When the Atlanta Falcons host the Chicago Bears in week 11 of the 2022 NFL season, there will be a good portion of the Falcons’ roster that will be taking on their former team. In the process of rebuilding the roster this offseason, the Falcons have added six players that spent the 2021 season in Chicago—perhaps a byproduct of adding former Bears GM Ryan Pace to the front office.
So, which of the players that spent the past season in Chicago will make the biggest impact for the Falcons in 2022? Here are the candidates:
- RB Damien Williams
- WR Damiere Byrd
- OL Germain Ifedi
- OL Elijah Wilkinson
- DB Jalen Tabor
- LS Beau Brinkley
Training camp battles will determine how much playing time the offensive linemen get in the season to come as Ifedi, a former first-round pick by Seattle, could challenge Kaleb McGary at right tackle. Wilkinson has spent time at both tackle and guard throughout his career and could offer some versatility on the line.
My guess as to which player will make the biggest impact, at this point, is Damien Williams. While Patterson is listed as RB1 for Atlanta, his role as a Swiss-army knife frees up plenty of carries, and with the release of Mike Davis, the 29-year-old Williams can step in right away and help to fill that void—at least until 5th-round pick Tyler Allgeier is ready to shoulder the load. Williams is best known for his Super Bowl heroics for the Chiefs and rushed just 40 times for 164 yards in 2021 for the Bears.
Before the draft, I may have chosen Byrd as the most likely candidate to make a major impact, but Drake London & Kyle Pitts will likely receive a bulk of the targets from either Marcus Mariota or Desmond Ridder. The Falcons also recently traded for Bryan Edwards, adding another receiver to the room that was in desperate need of bodies following the suspension of Calvin Ridley. Auden Tate was also signed earlier in the offseason to bolster the receiving core.
With the help of these former Chicago Bears, the Falcons have reshaped their roster from top to bottom this offseason. All six could contribute, all six could fail or somewhere in between and that’s the beauty of the offseason as we all get to give our educated guesses. What are the odds that my prediction will come to pass? Probably pretty slim, but that’s what this time of the NFL calendar is all about.