By John Tures, LaGrange College, Political Science and Zach Tures, a student at Mercer University, Sports Analytics and Marketing

Despite finishing better by the end of the season, the Atlanta Falcons decided that after two losing seasons, Coach Raheem Morris was not to the person to lead the team back to the playoffs or having a winning record, having missed out on these since the year after the team’s Super Bowl collapse. But Falcons fans need not lose hope. The 8-9 team has many strengths, and the talent to get back to its winning ways with the right coach, and a draft that can address the team’s weaknesses.

Zach Tures analyzes the draft needs of the Atlanta Falcons. “Aside from the gaping hole at the head coach position, the Falcons are fairly well-rounded as a team. The Falcons have several talented young players on offense and a solid all-around defense with both seasoned veterans and star rookies. The key spots that the Falcons need to target in this upcoming draft and offseason is a second receiver, a cornerback to put across from AJ Terell, and most of all, an answer at quarterback. When it comes to the wide receiver spot, of course the Falcons already have a star in Drake London, but given London’s injury history and the lack of output from other wide receivers on the team, the Falcons could definitely use another receiver. Although they cannot get one of the premier names at wide receiver due to not having a first round pick, there are still some highly talented receivers that can easily drop to the second or even third round such as Elijah Sarratt from Indiana or Zachariah Branch from Georgia.”

“On the defensive end, the Falcons are improving at a quick rate,” Zach Tures adds. “Veterans in the secondary, A.J. Terell and Jessie Bates III are both performing at a pro-bowl level, and rookies such as the two edge rushers, Jalon Walker and James Pearce Jr., and safety Xavier Watts are all showing themselves to be future stars. One weakness the Falcons have, however, is the lack of depth at cornerback. Luckily for the Falcons, the draft is not top-heavy at the cornerback position. Only around 3-5 cornerbacks are projected to go in the first round, but there are several talented cornerbacks that could very easily fall to the Falcons at pick 48 such as Keith Abney II from Arizona State and Chris Johnson from San Diego State.”

“The biggest decider for the 2026 Falcons season, other than who is selected for the head coaching role, is what the Falcons do at the quarterback position,” Zach Tures concludes. “The easy answer would be to stick with Michael Penix and hope that new coaching will fix his lack of variety on offense, but there is no telling how healthy Penix will be even if a new head coach can fix him. In the draft, the Falcons have no chance at getting any of the top 3 quarterbacks, but they could wait a few rounds in order to draft quarterbacks with flaws and a high ceiling such as Garret Nussmeier from Louisiana State or Cade Klubnik from Clemson. A safer option might be for the Falcons to get a veteran from free agency to pair with the still young Penix. Some free agents with results include Malik Willis who is a high-end backup for Green Bay or Russell Wilson who is definitely not his old self from Seattle, but he still showed signs of being a solid quarterback at the start of the season for the Giants.”

The Falcons made a good first interview with the impressive Klint Kubiak, the offensive coordinator with the Seattle Seahawks, whose dad was also a coach and coordinator. But they planned a head-scratcher interview of defensive coordinator (DC) Anthony Weaver of the hapless Miami Dolphins. Green Bay’s DC Jeff Hafley is far better, and we hear the team is looking at Robert Saleh of the San Francisco 49ers defense, who stumbled at the Jets’ head coach. But the team already has a decent defensive coordinator in Jeff Ulbrich, and offense is where the improvements are needed. Atlanta blocked Dallas from interviewing him, which is a good sign.

Clearly John Harbaugh with the Super Bowl Ring and third most playoff appearances in the league since he was hired by the Baltimore Ravens, is the best coach available. The second best would be Matt LaFleur, only if the Green Bay Packers make the surprising decision to fire him. But Kevin Stefanski, recently fired by the Cleveland Browns, may be the most realistic shot. Unlike Kubiak, he had head coaching experience. And the guy took the poorly put-together (with bad signings and trades) Browns to the playoffs twice. With better talent, he could take Atlanta far.

John A. Tures is a professor of political science at LaGrange College in LaGrange, Georgia. His views are his own. He can be reached at jtures@lagrange.edu or on “X” at @johntures2. His first book “Branded” a thriller novel about attempts to expose a killer product placement scheme, has been published by the Huntsville Independent Press (https://www.huntsvilleindependent.com/product-page/branded).