Atlanta Falcons 2026 Preview

WRITTEN BY: MIKE JOHNSON (@MJOHNSON_86)

Coaching/Philosophy/Scheme Changes ::

• Offense: The Falcons cleaned house with head coach Raheem Morris as well as his offensive staff. This year Kevin Stefanski was brought in from Cleveland and he brought offensive coordinator Tommy Rees with him.
• Defense: After a solid debut season as the Falcons defensive coordinator, Jeff Ulbrich was spared in the coaching overhaul. Atlanta should have continuity on that side of the ball despite a change at the top.

Personnel Changes ::

• The Falcons brought in former first round pick QB Tua Tagovailoa from the Dolphins after they made the choice to move on and take the path of a rebuild. Incumbent QB Michael Penix Jr. is recovering from a November ACL tear. The team and Penix are targeting a Week 1 return, but that is far from guaranteed. One interesting note about this is that these two quarterbacks are very similar players—left handed, moderate arm strength, limited mobility, rely more on scheme and playmakers than creating things themselves. Neither is a world beater, but the strategy of the backup’s playing style mirroring the starter’s is wise on the surface.
• Bijan Robinson is probably the best running back in the world right now and was fully unleashed in 2025. He will be the engine of this offense, without question. Atlanta let Tyler Allgeier leave in free agency and signed Brian Robinson Jr. as Bijan’s backup.
• Drake London is once again clearly the top receiver for the Falcons and TE Kyle Pitts is coming off a career year that ended with several huge games. These two will be the clear top options in the passing game.
• Atlanta let Darnell Mooney go this offseason and brought in several options to fight for the scraps behind London. Wide receivers Jahan Dotson and Olamide Zaccheaus were signed in free agency, while the team then added Zachariah Branch in the third round of the NFL Draft.

Schedule ::

• Divisional Games (6) ::
  • ATL x2, NO x2, TB x2
• NFC North (4)::
  • vs. CHI, vs. DET, @ GB, @ MIN
• AFC North (4)::
  • vs. BAL, vs. CIN, @ CLE, @ PIT
• vs. KC, vs. SF, @ WAS

Bull Case ::

Atlanta has a dynamic trio of young offensive playmakers in Bijan Robinson, Drake London, and Kyle Pitts—all of which are 24 or 25 years old and squarely in their prime. London was dominant for the first half of 2025 before suffering an injury that held him out of five games and not regaining form at the end of the season (clearly below full strength). He went over 100 receiving yards in five of nine games prior to the injury and at one point had a five game stretch where he scored six touchdowns. London is without question one of the top-10 wide receivers in the game and has the ability to handle short and intermediate routes to rack up volume, while also being dominant in the red zone and capable of big plays. Meanwhile, Pitts emerged while London was out and showed the ability to be the unicorn he was drafted to be. A physical specimen and matchup nightmare. Finally, the center of it all is Bijan. The ultimate offensive weapon who can do everything, Robinson accounted for over 2,300 yards in 2025. Those three complement each other well and a new coaching staff and ideas might be able to meld everything together perfectly.

The Falcons of course play their six divisional games, with none of their divisional opponents having imposing defenses, and then have matchups with the NFC North and AFC North. We know most of the offenses in those divisions are capable of putting up big numbers and could easily pull the Falcons into fun game scripts. The likely concentration of their usage among their “Big 3” should be fantasy gold in games with higher scoring and/or extreme play volume. Whoever the QB is, it won’t be someone who takes off running a lot and steals volume. These are QBs who rely on scheme and the talent around them to make things work, and usage will be funneled in a very predictable direction—which is gold for our purposes.