And there’s a lot to like about Ebiketie from a football mechanics standpoint. I like his size, his length and his speed. He has a lot of experience at the college level, has a lot of live game reps on his resume (averaged 61.8 defensive snaps per game in 2021). His get-off acceleration is what you want from a guy his size, and he fits the mold of what Dean Pees would want in an edge rusher. Ebiketie has shown growth in both mechanics and overall production through every year he’s played. That’s something coaches and scouts value.
Then, there’s Ebiketie, the person. He’s the first Cameroonian-born player drafted to the NFL. He has a really cool story, one that I know we will get to tell at some point in the coming year.
With the Falcons, there’s already a pressure put on Ebiketie’s shoulders. I’ve already seen a handful of articles entitled something like: “Can the rookie edge rusher change the Falcons pass rush?” And to that I say this: Though the process of fixing the Falcons pass rush may begin with Ebiketie, it’s not solely on him to fix what’s broken.
To me, it’s unrealistic to think he’s going to change the Falcons pass rush immediately and in extreme fashion. In my mind, that is incredibly unrealistic. I see this being a development that will be years in the making and spanning multiple players who come into the building.
Ebiketie isn’t the savior of the Falcons pass rush, but he is a nice start in the right direction.