To kickstart the rebuild, the Falcons hired
Terry Fontenot as the new general manager and
Arthur Smith as the new head coach. The offense has continued to be built well in Atlanta, but the same couldn’t be said about the defense. Dean Pees enters to help the horrendous defense. The first big move the Falcons made during the offseason was restructuring
Matt Ryan‘s contract. With his contract restructured, that was a big blow to the chances that the Falcons would take Ryan’s successor with the fourth overall pick in the draft. In free agency, many veterans Atlanta was relying on weren’t retained to keep any salary-cap space. The few additions made were
Mike Davis,
Cordarrelle Patterson,
Erik Harris, Duran Harmon,
Fabian Moreau,
Brandon Copeland, and
A.J. McCarron.
With the fourth pick in the draft, the Falcons had an opportunity to find the quarterback of the future and could have taken
Justin Fields. Instead, Atlanta elected to take
Kyle Pitts. In the second round, the defense was the focal point, specifically a safety unit that lacked upside. With that in mind,
Richie Grant was an excellent choice with the first day two selection. In the third round, the focus returned to the offense as the team selected
Jalen Mayfield.
Day three was spent patching holes on the defensive side of the ball once again with the first four selections.
Darren Hall, Ta’Quon Graham,
Adetokunbo Ogundeji, and
Avery Williams were all selected on day three to help the depleted defense. The final pick was used on Arizona State’s
Frank Darby, who should compete for one of the final roster spots.
There have been rumors for multiple years that the Falcons had taken phone calls about trading Jones. During the offseason, those rumors swirled the summer months. After drafting Pitts, it was seen as the Falcons were competing when they didn’t take a future franchise quarterback. Unfortunately, things got confusing when the Falcons traded their star receiver to the Titans for a second-round pick in 2022 and a fourth-round pick in 2023.
With Jones out of the picture, it opens the door for
Calvin Ridley to become the number one receiver in the offense. It also opens the door for
Russell Gage to take the number two role instead of the third role, which he has played well in the last two years. Olamide Zaccheus will also have a more expanded role. The biggest thing with Jones out of the picture is the direction the Falcons are going, and if they are competing, rebuilding, or somewhere in the middle.
Offense
Of course, the offense starts at the quarterback position.
Matt Ryan is still one of the top 12 quarterbacks in the league, and the Falcons chose not to select the quarterback of the future with their first-round pick, even with it being a high selection. With Jones and
Alex Mack gone, Ryan is now the man in charge of the locker room alongside
Jake Matthews. The passing attack should still go strong with Ridley, Gage, Zaccheus, Pitts, and
Hayden Hurst at Ryan’s disposal.
The running game and offensive line are concerns. Davis was the big-name free agent signing and will likely start the season as the starting running back.
Qadree Ollison, Patterson, and undrafted backs
Caleb Huntley and
Javian Hawkins will factor in, but the running back spot is a bit of a question mark before the season. The offensive line outside of Matthews and
Chris Lindstrom is a concern.
Matt Hennessy will be taking over the center spot with the departure of Mack but will have to fend off rookie
Drew Dalman to get the starting job. The left guard spot is a major question mark between
Josh Andrews and
Jalen Mayfield ongoing. In the first pre-season game, Andrews didn’t play well at all. Mayfield will need to pick up the pace to win the starting role.
Defense
For years, Quinn’s defense was never good. Bringing in Pees has already shown some progress from the defense. There are a few standouts like
Grady Jarrett and
Deion Jones, but the majority of the defense needs help. The unit is young, and the lack of a consistent pass-rush and development from the young cornerback group is very concerning. The off-ball linebackers weren’t a problem as that was the only spot where the Falcons didn’t use a pick on in the draft. The whole unit needs a ton of work, and it won’t be a seamless transition for Pees to greatly improve the defense.
) comes over from Tennessee and brings Dean Pees to run the defense which will move to a 3-4. Expectations are all over the place and buzz is low but we have one of the NFLs easiest schedules and with better coaching this team could be competitive 
