The Atlanta Falcons haven't been to the playoffs in six years, but optimism is swirling up in Flowery Branch after six new players were added to the roster. Chief among those is the future star of this offense, Bijan Robinson.
John Fricke and Joe Patrick were rather bullish on the expectations for this team entering year three of Arthur Smith and Terry Fontenot. They far exceeded the low bar set for them in the last two, but seven wins again in 2023 will not be acceptable. Now that we've seen the team's draft strategy paired with its free agency moves, we can see the confidence that the front office has in this roster.
And make no mistake, the Atlanta Falcons are in win-now mode.
"They need to win now," John Fricke said on Sunday afternoon. "When you go out and get Calais Campbell, when you go out and get Bud Dupree, and you make these aggressive sort of moves -- like getting Jeff Okudah -- you're doing it to win now!"
That mentality is directly reflected in how they attacked the draft this weekend.
"The Falcons do not see themselves as a team that is one that only won seven games in each of the last two years," Joe Patrick responded. "They see themselves as a much better team because of these pieces that they've added via free agency. They see this opportunity, especially in this division, to go out and win it now. When you pick up a player like Bijan Robinson, it's just going to extenuate every player in that offense."
Atlanta offense will see a boost with the addition of an offensive weapon.
Elsewhere in the draft, the Falcons added a potential solution to its revolving door at left guard, a strong candidate to start as the nickel cornerback, and another depth player along the defensive line.
"When you look at the roster, there weren't really that many gaps to fill coming into the draft," Joe Patrick finished. "But what they did really filled all of those gaps and I think they feel like their ready to compete."
