The 2021 NFL Draft is officially in the books. Many former college players heard their name called over the last few days, while others unfortunately did not. For those not selected during the draft, the dream of playing in the NFL is not over, as teams begun signing undrafted free agents on Saturday evening.
We have been sharing the signings since the draft ended via our UDFA tracker, but we now have an official list of 20 undrafted free agents that have signed with the Atlanta Falcons.
The Falcons announced the signing of the following undrafted free agents:
- CB JR Pace, Northwestern
- RB Javian Hawkins, Louisville
- S Marcus Murphy, Mississippi State
- DE Eli Howard, Texas Tech
- DE Alani Pututau, Adams State
- WR Antonio Nunn, Buffalo
- RB Caleb Huntley, Ball State
- OG Ryan Neuzil, Appalachian State
- LB Erroll Thompson, Mississippi State
- TE John Raine, Northwestern
- QB Feleipe Franks, Arkansas
- OT Jack Batho IV, South Dakota School of Mines
- WR Austin Trammell, Rice
- S Dwayne Johnson, Jr., San Diego State
- OL Bryce Hargrove, Pittsburgh
- OL Joe Sculthorpe, NC State
- OT Kion Smith, Fayetteville State
- DT Zac Dawe, BYU
- DE/LB Kobe Jones, Mississippi State
- LB Dorian Etheridge, Louisville
I have to say, as someone who has been covering undrafted free agents joining the Falcons over the last few years, this is a very good class. A couple names stick out right away, such as running back Javian Hawkins who you could consider a favorite to make the final roster. Additionally, the team doesn’t have much depth at quarterback, so there appears to be a competition and chance for rookie Feleipe Franks to earn the backup quarterback spot which currently only has newly signed quarterback AJ McCarron.
Before writing any of these newly added players off, it’s possible that a couple guys will make the opening week roster, and even contribute. The new coaches, scheme, and general manager mean this is the best opportunity for an undrafted free agent to make the roster over a veteran. The cap situation has been and remains something to monitor, and there’s a couple undrafted free agents from the 2020 class still on the roster such as Chris Rowland, Delrick Abrams and Tyler Hall.