Atlanta Falcons signed a surprisingly talented undrafted free agent on offense that the rest of the NFL forgot to draft

The Atlanta Falcons clearly wanted to make a huge splash on the defensive side of the ball in the 2025 NFL Draft. General manager Terry Fontenot added a hybrid linebacker edge stud in Jalon Walker, an elite pass rusher in James Pearce Jr., then added two defensive backs to help completely reshape the Falcons defense. But despite all the in-draft additions on defense, that didn't stop him from making some extremely underrated undrafted free agent signings on offense.

There were a handful of excellent signings, but one UDFA talent stood out on offense more than most among the new the Falcons signings: Joshua Simon, TE South Carolina.

Joshua Simon, TE South Carolina

Joshua Simon began his career as a completely overlooked tight end recruit out of small town South Carolina, but quickly proved himself as one of the most productive tight ends in the nation. Simon caught 30 receptions for over 400 yards with Western Kentucky as a true freshman way back in 2019. From there he continued to thrive regardless of several coaching changes and an eventual transfer up to South Carolina.

Simon wrapped up his college career with nearly 3,000 snaps of experience, capping things off with an exclamation point last season operating as South Carolina's de facto WR1. Simon led the Gamecocks in receptions (40), receiving yards (519), and receiving touchdowns (7) from the tight end position. Then he showed up to the NFL Combine and ran the fastest forty-yard dash time there among tight ends (4.66 seconds). Still, Simon somehow went undrafted.

Yes, the Falcons still have Kyle Pitts as their primary receiving threat at tight end. Charlie Woerner should remain the team's first choice at blocking tight end, at least for now. However, that doesn't mean that Joshua Simon can't force his way into a role with the Falcons, and quickly.

The other tight ends on the team are extremely low upside retread talents. Teagan Quitoriano is another blocker with nine total catches in three NFL seasons. Feleipe Franks is a converted quarterback with very limited career action. Joshua Simon immediately becomes the clear favorite to earn the team's TE3 role, if not become far more than that.

Charlie Woerner–while he's an extremely good blocker–is a virtual zero in the receiving department. If Simon can prove to even be a replacement level blocker in the NFL (which admittedly wasn't his strong suit in college), he should push Woerner for snaps before the end of his rookie season. Simon can do too many things as a receiver, line up from anywhere, and creates a new kind of mismatch problem for the offense when they run 12 personnel. Keep an eye on Simon this summer as he might just rise swiftly up the Falcons' depth chart.