close
close

Do the Falcons have top 10 receivers?

Do the Falcons have top 10 receivers?

The Atlanta Falcons wide receivers room looks a lot different now than it did at the end of the 2023 season.

Only two players who caught passes last year – Drake London and KhaDarel Hodge – are still on the list. Mack Hollins, Scotty Miller and Van Jefferson are out. Darnell Mooney, Rondale Moore, Ray-Ray McCloud and sixth-round rookie Casey Washington are in the mix.

Atlanta also returns running back Bijan Robinson, who caught 58 passes for 487 yards and a team-high four touchdowns last season, and tight end Kyle Pitts, who had 53 receptions for 667 yards and three scores.

Due to the influx of talent coupled with a trio of key players, the Falcons’ receiving core is held in much higher regard than before – but still not enough to be considered a top 10 unit by Pro Football Focus. PFF ranked the Falcons receiving corps 13th in the league.

“We believe in the Falcons’ potential with Kirk Cousins ​​now at quarterback,” writes PFF’s Trevor Sikkema. “London has had back-to-back seasons in which he earned over 78.0 grades, and Pitts hasn’t played as poorly as the accounts might indicate, earning grades over 72.0 in all three seasons with poor quarterback play.

“Atlanta added Mooney and Moore to improve the team’s speed, and the offense can also count on Robinson’s receiving ability out of the backfield. The best is yet to come for this group.”

The Falcons’ receiving core was ranked No. 2 in the NFC South, behind the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who came in at No. 11. As for the other two division opponents, the New Orleans Saints were ranked at No. 24 while the Carolina Panthers were ranked at 29th.

The San Francisco 49ers and Miami Dolphins occupy the top two spots in the standings, followed by the Philadelphia Eagles, Chicago Bears and Houston Texans. The top 10 ends with the Minnesota Vikings, Detroit Lions, Los Angeles Rams, Cincinnati Bengals and Seattle Seahawks.

Atlanta ranked 24th in the same exercise a season ago. He’s now ranked 13th, and if Mooney and Pitts return to the level they showed earlier in their professional careers, that number will only climb in the months – and years – to come.