Atlanta Falcons Offseason Optimism Is Starting Early This Year
A couple of ESPN NFL analysts made two big-time predictions about the 2026-27 Atlanta Falcons.
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It’s happening, isn’t it? It’s officially the NFL offseason, a time for Atlanta Falcons fans everywhere to recharge their fandom batteries. Following another disappointing season that ended with a losing record and the team missing the playoffs for the eighth year in a row, the Falcons fired their head football coach and general manager. The Falcons have not hosted a playoff game in their new-ish stadium that opened nearly a decade ago. We’re closing in on a decade-long streak of disappointing seasons for Atlanta’s professional football team.
To his credit, team owner Arthur Blank shook things up to start this offseason. He created a new position for the team’s best quarterback in franchise history and all-time passing leader, Matt Ryan. The team hired Chicago Bears assistant general manager Ian Cunningham to work with Ryan at the top of Atlanta’s new front-office structure. The team wisely kept defensive whiz Jeff Ulbrich after they hired former Cleveland Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski as their new head coach. Stefanski’s first staff and Atlanta’s new-look front office are, on paper, a strong one.
The best version of the Atlanta Falcons is the best team in the NFC South. No team in this division had a higher ceiling or lower floor than the Dirty Birds last season, as evidenced by their victory over the Los Angeles Rams late in the year and loss on the road against the New York Jets. Those two games occurred less than a month apart. It was, without question, one of the more frustrating seasons in Atlanta in some time because of those glimpses of that ceiling.
The last time the Falcons won the NFC South, they went to the Super Bowl. The last time a Falcon won the MVP award, they went to the Super Bowl. Good news! ESPN released an NFL expert roundtable piece of sorts that included two writers who predicted those two important things to happen for the Falcons next season.
First, ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler picked Atlanta’s star tailback Bijan Robinson as his 2026-27 season MVP. The former Texas star has led Atlanta in Approximate Value the last two seasons and crossed 2,000 total yards for the first time in his young career last year. Robinson was a first-team All-Pro and averaged 5.1 YPR on the ground and 10.4 YPR through the air. What should also help Robinson’s MVP chances next season is Tyler Allgeier’s likely departure as an unrestricted free agent. If Robinson can hover around 1,500 yards rushing and close to 1,000 yards receiving next season on a Falcons team that wins the NFC South, he will certainly be in play for the NFL MVP award. The major roadblock is not a fault of Bijan’s, but that the award has gone only to quarterbacks for over a decade now, as a tailback has not won it since Adrian Peterson won it with the Minnesota Vikings back in 2012. Peterson rushed for 2,000 yards that season. Robinson will never get there strictly by rushing the ball, but, man, how large does that combined rushing-and-receiving total need to be for Atlanta’s best player to get serious consideration next season?
The other prediction came from ESPN’s Ben Solak, who predicted the Falcons to win the NFC South. As I wrote earlier in this piece, the last time the Falcons won the NFC South, they went to the Super Bowl. This was a team fully capable of winning the division this past year. Solak is right in that they should win it this year. I think all Falcons fans think the team should have won the division several times since they last won it in the 2016-2017 season. It’s mid-February, so a lot can obviously change between now and September, but it’s a fair expectation to place on Atlanta that the team should win the NFC South this season.
A lot of this will obviously depend on what happens at quarterback. If Michael Penix is healthy and stays healthy, that is, without question, the most important development for Atlanta next season. With Kirk Cousins’ expected spring release, the odds are slim the Falcons will be able to hold the fort and make a playoff run if Penix Jr. can’t stay healthy next year. It’s the biggest question for the team next season because everything around the quarterback, outside of maybe wide receiver, is in a good place. The secondary has never been more intriguing and fun with talent like Jessie Bates III, AJ Terrell, Xavier Watts, and, hopefully, a good-to-go Billy Bowman Jr. next season. The offensive line should be solid again with Kaleb McGary’s return at right tackle. Robinson, Kyle Pitts, and Drake London are all coming off excellent 2025 seasons for the team. The Falcons are solid at linebacker. The biggest needs are to take some swings at wide receiver and the defensive line in the 2026 NFL Draft. They need another corner. They could use another tailback taken late in the draft. Still, you look at this projected roster, and it’s hard not to get excited about what could be in Atlanta next season.
I don’t anticipate this being a one-off for the Atlanta Falcons this offseason. I suspect lots of other smart NFL analysts and writers will forecast good fortune for the team next season. Ryan leading the franchise is exciting. The hires of Cunningham and Stefanski could be great. The Falcons hired perhaps the best offensive line coach in the game, Bill Callahan. New quarterbacks coach Alex Van Pelt could be the sneaky-best coaching addition of the bunch. The Falcons are also reportedly unveiling new uniforms this spring for good measure. (This would mean that the team’s current uniforms were never worn by a Falcons team that made the postseason.)
It’s Smart NFL People Love The Falcons season. Best to enjoy it. The actual games will be here before you know it.