The Falcons are right in the middle of the preseason with Week 1 around the corner, and there are no shortage of storylines. Some of which are promising, but several that could spell disaster.

This could be a very impactful Falcons rookie class

The Falcons didn’t have a first-round pick in this year’s draft because of the James Pearce Jr. trade a year ago, so expectations should be tempered on just how impactful the 2026 rookie class can be in year one. However, they’ve largely been responsible for the most positive takeaways of the entire preseason.

Zachariah Branch is already a household name in Atlanta after his breakout season with the Georgia Bulldogs a year ago. He was taken in the third round, but he’s been raved about by his peers all summer.

“I’m just excited for him,” London said of Branch, via Josh Kendall of The Athletic. “The world is going to see.”

Branch is going to have every opportunity to play as a rookie. The Falcons wide receiver room is Drake London… and not much else, featuring Jahan Dotson and Olamide Zaccheaus as the second and third options. Those are respected veterans who aren’t going to give away their jobs easily, but if Branch is as talented as he believes himself to be, he could easily be the second option very early in the season.

Linebackers Kendal Daniels and Harold Perkins Jr. appear to be on their way to making an immediate impact as well. They were two of the few bright spots in the Falcons’ first preseason game against the Broncos, and both have been getting plenty of run with the ones throughout practice — with Daniels getting comfortable wearing the green dot.

“Kendal and Perk are way ahead of what I was expecting from rookies,” Divine Deablo said, via Josh Kendall of The Athletic. “Obviously they have to keep it up, but I’m excited. They don’t mess up a lot. They are on their P’s and Q’s, for sure.”

Deablo will be the key to the Falcons’ second level this season. When he went down a year ago, the entire defense took a step back. But with Kaden Elliss now back in New Orleans, everything else is up for grabs. The Falcons could be calling on both Daniels and Perkins a lot when the ball is snapped for real against the Steelers in Week 1.

Expect a lot of blitzing

The Falcons pass rush took two pretty much unrecoverable blows in the span of a week. Jalon Walker went down with a torn ACL, and the announcement of Pearce’s eight-game suspension followed soon after. Both first-round picks had a profound impact on a unit that went from the bottom of the league in sacks to second, setting a franchise record with 57.

There’s no replacing those two. The Falcons did add Za’Darius Smith, a veteran with 70.5 career sacks. That’s going to help, but if this team is going to avoid falling back into the cellar when it comes to getting after the quarterback, Jeff Ulbrich is going to have to blitz like crazy.

The good news is that’s something Ulbrich loves to do. The Falcons blitzed the second-most of any team last season at 33%, and I expect that number to climb closer to 50% this year. Without a creative scheme, this defense is going to be toast against quality quarterbacks.

Michael Penix Jr. is the starting quarterback for the Falcons

Michael Penix Jr. still hasn’t been cleared for 11-on-11 work, so expecting him to start Week 1 might be premature. However, simply by sitting out, he’s winning the quarterback competition. That’s how bad Tua Tagovailoa has been so far. He was horrendous in limited work against the Broncos, and the results from joint practice against the Colts sound very similar.

This was always going to be a case of: if it’s close, it goes to Penix. He’s the young quarterback on a rookie deal who could conceivably still be a franchise cornerstone. The Falcons are going to want to see what they have in him, and unless Tagovailoa takes massive strides over the next several weeks, that’s exactly what’s going to happen once Penix is cleared.

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(Photo by Rich von Biberstein/Icon Sportswire)