5 Most Disappointing Atlanta Falcons in 2025

Let's address the elephant in the room. No, Michael Penix Jr. wasn't playing well before he got hurt and was lost for the season with his third ACL tear. His passer rating is 22nd among quarterbacks with at least five starts. He struggled in the face of pressure and didn't push the ball downfield enough.

That said, quarterback play is a collective. Play calling, weapons, and the offensive line all play a part in the play of the quarterback. To sum up how Falcons feel he played this year, it might be easiest to say they were disappointed for Michael Penix rather than disappointed in Michael Penix.

Penix will enter the 2026 season as the presumed starting quarterback. He'll get another chance to prove he's the long term solution for the Falcons, but if he falters again, the Falcons might be on the hunt for a quarterback in the 2027 NFL Draft.

4. Ruke Orhorhoro

Atlanta traded up in the 2024 NFL Draft to select Orhorhoro at No. 35 overall. It doesn't help that three of the next four picks were interior defensive linemen who have all had better starts to their careers (Jer'Zhan Newton, T'Vondre Sweat, Braden Fiske). Despite playing a similar amount of snaps as David Onyemata, he has less than half the tackles (49-20), and he has fewer tackles and sacks than LaCale London, who has played less than 40% as many snaps.

Of the 130 defensive tackles who have enough snaps to qualify, Pro Football Focus grades Orhorhoro at No. 125.

Orhorhoro has been a liability against the run and hasn't made the splash plays in the backfield that we've seen from many of his teammates. He's incredibly gifted athletically, but didn't play much as a rookie. He has a lot of room to grow, and hopefully that starts in 2026.

3. Jamal Agnew

Jamal Agnew may be the poster boy for the Falcons' floundering special teams. He was brought in to be a return specialist, missed all of training camp with an injury, and has been a liability as a return man with three fumbles.

64 players have at least five kickoff returns this season, and Agnew ranks 49th. He was a healthy scratch last week against the Buccaneers.

For the most part, general manager Terry Fontenot has done an extremely good job with his free agent signings, but Agnew was a miss.

2. Darnell Mooney

Darnell Mooney had 992 yards in 2024, and Michael Penix's strong arm was going to unlock his deep-play ability in 2025. It didn't work out that way.

Mooney broke his collarbone the first day of training camp in July, and it took Penix three games to start throwing the ball beyond 10 yards downfield. Mooney's body language has been almost as bad as his play. He sees fewer snaps than David Sills V, who has 266 yards receiving in his five-year NFL career.

He has 364 yards on the season, and it hasn't gotten much better in Kirk Cousins' five starts, with 10 catches for 152 yards.

Mooney signed a three-year, $39 million contract with $26 million guaranteed with the Falcons in 2024. That's roughly a two-year deal with a club option for 2026. Mooney won't be back. Atlanta will save $7.5 million on the salary cap when they cut him after the season.

No. 1 Zac Robinson

Zac Robinson came from the LA Rams with Raheem Morris prior to last season. He had never been an offensive coordinator or play caller in his career, yet his offense finished No. 6 in total yards in 2024 and No. 13 in points.

Those numbers were despite the quarterback turmoil they faced in the middle of last season with Kirk Cousins and a rookie starting the final three games.

With Penix taking the reins full-time and the entire offense returning, the Falcons were expected to take a step forward. Instead, they took several steps back.

Robinson's play calling and formations were consistently called boring and predictable. The Falcons fell as low as No. 29 in scoring and are still No. 26 after 14 games.

Robinson came from the Sean McVay tree of offense, yet he doesn't do the things that have made the LA Rams successful. The Rams are first in the use of play-action, the Falcons are last.

Special teams have been a disaster, but they were bad last year. So that they're bad again doesn't come as a surprise.

The Falcons' offense was very good at times last year and has regressed in a big way. When it comes to the biggest disappointment of the season, the offense as a whole takes the No. 1 spot.

And that falls at the feet of Zac Robinson.