The Atlanta Falcons, at least on paper, have a lot going for them as training camps ramp up and the 2026 NFL Season gets closer. This team wasn't far off from winning the NFC South in 2025, either, and if the team can somehow get just average quarterback play from someone in the room, a division title is on the table.
Where Atlanta can win is the personnel on offense, which features a top-10 offensive line and flat-out excellent weapons, and with the pass rush, which only trailed the Denver Broncos last year. If it all comes together, this could be a double-digit win football team.
New head coach Kevin Stefanski is also a two-time Coach of the Year, so he's no slouch, but one of their late-ish free agency additions does come with a warning label that simply cannot be ignored.
New Atlanta Falcons right tackle Jawaan Taylor has a major penalty problem
PFF rolled out a list of the most penalized players in the NFL since the 2021 season, and, unfortunately, newly-signed right tackle Jawaan Taylor, according to their data, has had the most in the NFL with 74:
"Taylor coming in at No. 1 on this list isn’t really a shocker. His tenure in Kansas City was well-documented — and often included yellow markers.
Over three years with the Chiefs and two with the Jaguars prior, Taylor racked up a league-leading 74 penalties, the most by a wide margin. He was especially a flag magnet protecting Patrick Mahomes, with 56 of those calls coming from 2023-25 alone.
A key problem for Taylor has been illegal formation assessments, with his 10 in this span the second-most to only Braden Smith. Beyond that, Taylor was penalized for a league-high 35 holds.
After signing with the Falcons this offseason, Taylor is now expected to start at right tackle to replace the retiring Kaleb McGary. Intriguingly, his acquisition creates a dichotomy between the NFL’s most-flagged player and a team that’s incurred among the fewest penalties." -- Bradley Locker
The 2025 season was also a forgettable one for Taylor. PFF gave him a grade of 53.3, which ranked just 80th among 89 qualified tackles. PFF tagged him for 13 penalties and three sacks allowed. According to Pro Football Reference's data, Taylor has had 78 penalties across his seven-year career, with all but the 2020 and 2022 seasons being double-digit infractions.
With that being said, Taylor was remarkably reliable the first five seasons of his career, as he did not miss a single start. He made all but one start in 2024 and then only made 12 starts in the 2025 season. For the Falcons, though, the retirement of Kaleb McGary did seem to come out of nowhere, and there are a slew of teams with much worse right tackle situations than the team has now with Taylor.
However, penalties are a drive-killer, and with the Falcons not necessarily having good quarterbacks in the room, the overall performance of the players around them has to be high. No matter who wins the starting job, the team simply can't have big plays or first downs get called back thanks to Taylor not being able to play clean football.
It's much easier said than done, but fortunately for the veteran, he's playing on the strongest offensive line he's been a part of, and I am not sure he's played for an offense with as much talent as the Falcons currently have.
And perhaps a fresh start is precisely what he needs. Taylor is far from a bad player and can be a dependable bookend for this team. There's a good chance that being on a new team with different coaching and an already solid offensive line foundation can help him play overall cleaner football.
But the penalties are what they are - he's averaging more than 10 per season, and if that number can't come down, the Falcons offense is going to leave a lot on the field in 2026.
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