Atlanta Falcons land in the 20s in NFL.com's newest Power Rankings

At this time last year, the Atlanta Falcons were routinely viewed as the worst team in the NFL by experts which also meant it was common to see them ranked 32nd in power rankings.

Must Read: 4 Bold predictions for the Atlanta Falcons in 2023.

Now here we are in 2023 with a more experienced team that is coming off of a fantastic free agency period and draft, and now others are taking notice—kind of...

Atlanta Falcons rank 23rd in NFL.com's latest power rankings.

Dan Hanzus released his latest power rankings on NFL.com and he bumped the Atlanta Falcons up a number of spots after an intriguing draft.

They came in at 23rd, which is four spots higher than his power rankings which were released just over a month ago. Obviously, much of this jump has to do with the 2023 NFL Draft where the Falcons were able to land six new players.

Hanzus mentions how talented Bijan Robinson is and what he can do for the Dirty Birds immediately. However, then he goes on to talk about the potential questions the Falcons might receive if he doesn't start out hot.

He ends it by mentioning their need for "an elite edge rusher, franchise quarterback or starting-caliber player at receiver/cornerback."

It is apparent that the media will continue to pester the Falcons until Desmond Ridder proves he can be a franchise quarterback. He is right about the team needing an elite edge rusher and a starting receiver opposite Drake London but there weren't any players on the board at those positions worth taking at pick eight and I still don't understand why everyone thinks the Falcons need a starting cornerback right now. They still have A.J. Terrell, last time I checked, and they didn't trade for Jeff Okudah to sit him on the bench for 17 games.

To look at the positive side of things, the Falcons are ranked higher than two of their division rivals, the Panthers and Buccaneers. The Saints have the highest rank within the NFC South, which shouldn't be the case, in my opinion.

While it is nice to be significantly higher on power rankings this year, there are not 22 teams better than the Falcons and they will prove that in a few months.