Stefanski's Falcons Deemed Nearly 'Unwatchable' Ahead of 2026 Season

The Atlanta Falcons enter the 2026 season with what seems to be a "wait and see" type of attitude from everyone involved. The front office was frugal with a limited budget in free agency and handed out mostly one-year contracts.

At the start of training camp 44 of the 90 players at camp were either on a one-year deal, or in the final year of their contracts. That's changed with the extensions of key, young players like tight end Kyle Pitts, wide receiver Drake London, and guard Matthew Bergeron (Bijan Robinson had two years remaining).

But without certainty at the quarterback position, the Falcons were hesitant to dole out big money to veteran players this offseason.

That uncertainty at the game's most important position is driving the narrative around the team in virtually every preseason ranking. From power rankings to even future power rankings trying to predict the team's success four years from now, the narrative comes from the same script: No quarterback, no success.

Every ranking turns into a surrogate quarterback ranking, and that gets boring.

The latest ranking from ESPN's Benjamin Solak is a tongue-in-cheek "watchability" list of the 32 teams in the NFL. The Falcons come in 28th, which is eerily similar to every single other ranking done, because, you guessed it: the quarterback.

"There is nothing more insurmountable in the watchability rankings than bad quarterback play," Solak wrote on ESPN. "And it's looking like we might get that in Atlanta. Tua Tagovailoa has been unable to earn the starting job in camp, which sets up third-year pro Michael Penix Jr. -- fresh off an ACL recovery -- to see the field the moment he's healthy."

Having done various rankings throughout my sports media career, I can tell you first hand when you gas up a team and they fall flat on their faces, you're a bit harsher on that group the next time. Solak is running into that phenomenon this season after going all in on the Falcons in 2025.

"I made the mistake of ranking them highly last year (sixth, horrendous!) on the back of expected splashes from Penix, and that was a huge embarrassment for the fidelity of the exercise. I'm correcting the error here," Solak wrote.

Solak is being harsh on both himself and the Falcons.

Try as they might, national media seem to be completely unable to look beyond quarterback. Yes, Solak mentioned Falcons playmakers Robinson, London, and Pitts, but he's selling them short, especially Robinson.

Robinson is going to be the first player taken in millions of fantasy drafts around the country. And it's not just that he produces numbers; he's electric to watch. If a typical fantasy league is 12 teams, 1/6th of all fantasy football players are going to be glued to Bijan Robinson's every play. The team he's on, and the team facing him.

Hall of Famer Barry Sanders played on four winning teams in his 10-year NFL career with the Detroit Lions, winning more than 10 games just once. Sanders made the Lions must-see TV, despite playing with the likes of Bob Gagliano, Rodney Peete, Erik Kramer, 36-year-old Dave Krieg, Scott Mitchell, and Charlie Batch.

Robinson isn't Sanders; no one is, but he's not that far off either. He's arguably the best running back at making would-be tacklers miss since Sanders.