Is Atlanta Falcons Young Core of Offensive Players Underrated?

The Atlanta Falcons have almost exclusively spent their high-round draft picks on the offensive side of the ball the last decade. Of the 11 projected starters, there are seven first round picks, a second, a fourth, and two free agents.

Their defense has reflected the lack of investment in that time period as well with A.J. Terrell being the only Falcons' first-rounder on the team However, there's reason to be hopeful that a Falcons offense that finished No. 6 in total yards and No. 13 in points should be better in 2025.

Moe Moton of Bleacher Report (B/R) went through the task of ranking the building blocks on offense for every team in the NFL. Coming in at No. 21 seemed a bit low for the Falcons, but it all boiled down to the quarterback position.

Moton listed Bijan Robinson, Drake London, and Chris Lindstrom as building blocks for Atlanta, but didn't include an unproven quarterback. If Michael Penix continues to improve on his three starts in 2024, the Falcons are top-10 on a list like this.

"The Atlanta Falcons will move forward with quarterback Michael Penix Jr. as their starter," wrote Moton on B/R. "The Falcons featured Bijan Robinson as a building-block player. In 2023, he logged 272 touches. The 23-year-old finished second leaguewide in touches (365), racking up the fourth-most scrimmage yards (1,887).

"Drake London proved he could post numbers that align with the production of a No. 1 wideout, logging career highs in catches (100), receiving yards (1,271) and touchdown receptions (nine). Chris Lindstrom has become the anchor of the Falcons' offensive line, earning Pro Bowl nods in three consecutive terms."

Moton was relatively consistent with his subjective list. He didn't include Drake Maye for the Patriots or J.J. McCarthy for the Vikings for the same reason. Only the Vikings ranked ahead of the Falcons for teams that didn't have a quarterback included.

That said, salary cap considerations probably should have been included in this discussion. Afterall, if I have a talented player on a rookie contract, I have more resources to build around that block.

The Dallas Cowboys are ranked No. 9 on this list with Dak Prescott, CeeDee Lamb, and Tyler Smith. Prescott and Lamb have a combined $125.4-million cap charge right now. Those aren't building blocks; those are black holes.

Is there any world you can see any NFL executive not named Jerry Jones trading Penix and London ($12.1 million combined) for Prescott and Lamb?

Penix and Kirk Cousins combined will have half the cap charge Prescott does in 2025, unless the Cowboys restructure his deal. Atlanta Falcons fans know all-too-well the danger or continuously restructuring an aging quarterback's overpriced contract.

Again, this is a subjective list, and Moton showed consistency with how he valued and subsequently weighted the quarterbacks across the league.

However, the Atlanta Falcons have plenty of concerns heading into 2025, but offensive building blocks is way, way down the list.