How might the Falcons roster change between now and Week 1?

Atlanta’s roster is set, but not in stone. Indeed, given some of the unexpected and downright peculiar choices the Falcons made yesterday, things are going to change.

To what extent, though, and where are the Falcons most likely to shuffle the deck for their 53 man roster? The state of the practice squad will help us answer that question, but we’re still in our snap reaction timeframe, so let’s react. I think we’ll wind up seeing at least small changes to the positions where the Falcons seem to have more depth than they can reasonably use, at the one position group where they seem perilously thin, and at a position group we’ve all been talking about.

The Falcons won’t carry seven WRs for long

The number of receivers on the roster was a slight surprise—I wasn’t sure they’d actually carry seven—but only a slight one. They signaled they’d keep Casey Washington all summer, and David Sills seemed pretty safe after his limited playing time with the starters.

But surely they won’t keep seven for long, right? We know that Drake London, Darnell Mooney, and Ray-Ray McCloud are locks because of their roles on offense, and we know KhaDarel Hodge and Jamal Agnew are essential special teams pieces. We also know that Washington has the increasing trust of the coaching staff, and that they seemingly view him as excellent insurance outside for Mooney and/or London. Sills won’t both be here all season, though.

Why? Consider the following:

• Darnell Mooney is currently hurt. We don’t know how long he’s going to be out, and given Atlanta’s extremely vague and borderline nefarious injury messaging, I don’t think it’s reasonable to assume he’s going to be out there Week 1. Once Mooney is healthy, the seventh wide receiver is going to be a gameday inactive. Chances are that Sills could be waived and make it to the practice squad at that point, in which case he could be active with a couple of elevations when needed. I’d expect Mooney’s return, whenever that may be, to result in a cut.
• The Falcons are precariously thin at other positions. Again, the practice squad will help them stock help, but there’s no situation in which seven receivers are getting run unless Mooney and someone else is hurt. Washington is here because the Falcons like him and they’re increasingly confident in his ability to fill in outside, something that will matter if Mooney’s not available, but it’s unlikely Sills will be able to carve out any type of gameday role if everyone else is healthy.

I like Sills—I championed him as a potential Falcons draft pick back in 2019—but his path to playing time is very limited unless someone gets hurt given his lack of pro special teams snaps and the sheer number of receivers already here. I think he’s one of the first ones out, and he, Chris Blair, and Nick Nash or Dylan Drummond could spend most of the season on the practice...