Following the suspension of Calvin Ridley and the decision to let Russell Gage walk, it became apparent that the Falcons had to totally rework their wide receiver’s room.
After all, there was no way they were going to go into the season with Olamide Zaccheaus and Frank Darby as their top two wideouts. Now after a few months, they have completely redone their entire receiving group.
The Falcons have seemingly united every tall pass catcher the NFL has to offer
Starting off with what the Falcons had from the beginning, which is headlined by tight end Kyle Pitts. Pitts was a once-in-a-lifetime prospect coming out of Florida last year and the Falcons were fortunate to snag him. He has special size standing at six-foot-six.
The other star from the offense last season was Cordarrelle Patterson who plays multiple positions and people always forget this but he is six-foot-two.
They drafted Frank Darby later on in the same draft as Kyle Pitts, he is six-foot-one.
Then to start off free agency, the Falcons brought in Auden Tate and Khadarel Hodge who are six-foot-five and six-foot-two, respectively.
Right before the draft, the team signed tight end Anthony Firkser, who Arthur Smith is familiar with from his time in Tennessee, Firkser is six-foot-two.
Going into the draft, the Falcons still needed to add talent to their skill positions and they did so from the very start as they took Drake London who stands at six-foot-four. With their last selection, they took a tight end in John FitzPatrick, who is known more as a blocker but he is six-foot-seven
Just when you thought the team was done they turned around and traded for former Raiders third-round pick, Bryan Edwards, and surprise surprise, he is six-foot-three
Most recently, the Falcons signed former Packers receiver Geronimo Allison and he is six-foot-three as well.
To round out the group, there is tight end, Parker Hesse, who is six-foot-three.
Let’s recap on how tall each of these players are:
- John FitzPatrick – 6’7″
- Kyle Pitts – 6’6″
- Auden Tate – 6’5″
- Drake London – 6’4″
- Bryan Edwards – 6’3″
- Geronimo Allison – 6’3″
- Parker Hesse – 6’3″
- Cordarrelle Patterson – 6’2″
- Anthony Firkser – 6’2″
- KhaDarel Hodge – 6’2″
- Frank Darby – 6’1″
That is a total of 11 players who are receiving threats and six-foot-one or taller, it is just comical at this point. All of these players may not make the roster, but, at the very least, the majority will and they will provide large targets for either Marcus Mariota or Desmond Ridder.
Now, if you want to add in some players who are considered long shots to making the roster, it only adds to the collection:
- Bradon Lenius – 6’5″
- Leroy Watson – 6’5″
- Tucker Fisk – 6’4″
- Tyshaun James – 6’3″
- Jared Bernhardt – 6’1″
- John Raine – 6’1″
That brings to sum total to 17 players who are six-foot-one or taller. Think it is obvious what this coaching staff wants in their skill position players?
At this point, would be anyone really be surprised if Terry Fontenot brought Calvin Johnson or Randy Moss out of retirement?