If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
This series of articles has focused on change for the Atlanta Falcons, and there has been significant change across the roster. That just can’t be said of the offensive line.
Atlanta has elected for continuity along the line after the unit was largely a team strength over the past two seasons, and it’s the rare occasion where a lack of changes doesn’t make me wildly nervous. Let’s take a closer look.
Change: Very limited
Despite the coaching staff being overhauled, with a brand new head coach in Raheem Morris and new coordinators, the Falcons did keep a few key members of the old group. One of them was Dwayne Ledford, who picked up run game coordinator as one of his titles but remains in charge of this offensive line.
Having coaxed real improvement out of Drew Dalman and Kaleb McGary and having elevated role players like Colby Gossett, Storm Norton, Kyle Hinton, and Ryan Neuzil into capable fill-ins, Ledford was a logical choice to stay if he wanted to, which he thankfully did. Unsurprisingly, the offensive line hasn’t changed much after it was once again a strength last year, and the Falcons are banking on further improvement from rookie Matthew Bergeron and Dalman, as well as durability and excellence from McGary, Jake Matthews, and Chris Lindstrom.
If the Falcons can get that—and there’s no guarantee Bergeron will lift his play or everyone will remain healthy, to be clear—the line should enable drastic improvement from the rest of the offense. Atlanta still has the ingredients for a potent ground game and finally has the pieces necessary to pull together a quality passing attack, and with time and proper blocking, the Falcons can take flight. Ledford’s presence and having five capable starters give me ample hope that we’ll see that happen.
The depth is a bigger question mark. Norton was a strong fill-in for McGary, especially from a pass protection standpoint, and is back to serve as the team’s likely swing tackle. Neuzil can play center and guard in a pinch but what will obviously need to improve over what he offered in 2023 for the Falcons to feel great about him being the first man up. Atlanta also has mothballed 2023 seventh round pick Jovaughn Gwyn and the capable Hinton available on the interior, which should allow them to weather injuries in the middle of the line. Things are less certain at tackle, where beyond Norton the team is not light on options but is very light on proven options.
Aside from a couple of low grade signings and undrafted free agents added to the mix, the Falcons have elected to keep this group the same as it was a year ago, banking on good coaching and good players getting the job done. They’ll have to hope regression and injury don’t take a bite out of that expected improvement.
Key additions: None
There’s always the possibility somebody steals on to the back end of this roster or the practice squad and becomes a pivotal player down the line thanks to injuries, but there are no new signings for this offensive line that scream “this is going to be a contributor!” I don’t know why you’d scream that, regardless.
Ideally, Atlanta will find that somewhere in the collection of possible depth options they’ve assembled, there’s a gem or two capable of providing more than the Falcons got out of emergency fill-ins like Tyler Vrabel last year. With their depth chart pretty clear from 1-7, they really only need one or two players on the roster and a small handful of practice squad players. The hope is that Dwayne Ledford can work some magic again, and I wouldn’t bet against that outcome as the Falcons gear up to finally enjoy the kind of offensive excellence they’ve teased for years now.