As a lead-up to the 2025 NFL draft, we've broken down the current depth chart of every NFL team and identified the biggest draft and team needs for the Atlanta Falcons.
You can find additional team-by-team draft needs articles and other draft content on our 2025 NFL Draft Hub.
Atlanta Falcons Needs: Top Positions of Need in 2025
- Edge Rusher
- Defensive Line
- Defensive Back
What Picks Do the Atlanta Falcons Have in 2025?
The Atlanta Falcons have 5 picks in the 2025 NFL Draft, including:
- Round 1 (15)
- Round 2 (46)
- Round 4 (118)
- Round 7 (218)
- Round 7 (242)
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Atlanta Falcons 2025 Draft Capital Stats
The Falcons have the 29th-most draft capital according to our Sharp Football Draft Value.
Our Sharp Football Draft Value is a valuation of draft capital based on a combination of average performance delivered and average dollars earned on second contracts.
Atlanta Falcons Draft Value vs. Other Teams:
The Falcons’ draft value is 30% lower than the league average of all 32 teams.
Atlanta Falcons Draft Prediction:
Find out who our top-rated experts expect the Falcons to draft:
- Brendan Donahue's 2025 NFL Mock Draft – Complete first round breakdown from the #2 most accurate mock drafter over the last five seasons.
- Ryan McCrystal's 2025 NFL Mock Draft – Complete first round breakdown from the #8 most accurate mock drafter over the last five seasons.
Atlanta Falcons Strength of Schedule, 2025
The Atlanta Falcons have the 4th-easiest NFL strength of schedule for the 2025 NFL season.
Atlanta Falcons Offense: Depth Chart, Analysis & Draft Needs
Rich Hribar breaks down the offensive depth chart by position for the Atlanta Falcons, identifying areas where the team could improve in the upcoming 2025 NFL Draft.
Quarterback Depth Chart, Falcons:
- Michael Penix
- Kirk Cousins
- Emory Jones
Atlanta took on some scrutiny for selecting Michael Penix with the No. 8 overall pick in last year’s draft after signing Kirk Cousins in free agency.
But the move proved shrewd after Cousins flatlined to close the season, setting up Penix to get his feet wet as a rookie and take over as the franchise's future.
Penix started the final three games of the 2024 season.
Atlanta went 1-2 in those starts, but both losses came in overtime.
Penix was a mixed bag in his limited sample, completing 58% of his passes (29th) with 3 touchdowns and 3 interceptions.
However, he did throw for 7.4 yards per pass attempt, which was 11th over those three weeks.
Penix pushed the ball down the field over his initial sample in the league, averaging a league-high 10.2 air yards per pass attempt over that span.
47% of his throws were 10 or more yards downfield, and 18% were 20 or more yards downfield, the league's highest rate over the season's final three weeks.
Before the change, Cousins was averaging 7.4 air yards per attempt (20th), throwing 35.1% of his passes 10 or more yards downfield (11th) and 9.7% of those attempts 20 or more yards downfield (24th).
Penix also pushed the ball outside of the numbers.
49.4% of his passes were outside the numbers, third over Weeks 16, 17, and 18.
Penix has the keys to this offense heading into 2025.
What happens with Cousins is still in the air.
Keeping Cousins on their roster at the start of the season rollover, Atlanta triggered a $10 million guarantee on his contract for the 2026 season.
Cousins has a cap hit of $40 million this season and a $75 million dead cap hit.
We could still see a team making a move for Cousins, but that makes it hard to trade him unless Atlanta takes on a bulk of that as a sunk cost.
Cousins becomes more friendly to move on from after this season.
He still has a $57.5 million cap hit in 2026, but Atlanta can save $22.5 million in cap space by releasing or trading him.
The other element in trading Cousins is that he did not do much to entice a team to come and get him.
Cousins threw 1 touchdown pass over his final five starts last season compared to 9 interceptions.
He also could not move.
He was dead last in using play-action passing (14.5%).
90.5% of his passing snaps came from shotgun (7th), and a league-high 95.8% came from the pocket.
Running Back Depth Chart, Falcons:
- Bijan Robinson
- Tyler Allgeier
- Jase McClellan
- Elijah Dotson
- Carlos Washington
The Atlanta backfield was excellent in 2024, producing 2,651 total yards of offense and 18 touchdowns.
Atlanta running backs averaged 40.6 touches per game, which was second in the league behind the Detroit backfield.
Bijan Robinson took the next step forward as a front-end producer in his second season, turning 365 touches into 1,887 yards and 15 scores.
Robinson took over more work as the season progressed.
Through eight games, Robinson had accounted for 64.5% of the backfield touches, averaging 98.8 yards per game over that period.
He then handled 72.7% of the backfield opportunities over the final nine games, averaging 121.9 yards per game during those weeks.
He also scored multiple touchdowns in four of those final nine games, logging 10 total touchdowns over that span.
Of 46 running backs to run the ball 100 or more times, Robinson was second in success rate (49.3%) behind only his teammate Tyler Allgeier.
Allgeier remained a viable complement to Robinson, turning 150 touches into 732 yards and 3 touchdowns.
He produced a first down or touchdown on a league-best 31.4% of his runs, rushing for 3.61 yards after contact per run (4th).
Allgeier is in the final season of his rookie contract and could be tough to keep based on Atlanta's upcoming extensions.
If Atlanta is preparing for that outcome, they could use a late pick on a rookie back, but they do not have much draft capital.
The team did use a sixth-round pick on Jase McClellan last year.
As a rookie, McClellan only played 19 snaps, handling 13 touches for 32 yards.
Wide Receiver Depth Chart, Falcons:
- Drake London
- Darnell Mooney
- Ray-Ray McCloud
- Khadarel Hodge
- Jamal Agnew
- David Sills
- Phillip Dorsett
- Casey Washington
- Chris Blair
- Makai Polk
- Dylan Drummond
- Jesse Mathews
Drake London enjoyed the best season of his early career in 2024, catching 100 passes for 1,271 yards and 9 touchdowns.
Paired with Zac Robinson and functional quarterback play, London took a significant stride towards becoming a feature WR1.
After playing 15.2% and 18.8% of his snaps from the slot over his first two seasons, London was lined up inside for 39.4% of his snaps last season.
London was targeted on 34.4% of his routes from the slot (6th) with 2.58 yards per route (8th).
That gave him access to targets with a higher success rate.
Only 8.9% of his targets were inaccurate throws after inaccurate target rates of 18.8% and 13.6% to open his career.
He also had more access to touchdown opportunities.
London led all wide receivers last season with 60% of the team’s end zone targets after 35.7% and 24% rates over his first two seasons.
While London had the best season of his career in 2024, ending the year with Penix under center opened an even higher range of outcomes.
Playing with Cousins allowed him to be a high-floor target, but playing with Penix showcased the incredible upside he could have.
London only had one 100-yard game with Cousins under center, but he cleared the century mark in two of the three games with Penix.
He ended the season on a high note, catching 10 of 18 targets for 187 yards and 2 touchdowns in the season finale.
Atlanta will surely pick up London’s fifth-year option this offseason as they progress towards a significant extension.
Darnell Mooney was a solid pickup for Atlanta last season, catching 64 passes for 992 yards and 5 touchdowns.
Mooney had only had 493 and 414 yards with 3 total touchdowns over his final two seasons in Chicago.
Only 12.3% of his targets were inaccurate, his lowest career rate.
His 1.89 yards per route run were a career high.
He had two monster games against the Buccaneers that carried his season-long totals, but Mooney is a strong complement to London in the offense.
Mooney still has two more seasons on the contract he signed last offseason.
Atlanta also received a career season from Ray-Ray McCloud.
McCloud had a career-high 62 receptions last season for 686 yards and 1 touchdown.
He has one season left on the deal he signed last spring.
Atlanta has decent contractual depth here, with Khadarel Hodge, Casey Washington, and Makai Polk signed for multiple years.
Tight End Depth Chart, Falcons:
- Kyle Pitts
- Charlie Woerner
- Feleipe Franks
- Teagan Quitoriano
- Nikola Kalinic
While nearly all of the Atlanta wide receivers churned out career production last year, things remained a struggle for Kyle Pitts.
Pitts ends the season catching 47 of 74 targets for 602 yards and 4 touchdowns.
Over the final 9 games of the season, Pitts only managed 183 yards receiving with a high mark of 55.
He turned in a career-low 1.34 yards per route run, a number that has declined every season of his early career.
Playing in Zac Robinson’s offense, Pitts played a career-high 51.3% of his snaps lined up inline after rates of 32.7%, 38.3%, and 21.3% to open his career.
That led to a career low of 8.4 air yards per target.
Only 16.2% of his targets were at the intermediate level (11-19 yards downfield) with a career low 9.5% coming on throws 20 or more yards downfield.
Forced to live on a higher diet of opportunities near the line of scrimmage, Pitts struggled to translate those into much production.
He only averaged 3.8 yards after the catch on his targets within 10 yards of the line of scrimmage, which was 55th among tight ends.
He also did not get open.
Pitts was 41st out of 43 qualifying tight ends per ESPN's open score.
Atlanta also realized that Pitts was not a supreme fit for what they were looking to do because not only was Pitts not getting open, he also was a negative in the running game tasked with a larger role as a blocker.
Pitts was 75th in run blocking grade among tight ends per Pro Football Focus while Charlie Woerner was 13th.
This resulted in Woerner playing more as the team came to grips that Pitts was not a great fit for the scheme.
Woerner out-snapped Pitts (230 to 197) over the final 7 games of the season.
Through four years, Pitts has become an enigma.
Excuses have been made for him based on quarterback play and being lost in schemes, but he is the consistent common denominator.
We have a sample of him struggling because he was typecast as a downfield asset early in his career, forced to win against NFL cornerbacks.
However, given access to more opportunities to smooth out his production in a new offense, paired with better quarterback play, Pitts continued to lack production because he could not win after the catch or consistently get open.
He is playing this season on his fifth-year option and is scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent after the year.
Pitts will only turn 25 this October, but his long-term future with the team is shaky at best.
Woerner and Nikola Kalinic are signed through the 2026 season.
Offensive Line Depth Chart, Falcons:
LT: Jake Matthews, Storm Norton, Kilian Zierer
LG: Matthew Bergeron, Elijah Wilkinson
C: Ryan Neuzil, Jovaughn Gwyn, Matthew Cindric
RG: Chris Lindstrom, Kyle Hinton, Joey Fisher
RT: Kaleb McGary, Brandon Parker, Tyrone Wheatley Jr.
Atlanta ended the year ranking eighth in pass blocking grade per Pro Football Focus while receiving the highest grade as a unit in the run blocking department.
The core here remains strong, centered around Kaleb McGary, Jake Matthews, and Chris Lindstrom.
Lindstrom and Matthews are both signed through the 2028 season.
McGary’s current contract does end after this season, however, so Atlanta may have to insulate the possibility that they lose him next year since they are paying big money already up front to Matthews and Lindstrom, paired with a pending extension for Drake London that is going to cost some money.
At least having a quarterback on a rookie contract helps their cause in working it all out.
The team lost center Drew Dalman in free agency.
Dalman only appeared in 9 games last season, giving Ryan Neuzil a lot of work in his absence.
Neuzil ended with a 95% pass block win rate (16th per ESPN).
Neuzil has started 12 games for Atlanta over the past two seasons, but he also enters this season in the final year of his current contract.
With both McGary and Neuzil entering free agency after the year, Atlanta could be pressed to add contractual depth in preparation for losing either.
Atlanta Falcons Defense: Depth Chart, Analysis & Draft Needs
Raymond Summerlin breaks down the defensive depth chart by position for the Atlanta Falcons, identifying areas where the team could improve in the upcoming 2025 NFL Draft.
Defensive Line Depth Chart, Falcons:
- David Onyemata
- Morgan Fox
- Ruke Orhorhoro
- Zach Harrison
- Ta’Quon Graham
- Kentavius Street
- Brandon Dorlus
- Junior Aho
- LaCale London
The Falcons only allowed 6 rushing touchdowns to running backs in 2024 (3rd), but they did allow 4.4 yards per carry to the position (20th) and 1.37 yards before contact per RB carry (18th).
For the first time in a long time, Atlanta will head into the season without Grady Jarrett, who was cut ahead of free agency.
Jarrett played the most snaps on the defensive line last season, led the team in run stuffs, and had 2.5 sacks, so Atlanta has a lot to replace.
A second-round pick last year, Ruke Orhorhoro opened his rookie season as a healthy scratch and then missed more time with an injury. He ended up playing just 148 snaps.
A fourth-round pick last year, Brandon Dorlus played in just two games as a rookie, logging 19 total snaps on defense.
Atlanta has gotten more out of 2023 third-round pick Zach Harrison, who was third on the team in run stuffs last season despite playing just 265 snaps overall, but they need a lot more from their recent draft picks given Jarrett’s absence.
As for the veterans, David Onyemata is back, and Atlanta added Morgan Fox in free agency.
Onyemata was second in snaps played behind Jarrett last season, but he took a step back in his second season with the Falcons.
Fox is also coming off something of a down season after getting after the quarterback well in his first two seasons with the Chargers.
Onyemata will turn 33 during the season and is headed into the final year of his deal.
The Falcons have a lot of bodies here and some upside if their recent draft picks hit, but they need those younger players both for this year and to answer any long-term questions.
Given that uncertainty, this could be a spot they target.
EDGE Depth Chart, Falcons:
- Leonard Floyd
- Arnold Ebiketie
- Bralen Trice
- DeAngelo Malone
- Khalid Kareem
The Falcons were awful at getting after the quarterback last season, finishing 30th in pressure rate (28.5%) and 31st in sacks (31).
Atlanta acquired Matt Judon last August to help address their pass rush, but he ended up with just 5.5 sacks and a lower-tier 8.1% pressure rate.
Judon remains a free agent.
The big addition this offseason was Leonard Floyd, who is joining his fourth team in as many years.
Unlike many veterans who go on similar tours of service, though, Floyd has been good.
He logged 8.5 sacks for the 49ers last season with a 12.3% pressure rate, which ranked 40th among all qualified pass rushers, and played for Raheem Morris when both were with the Rams.
Floyd's pressure rate was just slightly above Arnold Ebiketie, who led Atlanta with 6 sacks a season ago.
Ebiketie’s per rush numbers have been solid the last two seasons, but he was 97th with 320 pass rushes a season ago after getting just 163 chances in 2023.
Both Floyd and Ebiketie are scheduled to be free agents after this season.
In fact, Bralen Trice is the only member of this position group signed beyond this season.
A third-round pick last year, Trice missed all of his rookie season because of a torn ACL he suffered in the preseason.
The timing of the injury means he should be ready for Week 1, but it is another point of uncertainty for Atlanta’s 2024 draft class.
In a best-case scenario, the Falcons have long-term contractual questions in this unit that have to be addressed.
More realistically, the Falcons need talent atop this unit even after adding Floyd in free agency.
Linebacker Depth Chart, Falcons:
- Kaden Elliss
- Divine Deablo
- Troy Andersen
- JD Bertrand
- Josh Woods
Kaden Elliss has opened his Falcons career with back to back solid seasons.
He was second on the team with 11 run stuffs last season and recorded a tackle on 18.4% of his run defense snaps.
He finished 31st among qualified linebackers in yards per target allowed in coverage.
Nate Landman is gone after playing the most snaps next to Elliss last season, and 2022 second-round pick Troy Andersen has played nine games over the last two years.
Both Elliss and Andersen will be free agents after this season.
The Falcons added Divine Deablo on a two-year deal in free agency, and he should be the favorite to open the season next to Elliss.
Starting 14 games for the Raiders, Deablo finished just one spot behind Elliss in yards per target allowed last season, though he struggled to produce in the running game.
A fifth-round pick last year, JD Bertrand was limited to 12 games last season and primarily played on special teams.
The top two is solid enough, and there is some upside should Andersen stay healthy and live up to his potential or Bertrand take a step forward in his second season.
Still, there are a lot of long-term questions here.
Cornerback Depth Chart, Falcons:
- A.J. Terrell Jr.
- Mike Hughes
- Dee Alford
- Clark Phillips III
- Mike Ford
- Kevin King
- Keith Taylor
- Natrone Brooks
- Lamar Jackson
The Falcons only allowed 6.9 yards per pass attempt last season (10th), but they allowed 34 passing touchdowns (31st) and a 5.9% touchdown rate (31st).
All three of the top corners from a year ago are back.
A.J. Terrell has been solid enough the last two seasons, but he has not been at the same level he was back in 2021 when he allowed just 4.8 yards per target and a 61 quarterback rating in his coverage.
Even so, he ranked 11th among qualified corners in yards allowed per coverage snap last season.
Mike Hughes primarily played outside last season after working more from the slot on limited snaps during his first season with the Falcons.
He was solid enough in that role, but his 98.7 quarterback rating allowed in coverage is nothing to write home about.
Atlanta did not tender Dee Alford as a restricted free agent early in the offseason, but they ended up bringing him back with a one-year contract.
Alford had a rough 2024 after a breakout 2023, continuing the trend of a 2024 decline in this corner group.
Atlanta changed defensive coordinators this offseason, hiring former Jets DC Jeff Ulbrich, and it is likely the struggles in the secondary had something to do with that move.
If Ulbrich can get this trio playing to their ability, they should be fine, especially after 2023 fourth-round pick Clark Phillips looked better on his limited chances as a sophomore.
That said, a quality addition at corner would not hurt.
Safety Depth Chart, Falcons:
- Jessie Bates III
- Jordan Fuller
- DeMarcco Hellams
- Benny Sapp III
Jessie Bates is back and remains one of the best safeties in the league.
He was 12th among qualified safeties in yards allowed per coverage snap, had 10 passes defended, logged 4 interceptions, forced 4 fumbles, and recovered a fumble.
Put simply, Bates is an impact defender.
Justin Simmons was the primary starter opposite Bates last season, but he remains a free agent as of mid-April.
Jordan Fuller was brought in during free agency to take over that job.
Fuller only spent one season with the division-rival Panthers, playing in just nine games, but he was a starter for Raheem Morris with the Rams.
The Falcons only gave Fuller a one-year deal with limited money, though, which suggests he is not locked into the starting job.
DeMarcco Hellams had some success on limited opportunities as a seventh-round rookie in 2023, but he missed all of last season because of a preseason ankle injury.
Given Fuller’s contract and the lack of proven depth, this could be a spot Atlanta targets in the draft.