Projecting the Atlanta Falcons pre-NFL Draft depth chart
Offensive Tackle
- LT: 1-Jake Matthews, 2-Matt Gono
- RT: 1-Kaleb McGary, 2-Willie Beavers
The Atlanta Falcons ranked 22nd in sacks allowed per game last season and this OL will need to play better in 2021 for this offense to maintain consistency and balance.
Jake Matthews was quite sturdy on the left side, allowing only three sacks while bringing home a 75.5 grade from pro football focus. Kaleb McGary had been fantastic early in the season before an MCL sprain, where his performance declined a tad bit over the latter half of the year.
McGary really progressed as a run blocker and the future is bright at tackle for Atlanta.
Matt Gono was designated as a second-round tender by the Falcons showing how much they like him moving into 2021. He was a swing tackle for most of last season but could potentially move inside to guard.
The second-round tender is worth $3.4M meaning they would likely try to incorporate him into the lineup.
Positional Grade: A-
Interior Offensive Line
- LG: 1-Matt Gono, 2- Willie Wright
- C: 1-Matt Hennessy, 2- Willie Wright
- RG: 1-Chris Lindstrom, 2- Willie Wright
Currently, the Atlanta Falcons don’t have much depth on the offensive line making it quite difficult to conduct an accurate two-deep at these three positions.
The aforementioned Gono is likely going to get the go at LG and following the departure of Alex Mack, the Falcons are fully prepared to let the second-year man out of Temple in Matt Hennessy anchor down the middle of the trenches.
Much like McGary, Chris Lindstrom has an extremely bright future.
A foot injury limited the 2019 first-rounder to only five games during his rookie season but started all 16 a season ago, yielding a PFF grade of 77.7.
The Falcons offensive line struggled last season but Arthur Smith inherits a group that has the pieces in place and with some development or potential retooling can really take long strides in 2021.