Here's another way to look at the offseason... Atlanta lost four players from last year's roster who started at least 9 games: Marcus Mariota, Rashaan Evans, Olamide Zaccheaus, and Elijah Wilkinson. What might come as a surprise is that on the field, Taylor Heinecke had a passer rating of 89.6 in his 9 starts last season. Mariota's passer rating was 88.2. Heinecke will do just fine if forced into duty as the backup to Desmond Ridder. Evans remains unsigned even after the draft. He was solid against the run but proved to be a liability in pass defense. Troy Andersen stepped up to a starting role in midseason last year and figures to start in Evans' place this season, with free agent Kaden Elliss starting next to him and Mykal Walker rotating in when Elliss moves up to the line as a pass rusher. Elliss had 7 sacks last season. No one on Atlanta's roster had more than 6. Evans had 2. This is an upgrade for the Falcons. Zaccheaus is billed as a speedster in the slot and a potential home run threat. He played 70% of the team's offensive snaps and had 40 receptions for 533 yards and 3 touchdowns. His replacement, Mack Hollins, had 57 receptions for 690 yards and 4 touchdowns last season. Zaccheaus is faster but Hollins is bigger, a better route runner, a better blocker, and a more reliable pass catcher for intermediate to deep balls. This is an upgrade. Elijah Wilkinson played well enough at left guard last season - for the nine games that he was available. Second round draft pick Matthew Bergeron will certainly have his rookie growing pains, but the team had those same issues last season with a revolving door of backups having to fill in for Wilkinson. At first Bergeron will be a push, but in the long run he should prove to be an upgrade. All in all, the losses aren't all that significant to begin with and have all been replaced by equal talents or upgrades. Meanwhile, here's some more of what Atlanta has added: S Jessie Bates RB Bijan Robinson DE Calais Campbell OLB/Edge Bud Dupree DT David Onyemata CB Jeff Okudah CB Mike Hughes TE Jonnu Smith WR Scotty Miller Ummm... yeah, that will do. And the guys they replace from last year? In order... Erik Harris, Damien Williams, Matt Dickerson, Nick Kwiatkoski, Abdullah Anderson, Casey Hayward, Isaiah Oliver, Anthony Firkser and Damiere Byrd. If you aren't a Falcons fan, you probably don't even recognize more than four of those names. And your reaction to the ones you do recognize is likely to be surprise that they were still in the league last season. This roster is so much better than the 2022 lineup that it's just plain silly. The other teams in the division replaced their losses, for better or worse. Atlanta replaced their losses and made massive upgrades across the board.
