ATLANTA — It's been an eventful offseason for the Atlanta Falcons. The team is committed to Desmond Ridder at quarterback for the 2023 season after letting Marcus Mariota go, and they made moves to shore up the roster on both ends of the field during free agency.
The biggest moves have come on defense, where the team added defensive lineman Calais Campbell and safety Jessie Bates - two top tier starters at key areas of need for the Falcons.
Locked on Falcons host Aaron Freeman spoke about the team's desperate need to improve their pass rush with Kevin Oestreicher on the latest episode of the Locked on NFL podcast.
"Their defense has been a major liability these last several years," Freeman said. "It's been 20 years since the Falcons had a season where they had 40 or more sacks. And that's league average production."
Even at age 36, Campbell certainly helps shore up the pass rush. He has 99 career sacks to his name (42nd all time since 1982) and racked up 5.5 last year with Baltimore in 14 games.
Atlanta also added nose tackle David Onyemata and outside linebacker Kaden Elliss, who combined for 12 sacks last season while members of the New Orleans Saints.
It's clear the Falcons went into the offseason with the goal of improving their pass rush and overall defense, but is it enough for them to overtake the NFC South?
"The NFC South is anybody's race right now," Freeman continued. "It will probably boil down to which team gets the best quarterback play and which team can stay healthy."