Falcons mailbag: What does success look like after offseason makeover? (2024)

Good news: This is the last offseason Atlanta Falcons mailbag of the year! The Falcons begin training camp on July 24, and we finally will get to see what all their moves amount to.

To review: Arthur Smith and Desmond Ridder are gone. Raheem Morris and Kirk Cousins (plus Darnell Mooney and many rookie defenders) are in. There are a lot of questions about how it’s all going to work.

So let’s get to answering them.

What do the Falcons need to achieve to realistically consider themselves to have had a successful 2024 season?— Louis B.

Good idea, Louis, let’s get right to the point. You can’t make a head coaching change and say it was because you’re ready to compete at “the highest level” with the current roster and then add a (potentially) $180 million starting quarterback to that roster and not make the playoffs. If the Falcons miss the postseason this year, it will be a flop. Period.

Is that enough, though? That depends on context. After a six-year playoff drought, if the Falcons make the playoffs and lose a competitive first-round matchup, then yes, that can be counted as a win but just barely. They have publicly pushed their chips into the middle of the table. It’s time to turn the cards now.

Troy Andersen has great athleticism and played multiple positions in college. Do you see him kicking out to outside linebacker on passing downs or do you think they will continue to label him an inside linebacker and use him creatively on the field simultaneously with Kaden Ellis and Nate Landman?— Bob F.

Bob has my favorite question of the week, and it’s my favorite because I hadn’t thought of this before. I think that answer is no, but it’s an intriguing question. The Falcons are very thin at outside linebacker (Lorenzo Carter, Arnold Ebiketie, Bralen Trice, DeAngelo Malone and Bradlee Anae are it right now), and Andersen is one of the most athletic linebackers in NFL history. He is one of 18 players at any position since 1987 with a Relative Athletic Score of 10. (Carter is one of the other 18. In fact, Andersen and Carter are the only two linebackers on the list.)

Andersen absolutely could make the move to outside linebacker, but I think he stays put for two reasons. First, his highest potential value is as a player with A-gap run-stuffing ability combined with the athleticism to cover the middle of the field and be an elite interior blitzer. Second, he’s only now learned how to play inside linebacker. Andersen lost most of last season because of a torn pectoral, and, as Bob mentioned, he played quarterback, running back and linebacker in college. He needs to master a position, and it seems like a waste of another year to try to teach him another new spot this year.

Is there a logistical/cap-related reason why we haven’t signed a veteran cornerback yet, or is that move not as inevitable as some might assume?— Duncan S.

The Falcons have $3.5 million in cap space available, according to Over the Cap. That’s the lowest number in the league, but there’s almost always money that can be shuffled in the salary cap. Atlanta could restructure the contract of someone like guard Chris Lindstrom to create room.

As regular readers know, I think this move should and probably will happen. There’s plenty of time for it, though. Remember that Jadeveon Clowney didn’t sign with the Ravens until mid-August last year and then had one of the best seasons of his career. If you’re a veteran with options (like Stephon Gilmore, Xavien Howard or Adoree Jackson, etc.) there are worse decisions than skipping a couple weeks of training camp and coming in closer to the start of the season.

How have the mood and culture in the building shifted from Arthur Smith’s regime to Raheem Morris’? Is the change palpable? Have any players compared the new vibe to recent years? Do Terry Fontenot and Arthur Blank in particular appear to relate differently to Morris than they did to Arthur Smith?— Randall P.

The Falcons’ mood and culture were fine under Smith until the team lost four of five games to end the 2023 season and clearly ran out of confidence and gas, but there is a definite “vibes” change with the new staff. Morris is generally a more jovial guy than Smith and clearly identified that this team needed a confidence boost. He was upfront that his main goal during OTAs and minicamp was to encourage and build up his players. Every player I talked to said they loved the atmosphere and thought the vibes were great, but that’s standard for any coaching change with any team.

Things inevitably will get more serious when training camp begins, but it seems Morris will take a different approach than Smith year-round. That might be just what this team needs. Time will tell, but the Falcons didn’t have a culture problem under Smith. That’s not the reason they didn’t succeed.

As for the mood of the team, that’s difficult to gauge in the offseason because the Falcons don’t have open locker room interviews in the offseason, so the only time the media sees the players is in structured settings. We’ll know more about that once the season starts.

As for the relationship between Blank and team executives, that’s always going to be hard to determine because their interactions are almost all private, and, unlike someone like Jerry Jones in Dallas, Blank tends to keep his business in-house.

Thanks for trying to answer some of these questions. I know the big change to the passing game was quarterback-driven, but how are the receivers and their impact on the game being evaluated? For example, how has Darnell Mooney changed the wide receiver room and will Drake London get a shot at a breakout year? — Benji H.

Thanks to y’all for your interest and support. This coaching staff has put a much bigger premium on pure speed at wide receiver with the additions of Mooney and Rondale Moore. As for how it’s going to be evaluated, it’s pretty straightforward. The Falcons were 29th in the NFL last season in receptions (327) and 26th in receiving touchdowns (17). If they don’t move into the top quarter in both of those categories this year, it will be a disappointment.

London absolutely has a shot to have a breakout year. Now that he has a veteran quarterback, he probably has as good a situation as any receiver in the league. He’s playing with a proven commodity at quarterback, behind a good offensive line, alongside other weapons to take some pressure off him and in one of the league’s best passing systems. It’s on him now. I think he’s up to the task, but we will see.

What confidence do you have we will replicate the same success the Rams had last year with rookie defensive linemen? My confidence is two out of 10 because we don’t have Aaron Donald playing next to our guys and we have a first-year defensive coordinator play caller. With no second cornerback on the roster, this is setting up to be a disaster on defense.— Michael M.

My confidence is higher than yours, but not a lot. The Rams got 17 sacks last season out of two rookies drafted in the third round. That’s rare. If Ruke Orhorhoro, Brandon Dorlus, Zion Logue and Bralen Trice combine for 12 sacks this season, that would be good enough for Atlanta. As for the Aaron Donald issue, it’s true that the Falcons don’t have that caliber of player, but Grady Jarrett and David Onyemata are better than average in the middle.

Whether the Falcons add another cornerback or not (and we addressed that above), I don’t think it will be a defensive disaster. If it is, all the offensive additions will be wasted.

How far have they come with the facility upgrades at Flowery Branch and will it be done by the time the season starts?— John K.

The Falcons expected to be in the new locker room and weight room by the start of the season, but they haven’t made a completion announcement yet. The media hasn’t been at the facility in about a month, so I don’t know the progress.

(Top photo of Raheem Morris: John Bazemore / Associated Press)

Josh Kendall , a Georgia native, has been following the Falcons since Jeff Van Note was the richly bearded face of the franchise. For 20 years before joining The Athletic NFL staff, he covered football in the SEC. He also covers golf for The Athletic. Follow Josh on Twitter @JoshTheAthletic