The Raheem Morris era has ended, and Kevin Stefanski arrives from the Browns as the Falcons’ next head coach. Atlanta will look to improve on last year’s 8-9 season. Tommy Rees joins Stefanski as offensive coordinator. Tua Tagovailoa was named the starter on Labor Day, while Michael Penix Jr. returns from injury and will start in Week 3. The team has seen a quarterback carousel to start the year. Bijan Robinson leads the running back room again, and the Falcons brought in Brian Robinson from the 49ers to provide depth behind him. Atlanta returns its top three receivers from last year: Kyle Pitts, Bijan Robinson, and Drake London. The Falcons also added Jahan Dotson from Philadelphia and Olamide Zaccheaus from Chicago. The offensive line returns four starters from a year ago: Matthew Bergeron, Ryan Neuzil, Chris Lindstrom, and iron man Jake Matthews, who has started every game for the last five years. Jawaan Taylor rounds out the offensive line after he was acquired from the Chiefs.
Jeff Ulbrich is back for his second season as defensive coordinator. Atlanta returns Zach Harrison, Brandon Dorlus, LaCale London, and Divine Deablo in the front seven and added Da’Shawn Hand from the Chargers, Gervon Dexter from the Bears, and Maason Smith from the Jaguars. Hand suffered a season-ending quad injury in Week 1 and was placed on injured reserve. Replacing the production of departed Kaden Elliss will be tough, and the loss of Jalon Walker to a season-ending ACL injury and the eight-game suspension of James Pearce Jr. for violating the NFL’s Personal Conduct Policy can’t help. The Falcons return Mike Hughes, A.J. Terrell, Jessie Bates, and Xavier Watts in the secondary. Terrell was placed on injured reserve after suffering a groin injury in Week 2.
Craig Aukerman takes over as special teams coordinator with fresh faces across the board. The Falcons brought in reliable veteran Nick Folk to handle the placekicking duties after he connected on 97% of his field goals for the Jets last year. Former Dolphin Jake Bailey takes over as punter. Georgia rookie Zachariah Branch, Brian Robinson, and Olamide Zaccheaus will factor into the return game. The NFC South should be a traffic jam right up until the last game of the season, where one win here or one loss there could determine a playoff trip or a trip to Cancun. Falcons fans are excited for the future under Stefanski and eager to see how their quarterback situation pans out.