Falcons rookie report for Week 9: Tyler Allgeier’s breakout day

Time to check in on Atlanta’s 2022 rookie class.

It’s the weekly Falcons rookie report, sliding over to Tuesday instead of Thursday because the game is coming in a hurry this week.

This week, we’re talking about miscues, quiet weeks, and a big Tyler Allgeier game. Let’s get to it.

WR Drake London: Rough effort Sunday

Someday, London will be a good-to-great top receiver. The talent is there and the offense will, given time, find a way to feature him. We’re just not there yet, and London had perhaps his most frustrating game of the entire season.

London had just three catches for 23 yards on the day, had one Marcus Mariota pass sail way over his head, and lost a critical, costly fumble when Khalil Mack simply took the ball out of his hands as London was fighting for extra yardage. As was the case with Ta’Quon Graham and his fumble, I respect the strong desire to keep fighting, but unfortunately it wound up being a mistake in this instance.

London hasn’t gone over 50 yards since Week 3 and the fantastic early season connection with Mariota has waned. Better days are ahead and London remains a useful blocker and legitimate talent, but I don’t know when we’ll see him break back out.

OLB Arnold Ebiketie: Starting and quietly working

A similar sort of week for Ebiketie, who has been making plays here and there and getting pressure, but hasn’t closed those out with sacks. He’s playing increased snaps in recent weeks and remains one of the team’s better and more promising pass rushers, so as frustrating as it is to hear me say this on a weekly basis, Ebiketie will get there.

ILB Troy Andersen: Close to a sack, limited snaps

Andersen graded out very poorly per Pro Football Focus despite a near-sack—he had his arm around Justin Herbert—and a batted pass on Sunday. The ups and downs have certainly been there, but the more experience Andersen gets, the better for this defense given his sky-high potential.

QB Desmond Ridder: Clipboard commander

The Ridder debut is likely inching closer, but we’re not there and it would be a stunner if it happened on a short week against the Panthers. He once again did not play a single snap on Sunday.

OLB DeAngelo Malone: Continuing quality work as a reserve

Malone is only playing about a dozen snaps per game, but he’s clearly talented and will find his way into a larger role down the line. In the meantime, Malone remains a useful reserve.

RB Tyler Allgeier: Another big day

I write about the Falcons, but I’m also a fan at the end of the day, and like any fan I have players I wind up investing a lot of faith in. Allgeier is certainly one of those players, and I scooped him up in fantasy and talked him up a bit this summer because I was a big believer in the talent and fit in Atlanta.

He didn’t have a real role to start the year and his production has waxed and waned, but Allgeier had a couple big days leading up to Sunday. With Cordarrelle Patterson returning, Allgeier’s role didn’t diminish, and he went nuts on 11 touches, putting up 99 yards on the ground on just 10 carries and adding a 24 yard catch-and-run. He may never be a true feature back in this offense—Atlanta has Caleb Huntley and Patterson and may want to add more talent down the line—but he’s a terrific member of the backfield.

DL Timothy Horne: A major part of the defensive line rotation

The Falcons just like Horne, who was an active and disruptive force as a run defender in this one. Horne has made himself a fixture in this rotation, and even with major upgrades to the line likely on the way in the offseason, he should be able to hold on to a long-term reserve role.

LB Nate Landman: Inactive

Landman has had a tiny role on defense and a larger one on special teams this year, but he was inactive in this one as Nick Kwiatkoski took on a large special teams role. If that continues, we may not see Landman again for a while.

WR Jared Bernhardt: No snaps the past three weeks

Bernhardt was actually active this week—Bryan Edwards was inactive, which, oof—but did not actually receive any offensive or special teams snaps.