DeMarcco Hellams didn’t just survive cut-down day. He may have positioned himself for the kind of season that changes how the Falcons talk about their secondary.
Atlanta secondary coach Justin Hood told ESPN’s Marc Raimondi that Hellams has looked better than he has in the three years Hood has been around him, and that matters because the fourth-year safety has spent most of his NFL run building value in the margins. He’s entering the final year of his rookie deal, has played in 25 games with four starts, and has already carved out a role as a hard-hitting special teams piece with 16 tackles there.
Hellams was one of three Falcons safeties to make the initial 53-man roster, alongside Jessie Bates III and Xavier Watts. He was also one of 13 defensive backs to survive the cuts, and then stuck around after the Monday roster updates as well. That part matters, because the roster math opened a lane for him.
The Falcons moved on from safety Jammie Robinson and defensive back Natrone Brooks, who had been cross-trained at multiple spots, including safety. That leaves Hellams with the snaps and responsibilities those players might have had in the mix, especially on special teams.
There’s also a defensive angle here. If Bates III or Watts were to miss time, Hellams would be next in line. He already took first-team reps over Sydney Brown while Bates dealt with a back injury, which tells you where the team sees him in the pecking order.
The improvement Hood pointed to sounds less like a sudden reinvention and more like a cleaner version of the player Hellams has always been. His reputation has long been built on violence in the open field - the kind of tape that earned him the “Hit Man (Hellams)” label - but the staff’s emphasis has been on discipline in practice and in preseason film.
That’s a meaningful shift for a player whose background already screams production. At Alabama, he played in 54 games under Nick Saban and put together a résumé that included 261 tackles, 17 PBUs, 7.5 TFLs, 4 INT, 2.5 sacks, 1 FF, and 1 FR.
As a senior, he led the entire Crimson Tide defense in tackles while playing at the third level of the defense. Before that, he came out of DeMatha Catholic High School with the kind of pedigree that made him a known commodity long before the NFL ever called.
Now the opportunity is there for him to do more than just hit and cover kicks. With the roster spot secure and the special teams load likely growing, Hellams has a real chance to turn this into his best season yet. As long as he stays healthy, that path is wide open.
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