Why Falcons Like Undrafted CB Cobee Bryant

FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. -- Shortly after the end of the 2025 NFL draft, Atlanta Falcons secondary coach Justin Hood's phone lit up five separate times with one Cobee Bryant-themed message.

"Hey, you guys got Cobee?" Hood remembers reading. "That's pretty cool."

Falcons head coach Raheem Morris called Bryant, a cornerback from the University of Kansas, the most famous undrafted free agent he's ever been around. Morris said even his sons knew of Bryant, who's developed an extensive online outreach headlined by 225,000 Instagram followers.

Hood echoed Morris's thoughts on Bryant's popularity, though with a different age group. Of the five texts he received, three were from active NFL players.

"It's funny how many people reached out," Hood told Atlanta Falcons on SI before OTAs. "I think that's what Rah was referring to. I actually got that as well. Just like, 'Man, how do you guys know Cobee?' But, yeah, he's popular."

Morris said before rookie minicamp it's easy to see why Bryant has such notoriety.

His accolades are one reason -- he started 42 of 48 games at Kansas, collected 13 career interceptions and became the first Jayhawk in Big 12 history to earn first-team all-conference honors in three consecutive seasons -- but his film is another.

The first attribute Hood noted is Bryant's ball production. He was tied for third in career interceptions among all defensive backs in the 2025 NFL draft, boasting a skill set that proved beneficial toward forcing turnovers.

"You see the ball skills, and then he's an extremely heady, aware player in regard to how he covers and how he attacks the football," Hood said. "Kind of that rare ability to get the ball out of the air and cover guys. So, he's good in man to man. He's good when the ball's in the air. You really like what he brings in the game, his mentality.

"So, yeah, he's going to be fun to coach."

Though he was an undrafted pickup, Bryant adds to a rookie crop of defensive backs with an impressive pedigree in turnover creation.

Xavier Watts, the Falcons' third-round pick, finished his career at Notre Dame with 13 interceptions and 17 total takeaways. Fourth-round selection Billy Bowman III registered 11 interceptions and 16 total takeaways.

Watts and Bowman ranked second and third, respectively, in takeaways among all safeties in the 2025 draft.

Between the two draftees and Bryant, the Falcons added three defensive backs with a combined 37 interceptions to Hood's secondary. Hood, however, wants the trio to be known as much for their locker room impact as their gaudy statistics -- or, in Bryant's case, expansive social media presence.

"That's important. I never want to discredit that," Hood said about the trio's ball production. "We also talk about the character and the person, and then obviously the football player. And it's never a bad thing when a DB can take the ball out of the air, right? It's a bonus.

"So, when you're evaluating Cobee, when you're evaluating X, when you're evaluating Billy, again, the person first, but then what they're able to do on the football field, take the ball away, makes you fall in love with those guys."

The Falcons hosted the 6' 0", 180-pound Bryant for an official visit during the pre-draft process, which served as an integral introductory meeting between Bryant, Hood, Morris and several others within Atlanta's building.

Morris's interest in Bryant grew during the visit, and Bryant impressed Hood with his intelligence.

"You get a full, 360 (degree) view of the person," Hood said. "Obviously, we had his film from Kansas, and had a chance to get him on the board and talk football and kind of install and talk to him and see his football IQ. So, we spent quite a bit of time evaluating him."

The success of Bryant's visit and the comfort both sides felt with each other ultimately gave the Falcons an advantage during the post-draft recruiting process.

Atlanta drafted Watts, a safety, and Bowman, a safety-turned-nickel corner, but didn't add an outside corner. Morris used this in his recruiting pitch to Bryant, selling the 23-year-old on a "great opportunity to go out there and compete and be the best version of himself," Morris said.

"That was something that was really exciting for me because I had a real clear vision and was able to really speak to him in a real clear fashion," Morris said. "Because I had watched the tape. I'd been around him. I knew what he can do. I knew what he was capable of.

"Whoever we were competing with basically didn't have a chance."

Bryant, who hails from Evergreen, Ala., has no shortage of coaching or veteran leadership at his disposal in Atlanta.

In addition to Hood, the Falcons have Morris and assistant head coach/defense Jerry Gray, both of whom were defensive backs in their playing days and spent considerable time coaching the secondary in the NFL.

Within Hood's secondary room, Bryant can turn to a pair of All-Pro's in cornerback A.J. Terrell and safety Jessie Bates III, who have a combined 12 years of NFL experience.

It's far from a given Bryant makes the Falcons' roster. Due to Atlanta's load management of rookies and what Morris called a "big-time jog through" during mandatory minicamp, depth chart positioning is largely unclear.

In 2024, the Falcons carried five cornerbacks into the regular season and six into the Week 18 finale. Atlanta has 11 corners on its roster exiting minicamp, and almost all of them have a viable case for making the roster.

Terrell, Mike Hughes and nickel Dee Alford took snaps with the first-team defense during OTAs. Kevin King saw time in the Falcons' dime packages late in the 2024 season and offers versatility at outside corner, nickel and safety. Clark Phillips III, a fourth-round pick in 2023, can play inside and outside.

Free agent signee Mike Ford Jr. is a standout special teams player, while fellow free agent addition Keith Taylor played 132 special teams snaps for the AFC Champion Kansas City Chiefs last season. There's also Natrone Brooks, who played in nine games for the Falcons in 2024.

Rounding out the group of Bryant's 10 competitors, Atlanta has undrafted rookie Dontae Manning and returning practice squad member Lamar Jackson, who made an interception during the final session of minicamp.

Toss in Bowman, who's worked mostly in the slot during his first several professional practices, and the Falcons have significant competition at corner.

Thus, Bryant's road to a roster spot -- and playing time -- is muddy. He did, however, make a strong impression on Hood in his first few weeks in the cornerback room.

"He's good," Hood said about Bryant's presence. "What you would expect, you know, just in terms of everything we saw in the evaluation process."

The biggest test for Bryant hasn't come yet. Atlanta starts training camp July 24 at IBM Performance Field in Flowery Branch, and it begins the preseason Aug. 8 against the Detroit Lions.

When pads come on, one-on-one matchups take place and reps grow in importance, Bryant's performance will dictate not only the length of his stay in Atlanta, but also the brightness of his fame-fueled spotlight.