New player takes over as the Atlanta Falcons leading receiver

Prior to the season, we all thought that the Atlanta Falcons’ leading receiver would be Kyle Pitts or even Drake London. It almost felt like a certainty as they are both extremely talented while also being the two highest-drafted players for the team over the past two years.

That has not been the case as a different receiver for the Falcons has taken over as the leading receiver after his strong performance against the Washington Commanders.

Olamide Zaccheaus is the Atlanta Falcons leading receiver after 12 games

Exactly how we thought things would play out 12 weeks into the season; the Atlanta Falcons’ leading receiver is their undrafted receiver from three years ago, Olamide Zaccheaus.

Not Kyle Pitts, not Drake London, but Olamide Zaccheaus. This is nothing against Olamide, he has been excellent, it is just the shock value that he is on top of the Falcons’ receiving stats. He took the spot from Drake London following his near-100-yard receiving game against the Commanders.

He was able to haul in five catches for 91 yards, including a 45-yard catch on what should have been the game-winning drive.

Here are the leading receivers for the run-heavy Falcons offense:

1. Olamide Zaccheaus: 465 yards, 30 receptions, 2 TDs
2. Drake London: 438 yards, 41 receptions, 4 TDs
3. Kyle Pitts: 356 yards, 28 receptions, 2 TDs
4. Damiere Byrd: 229 yards, 9 receptions, 2 TDs
5. KhaDarel Hodge: 197 yards, 12 receptions, 1 TD

That is not how anyone thought the leaderboards would shake out. Zaccheaus has been excellent but it is also frustrating that Drake London is not getting more opportunities with accurate passes, and that’s the key, accurate passes. He has more targets than OZ but how many of those have actually been catchable?

This Atlanta Falcons team just needs to figure this quarterback position out because it is clearly not Marcus Mariota’s job. If they can figure it out then the leaderboards for Falcons receivers should stack up next year how we predicted they would this year.