By: Jeremy Trottier

The Atlanta Falcons are in a relatively compromising position as of right now, drafting Kyle Pitts with the #4 overall pick and still missing lots of positional needs.  The large majority of their core is starting to age now, Matt Ryan, Julio Jones, Grady Jarrett, Hayden Hurst, etc.  With that being the case, they come to the conundrum of either letting Matt Ryan hold the reigns for a few more years or just partially rebuilding for a few years.

In this article, I will be going over three reasons as to why the Falcons front office should make the change and draft a QB next offseason.

Aging Core and Julio Jones Situation

As I mentioned previously, the Falcons original core is heavily aging to the point where they have more holes than they can fill in a reasonably timed fashion.  Also with the news regarding Julio Jones wanting to be traded sooner rather than later, the core will continue to get into a poor situation.  

With the knowledge that a lot of these players could be retiring soon, and one of their primary receiving weapons likely leaving, this team has kind of come to the point where moving some pieces to get younger assets is in play.  Bringing in a new quarterback in the 2022 NFL Draft will give them the opportunity to kind of start from scratch in a sense and allow the team to focus on a new system type potentially.

The 2022 QB Class is Very Extensive

From what we have seen so far from the 2022 class, there is going to be a lot and I mean A LOT of QB prospects coming that have high potential ceilings.  Just to list off some of he major ones that we know of so far:

• Spencer Rattler – Oklahoma
• Sam Howell ”“ North Carolina
• Kedon Slovis ”“ USC
• Malik Willis ”“ Liberty
• Desmond Ridder ”“ Cincinatti
• J.T. Daniels ”“ Georgia
• Carson Strong ”“ Nevada

The list continues on even further and realistically there are a ton of them there is a good chance a few will have a pre-draft year breakout season.  If the Falcons were to go in the direction of QB this season, they would have a wide variety of playstyles and potential players to pick from considering this notion.  A lot of this depends on how these players can perform in their last years before draft eligibility, but if at least a few do so this will give Atlanta the option.

Potential Draft Pick

The Falcons have made improvements this offseason, no doubt about it.  But these improvements will likely not put them in a position where they will be competing as of yet, especially with the loss of Julio potentially looming.  If they were to end up with a similar record this season as they did last season, they could get a pretty high up draft pick again and have a high choice over a lot of the QBs previously listed.  

Intentionally tanking is probably a poor choice to start the season, but if they are having trouble stringing together wins early on it may be worth considering cutting their losses and working into a half-rebuild.  If they can focus on purely upgrading the defense this offseason with a few more signings, then next season all they would have to do is grab the new QB and get them situated quickly.  

The post Why the Falcons need to draft a QB in 2022 appeared first on Pro Football Mania.

By: Cody Molla

There are a few big name free agents left unsigned after the 2021 NFL Draft. Teams will be looking to add veterans to their team moving forward. One of those big names is Le’Veon Bell. Bell is a few years removed from posting elite numbers which made him the best back in the league from 2013-2017.

The Atlanta Falcons will need to replace 89% of their running back touches from the 2020 season. After being ranked 27^th in rushing yards per game last year with nearly 96 yards per game and only 13 rushing touchdowns the Falcons are letting go of Todd Gurley, Ito Smith, and Brian Hill.

An addition of Bell to the Falcons would help the running back group currently with the Falcons as well as give Bell a chance to prove he’s still got the talent to make plays and be productive.

At age 29 Bell is likely not the feature back he once was. As the NFL has moved to a multi-back system this is beneficial for Bell. He can be productive as a compliment. Bell has only played 26 games since 2017. He’s eclipsed over 1000 rushing yards in that span with five rushing touchdowns and chipped in a touchdown on 600 yards receiving.

Bell signed with the Chiefs midway through the season last year. At the time the Chiefs were Super Bowl favorites and the addition of Bell sent the league into fury. Bell struggled in his nine games as a Chief. It is with this recent play that leaves the jury undecided on his NFL future.

Earlier this week Falcons running back coach Desmond Kitchings reported that it’s an open competition for snaps going into the off season workouts. Kitchings is making his NFL coaching debut this season. He is joining the staff of new head coach Arthur Smith after coaching in the NCAA ranks since 2004.

Kitchings has been a running backs coach for most of his career. When coaching at NC State from 2016-2018 he had three straight 1000 yard rushers. One of those being Nyheim Hines who has been productive in his NFL career thus far. Earlier in his career, he worked with Zac Stacy at Vanderbilt. Stacy nearly rushed for 1000 yards in a season in his rookie year at the NFL level. Kitchings also lead a heavy run attack at Air Force in 2011, which averaged over 300 rushing yards per game.

Arthur Smith is coming from a team with a heavy run game led by bulldozer Derrick Henry. Smith is likely going to want to establish the run to set up plays for Matt Ryan and a talented group of pass catchers including Julio Jones, Calvin Ridley, and top draft pick Kyle Pitts.

The Falcons current running back situation is not glamorous. They added Mike Davis and Cordarrelle Patterson via free agency. After not drafting a running back in the draft they signed undrafted players Javien Hawkins and Caleb Huntley. They also added Tony Brooks-James who has bounced around practice squads since 2019. The only returning Falcon in the running back room is Qadree Ollison who played 13 snaps in 2020.

Mike Davis is the favorite to be lead back in the offense. Davis is coming off a career year in which he filled in for McCaffrey for most of the season. Davis excelled in 2020. Davis surpassed 1000 all-purpose yards last season. Watching Davis last year the thing that stood out to me was the ability to extend plays and run through tackles. Davis can catch passes and make plays versus linebackers in the receiving game too. Even though Davis is likely to be the lead back he is not a feature back in the NFL.

The pairing of Bell and Davis could be a solid group for the Falcons. Both have similar abilities. This would add depth to the position and allow for the offense to be run all the time with no predictability pending the personnel.

The addition of Cordarrelle Patterson doesn’t impress or really add a true running back to the offense. Adding Bell would make him the lead complement back. Pattersons role is likely to be a return guy and see a handful of plays designed for him throughout the game. Patterson is still working on his transition from receiver to running back. Patterson has unique talent with size and speed that can produce homerun plays.

The other guys in the room will likely be on the outside looking in. The Falcons hope one can emerge similar to James Robinson for the Jaguars last year. A sleeper player and dark horse candidate to get offensive touches in the backfield is Avery Williams. Williams is a rookie CB drafted out of Boise St. Unknown to many Williams tied the NCAA record for return touchdowns in a career last season, with nine total. Six of those have come via punt including the record tying one.

The Falcons running back situation isn’t ideal and there is a need for another back. There is no way the Falcons go into the season with Patterson being the ideal running back two. Le’Veon Bell is a bit of a wildcard right now but his history has proven he is capable to be a playmaker and boost an offense. The ability to be patient and make guys miss in tight windows combined with his receiving skills makes him a fit for the Atlanta Falcons.

It would be wise for Bell to join the falcons as they have a lot of talent on offense. Teams will have a lot to cover and scheme for against a talented offense that can provide an opportunity to produce. The open competition means Bell could also win a starting job and see ample touches as the lead in a multi-back system. These opportunities combined with a staff that has shown the ability to generate a run game with many different players is a good fit for Bell. He can be acquired for a team friendly price and if he proves he still has it can set up the later part of his career in the NFL.  

The post Why The Falcons should sign RB Le’Veon Bell appeared first on Pro Football Mania.

By: Ladarius Brown

Now that the 2021 NFL Draft is in the books, franchises now have their players of the future in place. One of those franchises, the Atlanta Falcons, did just at pick No. 4, drafting Kyle Pitts of Florida. As I have mentioned in other pieces, this was the right call for two reasons. First, there is a strong likelihood that All-Pro WR Julio Jones could be traded after June 1st because of his high cap number ($23 million). Second, the Falcons will not pick up TE Hayden Hurst’s fifth-year option, thus inserting Pitts as the starter of the future.    

The reason why he has legitimate shot at the award is because of his new QB, Matt Ryan. Ryan has 10 seasons of at least 4,000 passing yards, good for 5th all-time. Ryan knows how to get the ball to his targets, doing so his whole career.    

Here is a list of players and year(s) that they had at one 1,000-yard receiver under Ryan in his 13-year career:   

WR Roddy White ”“ 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012   

WR Julio Jones ”“ 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019   

WR Harry Douglas ”“ 2013   

WR Calvin Ridley ”“ 2020   

Notice a pattern? Every year since Ryan has been the starting QB of the Falcons, there has been at least one player with 1,000 yards receiving. When you have almost 56,000 career passing yards and average 272 yards/gm, it might not be all that surprising. This is why I am very optimistic that Pitts’ chances at winning the award.   

Looking at the history of Ryan and TEs, there are only two that have been the most productive during his tenure. First, HOF’er Tony Gonzalez, one of the best to play the position, was Ryan’s No. 1 TE for five years (2009-2013). During his time in Atlanta, Gonzalez accumulated 409 receptions, 4,187 receiving yards, and 35 TDs.    

Austin Hooper, their 3rd round pick in 2016 out of Stanford, had a very solid career for the Falcons. In his four seasons (2016-2019), he had 214 receptions, 2,244 yards, and 16 TDs. While both Gonzalez and Hooper were great in their respective tenures for the Falcons but Pitts and his game fit how the position is being played now.   

The evolution of the TE was from players who typically played on the line of scrimmage only in a stance to being slot WRs and running the route tree as a WR. At Florida, Pitts was another WR in HC Dan Mullen’s offense. He played the position as a freshman in Gainsville. Pitts as well lined up in all of the receiver positions on the field.    

TEs have become just as much of a weapon/ best friend for a QB as a WR. A few examples: Patrick Mahomes has Travis Kelce, Tom Brady has Gronk, and Jimmy G (eventually Trey Lance) has George Kittle.   

How can Matt Ryan’s weapon/best friend Kyle Pitts elevate him back to that 2016 MVP status? First, let us examine Ryan’s MVP season. He had 4,944 passing yards, 38 TDs, and 7 Ints. Here is a positional breakdown by percentage of receiving yards that year:  

WRs not named Julio Jones ”“ 36.5% (1,817 yards)  

Julio Jones ”“ 28.5 % (1,409 yards)  

RBs ”“ 19.1% (944 yards)  

TEs ”“ 15.9% (788 yards)  

As you can see, RBs accounted for more receiving yards than TEs. Even more, RBs Devonta Freeman & Tevin Coleman had more yards receiving than every single TE on the roster in 2016.   

Pitts can fill this weak spot instantaneously. In 2016, five TEs caught passes from Ryan. Pitts had 43 receptions, 770 yards, and 12 TDs in his last season at Florida. If you integrate those stats into Ryan’s 2016 MVP season, Pitts would have been 4th in receptions, 2nd in yards, and 1st in TDs. Inserting Pitts’ stats in his last season at Florida with Ryan’s in 2016 while omitting the TEs and their stats that year, here’s the stat line: 4,926 yards, 40 TDs, and 7 Ints.  

As you can see, Ryan loses 18 yards but gets an additional 2 TDs if Pitts were there in 2016. Pitts would have accounted for 15.6% of Ryan’s passing yards all by himself. That is .4% less of all TEs in that MVP year. Ryan relied more on the RBs in 2016 than his TEs, which can be quite concerning.   

Now that Ryan has a legitimate playmaker at TE in Pitts, Ryan can get back into form. Most defenses use an LB to cover TEs but that would be a major mismatch for Pitts and an elite QB like Ryan will pick that apart. Pitts can cover the field more than any other TE Ryan has ever played with. Ryan has one, possibly two, MVP years left in him. If WR Calvin Ridley is the next Julio Jones combined with Pitts, Ryan is a legit MVP candidate.   

The post Could Matt Ryan get back to MVP form with Kyle Pitts? appeared first on Pro Football Mania.

By: Andy Davies

The Atlanta Falcons had a disastrous 2020 season, with a gradual freefall since their heartbreaking Super Bowl 51 loss to the New England Patriots.

Just over four years on and the Falcons have a new head coach after Dan Quinn was fired during the 2020 season.

His replacement is Arthur Smith, who spent two seasons as the Tennesee Titans’ offensive coordinator. He oversaw the arrival and improvement of Ryan Tannehill, who won the Comeback Player Of The Year’ after an impressive 2019 season. Is Smith the man to turn Atlanta’s fortunes around?

The Offense He Will Inherit

Despite their 4-12 record in 2020, Atlanta still has a great offense.

Matt Ryan continues to go under the radar, with yet another 4,000-yard season in 2020. He threw for 26 touchdowns and 11 interceptions but was sacked 41 times.

The offensive line was an issue for the Falcons, as was their run game.

Former Los Angeles Rams running back Todd Gurley may have scored 9 touchdowns but only recorded 678 rushing yards. The Gurley experiment is over after just one season.

Former Carolina Panther Mike Davis, who had a breakout season in 2020 during Christian McCaffrey’s absence, will now take the role as the lead back in Atlanta unless Atlanta takes a running back during the draft.

Legendary wide receiver Julio Jones had a rare down year, with just three touchdowns and 771 receiving yards in 9 games during 2020. Calvin Ridley saw more progression in his NFL career by becoming the top Falcons receiver. He scored nine touchdowns and caught for 1,374 receiving yards.

Wideout Russell Gage (786) and tight end Hayden Hurst (571) both played their part when it comes to receiving yards recorded in 2020, combining for ten touchdowns between them.

It is not the offense that is the problem. With the Falcons’ struggles in defense, this is the issue for the Falcons and is one that Smith will need to address for the 2021 season and beyond.

Working On The Defense

The Falcons kept finding new ways to lose in 2020. This included Todd Gurley “accidentally” scoring a touchdown against the Lions.

Atlanta finished last in passing yards allowed (4,697), 18th in total points allowed (414) and 29th in total yards (6,374). Despite this, only five teams allowed fewer rushing yards in 2020 than the Falcons (1,677).

Linebackers Foyesade Oluokun and Deion Jones recorded over 100 tackles each. No Falcons player recorded more than 4.5 sacks. No defensive back had more than 3 interceptions and Oloukun recorded the most forced fumbles with 4.

This shows an issue all around. The Linebacker position seems to be the only area Falcons fans can be happy with, specifically Oloukun, who was Atlanta’s leader in tackles, sacks and forced fumbles.

Atlanta’s fourth overall pick appears too high for a defensive player unless they trade down.

There is bound to be a defensive stud available in the second round, should the Falcons stick with the number four pick. Securing multiple defensive players throughout the draft can go a long way to make Atlanta a threat on both sides of the ball.

The Power Of Their Fourth Overall Pick

Atlanta has the fourth overall pick. With this, they hold plenty of power. The 2021 Draft class is filled with several top quarterback prospects. It will be hard to see Trevor Lawrence and Zach Wilson available when the fourth pick is on the clock.

The San Francisco 49ers traded up to obtain the third overall pick. This almost guarantees that they will take a quarterback, especially with the 49ers openly talking up the idea of taking a QB at 3. Mac Jones appears to be the favorite but we could also see Justin Fields or Trey Lance.

Teams such as the Denver Broncos and New England Patriots have been rumored to want a quarterback in this year’s draft. It is not out of the question that the Chicago Bears or Washington Football team take a quarterback for the future.

Ryan is still putting up the numbers. As a result, it feels too soon to take a quarterback in the draft.

As previously mentioned, defense is the area that Atlanta needs the most in the draft. Most of the teams in the top 10 need offensive weapons, which means that the top defensive prospects will be still available. The Denver Broncos and New England Patriots are two teams that seem the most likely to trade up.

Being an offensive-minded coach, Smith may want to add to the roster with a tight end prospect as good as Kyle Pitts. Otherwise, it is more than likely that the Falcons should trade down, collect draft capital and help a struggling defense.

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