The Atlanta Falcons are back in camp, and the first real look at Kevin Stefanski’s team starts now.
Veterans report Tuesday, the rookies already checked in Friday, and Wednesday brings the first full practice of training camp. That means the questions stop being theoretical. The Falcons are about to show who’s healthy, who’s ready, and who’s actually in the mix for jobs.
At the top of the list is the quarterback battle, and it starts with Michael Penix Jr. The third-year passer, taken eighth in the 2024 draft, spent the spring working through the torn ACL he suffered on Nov.
- He was kept out of 11-on-11 work but did take part in seven-on-seven drills, and he said he expected to be a full participant when camp opened.
Stefanski didn’t go that far.
Penix is trying to keep the starting job he held before the injury, but Tua Tagovailoa is right there with him after signing a one-year, $1.2 million deal following his release from the Dolphins. Penix sounded comfortable with the setup.
“The competition has been nothing but good since he got here,” Penix said. “We know we’re in a competition, but we’re on the same team and have the same goals, and that’s to win games.
We’ve been good together.”
It’s the latest chapter in Atlanta’s long search for stability under center. Since trading Matt Ryan after the 2021 season, the Falcons have started five different quarterbacks: Desmond Ridder, Marcus Mariota, Taylor Heinicke, Kirk Cousins and Penix. Ryan, of course, is now Atlanta’s president of football.
Another major camp watch is James Pearce Jr. The second-year edge rusher is expected to be on the field even with his legal situation still unresolved.
Pearce was arrested in February and faces three felony charges in Florida after a domestic dispute with former girlfriend Rickea Jackson. He skipped the team’s voluntary offseason work but returned for June minicamp, and he’s enrolled in a 12-month pretrial intervention program that could lead to the charges being dismissed.
That doesn’t mean the NFL is done with it. A suspension is still expected under the league’s personal-conduct policy, which gives the league broad authority regardless of what happens in criminal court. Pearce was third in Defensive Rookie of the Year voting last season after leading all rookies - and the Falcons - with 10.5 sacks.
Defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich already pointed to the possibility of replacing that production by committee. “We’ll see if we’ve got a guy here who can replace that role,” Ulbrich said this spring.
“I’m excited about the guys that we have, whether it be Samson (Ebukam) or Bralen (Trice). There are countless guys, like Azeez (Ojulari), and we’ll see what they can do collectively.”
The right side of the line is also getting a fresh look. Kaleb McGary, the 31st pick in the 2019 draft, started 92 games at right tackle from 2019 through 2024 before retiring in the offseason after missing all of the 2025 season with a knee injury. Elijah Wilkinson handled the spot last year, but he left in free agency.
Now the Falcons are turning to Jawaan Taylor, who went four picks after McGary in that same 2019 draft. Taylor has 120 starts over seven NFL seasons with the Jaguars and Chiefs, plus nine playoff starts, and he signed a one-year, $5 million contract after McGary retired in April. He missed spring work with a leg injury, but he’s expected to be ready for camp.
Atlanta also traded for Wanya Morris two months later. Morris had been Taylor’s backup in Kansas City for the past three seasons and was a third-round pick in 2023.
Receiver is another spot worth watching closely. Outside of Drake London, the Falcons’ nine other wideouts on the roster have combined for just 317 catches across 16 NFL seasons.
The biggest chunk of that comes from Olamide Zaccheaus, who has 188 catches in seven years, and Jahan Dotson, who has 121 in four seasons. For now, those two look like part of the early starting group.
Third-round pick Zachariah Branch is also in the mix and could push his way into a starting role if camp goes well enough to move Dotson or Zaccheaus. Behind them, Chris Blair and Dylan Drummond are the next most experienced options, even though Blair has only one catch in three seasons and Drummond has seven in two. The rest of the room includes UDFAs Vinny Anthony II, Keelan Marion and Le’Meke Brockington, along with free agent Antwane Wells Jr., while general manager Ian Cunningham will keep looking for help over the next five weeks.
Health will be another early storyline as camp gets rolling. Taylor, safety Xavier Watts and fourth-round linebacker Kendal Daniels all missed spring work with what Stefanski called minor injuries, and all three are expected back at full speed this week.
The more important cases are Billy Bowman, JD Bertrand and Troy Andersen. Bowman tore his Achilles in November and didn’t take part in the spring.
Bertrand and Andersen were also out, and both enter camp facing real pressure. Bertrand, a 2024 fifth-round pick who started two games last season, may have a tough path to the 53-man roster after Atlanta added four linebackers this offseason.
Andersen is the bigger name, but the injury history is hard to ignore. The 2022 second-round pick hasn’t played since Week 14 of the 2024 season. In three years, he has started 11 games while dealing with a concussion, a torn pectoral muscle and multiple knee problems.
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