Bates is a superlative player and the best defender Atlanta has, a player who makes game-changing plays on a regular basis thanks to his range, physicality, and eagerness to create turnovers. He has 10 interceptions and seven forced fumbles over the past two seasons; no one in the NFL has more combined turnovers from 2023-2024.
While Bates had a tiny bit of an off year by his standards thanks to the morass that was Jimmy Lake’s defense last year, he’s still a preposterously good, durable safety who teams have to try to avoid over the middle of the field. As long as he’s here, this secondary has a higher floor than they would otherwise, and if I write more it will just be to wax poetic about his ability.
Competing for a starting role
Jordan Fuller, Xavier Watts
The two players vying for a role next to Bates were not on the Falcons roster in 2024; Justin Simmons has not re-signed and Richie Grant is off to the 49ers. We can’t say with confidence that the winner of the Fuller/Watts competition will be better than the 2024 version of Simmons, but I feel good about the possibility.
Fuller is the veteran addition, and the former Rams safety had his best seasons under Raheem Morris. He is a very capable run defender who has a mixed track record in coverage, something Fuller can mitigate a bit with his aggression and ability to make plays on the ball. As a potential stopgap starter if Watts can’t unseat him immediately, he’s likely to do just fine. As a reserve if he loses the job to Watts, he’s a mighty useful player to have around, and is young enough that his dismal season in a dismal Panthers secondary last year should be thought of as a bit of an aberration.
Of course, we’ll all be a little disappointed if Watts doesn’t win the job. A college ballhawk who was widely hailed as a huge steal in the third round, Watts is an extremely smart, instinctive safety who creates havoc in coverage and needs some fine-tuning with his run defense and tackling, but has all the tools to be a quality starter. If he has a strong summer, the job is his, and he has the sort of ceiling that makes you think he could hold down a starting job for a long, long time in Atlanta.
Reserves
DeMarcco Hellams, Benny Sapp, Kevin King
I view Hellams as a roster lock, though the addition of Fuller and Watts probably takes him out of the running for a starting job. If he’s healthy, Hellams is an absurdly good fourth safety, as he showcased genuinely terrific run defense chops in his first season, held his own in coverage to an unexpected extent, and has the tackling skills and instincts to continue to be an asset on special teams. I’ll look forward to getting a health update sooner than later, but Hellams is one of the reasons this safety group suddenly looks strong and deep.
There’s an open question as to whether the Falcons will keep five safeties, but King makes a lot of sense in a hybrid role if they’re thinking about it. Last year, King was a useful special teamer who played outside, in the slot, and dabbled at safety, and that kind of emergency utility is valuable in its own right.
Sapp is a January signing who showed a nose for the ball and physicality in college that he hasn’t had many chances to translate over to the pros, but there’s enough talent here to land him on the team’s practice squad coming out of the summer. He just needs a quality training camp and preseason to improve his chances.
Overall, the Falcons have one plus starter, another intriguing rookie, a seasoned starter who would make a high-end reserve, a talented reserve with special teams acumen, and a couple of versatile deep reserves who could push for a final roster spot. There are question marks all over the defense and the Fuller/Watts battle winner is not guaranteed to be great in 2025, but I feel good about the talent assembled here.
Do you?