With so much uncertainty that was revolving around the Falcons organization at the end of an embarrassing 4-12 season, now seems slightly better. Yes, Julio is gone but let’s be honest. He was consistently hurt or playing hurt, and you still have a high caliber playmaker in Calvin Ridley. But lets take a look at how much preparation has been taking place for this upcoming season.
Offseason Preparation
Julio is gone, you got a second and a fourth round pick for him, but you have Russell Gage who can fill in the WR2 spot with Ridley taking over WR1 duties. Also, the draft of Kyle Pitts will help to spread the secondary even more and give an aging Matt Ryan a chance to make some big plays down the field. You also lost your starting C in Alex Mack. Defensively, I do not see much improvement. When you look at the roster on paper, they look like they can do some damage but will have to win some shootouts with some teams.
Season Prediction
While the team looks pretty good on paper, I do not think it will translate onto the field this season. I think that Matt Ryan will continue to hold the team back from greatness. He is getting older and is very expensive. If it were me, I would have moved off Ryan instead of Julio. If you could have gotten a decent QB with Julio, Ridley, and Pitts, I think that this season would end a lot differently. But because that is not the case, I have the Falcons finishing last in the division, with a 3-14 record. Their schedule just looks too difficult for Pitts to be enough especially in his rookie year. I would love to be proven wrong, as I am a big Ridley fan, but I sadly do not see it happening this season.
Team Awards
MVP: Calvin Ridley – He is probably the best player on this team when he is healthy, I think that he will be able to stay healthy through the season and put up at least 1,000 yards receiving.
OPOY: Kyle Pitts – Pitts is crazy talented, but I think that he will take a few weeks to come into his own and really start to make a difference. He will put up good numbers but will improve as the season goes on.
DPOY: Deion Jones – I won’t lie to you, this is very hard for me to decide, but of all the players on that depth chart as of today, Jones looks like he could potentially have the best season.
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