4-EYED TEAM PREVIEW: ATLANTA FALCONS (2021)
It’s Day 2 of our 4-EYED TEAM PREVIEW SERIES today and we are going to be talking about the Atlanta Falcons! Don’t forget to stay tuned later today as we’ll be releasing our IDP outlook this evening!
The biggest story of the offseason for the Atlanta Falcons has been their dealing of Julio Jones to the Tennessee Titans; a move that automatically cemented Calvin Ridley as the Falcons’ #1 receiver for the foreseeable future. Also in recent news, the 2021 NFL Draft was a major win for the Falcons as they drafted, in the first round, heralded tight end Kyle Pitts out of the University of Florida adding another piece to this Falcons passing attack. That being said in a move or lack thereof that had Falcons fans, as well as fantasy managers shaking their heads, was their decision to not spend a high capital draft pick on a running back leaving newly acquired veteran free agent Mike Davis as their presumed RB1. Needless to say, this leaves the depth at the RB position something to be desired.
So with all these changes on the offensive side of the ball, you might be asking the question, “which players on offense can bring you a 4-EYED Championship in 2021?”
Find out below in our 2021 Falcons 4-EYED Offensive Team Preview!
Quarterback
Matt Ryan
(Averaged 21.2 fppg in 2020; half-PPR/Yahoo scoring)
Ryan had the most dropbacks of any quarterback in the NFL last season and had the fourth-most yards passing. The good thing about the Falcons just signing Mike Davis in the offseason and not using any more capital on a running back is that it means they aren’t all of a sudden going to be a run-heavy team. Ryan finished as the QB12 last year with half-PPR scoring and even though Jones is gone, Pitts and Gage should help eat up the slack. Ryan is going to be a fringe QB1 this year as well, so he should be a solid late-round target or a player that you may get lucky and will be able to stream if your main quarterback has a tough matchup.
Running Backs
Mike Davis
(Averaged 11.9 fppg in 2020; half-PPR/Yahoo scoring)
Mike Davis finished as the RB15 last season as Christian McCaffrey spent a lot of time on injured reserved. A big reason for Davis’ success for fantasy was that the Panthers didn’t have any other real depth behind him so he was on the field a ton. Does that sound familiar? Davis had the fifth-most receptions for a running back last year and there is a good chance that Davis is the third or fourth receiving option for the Falcons this year. In 2020, Davis had the third-most receiving yards for a running back that had at least 165 carries. If he stays on the field as much as it is expected he will, he could be a discount dual-threat running back that could be a permanent fixture in your starting lineup this upcoming season.
Wide Receivers
Calvin Ridley
(Averaged 15.8 fppg in 2020; half-PPR/Yahoo scoring)
It’s hard to say that Calvin Ridley gets any kind of a boost with Jones being shipped out of town because he finished as fantasy’s WR4 last season in half-PPR scoring. That being said I think this scenario actually works out well for Ridley because even though Jones won’t be there for defenses to pay attention to, they are going to have to pay attention to both Russell Gage and Kyle Pitts so I’m not worried about Ridley having to fight double coverages all season. Last season, Ridley had the seventh-most targets and he was tied for eighth-most receiving touchdowns with nine. Ridley should be a WR1 this season.
Russell Gage
(Averaged 9.2 fppg in 2020; half-PPR/Yahoo scoring)
Russell Gage still feels like he isn’t a household name, but he had the 23rd most targets last year with 108 which tied him with other notable WRs such as Mike Evans and Tyler Boyd. Because of the games Jones missed last year, and just because he was a solid third receiving option, Gage had 72 receptions for 786 yards and four touchdowns and finished as the WR37. He also can be used in some trick plays as the Tweet above suggests. Gage has a WR2 ceiling, but he will definitely be a weekly flex play.
Tight Ends
Kyle Pitts
On the off-chance that you haven’t heard about Kyle Pitts, let me fill you in. Kyle Pitts was the clear TE1 in this year’s draft class as he played in eight games his final season at the University of Florida and scored 12 touchdowns. That’s usually the stat that I lead with that sells everyone on Pitts, but I’ll give you more. Pitts put up 770 yards on just 43 receptions and led all tight ends that had at least 50 targets with 17.9 yards per reception. He also led all tight ends, regardless of the number of targets, in yards after the catch. Pitts is probably going to be over-drafted seeing as he was taken fourth overall in the 2021 NFL Draft, but there is a lot of hype surrounding him.
Hayden Hurst
(Averaged 7.7 fppg in 2020; half-PPR/Yahoo scoring)
Hurst got overshadowed with the selection of Pitts, but the Falcons did trade for him last season. It remains to be seen how the Falcons will use Pitts, and it isn’t crazy to think that they will employ two tight end sets to get Hurst involved as well. Hurst finished as the TE9 last season and even though he should probably go undrafted because you will want a starting tight end for your lineup, it wouldn’t surprise me if Hurst is an early-season waiver add. Keep an eye on Pitts’ usage and if they convert the athletic tight end to a pseudo wide receiver, Hurst could see his presumed role increase.