In 2023, the Atlanta Falcons defense caught many by surprise. The team had spent the previous offseason adding key contributors like David Onyemata, Mike Hughes, Kaden Elliss, and, most notably, Jessie Bates. The team also drafted Zach Harrison, Clark Phillips, and Demarco Hellams, which might be the best three-player run Terry Fontenot has ever had in the draft. They also hired Ryan Nielsen as the defensive coordinator to orchestrate this rebuilt roster and brought Jerry Gray into the fold to lend his expertise.
This led to Atlanta having one of its best defenses in the past decade.