In 2023, the Falcons ranked 26th in the NFL in points per game (18.9) and 22nd in passing yards per game (207.3). After a disappointing 7-10 season, Atlanta will be looking to bounce back in 2024.
New head coach Raheem Morris inherits a team littered with talented stars on all corners of the field. One of those stars is 22-year-old wide receiver Drake London who is looking to make a name for himself next season.
“I want to go out there and make a stand for myself,” said London per the team’s official website. “I know what I can do. I know what type of player I am.”
London was a top prospect when he was drafted by the Atlanta Falcons as the 8th overall pick out of USC in the 2022 NFL Draft. The versatile receiver has shown glimpses of brilliance over his two seasons in the NFL, but the team has had limited success and failed to reach the playoffs in 2022 and 2023. London will be hoping to change that next season.
In his rookie season, London finished with 866 yards off 72 receptions and four touchdowns. He followed that up in 2023 with 905 yards off 69 receptions and two touchdowns.
The Falcons have built and exciting offense over the last 24 months. Four-time Pro Bowler Kirk Cousins was brought during the offseason on on a colossal four-year, $180 million deal. London, Bijan Robinson and Kyle Pitts will all return in 2024. Add to that a new offensive coordinator, and the Atlanta offense could surprise a few people next season.
Falcons tight end Kyle Pitts has not been able to match the production he provided the team during his rookie season, but that didn’t stop them from moving to ensure he’d remain with the team for a fifth season.
The team exercised its option on Pitts’s contract for the 2025 season late last month, so the 2021 first-round pick will get a chance to show that he can put up bigger numbers in the team’s new offense. The option carries a guaranteed salary of $10.878 million.
Pitts said this week that he appreciates that commitment from the team and said he’ll do what he can to show that it was worth their while.
“Definitely it’s a blessing for the upstairs to still have faith in me,” Pitts said, via the team’s website. “I’ll try to show them I can do something different this year.”
Pitts played with Matt Ryan as a rookie, but the quarterback play has not been strong in Atlanta over the last two seasons. The hope is that Kirk Cousins’s arrival changes that and helps push Pitts to new heights in the passing game.
