Who is the man who will defy modest (or zero) expectations to thrive in Atlanta this season?
Ray-Ray McCloud. Jonnu Smith. Tyler Allgeier. Cordarrelle Patterson. What do they all have in common?
Well, they all play on offense, a theme for an Atlanta Falcons team that has been light on surprising defensive players in recent years. But they’re all also players who have broken out in a major way in prior years. McCloud was an unexpected key contributor in 2024, Smith was Atlanta’s unexpectedly major signing for 2023, Allgeier was far better as a rookie in 2022 than even optimists could have predicted, and Patterson was perhaps the value signing of the entire 2021 offseason. Every year on nearly every team, someone you expect to be a non-factor is a major factor, or someone you expect to be good is great.
Who will that player be for the 2025 Falcons? While we don’t know at this juncture, Fridays are made for wild guesses, and wildly guess we shall. Perhaps you favor Casey Washington, who barely played in 2024 but might find his way into a role in a receiving corps light on proven options beyond the top three. Maybe you’ll stick your neck out for Arnold Ebiketie, who with a better supporting cast can elevate his sack totals to (dare we say?) double digits. Or perhaps you look at Lenny Krieg and see a man who can do more than simply beat out Younghoe Koo and enjoy a stellar season as Atlanta’s new kicker, or see a Koo resurgence on the horizon. Draw those battle lines.
Ruke Orhorhoro is an obvious choice for me, but I also feel like a fair number of fans truly expect him to thrive with a bigger role. So I’ll go with a player who would have been the trite choice in 2022, 2023, and 2024, but no longer is. That would be Kyle Pitts, who is going to be playing with the same supporting cast of talented pass catchers, but also has a quarterback capable of consistently hitting him in stride on the deep routes where Pitts would like to eat. The fact that this is a potential contract year barring an extension and that Pitts remains a player more talented than his production suggests makes me believe we’ll see something like the long-awaited breakout campaign in 2025.
Who are you choosing?