Free agency isn’t over. There are still some quality players out there for the [Falcons](https://www.sportstalkatl.com/category/falcons/).
After all, Justin Simmons, who admittedly underperformed compared to expectations, was signed deep into the offseason a year ago. I’d blame that disappointment on Jimmy Lake, but the point is that an All-Pro like Simmons, though older, was available late into the offseason.
There’s still work to do, and Falcons fans expect at least one impactful defender to come from the NFL Draft. But at this point, I don’t know how anyone could say the roster is in a better state today than it was a year ago.
Offense
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QB Michael Penix Jr. QB Kirk Cousins
QB Emory Jones Jr.
RB Bijan Robinson RB Tyler Allgeier RB Jase McClellan RB Carlos Washington
RB Elijah Dotson
WR Drake London WR Darnell Mooney WR Ray-Ray McCloud WR KhaDarel Hodge WR Casey Washington WR Makai Polk WR Chris Blair WR David Sills WR Dylan Drummond
WR Phillip Dorsett
TE Kyle Pitts TE Charlie Woerner
TE Nikola Kalinic
OL Jake Matthews OL Kaleb McGary OL Storm Norton OL Brandon Parker OL Tyrone Wheatley Jr. OL Kilian Zierer OL Joey Fisher OL Matthew Bergeron OL Chris Lindstrom OL Kyle Hinton OL Elijah Wilkinson OL Matthew Cindric OL Ryan Neuzil\*
OL Jovaughn Gwyn
The only notable free agent move on the offensive side was the Falcons tagging Ryan Neuzil with the right of first refusal, which essentially gives the club the chance to match whatever deal another team might offer him. Other than that, it’s been status quo, and for good reason.
The offense, outside of the quarterback position, hasn’t been a focal point in a long time. The offensive line returns four starters, and the skill group is among the best in football. If anything, the Falcons should bring in a guy like Garrett Bradbury, a veteran starter, to compete with Neuzil for the starting gig. Other than that, all is good in the world for the 2025 campaign.
That isn’t the case for the other side of the ball… Shocker!
Defense
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DL David Onyemata DL Morgan Fox DL Ruke Orhorhoro DL Zach Harrison DL Brandon Dorlus DL Ta’Quon Graham DL LaCale London
DL Junior Aho
EDGE Leonard Floyd EDGE Arnold Ebiketie EDGE Bralen Trice EDGE DeAngelo Malone
EDGE Khalid Kareem
ILB Kaden Elliss ILB Troy Andersen ILB Divine Deablo ILB JD Bertrand
ILB Josh Woods
CB AJ Terrell CB Mike Hughes CB Clark Phillips CB Natrone Brooks CB Keith Taylor
CB Lamar Jackson
S Jessie Bates S DeMarcco Hellams
S Benny Sapp III
The Falcons added Fox, Floyd, and Deablo to the front seven.
The defensive line got better with Fox, but if this is the group, it’s going to be another difficult year. The Falcons will be relying on youth. It’s time to start seeing some return on the investment of Orhorhoro, Harrison, and Dorlus. Onyemata, as the elder statesman, isn’t a great look. There’s really no way to sugarcoat it; this group isn’t good enough.
The edge unit is in the same state. Floyd offers a little juice, but you’re once again relying on young draft picks like Ebiketie, Trice, and Malone to take massive steps in their respective development.
Off-ball linebacker is in better shape than it was at the beginning of the offseason. Andersen and Deablo are athletic and intriguing players that each have their flaws. Elliss is one of the more reliable defenders in Atlanta, but he also has his warts.
The Falcons have two starters at corner, and at the very least, they need one more to play nickel. But in reality, the NFL has pretty much completely turned to nickel defenses being base defenses. That places an emphasis on coverage. The Falcons need to have a fourth corner that they wouldn’t mind starting a game in the wake of an injury.
Safety is another thin group. Hellams was interesting before an injury ended his 2024 campaign, but are the Falcons going to rely on a seventh-round pick coming off a serious injury? The position group could use starter.
Special teams
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K Younghoe Koo P Bradley Pinion
LS Liam McCullough
At this point, it looks like the Falcons are going to run it back with these three, chalking up Koo’s struggles to the injury.
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All in all, this roster isn’t great on defense, but what’s new? It’s been bad for years. The only hope for the defense to make a notable improvement from last year is addition by subtraction. Jimmy Lake was horrendous, and the hope is that Jeff Ulbrich will make an immediate impact.
There’s only one specific individual I can say for certain who over exceeded preseason expectations — Mike Hughes. The rest either met expectations or regressed significantly under Jimmy Lake.
Hell, in the season finale, in which the Falcons gave up a million points to the pedestrian Panthers and Bryce Young, the excuse was there was miscommunication on the backend. Now, might I remind y’all that the secondary featured three All-Pro’s and another veteran? That’s a coahcing issue, point blank.
Jimmy Lake is no longer in Flowery Branch, which should be an improvement alone, but let’s not put lipstick on a pig. The personnel isn’t good enough.
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Rich von Biberstein/Icon Sportswire