1. The no-spin zone: With the additions of outside linebacker Matthew Judon and safety Justin Simmons, the Falcons’ projected season-opening defense will have at least four new starters from last season.
Judon is set to replace Bud Dupree. Defensive linemen Eddie Goldman or Ta’Quon Graham could replace Calais Campbell, and Mike Hughes or Clark Phillips III will replace Trey Flowers, who opened the season as the starter after Jeff Okudah was injured.
We are projecting Simmons to start over Richie Grant at safety opposite Jessie Bates III.
Dee Alford started the season opener as the nickel back and has been working with the first team. Now, with Simmons on board, the Falcons can used Grant as a big nickel, depending on the matchups.
“You’d always want to say positive impacts when you talk about adding people,” Falcons coach Raheem Morris said. “But you look at players, you want to add positive people. You want to add the people that fit your ethos, and how you work, and how you go about your business.”
Simmons got to know and meet some of the Falcons when they went out to dinner in Buckhead. Grady Jarrett, A.J. Terrell and Bates were his hosts. Morris and general manager Terry Fontenot also were present.
“It was just a great dinner,” Simmons said.
They discussed X’s and O’s, philosophy and vision.
“Grady pretty much set the tone from the jump,” Simmons said. “You guys know him better than I do. He set the tone. This is pretty much the most important thing to him right now and the team. Getting back to where Atlanta is used to being. So, for me, it felt so refreshing because in eight seasons, I’ve never been to the playoffs.”
2. Good riddance, Denver: Simmons was happy to get out of Denver.
“I was in Denver for eight seasons and in those eight seasons, five head coaches, six if you include an interim head coach,” Simmons said. “A lot turnover. A lot of heartbreak. A lot of potential in some seasons.”
3. Wide receiver depth: The Falcons were pleased with how Rondale Moore was coming along. He was acquired in the Desmond Ridder trade with the Cardinals.
“He was starting to come on,” Morris said. “He was starting to develop some chemistry with (backup quarterback Michael) Penix. But, he was also starting to develop his role, and his role was getting clearer and clearer as we watched him on the practice fields. He became a deep threat. He was able to create some real speed for us.”
In addition to losing Moore to a knee injury, the Falcons cut veteran James Washington and placed wide receiver Jakeem Grant on injured reserve.
There appear to be some openings behind Drake London, Darnell Mooney, Ray-Ray McCloud III and KhaDarel Hodge on the 53-man roster.
“You’ve got a high level of competition going (on) out there,” Morris said. “We were able to see a little bit of it from the (exhibition) game with Chris Blair. You were able to see a little bit of that first week with Casey Washington. You’re able to see a little bit of it with (Dylan) Drummond.”
The final wide receiver spots will be tough to decide. Six usually is the magic number.
“Some of the new guys that we brought in – (Jesse) Matthews, and some of those guys trying to find their spot,” Morris said. “Trying to fill that role that Rondale had kind of started to really embrace.”
4. 169 pounds of power: Cornerback Natrone Brooks, 24, who played at Southern Miss, is one of the players benefiting from playing in the exhibition games.
He spent all of last season with the Falcons on the practice squad.
Brooks, who’s 5-11 and 169 pounds, played 25 defensive snaps (37%) against the Dolphins and played 38 defensive snaps (81%) against the Ravens.
He played five seasons of football at Copiah-Lincoln (Miss.) Community College (2018-19) and Southern Mississippi (2020-22).
“Everything went smooth,” Brooks said after the Ravens game. “You know corner is a game of just getting the feeling and getting the flow of the game. Once you get the flow, I feel like the plays will come to you at corner. So, it just felt good getting the start and being able to show what I can do.”
Brooks has had a couple of nice hits in the exhibition season.
“Yes sir, I know most people look at my size and think let’s attack this guy,” Brooks said. “I have small-man syndrome. I know people are going to try me, but I got the dog in me. … I’m physical at 169 (pounds).”
Brooks is a long shot to make the roster, but he’s putting some good film out in the NFL atmosphere.
“I try not to think about it too much,” Brooks said. “I just give the glory to God.”
5. Andrews poll: GO VOTE -- Are you OK with new safety Justin Simmons wearing No. 31? The Falcons don’t retire numbers, but 31 has not been used since William Andrews wore it in 1986.
Andrews entered the Falcons’ inaugural Ring of Honor Class in 2004, with linebacker Tommy Nobis, quarterback Steve Bartkowski and linebacker Jessie Tuggle.
Scott Campbell wore jersey 10 from 1986-90 after Bartkowski. It has not been worn since.
Nobis’ 60 and Jessie Tuggle’s 58 haven’t been worn in a regular-season game since Nobis wore his number last in 1976 and Tuggle in 2000.
Maybe Simmons should switch after the team cuts down to 53 and some other numbers open up.
6. Refurbished HBCU fields: Four historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) will debut refurbished football fields this fall through grants totaling more than $6.5 million from the Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation.
The HBCU Invitational Field Refurbishment Program was an invitational grant program designed to improve field quality, safety and accessibility for students and local community groups serving youth through football.
The program, funded by the Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation (AMBFF) and supported by the NFL Foundation, was open to select HBCUs in Georgia and Alabama.
The grant was distributed among the following schools:
-Albany State, to convert the natural grass football and soccer field at Albany State University Coliseum to turf.
-Clark Atlanta, to replace the current turf at Panther Stadium.
-Miles College in Fairfield, Alabama, to convert the natural grass at its practice facility to turf.
-Savannah State, to replace the turf at the current football and soccer field at Ted Wright Stadium.
“The positive impact of athletics is a driving force throughout our portfolio of businesses,” said Rich McKay, AMB Sports and Entertainment chief executive officers and AMBFF associate board member. “Arthur Blank and his family foundation recognize and prioritize community impact through sport, and supporting these historical institutions is a natural extension of our values.”
The NFL played a role in the program.
“The HBCU Invitational field refurbishment program is one of many ways the NFL is deepening its commitment to HBCU’s,” said Alexia Gallagher, NFL vice president of philanthropy and executive director of the NFL Foundation. “We are excited to provide resources for student athletes at the selected institutions to play the game of football to the best of their ability while creating equal opportunities for all.”
7. Front-office moves: The Falcons announced the promotion of several executives and the hiring of three new scouts Monday.
Ryan Pace, the franchise’s director of player personnel, was promoted to vice president of football operations/player personnel. Pace joined the organization in 2022 as a senior personnel executive after serving as general manager of the Bears from 2015-21.
Other promotions announced Monday:
-Tokunbo “Tumbo” Abanikanda to director of college scouting
Abanikanda, who is from Marietta and played at Osborne High and Southern Mississippi, has been with the Falcons since 2012 and most recently was a national scout.
-Michael Ross to assistant director of college scouting
-Hakeem Smith to pro scout
-Stephanie Gutierrez to senior director of football systems
-Danny Leskin to manager of football data science
-Nathan Ellis to scouting coordinator.
The team also announced the hiring of Harrison Ritcher as a national scout and Cami Pasqualoni and Kevin Weisman as scouting assistants.
Ritcher, who was with the Commanders for six seasons, is the son of 16-year NFL guard Jim Ritcher, who was a two-time Pro Bowler that played for the Bills (1980-93) and Falcons (1994-95).
Pasqualoni is the daughter of former Syracuse coach Paul Pasqualoni.
8. Falcons’ 90-man roster analysis: Need to get ready for the exhibition game against the Jaguars? You can review our position-by-position analysis of the 90-man roster.
Part 3: Wide receivers/tight ends
9. Official depth chart: The Falcons (0-2) are set to host the Jaguars (2-0) at 7 p.m. Friday at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
New Falcons, Matthew Judon and Justin Simmons, were listed as second-teamers.
Here’s the Falcons’ official depth chart:
OFFENSE
QB – Kirk Cousins, Michael Penix Jr., Taylor Heinicke, John Paddock
RB – Bijan Robinson, Tyler Allgeier, Avery Williams, Jase McClellan, Carlos Washington Jr., Spencer Brown
WR – Drake London, Chris Blair
Slot WR – Ray-Ray McCloud, Khadarel Hodge, Dylan Drummond, Jesse Matthews
TE – Kyle Pitts, John FitzPatrick, Jordan Thomas
LT – Jake Matthews, Barry Wesley, Julien Davenport, Jarryd Jones-Smith
LG – Matthew Bergeron, Jovaughn Gwyn
C – Drew Dalman, Ryan Neuzil, Jovaughn Gwyn
RG – Chris Lindstrom, Kyle Hinton, John Leglue
RT – Kaleb McGary, Storm Norton, Andrew Stueber, Zack Bailey
TE – Charlie Woerner, Ross Dwelley, Austin Stogner
WR – Darnell Mooney, Casey Washington, Josh Ali, OJ Hiliare
DEFENSE 3-4 alignment (4-2-5 nickel)
DL – Zach Harrison, Ta’Quon Graham, Brandon Dorlus, LaCale London
DL – David Onyemata, Ruke Orhorhoro, Zion Logue, Prince Emil
DL – Grady Jarrett, Kentavius Street, Eddie Goldman, Tommy Togiai
LOLB – Arnold Ebiketie, Matthew Judon, Demone Harris, Kehinde Oginni (International)
LILB – Kaden Elliss, JD Bertrand, Milo Eifler
RILB – Troy Andersen, Nate Landman, Donavan Mutin, Storey Jackson
ROLB – Lorenzo Carter, James Smith-Williams, Bradlee Anae, DeAngelo Malone
CB – A.J. Terrell, Kevin King, Anthony Johnson, Natrone Brooks, William Hooper
Nickel CB – Dee Alford, Antonio Hamilton Sr., Jayden Price
FS – Jessie Bates III, Micah Abernathy, Dane Cruikshank, Tre Tarpley III
SS – Richie Grant, Justin Simmons, DeMarcco Hellams, Lukas Denis. Josh Thompson
CB – Mike Hughes, Clark Phillips III, Trey Vaval
SPECIAL TEAMS
K – Younghoe Koo
P/H – Bradley Pinion
LS – Liam McCullough
PR – Ray-Ray McCloud, Mike Hughes
KOR – Avery Williams
