Training camp is almost here for the Atlanta Falcons, and with the 2026 NFL season closing in, the conversation naturally turns from team goals to individual breakouts. The Falcons are still chasing the end of an eight-year playoff drought, but even if that streak doesn’t get snapped this year, there are plenty of players with a chance to hit a personal milestone: their first Pro Bowl selection.
A.J. Terrell is one of the clearest candidates.
It’s a little surprising that one of the league’s more reliable cornerbacks still hasn’t landed a Pro Bowl nod, especially after earning All-Pro honors in 2021. Over six seasons, he has been remarkably steady, piling up 381 tackles, 14 tackles for a loss, six interceptions, 61 pass breakups, and six forced fumbles in 93 games.
His 2025 season was one of his stronger ones, too. Terrell posted the second-lowest quarterback rating of his career at 87.8 and allowed a completion percentage of 53.1%, also the second-best mark of his career.
The one thing that keeps hanging over his résumé is the lack of takeaways. Five of his six interceptions came in just three seasons, and he has only two picks over his last 63 games, both coming in 2024.
If the ball starts finding him more often, his track record should put him in the mix.
Divine Deablo is another name to watch, and this one comes with a big health caveat. With so many front-seven departures, Atlanta is going to lean on him as the centerpiece of the defense.
He’ll wear the green dot and serve as a leader on that side of the ball, which is a big responsibility for a player who was at his best when healthy last season. In the games he played, Deablo made his presence felt with 73 tackles, five tackles for loss, one sack, and seven passes defended.
The Falcons felt his absence, too. During the five games he missed - including the 49ers game he left early - Atlanta went 0-5.
That said, injuries have been the issue throughout his career. Over the last four years, he has missed 18 games, which is 26% of the schedule.
If he can finally stay available, the national attention could follow.
Drake London has already shown he can be the kind of receiver who gets noticed. Atlanta’s 2022 first-round pick signed a lucrative extension for a reason: he has been the team’s top wideout from the start.
After two solid seasons to open his career, he broke out in 2024 with 1,271 yards and nine touchdowns. He kept rolling into 2025, catching 60 passes for 810 yards and six touchdowns in his first nine games before a PCL injury in Week 11 ended his year early.
Now he’s set to return to full health in 2026, and his game gives quarterbacks a simple answer in tough spots. His size, ability to win contested catches, and red-zone production make him a difficult cover in the NFC. With plenty of targets coming his way from whichever quarterback wins the competition, London has the profile of a player whose name could finally show up on a Pro Bowl roster if he stays on the field.
Xavier Watts made an immediate impression as a rookie, and that kind of debut tends to get people’s attention fast. He finished with the second-most interceptions in the NFL at five, added 96 tackles, and placed fourth in Defensive Rookie of the Year voting. Playing next to Jessie Bates III, an All-Pro, helped him settle in quickly, but the Falcons believe there’s still more to come.
Watts was already known for finding the football at Notre Dame, where he picked off 13 passes over his final two college seasons. If he can repeat anything close to that rookie production, he’ll keep climbing into the national conversation.
Then there’s Jalon Walker, who enters year two with plenty of buzz. Injuries slowed him some as a rookie, but he still finished second among rookies in sacks with 5.5 and was one of Atlanta’s best run defenders. He also logged five tackles for loss, two forced fumbles, nine quarterback hits, and 36 tackles in 15 games.
Walker’s mix of power and speed made him a first-round pick, and it’s exactly what gives him such a high ceiling in this defense. He flashed what he can become as a rookie, and if he makes the leap Jeff Ulbrich and the Falcons are expecting, Walker could quickly become one of the NFC’s more recognizable young pass rushers.
In Other News...
Falcons Just Ran Into A Costly Divine Deablo Problem
The Falcons have already locked up Drake London and Kyle Pitts on long-term deals, but the next round of contract business is getting trickier. With Bijan Robinson and Divine Deablo still waiting for extensions, Atlanta is staring at a linebacker market that keeps moving, and the latest ripple came from Miami, where Jordyn Brooks reset the price for players at the position.
For Deablo, the timing matters as much as the market. He is entering a contract year and is expected to step into a bigger leadership role for Atlanta, which gives the Falcons a reason to keep him in the fold but also forces them to weigh how much that new responsibility should cost. The team has room to maneuver financially, yet the longer this drags on, the more leverage Deablo could gain before Atlanta decides whether to make a move. [Read more 🡒]
Schefter Just Dropped A Huge Hint About Atlanta's QB Battle
The Falcons quarterback picture has been one of the more closely watched storylines of the offseason, with Michael Penix Jr. and Tua Tagovailoa both in the conversation as the team works through its plans under center. Adam Schefter added another layer to that discussion on his podcast, pointing to the kinds of signals front offices and coaches tend to send when they are leaning one direction, even if the competition is still technically alive.
Penixs recovery remains part of the backdrop, which is why this race has not fully settled into a simple answer yet. Still, the current read around Atlanta is that Tagovailoa has the edge, and the next stretch of the offseason will go a long way toward showing whether the Falcons are truly keeping the door open or already moving toward a more obvious pecking order. [Read more 🡒]