Jawaan Taylor arrived in Atlanta with baggage, and the Falcons knew it.
They still took the swing anyway, signing the veteran right tackle to a one-year, $5 million deal in April after Kaleb McGary retired and the market had thinned out. At that point in free agency, Atlanta wasn’t shopping for perfection. It was trying to find the best available answer, and Taylor was clearly the one sitting at the top of the list.
But the same issue that dogged him in Kansas City is already showing up again.
Taylor spent three seasons with the Chiefs and was flagged 56 times in that span. In 2023 alone, he led the NFL in penalties, and over the last five seasons he’s been hit with a league-high 74 flags. That total includes 35 holds, 10 illegal formations, and a steady stream of false starts - the part of his game that has become the biggest headache of all.
That problem hasn’t gone away in a Falcons uniform.
The 28-year-old missed a sizable chunk of training camp because of a nagging injury and didn’t come off the active/PUP list until midway through the summer. That kept him out of the first two preseason games, though he did get on the field in last week’s finale against the Dolphins.
The results were ugly. In only 14 snaps, Taylor was charged with two more false starts and finished with a rough 24.9 overall grade from Pro Football Focus. For a team that signed him knowing the penalty history was part of the package, that’s the kind of night Atlanta was trying to avoid.
There is at least some room to blame timing and adjustment. Ryan Neuzil and Corey Levin both snap quickly, so Taylor is still getting used to the rhythm of a new system. And working under Bill Callahan should help, given the coach’s reputation with offensive linemen.
Still, the early return is not encouraging. The Falcons brought Taylor in to stabilize a problem spot, but the penalties are still there, and the other concerns aren’t exactly small. The 2020 second-round pick out of Florida was already one of the lowest-graded tackles by PFF last season, which makes the situation about more than just jumping early.
Atlanta does have one of the better offensive lines in football, but right tackle remains the obvious weak point. And with Taylor’s false-start issue following him from Kansas City to Atlanta, confidence in him as a blindside protector for either Michael Penix Jr. or Tua Tagovailoa is hard to come by.
In Other News...
Falcons Defense Is Taking On A New Identity Up Front
The Falcons have spent this stretch of roster building making their defensive intentions pretty clear, and it starts with the front. General manager Ian Cunningham has described a philosophy built around bigger, stronger, more physical players, and Atlanta has backed it up by adding defensive tackle Gervon Dexter Sr. and claiming edge rusher Jared Ivey off waivers as part of a broader effort to reshape the line.
Those moves fit with a larger pattern that also includes a trade for Masson Smith, the drafting of Ethan Onianwa and a waiver claim on Cameron Williams, all with the same goal in mind: more size and more depth up front. The interesting part now is not just the accumulation of bodies, but how quickly this new identity can take hold once the Falcons get on the field and ask those additions to translate philosophy into pressure, leverage and control at the line of scrimmage. [Read more 🡒]
Falcons Just Passed On A Veteran Edge Option They May Need
Azeez Ojularis brief run in Atlanta ended before it ever really got started, with the veteran edge rusher failing to make the Falcons 53-man roster or their practice squad after signing with the team in March. Ojulari, who has put together 22 sacks and 113 tackles across five NFL seasons, quickly found a new landing spot by joining the Raiders practice squad.
For a Falcons defense still sorting through its depth on the edge, the decision stands out because the team clearly continued to stock up elsewhere, adding several players to bring its practice squad to 16. Atlanta has options to evaluate, but passing on a player with Ojularis experience leaves a familiar question hanging over the roster: whether the pass rush is complete enough as the season approaches. [Read more 🡒]
Falcons Still Have One Unsettling QB Question Before Week 1
The Falcons are heading into the final stretch of camp with the most important question on the roster still unresolved: who opens Week 1 at quarterback. Tua Tagovailoa and Michael Penix Jr. are competing for the job, and the decision appears tied to Penixs readiness more than anything else. Along the way, head coach Kevin Stefanski has publicly praised Penixs progress, but he has stopped short of naming a starter, leaving the team in a holding pattern as the opener draws closer.
Ian Rapoports read on the situation added another layer of uncertainty, suggesting Tagovailoa could get the first crack if Penix is not ready, though possibly with a short leash. A decision could come soon, but there is no guarantee it will, which is not exactly the kind of clarity a team wants with Week 1 approaching. For Atlanta, the bigger concern now is less about who wins the job than how much patience the staff will have if the first answer does not settle the issue for long. [Read more 🡒]