Falcons draft gamble draws major praise from Raiders' Maxx Crosby | Sporting News

The 2025 NFL Draft may have ended with most of the conversation still centered on Shedeur Sanders .

However, the Atlanta Falcons aggressive first-round strategymaking two selectionsquickly became the other headline.

The Falcons had been desperate for a pass rush for years.

They hadnt used a first-round pick on defense in four years, and hadnt seriously addressed the edge position since selecting Vic Beasley in 2015.

This year, Atlanta doubled down.

The Falcons used the No.

15 overall pick on Georgias Jalon Walker and followed that by trading up to No.

26 to draft Tennessees James Pearce Jr .

Depending on the outlet, reviews on the Falcons strategy have been mixed.

ESPNs Mel Kiper gave the team a C grade , noting that trading away next years first-round pick to the Los Angeles Rams was too steep a price .

However, the Falcons earned strong praise from a fellow edge rusher: Las Vegas Raiders star Maxx Crosby.

Atlanta Falcons...

they need pass rush.

They need to get after the quarterback, Crosby said on the Full Send Podcast when asked what excited him about this years draft.

Were going all in.

Were drafting two d-ends in the first round.

We dont give a f---.

Its the two best athletes we think in our opinion.

They got two young ballers who are going to go in there and develop and hopefully be two bookends for years to come.

Thats what they envision in those guys.

And both of them, Ive watched their filmdogs! Thats high praise from a fellow pass rusher who has racked up 59.5 sacks so far in his career.

As for the Falcons decision to give up their 2026 first-rounder, Sports Illustrateds Albert Breer noted in his Monday column that the team wasnt too concerned about the long-term risk.

Conceptually, the idea was that if they went up for Pearce, theyd simply be getting next years first-rounder a year early, at the cost of knocking their pick on Day 2 down, Breer wrote.

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