Zach Harrison

Career StatsD

Year	Team	GP	Sacks	Tkl	TFL
Career		40	8.5	81	13
2025		7	4.5	22	2
2024		17	1.0	26	4.5
2023		16

Current Contract

Contract Value Index (CVI)

The Falcons struck gold with Zach Harrison's four-year, $5.6M extension ($1.4M AAV), a deal that earns an impressive A- CVI and represents one of the shrewdest defensive investments this offseason. Locking up a rotational pass rusher at just $1.4M per year is exceptional value in today's market, where even backup edge defenders routinely command $3-4M annually. At 24 years old, Harrison is entering his athletic prime with room for development, making this contract a classic buy-low opportunity on a player whose production could significantly outpace his compensation. The minimal $1M guaranteed money keeps Atlanta's risk extremely low while the four-year term provides long-term cost certainty at a premium position. This is exactly the type of smart, under-the-radar move that championship teams make — securing quality depth at a fraction of market rate while Harrison's upside remains largely untapped.

Performance Analysis

Zach Harrison is a 24-year-old defensive end in his third NFL season, still carving out a defined role along Atlanta's defensive front. Earning a D overall grade, Harrison remains a developmental piece rather than a cornerstone contributor at this stage. His youth and athleticism keep the ceiling conversation alive, but consistent impact remains elusive across his 40-game career. The most striking element of Harrison's current season is his pass-rush productivity — 0.64 sacks per game against an NFL average of 0.34, flirting with the elite threshold of 0.68. That rate suggests genuine disruptive potential when he wins his matchups. The concern emerges against the run, where his 0.29 TFL per game sits just below the league average of 0.30, raising questions about his every-down reliability and finishing ability. Harrison's season-by-season arc tells a complicated story — a D+ in 2023, a difficult F in 2024, before a C+ rebound this season signals real, if fragile, growth. If his pass-rush efficiency holds and his run-defense tightens, a legitimate breakout remains plausible by 2026.

Current Sentiment

Zach Harrison enters the 2026 campaign with a C-grade public perception — cautiously optimistic on the surface, but increasingly fragile underneath. The dominant media narrative frames him as a talented rotational pass-rusher who has spent three NFL seasons delivering tantalizing flashes without the sustained consistency that separates a trusted starter from a depth piece, and his IR stint in 2025 only deepened the durability questions scouts and front offices are already scrutinizing. That narrative gap between potential and production is reflected directly in a D performance grade, a stark reminder that the highlight-reel moments — most notably his strip-sack that sparked a critical fourth-quarter takeaway — have not yet translated into the week-to-week reliability that earns a permanent role in a defensive rotation. The trade speculation swirling around Harrison is perhaps the loudest signal of where his standing truly sits: Atlanta's own front office has not committed to him long-term, and the Falcons' recent acquisitions — including a trade for Maason Smith along the defensive line and the signings of DeAngelo Malone and Elijah Garcia — suggest the organization is actively hedging its bets rather than building around him. Harrison is the definition of a prove-it player right now, a 24-year-old third-year defender whose ceiling still earns him enough goodwill in the broader football community to avoid an outright negative narrative, but whose perception could shift decisively in either direction once the 2026 regular season arrives in September.