Falcons reportedly signing offensive lineman Jaryd Jones-Smith

Atlanta’s trying to bolster their depth by dipping into the UFL’s ranks.

The other day we wrote about how the Atlanta Falcons have opted to keep their offensive line more or less the same as it was a year ago, at least for the top seven or so players, as a reflection of the strength of that group. It is clear that the team isn’t wholly satisfied with their depth options beyond that, especially at tackle, as they have been making moves in the last couple of weeks.

The latest is the addition of former St. Louis Battlehawk Jaryd Jones-Smith, as reported by NFL insider Aaron Wilson last night. The 2018 undrafted free agent out of Pittsburgh has appeared in six NFL games, none since 2021, and has two seasons in the XFL/UFL with the Battlehawks where he made the All-XFL/All-UFL team.

Jones-Smith is a big (6’7”, 320 pounds listed) tackle who came into the league with some intrigue for his pass protection capabilities. That may help him stand out a bit in a group of would-be tackle hopefuls behind Jake Matthews, Kaleb McGary, and Storm Norton who haven’t necessarily shown high-end ability in that regard, though it’s obviously a crowded group in Atlanta at the moment and Jones-Smith is facing an uphill battle to make the roster. The team’s strong likelihood of carrying multiple linemen on the practice squad does mean there’s room for an impressive tackle or two to snag a spot, though, and Jones-Smith stands as good of a chance as anyone.

Falcoholic reader and avid UFL/XFL watcher BraveDirtyHawk had a positive take on the signing on X/Twitter. Leagues and platforms need to stop changing their names, in my opinion.

This is yet another example of the Falcons looking at other leagues for talent. Last August, the team imported four former XFL players for the summer’s competition, and prior to that they snapped up offensive lineman Barry Wesley (who is still on the team), Lukas Denis (ditto), and LaCale London (who is still here and briefly impressed last season). It would be entirely fair to expect the Falcons to sign more UFL options this summer, in other words, and based on recent history you should expect a couple to at least make the practice squad.

Give Jones-Smith a warm welcome to Atlanta, and we’ll see how he fares when the Falcons take the practice field again for training camp in late July.