Mykal Walker, Dante Fowler will have new jersey numbers in 2021

I hope you haven’t recently or previously purchased Mykal Walker or Dante Fowler’s jerseys, because those are about to be outdated. Due to a new NFL rule which was implemented this offseason, players can practically wear whatever number they want to. For example, Atlanta Falcons’ tight end Kyle Pitts will be wearing No. 8, something which could never happen under the old rules.

With that news, it has caused some current members of the team to switch up their numbers. You may remember wide receiver Russell Gage switched from No. 83 to what he now wears, No. 14. Two others have decided to change, as Mykal Walker and Dante Fowler will wear new numbers this fall.

The news that Walker was officially switching from No. 43 to No. 3 isn’t all that shocking. Walker wore No. 3 at Fresno State and had previously hinted that a switch might be coming. The last Falcons’ player to use that number was the great Matt Bryant who kicked for the team from 2009-2019 and currently holds the franchise record for most points scored.

What did surprise me was seeing that defensive end Dante Fowler has changed from No. 56 to No. 6. Throughout his NFL career dating back to 2016, Fowler has always used No. 56. In college however, Fowler wore No. 6 with the University of Florida, which likely explains the change. Hopefully with the return to his old college number, Fowler will bring back his college production as well.