Projecting the Atlanta Falcons individual and team sack totals for 2017

Good morning, everyone! Many of you hopefully have the day off, but you’re not getting out of doing some math.

This morning, I sat down and tried to guess where the Falcons will arrive at for a team sack total. A year ago, they snagged 34, but 15.5 of those were due to Vic Beasley alone, and the defense should be better this season. I think a jump all the way to 40 is within reason (really!), and I think while Beasley’s share of that decreases, other players will step up in a major way to make up the slack. Here’s my projections.

2017 Sack Projections

Team total: 40 (34)

Vic Beasley: 11 (15.5)

Takkarist McKinley: 5 (N/A)

Derrick Shelby: 3.5 (0)

Adrian Clayborn: 3 (5)

Grady Jarrett: 4 (3)

Dontari Poe: 2.5 (1.5)

Ra’Shede Hageman: 1 (2)

Jack Crawford: 2 (3.5)

Deion Jones: 1 (0)

De’Vondre Campbell: 2 (0)

Duke Riley: 1 (0)

Brooks Reed: 1.5 (2)

Desmond Trufant: 1 (2)

Brian Poole: 1.5 (1)

Keanu Neal: 1 (0)

Will this translate into a better pass rush overall? I think so, mostly because McKinley figures to be an impactful addition after he warms up, Poe will help the defensive line, and the front seven overall looks deep, balanced, and talented.

For what it’s worth, the last time the Falcons had 40 sacks in a season came back in 2004, when that excellent squad put up 48. The Falcons are in a long drought, and hopefully this is the year they get out of it.

What say you?