The Atlanta Falcons haven’t made the playoffs since the 2017 season in large part due to the play of the team’s offensive line.
Despite multiple attempts to upgrade this unit over the last few offseasons, the Falcons enter training camp with question marks at three of the five starting offensive line positions. The entire group should benefit from another year in Arthur Smith’s offense but there are still concerns, especially when it comes to pass protection.
Pro Football Focus’ Michael Renner ranked all 32 offensive lines going into the 2022 season, breaking them into six different tiers:
- Tier 1: Minor or no weaknesses
- Tier 2: High floor
- Tier 3: High-end potential
- Tier 4: At least one good tackle
- Tier 5: Uninspiring
- Tier 6: Problematic
Can you guess which tier the Falcons were ranked in? Atlanta is in the “uninspiring” category, something that should come as no surprise to anyone who watched Matt Ryan take 40 sacks last season.
Renner acknowledges the team has two quality starters up front in left tackle Jake Matthews and right guard Chris Lindstrom, but there’s little clarity beyond those two:
McGary’s fifth-year option wasn’t picked up by the Falcons, so the former first-rounder is playing for a future contract. Will that be enough to motivate him, or will one of the newcomers like Germain Ifedi or Elijah Wilkinson be him out for the starting right tackle spot?
As for Jalen Mayfield, the second-year left guard will need to show significant improvement this season or Atlanta will likely be looking to upgrade in 2023. Center Matt Hennessy also struggled in his first year as a starter, but the team didn’t add much competition at either position. However, second-year center Drew Dalman took first-team reps during minicamp last week, so Hennessy’s job may not be as safe as we initially thought.
Atlanta definitely struggled in pass protection last year, but the running game was much improved with Cordarrelle Patterson leading the way. I expect the team’s ground attack to continue to improve in 2022, and it would be hard for the pass-blocking to be much worse than it was last season.
