What would the 2024 Falcons starting lineup look like today?

Atlanta’s offense looks strong, but this is still very much a work-in-progress roster.

The Atlanta Falcons have put together the bulk of their free agent class and are now gearing up for the 2024 NFL Draft. How close are they to fielding their final starting lineup for the year?

As you’d guess given that we have months to go and the draft still ahead, the answer is probably not all that close. On offense and on special teams, most of the team’s options are locked in, but the defense has a ways to go. While we wait the one-plus week for the draft, here’s a look at what the starting lineup would likely look like if the season started today, which should give us a sense of both how far Atlanta has come and how far they have to go.

Offense

QB Kirk Cousins

RB Bijan Robinson

WR Drake London

WR Darnell Mooney

WR Rondale Moore

TE Kyle Pitts

LT Jake Matthews

LG Mathtew Bergeron

C Drew Dalman

RG Chris Lindstrom

RT Kaleb McGary

This has the makings of a good NFL offense, something that would be welcome after the last few seasons.

Cousins offers the sharp passing and proven track record of feeding playmakers that this passing attack desperately needed, and he’ll have a mix of size (London, Pitts) and speed (Mooney, Moore, Pitts again) to target. Robinson is one of three or four players who feel like obvious breakout candidates, depending on how you feel about Mooney, and should key a strong ground game with Tyler Allgeier also in the mix.

If healthy, you have some high-end playmakers and intriguing depth, and while this will be a more pass-heavy offense than we were used to seeing under Arthur Smith, there are all the pieces necessary to boast one of the league’s better ground games. The offense was a turnover-prone mess a year ago, and it’s hard not to look at this group and new offensive coordinator Zac Robinson and expect far better if everyone is fully healthy.

Defense

DL Grady Jarrett

DL Eddie Goldman

DL David Onyemata

OLB Arnold Ebiketie

OLB Lorenzo Carter

ILB Kaden Elliss

ILB Troy Andersen

CB A.J. Terrell

CB Clark Phillips

S Jessie Bates

S Richie Grant

On this side of the ball, things are shakier, something we’ll hope the draft helps remedy.

Along the defensive front, the Falcons have a pair of strong, proven starters in Jarrett and Onyemata, but both are older and Jarrett is coming off of a major injury. I’d expect Jarrett be his usual self and Onyemata to be an asset, but expecting one or both to miss a few games is probably wise given their ages. Goldman should be penciled in as a starter for the team’s “base” 3-4 defense, but the Falcons are unlikely to actually play a ton of snaps in that front and Goldman is not a lock to elect to play this year after taking the last two seasons off.

The outside linebacker/EDGE group is…well, it’s pretty grim. Ebiketie is a player I think can consistently produce 6-8 sacks and short stretches where he’ll look fantastic, but further improvement will be needed for him to be a consistent plus starter. Whether James Smith-Williams or Lorenzo Carter is penciled in opposite him at the moment, you’re talking about solid players against the run (and in Carter’s case, in coverage) without elite pass rushing upside, which is why the Falcons have been so persistently linked to more high-end options. Right now, this group has solid depth but exactly zero impact starters, barring a big breakout on the way from Ebiketie.

Inside linebacker features one above average, proven starter in Kaden Elliss and a wild card in Troy Andersen. The former played well throughout the 2023 season and showed he can be a dependable, well-rounded asset for this defense, even if this defense isn’t quite the same one he thrived in a year ago. Andersen has less certain fortunes, given that last year was expected to be a huge season and he missed 90% of it with a major injury, but the team is going to count on his astonishing athleticism and potential translating in a fully healthy season. If not, the dependable Nate Landman is lurking behind him, at the very least.

Cornerback features A.J. Terrell and a battle between young players and veterans for the other two spots. Despite a little roller coaster in his year-to-year performance, Terrell is a very good starter who should provide stability and excellence at the top of the depth chart. The starter opposite him figures to be a rookie, Clark Phillips, or Antonio Hamilton, and at the moment I’d bet on the promising, physical second-year cornerback who had his terrific moments down the stretch in year one. The Falcons are likely to utilize a nickel cornerback plenty, too, and I’d pencil in Dee Alford for that role despite his curious late season benching.

At safety, meanwhile, Bates is a lock and one of the best players at his position in all of football, which is a huge plus. The other spot is currently set to be settled by a battle between Richie Grant and DeMarcco Hellams, both younger players with something to prove. Grant is the player I’d pencil in at this point given his starting experience and the fact that Ryan Nielsen is no longer the team’s defensive coordinator—remember, he benched him—but Hellams fared pretty well down the stretch and should make this a real battle if the Falcons don’t sign someone else.

It’s hard to look at the defensive depth chart today and not fret about what still needs to be done. As it stands today, the pass rush is simply not good enough and is heavily dependent on uncertain growth from young players and good health for older ones, while the secondary has a mix of proven high-end starters and young players who really need to take a step forward. We can worry about it more after the draft, but chances are good the defense will have a couple of holes, and we’ll need to hope they’re smaller ones to avoid that side of the ball cratering again in 2024.

Special Teams

K Younghoe Koo

P Bradley Pinion

LS Liam McCullough

KR Ray-Ray McCloud

PR Avery Williams

There’s a really good group of specialists here. Koo’s unusual off year saw him miss five out of 37 field goals, which put him in the middle of the pack last year; three of those misses were past 50 yards. Pinion was once again a rock solid punter, McCullough a reliable long snapper, and McCloud and Williams should form one of the league’s more effective returner tandems this season so long as Williams returns to good health.

This is an unfinished football team, as it should be in mid-April. The key for Atlanta will using the draft and the seemingly inevitable post-draft restructuring and signing periods to enhance what they have, especially on the defensive side of the ball. So long as legitimate improvement awaits between now and the beginning of the season, though, it will be hard to tamp down expectations for the kind of winning season that has long eluded Atlanta.