Thank you for for Kyle, Drake, Bijan but holy fuck it’s pretty bad…

Bijan still hasn’t been announced in the top 100 meaning he has locked in a top 4 spot.

Obvious players remaining are
Bijan
Myles Garrett
Josh Allen
Matthew Stafford

Glad to see him getting some love. He deserves it.
Feel like he’s probably the next guy announced but how would you guys rank the remaining players.

Stafford just came in at 4, so Bijan top 3! That is all

Looking back at the Fontenot era, one thing that cracks me up is how Falcons fans would treat completely normal, competent NFL roster moves like Terry Fontenot had discovered some revolutionary roster-building strategy.
I'm not even saying all of the moves were bad. A lot of them were perfectly reasonable.
I'm saying we had an insanely low bar for what counted as “cooking.”

2022
This was probably when the “let Terry cook” stuff really started getting going.
We traded Matt Ryan when it was obvious the old era was finished. We signed Marcus Mariota as a bridge QB. We drafted Drake London after losing Calvin Ridley for the season. We took Arnold Ebiketie because the team desperately needed pass rush help. We added a bunch of cheap veterans because the roster was rebuilding and still buried under dead money.
And people acted like Fontenot was some genius.

What exactly was revolutionary?
Your franchise QB era ends->get a cheap bridge QB.
Your WR room is terrible->draft a WR.
Your pass rush is terrible->draft an EDGE.
You're in cap hell->sign inexpensive veterans and wait for the books to clear.
Those aren't bad decisions. They're the obvious decisions available to a rebuilding NFL team.

2023
This is where the hype went completely overboard. We finally had real cap space and signed Jessie Bates. Excellent move. Probably one of Fontenot's best moves as GM. But Bates was an established star safety entering free agency. Atlanta had money, needed defensive talent and paid a premium player premium money.
That's exactly what you're supposed to do. Then we signed David Onyemata. Again good player. Good starting DT. But people were talking like Fontenot a terrifying defensive front. We basically went from having Grady Jarrett, who at that stage was a good but not elite DT, to having Jarrett and another good but not elite DT. That’s cool and all but they’re all solid but game changing. Then came Kaden Elliss, Calais Campbell, Bud Dupree and the rest. Mostly reasonable signings. Campbell especially was still useful. But we would see three competent veterans arrive and start talking about how Terry had transformed the defense. Signing established NFL starters when you finally have cap space isn't cooking.

2024
Then somehow the same thing happened AGAIN.
Kirk Cousins becomes available. Falcons desperately need a QB. Falcons have a roster they believe can compete for the NFC South. Their pick is not high enough to get the real top QB’s of the draft. Falcons pay Kirk Cousins a massive contract. And immediately “TERRY COOKED.”
Brother, we needed a quarterback and signed the most obvious veteran quarterback available for enormous money. 😭
Then later we get Matthew Judon and Justin Simmons. Again, perfectly understandable moves.
We desperately needed pass rush->acquire veteran pass rusher.
We needed another safety->sign one of the biggest veteran safety names available.
And suddenly it was:
“TERRY IS ALL IN.”
Meanwhile the fundamental issue remained: where were the young, premium, blue-chip players at the positions that matter most?
That's my issue with how we evaluated Fontenot.
People constantly confused: Bad move->competent move->great move->franchise-changing move
as if everything above bad belonged in the last category.

All of this stuff was basic responsibilities of an NFL general manager. You don't get crowned Executive of the Year because you noticed your team with no pass rush needed a pass rusher.
And that's what made the Fontenot craze so funny. After years of Falcons roster problems, our standards became so low that we'd watch Terry make the obvious B-grade move and react like:
“HOLY SHIT. HE IDENTIFIED A POSITION OF NEED AND SIGNED AN NFL-CALIBER PLAYER. LET. TERRY. COOK.” I don't think Fontenot's biggest problem was that every move sucked. It was that there were way too many ordinary moves being treated like exceptional moves.

What is everyone predicting for game 1?

Year 1 for McCarthy, only Rodgers is likely familiar with system. Hoping McCarthy shows his age in the play calling. If our defensive line is legit, they should handle a middle of the pack Pittsburg O-line. I think Pittsburgh might end up having a better season and record, but I am convinced it will take some growing pains. If there is any week for Atlanta to beat Pitt, it’s going to be G1 on a good day the teams defensive cohesion can be the difference. I expect maybe a few big plays on offense on both sides.

The theme of the game should be play fast and violent on defense early to not let them start to find their footing.

Final prediction: ATL 17 - PITT 14

(Give or take +7 points)

Thoughts?

Alright hear me out.

Watching back our game vs the Dolphins last year at 4 am. I dont know if i have ever seen a player quite as noticeably bad on defense as JD Bertrand. He is targeted literally every single play. He's slow. He's not strong. He has bad instincts.

Simultaneously, the NFL has been trying to bury CTE for decades. The more people care about brain trauma, the more money they lose.

I also realized that my dad and I constantly refer to Bertrand as "that guy in the stupid helmet." He is so obvious in the field due to his bobble head, and him being visually distinct while being god awful makes it like a bright neon purple car running a red light. Everyone sees it.

Somehow, though, JD has made the roster. When we have drafted 2 high potential rookies and signed a far more competent player in FA as well. That got me thinking- JD is there because he makes all of us associate Guardian Caps with idiots. This is covert marketing on a testing scale of Atlanta fans before Deshaun Watson announces his switch to the Guardian Cap come fall 2027. Thanks for coming to my TED talk