Offense 

With this Falcons offense still largely intact and in the same position as last season, aside from a rough loss in FA of their staring C Drew Dalman, I don’t see many ways that they get better outside of Michael Penix Jr really taking a step in year two. And while I like the supporting cast of Bijan Robinson and Tyler Allgeier in the backfield along with Drake London, Darnell Mooney, Ray Ray McCloud III , and Kyle Pitts as pass catchers betting on Penix is just not something I personally feel comfortable with. Penix is a solid starting option to me but isn’t someone I project to be a game changer or even a plus starter in the league moving forward. He’s fine and he’ll keep this team competitive so long as they keep a solid support system around him but I don’t expect him to truly elevate a team, which I believe is what the Falcons need, especially in his first season as a full starter. 

The only other talking point with the offense to me is the OL and the concern I have for that group this season. Losing Drew Dalman at C was a big loss for this team and I can’t say that I’m entirely optimistic about the guy they have in place to start in his spot with Ryan Neuzil. Not only that but your starting LT in Jake Matthews continues to age and while’s he’s had a great career and has been solid the past few seasons as well only have a 7th Round rookie in Jack Nelson (Wisconsin) to be a backup/swing T is a very risky move in my opinion. Granted they also have Matthew Bergeron at LG who can slide out to T in a pinch but that then leaves you with Kyle Hinton and/or Elijah Wilkinson starting for him. The right side of the OL with Chris Lindstrom and Kaleb McGary is really good with Lindstrom being one of the best Gs in the league and McGary being a solid starter as well but between a combination of age, a lack of starting experience, and lack of high level play surrounding them I just can’t say I’m all that confident in this starting group and I’m even less comfortable with the depth behind them. This OL has to be good with Penix and/or Cousins at the helm not having great mobility and I just don’t know that they can reach the level they need to.

Defense 

The defense on the other hand has been transformed/added to drastically over the offseason. Between cuts, signings, high and low draft picks they really went all out to get this group back to where it needs to be and makes me much more hopeful than the offensive side of things for them.

I think the conversation has to start with the two 1st Round Picks they made in the past draft with Javon Walker (Georgia) and James Pearce Jr (Tennessee). While some people were split on these two players and where they should be picked I think these were much needed and overall great additions for this team. We all know the well documentation/highly talked about lack of edge rush this team has had for years now and what better way to address it than adding two awesome young athletes out there. Walker may need some polishing in terms of just pure pass rush but his unique athletic traits combined with the effort he shows on tape makes me very optimistic about what he’s going to develop into moving forward and not mention he fits perfectly into this hybrid defense that HC Raheem Morris likes to run. Pearce on the other hand needs to rein in his aggressiveness and become more disciplined as a edge player but when he guesses the snap right and uses his freaky traits to blow past Ts before they can even get out of their stance it looks really special. If this coaching staff can add to Walkers tool belt and refine his pass rush technique and get James Pearce Jr to slow down a bit and become more disciplined off the edge they can have a really special group out there that they haven’t had for years now.

      You pair Walker and Pearce with a solid group of pieces along this front seven with vets like Morgan Fox, David Onyemata, and Leonard Floyd along with more young talent from past drafts like Ruke Orhorhoro, Zach Harrison, Brandon Dorlus, Bralen Trice, and Arnold Ebiketie you can have a really solid pass rushing group up front. Now there’s a real world they don’t get the development from the young guys or impact straight out of the gate from Walker and Pearce and this group once again is just fine but they’ve certainly increased their chances of success and that’s really all you can ask for out of the draft.

While they made some additions to this secondary that I really like there’s still real question marks here for me. I love the draft picks of Billy Bowman Jr (Oklahoma), Xavier Watts (Notre Dame), and even the UDFA signing of Cobee Bryant (Kansas) and when you take into account they signed Jordan Fuller to step in for the loss of Justin Simmons as well I can’t say I disliked the approach this offseason. The problem being they still don’t have anyone that I trust opposite of AJ Terrell Jr. Terrell is awesome and a guy you can trust to hold down one side of the field for you but when you have Mike Hughes playing outside CB opposite of him it’s hard to feel great about the room overall. Hughes is a fine depth piece that plays better in the slot in my opinion and gives you good special teams reps but they’re counting on him to be a full time outside CBwith no real competition outside of Clark Phillips III who has been fine but nothing super noteworthy through his career and UDFA Cobee Bryant who I like but wouldn’t trust to start right out of the gate by any means. Other than that spot I feel really good about this group with Terrell playing on the outside, a mix of Dee Alford and Billy Bowman Jr in the slot, Jordan Fuller or Xavier Watts (I think Watts wins the job sooner rather than later) playing at one of the S spots, and Jessie Bates III playing FS over the top of it all. Overall it’s a solid group but there’s a lack of talent on the outside that worries me a bit and if Terrell were to go down you’d be in BIG trouble. 

Overview 

• This Falcons team improved quite significantly in spots they absolutely needed to over this offseason but I feel in doing so they thinned out their roster or ignored other issues on it which will lead to just as bad if not worse issues throughout this coming year. I think there was a understanding that this team just needed a pass rush this offseason and they would be ready to go compete but I personally didn’t see them being that close last year and I’m worried that they’re digging themselves into mediocrity or worse because they approached their offseason as if that was the case. The fact this team traded their 1st Round Pick next season to a team that I view as better than them in the same conference is unbelievable to me and with the way this team is constructed right now I don’t know that it’s all that unrealistic for that pick to end up in the top ten or so in next years draft. Granted some things would have to go awry for this team to get into that conversation due to the high level of talent they have across the roster and the upside that they have with some young players but if I’m being honest I can’t say that I’d be willing to bet it going super positively either. This team screams 6-9 wins to be and if that’s the case giving up your first round draft choice is absolutely ridiculous in my opinion. This team has real talent and I don’t feel too bad about the coaching either but there’s too many concerns and unknowns for me to look at them as an above average team that can compete for this division let alone a true contender in the NFC.