Atlanta Falcons

Atlanta Falcons

It's the heart of the offseason, with a couple more weeks left until free agency kicks off. That makes it a prime time to dive into the history of the Atlanta Falcons and, of course, argue about it. Today, we're going to kick off a series of articles and votes for the Falcons all-century team. We'll go position-by-position, one to two a day, and try to come up with a starting lineup and direct backups who should be considered the best of the best for the Falcons from 2000-2025.

The Falcons' challenge will be their need to evaluate Penix for another year to see whether he's their long-term answer at quarterback. Complications arise since Penix is coming off another season-ending knee injury, which makes it unlikely that he'll hit the ground running whenever he gets back on the field. The injury means he'll spend his offseason rehabbing rather than taking the critical reps he needs in practice to improve.

The Falcons' cornerback group usually left you wanting more in past years. As terrific as A.J. Terrell is, the inability to add an above-average second outside cornerback and the instability at nickel had fans frustrated on a long list of defensive frustrations. Those issues were somewhat alleviated last year with Mike Hughes being solid enough, Billy Bowman Jr. showing legitimate flashes, and Dee Alford's revival.