The Atlanta Falcons have turned things around over the last couple of weeks after an absolute disaster of a start to the year, climbing back to 2-2 after falling into an 0-2 hole and being completely embarrassed in the two defeats.

Needless to say, the return of Michael Penix Jr. has been the biggest difference maker after some atrocious offensive play, but really, this team is having success on the backs of a defense that has been absolutely sensational. With the best rushing defense in the league statistically and a unit that is getting after opposing quarterbacks at a very high rate, Atlanta has been building something special on that side of the ball.

One of the major bright spots of the defense has been the young playmakers, and one is standing out more so than anyone else. The Falcons drafted Harold Perkins Jr. out of LSU in the sixth round last April, but it became clear quickly during training camp that he would be a key part of the plan. Advanced statistics from PFF show just how tremendous he has been so far.

Perkins is ahead of guys who were top-10 overall picks like Arvell Reese and Sonny Styles with an overall grade of 82.6 as well as second round pick Josiah Trotter and third round pick Jaishawn Barham. This is a player who was once seen as the best defender in college football during the early portion of his LSU career, but injuries and positional fit questions over the next couple of years pushed him down draft boards.

Perkins has shown during the early portion of his career in the NFL that he is still the player who lit the nation on fire as a freshman in Baton Rouge, and right now he's making other teams pay for passing on him.

If he can continue to get better, it's going to be a scary sight for the rest of the league, but the early indications are that the Falcons got a massive steal by drafting Perkins as late as they did.

Atlanta's defense is shutting teams down, and Perkins is a huge part of why that is happening. Perhaps he can be a future cornerstone of this Falcons defense, and on the trajectory he's going right now, it very much looks like that could be the case for Perkins.