Coaching Staff
Head Coach: Kevin Stefanski
Offensive Coordinator: Tommy Rees
Defensive Coordinator: Jeff Ulbrich
Special Teams Coordinator: Craig Aukerman
2025 Summary (W-L Record: 8-9)
Mediocre. That’s what the Falcons have been for years, at best. And that’s what they were a year ago. The lack of growth over the last two season, and a series of questionable front-office decisions, ultimately led to the firing of both head coach Raheem Morris and general manager Terry Fontenot.
2025 was so frustrating because Atlanta entered the season with some promise. Michael Penix, Jr.’s performance in his 3 starts to end the 2024 season were highly encouraging. He may have been a rookie, but he played with an impressive amount of maturity, showing consistent timing, processing, and anticipation.
But last season got off to an uneven start for Penix, which isn’t a surprise considering it was his second year and the league had all offseason to adjust.
Still, the Falcons started 3-2 and had a big win over the Bills on Monday Night Football in Week 6. They seemed like they were ready to turn the corner.
Then the wheels fell off.
They lost 5 games in a row. And along the way, Penix suffered another season-ending knee injury. Atlanta put together some decent football at the end of the year to get to 8-9, but it ultimately wasn’t enough. They missed out on the playoffs for the 8th straight season, and Arthur Blank cleaned house.
Key Additions
QB Tua Tagovailoa
RB Brian Robinson
WR Olamide Zaccheaus
WR Jahan Dotson
WR Zachariah Branch (3rd Rd, 79th Overall)
TE Austin Hooper
RT Jawaan Taylor
C Corey Levin
DL Maason Smith
DL Chris Williams
DL Da’Shawn Hand
EDGE Samson Ebukam
EDGE Azeez Ojulari
EDGE Cameron Thomas
LB Christian Harris
LB Kendal Daniels (4th Rd, 134th Overall)
CB Avieon Terrell (2nd Rd, 48th Overall)
CB Darnay Holmes
S Darren Hall
S Sydney Brown
Key Losses
RB Tyler Allgeier
WR Darnell Mooney
WR David Sills
WR Casey Washington
TE Teagan Quitoriano
RT Elijah Wilkinson
DL David Onyemata
DL Ruke Orhorhoro
DL Kentavius Street
EDGE Leonard Floyd
EDGE Arnold Ebiketie
LB Kaden Elliss
LB Ronnie Harrison
CB Dee Alford
Biggest Questions Entering 2026
Penix or Tua?
I hate to say it because injuries in football absolutely suck. But it kind of feel like we’re going to see both Tua Tagovailoa and Michael Penix, Jr. this season regardless of who wins the quarterback competition coming out of training camp.
Both have pretty significant injury histories. But given the fact that Penix still hasn’t been cleared to practice fully and Tua will be getting more reps early on (although he’s dealing with a slight back issue currently), it seems like Tua is the more likely Week 1 starter.
You can make the argument that Tua is a better fit in new head coach Kevin Stefanski’s timing and rhythm passing game, because that’s exactly the type of quarterback that he is.
In fact, timing and rhythm are essential to Tua’s game. During his 4 years under Mike McDaniel, he was two entirely different quarterbacks if he was able to get the ball out on time versus if he had to hold the ball.
On throws where he was able to release the ball in 2.5 seconds or less, Tua had a 55-17 TD-INT ratio and a 106.3 passer rating according to data from Pro Football Focus.
On throws where it took him more than 2.5 seconds to get rid of the ball, he had a 39-28 TD-INT ratio and an 87.0 passer rating.
For context, that 106.3 passer rating would have placed him right behind MVP Matthew Stafford last season as the 3rd-highest rated passer in the NFL.
That 87.0 rating would have put him at 28th in the NFL, slightly ahead of Spencer Rattler.
Quite the difference.
Penix does play a similar style of quarterback to Tua in terms of his ability to throw with timing and anticipation, and I think he could absolutely thrive in Stefanski’s system.
Just look at a throw like this:
Look at where Drake London was in his route when Penix had already made his decision and started his throwing motion:
The key difference between Penix and Tua is that Penix is more physically gifted as a thrower. He can attack downfield and at the intermediate level with ease, which stretches the defense:
Stefanski should be able to attack at all 3 levels and do more in the passing game with Penix.
While Penix has the talent and ability to be the long-term solution in Atlanta if he can stay healthy, that’s a big “if.” His injury history is scary (5 major knee and shoulder injuries). We don’t know if he’ll be ready for Week 1. If he is, we don’t know if he’ll be able to play a full 17-game schedule.
And at the end of the day, that’s why the Falcons signed Tua. He’s a pretty decent option if Penix can’t be in the lineup every Sunday since they do have such similar styles of play, arm strength aside.
Regardless of who wins the job, though, I think we’ll see a fair amount of each QB this year.
Can the Falcons’ run game carry them to the playoffs?
It seems like a crime that the Falcons only ranked 11th in the NFL with a 45.5% run frequency rate last year.
Bijan Robinson might be the best running back in football. He needs to be fed the rock as much as possible:
Kevin Stefanski traditionally had been a coach who leaned on the run game in the past. In his first year as an offensive coordinator (2019 with the Vikings), he ran the ball at the 4th-highest clip in the NFL. That trend continued in his first three years as the Browns Head Coach, as Cleveland finished 4th, 6th, and 8th in run-play frequency.
Over the last 3 years, however, those numbers dropped off (17th, 32nd, 25th).
Personnel was the most likely reason for this. In 2019, Stefanski had Dalvin Cook in his prime. Then he had a healthy Nick Chubb from 2020-22. Chubb’s gruesome 2023 injury left Stefanski without a true bell cow in the backfield for the next 3 years. Wisely, he pivoted and put more on the stronger (relative term) areas of his offense.
He won’t have those same issues in Atlanta with Robinson in the backfield.
The Falcons’ offensive line has also been one of the best in football over the last few years, and 4 of their 5 starters are returning from last season. Not to mention, Atlanta is a little thin at receiver behind Drake London and Kyle Pitts.
Add that to the quarterback situation, and I think the safe bet is that Stefanski will get back to his 2019-22 roots and operate through the run game as much as possible.
Remember, he’s a 2-time NFL Coach of the Year, so I imagine Stefanski will figure out the best ways to maximize the personnel that he has on this offense.
Can Jeff Ulbrich’s defense pick up where they left off?
Normally when a head coach gets fired, his entire staff gets replaced. That didn’t happen in Atlanta as Stefanski retained defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich.
He’s been a successful defensive coordinator in just about every season that he’s been one. The lone exceptions are his first year with the Jets in 2021 when he had nothing to work with, and in 2024 when he was clearly spread too thin due to unexpectedly having the interim head coaching job thrown onto his plate after Robert Saleh was fired just 5 games in.
Ulbrich’s calling card has been his ability to generate a pass rush. The Jets ranked 7th in sacks in 2022 and 2023 and then 11th in 2024. Last year in Atlanta, the Falcons set a franchise record with 57 sacks and ranked 2nd in the NFL. That was an area that had had been pretty dismal for the Falcons in recent history.
Ulbrich did it in a combination of ways last season. He attacked with pressure schemes as Atlanta finished 2nd in the NFL in blitz percentage.
He also leaned on a young group of pass rushers. The top 3 players on the team in sacks were rookie edge rusher James Pearce (10.5 sacks), 2nd-year D-tackle Brandon Dorlus (8.5 sacks), and rookie edge rusher Jalon Walker (5.5 sacks).
The big question, of course, is what is Pearce’s status this season? Due to some more alleged off-the-field stuff, his ability to play this season is somewhat in the hands of the legal system and/or Roger Goodell.
The Falcons brought in some reinforcements this offseason but no needle-movers. It will likely be on fellow 2nd-year edge rusher Jalon Walker to take a big leap in 2026 if Pearce can’t be on the field.
2026 Outlook
The Falcons should be competitive in the NFC South this season. I’ll keep throwing it out there that this division is wide open and all 4 teams have a shot at it, because it’s true.
Atlanta needs a bunch of things to go right, though. They need the quarterback situation to be steady. Preferably, Penix will become the guy, but whatever happens, they need some level of stability and consistency. They also need things to break their way on defense, where there is still a ton of uncertainty due to the James Pearce situation.