Falcon Adds Depth to Lackluster Pass Rush, Old Texans’ LB Log

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Dante Pettis #18 of the San Francisco 49ers was tripped by Duke Ejiofor #53 of the Houston Texans in 2018.

The Atlanta Falcons no day off, adding new players to their roster every day this week.

On Thursday, the team added a 19th player to their list of reserve/future contracts by signing outside defender Duke Ejiofor.

The Falcons have a number of needs to address this season, and adding some extra help to their lackluster passing fever is one of them after they wrap up the final ranked 2021 season.

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Ejiofor Went by His Hometown Group

After three years at Wake Forest University, Ejiofor was selected by the Houston Texans in the sixth round (177th overall) of the 2018 NFL Draft, his hometown team.

It was a big surprise for him as the Texans were not interested in him in the post-match NFL scouting period.

“Initially, I didn’t think they were interested in me,” Ejiofor said in a post-draft interview in 2018, through CHRON. “To see them call me is the luckiest thing in the world.”

The 6-4, 275-pound OLB was expected to go higher in the draft and get a lot of interest from the New England Patriots but a roadblock injury reduced his draft value.

Ejiofor’s best season at Wake Forest was his final, where he scored 50 tackles, 17 conceded, 10.5 clearances, one interception and two fumbles when still a junior. Across 38 games in three seasons as Demon Deacon, Ejiofor registered 122 tackles and 23.5 sacks.

As an NFL rookie, he’s played in 12 games but only scored a single dismissal, his only game to date.

Ejiofor’s football career has included more than just his college injury defeat, as he tore the ACL in 2019 and 2020, missing out on consecutive seasons. He returned in 2021 but was given up by Houston after he failed to make it.

There’s no telling how he’d have spent the 2021 season if he hadn’t been on a team but he need to trained if the Falcons were keeping an eye on him for one of their most desperate needs.

Falcon signs 18 other reserve/future contracts

Ejiofor joins 18 Other New Falcons Players who signed the reserve/futures contract last week.

Here is the complete list so far:

DB Cornell Armstrong
CV Willie’s Beaver
OLB Quinton Bells
LB Jordan Brailford
LB Dorian Etheridge
WR Chad Hansen
RB Caleb Huntley
DB Luther Kirk
P Dom Maggio
CV Ryan Neuzil
DB Lafayette Pitts
TE John Raine
LB Rashad Smith
DE Nick Thurman
WR Austin Trammell
DB DeAundre Alford
WR / TE Brayden Lenius
CB / KR Corey Ballentine
OLB Duke Ejiofor

It seems the only outside substitute Ejiofor has faced on this list so far is Quinton Bell, who has spent the entire 2021 season on the Falcons’ practice team. Bell entered the league a year after Ejiofor and doesn’t have much more experience than he does other than playing roles on Buccaneers specials teams before heading to Atlanta, so it looks like it will be a fair competition.

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