Rounding up the latest Falcons stories from Friday, July 24.
The Atlanta Falcons reached their first training camp milestone on Friday, with rookies officially reporting to Flowery Branch. The team’s 19-player rookie class, which includes six draft picks and 13 undrafted free agents, will get a head start before the veterans arrive next week.
Falcons head coach Kevin Stefanski has his work cut out for him, but July is the time for optimism in the NFL. For now, each team, including Atlanta, is on equal footing.
In today’s Falcons Wire Recap, ESPN breaks down the underrated right tackle competition, CBS Sports ranks the Robinsons as the top running back duo in the league, The Athletic makes a free-agent suggestion, and the NFL sets a date for Super Bowl LXII in Atlanta.
Falcons named landing spot for WR Stefon Diggs
The Falcons are still a good fit for the top available wide receiver on the market. Daniel Popper at The Athletic listed Atlanta as the best landing spot for free-agent Stefon Diggs.
“The Falcons drafted Zachariah Branch in the third round. Branch is explosive and projects as a YAC threat,” wrote Popper. “Diggs can play inside and outside, which would leave slot snaps available for Branch. London, Diggs and Branch would form a well-rounded trio for whichever quarterback wins the starting job between Michael Penix and Tua Tagovailoa.”
Super Bowl LXII in Atlanta to be played Feb. 13, 2028
It’s been nearly a decade since the Falcons played in the Super Bowl, but the NFL’s biggest game is coming to Atlanta in a little over 18 months. According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the league has set the official Super Bowl LXII date for February 13, 2028, inside Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
B/R predicts Falcons’ win total
Atlanta has made the playoffs since the 2017 season, but will that streak end in 2026? Brad Gagnon at Bleacher Report is putting the Falcons’ over/under win total for this season at under 7.5 – and his confidence level in that projection is high.
“The Falcons have managed to win seven-plus games in each of their last five seasons, and now they could also benefit from fresh faces in the front office, the coaching staff and at quarterback. At the very least, they’ll have competition with Tua Tagovailoa joining Michael Penix Jr. under the tutelage of Kevin Stefanski… This isn’t a great team, but it certainly has the talent to once again remain within reaching distance of .500 in the worst division in the NFL.” – Brad Gagnon, B/R
ESPN breaks down RT competition
ESPN‘s Marc Raimondi highlighted Atlanta’s right tackle competition as one of three key position battles to watch in training camp.
“The Falcons signed right tackle Jawaan Taylor from the Kansas City Chiefs in the offseason and also acquired his former Chiefs teammate Wanya Morris in a trade,” wrote Raimondi. “Taylor has been rehabbing an injury this spring and has not practiced. Michael Jerrell has been getting first-team reps. The job is likely Taylor’s to lose, but he has had issues with false starts, as well
Falcons RB duo ranked No. 1 in NFL
The Atlanta Falcons may not have their starting quarterback situation settled, but they are as blessed as any team in football at this position. Bijan Robinson has a real chance to be the most-productive skill player in the entire league and Brian Robinson is a very-solid No. 2 option.
Together, this running back tandem has been ranked the best in the NFL by Jared Dubin at CBS Sports.
“As mentioned above, Bijan Robinson is arguably the best running back in football… He can do everything there is to do on the field, and seemingly do it with relative ease. Brian Robinson Jr. ran for at least 733 yards in each of his first three NFL seasons before landing in San Francisco last year, where he still managed to get to 400 despite playing only 17% of the offensive snaps. In a larger role behind Bijan, he could do more with his opportunities.” – Jared Dubin, CBS Sports
