Atlanta is counting on free-agent defensive end Dante Fowler Jr. to upgrade the team’s pass rush in 2020. Beyond Fowler and Pro-Bowl DT Grady Jarrett, though, the Falcons don’t have any clear long-term options at defensive end.
Fourth-year DE Takk McKinley is one possibility if he can finally have that breakout season many have predicted in recent years. McKinley’s consistent pressure rate would indicate it’s only a matter of time before he posts double-digit sacks, but that obviously hasn’t happened yet.
If the team’s pass rush again struggles this season, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see the Falcons draft an EDGE in next year’s draft.
That’s just what the folks over at Touchdown Wire are forecasting for Atlanta in the site’s “way-too-early” mock draft. TD Wire’s Mark Schofield projects Miami DE Quincy Roche to the Falcons, writing the following:
You can never have enough pass rush in today’s NFL, and the Atlanta Falcons could use another defender to come off the edge. Quincy Roche turned in a tremendous campaign last season for the Temple Owls, notching 13 sacks and finishing the year being named as the American Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Year.
He transferred to Miami over the winter as a graduate, and now gets to align up front with Gregory Rousseau on the opposite edge. That should give him some one-on-one chances, where he does some of his best work. Explosive, powerful and with an array of pass-rushing moves, he should put together another great season and truly boost his draft stock.
Roche previously played at Temple, where Atlanta’s 2020 third-round pick Matt Hennessy went to school. Roche’s transfer to Miami should help his draft stock climb as he gets to play in front of a bigger national audience this season.
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