A critical piece to the Falcons offensive puzzle

If Michael Penix Jr. is all that he’s cracked up to be, the Falcons offense has the chance to be elite. The skill position group is loaded with budding stars, and the offensive line is returning four starters.

The only new face among the Falcons starters on offense is Ryan Neuzil. He’s taking over at center for Drew Dalman , who earned a hefty three-year, $42 million contract from the Chicago Bears.

Neuzil was signed by the Falcons in 2021 after going undrafted. He spent his first season in the league on the practice squad before appearing in nine games in 2022. The following year, he would start in four games, but his most action came in 2024 when Drew Dalman went down with an injury. Neuzil was asked to start in eight games last season, and he did enough for the Falcons to feel comfortable about letting Dalman walk in the offseason.

Kirk Cousins was especially wary of the situation when Neuzil was forced into action. As a 13-year veteran at the time, nobody was more conscious of just how impactful the center position is for an offense. Quickly, he realized Neuzil was more than equipped to handle the job.

“I told him I’m not used to centers who can move sideline to sideline but can also anchor,” Cousins said, via Josh Kendall of The Athletic. “If you get the guy who anchors, he’s going to get beaten laterally over and over and over. You get the guy who can go laterally, and he’s going to be in your lap all day. Neuz is both. As I told him all that, he just stood there and looked at me, gave me nothing.”

For as good as Dalman was as a run blocker, he certainly left a lot to be desired in pass sets. That’s where Neuzil actually brought a level of improvement to the offense, which could only become more evident in his first year as a starter, a role his teammates believe he’s ready for.

“He’s earned everything he’s gotten,” the longest tenured member of the Falcons, Jake Matthews, said. “He deserves to be our starting center.”

The Falcons — at least from a record perspective — were actually a better team with Neuzil (5-3 record) than they were with Dalman (3-6 record) in the middle of the offensive line last season. That’s not to say there won’t be growing pains, especially with a first year starting quarterback under center in Michael Penix Jr., but there’s a lot of belief around Flowery Branch that there won’t be much of a drop-off at the center position with Ryan Neuzil taking over.