clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

Jonathan Babineaux, longest-tenured Falcon, can hit a couple of milestones in 2016

Baineaux can set games played and sack milestones

Jason Getz-USA TODAY Sports

I don't think we appreciate Jonathan Babineaux enough, sometimes. He's never been the best defensive tackle in the NFL, but he's been the best one on the Falcons for many years, and heading into 2016 he should still have relevance for Atlanta.

He's also heading for the team history books, if all goes well, with three potential milestones. Here they are:

  1. With 22 tackles, he'll move into the team's top ten list for tackles, and we're going to ignore the fact that some franchise greats didn't have their tackle counts recorded;
  2. With three sacks, he'll tie Mike Pitts for the second-most sacks recorded by a Falcons  player who primarilyl played defensive tackle, and with four, he'll pass Pitts entirely. It'd be awesome to see him catch Travis Hall, who owns the franchise record, but given that Hall has 41.5 and Babineaux is heading into the year with 27, we're gonna call that one unlikely;
  3. If he plays ten games in 2016, he'll be fifth all-time in games played for the Falcons, period. He'll blow by Roddy White for 6th place in just three games.
Longevity and consistently quality play have conspired to keep Babineaux around for a long time, and he's winding up on a list of Falcons greats I'd say he belongs on. Kudos to him, and may he hit all three milestones in 2016.