Atlanta Falcons 2023 rookie review & grades: Matthew Bergeron

The Atlanta Falcons followed up their first-round selection of Bijan Robinson by trading up for an offensive guard who would block for their new running back—Matthew Bergeron.

The Syracuse alum came in on day one and filled the only remaining hole on the Falcons' offensive line. He also played nearly every snap of his rookie season and was the team leader in offensive snaps played.

Atlanta Falcons rookie LG Matthew Bergeron's rookie review

Matthew Bergeron, as a rookie, proved to the Atlanta Falcons that they made the right decision trading up for him. He also proved to them that he could be relied upon and has cemented himself in the starting lineup for the 2024 season.

Bergeron was the last missing piece on an offensive line that will return all five starters in 2024.

Stats:

• 17 games, 1,127/1,128 offensive snaps played (99%)
• 66 snaps played on PAT/FG
• 4 penalties, 0 accepted
• 6 sacks allowed
• 8 hits allowed
• 19 hurries allowed
• 33 pressures allowed

*Blocking data provided by PFF*

The good:

The positives of Matthew Bergeron's rookie season start with his availability. As a rookie, he played the most offensive snaps of anyone—which holds tremendous value. Altogether, he only missed one snap which came against the Colts in week 16.

After a season when the Falcons had a handful of players slide in at the left guard position, Bergeron gave the Falcons a constant starter at LG.

The second-round pick had a handful of clean games as a pass blocker and the improvement was visible throughout the season.

The bad:

While Bergeron was available for the Falcons, he was far from perfect on the field. The rookie gave up way too many pressures and that certainly needs to be cleaned up in the future.

The good news is that he is going to get better each year. Just think about how far Chris Lindstrom has come since giving up 14 pressures in the five games he played as a rookie. He was on pace to give up 45 pressures during the 16-game season—Bergeron is already ahead of him in his development.

Overview:

Matt Bergeron did all that the coaching staff could ask for; he played and grew as the year progressed. While he gave up too many pressures, hurries, hits, and sacks, he showed that he could play a full season which is exactly what this team needed at the left guard position.

Expect Bergeron to take a significant leap forward in his second season.

Grade: B-