Divine Deablo and Kaden Elliss were as good as advertised, but their running mates got left in the dust.
The Atlanta Falcons made a big bet when they prioritized Deablo at the beginning of the 2025 free agency window and it paid off, but the parlay they had going on the entire room fell short. The Swiss Army Knife known as Kaden Elliss continued to show his value to the defense and shined when he wasn’t stretched too thin.
The 2025 room was almost a perfect reflection of Fontenot’s pros and cons as a GM. His veteran FA addition was solid, but the invested draft pick to shore up the holes became one. Ian Cunningham is going to have to face similar challenges when looking at the room this offseason, and hopefully, he’ll have more well-rounded solutions.
Divine Deablo
The Falcons have been desperately trying to find a linebacker like Divine Deablo since the departure of Deion Jones. He’s an imposing figure who makes teammates look like everyday people, and that carried over to the gridiron. Deablo erased the middle of the field, and his safety background made him a matchup nightmare for tight ends and slots. He was targeted only 34 times and didn’t give up a single receiving touchdown.
I was worried about how he would perform in the run, but those worries were quickly washed away after just a few weeks of play. Deablo had the lowest missed tackle rate in the room (8.2%), which was the 24th-best rate in the league among qualifying linebackers per PFF. It’s a testament to how hard he’s worked on his game and to how well this coaching staff has helped him get to where he is now. His only weakness? Health. Deablo has missed time every year outside of his rookie season with an injury. The Falcons were 8-5 when Deablo suited up and 0-4 without him.
Not everything he did will show up on the stat sheet, but the impact of his loss was felt almost immediately. The Falcons found themselves a real diamond in the rough, and an incoming extension this offseason wouldn’t surprise me in the slightest.
Kaden Elliss
With Deablo handling most of the traditional linebacker duties, Kaden Elliss was able to do what he does best: terrorize the opposing offense from every alignment imaginable. Elliss stuffed the stat sheet; he led the team in tackles (79), finished 3rd in pressures (30), which was second most among all linebackers in the league, had the second most QB hits on the team (9), and finished with the fourth most sacks (4) on the franchise record-setting defense.
The numbers only tell part of the story; a lot of his pressures resulted in production for others. This may have been a pass rush by committee, but the committee doesn’t function the same without him. Elliss created opportunities for others, not just himself, and would have many sack assists if that metric existed. His numbers alone don’t do his season justice.
Elliss isn’t perfect. He led the team in missed tackles (14) and was tied for the most surrendered receiving touchdowns (4). However, it should be noted that two of those touchdowns came when Deablo was out, and Elliss was asked to play like a traditional linebacker more often. When allowed to play his game, Elliss is one of the most disruptive players in football, and it’s hard to imagine the team letting him walk this offseason.
JD Bertrand
Playing linebacker at this level is hard. There was a lot of hope for Bertrand coming into the season, but a rough preseason turned into an even rougher regular season. The speed of the game proved to be too much for the fifth round pick, and his future in this league is now in doubt.
Bertrand doesn’t possess any elite traits, and this showed up when he did manage to be in a spot to make a play, he was often overpowered or just too slow to finish. He’s a player who has to win with his mind and react a step quicker than someone with more speed and agility to succeed. He was able to do this a handful of times, but the bad plays overshadowed his positive efforts. He would end up grading out as the worst LB on the team and 26th worst in the league.
Is it over for Bertrand? That’s hard to say when he plays a position that relies so much on processing ability. If Bertrand can adjust to the speed of the game, then it’s reasonable to believe that he can be in position more often. He would then need to prove he can finish those opportunities. The Falcons shouldn’t risk their future on that development taking place, but throwing him by the wayside would be a tad rash.
Ronnie Harrison
The late camp addition proved to be a well-timed signing. Harrison would end up supplanting Bertrand as the third linebacker in rotation, and it was because he could handle the speed of the game. He also provided some juice in pressure packages, racking up seven pressures and two sacks. For the cost of his services (1.2 M), Harrison was a bargain.
However, there were still faults with his game. Harrison had the highest missed tackle rate (20.6%) in the Falcons linebacker room. His slimmer stature also showed up in the run game, where he struggled taking on linemen. It’s unlikely he’s poised for a larger role in the future, but he’s proved that he can be a serviceable option in relief and has earned a shot at coming back in 2026.
Josh Woods
Woods does not care about his physical well-being, and we respect the hell out of that. Woods shone in the preseason but didn’t see much action on defense once the regular season kicked off. He ended up getting injured after getting an opportunity, but he was mainly here for special teams more than anything. He’s exactly what you would expect from the guy at the end of the room.
2026 Outlook
Three out of five players (Elliss, Woods, and Harrison) will be free agents heading into the offseason. The Falcons would obviously like to prioritize Elliss, but his market will be strong, and other teams will likely be able to offer him more money than the Falcons can at this time. Losing Elliss would throw a wrench into the operation and force the Falcons to invest even more resources in the room. If he stays, upgrading this position group via the draft or lower-tier free-agent signings becomes feasible.
This will be one of the first major challenges for new GM Ian Cunningham, who has expressed a desire to build through the draft. Even if Elliss returns, the Falcons need to have the pipeline ready since he’ll now be on the other side of 30. The third rotational spot is where the room can make the most significant gains, but the new GM will need to take a savvy approach with his limited resources.
If the Falcons can shore up this position group, the defense will be in a good spot to improve on their 2025 campaign. If not, this could become a group that holds them back from taking that next step.