After a very pedestrian career, De’Vondre Campbell’s time with the Falcons is likely over. Some team is going to offer him a multi-year contract, and the Falcons don’t have the luxury of enough cap space to bring him back. The 4th round pick in 2016 out of Minnesota will finish his Falcons career with 333 tackles, 4.5 sacks, 4 forced fumbles, and 3 INTs. I call Cambpell’s career pedestrian because he’s been so good at times and so frustrating at others. With the draft quickly approaching, Falcons fans are on the hunt for a new linebacker to fill Campbell’s shoes, but that guy could already be on the roster.
The former Yale Safety/Linebacker hybrid turned outside linebacker, Oluokun has already shown he’s ready to take over the role. Foye has graded out as a top 5 Falcons defender multiple times this season. He’s yet to turn the ball over for himself, but he has 152 tackles and 2 Forced Fumbles in 32 games. He finished his rookie season ranked 46th among qualifying linebackers. That’s pretty impressive in limited action as a special teams player and reserve linebacker. Foye was arguably the most important defensive player in Atlanta’s 26-9 upset of the Aints that kept them from a first-round BYE (they would go on to lose on Wild Card Weekend, and will not be playing for a Super Bowl again). Foye led the defense in tackles and helped the Falcons hold New Orleans without a touchdown at home for the first time since 2006.
I think Oluokun will be the biggest surprise of 2020 and often wondered why Quinn did not turn to him more often earlier in the season. He’s going to become an impact player on this defense and outplay his 6th round pick status by a mile. It’s up to Raheem Morris to put him in a position to succeed and Rich McKay/TD to draft some impact players around him to create opportunities. If he can become an average pass rusher and excel in coverage, I think he has the skillset to become a perfect compliment to Deion Jones. We’ll see if Dan Quinn is ready to hand over the position to Foyesade out of camp.