Atlanta Falcons

Atlanta Falcons

It's the heart of the offseason, with a couple more weeks left until free agency kicks off. That makes it a prime time to dive into the history of the Atlanta Falcons and, of course, argue about it. Today, we're going to kick off a series of articles and votes for the Falcons all-century team. We'll go position-by-position, one to two a day, and try to come up with a starting lineup and direct backups who should be considered the best of the best for the Falcons from 2000-2025.

The Falcons' challenge will be their need to evaluate Penix for another year to see whether he's their long-term answer at quarterback. Complications arise since Penix is coming off another season-ending knee injury, which makes it unlikely that he'll hit the ground running whenever he gets back on the field. The injury means he'll spend his offseason rehabbing rather than taking the critical reps he needs in practice to improve.

The Falcons' cornerback group usually left you wanting more in past years. As terrific as A.J. Terrell is, the inability to add an above-average second outside cornerback and the instability at nickel had fans frustrated on a long list of defensive frustrations. Those issues were somewhat alleviated last year with Mike Hughes being solid enough, Billy Bowman Jr. showing legitimate flashes, and Dee Alford's revival.

The offensive line was this team's unquestioned strength from, say, 2022-2024. Last year, we saw signs of cracks forming in that foundation, and change now feels possible with Bill Callahan replacing Dwayne Ledford. But even though one piece changes here and one pieces changes there, and injury took out a key starter, this line's continuity has enabled some pretty great ground games and keep a messy passing attack from going completely off the rails for years now.

Welcome, Atlanta Falcons fans, to the Kevin Stefanski experience. Expect the field to shrink, heavier personnel, and an offense built to dictate terms instead of reacting to them. Under Stefanski, expect condensed formations designed to support a physical, efficient run game. With the hiring of Bill Callahan, one of the most respected offensive line coaches in football, that unit isn't expected to be a passable unit. It's expected to be a key component of the team's future success.

In a year where just about everything went comically wrong for the Falcons, taking them from would-be playoff team to out of the mix in November, the running back position was a bastion of excellence. It's a virtual certainty it was our final year with Tyler Allgeier in the mix, though blessedly Bijan Robinson will continue to be a Falcon for what we hope is many years to come.

Atlanta Falcons rookie James Pearce Jr. allegedly crashed his vehicle into one being driven by WNBA player Rickea Jackson multiple times and struck a police officer with the vehicle while evading arrest, according to the criminal complaint obtained by ESPN from the Miami-Dade County state attorney's office. Pearce was arrested Saturday in Florida on five felony charges, including aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, aggravated stalking and aggravated battery of a law enforcement officer.