Grady Jarrett could have been the Super Bowl MVP if the Falcons hadn’t blown it

If you hadn’t heard of Falcons defensive tackle Grady Jarrett before Super Bowl LI, you probably noticed him sacking Tom Brady not once, not twice, but three times.

Jarrett is only the second player to ever sack Brady three times in a single game. He also tied a Super Bowl record with his three sacks on Brady. Still, it wasn’t enough for the young defensive tackle. He wanted a win.

“I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t awesome,” Jarrett said about his performance in the loss. “It felt good, but at the end of the day, I wanted the win more than anything — for myself, for my team, for my city. It just hurts when you come this far, and this close, and come up short.”

Jarrett, like many of Atlanta’s young defenders, flew under the radar last season. A fifth-round draft pick out of Clemson in the 2015 NFL draft, the second-year defender has quietly become a key component of the Falcons’ scrappy defense.

He was projected to be drafted as high as the second or third round, but fell to the third day because at 6’0 and 305 pounds he’s undersized by conventional defensive tackle standards. Jarrett was a value pick, and he just happened to have the best game of his career against Brady and the Patriots.

The Super Bowl won’t be the last time you see him making an impact up front for the Falcons defense. He’ll be a fundamental part of Atlanta’s defensive attack for years to come.

A few key things to know about Grady Jarrett:

Jarrett comes from Falcons royalty. His father, Jessie Tuggle, is one of the most beloved players in team history.

Tuggle was a member of the 1998 Falcons team that made it to the Super Bowl, only to get run over by the Denver Broncos, losing 34-19.

He was also a five-time Pro Bowler and three-time All Pro in Atlanta, who was undersized like his son, but earned the nickname of “The Hammer” because he hit like a truck.

“He’s going to give you everything he has on game day, and that’s the way I played,” Tuggle told SB Nation’s The Falcoholic in 2015. “And so I guess the fruit doesn’t fall far from the tree.”

After Atlanta’s Super Bowl loss, Jarrett said he would discuss the game with his father, but that it wasn’t his primary focus.

“I’m sure we’ll talk, but we just have to go back to work. Nothing to do but to go back to work,” Jarrett said.

This ended up being one of the more compelling stories about the 2015 draft. On the night before the Falcons traded up to select Jarrett, his family was having a draft party. Unfortunately, his home caught fire, and suffered serious damage.

When Falcons owner Arthur Blank heard about the damage Jarrett’s home had suffered, he stepped in, providing Falcons gear and other necessities for Jarrett.

The most important thing is that Jarrett’s family was able to evacuate safely, but about half of the home was a total loss, and Jarrett lost his Clemson memorabilia.

“It was an unexplainable feeling,” Jarrett said of the fire. “It was hopelessness. It was disbelief. At that point I wasn’t thinking about the draft. There’s no feeling that describes watching a house burn.

“The important thing was everyone got out safe. We lost some things that we can’t get back, but for the most part it’s just material things and as a family we’re just happy to be safe.”

You’ve probably heard of Vic Beasley, who led the NFL in sacks this season, with 15.5. Beasley and Jarrett were teammates at Clemson, and they make a pretty good duo at the NFL level, also.

But while Beasley developed into a dominant pass rusher over the course of the regular season, it was Jarrett who shined in Super Bowl 51.

Jarrett brought pressure on quarterbacks consistently from the middle, but only landed three sacks over the entire 2016 season. He matched his entire season’s sack total in the Super Bowl, and he added nine quarterback hits on Tom Brady.

His performance seemed even more remarkable because it was Brady.

Beasley and Jarrett are both promising components of the Falcons’ emerging pass rush, and as teams scheme to contain Beasley, Jarrett may have more opportunities to make his presence felt on the field next season.

Based on Jarrett’s Super Bowl LI performance, teams should be kicking themselves for being hesitant to draft him before the third day of the draft.

Those teams’ loss has been the Falcons’ gain. Atlanta looked past Jarrett’s size and saw how his unique skill set could benefit the defense.

“We looked at him at him as a versatile D-lineman who, though he was not the biggest guy or the tallest guy, he had the versatility for us to shoot the gaps and play an element of the run — which he can do — and also continue to give us some pass rush,” Dimitroff said.

Jarrett’s role and responsibility increased in his second season. During his rookie year, he played over 25 percent of the Falcons’ defensive snaps. In 2016, Jarrett transitioned into a starting role, and that number increased to 56.7 percent.

He flew under the radar because of his size and his draft position, but his performance in Super Bowl LI suggests this won’t be the last time you hear about Grady Jarrett.