Falcons top 3 players according to PFF

The Falcons‘ roster features a lot of Pro Bowl and All-Pro talent. Some were inherited from the former regime, others were drafted, and a lot were acquired this offseason.

Chris Lindstrom, A.J. Terrell, Calais Campbell, Grady Jarrett, and Jessie Bates III have made All-Pro teams in their respective careers, while Kyle Pitts, Jake Matthews, and Younghoe Koo have made Pro Bowls.

The influx of talent is apparent; this roster no longer lacks it, even if some of those accolades are from years ago. Seasons ago, it wouldn’t have been hard to peg the best players on the team. It’s a bit more difficult now, but Trevor Sikkema of PFF did so for us, so we can critique and be free of blame.

Chris Lindstrom, Jake Matthews, and Kyle Pitts were his three best Falcons in 2023:

The Falcons’ influx of talent this offseason made this exercise a pleasant surprise for them. Lindstrom has to be on the list; he was the highest-graded guard in football last year, earning an astounding 95.0 overall mark with a 24.9% impact run-block percentage (his positively graded run-block rate).

Matthews wasn’t the next highest-graded player, but entering his 10th season, he has never posted a career grade below 70.0, including his 77.2 mark last year. Pitts, who hasn’t had the true takeover type of year we know he’s capable of yet, earned the last spot. Talent-wise, it’s all still there for him to shine in 2023.

Also Considered: CB A.J. Terrell, S Jessie Bates III, WR Drake London, DT Grady Jarrett

I don’t necessarily disagree with Sikkema’s choices, but I’ll argue for the sake of being a contrarian.

We can look at it a couple of different ways. Terrell and Bates have had recent All-Pro seasons, whereas Pitts and Matthews have never earned those honors. Another way to look at it? I could argue Terrell and Bates are better players at their respective positions than Matthews. A different perspective could be positional value. Terrell and London play more traditionally valuable positions than Lindstrom.

In defense of this piece, Jake Matthews is one of the most underappreciated players in the NFL. He’s an iron man and has been a top-10ish player at his position for a decade.

Then there are those who weren’t even mentioned, like Calais Campbell, Tyler Allgeier, and David Onyemata. This is a good problem to have.

Hell, if we are projecting who will be the three best players by the end of 2023, which Sikkema isn’t doing, I would put Bijan Robinson in the conversation. It’s a fun exercise, and I think PFF got it pretty close to being right.

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Photographer: Rich von Biberstein/Icon Sportswire