{"id":91937,"date":"2020-07-25T20:45:45","date_gmt":"2020-07-26T00:45:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonprofootball.com\/?p=91937"},"modified":"2020-07-25T20:45:45","modified_gmt":"2020-07-26T00:45:45","slug":"faces-of-2020-atlanta-falcons","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2020\/07\/25\/faces-of-2020-atlanta-falcons\/","title":{"rendered":"Faces of the 2020 Atlanta Falcons"},"content":{"rendered":"

As the start of the 2020 NFL season draws nearer (or so we hope), it\u2019s time to look at which players are the faces of each NFL team \u2013 the players who have the most impact on their team, and some of the general leaders, and just generally who people think of when they think of an individual team. For this series, we\u2019ll be looking at the three most prominent \u201cfaces\u201d for each team. Here, we\u2019ll look at those three figures for the 2020 Atlanta Falcons<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Faces of the Franchise: 2020 Atlanta Falcons<\/h2>\n

Matt Ryan<\/h3>\n

The Falcons have struggled a bit over the last couple years with two 7-9 seasons, but the quarterback position (and a lot of the offense in general, really) hasn\u2019t been the cause for that. Matt Ryan<\/strong><\/a> has been the primary face of this franchise for quite a while now, and that\u2019s only increased since his MVP season a few years ago. And he\u2019s continued to play at a top-ten level despite having to deal with a sometimes nonexistent offensive line.<\/p>\n

The 2019 season saw Ryan pass for 4,466 yards, 26 touchdowns, and 14 interceptions. Those aren\u2019t elite numbers, but they\u2019re still good. In his defense, he was also sacked a league-leading 48 times. It can be difficult to produce at an elite level when you don\u2019t have time to throw the ball. Notably, Ryan actually missed a game this year \u2013 the first time since 2009, ending a streak of 154 straight regular season starts (which was fifth-best all time among quarterbacks). That still leaves him among the more durable quarterbacks in the league.<\/p>\n

So far in his career, Ryan has passed for 51,186 yards and 321 touchdowns. He\u2019s been playing at a high level for most of the years he\u2019s been in the league, and given both that and just the fact that he\u2019s their long-time quarterback, this leaves him as the primary face of the Falcons franchise.<\/p>\n

Julio Jones<\/h3>\n

Since the early 2010s, there\u2019s one other thing about the Falcons offense that has remained consistent besides Matt Ryan \u2013 and that is his primary target at receiver, Julio Jones<\/strong><\/a>, who would be the other primary face of this franchise besides Ryan. Still a top-three receiver in this league, Jones has continued to prove himself among the most difficult players to defend.<\/p>\n

Even with the younger Calvin Ridley<\/a><\/strong> getting more and more targets, Jones has still been putting up crazy numbers. 2019 saw him have 99 receptions (and probably would have had 100+ if he hadn\u2019t missed one game) for 1,394 yards and six touchdowns. Even as he reaches his early 30\u2019s and the options at wide receiver get more spread out for the first time in a while, Jones still continues to be up there at league-wide year-end stats. It\u2019s no wonder he made the NFL 2010s All-Decade Team.<\/p>\n

Jones is currently sitting at 797 career receptions for 12,125 yards and 57 touchdowns. There\u2019s not much reason to not expect him to continue to dominate at least during the first half of this decade and to continue to be one of the main faces of this franchise. If he continues to produce at an elite level for a while longer, he might go down statistically as one of the best to ever play the position.<\/p>\n

Deion Jones<\/h3>\n

On the defensive side of the ball for the Falcons, Grady Jarrett<\/a> <\/strong>may have had the more explosive season stats-wise for the team in 2019. But ultimately, Deion Jones<\/strong><\/a> is still the anchor of this defense. He bounced back nicely in 2019 after missing most of the 2018 season, getting 110 combined tackles for his third season with over 100 in that category. He went without a sack this year, but he did continue to contribute on the pass defense (making him a good complete linebacker), with five pass deflections and one interception.<\/p>\n

That one interception ended up being the final play of the season when he caught a game-winning pick-six from Jameis Winston<\/a><\/strong> in overtime, helping end the Falcons season on a high note. Jones may have not have as eye-grabbing a season statistically as 2016 or 2017, but he remains more or less the leader of that defense, making him one of the main faces of the team. It\u2019s clear the Falcons agree since they gave him a four-year, $57 million extension last off-season.<\/p>\n

Main Photo:
\nEmbed from Getty Images<\/a>