Following the 2026 NFL Draft, the Atlanta Falcons clearly improved on both sides of the football, but that didn't stop Bleacher Report’s Brad Gagnon from ranking the Falcons' offense 23rd in the league immediately after the draft.Â
For a unit with a first-team All-Pro running back in Bijan Robinson, a legitimate No. 1 receiver in Drake London, one of the NFL's most gifted TE’s in Kyle Pitts, and a new head coach who actually knows how to run a modern offense, that's a pretty aggressive take... and one that's beyond disrespectful.
And the worst part? His case case against Atlanta centers on the quarterback room:
"The primary issue is that lack of clarity on who will become the man under center," Gagnon wrote. "With competence at quarterback, this could be a top-10 offense; without it, they could be a bottom-10 unit. I'm leaning toward the latter."
The Atlanta Falcons' QB room continues to be the source of their underestimation despite their offensive talent
That's a 13-spot swing based almost entirely on which signal-caller wins a training camp battle. Fair enough as a framework, but the framing assumes Atlanta is stuck with a bad quarterback. That's far from certain, especially when both Michael Penix Jr. and Tua Tagovailoa have been solid in the past.
Sure, Tua Tagovailoa’s 2024 season with Miami wasn't great, but his 72.9% completion rate in 2024 led the NFL, and he's never played behind an offensive line this good. And for the league minimum? How can you not pick up a former Pro Bowler to compete with Penix.
Penix's injury complicates things, obviously. The torn ACL he suffered in Week 11 against Carolina puts his Week 1 availability in real doubt, and even before the injury, four of his nine starts last season featured a completion rate below 60%. His career mark sits at 59.6%.
Stefanski has been odd about Penix's timeline. "When he's ready, he'll be ready," the coach said in March. That's not exactly a ringing endorsement of the guy as the starter, and this new front office didn't draft him. The commitment just isn't there the way it was under the previous regime.
If Penix is genuinely limited at the start of camp, Tagovailoa builds chemistry with the skill position group for weeks before there's any real competition. That head start could be decisive.
The weapons are too good for the Falcons' QBs to disappoint
Here's the thing Gagnon's ranking kind of buries... This skill position group is legitimately scary if either quarterback can just get them the ball.
After a 2,300-scrimmage yard season, Bijan Robinson might be the best running back in the NFL. London is one of the more reliable contested-catch receivers in the league. Pitts is still one of the most physically gifted tight ends in football.
And now third-round WR Zachariah Branch enters the mix. He's a slot/short area weapon who can operate underneath while London and Pitts work downfield.Â
23rd is where this offense finishes if everything breaks wrong. But Stefanski is a proven offensive mind. Bijan Robinson is elite. The weapons are deep enough to mask a lot of problems. And Penix or Tagovailoa, in the right system with healthy legs, have shown they can be very good NFL quarterbacks-- and this Falcons' system is precisely that.
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