Atlanta Falcons: 2020 will determine the future for more than just players

After back-to-back losing seasons, the Atlanta Falcons have a lot more pressure on them than many think.

Every person within the Atlanta Falcons organization knows what is at stake in 2020. Either win or many of them are going to be replaced at the end of the season. When you change the coaching staff and front office personnel, there are a lot of lives that are disrupted, and most of them are not even the employees that are terminated.

Spouses, kids, and other family members have their lives turned upside down and the trickle-down effect is never pretty and rarely seen.

Atlanta Falcons general manager Thomas Dimitroff has a roster with 18 former first-round picks. He has added seven of those this offseason – A.J. Terrell in April’s NFL draft and then Hayden Hurst, Todd Gurley, Dante Fowler, Charles Harris, Deone Bucannon and Laquon Treadwell during free agency.

No one knows if this hodgepodge mix of talent will come together on the field but Dimitroff is willing to go down swinging and hoping he isn’t thrown a curveball with a full count.

The good news for the Atlanta Falcons is they are flying under the radar from a football standpoint. With Tom Brady and Gronk joining the Bucs as well as Drew Brees playing his last year in New Orleans, no one is talking about the Falcons and what they are capable of this season.

Pro Football Focus recently released its rankings of all NFL receiver groups and had the Falcons group ranked 13th. Not only are they extremely low, but PFF also had them as the fourth-best group in the NFC South.

No one is looking for the Atlanta Falcons to make any noise this season.

With the hunger that team leaders like Matt Ryan, Julio Jones, Grady Jarrett, and Deion Jones have and the sense of urgency players like Charles Harris, Todd Gurley, and Takk McKinley are coming into the season with looking to earn extensions or bigger contracts for 2021, the Falcons have the perfect mix for an outstanding 2020 season.