The Atlanta Falcons need offensive upgrades. Outside of Julio Jones and Devante Freeman, the entire offense lacked explosion and playmakers. The Leonard Hankerson experiment failed. Devin Hester was injured. Nick Williams and Justin Hardy were inconsistent. The Falcons will make additions in the offseason while players like Jacob Tamme remain on the bubble heading into 2016.
The Falcons have not had a lot of luck at the tight end position since Tony Gonzalez retired. Levine Toilolo has yet to develop into a consistent threat. Tamme finished the season with 657 receiving yards making him the second-best on the team in 2015 behind Jones. Those numbers were good, but the Falcons will look for upgrades this offseason, especially in the draft. Tamme deserves praise for the numbers he put up in 2015, but the Falcons need a game-changed and a safety blanket for Ryan like Gonzalez was. The team would eye someone in the draft or try to sign a player like Dwayne Allen.
Tamme and Roddy White are too players that have faced discussions about their future with the franchise, but both veterans are unlikely to move anywhere right now. According to FOXSports.com, the Falcons will still need upgrades at the positions, but that might not come at the expense of either player. The Falcons have been linked to a lot of free agents since ending their season. Travis Benjamin, Rishard Matthews or Marvin Jones appear like perfect fits to run alongside Jones in 2016.
While the Falcons might look for an established receiver on the open market, they have two rookie receivers that may or may not turn into something. Williams and Hardy both saw playing time this season and while they made some good plays, they also made mistakes. Hardy was considered a steal in the draft, but he did not get on the field until mid-way through the season thanks to an injury to Hankerson. Williams turned out to be a nice redzone target, but nothing more. Ryan told the media that he believes both players can improve and he intends to get everyone together for offseason throwing sessions in order to develop the young talent.
"For a long time, we had been a veteran team at those positions, whether it be at the tight end spot with Tony Gonzalez or wide receivers where we had veteran guys for a long time," Ryan said, via ESPN.com. "I think we're young. We're young across the board. I think extra time put in together, whether it be here in Atlanta -- so many guys are here in the offseason, which is huge for us -- or whether it's getting together somewhere else and spending some time together and working together and trying to iron out some of the details and be a little bit more refined than we were this past season, I think that's a really good idea."