The Atlanta Falcons have a core of some of the best young players in football. Michael Penix Jr., Drake London, and Bijan Robinson are all under 25 years old or younger.
Even their top veteran players like offensive lineman Chris Lindstrom and safety Jessie Bates III, top-50 NFL player by PFF, are only 28.
The defense finally got an injection of premium draft picks the last two years with edge rushers Jalon Walker (No. 15 overall) and James Pearce (No. 26 overall) to go along with defensive lineman Ruke Orhorhoro (No. 35 overall) and safety Xavier Watts (3rd round).
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While this young nucleus is largely unproven in the NFL, none of those defenders are older than 23.
Still, ESPN released its future power rankings based on four categories: quarterback, overall roster minus QB, coaching, and front office and the Falcons come in a lowly 28th position. The Falcons finish ahead of just the Jets, Panthers, Giants, and Saints.
Strange how future power rankings look very similar to current power rankings, despite the NFL's best efforts in achieving parity through salary caps, drafts, and free agency. But I digress.
The Falcons' highest ranking of 21st was for Penix. Beyond Penix, the overall roster was ranked 25th, coaching 27th, and the front office 30th.
Despite the bleak outlook, ESPN was forced to include a "reason for hope" in their commentary.
"The offensive nucleus of running back Bijan Robinson and wide receivers Drake London andDarnell Mooney along with tight end Kyle Pitts Sr. is dangerous, and the defensive one might finally match it if a couple of draft picks can join safety Jessie Bates III and cornerback A.J. Terrell Jr. as high-impact players. As always, a team with a young quarterback (in this case, Michael Penix Jr.) has the potential to leapfrog up the rankings, should that quarterback hit," Benjamin Solak wrote on ESPN.
If there's a concern for the future of the Falcons' offense, it's at offensive tackle. The interior is young enough with Lindstrom being the senior member, but Jake Matthews is 33, and Kaleb McGary is 30. The Falcons are financially tied to them for the next two seasons, giving the team time to try and find successors.
The future of the defense is largely unproven, but if there's reason for hope, it's the youth movement general manager Terry Fontenot has infused the last two years in the draft. The Falcons have used seven of their eight picks in the first four rounds of the 2024 and 2025 NFL Draft on defensive players.
The national media tends to get tunnel vision when writing about teams; it's all about the quarterback. So if Michael Penix is one of the reasons for hope, naturally, he's one of the reasons for concern as well.
"The development of Penix, particularly as it pertains to his accuracy, is my primary concern," Louis Riddick wrote. "His 2024 off-target rate of 19.4% was among the five worst in the league among starters. And although his three starts and five total appearances were a small sample size, his ability to put the ball where it needs to be at all levels of the field with consistent effectiveness is critical."
Largely ignored by the stat sheet scouts trying to cover 32 teams, Penix's lack of work with the first team. His first reps with London, Mooney, Pitts, and Ray-Ray McCloud last year came the Wednesday before his first start against the New York Giants in Week 16.
You can look long and hard for a training camp report stating Penix is struggling with accuracy this summer, and you won't find one.
Their ranking for the coaching and the front office is understandable, given their other grades and the Falcons record the last two seasons. Atlanta was considered a playoff team before 2023 and 2024, and they failed to post a winning record.
2023 was largely because of a premeditated decision to install Desmond Ridder as the starting quarterback in January with no competition, and 2024 largely came down to a series of coaching decisions like Jimmy Lake's defense, waiting too long to sit Kirk Cousins, and questionable clock management.
Furthermore, if you believe the Falcons have the 25th roster, it's hard to rank the front office much higher. ESPN analytics has been ruthless in its criticism of Fontenot's big moves, including using a top-10 pick on a non-premium position (Robinson), spending $100 million on Kirk Cousins, and, more recently, a perceived overspend to get Pearce in the 2025 NFL Draft.
Seth Walder, the source of ESPN's harshest criticisms of Fontenot and the Falcons, had the role of making a bold prediction for each team in this piece. For once, he went in a positive direction. Walder despised the Falcons' pick of Pearce, giving them an 'F' for the deal, but he gave them credit for Walker... kind of.
"Walker will have 14 sacks in 2027, making him the first Falcons pass rusher to hit double-digit sacks in (at that point), more than a decade (Vic Beasley was the last in 2016). In other words: It will take a few seasons, but the Falcons' investment in pass rushing in the 2025 draft will eventually yield them a high-end sack artist," Walder wrote.
Like regular power rankings, the future power rankings won't win a single game in, well, the future.
And despite their name, they're still more a reflection of what they believe is the current state of the team than the actual future.
The Falcons are loaded with developing young talent, including a rifle-armed quarterback. Seven straight losing seasons have to count for something when acquiring talent through the draft.
If Penix can limit his mistakes while still displaying the big-play ability he had in his three-game cameo last season, and the defense can go from a bottom-five unit to even just mediocre, this is a playoff team.