FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. -- Kendal Daniels is under no delusions about why the Atlanta Falcons drafted him in the fourth round last month. It's his versatility.
Last season at Oklahoma, Daniels played just about everywhere on defense, save for the interior of the defensive line. A converted safety, Daniels' official position is linebacker, but he also lined up as a nickel corner and elsewhere in the defensive backfield -- in addition to spending some time as an edge rusher. Sooners coach Brent Venables classified that hybrid role as a "Cheetah."
Daniels is prepared to do any and all of those things now as a rookie in the NFL.
"They want me to go hold [for] the kick on a field goal, I'll go do it," Daniels said Friday at Falcons rookie minicamp.
Daniels is one of two linebackers the Falcons took on the third day of the draft whom they would like to develop into starters, perhaps as replacements for Kaden Elliss, who left in free agency to the rival New Orleans Saints. Elliss led the team in tackles the past two seasons and was one of the best blitzing off-ball linebackers in the league.
The other rookie is Harold Perkins Jr. out of LSU. Perkins is an interesting case because he was projected to be a first-round talent after his first-team All-SEC freshman season when he had 7.5 sacks. Instead, Perkins slid all the way to the sixth round because of regression following 2024 surgery to repair a torn ACL. Perkins did rebound with four sacks and three interceptions in 2025.
Daniels and Perkins are a bit of an odd couple. Daniels is 6-foot-4 and 242 pounds with an impressive 32½-inch arm length. He did not grade as overly athletic or speedy, which dropped his draft stock. Daniels ran a 4.76-second 40-yard dash.
Meanwhile, Perkins ran a 4.4-second 40. He is just 6-foot and 223 pounds, though. Perkins said he was mostly playing weakside linebacker during rookie camp, a position usually reserved for the most athletic and explosive linebacker on a defense.
"It's fun," Perkins said. "Move around, go run and hit. What I love to do ... make plays."
Although some would say both are "positionless" due to traits, Falcons defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich sees opportunity. Last season, he took 6-3 linebacker Divine Deablo, another converted safety, and made him into one of the key cogs of a greatly improved defense that set the franchise sack record (57). Daniels has already been watching Deablo's film to see how he can emulate his game.
And it's not out of the question that Daniels or maybe even Perkins could be playing alongside Deablo as a starter without Elliss around. The Falcons signed Christian Harris in March, and he is likely the front-runner to win that job, but new head coach Kevin Stefanski has made it clear that those roles will have to be earned in training camp. Harris was a starter for the Houston Texans in 2022 and 2023 before a series of injuries.
"I think in this day and age, we're counting on rookies to play in this league oftentimes," Stefanski said. "So, there's no concern about putting a guy out there when they're ready. I think so much of this game is earning a role. If a rookie earns a role, and Week 1 he's ready to go, he'll be out there. I don't think you have the luxury of redshirting players, so to speak."
