What It Means:

Beasley's 33 hurries and five quarterback hits as a rookie are nothing to scoff at, but Atlanta wants more than the four sacks Beasley was able to manage. Beasley is expected to move to strong-side linebacker in the base defense, but most of his snaps will likely come off the edge as a rusher. Beasley's 33 hurries were 12th most among 48 qualified 4-3 ends last season.

Our algorithms project Beasley for 44 total tackles, 6 sacks and 3 passes defended this year. He's outside the top 100 projected fantasy linebackers going into training camp. With the 21st-ranked defense in the league last year, per our Adjusted Defensive Net Expected Points (NEP) per play metric, the Falcons are looking for a big boost.