Arthur Smith and Terry Fontenot have made it a point to get the Atlanta Falcons bigger at the wide receiver position this offseason.
The Falcons drafted 6-foot-4 wide receiver Drake London with the eighth overall pick in the 2022 NFL Draft, signed 6-foot-5 free-agent wide receiver Auden Tate, signed 6-foot-3 free-agent wide receiver Geronimo Allison, and of course drafted 6-foot-6 tight end Kyle Pitts with the number four overall pick last year.
Now, obviously Smith likes big receivers who can go get 50/50 balls, and that is great. However, will these newly-acquired big receivers the Falcons now have result in more red-zone touchdowns?
Jon Chuckery broke down the numbers Tuesday night, and explained why there really isn’t anywhere for the Falcons to go but up in that category.
Last year when the Falcons made it to the red zone, they scored touchdowns 53.7 percent of the time. That was a slight upgrade from the year before where they scored touchdowns in the red zone 53.45 percent of the time. But 53.7 percent was still only good for 24th in the NFL last year.
“So barely one out of two trips in the red zone resulted in a touchdown for the Falcons," Chuckery broke it down. "The top teams in the league are about two out of three.”
After reading that you obviously know the Falcons have some work to do when it comes to scoring touchdowns in the red zone. Jon kept the numbers coming.
“Only four teams in the NFL scored fewer touchdowns offensively than the Atlanta Falcons: the Panthers, Texans, Jaguars, and Giants,” said Chuckery. Four teams whose offenses you wouldn’t exactly call dynamic.
Where do we rank amongst the rest of the league you might ask? Chuck answers that question by saying “The average NFL team scores 37 touchdowns, we scored 33 this past season.” Jon continued by saying, “Top offenses in the NFL, they’re in the 60s and high 50s range.”
While Jon believes it’s great to have big receivers and pass-catchers, he also believes that you need an accurate quarterback to get it to them.
“You gotta have a quarterback who’s accurate,” said Chuckery. And you have to have an offensive line that can protect the quarterback because as Jon says, “Once that field gets short because they know they don't have to worry about covering as far down field or anything, so pass-rush gets amped up, ramped up.”
Jon discussed on a show last week the Falcons have three of the worst nine out of 160 starting offensive lineman in the NFL when it comes to pass blocking. It’s not just about having the big, tall pass-catchers, it’s about how you’re going to get the football to them, and is the team equipped with the right quarterback to get the tall receivers the ball, and can the offensive line block for the quarterback, so he can get the tall receivers the ball?
Now, this is where Arthur Smith comes in, because Atlanta doesn’t have a great offensive line and they don’t really know what they're going to get out of their quarterback, whether it’s Desmond Ridder or Marcus Mariota. So how is the offensive minded Smith going to scheme up some touchdowns for his football team?
“This is where the head coach, who is an offensive-minded guy, this is where he has to take over, this is where he has to be a guy who can work some magic, and make some play calls down in the red zone that get our guys freed up or get some favorable one-on-one matchups,” Chuckery said.
Will Pitts have more than one touchdown this year? How many touchdowns will London have in his rookie season? Can Smith create some favorable one-on-one matchups for these big receivers in the red zone to improve the team's red-zone efficiency? Will all of these big and tall pass-catchers make a difference? All these questions will continue to be asked until we see the product on the field, and see if the Falcons will go big or go home in the red zone this season.
