QB1 = Kirk Cousins, QB2 = Taylor Heinecke It surprises me a bit that they kept Heinecke while trading Ridder. Ridder was entering the third year of his rookie contract, while releasing or trading Heinecke would have generated $7 million of cap savings. Ridder still has serious upside potential, where Heinecke doesn't. So the team is truly turning the page and moving on from the Arthur Smith model of mobile QB. Bearing in mind that Heinecke is also in the final year of his contract, a QB to groom for the future might be on the way in the draft. RB1 = Bijan Robinson, RB2 = Tyler Allgeier, RB3 = Avery Williams It's now the duo instead of the trio. Avery Williams returns from IR and will compete for the PR/KR roles. He also lined up some at WR under Arthur Smith, and it's worth noting he was a DB in college. Returning prospects Carlos Washington and Robert Burns will be in minicamp, but I wouldn't be surprised at all to see another player join this group for depth. Wishful thinking on my part would be to see prospect Caleb Huntley back with the team. He was a beast until he suffered a knee injury late in the 2022 season. WR1 = Drake London, WR2 = Darnell Mooney, WR3 = Rondale Moore, WR4 = KhaDarel Hodge, WR5 = Ray-Ray McCloud Two weeks ago, the entire WR group was London and a trio of practice squad prospects. Mooney and Moore both have question marks, but they're also coming from teams with even bigger question marks. And the biggest thing for Atlanta is that we now have an offensive coordinator who might actually use the WR2-WR4 positions for more than just blocking. Re-signing KhaDarel Hodge wasn't exactly front page news, but it's important. He's an ace on special teams, and he has played well when actually used on offense. As an example, his 23 targets last season resulted in 13 first downs. By contrast, Van Jefferson and Scotty Miller combined for only 12 first downs (on 44 targets), and they were both brought in for their receiving skills rather than special teams duty. So when Hodge got his chances, he made them count. He might get more opportunities on offense in the new system. Ditto for Ray-Ray McCloud, who almost seems automatic as the choice for punt returner, perhaps with Avery Wiliams returning kickoffs. TE1 = Kyle Pitts, TE2 = Charlie Woerner, TE3 = John FitzPatrick Something noteworthy on Kyle Pitts... right after the season, he posted that his surgery was MCL/PCL. Until then, only the MCL had been publicly known. The dude played all 17 games coming back from PCL surgery? That makes his 2023 season (53 receptions) more of a miracle than a disappointment. It was interesting to see the team take the cap hit and released Jonnu Smith (fourth on the team last year in receptions) to turn around and sign Charlie Woerner, who is predominantly a blocker. Also noteworthy: practice squad TE prospect Tucker Fisk was called up for a few games last year and filled in for FB Keith Smith when Smith was banged up. He's still listed as a TE, but his shot at making the roster is really at fullback. Smith is an unsigned free agent, so the door might be open for Fisk to stick around. LT = Jake Matthews, LG = Matthew Bergeron C1 = Drew Dalman RG = Chris Lindstrom, RT = Kaleb McGary C2/OG3 = Ryan Neuzil, OT3 = Storm Norton After a few years of struggling to cobble together an offensive line, the team now has the group set even before the pre-draft minicamp. All five starters from last year are back. The position group coach is back as well. That's HUGE. And to make it even better, the team managed to resign swing tackle Storm Norton and renewed ERFA Ryan Neuzil, and there are seven returning prospects in the organization behind them, including Tyler Vrabel, Kyle Hinton, and last year's late round C/G Jovaughn Gwyn. Overall, Kirk Cousins throwing to London, Pitts, Mooney, Moore and Bijan Robinson, with Robinson and Allgeier pounding the ball behind a returning offensive line = sounds fantastic. So... what's next? The fullback question is one that still needs to be resolved. Will the Falcons keep a true FB or use TEs as lead blockers? Keeping Fisk is certainly a possibility. Charlie Woerner or John FitzPatrick are also ideal to double as lead blockers. Or the team might add a hybrid FB/RB in the draft, perhaps as an undrafted rookie free agent. The WR group looks like it could still use a little more depth / help, and the QB group doesn't have a prospect for the longer term. If we project that everyone listed above in bold makes the roster and that the team goes with 25 total players on offense, then there are five openings. At least two will be reserve offensive linemen. That would leave room for any three of a tenth offensive lineman, a third quarterback, an extra running back, a full time fullback, or an extra wide receiver.
