Ryan Neuzil may be sitting atop the Falcons’ center depth chart for now, but James Brockermeyer is making that spot look a lot less secure.
The undrafted rookie has been one of Atlanta’s most noticeable players this spring, and his rise has already started to reshape the conversation along the offensive line. Brockermeyer has worked his way into the backup center role and even picked up some first-team reps when Neuzil missed an OTA session because of injury.
That kind of push from a UDFA is exactly what teams hope for in the spring, and Brockermeyer has delivered it. He went unselected largely because of size concerns, but his background makes it easy to understand why the Falcons were interested. The 24-year-old started for Miami’s national championship team and also had strong stretches at Alabama and TCU.
His emergence has put Corey Levin in a tricky spot.
Atlanta signed the former Tennessee Titans center to a one-year deal in free agency because of his history with new offensive line coach Bill Callahan in Tennessee, but Brockermeyer has quickly made Levin’s hold on the backup center job feel shaky. Levin, 31, may not be more than a depth piece, but the shift has happened fast enough to matter before training camp even opens.
Levin has spent most of his career as a journeyman, with his best work coming in two separate stints with the Titans. He has seven starts in 88 career appearances, played in 17 games last season, and made two starts. Atlanta could move on without any dead cap if it decides Brockermeyer has passed him on the depth chart.
That creates a real possibility that the Falcons could get younger at offensive line by cutting a Callahan handpicked addition. And if Brockermeyer keeps building on what he’s shown so far, he looks like the favorite to win the backup center battle.
The one wrinkle is that Levin could still have a path to sticking around as a backup guard. But for now, Brockermeyer has been the standout of Atlanta’s UDFA class, and he’s already forcing the Falcons to think hard about who stays and who goes.
In Other News...
Falcons Rookie Is Suddenly In The Middle Of A Real Camp Battle
Vinny Anthony II arrived in Atlanta as one of several undrafted free agents the Falcons added after the 2026 NFL Draft, and he has already done enough in rookie minicamp and OTAs to get noticed. The wide receiver out of Wisconsin is in the mix as training camp opens, with his work giving the coaching staff another option to sort through as the roster starts to take shape.
Anthonys path is made a little more interesting by the fact that he can help in more than one way, which is exactly the kind of trait that can keep an undrafted rookie around longer than expected. He has been part of the Falcons return man rotation this spring and can also line up as a gunner, but the real question now is whether that early buzz can carry through the rest of camp and keep him in the conversation for one of the final receiver spots. [Read more 🡒]
Falcons Fans Just Got A New Way To Watch Key Games Locally
Falcons fans will have a new local option for watching some of the biggest games on the schedule starting in the 2026 NFL season, thanks to a new agreement between Atlanta News First and ESPN. The deal calls for select games to be simulcast on WANF in Atlanta and produced by ESPN, giving the station a bigger role in the teams local television footprint while adding another layer to the way the market follows the Falcons.
Two games are already locked in for 2026, including the Week 4 meeting with the Saints, and there is also a chance the station could pick up one more later in the year depending on how the schedule breaks. The arrangement also broadens Atlanta News Firsts sports reach beyond football, since it now includes all four major Atlanta pro teams, and there is already a path for more Falcons games to land there in 2027 if the team ends up on ESPN or NFL Network. [Read more 🡒]