Atlanta Falcons Flying Upward?
By: Colin Lacy
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Right at a month away from Flowery Branch, Ga being a bustling well-oiled machine with Preseason Training Camp for the Falcons opening the last week of July, much has changed for “the birds” since wrapping up the 2025 season.
Not only does the franchise have a fresh look with the newly refurbished uniform combinations debuted in early April, but with virtually an entire new hierarchy on the football side, how so much change is dealt with will be interesting to follow this year.
Atlanta began the change with a change in the leadership of the team with Rich McKay, Terry Fontenot and Raheem Morris all being either fired or “reassigned” after the 2025 campaign. Enter a familiar name as Matt Ryan, former Atlanta quarterback great (and many, including me, that believe was the last true starting quarterback for the franchise) taking the reigns as the Director of Football and building the roadmap that gets Atlanta back to division titles and beyond.
The first moves were bringing in Head Coach Kevin Stefanski and General Manager Ian Cunningham.
The roster also undergoes a good amount of change from a year ago.
Kirk Cousins was released in mid-March, Darnell Mooney’s contract was terminated, Ruke Orhorhoro was traded to Jacksonville just to name a few of the departures from a year ago from the ATL.
So, who fills those holes? Strangely there seem to be more additions than subtractions (at least in numbers).
Tua Tagovailoa was signed to the quarterback room for the Falcons. Tagovailoa spent the past six seasons with the Miami Dolphins but has struggled to stay healthy at times and has also struggled with turnovers.
Once Michael Penix Jr gets fully healthy after rehabbing back from a partially torn left ACL which he suffered last November, Penix and Tua will battle for the QB spot, with the expectation that it’s Penix’s to lose.
One addition that has gotten overlooked this offseason that I think could have an enormous impact for the Birds this year is the return of Olamide Zaccheaus at wide out.
The former Virginia Cavalier spent the first four NFL seasons in Atlanta with 8 scores in the four years.
Zaccheaus bounced around with the Eagles in 2023, Washington for the 2024 season before spending 2025 with the Bears. Zaccheaus has steadily grown his numbers over his career and could slide into the vacated role the Falcons have with Darnell Mooney’s contract being terminated to free up $7.4 million.
Both sides of the trenches have also seen some additions with trade acquisitions.
On the offensive line, the Falcons traded a 6th round 2027 draft pick to the Chiefs in exchange for a 7th rounder and offensive tackle Wanya Morris to bolster the offensive line depth that has been severely lacking for several years now.
On the defensive side, a swap of pass rushers with Jacksonville saw Ruke Orhorhoro headed to Duval in exchange for defensive tackle Maason Smith. The 6-5, 306-pound D-Lineman brings 3 career sacks in 2 years with the Jags in limited playing time, but the upside is off the charts for Smith.
There are a few other supporting cast acquisitions for the red and black this offseason, but the main question is “how do all of these new pieces fit together?”
To me, it all hinges on one thing. The quarterback (I know, that’s not really a state secret in the NFL). If the Falcons want to take the step in the right direction, they have all the pieces on offense with Bijan Robinson, along with new contracts for Kyle Pitts and Drake London.
The fans saw the enormous step forward last year on the defensive side of the ball, but it all comes back to one thing…Can the Flacons get consistent quarterback play at a high level?
In my mind, it must come from Michael Penix Jr. He had a roller coaster rookie year that ended with the injury but got to knock off the rookie rust.
Now he must get healthy and be the signal caller that the Falcons have desperately searched for since trading Matt Ryan to the Colts in 2022.
