FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. — The 2024 Falcons have not been strangers to adjustments. The team has made adjustments ranging from personnel usage and alignment to swapping out quarterbacks, all in service of reaching the playoffs for the first time since 2017. The way the team has deployed linebacker Kaden Elliss this season has been among its most impactful decisions.

Elliss isn't quite the national name that his play would suggest. A fresh Pro Bowl snub illustrates that.

The former New Orleans Saint followed Ryan Nielsen to Atlanta in 2023 when Nielsen took over as the Falcons' defensive coordinator. He had an impressive first season with the Falcons, starting all 17 games and totaling 122 tackles while adding four sacks, six quarterback hits and three passes defensed. If there were any questions about Elliss' fit in Atlanta's new defense under head coach Raheem Morris and defensive coordinator Jimmy Lake, those have been dispelled.

The sixth-year veteran out of Idaho has a career-high 140 tackles (81 solo) with five sacks, 16 quarterback hits, three passes defensed, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery. He snagged the first interception of his career in Atlanta's Sunday night tilt against the Washington Commanders. Elliss is the only player in the league this season to record 120+ tackles and five sacks.

Since 2000, Elliss is one of just four players — including Shaquille Leonard (2018), NaVorro Bowman (2013), and Keith Bulluck (2004) — to post 140+ tackles, five-or-more sacks, one interception and a strip sack in the same season. That might sound like adding a lot of stats together to find something that hasn't been done very often, but both Leonard and Bowman earned All-Pro honors for their efforts in those seasons. Being in that rare company speaks to Elliss' versatility and the way the Falcons have deployed him.

A hallmark of Elliss' skill set is his versatility. Despite playing an off-ball linebacker, he bucks convention on what those players are typically asked to do and gives Atlanta freedom in its defensive calls.

For example, off-ball linebackers don't generally contribute to the pass rush beyond the occasional blitz. Elliss is tied with Tampa Bay's Lavonte David for the most quarterback pressures by an off-ball linebacker with 34. His 23.1% pressure rate is the eighth highest in the NFL, according to Next Gen Stats.

On the season, Elliss has 147 pass rush snaps, also according to Next Gen Stats. That ranks third among off-ball linebackers as only Washington's Frankie Luvu (203) and Minnesota's Blake Cashman (150) have more. Only nine off-ball linebackers in the NFL have more than 100 pass-rush snaps this season, which illustrates how rare it is for a player to produce at Elliss' level as well as the unique nature of his deployment.

Atlanta has used Elliss as a key chess piece in its pass rush plan, utilizing him in simulated pressures, creepers, blitzes and straight four-man rushes. For Elliss to have the pass rush production he does as an off-ball linebacker, you would expect him to have a high blitz rate. In some ways that's true as Elliss' 24.6% blitz rate ranks eighth among linebackers with at least 50 pass rush snaps and third of those with at least 100 pass rush snaps.

Relatively speaking, that is on the higher end. However, Atlanta ranks 16th in the NFL in blitz rate at 26.6% and every off-ball linebacker with at least 100 pass rush snaps is on a team with a higher blitz rate.

All that to say, the Falcons are getting good bang for their buck when blitzing Elliss.

Elliss has made his biggest impact though on four-man rushes, typically simulated pressures or creepers.

A simulated or 'sim' pressure is when the defense aligns pre-snap with five or more players on the line of scrimmage, showing a pressure look, but then drops players back into coverage while sending four players to rush the quarterback. On a creeper, the defense will align pre-snap in a base look but drop a defensive lineman or edge defender into coverage while rushing a linebacker or secondary player as part of its four-man rush.

Atlanta runs simulated pressers on 2.4% of dropbacks, one of the higher rates in the NFL, and deploys creepers on 3.4% of dropbacks, according to Next Gen Stats.

Overall, Atlanta drops a line of scrimmage defender on 42.3% of dropbacks, which is the second highest rate in the NFL behind the Minnesota Vikings. Dropping a line of scrimmage defender helps Atlanta's defense disguise its intentions with Elliss.

Utilizing Elliss in this way has unlocked his pass-rush potential. According to Tru Media, Elliss leads all off-ball linebackers with four sacks on plays with a four-man pass rush. He's accomplished that on 56 pass rush snaps, which is solid production. However, diving a little deeper into the numbers shows a shift Atlanta made in how it uses Elliss that has paid massive dividends.

Since Week 13, Elliss leads the league with three sacks on four-man rushes. He also ranks second among off-ball linebackers in pass rush snaps on four-man rushes. This is where Atlanta made a tweak. Over the first 12 weeks of the season, Elliss was used on four-man rushes 26 times (one sack). Over the last five weeks, Elliss has had 30 such plays. That increase in frequency has led to an increase in production.

Among all players, Elliss is tied for fourth in the NFL with four sacks over the last five weeks. Those sacks have come on just 63 pass rush snaps, according to Tru Media. Elliss has 28 fewer snaps than the NFL's sack leader over that span, teammate Arnold Ebiketie (five), and 49 fewer pass rush snaps than any other player to record at least four sacks during that time.

Additionally, the Falcons are the only team with two players with four or more sacks since Week 13, joining the Kansas City Chiefs.

While his pass-rushing production has increased, Elliss has also been one of Atlanta's most reliable defenders in the run game and as a tackler in coverage.

He has 67 stops, which are tackles that result in a successful play for the defense, and ranks 11th among linebackers with 70 tackles on designed run plays. He has also added eight tackles for loss. Elliss has been deployed all over the field, as he averages 17.5 yards of distance covered for every tackle he makes and has 10 hustle stops (or tackles that result in a successful play for the defense where he covers at least 20 yards).

The way Atlanta's defensive coaching staff has deployed Elliss this season, particularly since the bye week has played a major role in the unit's stabilization over the course of the season. He should headline any list of Pro Bowl snubs and be in the conversation when naming All-Pro players at the end of the season.

More on Atlanta's defensive turnaround

A big topic at the start of the season was Atlanta's struggles rushing the passer. And since the bye? The narrative has flipped.

Atlanta was mostly getting pressures to start the season but wasn't getting to the quarterback as many had wanted and hoped. In the first 12 weeks of the season, the Falcons defense had the second lowest pressure rate in the league at 26.6%, according to Next Gen Stats, and had only recorded 10 sacks, the lowest total.

In Weeks 1-12, Atlanta's opponents averaged 357.1 yards per game, which ranked 25th in the NFL. Since Week 13, Atlanta's opponents have been limited to 303.3 yards per game, the sixth-fewest in the league. Opponents are now only averaging 5.1 yards per play, the seventh-fewest, as opposed to when the Falcons opponents were averaging 6.2 yards per play in the first 12 games of the season.

Defensive coordinator Jimmy Lake told the media last week that their "rush defense has been the best it's been in the last month, and that's what (allows) us to be able to go after the passer," and we've most certainly seen that.

Since Week 13, Atlanta's defense has held teams to an average of 99.4 rushing yards per game, tied with the Los Angeles Rams for the sixth-lowest output allowed, and opponents are only averaging 4.4 rushing yards per rush, per TruMedia.

Starting fast

The defense took the mentality of "starting fast" to another level after the bye.

In the first half of games, Atlanta has allowed only the third-lowest output (41.1) against the run, a vast improvement since the start of the season when they held their opponents to 71.0 yards per game in the first half, ranked 29th in the league. The Falcons also have limited their opponents to 3.9 yards per rush since Week 13, tied for the fourth-fewest in the NFL. In Weeks 1-12, the unit allowed 4.8 yards per rush, ranked 26th in the league.

The sacks have most certainly come since the bye, many of which have come in the first half of games. Their ability to affect the quarterback early in the game and get him to the ground has drastically helped them get teams off the field quickly. The unit has notched a league-leading 12 sacks in the first 30 minutes of regulation, the next-best total being eight from Green Bay.

Successful pass rush

Lake told the media last week that, "before you get to the pass rush, you've got to be able to stop the run." The unit has most certainly improved in rush defense, which has allowed them to make a drastic improvement in the pass rush. Per Next Gen Stats, Atlanta's defense has notched a 10.4% sack percentage, the highest total in the league since the bye, which is attributed to their 21 sacks registered, also the league lead.

Atlanta has recorded at least three sacks in each of their last five games, the longest active streak in the NFL. Ten different Falcons have each recorded a sack in that span, with a few notching multi-sack games. It's no secret the Falcons' pass rush has come alive these last few weeks.