Why Falcons Are 'Really Confident' in Bralen Trice After Lost Rookie Season

Bralen Trice's rookie season ended before it officially began.

The Atlanta Falcons' third-round draft pick in 2024, Trice figured to be a rotational piece in the team's outside linebacker room -- he spent much of OTAs and training camp rotating with the first- and second-string defense.

But late in the first half of Atlanta's preseason opener against the Miami Dolphins on Aug. 9, all expectations crashed and burned.

For several seconds, Trice rolled around the Hard Rock Stadium turf in pain. He was helped to his feet and slowly walked to the sideline with his arms around a pair of Falcons trainers. It was the last time he graced the football field in pads and a helmet in 2024.

Two days later, Atlanta announced Trice suffered a leg injury -- multiple reports later confirmed it as a torn ACL. He was placed on season-ending injured reserve. Four days after that, the Falcons sent a 2025 third-round draft pick to the New England Patriots for outside linebacker Matthew Judon, a four-time Pro Bowler.

Falcons head coach Raheem Morris said the trade for Judon wasn't necessarily in response to Trice's injury, but it "certainly didn't hurt" the team's pursuit. He acknowledged April 1 at the NFL owners meetings in Palm Beach, Fla., that Trice's injury had an impact on other team decisions.

"That was one of the moments that really made us make different decisions and go different routes," Morris said outside The Breakers hotel.

At the time of his injury, Morris said Trice was defining his role with the Falcons, and Atlanta was "thinking about him wanting to become a guy like Judon."

Morris also said Trice would be able to continue growing into his role once he was back healthy. And in Palm Beach, Morris again reiterated his belief in where Trice was headed -- and what he'll ultimately become.

"We're really confident in what Trice was doing (in) the off season last year," Morris said. "We talked about what he had been doing up in the preseason, up at that point, what he was doing in our training camp with roles, what he did in the OTA days. We were really, really excited about seeing him and getting him on the grass into the regular season.

"Unfortunately, we didn't get the chance to see that."

The Falcons' pass rush had a difficult 2024 campaign. Atlanta ranked second-to-last in the NFL with 31 sacks, a number it reached only after a late-season surge saw it tally 21 sacks over the final six weeks. Judon didn't have the impact most expected, as he recorded only 5.5 sacks in 17 games.

Trice alone may not have been enough to fix it. He had a strong final season at the University of Washington in 2023, totaling 11.5 tackles for loss, seven sacks and 53 quarterback hurries. Expecting a third-round rookie to produce at a similar clip is ill-advised.

But as the Falcons turned down a variety of avenues in search of any semblance of pass-rushing life, the injury-related traffic cones blocking them from Trice didn't help.

Neither did the overall lack of production from Atlanta's other rookie defensive linemen, second-round pick Ruke Orhorhoro and fourth-rounder Brandon Dorlus. Orhorhoro, who also battled injuries, registered 11 tackles, one tackle for loss and one quarterback hit in eight games, while Dorlus added three tackles in two appearances. Dorlus was largely a healthy scratch throughout the season.

Morris expects a step forward from each of Orhorhoro, Trice and Dorlus this fall.

"I really got confidence in all those guys," Morris said, "because of the evaluations of the guys that looked at them, the things we've been able to do -- to watch those guys throughout the process and learn and grow. So, I'm really excited about those guys coming back in the second year.

"You make your biggest jumps, your second year, and I'm really looking forward to that."

At a different point, Morris said he believes the Falcons will be better defensively. They replaced safety Justin Simmons with Jordan Fuller, and added outside linebacker Leonard Floyd to their pass rush. At linebacker, Atlanta swapped Nate Landman for Divine Deablo. The Falcons also released franchise staple and team captain Grady Jarrett.

Yet amid the plethora of moving parts, Morris is optimistic in Atlanta receiving additions through injury rehabilitation. The first name he mentioned was Trice.

"Got a lot of people coming back that I'm really excited about," Morris said. "Talking about Trice, Ruke Ruke, Dorlus -- being able to be up this year, be able to help. But some of the last year's draft class is going to be really helpful in us getting better."

Trice married his longtime girlfriend Ariana, a former Washington athlete of her own, in March. That was step one in an important offseason. Step two begins April 22, when the Falcons start their offseason program.

The 24-year-old Trice will get an opportunity to help solve a Falcons pass rush that's been dormant for two decades. Atlanta only has practice reps and a handful of preseason snaps to form its opinion, but it feels Trice can be an answer.

He just needs to stay healthy first.